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Apr-2-2008 22:03

The hunt for evil never ends. When one is caught, another remains. Solidarity brings progress, steadily but surely. But there is always a price. The chase continues....

Apr-3-2008 15:57

She turned back to Dave, “So which are you? And you’re a doctor too?”

Dave rubbed his forehead tiredly, “My full rank is Brigadier General, Lil. But people react very differently to a General than they do to a Captain, so that’s the rank that I use in regular life. I’m also a board-certified emergency surgeon. I got my training at Walter Reed Army Hospital, and then in the foxholes of World War I France and Belgium. I’m not the best doctor in the world, but I’ve been doing it for close to twenty years now.”

Ctown nodded, “That’s good enough for me.”

Lil’s eyes narrowed, “I’m not sure I believe you.”

Dave glared at Lil for a moment, then turned to Dubois, “Your phone have a speaker on it?” The Major nodded. “Good,” he replied, “Turn it on,” then waited a moment for the operator to come on the line, “Operator? Put me through to the States, please, DC 21102.”

“Uh, isn’t that…”

“Yes, it is. ‘S there a problem?”

“No, no problem, sir. It’ll take a few minutes to get through though.”

“That’s fine. Ring me back when the call goes through, please.”

Dave turned to the Major, “While we’re waiting for that, what’s the latest on finding out what happened just before the shooting?”

The Major sat at his desk, scanning a notepad, “I had two MPs go through Mr. Quinn’s hotel room while you were in surgery. It appears the last thing Quinn was doing was looking for a Jin Jiang, here in Shanghai. They didn’t find much else.”

Apr-3-2008 15:58

“Anybody been over to Wish’s field office yet?” Dave asked.

“Not as yet, Sir,” Dubois replied.

“Okay, please send some of your people over there to have a look around. It’s over by the Ritz Hotel and Bar.” Dave turned to the doorway, poking his head out, “Ping? C’mon in, please.” He waved the smaller man into the office, “I hope you’ve met everyone?”

Ping smiled and nodded at those present. “Yes, I bring from office. Hallo again.”

Dave smiled at him, “Thank you for doing that. I need a favor, please. We’re looking for a man named Jin Jiang. I’m ‘fraid I don’t have anything else I can tell you bout him, except he may be connected with the shooting today. Would you have yours and Yu’s people start looking for him, please? Thank you. And Ping? Step out of the shadows if you have to.”

Ping smiled again, “Of course, Doctor. We happy to help. I start now.” With that, he turned, smiled again at the group, and left.

Apr-3-2008 15:59

Lil spoke up at that, “I thought he worked for you?”

Dave chuckled softly at that, “That what he told you? Hardly. He’s Tiandihui. He’s nowhere near as naïve or as harmless as he looks.”

“Tian-what?” Ctown asked.

“Tiandihui. They’re also known as the Hongmen. They’re the first and strongest Triad. Ping’s colleague, Yu, is currently on guard duty with Brady over at the hospital. He’s also Triads. Both are very dangerous men to cross.”

Just then, the phone rang. The Major hit the speaker button, and a grainy voice came on the line, “White House Operator. How may I direct your call?”

As people gasped, Dave called out, “General David Adams here, Amethyst Project, War Department. Put me through to Troubadour, public channels, please.”

“Right away, sir.”

Over the next few mintues, they were transferred from secretary to secretary, to department heads, to administrators, to chiefs, working their way slowly up the White House chain-of-command. Finally, they reached the Chief of Staff.

“Chief of Staff here.”

Chuck. Nice to see you. Dave Adams here. Need to speak with Troubadour if you don’t mind,” Dave said.

“Fraid he’s not up yet. He’s normally not in the Office ‘til nine, and it’s only 7:30 here,” the Chief replied.

Apr-3-2008 16:00

“Ah, okay. Is Empress around?” Dave asked.

“Yep, she just got in a minute ago. I’ll put you through.”

There was a click on the line, then everyone recognized the slightly nasal tone of the First Lady, “Good morning, this is Eleanor.”

“Good morning, Ma’am. Dave Adams here. I hope you and the President are well today?”

“Dave! How nice to hear from you! Yes, we’re both fine. How are you doing?”

“Doing just fine, Ma’am. I’ve got a bit of a problem at the moment, though, and I’m hoping you can help me out. I’ve got a few people here who are a little suspicious of my bonafides. Perhaps you might reassure them?”

“Oh David,” the First Lady chided, “Did you lose your Captain’s bars again?”
Dave laughed at that, “Yes, Ma’am, you could put it that way.” He turned to the group, “Anyone have any questions for the First Lady?”

Everyone shook their heads, too speechless to say anything.

“Is there anything I can help with, Dave?” the First Lady asked.

“No Ma’am, they seem to have had all their confusion cleared up. I do thank you though. Sorry to intrude.”

“No problem at all. Please feel free to call anytime. How’s Breit and your little one doing?”

“They’re both doing great. Sarah’s growing great guns. We can hardly keep up with her.” he replied.

Apr-3-2008 16:01

“That’s wonderful!” she cooed, “Well, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I need to go take the President his breakfast. He does hate cold eggs in the morning.”

“That’s fine, Ma’am. Thank you for your help, and please give my best to the President. Thanks again!”

“You’re most welcome, Dave,” she replied, “It’s nice meeting your company there. Take care now.” And with that, she was gone.

There was dead silence for several moments. Then Lil’s mouth opened and closed a couple times before she got out, “Wa, wa, was that who I think it was?”

Dave looked at her, laughter in his eyes, “Dunno. Who d’you think it was?”

Ctown pointed at the phone, “That was Eleanor Roosevelt.” He looked up at Dave, THE Eleanor Roosevelt!”

Dave grinned, “Yep, I guess it was who you thought it was then. Any questions?”

Barnabas was too dumbfounded still to answer. The Major just grinned. He’d already seen a taste of Dave’s influence. He knew better than to question the man.

“Okay, good.” Dave glanced at the clock on the Major’s office wall. “I need to go check on Mr. Quinn again.” He turned to the Major, “You have a car of some sort that we can give these folks a ride back to their office in?”

Apr-3-2008 16:02

Dubois nodded, “Of course. I’ll put a car and driver on standby for them whenever they want it.”

“Good, that’s very nice of you.” Dave thanked him. He turned to Lil, Ctown, and Barnabas. “You folks have a list of all your staff and people who might want to come visit Brady while he’s here recovering at the base? We’ll need a list of names to give the Major and his staff to clear them.”

Lil thought for a moment, “Oh. Barney should be able to write one up for you. Barney?”

The clerk nodded, “Yes Ma’am.” The Major handed him a notepad and pen, and he compiled a list of DPI’s staff and detectives, then handed it back to him.

“You already have Wish’s people covered, yes?” Dave asked the Major. Dubois nodded. “Good,” Dave replied, “They should start flying in sometime tomorrow. You’ll also be getting Department people in later on tonight. We need to know as quickly as possible what happened and if this is tied to previous situations.”

The Major nodded. He’d been briefed some time ago on the General’s concerns.

“Okay, folks, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be off. You need anything, just call the base. You’ll get put through to the Major or myself.” Dave gave a final smile to everyone, then headed back to the hospital to watch over Brady for the night.

Apr-5-2008 06:47

Yoyo walked around the base. He regularly checked in if they needed someone willing to go on a full out adventure. He was no longer a member of the military but he had an interesting status. Seeing the wounded Brady in the hospital wing of the base he talked to the Head doctor.
'You're not the first to ask about him, David was here earlier today' the doctor said. 'Dave...' he thought this was definitely going to turn into a real adventure. He thanked the doctor and headed in search of Mr. Adams.

Apr-6-2008 04:37

Midnight.
Shanghai.
Dawg Pound Investigations was in darkness.
Most of the agents had gone home for the night.
Lil, Ctown and Barnabas had rushed out earlier in the day and had not returned yet.

There was no noise as Topkebab stepped silently down the main corridor. The image of the smiling Ping entering Lil's office that afternoon still played over in her mind and she shivered despite herself.

She had so many unanswered questions. What had he come for? Why had the three of them left with him so suddenly? Did the directors know who Ping really was? Most importantly, what did they know about Topkebab's past?

The door to Lil's office was closed but not locked (not that that would have meant much). Topkebab glanced up and down the corridor and, satisfied no one else was around, slipped in.

Careful not to disturb anything, she looked around and immediately spotted a telegram on the desk. Reading it, however just brought more questions. Topkebab didn't know who Brady was but had heard of a New York agency called Wish On a Star. But what did they have to do with Dawg Pound Investigations? And that still didn't explain the involvement of Ping.

Confused, Topkebab headed to the garden to think.

Apr-6-2008 09:02

Shanghai 01:00

Ping was on his way to give his report. Walking in the shadows, he finally reached the alley behind the shop of the Tea merchant. He hesitated for a moment …he really was afraid of the mood of the Golden Dragon. He knocked the heavy door with the way of the Triads .. .. .. . and was escorted to the Golden Dragon himself.

VS looked upon his soldier with contempt “Speak mortal …I hear you”

Ping was really terrified but was able to say “Davis Adams has sent me after Jin Jiang…they believe he is connected with the shooting of Brady Quinn and they want me and Yu to find him Master !”

VS grinned and Ping felt the chill all the way down his spine “What else?”
“Dawg Pound Investigations is also involved. Davis Adams has sent me to inform lilangel about the shooting. She is in the base now. Brady Quinn has been operated and they are waiting him to recover”

VS grinned again “Where is Yu?”

“He is guarding Brady…he told me that he has heard Davis Adams talking over the phone with the White House…he also told me that Davis Adams mentioned something about the Amethyst project” …Ping was ready to collapse “These are all I know master”

VS smiled “Good job mortal!...find Jin Jiang and bring him here to me!...dismissed now!”

Apr-8-2008 00:31

Since it was so late at night, Lil, Ctown and Barnabas returned quietly into DPI. Expecting the others to be asleep, they crept up to their offices. In the hall, Lil bumped into someone heading out...

Topkebab shrieked, Lil screamed, and Ctown and Barnabas a few steps behind Lil.

"What's going on?" Barnabas asked. "Shh, you'll wake up the whole agency," Ctown said.

"Topkebab, what are you doing up?" Lil asked.

Topkebab said, "I was looking for something in my office. I thought I left it in there before you left."