"What?! He has already developed a shield boat!?"
Justin slammed his fist against his desk upon the report from his secretary. She recoiled, clutching the files to her chest, and then nodded timidly.
"Yes, sir. This came from our source in the military. The naval department, specifically. They are trying to keep it under wraps because of the current situation, but…"
The current situation being the cold war-like tensions between the two superpowers as one nation's navy lined up next to the coast of the other. However, with the shield boats already in production, the balance of power had tipped drastically toward the defenders.
Unless Country A was willing to launch nukes – and they weren't that stupid or suicidal – they would have no way of defeating the local navy. Not when none of their weapons could break through the energy shields. Well, that wasn't accurate. A sustained, continuous bombardment would eventually blow out the shields, causing the generator to short out and rendering the ships vulnerable, but by then the local navy would have destroyed most of the enemy fleet with their own fire.
The local admirals weren't stupid enough to sit back and let their enemies pound them while twiddling their fingers and doing nothing.
"We are too late."
Justin Han spun around when he heard Michael Miller speak up. The Central Intelligence agent had somehow snuck into his office without him or his secretary noticing and was sitting comfortably in a couch. Justin Han's secretary yelped and backed off, dropping her files.
"It's okay, Susan," Justin Han told her, crossed. "He's…a friend. Anyway, leave us for a moment. I need to talk to him."
"Yes, sir." Susan Song nodded and quickly left the room. Justin Han didn't know why he hired the former classmate of his rival, but he had thought it funny. He wanted to rub it in his rival's face, but as it turned out, the bastard already had a far better girlfriend who surpassed Susan Song in every aspect.
After the doors to Justin Han's private office automatically slammed shut, Justin Han turned on Miller.
"What's going on? I gave you a place that you can use as your base of operations, didn't I? I arranged everything and helped you smuggle your assassins into the country! So why haven't they killed that fucker Trevor Shen yet?!"
"You do realize that they've only just arrived this morning, right?" Miller looked as if he had a headache. "We underestimated Trevor Shen. We didn't think he would be able to develop the shield boats so soon. Even if we kill him, it's too late. His engineers and technicians will be able to continue the project without him. I'm trying to organize several sabotage missions, but the level of security in your country's naval shipyard is just nuts. We don't have the resources to destroy it."
"That's it then?" Justin Han growled. "We failed? You're going to give up just like that?"
Miller shrugged nonchalantly. He looked frustrated, but he maintained his composure. "Do we have a choice?"
"Damn right we do! We didn't come this far just to leave emptyhanded like this! I even risked my career and life, committing treason to get all of this done!"
Justin Han pounded his desk furiously before leaning forward to glower at Miller. The foreign agent simply met his gaze evenly, showing no sign of fear.
"So what do you want us to do?"
"At least kill that fucking Trevor Shen before you go home! It doesn't matter if he has already succeeded in designing the shield boats or not! I want him dead!"
Miller paused for a moment, considering Justin Han's words. He then smiled and nodded.
"Your suggestion has merit. Even though we are too late to stop Trevor Shen from producing a functional shield boat, if we eliminate him, he won't be able to produce more of these hi-tech military weapons for the future."
"Exactly!" Justin Han bellowed despite the fact that, deep down inside him, he couldn't care less about his rival's ability to invent more hi-tech military equipment in the future. At this point, he just wanted to kill the bastard, just so he could appease the grudge within his heart.
"All right. Then I'll give the order. My assassins will need some time to prepare." Miller sighed and rose from the couch."
"Why can't you just kill him immediately?" Justin Han demanded.
"Do you even know where he is right now?" Miller retorted. "Or what time he finishes work at the naval shipyard? The security there is too tight, my sniper won't be able to take him out while he's in a military installation. We need to know his patterns, his usual whereabouts, and to set up sniping positions where my men can spot, shoot and leave without anyone catching them. Also, I have other assassins with other methods. She will need to study him, to find out his preferences and everything before she can make a move."
Closing in, Miller stared at Justin Han, who was intimidated by the intelligence agent's sudden rant.
"Do you think assassination is so simple a task? That we will simply go up and shoot him just because you tell us to?"
"N…no…"
"And one more thing." Miller poked a finger into Justin Han's chest, causing the poor CEO to topple back into his seat, trembling. "Do not presume to give me orders. I am not your subordinate. We have a professional working relationship, but that doesn't mean I serve you. Is that understood?"
Justin Han gulped and nodded. "C…crystal clear."
"Good. Now I will get going."
Justin Han lowered his head for a moment, swallowing. He blinked, and finally mustered the courage to raise his head and ask.
"So how…?"
His words trailed off when he saw that Michael Miller was gone. His private office was empty. The automatic doors remained closed, though, and he didn't hear them open and shut at all. How did Michael Miller come and go to his office at will?
Leaning against his chair, Justin Han exhaled in relief, realizing that he had forgotten to breathe. He sighed and closed his eyes, praying that dealing with this foreign agent and committing outright treason would be worth it.
*
"This is the new shield boat, based off my blueprints, huh?"
I was staring at the new shield boat proudly, my hands on my hips as it rolled out into the waters. Unlike the other ships where we simply installed new plasma reactors and energy shield generators on old, obsolete ships retired from naval service and mothballing in neglected docks for years, this new ship – or rather, new series of ships – was completely built from scratch.
Best of all, we didn't need to build a very big ship. The shield boats were no bigger than a frigate, and counted among one of the smallest naval ships. It only needed a very small crew to man the plasma reactor and keep the shield generator running, to solve the problems and effect repairs when the shields were overloaded and shorted out. Oh, and to sail and steer the ship in whatever direction the fleet was going. That sort of thing.
"What are you going to call it, boss?" Eugene Ng asked beside me, also watching the new shield boat in awe.
"This is the Bulwark class shield boat," I replied, a little surprised. I was sure I had already named the class in my blueprints.
"No, I mean this particular ship," Eugene explained hurriedly. "She's the first of the Bulwark series, isn't she? I think you should have the honor of naming her, boss."
"That's right!" Elliot Jian agreed wholeheartedly. "You designed the Bulwark class ships! No one else has the right!"
"It'll also be good PR," William Wang added, approaching us from the office. He had a broad smile on his face as he watched the glimmering shield that was projected by the Bulwark class ship. I nodded.
"Endurance, I guess?"
"Hmm…that's a good name." William nodded. The others were also voicing their approval. Fortunately, it seemed that my engineer and technician crews liked the name as well.
"I like it!"
"Yeah, it fits!"
I felt relieved. Initially, I had thought they would find my proposal too simplistic and…well, lame. Guess I didn't have to worry about that.
I then glanced at the other Bulwark shield boats still in production. The second one was nearly complete. It would probably be finished tomorrow. By the end of the week, I would have at least five Bulwark-class shield boats ready for mobilization.
Tomorrow, the navy crews would come for training, and I had to teach them how to operate the shield boats. I say that, but there wasn't much I could do. The controls were simple and the technician crews that maintained and conducted field repairs during a naval engagement would be better at their job than me. They were used to the stress of rejoining busted wires and restoring energy connections under heavy fire than I was.
"All right, we'll celebrate the completion of the first Bulwark series shield ships! Tonight, dinner is on me! Everyone is invited!"
"Yay!" my staff cheered raucously. I turned to William Wang, who already had his smartphone out and was preparing to dial. Before I even asked him to, he was already well on his way to booking a reservation.
"Do you already have a place in mind?"
"Not really. I was thinking seafood because…you know, we are building naval ships."
"Fair enough. Then might I suggest the restaurant at Imperial Sea Hotel? I'll book the whole place for tonight."
"No need for the whole place. Just enough seats for…" I scanned my staff and realized that we had over a hundred of them. "Uh…a hundred and fifty? Is that the total number of our staff?"
"Yeah, a hundred and fifty-eight. We'll just barely fit into a restaurant."
"Never mind then. We might have to hold this another day. I'll feel bad if they are forced to cancel reservations for other people. And we need to find a bigger restaurant."
"Oh, that won't be a problem. The other diners can stay. We'll just ask them to open one of the reception halls for us."
That was indeed the best solution. However, I was aware that such events needed time to prepare. The chefs weren't going to whip out enough food for about 160 people when they didn't even get much warning.
"Sorry, guys, I'll change the date. William will let you know once we book a restaurant at a hotel." I raised both of my hands. "But make sure you clear your calendar for the celebration dinner."
"Gotcha!"
"Thanks, boss!"
I smiled and watched as my staff filtered out of the docks, now that our working hours were over. I made to join them, following William. My vice-president was currently on the phone, arranging with Imperial Sea Hotel to set a date. We needed to give them ample time for preparation.
"Try next week," I whispered, and William nodded before amending his statement. Since we were going to finish building five shield boats by the end of this week, it would be a perfect end to celebrate our success.
With that settled, I placed my hand in my pocket, retrieving my keys for my Toyota. As I did so, I realized that my smartphone was buzzing. I was receiving a call. Pulling it out of my pocket, I glanced at the screen.
The caller was none other than Lily Ling.