CH 58
Kaede was pleased, the parliament agreed to vote on a law that the only people who could run for office were Canadian citizens. They also agreed that Chinese boats could not fish in their waters and demanded the Prime Minister boot them all out of Canadian waters.
While arguments went on agreeing only Canadians should be allowed in any office, a few members, two of them Chinese, were insisting to make a law like that would be racist, even though no race was talked about. Only non Canadians. Kaede listened and got a call from Amanda.
"News?" Kaede asked quietly.
"I found the voting machines here in a warehouse. There's also a couple computers in the office. I'm on line with one of them now and have the IP they use to program the voting machines." Amanda told her.
"Great, get it to John. Can you connect to the machines now?"
"They are off. By what I'm seeing here, these machines have a weighing system. Anyone with a Chinese name gets a 1.8 weight, non Chinese get a .2 weight."
"What are these weights?"
Amanda explained, "Chinese candidates get 1.8 votes for each vote. Non Chinese only get a fifth of a vote for each vote cast for them. This means it takes ten non Chinese votes to equal ONE vote for a Chinese candidate."
Kaede frowned. "I'm going to have you call Cameron also. I want that weight flipped. I'll talk more to her about it later. See if you can find where the rich Chinese bank. I want to screw them also. Thanks for the info, an doan git caught."
"Right." *Click*
Kaede listened to the arguments, then one woman who looked Chinese stood up, pointed to her and said, "I must ask who this woman in the hat is that is listening to our debates."
Although before, no one was paying attention to her, they were now. The Prime Minister said nothing. Kaede stood up. "May I have the floor?" she asked.
"Yes, please introduce yourself," the woman said and motioned to a microphone sat up near her.
Kaede went over to it, noting the distance between them. "I am Dame Kaede Kikumura, representative of Queen Elizabeth the second. I came to monitor the proceedings here, since I do not have a good background in politics. Perhaps you can tell me why you are against having only Canadian Citizens be able to vote of hold office in Canada?"
"Anyone who immigrates to Canada should have the same rights." the woman stated.
"Yes, after they become citizens. We are also not talking about true immigrants, but people just coming to work or visit," Kaede replied. "You see no harm in citizens of other countries holding Canadian offices?"
"The only ones who currently are, have come to settle here from China, that makes this proposition racist!" the woman stated.
"China is a communist country," Kaede stated, "Their values conflict with Canadian values," Kaede stated. The then tipped her head slightly. "Miss, you don't look so good."
The woman said, "I will..." she then paused. "Ahhh!" she cried weakly. Her face blanked and she collapsed to the floor.
Kaede shouted, "Someone, quick, call an ambulance!"
Representatives and guards rushed over to help the woman. Shortly, paramedics came in and gave the woman CPR. The woman was put on stretcher and carried out as a man kept shocking her heart, trying to get it to beat. Kaede knew they wouldn't succeed, not when her brain was disconnected from her spinal cord. The woman was DOA upon getting to the hospital.
Due to the 'tragic incident', the final vote was put off until tomorrow. As the meeting broke up, Kaede found the Prime Minister. He cast her a deep frown.
"It is very suspicious Miss Wong suddenly collapsed like that," he said heavily.
Kaede shrugged. "Maybe she got over-excited. Or maybe you should honor the current agreement Canada has with the Queen that states, Citizens of Canada may rule themselves. Not Foreigners."
His face hardened. "That was murder!" he hissed.
Kaede eyed him and said, "Really? If you can't prove it, you would be a fool to accuse anyone. Let's go to your office, I'm sure the Chinese Ambassador will be coming to see you soon."
.
While Kaede was in Ottawa interacting with the Parliament, Duncan and the Captain noted many Chinese men were hanging around Deep Cove in bands of five to eight. As of yet, they weren't doing anything, but looking around. Down by the water, Duncan noted a pair of SAS men were fishing. Six Chinese men noticed this also and pulled out foot long sections of steel pipe and began sneaking up behind them. Duncan came out, and feeling an immortal nearby, Ben came out also. He smiled at Duncan and tipped his head at the Chinese. Duncan nodded. The Chinese men pulled masks over their face when they got closer to the fishermen.
"What're ya doin?" Duncan asked loudly from behind the masked men.
The men paused and turned. One signaled to the others. Two ran toward the fishermen, the other four ran at Ben and Duncan.
Although looking like they were not paying any attention, the fishermen suddenly spun and kicked the Chinese men coming at them in the head. At the same time, Duncan lunged and kicked the one on his left coming at him square in the chest, sending him tumbling. Ben bent lower and and took the legs out from one, and in a quick spin took out the legs of the other. The last one on his feet swung down to hit Duncan. Duncan caught his arm and punched him hard in the face.
The brawl was on, and the Chinese men were not highly trained soldiers, or immortals who'd fought for centuries. One did wail out a warning, another cried out on pain as his arm was snapped. In a short time, all six laid on the ground, out cold.
The yell for help and cries of pain did attract others. Ten more Chinese men with steel clubs came running down a street, five more came charging from the woods. The ones running down the street were jumped by six SAS, the ones from the woods saw Amanda and Henry arrive, with two swords each. Amanda tossed Duncan his, Henry toss a sword to Ben.
The five slowed, seeing the odds now, they turned to run.
"Get'em!" Henry barked.
Duncan and Amanda ran after the fleeing Chinese, angling towards town. One dropped his pipe and threw his hands up in surrender. Amanda swung her sword and lopped his head off. Seeing this, a second one turned to flee and ran face first into a tree. He recoiled to have Amanda run him through.
Duncan chased one uphill. The man was frantic to get away, fear showing openly in his face. Coming to a steep uphill, he stumbled to fall. He turned and with a yell of defiance, threw his pipe at Duncan. Duncan deflected it and on the backswing, stopped just short of beheading him, only making a light trickle of blood on the man's neck.
Eyeing him malevolently, Duncan motioned for him to get up and go back downhill.
By the time Duncan returned with his prisoner, the others, except for the ones Amanda killed, were lined up lying down on the faces, hands tied behind their backs. only one of them were conscious. Ben tied his hands behind his back, then punched the man hard, knocking him out.
Henry pointed to Amanda. "Bury those guys you killed. Make it deep. We'll need a boat for the rest, take them upstream and dump them in the river. Weigh them down so they don't bloat and come back up."
"We need to get some information from them first," the Captain stated.
"Go ahead, it will take time to get a big enough boat up here."
"Why not just dump them in the river?" Amanda asked. "Why do I have to bury them?"
"I'll help you carry them down," Duncan told her, "After they bleed out."
.
The Mayor of Vancouver wasn't happy when 20 of his 'peace monitors' never reported back. They were to go check on things to the north. They all left, but not one returned. The lead peacekeeper sent 20 more men. They had returned, and no one they talked to had seen any of the men, or rather, never admitted to seeing them. At first, the Mayor thought about sending 200 men, with self-defense weapons of course, to make someone say where they were. Then again, there were places where the tensions were growing, and the last thing he wanted was real Mounties swarming the area. The northern towns were small, so he just put a guard up on the bridge north for the moment. Once their own police came, they would go investigate.
He was sure it was these mal-contents in the north that were responsible for sinking two fishing boats, killing two men and injuring five others.
His secretary came in. "Mr. Chung, Parliament passed a law, no non Citizens may hold any official office in Canada. The Prime Minister himself has ordered all new elections in Vancouver to comply with this law."
Mr. Chung frowned. "Reply that we will comply with the new law as soon as possible. What does the law state?"
"That someone must be a registered citizen if Canada for a minimum of ten years before they can run for office."
"A law made to kick us all out," he said in a musing tone. "We'll need to make some citizenship papers up, quickly."
.
Back at the castle, John had found the computers Amanda told him about. Looking through the voting program he saw where the votes were weighted. He also noted that by name, they Chinese had they heavily weighted votes. He changed their weight to .2, then gave everyone else a 1.5 weight. After he made sure he had it correct, he put a long, complex password on the program to lock it, then a secondary long password in to change anything. Upon failing the second password, whoever tried to change something got booted completely out of the program. He also searched and found a back door to the system and took it out.
After he was done, he called Cameron.
"Connor," she answered.
"Hey, sexiest thing I've ever seen."
"Hi John. Things good at home?" she asked.
"We're fine here. Oh! I locked your jewelry box too. Everything in it is safe."
"Thank you dear," Cameron cooed. "I still don't know when we'll be home."
"I know, go have fun and see the sights. I was ready to stain the interior walls. I'm thinking a medium mahogany finish?"
Cameron hummed for a moment, then said, "How about an oak on the walls, and mahogany on the door and window frames?"
"You mean like inside Kaede's boat?"
"Yes, that looked good, didn't it?"
"It did," he agreed. "I tested out the thermal generator, works like a charm. It took a hour to heat up but after that, it' 100% operational. I also added an auto feeder to it, so once we get down how much fuel it uses, it will keep itself burning."
"Good idea, sweetie, I have to go meet Kaede soon. Love you."
"Love you too."
Cameron hung the phone up and went down to join the two men in the lounge. She she went out into the hall another man came out of the next room and made to walk her way then swung hard with a fist that was reinforced with brass.
TINK
Cameron's head turned a bit. She stared at him. He stared back, shocked she didn't fall down, knocked out cold.
POW Cameron punched him back, knocking him out to fall to the floor limp. She dragged him into her room, tied him up tight in a bed sheet and dragged him into the bathroom where she hog-tied him in the tub, face down. She then went down to see the men.
.
A short time later, Cameron stood by as Neville had the shower running with cold water, spraying down Mr. Knuckles.
"He hit you with those brass knuckles, huh?" Frank asked.
"He did. Then I hit him," Cameron said tonelessly. "He's waking up, close the drain."
Mr. Knuckles sputter and lifted his head. He winced and groaned out, "Where am I?" A bit of blood came out of his mouth. He spit out a tooth.
"About to drown," Cameron said tonelessly. "Why did you attack me?"
Letting out a sad chuckle he asked, "What the fuck did you hit me with?"
"Why did you attack me?" Cameron asked again.
He looked down and saw the drain plug was shut and water was collecting. "let me guess, I talk or I die."
"No. You talk or I torture you until you do," Cameron stated.
"You ain't got the balls!"
Cameron reached over and turn the cold water faucet on full and began to pour water into the tub. "Once the water is deep enough, I'm going to submerge your face and begin breaking your fingers until you answer me."
He stayed quiet until the water level reached his chin. He then barked out, "I wasn't going to kill you! Only kidnap you for leverage!"
"Only?" Frank asked in a chuckle. "You sure screwed this job, didn't you?"
"I think he's getting Darwin Award for this," Neville added.
"What the fuck you talking about?" the man cried.
"You don't know what Darwin Award is?" Neville asked.
Frank said, "This lady here? She's not human. She's a Terminator. You know what a punch does to them? Even a bullet? Not a God damn thing. The best you will do is get their attention on you. Well, now you got her attention. That's a pretty fucking stupid way to die."
Mr. Knuckles was holding his head up out of the water. Fear was coming onto his face. "I told you why I came" he said with a squeak.
"Who sent you?' Cameron asked and grabbed him by the hair.
"Louis. He told me to bring you to back to the club, in the back door. That's all I know!"
"Where is this club?" Cameron asked.
"Down the street, across from the bike shop.'
Cameron plunged his face down hard. Holding him under, she grabbed and index finger and snapped it.
Bubbles blew out to the sides if his face and he fought in vain to pick his head up. She waited a moment then yanked his head up and back. "The address." she commanded.
Mr. Knuckles coughed and hacked, he did give her the address. He also quickly answered what this Louis looked like, and who else he knew was there. He ended with, "I told you everything I know! Please, let me go!"
Cameron pulled back on his head, cupped his chin, then twisted hard, snapping his neck. "You're gone," she stated. She shut the water off and drained the tub.
"Did you have to kill him?" Frank asked.
"Yes."
.
Kaede listened to the Prime Minister on his phone, telling the Mayor of Vancouver he had to hold the election for a new Mayor and city council now, not three months from now or he'd send Mounties to perform the election. While they were talking, Kaede got a call. Cameron told her someone tried to kidnap her and got killed in the attempt. His boss was next. Kaede thanked her for the information.
The Prime Minister finally got off the phone. "He wasn't happy, but he will comply," he said.
"Good for him," Kaede agreed.
His secretary came in. "Mr. Wang, the assistant Chinese Ambassador is here to see you, sir."
"Show him in."
The man came in. Seeing Kaede sitting to the side, he tried to keep the happiness out his his voice as he said, "Ah Dame Kaede. I regret to inform you your assistant has been kidnapped. I am sure the ransom demand will be coming soon."
"That was fast," she replied with a grin. "I just talked to her on the phone only a few minutes ago. The man who attacked her is dead. Before he died, she got out of him who sent him. He will be next. You know why Cameron came with me? She is excellent at interrogations. Every time she gets what she wants. One time, the poor fool told her the truth just so she'd let him die. After she finds the man who sent him, she will be going after the one who paid him, then the one the orders came from, an so on up until she find the man at the top. Do you know who that might be?"
The Ambassador turned blank faced. "She will be arrested!" he spat.
"No she won't," Kaede said, still grinning. "See, I have the Queen's blessings to do whatever I need to do, and Cameron has my blessings. I do have to ask, how do you know about that attempt so quickly? It only happened a half hour ago."
He turned to leave, then was picked up off the floor, turned to her and slammed into the wall. Kaede got up and eyed him. "I do believe I asked you a question," she said flatly.
Wide eyed, he blurted out, "You can do nothing to me, I'm an ambassador!"
"For the moment," she agreed. "If I find out you're behind the pitiful attempt to kidnap Cameron, then you're nothing but a criminal. I will persecute you as I see fit."
"You do anything to me and it will mean WAR!" he snapped.
"Oh goodie!" Kaede beamed. "Then I can really let go!" Going up to whisper in his ear, she said, "And you won't die as quickly as your predecessor or Mr. Valentin's advisor did." She dropped him and stepped back. "You may leave now."
Wearing a shocked face he hurried out.
Hearing a moan, she turned to see Mr. Valentin had his head planted in both hands. Through his hands he cried, "WHY? He will report this and make US look like criminals!"
"Unless he wants more hate on China from the rest of the world, he won't. After all, it was a British envoy that was kidnapped. Well, attempted kidnapped. I bet your people won't like that either. Unless he does spout off, we say nothing about it," Kaede said firmly.
"You ... and what proof do YOU have that attempt happened?" He asked in a hard tone.
"There are two witnesses to the attempt, and the questioning of the man who did it. His confession of who sent him. I am also sure that man will sing like a bird when questioned also," Kaede stated. "Don't forget, with what China has been doing here gives you plenty of ammunition to use against them. Not to mention neither England, nor the US will allow Canada to be taken over by China. Why do you think I'm here?"
"This could lead to a world war," he said weakly.
"It can, if we're not careful," Kaede agreed. "We also can't be weak. If China pushes, we push back harder. I suggest you alert the military there may be a problem."
.
Cameron was smart, Instead of going after 'Louis' directly, she called the Mounties and has Mr. dead and dried out laid in the hallway. She'd used a sheet to bind him up, so no bruises were left. Her story, backed by Frank and Neville was the man had punched her and tried to grab her, they got him off her and accidentally killed him with a punch. He had told Cameron he was taking her to see Louis for a reward, and they found the address (that Cameron planted on him), in his pocket. They did get a picture of the big bruise on her face, and Mr. Dead man still had his brass knuckles on.
She let the Canadians do the investigating.
.
At the Chinese Embassy, the Political Party Chief was livid. "You try to kidnap her assistant and failed, THEN admit you knew about the attempt on her?" he yelled at the assistant Ambassador. "You are catching the next flight out to return home! Say nothing to no one about that attempt! Apparently you don't understand the gravity of the situation. GET PACKED!"
"But I was told they had the assistant," he cried. "Kikumura told me she killed Valetin's assistant and the primary Ambassador"
The Party Chief shook his head. "They officially died of heat attacks as did one of the Parliament members we were counting on. As I said, you don't know the gravity of what we're facing. In Japan where she'd from, Kaede is known as a yokai, a powerful monster. She walks through gunfire like it's only rain! She flies, she kills with a look! She can perform amazing tasks and she's here to get rid of any chance we have of controlling Canada! If we do not step carefully, she will do just that and YOU will be marked as a failure!" He then turned and stomped away.
.
Cameron got a laptop and helped John track the votes when Amanda called and said the voting was beginning. John grinned when someone tried to get into the voting program and got kicked out. He grinned again when a 'immigrant' cast a vote and it was rejected. Twice more, someone tried to get into the program, then Cameron sent them a virus. They went off line.
As the voting went on, new people with Chinese names were on the ballots. A David Rin was on the ballot for mayor. The other Mayoral Candidate was Thurston Jefferson, head of the Vancouver Fish Commission. He was way ahead of Rin. All across the board, Canadians were winning big. At the end of the day, Vancouver had a new mayor and City Council. The Chinese gathered to protest.
The next day at City hall, Duncan and the Immortals and the SAS also gathered with the local Police to help keep the protesters back. Oddly, the group of a thousand protesters were all Chinese. and demanding a recount. John got into the voting program and removed all the weights and limitations, but kept the records of the votes. He also made sure that no one could get into the programs or delete them.
Their ruling status wasn't the only thing China lost on the Canadian west coast. Besides the Canadian Coast Guard turning away or if they refused, sinking Chinese fishing ships, the American Coast Guard and Navy helped also. This made many in Vancouver happy. as did a new fund that compensated fishermen who had lost income from getting damaged by Chinese fishing boats Courtesy of the Chinese Embassy.
.
In Ottawa, Kaede kept track of of developments. Mostly, she was pleased. Of course, suddenly China stopped buying so much timber, and the oil company being ran by the Chinese intended to deport all their petroleum to China. The Prime Minister and the Parliament stopped that by making regulations that Canadian needs were to be filled first, only the excess not used by Canadians could be exported. Even if Canadian companies were exporting to the US.
Kaede was waiting for heavy backlash, but it didn't come. A new Chinese Ambassador did come, and insisted on meeting with her. Wary, she did agree to meet him on the riverside walkway where his predecessor had died. Of course, she had Frank and Neville watching, and Cameron came with her.
Walking down to the waterfront, Kaede noticed this new Ambassador had a few people with him also, three were solid men that she noted had bulges under their jackets. another was a woman who also looked stiff. She was wearing a pretty dress and her hair was done up on a bun with decorative sticks. Coming closer, Cameron whispered to her those sticks were steel, most likely weapons. Cameron also let her know all the men had two guns each, and the woman also had a gun in a thigh holster and the long dress she had on hid the ankle sheath for a long knife.
Cameron was wearing her purple leather jacket with a 9mm on a back holster. Frank and Neville also had their weapons hidden on them. "This could get interesting," Kaede noted. "Keep a close eye on them."
"Dame Kaede Kikumura? I am Chan Ping, Ambassador from China to Canada," the man said pleasantly and bowed to her.
"Greetings, Ambassador Ping," Kaede replied, returning his bow. "It is a shame what happened to your predecessor."
"It is indeed. I have come so we may smooth over and differences," he said, sounding sincere. He motioned down the path. They began to walk.
"That is good news," Kaede replied. "I had thought you would be visiting the Prime Minister first."
Ping grew a smile. "Dame Kaede, I think we both know you are the one in charge here. Not to minimize Mr. Valentin, but he is concerned with public opinion. He is a reed in the wind and will bend. However, one does not tie their boat to a reed, but to a rock. You are a Knight. If this were Japan, you would be a Samurai. A steadfast and honorable warrior. Your beliefs will not be swayed by anyone. Is this not true?"
Kaede had to grin at him. "You speak true, Ambassador Ping. I also must wonder why you are flattering me."
"I have said nothing that is not true. People with strength of spirit should be honored." he stated.
Kaede nodded. "Correct. And being in a high political position, you must be politically correct as your government allows you to be," she said. "So tell me your opinion of the events in Vancouver."
He looked off at nothing, then said, "Not the best. There was too much greed and the ones controlling the situation did not show foresight in what they were doing. Especially not stopping the ramming incidents when our fishing boats were allowed to come into the harbor to rest and refuel. They took a potentially very positive event for us and you, and turned it into a mess. Now, due to their lack of restraint, we have lost the use of a valuable port."
"So you agree that the ones from your country who do not even have a visa should be taken back to China?" Kaede asked.
"I will insist on it," he said firmly. "I know that for the moment, there will not be a reconciliation of that matter. I do hope that this does not harm trade between our countries or damage our relations long term."
Kaede noted he was being very politically correct. She had been expecting him to hint at how close to war they were treading, and looking for apologies. She decided that he was very crafty. Apparently the Chinese were seriously worried about ramifications, and possible war. "The future will be guided by what we do now," Kaede told him. "I cannot say Canada was blameless for the Vancouver debunkle. Many were involved with making less than intelligent decisions. I have straightened much of it out. As you say, it will be a wound in our relations, but wounds do heal so long as they are not irritated or allowed to fester. I would be lying if I said I like your government. It is not my Government however, and how you do things is your business, so long as it doesn't interfere with ours."
Mr. Ping grinned, "We each are born into a different ideology. That is not in dispute. I must say that I find you more personable than I had expected with your history."
Kaede eyed him. "I do what I was called upon to do." Seeing the walkway up to the Parliament complex coming up, she asked, "Shall we go visit the Prime Minister? Or do you wish to feel me out better?"
Mr. Ping chuckled. "Actually, I am very pleased with talking to you. From reports we received, I was wondering if I would survive this walk."
"That's why your associates here are heavily armed?" Kaede asked. "You do know all their guns and weapons would be useless if I intended violence."
"I am aware indeed," he admitted. "I do believe we have had a fruitful meeting. Dame Kaede, please believe I am here to help correct mistakes, not make them."
"Then, we'll see how it goes," she told him.
.
Kaede was hopeful that she could finally get to go home. Mr. Ping offered reparations for every Canadian fishing boat that was damaged by the 'unscrupulous' boats from China. It was obvious by his cooperation that he wanted to at least make up for some of the harm that was done. She was also sure Dad skinking a couple made Mr. Ping serious about keeping things peaceful and fair between the countries. She waited for attacks on her, Cameron or Frank and Neville. They never materialized.
Duncan informed her when an empty Chinese cruise ship came to on load most or the Chinese nationals, including the old Mayor and city council. For how easy it seemed to back the Chinese down, Kaede didn't quite believe it. She waited a month, then called Captain Peters and Duncan and told them they were done. There was greater RCMP coverage in the area now. She had one last meeting with Valentin and Mr. Ping was there when she told them that she was leaving but she would still be Governor of Canada, and would be checking on him and Canada.
Like she arrived, she didn't leave by a plane out of Ottawa, but went back across the border to the US to head home on Duncan's plane. Cameron did find a tracker in her suitcase, and tossed it away. Still, for what Kaede was expecting, it wasn't a trouble filled ride home.