A Modern Nemo 18

"It's about time your arrived," said Linus Ong irritably as the three commanders of the Sniper Division entered the lobby.

"Our apologies, Mr. Ong," said Onodera with a raised hand. "It was the driver's fault."

"No, it wasn't exactly," said Cyrus as he came up from behind the three officers. "Apparently he was the wrong guy for the job but the only one available."

The three officers saluted as Maximilian approached them. "We were supposed to discuss this matter over afternoon coffee," said the eldest of the Ong brothers. "But I think we'll have it with dinner instead."

He signaled the concierge to prepare a private dining room.

"This has to be extremely important for you to have called us here," said Petrov. "Normally it would be your father who would  make the call, not you."

Maximilian nodded.

"Does he know about this?"

"He doesn't-"

"Yet." finished Cyrus. "He will, eventually."

"You'd better make sure that we don't get into trouble when your father finds out," said Petrov, grinning.

"He'll approve of it when he does," said Maximilian reassuringly.

"Mr. Ong?" said the concierge, approaching Maximilian. "Your room's ready," he gestured to the restaurant, "this way please."

They followed the man into the large French restaurant, which was filled with guests, and into a small, all glass, soundproof room. Over a dinner of bouillabaisse, coq au vin, mille-feuilles and chenin blanc, Petrov came to the subject halfway past the chicken. "So," he said, "what is this assignment of yours?"

Maximilian put his cigar in the ashtray and took a sip of the wine. "We need you to do some intelligence-gathering missions for us on Green Oceans, General Petrov," he replied.

Petrov smirked. "You know that Konstantiniadis  is up to something but you can't say what, don't you?" he concluded.

"We have a vague idea that he's up to no good," Maximilian continued, "it took reading his book and comparing it to Jules Verne's."

Onodera and Hayashi looked at each other. "Jules Verne?" asked Onodera.

"An old science fiction author," Hayashi clarified.

"So what's the connection between a hundred year-old novel and a billionaire shipping magnate like Konstantiniadis?" continued Petrov.

Maximilian held out a book, it was the copy of The Dream of the Oceans. "Since you seem familiar with Jules Verne, the next piece of the puzzle is right here. You can fill yourself with the information here then scout for more of the details."

"Konstantiniadis has been signing shipbuilding contracts left and right," added Linus as Petrov took the book and scanned its pages. "He's already signed contracts with manufacturers in China and he's heading for Russia and eastern Europe next. We figure you might be able to start from there."

"So you want to send me home for a while, eh?" said Petrov, grinning.

"We're going to put together a team," said Cyrus, "it's going to be a massive effort not just involving you and your men. While you're gathering intel, the rest of the team will be following the movements of Konstantiniadis' ships. We'll be looking at cargo, passengers, materials and the like."

"This is a major operation, then," said Petrov, still skimming through the pages of the book, "it will not be something your father will turn a blind eye to-"

A group of words caught the general's eye: a nation floating free and unencumbered upon the vast reaches of the ocean.

The general turned his eyes to Maximilian. "I see what you mean, Mr.Ong," he said.

Maximilian nodded.