Bianhua Ch. 06

Bianhua Part 6

The revelations Begin.

I was just getting prepared for the day when I saw the rather new strange black four-door Ford explorer driving up the side of the hill to the plateau heading towards my house. It stuck out for two reasons, the time of the day, the year, and the model because of what I associated it with. The question I had to ask myself were they friends or foes?

I watched them park the car and get out of it. The two gentlemen approaching the house appeared to have an official look to them. I could tell that they were carrying and was preparing myself for a fight if it was a trap.

The fact that there was no advance warning made me suspicious. Both were dressed in expensive-looking similar styled suits like the ones who escorted the President did. My suspicions were magnified because the younger of the two was of oriental decent. My first thought was that this would be something that the Chinese government could do if they had planned to take me back.

The older one walked more quickly than the young oriental which I found interesting. I concluded that the older one was the one in charge which meant it was the younger one that I would have to keep a closer eye on.

The older man would be the one doing the most talking leaving the younger man to do the unsuspecting grunt work if he had been ordered. I would have to make sure that he had no chance to get behind me. I had to make sure that he had no chance to get close enough to me to inject me with drugs.

So, I quickly threw on my work clothes and headed downstairs to greet them when they knocked on the door. I kept my shirt unbuttoned with nothing on my feet in case I found a need to be able to use my lower body as a weapon. There was no way I was going to allow myself to be taken anywhere by anyone. The coolness of the morning could be felt by my feet as I approached my front door.

As soon as they knocked, I opened the door. My first impression of the two gentlemen was that they believed that they were certain that they had come to the right location. Both the older gentleman and the younger one seemed to be comfortable being where they were. They both were in a friendly and relaxed state. That implied that they were here for information and not for me. I breathed a sense of relief.

********

"Dirk Blackstone, I presume," the older gentleman said.

I replied with a "Yes."

After introducing themselves they pulled out their identification which clearly showed them as being from the C.I. A. Immediately that got my attention. I knew something was up. Then the older of the two spoke.

"Dirk Blackstone, we were asked to come to talk to you directly," Chase Roberts said. " Terry Meadows whom we understand you are familiar with contacted me earlier this morning getting me out of bed. We are here about a situation that happened last night where he is currently stationed because it appears to directly involve you."

"What happened?" I asked in curiosity.

"A man named Yong Ling was discovered sitting inside our embassy this morning," Chris Whitlock explained. "It created quite the stir because he was found sitting calmly inside the middle of our security center as if he owned the space. Our security staff is still in a panic trying to figure out how he got himself into the embassy without setting off all the bells and whistles we have in the building."

My first thought went back to the last day I had seen him. It was the first time I saw him use his sacred teachings to get us inside of the embassy's locked outer security gates. I had been amazed that he was able to freeze the flow of electricity to the whole building forcing their security to go into a reset mold. He had explained that it would take thirty seconds for the backup system to click in.

I could not help being pleased to learn that he was still alive and doing things. I knew to gain access that he had to use some of the very skills he had refused to teach me because I was so young.

My second thought was the realization that anyone could be using his name. I would have to remain tight-lipped until I received further confirmation that who they were referring to was who I hoped he was.

"What has that got to do with me?" I asked figuring what I was about to learn would be quite interesting.

"Even in speaking in his native tongue they have gotten nothing out of him except for his constant demands to be put in contact with you," Chase said. "It's totally frustrating our security staff because he would answer our questions in fluent English when we spoke to him in Chinese or would speak in Russian as if he were trying to confuse us. The security team believes that they are being played by a Chinese agent. He is claiming that your life may be in danger."

If only they knew I said to myself. My adopted father, the master if it was him must have learned something that he thinks I should be made aware of as soon as possible. I got a smile because I knew that only a man like him would be bold enough to be so direct and demanding.

"The reason we are here is that he has an accurate knowledge of your original name and kept referring to you as the 'Wuming.' With your recent conversations, Terry thought I should talk to you directly to see what I could learn," Chase said. "We are thinking that he is a spy sent in to find out what he can."

"Can you provide me with a current image of the man?" I asked while trying not to get my hopes up because the person could be anyone using my adopted father, the master's name. It would be typical for the Chinese government to come up with something like this. With my history, I knew better than anybody it was best not to assume anything.

Chase took out a blackberry from a jacket pocket and brought up the image that he had been sent. It was a picture of the master, my adopted father. From the picture of him, it appeared that he had not aged a bit.

He looked like he always did when he was wearing one of his ceremonial monks' suits. A smile broke out on my face. My adopted father, the master would only wear the one he had on if he needed to convey the feeling of diplomacy when there was none.

"Inform Terry Meadows that the man they are holding is definitely who he says he is. The Yong Ling whom they are holding, for the record is my adopted father. He was the one that brought me to the embassy when he believed that he could no longer protect me," I said. "He is one of the sacred six and must have used secret teachings to gain entry to the embassy."

"Advise Terry that it would be wise on his part to take anything my adopted father says seriously and to treat him very carefully," I added. "Do not try to confuse him by talking in a different language in front of him. My adopted father speaks seven of them fluently and may already know things that Terry may be trying to hide."

It was interesting seeing the shocked look as it came upon Chase's face. I clearly got the impression that they had believed they had been in control of the situation. In fact, it was the other way around. My adopted father was and always would be three steps ahead of them.

"He is a master of Zen and a master of the martial arts. If my adopted father believed that his life was in danger, they all would be dead, or knocked out," I said. "My adopted father does not support the government of China but has learned to keep his life private even with all the Chinese government's surveillance. He follows religiously the teaching of Zen."

"Why didn't he explain that?" Chase asked aloud.

"Simply he has no reason to trust those he is with and had no reason to believe they would accept what he had to say," I explained. "He lives in a world where even something innocent can be turned into a weapon against them. Until you have earned his trust because of the environment he lives in he will keep most of his knowledge to himself."

Chase walked away from us and made a phone call. I could hear him explaining my adopted father's relationship with me to the person he had called. It gave Chris and me the chance to start to get to know each other. Chris, I learned was a third-generation Chinese American and knew extraordinarily little about his forefathers native country.

********

"About half an hour later Chase came back with a smile on his face saying as he handed his phone to me, "Terry wants to talk to you."

I took the phone and said, "Dirk here."

"Hen gao xing ting dao ni de sheng yin, Er zi," The master responded. Which means it is good to hear your voice, Son.

I guess I must have looked like a fool to the two gentlemen standing with me because my eyes teared up and my voice got emotional.

"fu gin ni ting qi lai bu cuo," I replied in Chinese. Which means you sound well father.

"Terry can be trusted. What's going on?" I asked in Chinese. "What has gotten you so concerned that you felt the need to contact me in this manner?"

Using Latin my adopted father told me in detail without revealing names of what he had gone through the previous day and what he had learned. Responding in the same tongue I explained in brief what had happened since meeting Suling again and where it had led me. I ended up telling him our suspicions about my birth father's death had been right.

To most Latin in a dead language and we knew it. From the first day, I met him he had started to teach it to me. Finally today I could see his reasoning. If the phone conversation was being taped they would spend weeks trying to figure out what language we were using.

I could tell by the look on Chase's and Chris's faces that they had no clue or understanding of what I said. Latin the root of all common languages was known by very few.

There was a pause in our conversation as my adopted father thought about what I had explained, then asked in English, "what do you have?"

"A file containing more than sixty pages of those being used in the USA by Gungwu Wang their Chinese handler," I said in Latin a language that many believed was the original language used at the beginning of our world.

That was when my adopted father's voice took a very serious note. Before ending our rather long conversation, he told me that he was trying to arrange for the sacred six to come to America.

In English, I said, "What is the real reason you feel you all need to that?"

His answer would throw me for a loop because without him answering me I would never have known just how much love, faith, belief, and trust he had in me.

My adopted father, the master replied with conviction, "wo xu yao shi fang ni de to unau." Which means I need to release your mind.

"I was the one you have had second thoughts about," I replied in complete shock. "Why?"

"The 'ging' has always been strong in you," My father said in Chinese. "I saw you naturally using it when the whip was being used on you because you would not cry. It was so much a part of you that it protected you from the pain or would it allow you to die. That was what drew me to you."

"When I explained what I had witnessed to the sacred six," he added. "After a long heated discussion, they reluctantly allowed me to pass on the secret teaching of the old to you provided I blocked your mind once you mastered them."

"Because I was so young, they did not want me using them because I had yet to prove that I was capable of doing no harm to any living thing," I said. "I can see the logic in their reasoning."

"The way you accepted the teachings and the speed of your mastering them amazed the other members of the sacred six. When they witnessed with their own eyes your natural abilities, even they were shocked," Yong Ling explained. "Like me, they saw what you had mastered as being second nature to you. We all believe that you will be able to achieve greater things by combining the skills together than all of us working together could."

"So why are all six of you coming?" I asked.

"All six of us may be needed to restore what I have blocked in your mind because of the layers I built into you over time," My adopted father said. "During the process, some of their secret knowledge may also be transferred to you. We don't know for sure how much because it has never been done with someone who has been repeatedly blocked over long periods."

"You believe with what I am facing that the danger coming my way may require those skills and teachings to be available to me if needed," I said.

"Those you will be going against will be capable of doing anything and have been given the permission to do it," Wong Ling said. "They are not bound by the rules of either society. Be warned and prepared. When cornered they will no better or different than a wild caged animal that has found the chance to be free. These ones will passionately believe that failure on their part will lead to the death of themselves and their family members."

"How soon can I expect you?" I asked.

"As soon as we can work out the details," My adopted father said. "The Chinese government does not have the full picture and until they do with the disappearance of one of their agents, we have time to prepare for anything. Stay safe."

"How can you be sure of that?" I asked.

"I altered one of their rising star's thinking," He responded. "Her Cellphone is on its way out of the country on a smuggler's route to the prison camps in North Korea. It will start functioning again once again when it is in the heart of North Korea. By the time they trace it, she will be nowhere to be found. I will explain more when I see you."

"For now, I best not give out too much information because there are too many ears," My adopted father said. "Until she is found the Chinese authorities will not make a move because they will believe that her disappearance may be connected to what she was able to learn."

********

After saying our goodbyes, shutting the call down, I went to hand the phone back to Chase Roberts. I knew the only thing stopping the Chinese government from coming after me was the unknown things that surrounded me.

"Keep it. The secure line is yours until we are done with what is yet to come," Chase said as he handed me the cord so I could charge it. "I preprogrammed it with Terry's and my cell numbers so that we can stay connected. The agency is thinking that it might be an advantage for us to have you present when we take your grandfather into custody."

"I would appreciate that opportunity," I said. "It would be nice to witness the look on my grandfather's face whom I have never met when I introduce myself because I believe the Chinese would never tell him that I escaped."

"I hope the proof you have is secured," Chris said.

"Multiple copies on computer sticks are secured in different locations in case one location is found," I said. "Who told you what I had?"

"Terry Meadows and I graduated C.I.A. basic training together. We have known each other for years. He called me and had me catch a plane from Washington last night," Chase explained. "Chris a local agent picked me up. Once the situation is settled on this end Terry will come back to the states to be with me when we take you to headquarters while we are cleaning up the mess."

"Terry doesn't have the full picture," I said. "The digital file contains four pages of names who were turned by Gungwu Wang along with their history. It goes back to his younger years when he attended university here when relationships were formed with a basis of innocence."

The look on Chase Roberts's face spoke volumes. It was now very apparent that the situation facing them was bigger than they imagined. This was a profoundly serious situation, and it would have to be handled very carefully. The last time the agency had taken down a spy ring this big had been during the cold war.

"That's why we had to pass through a security check before entering the valley," Chase said. "We thought it was being set up as a gated community."

"It failed," I said. "I should have been informed who you were before you even got here. There will be changes made today to correct that error."

That led me to have to explain what we were doing at the site. Everything from the recycling of the garbage, the mining of the iron ore, the start of reclaiming the old gold mine, and the cleanup of the ponds threatening the ecological system of the river.

"Because it is still considered a construction site, we retain security at its highest level," I said. "Day visitors have to sign in and out of a logbook. That way we can check out individual persons who stand out. The staff must show their security badge when entering and leaving. It is scanned automatically into the computer."

Before he left Chase said, "You apparently do not believe in leaving things to chance. If you think of anything that could assist you don't hesitate to ask."

"Anyone you think of using," I said. "Look for the littlest thing in their past that would stop you from using them. If it raises a question in your mind drop them because that's all it takes to give the Chinese an edge that they can weaponize."

Chris raised his eyebrow as if he were questioning my thought.

I responded with, "Remember always that I have walked with them in ways that you have not."

"You sound like you are preparing for them to do anything," Chris Whitlock said. "May I ask why?"

"The Chinese have been known to kidnap people that have relocated elsewhere forcing them back to China because once there the Chinese government can control the information," I said. "They will publicly pronounce that the person in question has renounced their new citizenship."

"With that lie released to the world, they can handle the situation internally," I said. "Once they have achieved what they want quite often the repatriated person ends up spending the rest of their days working in North Korea's prison camps. Inside China being sent to North Korea is famously known to be a death sentence."

It was interesting to see the change on Chris Whitlock's face as he digested the information, I had revealed to him. It was clear that he had little to no knowledge about how the Chinese government worked. There is an old saying which says believe none of what you hear and half of what you see. The Chinese had made me a firm believer that the statement was true.

"Chris perhaps it would be best that Chase explains to you how long the Chinese government hunted for me before I was brought out," I said. "It may help you understand that the Chinese authorities don't give up until it's a complete loss."

"One further thought for you to ponder," I said. "Those in China who have revealed truths about the virus who have disappeared are they perhaps members of North Korea's prisoner camps? Is there a way that possibility can be checked out?"

I watched them walk back to the vehicle they had arrived in. My mind was filled with the thoughts about seeing my adopted father and the sacred six which I knew of, but I could not remember having met. It also got me wondering just what was hidden in the recesses of my mind.

I knew that if Chase and Chris checked out on the questions that I had raised that there would be no doubt in their minds about how serious the situation we all were facing was. Perhaps the proof they needed was already at the C.I.A. headquarters.

My adopted father's direct and forceful way of reaching out to me had sent a reminder. I went out through the side door into the huge empty space behind the barn doors. For the next hour, I worked on my martial art skills and body movements. By the time I was done I was covered in sweat and needed a shower.

Realizing that I was behind on my regular schedule I got moving fast after finding a place to stash my newest lifeline for when I would need it. I texted Alana writing; Sorry I did not call you to say good morning. Had unexpected visitors show up. Will explain everything when we talk tonight.