A Modern Nemo 22

Shoji Kawamura woke up and turned to his right. Chidori was there, sleeping beside him. It had been three months since he made that speech. Now the two of them, along with Simon, the North Korean and the couple were at sea together with a host of others. In such a short time the bulk of the Green Oceans fleet had officially retired, including new vessels. The fleet was now in international waters and, withe other ships to join them in the coming months. In a few days, Konstantiniadis would arrive to inaugurate the new nation.

Life at sea was an exciting affair. Konstantiniadis owned a number of Caribbean resorts and his wealth and influence kept prying eyes away. Shoji and Chidori practically had the time of their lives as the fleet traveled the islands. They were now in the open ocean, heading for Europe.

Shoji sat up and climbed out of bed. He put on his white boxers and walked across the cabin to the porthole. Pushing the curtain aside, he beheld the vast, open sea. The morning sun was shining, casting its rays upon the waters; the sparkle reflected in his eyes. He smiled, and as his thoughts were turning to the possible challenges that would open up to him, he felt Chidori's right arm encircling his right shoulder.

He put right hand on her right hand, lowered his eyes and turned to his left as she put her left hand on his left arm.

A Modern Nemo 21

Maximilian entered his father's office and beheld his brothers standing nervously next to the desk. Their father was sitting, not at the desk, but on it -and cross-legged; he was smoking a newly-lighted cigarette.

Upon seeing Maximilian, Eric threw the barely-used cigarette into the ashtray and dropped to the floor. "Alright," he said, "your brothers told me everything. What I want to know now is why you sent Petrov and his crew to gather intel on Konstantiniadis at this point. It's too early. It could even backfire."

"You did tell me once that it's important to think two steps ahead of the competition."

Eric approached his eldest son. "You're hiding something," he said. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

"If I told you, would you believe me?" asked the younger Ong.

Eric leaned forward. "Try me," he said.

Maximilian took a cigar from his pocket and lighted it. "The recent seizure of pirate vessels off the Horn of Africa yielded more than just the usual caches of guns and ammunition. Among the weapons that were gathered from these ships were the parts of a Phalanx CIWS as well as Slick-32 and and Spook nine fire-control radars."

Eric straightened up. "Go on," he said with a nod.

"The interrogation of many of the pirates pointed out that this equipment was destined for a 'shipbuilder in China' and the containers of this equipment bore markings of Green Oceans."

Eric nodded and raised a finger. "You are going to follow up with this mission. I don't want any screw-ups."

"Understood."

A Modern Nemo 20

The young man climbed the stage, nervous but impelled by a desire to please someone he highly respected. Shoji Kawamura glanced back at the curtains for reassurance and saw Konstantiniadis and Chidori give him the thumbs-up.

Smiling, Shoji turned back to the audience. He pulled out a sheet from his jacket and began to read it out at the podium.

"Hello and welcome, ladies and gentlemen," he began, "My name is Shoji Kawamura. I come from Japan. I am like many of you. I chose to leave my home and my country because I believe in a vision of a new society which is free from the constraints and conventions that everyday life has forced on us."

He stopped a moment. Everybody's eyes were turned on him.Wait, he thought. This isn't right. It's like I'm just parroting everything in Konstantiniadis' book.

He looked around. Everybody was expecting him to say more, but he was paralyzed with such nervousness that he was speechless. He panicked.

"Go on, Shoji!" shouted someone.

"Yeah! You can do it!"

"Shoji! Shoji! Shoji!"

He looked back and saw Konstantiniadis still giving him the thumbs-up.

"You can do it, Shoji-kun!" cried Chidori.

Instantly, something kicked in Shoji's brain. Of course! he thought. I can't just depend on this!

He folded the paper and put it back in his pocket. Then, with a new and powerful voice, he gave a new speech.

"Listen to me, everybody! We have all gathered here to put into action a dream; a dream that will change, not just ourselves, but the world as well!"

The crowd applauded as Shoji went on, "we are among those who wish to live in a world free from war, from prejudice, from hatred. But since the world does not share our dream, we have to build it with our bare hands. We cam here to build a new nation that is different from the rest; and to do that, we need land. But the world won't give us any land!"

Many nodded and expressed agreement.

"If the world won't give us land, then we have to create our own: It will be land that will not be hampered by events driving the world crazy. It will be land that is free, literally. We will build this nation on the waters of the world, and we will show them that we are capable of standing on our own two feet, and we will not live by their rules! I want you all to come with me, and together, we will build this new world!"

The audience responded with thunderous applause. Konstantiniadis and Chidori  ran from the backstage and threw their arms around Shoji. "You did it, Shoji!" the businessman exclaimed, "you did it! You've inspired everybody, just as I've inspired you!"

"I'm so proud of you, Shoji-kun!" said Chidori as she held to him tightly.

"Yeah, Shoji!" roared Simon as he clapped  and later raised a fist. "You da man!"

Shoji couldn't help the feeling of euphoria that had come over him. He was so happy. As he, Konstantiniadis and Chidori danced on the stage, Shoji noticed the North Korean clapping and looking at him very intently.

A Modern Nemo 19

Shoji Kawamura found himself standing right in the midst of a vast crowd numbering more than two thousand and all gathered together under one roof. The gathering of like minds in the huge convention center owned by Green Oceans was an amazing and overwhelming experience for Shoji. Here, in this convention center, were people who thought like him.

They believed that all deserved to live in a fair society and that the only way to create one was to start from scratch and in a way that conventional thought never conceived.

Shoji had no idea where to begin. So many people; so many faces. Chidori herself was at a loss at what to do and merely stood right next to him.

A big hand landed on Shoji's shoulder. He looked behind; it was Konstantiniadis.

"Hey Shoji," the businessman said, "So how do you like the place?"

Shoji turned to face his benefactor. "It's amazing," he replied. "I don't know what to say."

"I'll tell you what you can say," said Konstantiniadis as he put one arm around Shoji's shoulders and the other around Chidori's. "You can get up on the podium and and give a speech."

"A speech?" mumbled Shoji, nervous. "Me? What?"

"Don't worry," said Konstantiniadis reassuringly and he brought both of them to the backstage. "I'll give you a crash course."

The news that Petrov was in town reached Eric's ears; he wasn't supposed to be in Cagayan de Oro. The taipan was in his office doing overtime and was wondering what caused the sudden commotion. He sent a message to the general's iPhone.

What are you doing here? You're supposed to be with the task force.

The reply came:

I'm here on your son's orders. I'll be going back to Russia later.

Maximilian was in his condominium and had just finished his supper which he had cooked himself. His phone rang. "Dad" was on the screen.

Oh that was fast, he thought. Well, here we go.

He lifted the phone to his ear. "Dad?"

"Maximilian!" roared Eric. "What the hell are you up to? I want you in my office now!"

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.

A Modern Nemo 17

The three Ong brothers were waiting (rather impatiently) at the vast lobby of the Hotel Chalcedon. Their visitors were supposed to arrive an hour-and-a-half ago. Linus was pacing in circles, grumbling. Cyrus was fidgeting in his seat. Only Maximilian, also seated, seemed to keep calm but in reality he was losing his patience with the wait; a lot of ash had already piled up in the ashtray and he had lighted another cigar.

"Just how many of those have you burned up already?" Cyrus asked. Maximilian had acquired his smoking habit from their father but, unlike him, chose cigars instead of cigarettes.

The Hotel Chalcedon was a five-star hotel owned by the Zhang Group, a member of the EOGC. The Zhang Group was headed by Oliver Zhang, the Cardinal's younger brother. Both Oliver's sons, Paul and Andrew, worked there as management-level officers.

Maximilian glanced at his cigar case. There were only three left. "Want one?" he asked, holding the case out to Cyrus. The latter waved it away and shook his head.

"Want another coffee?" asked Maximilian.

"Nah," replied Cyrus. "One more and I'll get insomnia."

"We've been here for almost two hours and Laurie's been calling me for the past thirty minutes!" Linus exclaimed. Laurie was his girlfriend.

"Just who the hell was it who was sent to the airport to pick them up?" wondered Maximilian.

Presently, Cyrus' cell phone vibrated. It was a text message. "Alright," he said. They're here."

"Finally," muttered Maximilian, rising.

"I'll go bring them in," said Cyrus. He rose and made off to the door.

At first, it was just vehicles of the other guests passing by. Suddenly, an EOGC  passenger van moving very erratically -at high speed in a busy street- blundered its way to the hotel entrance, coming to an abrupt stop in front of Cyrus. It narrowly missed him by six inches.

Cyrus froze. Who the heck is this maniac? he thought. He could have killed me!

"Sorry, Mr. Ong," mumbled the driver, who scampered out of the drivers seat and was now cringing in front of him.

Out of the van stepped Petrov, Hayashi and Onodera.

"What's wrong with you?" Onodera said to the driver. "Are you from Afghanistan?"

Anselmo stepped back, his arms raised over his head and whimpering.

Cyrus noticed a sadistic smirk on Petrov's face. "Stop picking on him," he said to Onodera, realizing that Petrov was behind this.

Anslemo hid himself behind Cyrus as the latter went on, "my brothers are waiting inside. Let's all go in."

Turning to Anselmo, he said, "Be back here by eleven o'clock."

Anselmo became paler than a corpse.

"My brothers and I didn't bring our cars, so you're going to bring us back," Cyrus finished.

Anselmo breathed a sigh of relief. On weekdays, the brothers lived separately from their parents and sister. It was only on weekends that they stayed at Ong Manor. Maximilian lived in an condominium in downtown Cagayan while Cyrus, in a villa in Pueblo de Oro, and Linus made his abode in a beach house in Opol and was a neighbor of Leon.

As Cyrus watched Anselmo get back in the van and drive happily away, he followed the three officers into the building.

A Modern Nemo 16

The van was moving slowly. Anselmo kept whimpering and shuddering as he drove. Far at the back, Onodera and Hayashi were talking about what happened on the plane. Between them and Anselmo sat Petrov, his arms folded and eyes closed.

"I was really surprised that there are still some members of that cult hanging around," remarked Hayashi.

"Yeah," agreed Onodera. "That group should have been disbanded after their failure to take GST."

"Apparently, there are still some die-hards left," Hayashi continued. "Imagine, finding someone sitting next to you and right beside the emergency exit suddenly getting up and screaming the name of their 'master,' then trying to open the emergency exit while the plane's still in flight."

"The pin-down was proper," Onodera declared. "Imagine what would have happened if someone fired a shot at him."

"Both wrists nailed with a knife."

Just then, Onodera changed the topic. "Hey," he said. "Did you notice something?"

Hayashi looked around, then peered out the window. "Yeah," he said. "We're moving really slow."

Petrov opened his eyes.

"Somebody kill me. Somebody kill me. Somebody kill me," mumbled Anselmo.

A hand landed on his shoulder, sending shivers up his spine. He felt Petrov's breath behind his neck.

"We're moving slowly," said the general. "Is something wrong with the engine or," he ran a finger in circles on Anselmo's nape, "you're so tired and need a little motivation?"

"Sir, no, sir!" Anselmo shrieked. He shifted to fourth gear and put the pedal to the metal. The van sped to Cagayan, full speed.