A Modern Nemo 27

The North Korean ran in panic. He was lost, lost in a place far removed from his homeland. Exhausted and trembling, he slumped into a chair at an outdoor coffee shop.

"Are you lost?" said a voice.

He started. Turning to his left, he saw a man -another Asian- sitting at the table; a cup of coffee was in his right hand and a newspaper was in the other. This man was the same height as him and wore dark glasses, a  wide-brimmed panama hat and white clothes: an unbuttoned shirt, tank top and trousers.

Kim Nam-ha was stunned. He thought only he and the others in the fleet were the only foreigners around. He wanted to leave, but felt compelled to stay.

"You're travelling with the Green Oceans fleet, I see," the man continued, noting Kim Nam-ha's ID.

"Yes, sir."

"Are you on vacation?"

Kim Nam-ha was nervous. Adapting to life at sea was stressful enough. Dealing with another foreigner just added to it. Sensing the distress, the stranger motioned a waiter to bring over a glass of retsina.

Tasting the wine was an exciting experience for Kim Nam-ha; he had never tried grape wine before. He began talking at length about his ordeal; how he escaped North Korea, getting his hands on Konstantiniadis' book, and wanting to live freely. And now he was lost. He had no idea how he would get back to the port.

The other man listened and smile all this time. Kim Nam-ha, his face now flushed (that was a pretty strong retsina,) ran out of steam. Depressed, he slumped forward. "But now I don't know what to do," he said. "I don't know this place and I can't think of what to do next... or where to go."

"That's easy," said the other man. "I can take you back to the pier."

"You can?" Kim Nam-ha started, his eyes wide.

"Sure," said the man. Rising, he placed a pair of SS bills on the table. "Keep the change," he said to the waiter.

"Follow me," he said, motioning to Kim Nam-ha and started walking. As Kim Nam-ha followed his new benefactor, the waiter approached the table to pick up the bills. His eyes widened at what he saw. It was enough to buy a small TV set.

"Where do you come from?" asked an astonished Kim Nam-ha. The money he saw wasn't European.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I've never been out of my country before," replied Kim Nam-ha. "And we're in Greece. I've never traveled before and I-"

"You're not comfortable meeting different people?"

"No, it's just-"

"It's alright," said the stranger reassuringly. "I had the same problem. But now I travel a lot. My work takes me places, and your time at Green Oceans will as well."

They had been going a short distance when Kim Nam-ha became even more uncomfortable. "Excuse me, sir," he said. "But are you sure we're going to the pier?"

The man pointed upward. "Look up," he said.

Kim Nam-ha looked up and saw the  bow of the Embark. It glistened in the afternoon sun, and even though it was still quite a walk, the figure of the huge ship was still a sight to behold. Kim Nam-ha gasped in amazement. "Thank you, sir!" he exclaimed, running past the stranger.

As he neared the port gate, he almost forgot one thing. "I'm sorry, I just remembered," he said turning around. "What's your name?"

"It's Drake Forest," replied the stranger.

"Thank you, sir!" cried Kim Nam-ha, "Thank you Mr. Forest!"

Drake Forest turned around and waved as he headed back to town.

A Modern Nemo 26

Eric, Peter, Leon, Cyrus, Makoto, Ethan and Lorenzo were in the study of Ong Manor. This was the same room the where taipan and the cardinal regularly played chess. They had dinner at the manor with Eric's family and afterward, Christine had gone to bed, Linus and Laurie went to their beach house.

The taipan, the cardinal, Leon and Ethan were at the Mahjong table, playing Mahjong. Makoto was playing billiards with Lorenzo while Cyrus was drinking coffee at a nearby coffee table.

Peter sat opposite Eric, while Ethan sat facing Leon. They were playing Hong Kong Old Style Mahjong -and the game was getting pretty tense as no one seemed to be winning.

Cyrus' phone rang. It was Maximilian. "What is it, man?" asked the younger brother.

"Are you with dad?"

"Yeah, but he's got company."

"Well, I need to talk to him."

Cyrus put his mug down and went to the mahjong table. Everybody there was growing rather agitated. Eric had used up all his cigarettes and was glancing nervously at the other players. Ethan was smiling but sweating. Leon was looking at his tiles and trying to figure out whether to pick a tile from the wall or discard one in his hand. The stone-faced cardinal seemed unmoved -until one could notice that his hands were frantically rearranging his tiles.

"Dad," Cyrus whispered in his father's ear. "Maximilian wants to speak with you," and he handed Eric his phone.

"Yeah?" asked Eric as he took the phone from Cyrus. He was very uncomfortable having to make such a receive such a call while playing a game that turned into a nail-biter (lowest score would host a buffet for the other players at the city's most expensive restaurant.)

"Konstantiniadis isn't just building a fleet of ships for his own sea-spanning nation," replied Maximilian.

"So what is he up to?" muttered Eric, as he glanced at the other players. The tension was already so high, they had been playing for almost four hours with miserable scores. It was decided to have a final round.

"I don't want this tile..." Ethan mumbled as he dropped a One of Dots onto the table. Peter snatched it and dropped a Seven of Characters as Ethan picked another tile from the wall. Leon threw in a concealed tile and drew another one from the wall.

"Konstantiniadis is building something at sea," continued Maximilian. "A city that can move across the ocean and control international trade."

"That idea's kinda far-fetched," remarked Eric as he discarded a tile without looking. It was eagerly snatched up by Ethan.

"It's true, dad," said Maximilian. "I got the files from Petrov."

"Petrov? Where is he now?"

"He didn't say, but what he sent is definitely Green Oceans material."

"I call," said Leon. "Somebody's bluffing here."

"I'll catch you later," said Eric as he handed the phone back to Cyrus.

"Somebody better show his hand," said Leon.

Eric glanced at his hand. He had blundered throughout the game. His hand held a pung of 3 Bamboo, a pung of 2 Dots, a kong of 4 Characters, a 2 of Characters, a 1 of Characters, a 1 of Dots and a West Wind tile. He was East wind.

The cardinal  held a chow of 5 to 7 Characters, a pair of 1 of Dots, a pung of 2 Bamboo and an odd assortment of 3 of Dots, 3 of Bamboo, 2 of Bamboo, 2 of Characters and 8 of Bamboo.

Leon's hand held a pair of Red Dragons, a pung of 3 Bamboo, a pung of 7 of Dots a pair of 6 of Dots, an 8 of dots and a 7 of Characters. He chuckled. "Let's see what you got!" he said to Ethan.

Ethan sheepishly put down his tiles: a kong of White Dragons, a kong of his own wind (North) a pung of 1 Bamboo and a pair of flowers (Bamboo and Chrysanthemum.) "Sik," he mumbled.

Leon leaped to his feet, roaring in dismay. The cardinal landed face down in the table. Eric gaped at Ethan like a landed fish.