The banquet hall was festooned with colorful paper lanterns and fairy lights. The color red predominated the room, supported by yellows and greens. The head table sat on a dais at the back of the room, fronting a large picture window. Smaller round tables dotted the floor. Thia nodded in approval to the catering manager, who smiled in return.

She called up the time in her display. Guests in China arrived promptly, never fashionably late, and usually in groups. Since she had only invited one group, she expected them to come en masse. She was not disappointed.

     Big Brother Jing Wang approached, followed by Little Brother Hsu and forty other gang members, all dressed in suits. Thia bowed slightly, then extended her hand in greeting, as presenting a business card would be a moot point.

“Maxine Lai. Nice to meet you.”

“Mrs. Lai, a pleasure. I am Jing Wang. Please accept this gift from the Dragon Division.”

     A man to his right handed him a gift-wrapped box, which he gave to Thia. She accepted it with both hands, as per custom, and thanked him, then gestured for him to enter the banquet room.

“Please, you and your group may be seated.”

     He offered his arm and they strode to the head table. After everyone was seated, Thia offered up a toast to start the festivities. Waiters brought platters of food of various dishes, and each table offered another toast at the appearance of a different dish. Some foods Thia knew and some she didn’t. But, as per custom, she tasted a bit of each dish.

     The gang bao chicken was exquisite, but the shark fin soup was bland and tasteless. She had also ordered some baijiu, alcohol distilled from sorghum, and refilled Jing’s glass as soon as it emptied, flirting outrageously with him by squeezing his thigh and laughing at his jokes.

     After two and a half hours of reveling and toasting, Thia stood up and clinked her glass with a knife, silencing the room. With all eyes on her, she raised her glass to offer a final toast.

“I would like to thank you all for coming and joining me in this meal. I enjoy making new business partners and look forward to a long, prosperous partnership.”

     Everyone drank in response. Thia sat down to Jing’s hand around her waist. He leaned in and whispered drunkenly in her ear.

“Why don’t we go somewhere to finalize our deal?” He laughed with a lecherous grin.

     A small contingent of gang members gathered behind Jing and he turned with a look of annoyance until he spied the gift-wrapped box that Little Brother Hsu held. He handed the box to Jiang.

“Please accept this token of our appreciation for your leadership of our division, Big Brother Wang.”

     Jing stood up, unsteadily, and thanked him for the gift, then weaved back to his seat, placing the box on the table.

     Thia’s spectral vision automatically dialed up and she almost dropped her drink in shock. Gamma and X-rays emanated from the box! In addition, traces of cosmic radiation registered. All of which, showed in her display as a dazzling combination of blues, reds, and oranges. They whirled in a rhythmic pattern, pulsing to some internal metronome. Others of course, could not see what she did. Thia raised a shaky hand to her forehead to sweep away her bangs.

     It was considered bad form to open a gift in front of the giver, so she couldn’t ask what the box held, but she had to get it out of the room. It seemed they would, indeed, go somewhere to “finalize the deal.”

****

     Thia playfully slapped Jing’s hand away from her backside as they alighted from the elevator and could barely place her finger on the Ident Pad. She had taken him to a different hotel than hers where she had bribed the staff.

     She and Jing spilled inside the spacious room, nearly falling to the floor. Jing still clutched the gift in one arm, Thia’s waist in the other. She also held her gift, which she threw onto the couch. Thia turned to give Jing a kiss and his hot breath bloomed in her face. After enduring a minute of his bloated tongue sliding around in her mouth, she broke.

“Let me take that for you,” she said. She snatched up the gift, giggling. “I love unwrapping presents. Can I?”

“As long as you’re quick about it.” Jing peeled off his jacket and threw it on a chair, then began to undo his tie. “What about your gift?”

“Oh, I know it’s not nearly as interesting as yours.”

     Thia ripped off the paper and opened the lid.

“What is it?” Jing said, kicking off his shoes and unbuckling his pants.

“Some type of jeweled artifact.”

     It was an ellipse within an ellipse, connected at one end, crusted in jewels. The colors came through with more intensity, streaming off the thing in waves. What the hell was it, she thought. She’d never seen anything that gave off particles that spanned the entire electromagnetic spectrum. She tapped her thumb twice, calling up the servers, and relayed the readings.

“Now, let’s get down to business.”

     Jing stood naked before her, arms outstretched, pelvis thrusting. She almost laughed, but stifled it in time, pursing her lips. She placed the box on the sideboard, then led him into the bedroom. Once he was unconscious, she wouldn’t be able to lift his body onto the bed, so she lured him onto the bed with a strip tease, providing the music herself. Her stilettoes sank into the temperfoam as she moved amongst the pillows.

“Da da daaah, da da da daaah…”

     He lunged for her, but she sidestepped him, straddled his back, and jabbed a ring-stinger into the back of his neck. He yowled, then went limp. Since he was unconscious, she also injected a subdermal microphone/tracker. Thia pulled up her straps and dashed into the next room, grabbed the artifact from the sideboard. She sat on the couch and stared at the thing. Data streamed from her display to the server. Thia tapped her pinky and thumb, calling Dran. The U.S. was twelve hours behind.

“You’re checking in early,” Dran said.

“Jing is unconscious in the next room. I expect the deal to be formalized tomorrow, but look at this.” She held up the artifact. “Its readings are off the chart. I’m uploading them to the server. Do me a favor and get someone to run an analysis.”

“And what do you expect to find? An alien life form?” He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of what she assumed was coffee.

     His casual demeanor ignited her anger. “Listen, you ass. I’m the one out in the field risking my life for this deal. The last thing I want is something to screw it up, so you’ll get me those readings, and get them quick!”

     Thia closed the line and her display fell dark. “Ass,” she muttered. She walked back into the bedroom, pulled the bedspread from under Jing, and covered him with it. She mussed the sheets to make it look like they had the time of their life. Jing had only been out a few minutes. His goons were at the door, so she would have to wait long enough to make their tryst seem believable. She snapped on the holo, called up her favorite show, and sat back on the bed. After two hours, she left.

****

To be continued....  Go to Part 1     Go to Part 3

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