"Profit is profit," Wu said, very angry. "10,000 is your profit. That's enough to buy an air ticket to Honolulu and back to Hong Kong and have ten days of holiday together." He saw the momentary flash of joy wash across his son's face and he smiled inside.

"I'll never come back," Paul Choy said bravely. "Never."

"Oh yes you will. You will now. You've fished in fornicating dangerous waters."

"I'll never come back. I've a U.S. passport and a"

"And a Jap whore, heya?"

Paul Choy stared at his father, aghast that his father knew, then rage possessed him arid he sprang up and bunched his fists. "She's not a whore by all gods! She's great, she's a lady and her folks're th"

"Quiet!" Wu bit back the expletive carefully. "Very well, she's not a whore, even though to me all women are whores. She's not a whore but an empress. But she's still a fornicating devil from the Eastern Sea, one of those who raped China."

"She's American, she's American like me," Paul Choy flared, his fists clenched tighter, ready to spring. The helmsman and Goodweather Poon readied to interfere without seeming to. A knife slid into Poon's fist. "I'm American, she's American nisei and her father was with the 442 in Italy an"

"You're Haklo, you're one of the Seaborne Wu, the ship people, and you'll obey me! You will, Profitable Choy, oh yes you will obey! Heya?"

Paul Choy stood in front of him shaking with equal fury, trying to keep up his courage, for, in rage, the old man was formidable and he could feel GoodweatherPoon and the other men behind his back. "Don't call her names! Don't!"

"You dare bunch your fists at me? Me who's given you life, given you everything? Every chance, even the chance of meeting thisa this Eastern Sea Empress? Heya?"

Paul Choy felt himself spun around as though by a great wind. Goodweather Poon was peering up at him. "This is the Captain of the Fleets. You will respect him!" The seaman's iron hand shoved him back to the seats. "The captain said sit. Sit!"

After a moment, Paul Choy said sullenly, "How did you know about her?"

Exasperated, the old man sputtered, "All gods bear witness to this country person I sired, this monkey with the brains and manners of a country person. Do you think I didn't have you watched? Guarded? Do I send a mole among snakes or a civilized whelp among foreign devils unprotected? You're the son of Wu Sang Fang, Head of the Seaborne Wu, and I protect my own against all enemies. You think we don't have enemies enough who would slit your Secret Sack and send me the contents just to spite me? Heya?"

"I don't know."

"Well know it very well now, my son!" Four Finger Wu was aware this was a clash to the death and he had to be wise as a father must be when his son finally calls him. He was not afraid. He had done this with many sons and only lost one. But he was grateful to the tai-pan who had given him the information about the girl and about her parentage. That's the key, he thought, the key to this impudent child from a Third Wife whose Golden Gulley was as sweet and as tender as fresh bonefish as long as she lived. Perhaps I'll let him bring the whore here. The poor fool needs a whore whatever he calls her. Lady? Ha! I've heard the Eastern Sea Devils have no pubics! Disgusting! Next month he can bring the strumpet here. If her parents let her come alone that proves she's a whore. If they don't, then that's the end of her. Meanwhile I'll find him a wife. Yes. Who? One of Tightfist's granddaughters? Or Lando Mata's ora Ah, wasn't that half-caste's youngest brat trained in the Golden Mountain too, at a school for girls, a famous school for girls? What's the difference to this fool, pure blood or not?

I have many sons, he thought, feeling nothing for him. I gave them life. Their duty is to me and when I'm dead, to the clan.

Perhaps a good broad-tripped, hard-footed Haklo boat-girl'd be the right one for him, he thought grimly. Yes, but eeeee, there's no need to cut your Stalk to spite a weakness in your bladder, however rude and ill-mannered the fornicating dumblehead is! "In a month Black Beard will grant you a holiday," he said with finality. "I will see to it. With your 10,000 profit you can take a passage on a flying machinea No! Better to bring her here," he added as though it were a fresh thought. "You will bring her here. You should see Manila and Singapore and Bangkok and visit our captains there. Yes, bring her here in a month, your 10,000 will pay for the ticket and pay for everyth"

"No. I won't. I won't do it. And I don't want drug money! I'll never take drug money and I counsel you to get out of the drug trade immed"

The whole junk was suddenly floodlit. Everyone was momentarily blinded. The searchlight was to starboard.

"Haul to!" came the order in English over the loud-hailer, then repeated in Haklo, then in Cantonese.

Wu and Goodweather Poon were the first to react and in a split second they were in motion. Wu swung the tiller hard to port away from the Marine Police patrol boat and gunned both the engines to full ahead. Poon had leapt down the gangway to the main deck and now~he sliced the cargo line and the wake of bales vanished as the bales sank into the deep.

"Haul to for boarding!" The metallic words ripped through Paul Choy who stood paralyzed with fright. He watched his father reach into a nearby sea locker and bring out some crumpled PRC peaked soldiers' hats and shove one on. "Quick," he ordered, throwing one to him. Petrified, he obeyed and crammed it onto his head. Miraculously all the crew were now wearing the same kind of hat and a few were struggling into equally drab and crumpled army tunics.

His heart stopped. Others were reaching into sea lockers and bringing out PRC army rifles and submachine guns as still others went to the side nearest the police boat and began shouting obscenities. The boat was sleek and battle gray with a deck gun, two searchlights now and her riding lights on. She lay a hundred yards to starboard, her engines growling, keeping pace with them easily. They could see the neat, white-clad sailors and, on the bridge, the peaked British officers' caps.

Four Fingers had a loud-hailer horn now and he went to the side, his hat pulled well down, and he roared, "Go fornicate yourselves, barbarians! Look at our colors!" His hand stabbed toward his masthead. The PRC marine flag fluttered there. Aft on the stern was a fake Canton PRC registration number. "Leave a peaceful patrol alonea you're in our waters!"

Poon's face was split into a malevolent grin. A PRC automatic pistol was in his hands and he stood at the gunnel silhouetted in the light, the cap pulled well down to preclude identification by the binoculars he knew were raking the ship. His heart was racing too and there was a sick-sweet-sour bile in his mouth. They were in international waters. Safety and PRC waters were fifteen minutes away. He cocked the gun. Orders were quite clear. No one was boarding tonight.

"Haul to! We're coming aboard!"

They all saw the patrol boat slow and the cutter splash into the sea and many aboard lost their initial confidence. Four Fingers squeezed the throttle forward to get the last fraction of power. He cursed himself for not seeing the police boat or sensing their presence earlier but he knew that they had electronic devices to see in the dark whereas he had to rely on eyes and nose and the sixth sense that so far had kept him and most of his people alive.

It was rare to find a patrol boat so close to Chinese waters. Even so, the boat was there and though his cargo was gone, there were guns aboard and so was Paul Choy. Joss! All gods defecate on that patrol boat! Goodweather Poon was partially right, he told himself. The gods will decide if it was wise or not to bring the youth aboard.

"Go fornicate yourselves! No foreign devil comes aboard a patrol boat of the People's Republic of China!" All the crew cheered enthusiastically, adding their obscenities to the din.

"Haul to!"

The old man paid no attention. The junk was headed toward the Pearl River estuary at maximum speed and he and an aboard prayed that there were no PRC patrols nearby. In the searchlight they could see the cutter with ten armed sailors on an intercept course but it was not fast enough to overtake them.

"For the last time, haul tooooo!"

"For the fornicating last time leave peaceful PRC patrol to their own watersa"

Suddenly the patrol's sirens started whoopwhoopwhooping and she seemed to jump forward from the violent thrust of her engines, a high churning wake astern. The searchlight still kept them cen- tered as she charged ahead and cut across the junk's bow and stayed there, her engines growling malevolently, barring the path to safety.

Paul Choy was still staring at the battle gray, sharp-nosed craft with its deck gun manned and machine guns manned, big, with four times the power they had, the gap closing fast with no room to maneuver. They could see the uniformed sailors on her deck and the officers on the bridge, radar aerials sweeping.

"Get your head down," Wu warned Paul Choy who obeyed instantly. Then Wu ran forward to the bow, Goodweather Poon beside him. Both had automatic machine guns.

"Now!"

Carefully he and his friend sprayed the sea toward the patrol boat that was almost on them, taking extreme care that none of the bullets splashed the deck. Instantly the searchlight went out and at once, in the blinding darkness, the helmsman put the junk hard to starboard and prayed that Wu had chosen correctly. The junk slid around the other ship with a few yards leeway as the other craft gunned ahead to get out of the way of the bullets. The helmsman heaved her back on her course and her dash for safety.

"Good," Wu muttered, knowing he had gained another hundred yards. His mind carried the chart of these waters. Now they were in the gray area between Hong Kong and PRC waters, a few hundred yards from real safety. In the darkness all on deck had kept their eyes tightly shut. The moment they felt the searchlight again, they opened their eyes and adjusted more quickly. The attacker was ahead and to port out of machine gun range but still ahead and still in the way. Wu smiled grimly. "Big Nose Lee!" His chief deckhand came promptly, and he handed him the machine gun. "Don't use it till I order it and don't hit one of those fornicators!"

Suddenly the darkness split and the parrang of the deck gun deafened them. A split second and a vast spout of water burst from the sea near their bow. Wu was shocked and he shook his fist at the ship. "Fornicate you and all your mothers! Leave us alone or Chairman Mao will sink all Hong Kong!"

He hurried aft. "I'll take the tiller!"

The helmsman was frightened. So was Paul Choy, but at the same time he was curiously excited and vastly impressed with the way his father commanded and the way everyone aboard reacted with disci pline instead of as the motley ragtag bunch of pirates he had imagined them to be.

"Haul tol"

Again the gap began closing but the patrol boat kept out of machine gun range and the cutter kept out of range aft. Stoically Wu held his course. Another flash then another and parrang parrannag. Two shells straddled the junk rocking her.

"Fornicate all mothers," Wu gasped, "all gods keep those gun- ners accurate!" He knew that the shots were only to frighten. His friend the Snake had given him assurances that all patrols were ordered never to hit or sink a fleeing junk carrying PRC colors in case the colors were real, never to forcibly board unless one of their own seamen was killed or wounded. "Give them a burst," he called out.

Obediently but with great care, the two men on the bow sprayed the waters. The searchlight never wavered, but suddenly it went out.

Wu kept-his course firm. Now what? he asked himself desper- ately. Where's that fornicator going? He searched the darkness, his eyes straining to see the patrol boat and the promontory he knew was nearby. Then he saw the silhouette to port aft. She was bearing down fast in a swirling rush to come up alongside with grappling hooks. Safety was a hundred yards ahead. If he turned from the new danger he would parallel safety and stay in international waters and then the ship would do the same again and shepherd him into open seas until his ammunition was gone or the dawn came and he was lost. He dare not make a real battle for he knew British law had a long arm and the killing of one of their seamen was punished with hanging, and no money or high friends would prevent it. If he held his course the ship could grapple him and he knew how adept and well trained these Cantonese seamen were and how they hated Haklos.

His face split into a grimace. He waited until the patrol boat was fifty yards astern, coming up very fast, the siren whooping deafeningly, then grimly he turned the tiller into her and prayed the captain was awake. For a moment the two ships hung in the balance. Then the patrol boat swung away to avoid the collision, the wash from her props spraying them. Wu wheeled starboard and slammed all throttles forward even though they were already as far forward as they could go. A few more yards were gained.

He saw the patrol boat recover quickly. She roared around in a circle and came back at them on a different tack. They were just within Chinese waters. Without hope Four Fingers left the tiller and picked up another submachine gun and sprayed the darkness, the barking thwack thwack thwack and the smell of cordite making his fear more intense. Abruptly the searchlight splashed him, its light vicious. He turned his head, blinded, and blinked, keeping his head and cap well down. When he could see again he pointed the automatic directly at the light and cursed obscenely, frightened that they would grapple him and tow him from safety. The hot barrel shook as he aimed for the light, his finger on the trigger. It would be death if he fired and prison if he didn't. Fear spread through him and throughout his ship.

But the light did not swoop down as he expected. It remained aft and now he saw her bow wave lessening and her wake waves lessening and his heart began to beat again. The patrol boat was letting him go. The Snake had been right!

Shakily he put down the gun. The loud-hailer was nearby. He brought it to his mouth.

"Victory to Chairman Mao!" he bellowed with all his might. "Stay out of our waters, you fornicating foreign devilllls!" The joy-filled words echoed across the waters. His crew jeered, shaking their fists at the light. Even Paul Choy was caught up in the excitement and shouted too as they all realized the patrol boat would not venture into Chinese waters.

The searchlight vanished. When their eyes had adjusted they saw the patrol boat broadside, making hardly any way, her riding lights on now.

"She'll have us on their radar," Paul Choy muttered in English.

"Wat?"

He repeated it in Haklo, using the English word, radar, but explaining it as a magic eye. Both Poon and Four Fingers knew about radar in principle though they had never seen one. "What does that matter?" Wu scoffed. "Their magic screens or magic eyes won't help them now. We can lose them easily in the channels near Lan Tao. There's no evidence against us, no contraband aboard, no nothing!"

"What about the guns?"

"We can lose them overboard, or we can lose those mad dogs and keep our guns! Eeeee, Goodweather Poon, when those shells strad- dled us I thought my anus was jammed shut forever!"

"Yes," Poon agreed happily, "and when we fired into the darkness at the fornicatorsa all gods fornicate! I've always wanted to use those guns!"

Wu laughed too until the tears were running down his face. "Yes, yes, Old Friend." Then he explained to Paul Choy the strategy that the Snake had worked out for them. "Good, heyal"

"Who's the Snake?" Paul Choy asked.

Wu hesitated, his small eyes glittering. "An employee, a police employee you might say, Profitable Choy."

"With the cargo gone the night's not profitable at all," Poon said sourly.

"Yes," Wu agreed, equally sourly. He had already promised Venus Poon a diamond ring that he had planned to pay for from tonight's transactions. Now he would have to dip into his savings, which was against all his principles. You pay for whores out of current earnings, never out of savings, so piss on that police boat! he thought. Without the diamond presenta Eeeee, but her Beauteous Box is everything Richard Kwang claimed, and the wriggle of her rump everything rumor had promised. And tonighta tonight after the TV station closes, her Gorgeous Gate is due to open once more!

"Filthy joss, that sharp-nosed bandit finding us tonight," he said, his manhood stirring at the thought of Venus Poon. "All that money gone and our expenses heavy!"

"The cargo's lost?" Paul Choy asked, greatly surprised.

"Of course lost, gone to the bottom," the old man said irritably.

"You haven't got a marker on it, or a beeper?" Paul Choy used the English word. He explained it to them. "I presumed it would have one or a float that would release itself in a day or two, chemically so you could recover it or send frogmen to fetch it when it was safe to do so." The two men were gaping at him. "What's the matter?"

"It is easy to find these 'beepers' or to arrange a delayed float for a day or two?" Wu asked.

"Or a week or two weeks if you want, Father."

"Would you write all this down, how to do it? Or you could arrange it?"

"Of course. But why don't you also have a magic eye, like theirs?"

"What do we need with them and who could work them?" The old man scoffed again. "We have noses and ears and eyes."

"But you got caught tonight."

"Watch your tongue!" Wu said angrily. "That was joss, joss, a joke of the gods. We're safe and that's all that matters!"

"I disagree, Captain," Paul Choy said, without fear now as everything fell into place. "It would be easy to equip this boat with a magic eye then you can see them as soon or sooner than they can see you. They can't surprise you. So you can thumb your noses at them without fear and never lose a cargo. Heya7" He smiled inwardly, seeing them hooked. "Never a mistake, not even a little one. And never danger. And never a lost cargo. And cargo with beepers. You don't even need to be anywhere near the drop. Only a week later, heyal"

"That would be perfect," Poon said fervently. "But if the gods are against you, Profitable Ahoy, even magic eyes won't help. It was close tonight. That whore wasn't supposed to be here."

They all looked at the ship, just lying aft. Waiting. A few hundred yards aft. Wu set the engine to slow ahead. "We don't want to go too deep into PRC waters," he said uneasily. "Those civilized fornicators are not so polite or so law-abiding." A shiver went through him. "We could use a magic eye, Goodweather Poon."

"Why don't you own one of those patrol boats?" Paul Choy said, baiting the hook again. "Or one a little faster. Then you could outrun them."

"One of those? Are you mad?"

"Who would sell us one?" Wu asked impatiently.

"Japanese."

"Fornicate all Eastern Sea Devils," Poon said.

"Perhaps, but they'd build you something like that, radar equipped. They"

He stopped as the police patrol boat cut in her deep growling engines, and, with her siren whoopwhoopwhooping, hurtled off into the night, her wake churning.

"Look at her go," Paul Choy said admiringly in English. "Classy son of a bitch!"

He repeated it in Haklo. "I'll bet she's still got the Thai trawler in her magic eye. They can see everything, every junk, every ship and cove and promontory for miles even a storm."

Thoughtfully Four Finger Wu gave a new course to the helmsman that kept them just in PRC waters heading north for the islands and reefs around Lan Tao Island where he would be safe to make for the next rendezvous. There they would transfer to another junk with real registrations PRC and Hong Kong to slide back into Aberdeen. Aberdeen! His fingers nervously touched the half-coin again. He had forgotten the coin in the excitement. Now his fingers trembled and his anxiety was rekindled as he thought about his meeting with the tai-pan tonight. There was plenty of time. He would not be late. Even so he increased speed.

"Come," he ordered, motioning Poon and Paul Choy to join him on the cushions aft where they would be more private.

"Perhaps we'd be wise to stay with our junks, and not get one of those whores, my son." Wu's finger stabbed the darkness where the patrol boat had been. "The foreign devils would become even madder if I had one of those in my fleet. But this magic eye of yoursa you could install it and show us how to use it?"

"I could get experts to do that. People from the Eastern Sea it would be better to use them not British or German."

Wu looked at his old friend. "Heya7"

"I don't want one of those turds or their magic eyes on my ship. Soon we'd rely on the fornicators and we'd lose our treasures along with our heads," the other man grumbled.

"But to see when others can't?" Wu puffed on his cigarette. "Is there another seller, Profitable Choy?"

"They would be the best. And cheapest, Father."

"Cheapest, heya? How much will this cost?"

"I don't know. 20,000 U.S., perhaps 4~"

The old man exploded. "40,000 U.S.? Am I made of gold? I have to work for my money! Am I Emperor Wu?"

Paul Choy let the old man rave. He was feeling nothing for him anymore, not after all the night's horror and killing and entrapment and cruelty and blackmail, and most of all because of his father's words against his girl. He would respect his father for his seamanship, for his courage and his command. And as Head of the House. Nothing more. And from now on he would treat him like any other man.