Qin Shang's private secretary stepped into the room and moved to the sitting area with the grace of a Balinese dancing girl, which is exactly what she was until Qin Shang hired and trained her. She was only one of several beautiful girls who served as Shang's aides. Women he trusted more than men. Unmarried, Shang kept nearly a dozen mistresses—three lived in his penthouse—but he followed a policy of never becoming intimate with the women close to his business dealings. He nodded his appreciation as his secretary set a tray with two cups and two teapots on the low table between the men.

"The green teapot is your special blend," she said softly to Qin Shang. "The blue teapot is jasmine."

"Jasmine!" Yin Tsang snorted. "How can you drink tea that tastes like women's perfume when your special blend is far superior?"

"Variety." Qin Shang smiled. As a show of courtesy he poured the tea. Relaxing in his chair while he cradled the steaming cup in his hands, he watched as Yin Tsang sipped until his tea was gone. Then Qin Shang politely poured him another cup.

"You realize, of course, that Quan Ting has no cruise ships available to carry passengers."

"They can either be purchased or leased from other cruise lines," said Yin Tsang offhandedly. "Let us face the light. You have made immense profits over the past few years. You are not about to go bankrupt. It will be a simple matter for you to diversify Qin Shang Maritime Limited into Western markets. You are a shrewd businessman, Qin Shang. You will survive without the People's Republic of China's benevolence."

"The flight of a hawk cannot be accomplished with the wings of a sparrow," said Qin Shang philosophically.

Yin Tsang set down his cup and rose to his feet. "I must leave you now. My plane is waiting to fly me back to Beijing."

"I understand," Qin Shang said dryly. "As minister of internal affairs, you are a busy man who must make many decisions."

Yin Tsang noted the contempt but said no more. His unpleasant duty performed, he gave a curt bow and entered the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Qin Shang returned to his desk and spoke into the intercom. "Send me Pavel Gavrovich."

Five minutes later, a tall, medium-built man with Slavic facial features and thick black hair greased and combed back across his head with no part stepped from the elevator. He strode across the room and stopped in front of Qin Shang's desk.

Qin Shang looked up at his chief enforcer, once the finest and most ruthless undercover agent in all of Russia. A professional assassin with few equals in the martial arts, Pavel Gavrovich was offered an exorbitant salary to leave a high-level position in the Russian Defense Ministry to come to work for Qin Shang. Gavrovich had taken less than one minute to accept.