Don't own Chuck

The Skipper of the Stockdale came and got Chuck and the rest. They followed him back to the fantail where they had the prisoners assembled. Chuck walked around them and listened to their conversations without letting oh that he understood what they were saying. After listening for a while he had a good assessment of the situation. They were obviously nervous but of what or who he wasn't sure but they were pretending not to understand English. That was all of them except one.

"Look at this picture of your yacht," said Chuck. "Any of you speak English… I think you do but you're just acting like you don't."

"They're just deck hands so they really don't," said one of them. "My name is Chen. I worked in engineering but I speak some English. If you want I can translate for you?"

"You mean interpret," said Chuck. The man smiled at him and nodded. "Okay, then ask them what's missing in this photograph? It should be an easy question," he said as he handed Chen the photo. He looked at it then shrugged his shoulders before turning back to the rest.

"Okay, but I don't understand the question," said Chen but Chuck motioned for him to do it. However, what he said in Chinese was, 'No one say anything, just keep your mouths shut if you know what's good for you and your family. Now just shake your heads.'

"I'm sorry but they don't know what you mean and I have to admit that I don't either," said Chen as he handed him back the photo. "Is there something wrong?"

"I think you all need your eyes examined. What I'm talking about is the helicopter that was on the helio deck when you pulled out of port that's not here in the photo. Where did Ettore go and when did he leave the yacht?"

"I don't know what you're talking about I was down in the engine room so I have no idea what was going on above decks."

"Really, well they should if you had let them speak," said Chuck. He grabbed Chen's hands and turned them over. "Nice and smooth not the hands of someone who works in the engine room all day. My guess is your triad. Handcuff him John."

"I don't know what you're talking about… triad. You've been watching too many Shaw Brother films," said Chen as Casey cuffed him. "Hey, you can't do this to me. I have rights. I want to contact my Embassy."

"You've got none and you're coming with me for some special interrogation. Sarah watch the rest while I go deal with our friend."

"I'm coming with you," said the Skipper. "That's nonnegotiable this is still my ship. Troy, you stay here and watch the prisoners with our guests." Again, the Skipper put emphasis on the word 'guests'.

"Hear that Chen, this officer is afraid of what I might do to you. Something you should know Ettore took my sister and his daughter," said Chuck in perfect Hu dialect as he pointed at Casey. John cracked his knuckles. "You and I are going to dance or I could just end you here then move on to the next one." Chuck drew his Makarov and held it next to Chen's head.

"Agent that's enough," said the Skipper. "What do you think you're doing? These people are our prisoners and we have to treat them as…"

"As scum. Chen, there's a black hood waiting for you and a plane ride to a dark site where… well I'll leave that to your imagination to think about what awaits you there." Chuck spoke loud enough so the rest of the prisoners could hear.

"The Skipper's right there are too many witnesses here. Chen, Skipper come with me," said Chuck as he holstered his weapon then led Chen away. They went up to the 0-1 level Chuck made sure that the prisoners could see him up there with Chen then they went out of sight.

"What's this," said Chen when he saw the two bodies lying on the deck. "What kind of trick is this?" Chuck jabbed a dart in Chen's neck making him collapsed on the deck.

"What was that? Don't tell me you killed him," said the Skipper. "I warned you not to and this is what you do? You're leaving me no choice."

"What? No, he's tranq'd… I drugged him. He'll be asleep for a few hours when he wakes up he'll be somewhere he won't want to be. But that's out of my hands. You might want to look the other way," said Chuck as he hauled one of the corpses up to the lifelines.

"What are you going to do? This looks like Halloween gone all wrong and can you tell me what you guys were talking about before in Chinese?"

"It was a Hu dialect like what I heard the others speaking. It's spoken in Shanghai… a branch of Wu actually, but I don't have time right now to tell you everything. I need to establish a little fear and intimidation. With this guy gone the rest on the fantail will talk more freely knowing that what they say won't be held against them. I just need to give them a little nudge to get them to cooperate."

"Hey what are you going to do with that," said the Skipper as Chuck pulled his weapon. "The guy is already dead."

"I know that and you know that but the guys on the fantail will think this is Chen."

[In the meantime back on the fantail Sarah was doing her own interrogation]

"Okay we know you had a helicopter and that it left sometime between when you pulled out of port and now. We want to know where it went to. Look your friends are dead because someone put a bomb on your boat. That's what blew up your yacht not this ship nor the other one," said Sarah in the same Hu dialect. There was some low murmuring but no one was coming forward.

"Look the man that was here is pissed and will stop at nothing to get at the man in the helicopter. You heard him they took his sister so he's going to get answers one way or another," said Sarah. There was a gunshot then there was a loud splash. They all saw a body drift by in the ship's wake.

"I guess Mr. Chen was less than forthcoming," said Casey. "Which one of you want to be the next man to take a swim?" Just then Chuck appeared on the 0-1 level covered in blood spray. The prisoners all went silent.

"Casey, pick me out another one but give me five before you send him up. I need to wash a little of Mr. Chen off of me first. The sharks are eating Chinese today."

"Yeah and you know the bad thing about eating Chinese is five minutes later you're hungry again. So, which one of you ladies wants to be next?" After that they couldn't keep their mouths shut. Chuck got what he could but the only intel he got about Ellie, Devon and Alex was they weren't onboard the yacht.

"We need to look at other ships that pulled out around the time Ettore was on the yacht."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in Langley Beckman got the report from her Major about the registry of the Yacht. She looked through the report as she sipped on her coffee. She wondered if there wasn't a deeper connection between the Chinatown incident and Ettore. This seemed to be confirmed when she read that the boat, the Lanhua or Orchid was registered out of Shanghai and flew a PRC flag.

"Let's look at this. It can't be a coincidence the Chinatown incident and now the yacht being registered in China… mainland China."

"I'm not sure," said the Major. "After all it was Agent Grimes who asked for the pick to be in Chinatown not Ettore."

"I know but what if this is some sort of symbiosis of their personalities. I realize this is reaching but maybe it has to do with the intersect… I don't know maybe I am reading more into this then needs be or grasping at straws. I don't know. Do we have a report back from the Team leader at the restaurant? I think I'm missing something."

"It just came in. I left it on my desk. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet but if you want I can go get it and bring it back."

"Go get it then bring it back. We'll look it over together and while you're out fill my cup up too. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

"Okay, I'll go get the report and be right back," he said as he grabbed her cup then left. Beckman leaned back in her chair wondering what was going on then she got an idea.

"Connie," yelled the General. "Can you get me Ambassador Mei-Sheng on the phone. I want to talk with him. If he asks what it's about tell him it's about an incident in L.A.'s Chinatown. One way or another I'm going to get to the bottom of this," she said to herself.

"Here we go ma'am," said the Major as he walked back in. "I glanced it over on the way down the hall and it seems complete… puzzling… but complete."

"What do you mean by that," said the General. The last thing she needed now was for her Major to become cryptic. "Sorry, it says that fifty of Ettore's men were taken out…"

"So, he lost fifty and from what I was told we didn't lose any. I like those results even if I would've like to have had at least one to interrogate. But not losing any of our own is always good."

"Yes, but it says in the report that Agent Grimes took on all fifty men in single handed combat while our team leader was able to extract his men."

"You mean he turned tail and ran. Grimes took on fifty men? He can't even do that in his dream… unless his intersect got reactivated somehow? No, if that were the case I'd hear about it. Maybe not from Chuck or Sarah… maybe not even from the Colonel but Grimes wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing something stupid and letting the whole world know he had it. There has to be another explanation. Contact the team leader and ask him for some more details."

"You know what they say the devil's in the details or in this case Agent Grimes," said the Major. He caught the General's look. "Right… well, I'll call him right now," said the Major. He pulled out his phone and dialed up the downtown office in L.A. In the meantime, the General press the intercom button on her desk.

"Connie, any luck getting a hold of the Ambassador? They should still be in over there. I need to bounce something off him that's rather urgent."

"Sorry, but they said he went home early… something about not feeling well. I told them you wanted to talk to him and they assured me that they'd relay the message."

"Thanks, we'll try him back in the morning," said Beckman. Then she hung up. "Major, the Chinese are up to something. The embassy just blew me off. Mei-Sheng has never been sick a day in his life… he always brags about it saying his good health is the result of Eastern medicine. I'll shove some pins in him. What did our man have to say?"

"He said it went down just like what he wrote in his report. The only thing he didn't put in the report was Agent Grimes' unique weapon of choice but he thought that was so he wouldn't give away his position in the dark."

"Give away his position in the dark? What on earth are you talking about? What's this unique weapon he used anyway?"

"It's weapons and they were jade darts with white tassels. I guess using them there would be no muzzle flash and a dart could penetrate Kevlar but a little too 'House of the Flying Daggers' if you ask me."

"That's exactly what happened. We've found the smoking gun or in this case the smoking dart. Sick my butt, Mai-Sheng has been told not to talk with me… but why? I need to know where all the places the Ambassador dines at then I want you to have someone call around until they find out where he's going to be tonight."

"Yes ma'am, I'm right on it but I know he likes to hang out at the Irish Channel Pub and Restaurant in Chinatown. They've got live Irish music sometimes and when they do I usually see him there."

"Then start with that one. I need to make a quick phone call," she said as she took out her cell and dialed. "Hey, Roan, look I need you to be my plus one for tonight. … Where are we going? … I don't know yet. Just be ready, I'll call you back with more details as soon as I have them. … Well, not exactly like Berlin but very similar. I need to run for now," said Beckman. Connie was standing in the doorway smiling. "What is it?"

"Nothing General," said Connie as she continued smiling. She had dreams about what a night out with Roan would be like. The General gave her a look. "Oh right, well you've got Agent Carmichael… Charles Carmichael on line one."

"Well patch him into the squawk box then close the door," she said as she went over and added a little extra from her bar to her coffee. Roan would've approved.

"Sorry General that it took so long to get back in touch with you," said Chuck but the General cut him off.

"I already heard what happened with the yacht so you can save your breath on that fiasco. Do you know how the Chinese are involved in this? Or what Agent Wu is doing here?"

"You know about her?" said Chuck. He heard the thump of her pen on her desk. "Of course you do. Well to answer your question no, not entirely. If I were you I'd try to contact Ambassador Mei-Sheng and ask him. He has to have heard something or can ask someone even if Anna doesn't work for his side of the straits."

"I tried but the Ambassador had already left the office for the day. I was told he wasn't feeling well and couldn't be disturbed," said Beckman as she took a sip.

"That's a smoke screen… something is going on. Ettore flew off the yacht via helicopter for Catalina. I've checked the sat images and it seems he swapped out choppers for a Chinese Avicopter AC 313 then it flew out to a Chinese flagged freighter the Chenxing."

"Do you have images of him swapping out birds or getting off on this freighter. I need him spotted before I can order another boarding. Look I need some hard evidence."

"Ettore was too smart for that. They swapped out the choppers in a hangar and they brought out a canopy over the chopper after it arrive on the freighter… but I know he's there and I'm almost positive Alex, Ellie and Devon are there too."

"My hands are tied… I was able to sign off on this one because the Navy was willing to look the other way. I'm glad that in your interrogation you got them to admit Ettore was onboard because if not someone would've be liable for the yacht."

"What do you mean? They were still within our territorial waters when they made a run for it after being hailed by two of our ships. We had every reason to fire on them which wasn't the reason the vessel exploded by the way. Ettore had a bomb planted onboard..."

"And you can prove that? You've never been in an admiralty court where they assign degrees of responsibility. Believe me it's not a pleasant way to spend your day. But we're getting off track. Get me some hard facts and I'll see what I can do. Beckman out."

"If she wants hard facts then I'll give her hard facts," said Chuck in the CH53 heading back to L.A.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening things were kicking up at the Irish Channel Pub and Restaurant. There was a live band playing Irish folk music and the crowd was clapping to the beat of the music. There was laughing and singing when Diane and Roan walked in. Beckman looked around until she spotted the Mei-Sheng in the back booth. She waved Roan to follow her but on the way the head waitress stopped them.

"I'm sorry but everything is full right now. If you wait at the door I can see about finding you a table but I have to sit our guests who've booked first."

"You don't have to worry about us. We're here to meet a friend and I see him in the back now," said Diane. Roan waved.

"Oh, you're with the Ambassador," said the waitress apologetic. "I'm sorry I was just doing my job. I'll bring you a couple of menus right away."

"And along with that can you bring us a couple pints of Stout and whatever the Ambassador is having," said Roan. "She's paying. I'm just the plus one."

"Is that two pints Guinness you're asking for?" said the waitress as she took out her notepad and pen to write it down.

"Is there any other," said Roan. The waitress smiled back at him. Diane just shook her head then pulled him along. "What? I was just getting us something to drink. I'm feeling a little parched."

"You're always feeling parched and you know why I pulled you along. No flirting when you're with me. I tolerate your proclivities when I'm not around but when we're together you're with me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Roan as they walked back to the Ambassador. Mei-Sheng was shaking his head in disbelieve when he saw them coming towards him.

"This is my sanctuary… my escape. I come here to get away from it all and now I've got you two in here defiling my temple of peace."

"Hold the fortune cookie philosophy for some who cares. I called your office and they told me you went home early because you were sick. What happened did you have a sudden recovery? Or was that due to Eastern medicine? I've got a known criminal who your people seem to be harboring. In addition to this I'vegot a missing agent along with Chuck's sister and brother-in-law who were kidnapped by the same criminal. Now add to that a yacht we just sank that was registered in your country with a Chinese crew that had the same criminal onboard. Do you want me to continue to throw out what I've had to deal with?"

"Well, if all of this is true then why don't you lodge a formal complaint? Could it be that some of what you just said is speculation or conjecture without any shred of proof?"

"I can show you the logical deduction that proves what I'm saying is true," said Diane as the waitress brought the drinks and left menus.

"I can also come up with a myriad of other conclusions using the facts that we know. General tread lightly on this. Take my word there is more moving behind this then you are aware of."

"Is that what you want me to tell Chuck? If you're alive today it's thanks to him and now you're turning your back on him."

"Believe me I regret what I have to do but I have my orders. You of all people should realize orders are orders and this is all I can say."

"Since when did the triad and the central government start working together? Not everyone died on the yacht when it exploded."

"Then you already have the answer to your questions. Thank you for the hard cider now if you don't mind I'd like to listen to some music. If you're going to order I recommend the Shepard's Pie. It really is something to die for."

"Have you had a chance to look over our menu? And if so are you ready to place your orders?" said the waitress as she stood over them with pen and notepad.

"We're going to have to take a rain check I'm afraid. Here let me pay for our drinks. Mei, you should bring your clogging shoes next time." Beckman dropped money on the woman's tray then she and Roan left.

"Well that wasn't very productive and I'm still hungry. I know a good Chinese place not too far from here. They make the best steamed buns you've ever tasted."

"I don't know I think I got at least a little intel out of him. He was probably worried about being overheard by his own people," said Diane as she pulled out her phone. "Major, it's me. … Call the people handling that Triad member that was taken from the yacht. Tell them he's undercover MSS. … I just found out. Take a photo of him and send it to the Embassy then ask them if they want him back. If they do they can explain what he was doing here. … Yes, this is getting complicated. I need to run. Beckman out."

"I understand force of habit but on a telephone conversation you don't need to say out. But you got that our man is a MSS spy from what Mei-Sheng said? Where was I when he told you that?"

"He never said it he just implied it. The same way he never denied his government's involvement with Ettore. There is something moving behind the scenes and I don't like it. I don't like it at all."