The Machine

‘I’ll need cash, some false ID’s, some more cash, a Chinese visa,’ he said. ‘The Hong Kong police took a liking to the last lot.’

‘Already done,’ she said, pointing to an envelope on the table. Stone had seen the envelope as soon as they’d walked in. A schoolgirl error on her part. Stone looked inside. There was even a GNN American Express card. Fat lot of use that would be in China, but the cash and false passport would be fine. GNN had come up trumps here. ‘Now, are you in?’ she asked again.

She was keen. And the keener she is, the longer she has to wait. And so naive. Stone would take the envelope and then do exactly as he wanted.

‘Just tell me about Junko Terashima’s contacts,’ he said, pushing her a little further.

‘There’s a scad of stuff in there,’ she said, ‘But there are two important contacts. Someone called Ying Ning gave Junko all the info about ShinComm — working conditions, suicide rates — mostly boring stuff. But she sounds dangerous. Unstable — she’s part of an extremist dissident group called China21. The other guy who only comes on the scene in the last two weeks is a man called Robert Oyang.’

Stone had what he wanted. Without speaking, Stone took the envelope with the cash and false passports from the table. Virginia smiled broadly, as if she’d won.

‘Guys like you feel like trouble follows them around,’ she said. ‘But the truth is, you make it a full time job to go looking for trouble.’

What was she? His best friend? Stone didn’t do “personal chats” with anyone, least of all stuck-up, millionaire journalists.

‘But you have to do one thing for me,’ said Stone, making it sound like an order. He took the small computer from his backpack. ‘I’m going to email to you a video clip which was sent to me. I’m afraid it’s not very nice,’ he said, tapping in Virginia’s personal email address. The one he’d memorized just to freak her out. ‘I want you to get your techie TV people to look at it. There's something weird about the video format. Remember, it’s the format I’m interested in, not what you see in the video.'

'And what is the video?'

'It’s Junko Terashima’s murder.’

Chapter 22

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UFOWATCH BLOG

Billionaire genius Steven Semyonov may be DEAD, but the weird stories about him refuse to go away. Since his death, the staff at his Marin County mansion has been speaking out about his extraordinary personal habits.

Semyonov’s staffers say he never took a shower. He had trusted servants rub down his white, hairless body with medical alcohol twice every day. He also insisted on a whole-body massage with almond oil, sometimes twice a day.

That oil and alcohol gel sounds kinky, huh? But the people at the mansion confirm they never knew Semyonov to have any relationship, sexual or otherwise.

Although Semyonov retired to his bedroom for many hours, staff suspect he never slept. He often appeared to meditate, but for only a few minutes.

Semyonov is known to have learnt many languages, seemingly without effort. Staff say he would sit in front of two or even three television shows at the same time, in different languages. Recently he watched two or three channels at a time in Chinese.

Semyonov never allowed himself to be X-rayed, either at airports or hospitals.

Does something strike you about all this? Is it just me? This guy was NOT FUCKING HUMAN!!!!!!!!

No wonder the Chinks killed him off. Coal truck my ass.

But supposing Semyonov was killed in that “tragic accident”? OK. I’ve got one question for you guys in Beijing: how’s that autopsy going, boys? Notice anything, shall we say, different?

Chapter 23–12:10pm 30 March — Zhonghua Hotel, Hong Kong

Stone left Virginia Carlisle’s sumptuous rooms on the forty-third floor and took the elevator down. Interesting what Virginia had said back there about Stone always looking for trouble. Stone had started this because someone had goaded him with the video of Hooper’s death. He’d been determined to avenge him by nailing Semyonov.

Perhaps Virginia had a point. What Virginia didn’t get, however, was Stone’s need to understand — to figure out what was happening. Semyonov might be dead, but Stone felt farther than ever from figuring out what had gone on in the whole business.

Ground floor. Stone stepped out of the hotel elevator and strode over to the reception desk. He was now persona non grata in Hong Kong and China, or would be by the following morning. If he was going to stick around, it was only polite to stay beneath the radar. Going back to the hostel was out of the question. But there was somewhere else to stay where they wouldn’t think to look for him.

‘I’d like a room please. Not sure how many nights,’ he said, offering the passport straight from Carlisle’s large envelope. He also waved the Amex card at clerk. ‘I’m with GNN,’ he said. ‘You can charge the room to the same account as Ms Carlisle. Room 4314.’

That GNN credit card she had given him was solely for the sole purpose of keeping tabs on him. Did she really think he’d be stupid enough to use it? Even here?

Stone went up to the room, ordered room service and took a shower. It felt good, it really did. Stone was almost surprised. He tried to think when he’d last indulged himself like this. Like… never.

– o0°0o-

After a lunch of lobster at Ms Carlisle’s expense, Stone felt like a different man. In fact he could see how the pampered international traveler like Carlisle came to feel so self-important. Imagine all that obsequious attention, all that servility, day after day. Over time, it would do something to a man. Perhaps even to him. Stone had often felt that soft luxury was a kind of vice which could ensnare people. It ought to bring out the puritan curmudgeon in him. It ought to but… but he’d leave the puritanism for another day. The fact that Virginia Carlisle was paying for it all made ordering lobster on room service just about acceptable. And it did taste good.

Finally he got down to business. Carlisle thought she’d just hired Stone to do a job for her. All she’d done in reality was give him some cash, a passport, and a charge card he wouldn’t use. First of all he sent off a little research project to a couple of his students back in England. Find out the real ownership structure of New Machine Technology Corporation.

Then, Stone had to figure out where he was going next. He’d come here to link up with Junko Terashima and build the story that would destroy Semyonov. But not only was Terashima dead, Semyonov was gone too. So maybe Stone should slope off back to Europe with the bits of Terashima’s files that Virginia had given him. That would put him on the right side of Zhang’s twenty-four deadline to leave Hong Kong. He could take himself off and continue his