John Ball - Rms in Otoys - Softcover

Bryan, C. R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490766987 ISBN 13: 9781490766980

Publisher: Trafford, 2015

Synopsis

The well-dressed Chinese factory representative confidently escorts a group of financiers into a very modern-looking building in northern China. Among the attendees is one who is less smiling and more alert. His name is not the one on the lapel card, for he is there in place of the person who formerly used that name. One who has no use for name tags now. The representative efficiently escorts his audience through clean and well-organized front offices populated by cheerful, smiling workers. The workers pay strict attention to their computers, only slightly noticing the clutch of foreigners passing through.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

John Ball - RMS in Otoys

By C. R. Bryan

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2015 Charles Bryan
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6698-0

CHAPTER 1

THE TOY FACTORY

The well-dressed Chinese factory representative confidently escorts a group of financiers into a very modern-looking building in northern China. Among the attendees is one who is less smiling and more alert. His name is not the one on the lapel card, for he is there in place of the person who formerly used that name. One who has no use for name tags now.

The representative efficiently escorts his audience through clean and well-organized front offices populated by cheerful, smiling workers. The workers pay strict attention to their computers, only slightly noticing the clutch of foreigners passing through.

"As you can see, this facility is most modern and efficient. We fulfill all our contracts with Otoys on time and below cost. Our workers are among the best-paid in China, and ..."

As the rep continues leading the group, John Ball separates from the others, looks carefully around, and then sneaks through a door marked "No Entry" in Chinese and English.

John speeds down several hallways. He emerges into a grimy factory room. It seems endless, a vast area checkered with noisy machines placed at regular intervals on wet and grimy floors stretching into a dark and hazy infinity.

Children are shackled to machines, working to make toys. John signals quiet and begins to force locks open as he passes.

A factory guard removes a dead child from shackles and puts a new child in the shackles. As the guard drags the body away, John rises, snaps the guard's neck, takes the keys, unlocks shackles of several children, cautioning them to silence in Chinese. John moves furtively from machine to machine, whispering in Chinese to the waifs shackled in place. He hands the keys to three children and gestures for them to release the others.

"Here. Take the keys and unlock all the locks. Then run. Do you understand?"

The children nod and begin to free their compatriots. John hears Guards coming to find him. He waits.

Security personnel enter the factory floor and discover the dead guard. They shout for reinforcements and then fan out in the room.

John ambushes three men and downs them. He takes their keys and weapons. He tosses the keys to some other children They nod and scurry away to set their comrades free.

John rushes a door, breaking through rotten wood and wires. Children follow. They are scared and excited. Some have difficulty keeping up with the others. When they are outside, they shade their eyes and look for a direction. They run toward a ravine which leads toward some low hills. More and more children emerge from the hole in the wall of the shiny building. Their line of escape resembles a trail of ants.

John mounts a hill outside the factory. He uncovers a dirty and battered vehicle. He scans for enemies. He gets a pair of binoculars from a bag in the vehicle. He crouches low to avoid being seen.

John uses the binoculars to watch the scene at the factory. The last children are running from the building. Guards run after them. Limousines are leaving with dignitaries. Office workers run from the front. When the people seem to have cleared the building, John uses a device to explode the structure. He smiles faintly.

John leaps into his disreputable utility vehicle and speeds north toward Mongolia. As he drives, he changes his costume and appearance, making himself over into a tribesman. A cloud of dust rises behind his whining vehicle.

Now seeming to be a local tribesman, John Ball takes a wild ride down an almost vertical cliff into a desert canyon full of dry brush.

The vehicle splashes through one of the muddy wallows in the bed of an intermittent stream. A lost goat scampers away from the menace.

Behind him he can see there is a pursuit. He scans the skies, expecting aerial assault. He finds a narrow canyon and drives the circuitous bottom, pausing in an overhung bend to complete his disguise. He gathers brush and piles it in the vehicle. Then he drives calmly onward.

An airplane spots him. The airplane circles and fires cannon into the canyon.

"Alright. Have it your way."

John drives up out of the canyon and watches the aircraft circle to begin an attack. John uncovers a rocket launcher and shoots down the airplane. Then he drives fast and recklessly onward. A column of vehicles raises a cloud of dust behind him. He finds some spike chain in a box and tosses pieces of the tire-killer chain behind him. He also scatters spike trapezoids to right and left.

John pulls out a jug of Kvass and drinks heartily. He splashes the smelly beverage on his clothes and on the seat of his vehicle. He produces a sliver of tough dried meat and begins chewing. The pursuers fall behind and their cloud of dust settles as John makes his ugly vehicle move surprisingly fast. In a while, he reduces his speed to a normal pace for a local vehicle.

Day becomes twilight as John slowly drives between scattered yurts on the great Mongolian plain.

He comes to a stop among Mongolian sheepherders. John greets them and raises his bottle of Kvass. The men gather, ready to jest with the rich stranger.

A sheepherder addresses John in Mongolian.

"Hello, stranger. What is happening?"

John replies in Mongolian, "My friends, the idiot Han are shooting at sheep with their airplanes!"

Another herdsman laughs and says, "As always. Did they shoot your beer, also?"

The other herdsmen laugh and relax.

"The gods still laugh in their full bellies. Will you share a cup of my second wife's Kvass?"

Another man says, "If you share your second wife!"

Amidst general laughter. John gets out of the vehicle and shares the beverage among his new friends.

John trades scarves with the men. He reenters his vehicle.

"I go to Ulan Bator to drink what my wife won't give me! Who would come with me?"

The first herdsman and third herdsman toss out the brush and get in the vehicle. They urge motion. John speeds away.

John leads a song.

"Chengis horse was tired that day, but Chengis would not pause ..."

The Herdsmen join the song, "Many leagues lay between Chengis and the enemy ..."

CHAPTER 2

ESCAPE

In a smoky bar and brothel in Ulan Bator the smoke swirls as the doors protest their opening. John leads his rowdies into the bar. He shakes his head side to side, gives a gruff cough and orders drinks, food and entertainment.

Some men leave and some enter. Prostitutes approach the new customers.

John grimaces at his companions and sticks out his tongue. He reaches out for one woman.

"This is the drink my wife number two will not serve!"

The prostitute asks, "Are you an important man, lover?"

John says, "I have something big and important for you."

The other herdsmen engage in similar conversations. John sticks a coin on the forehead of the prostitute and laughs. He flips coins to his friends, who are bemused by this good fortune.

A barfly in awful smelly rags demands, "You might as well give me some of that money, friend."

The barfly takes the coin from the Prostitute and snarls at John.

John laughs at the barfly and calmly stands to confront him.

"You must be a woman! You are the ugliest woman I have ever seen!"

Thugs enter the bar and converge on John. They push through the crowd.

The barfly growls, "You will be a woman soon!" Then he throws a punch and slashes with a knife.

John parries, connects with a punch and ducks beneath the general brawl which ensues.

"Get him! Kill the rich bastard! He's my prize!" The thugs yell.

John escapes, pulling the prostitute with him.

Outside it is a dark night on a dark street in Ulan Bator.

John gives the prostitute a kiss and a handful of coins. He jumps into his vehicle and speeds away. The other prostitutes emerge from the brawl and fight for the coins.

John drives until he comes to a lonely snowy plain with blowing wind. Not a gentle wind. Barking and howling of sled dogs fills the air when the wind softens to a lower shriek. There is a constant blizzard and the moonlight is weak and fitful.

John Ball leaves the vehicle beneath a drift and greets the dogs and a driver as old companions. Then he begins to mush the team of sled dogs across the snow. He seems to be a native, except that he sometimes uses a lighted compass. He keeps watch for pursuit or local opposition.

'Perhaps I should check in at the office.' John mutters.

John produces a satellite telephone and pushes a button. A voice answers,

The boss, Nigel Orr, exclaims through the ether, "Where the hell have you been?"

"On a moonlight cruise, sir."

"Well, quit fooling around. We have serious business going forward!"

John notices a glow in the blizzard.

"Yes, I'm sure. Don't be alarmed at the loud noise you may hear next."

John swerves. A rocket lands in the snow where he would have been. It waits a moment before exploding. John tosses his telephone into the snow. He mushes swiftly away from that location. The telephone explodes. The dogs pay no attention to the second explosion and neither does John.

Two days later John and the dogs part company with affection. This day is not much brighter than night in the arctic, on the Bering Sea. He sees the ship he expects and boards it, calmly assessing the faces he meets. They seem friendly, which is seldom a good sign.

When they are well at sea someone tries to stick a knife in him, so John begins to break arms, knees, and necks. The fishermen are all trained killers, but so is John. Soon there are only two contestants alive or functional on the ship,

John Ball and a Chinese agent are on a primitive fishing ship amidst ice floes. Several bodies lie crumpled on the deck. John is bent backwards over the rail, about to be knifed by the Chinese agent.

John says, in Cantonese, "I enjoyed meeting your mother in Shanghai."

The Chinese agent reacts fiercely, but John turns the tables and finishes the agent.

John remarks, "She smelled nicer."

John tosses the bodies, weapons and radios of the Chinese overboard. Large sharks come to feed. John speeds the ship toward Alaska.

A few days later John arrives at night in an Alaskan port. Now he is dressed as a local fisherman, with a stubble of beard and a faint odor of American whiskey.

There is a cruise ship docked, in addition to the fishing boats, yachts, and oil tankers.

John discards anything specifically Chinese and then he debarks from the boat with a small bag. He walks until he finds a smack with a coat draped over the wheel. He takes the coat.

"I'll be returning it soon, buddy."

John continues to a shop still open near the wharf.

Later John approaches the boarding ramp of the cruise ship and hands the purser his papers and ticket stubs. John is wearing new tourist clothes, rich tourist clothes.

John boards the ship in a suit and overcoat and fur hat. He tips the Mate and joins the crowd in a bar. A woman in her late thirties, drink in hand, sways through the crowd seductively toward John. She smiles in a familiar manner.

"John, I thought it was you! How are you, and why didn't you call?"

"Okay, okay, I was wrong, Cathy. You could have called, you know."

"I did call. You were off on another securities gambit, weren't you?"

John notices people who enter after him. One man seems suspicious.

"I'm all business. Are you with someone?"

Cathy raises one eyebrow. "Perhaps."

John smiles and leads Cathy out onto the observation deck, where he places himself to observe who might follow.

Cathy leans against a rail almost touching John and purrs.

"Not at the moment, darling; but will everything be the same?"

"Better, I hope." He gives her a light kiss on the nose.

The suspicious man comes out of the lounge. A woman also drifts out. They take flanking positions.

"I won't let you hurt me this time, John dear."

"Yeah, you probably owe me one, come to think of it."

"Owe you! Owe you one what?"

"Relax Cathy. Let's find a table and lose some money?"

They stroll inside and find a gambling table. The suspicious man and woman casually follow.

Quite a crowd is in the gambling salon of the cruise ship. John and Cathy find their way to a table.

In another part of the salon, Kiri Wan, a beautiful part-oriental woman watches John and his companion. Kiri takes note of the interest of the suspicious man. That man senses her and turns.

"Would you like to chat, handsome?"

Kiri presents herself seductively to the suspicious character.

He has the eyes of an assassin, cold and hard, neglecting to enjoy the loveliness Kiri presents. "No. I don't chat. Try someone else."

Kiri pretends to be miffed. She moves away. She uses her compact to inspect her face and take a picture of the suspect.

"Am I not pretty enough?"

The assassin turns away. Kiri sends the photograph and closes her compact.

Back at the table, John has a pile of chips. A neighbor player admires John's luck.

"Got any stock tips? You seem to win at everything."

"Well, I wouldn't buy that hot toy stock just now."

Many at the table turn to listen

"You mean Otoys? But they have got the world market cornered, and their earnings ratio is off the charts!"

John shrugs.

"Exactly. It's rather too good, don't you think?"

"I thought you said you were into risky things. Are they too much of a sure thing for you?"

"The opposite. Maybe it's just me. I'll stake this pile, that Otoys comes down to nothing by next quarter. Any takers?"

The players and spectators stare and laugh nervously, but no one takes the bet. Two people place cell-phone calls.

Much later on the observation deck John leans on the rail, looking to sea as the ship travels. He seems relaxed. Moonlight just outlines the pattern of waves.

Suddenly the Assassin strikes from behind. John is prepared. He seizes the Assassin, breaks the man's neck, looks in his face, and then throws the man overboard.

"I'm so glad it wasn't the woman."

John turns toward the salon. There the drinking and games continue but the crowd is much thinner. Kiri's face appears at the windows. She smiles at John. John returns a slight smile. He returns to the gambling salon slowly.

John locates Cathy in the crowd and approaches her.

"I'll dance with you, my lady, if you'll buy a poor man a drink."

Several people laugh at the notion that John could be poor, since he won almost all the money in the room earlier.

"There is no band. Is there a band in your room?"

"Let's go find out."

As they pass Kiri, John winks at her, suggesting silently that she could come to the dance also.

CHAPTER 3

RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES

It is a bright but overcast day on the docks of San Francisco, with tourists debarking, automobiles glittering in the parking lots, sailboats in the bay, the sounds of traffic and boat horns and children at play on their skateboards and bicycles. Vendor carts ring their bells, Trolleys groan on their tracks and a group of street musicians produce a condensed version of 'Victory at Sea' by Elgar.

When John walks from the pier, he is run into by a skateboarder. Other men run toward him and a van's tires screech as it comes around a corner. John leaps to his feet and grabs the skateboard. He wheels down the walkway.

Cathy calls out, "John! Call me!"

The pursuers chase John. Two vehicles come toward him from opposite angles. Gun barrels flash. John makes the skateboard leap and spin over one vehicle. He runs down an alley, where he finds a bicycle, which he carries up some steep steps. He ties his coat around his waist and rides toward a park. Cars roar nearby.

"Poor Cathy. Ditched again! Tsk."

John gets his bearings. He hears a push-cart vendor coming. When the push-cart is close, John walks the bicycle alongside. One of the pursuit vehicles drives past and screeches to a halt. John takes off downhill on the bicycle, going airborne several times.

Car horns blare. There are near misses. A pursuit vehicle appears at the bottom of the hill. Armed men get out and take aim. John comes too fast. One of the attackers becomes a ramp for John's bicycle. John vaults over the vehicle, careens off a dump truck and lands in a sand truck.

"Where's the ocean?" John brushes sand from his face and hands.

One of the pursuit vehicles spots John's head above the rim of the dump body. The men commence firing. John is protected by the sand, but trapped. The attack vehicle comes closer. One of the villains attempts to climb aboard, but John throws sand in the man's eyes and smashes his hand. The man falls and is run over. No one notices but John.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from John Ball - RMS in Otoys by C. R. Bryan. Copyright © 2015 Charles Bryan. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Trafford
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1490766987
• ISBN 13: 9781490766980
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 110