Read Online Desperation and Decision by Sophronia Belle Lyon - Free Book Online
Authors: Sophronia Belle Lyon
Tags: Literary, Mystery, Steampunk, Christian, dickens, alcott, stevenson, crime fighters, classic characters
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have passed
all the customs requirements. Since when do they inspect an
outgoing ship a second time?"
"The government has the power to inspect at
any time, for any reason, without notice. You know this,
Huang."
"I cannot permit it! You will rip open
packing crates and undo hours of preparation. My cargo is fragile
and perishable. Speak to the port authority for me, Master Fun.
Tell them I am well known to you and you can vouch for me. We shall
miss the tide, and I must make my scheduled stops."
"You are known to me, Huang, but your cargo
is not, and I cannot vouch for that which I have not seen. Your
manifests say you carry cloth goods, tools and metal ware. How can
these be perishable?"
"I tell you I cannot allow an inspection!
Master Fun, please! It is only paperwork. I will be ruined if I do
not make these deliveries."
"I will be ruined if I falsify an inspection
report. I begin to think there is a need to inspect your hold,
Huang. Step aside, or I will bring assistance and have you removed
from the ship. The Green Jade Sea cannot leave anchor without my
approval. It is you who are wasting precious time, not I."
I pushed past Huang Lo and moved down into
the hold of the ship. I blinked in the dim light and then caught my
breath. There was not one packing case or barrel in the entire
hold. It was filled with human beings, mostly young people, some
only children. There were at least two hundred people in the hold
of the ship.
"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded as
Huang came up behind me, panting and white-eyed.
"My investors," Huang bleated, falling on
his knees. "They forced me to carry these people."
"Who are your investors? Who are all these
people? Where are they going?"
"Huang Lee has been carrying people in his
hold for at least three months. They have been smuggled into every
port where the ship calls on the way to Hong Kong. He does not know
their purpose. The company he claims invested in him is listed in
legal filings as a private foundation, and such entities are not
required to give many details about their makeup. Huang can say
only that a rather short, bow-legged man came to his ship on a
rainy, foggy night wrapped up to the eyes, and gave him money
enough to make his trade flourish. Just when Huang began to prosper
the man came back, demanding that Huang transport people on very
short notice, usually after all probable inspections would be over.
None of the people we discovered will say what their purpose was or
who sent them on this journey. We cannot even learn who they
are.
"There are no real charges upon which to hold
them, either. It is not a crime to be in the hold of a ship sitting
in a London port. Poor Huang is jailed, of course, for falsifying
his manifests. His business is ruined, his ship confiscated. But it
is clear that someone had a purpose in transporting these people.
It is our belief that these are the thieves the organization is
putting in place throughout the empire and Europe."
Fun See made his formal bow again and sat
down. Madame Phoebe turned her attention to a gigantic black man,
dressed in shirtsleeves and a gold and white brocaded vest, with
black trousers tucked into leather boots. His heavy belt supported
something that looked like a whip with a long shaft and many
relatively short knotted tails with small leather pieces tied to
their ends. His complexion was a little ruddy as well as very dark,
and his head was shaved and shining.
"Zambo, we must hear your tale next, for you
have the key to the mystery of Huang Lee's cargo of souls."
"My history begins with slavery, ladies and
gentlemen," Zambo said with a thick Caribbean accent. "The Flail of
God, Lord Roxton, set me free and worked tirelessly to free
others."
I had been staring at Zambo's belt, cudgeling
my brains to know what that strange leather implement was, and
suddenly realized that it was, indeed, a flail, a tool used to beat
the shells off of grain. I was finally able to return my attention
to
all the customs requirements. Since when do they inspect an
outgoing ship a second time?"
"The government has the power to inspect at
any time, for any reason, without notice. You know this,
Huang."
"I cannot permit it! You will rip open
packing crates and undo hours of preparation. My cargo is fragile
and perishable. Speak to the port authority for me, Master Fun.
Tell them I am well known to you and you can vouch for me. We shall
miss the tide, and I must make my scheduled stops."
"You are known to me, Huang, but your cargo
is not, and I cannot vouch for that which I have not seen. Your
manifests say you carry cloth goods, tools and metal ware. How can
these be perishable?"
"I tell you I cannot allow an inspection!
Master Fun, please! It is only paperwork. I will be ruined if I do
not make these deliveries."
"I will be ruined if I falsify an inspection
report. I begin to think there is a need to inspect your hold,
Huang. Step aside, or I will bring assistance and have you removed
from the ship. The Green Jade Sea cannot leave anchor without my
approval. It is you who are wasting precious time, not I."
I pushed past Huang Lo and moved down into
the hold of the ship. I blinked in the dim light and then caught my
breath. There was not one packing case or barrel in the entire
hold. It was filled with human beings, mostly young people, some
only children. There were at least two hundred people in the hold
of the ship.
"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded as
Huang came up behind me, panting and white-eyed.
"My investors," Huang bleated, falling on
his knees. "They forced me to carry these people."
"Who are your investors? Who are all these
people? Where are they going?"
"Huang Lee has been carrying people in his
hold for at least three months. They have been smuggled into every
port where the ship calls on the way to Hong Kong. He does not know
their purpose. The company he claims invested in him is listed in
legal filings as a private foundation, and such entities are not
required to give many details about their makeup. Huang can say
only that a rather short, bow-legged man came to his ship on a
rainy, foggy night wrapped up to the eyes, and gave him money
enough to make his trade flourish. Just when Huang began to prosper
the man came back, demanding that Huang transport people on very
short notice, usually after all probable inspections would be over.
None of the people we discovered will say what their purpose was or
who sent them on this journey. We cannot even learn who they
are.
"There are no real charges upon which to hold
them, either. It is not a crime to be in the hold of a ship sitting
in a London port. Poor Huang is jailed, of course, for falsifying
his manifests. His business is ruined, his ship confiscated. But it
is clear that someone had a purpose in transporting these people.
It is our belief that these are the thieves the organization is
putting in place throughout the empire and Europe."
Fun See made his formal bow again and sat
down. Madame Phoebe turned her attention to a gigantic black man,
dressed in shirtsleeves and a gold and white brocaded vest, with
black trousers tucked into leather boots. His heavy belt supported
something that looked like a whip with a long shaft and many
relatively short knotted tails with small leather pieces tied to
their ends. His complexion was a little ruddy as well as very dark,
and his head was shaved and shining.
"Zambo, we must hear your tale next, for you
have the key to the mystery of Huang Lee's cargo of souls."
"My history begins with slavery, ladies and
gentlemen," Zambo said with a thick Caribbean accent. "The Flail of
God, Lord Roxton, set me free and worked tirelessly to free
others."
I had been staring at Zambo's belt, cudgeling
my brains to know what that strange leather implement was, and
suddenly realized that it was, indeed, a flail, a tool used to beat
the shells off of grain. I was finally able to return my attention
to
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