"I had help from four good men," Pitt said as he knotted the tourniquet on Cabrillo's leg.

"It took a ton of guts to ran across that shell-swept deck to man the Oerlikons."

Having done all he could until Cabrillo could be carried to the ship's hospital, Pitt sat back and stared at the chairman of the board. "I believe they call it temporary insanity."

"Still," Cabrillo said in a weak voice, "you saved the ship and everyone on it."

Pitt looked at him tiredly and smiled. "Will the corporation vote me a bonus at the next board-of-directors meeting?"

Cabrillo started to say something, but he passed out just as Giordino, followed by two men and a woman, entered the ravaged wheelhouse. "How bad is he?" asked Giordino.

"His lower leg is hanging by a thread," said Pitt. "If the ship's surgeon is as skilled and professional as everyone else on this ship, I'm betting he can reattach it."

Giordino looked down on the blood seeping through Pitt's pants at the hip. "Did you ever consider painting a bull's-eye on your ass?"

"Why bother?" Pitt retorted with a twinkle in his eyes. "They'd never miss it anyway."

UNKNOWN TO MOST VISITORS OF HONG KONG ARE THE OUTLYing islands, 235 of them. Considered the other face of the bustling business district across from Kowloon, the old fishing villages and peaceful open countryside are embellished by picturesque farms and ancient temples. Most of the islands are less accessible than Cheung Chau, Lamma and Lantau, whose populations run from 8,000 to 25,000, and many are still uninhabited.

Four miles southwest of the town of Aberdeen on Repulse Bay, Tia Nan Island rises from the waters of the East Lamma Channel across a narrow channel from the Stanley Peninsula. It is small, no more than a mile in diameter. At its peak, jutting from a promontory two hundred feet above the sea, stands a monument to wealth and power, a manifestation of supreme ego.

Originally a Taoist monastery built in 1789 and dedicated to Ho Hsie Ku, one of the immortals of Taoism, the main temple and its surrounding three smaller temples were abandoned in 1949. In 1990 it was purchased by Qin Shang, who became obsessed with creating a palatial estate that would become the envy of every affluent businessman and politician in southeast China.

Protected by a high wall and well-guarded gates, the enclosed gardens were artistically designed and planted with the world's rarest trees and flowers. Master craftsmen replicated ancient design motifs. Artisans from all over China were brought in to remodel the monastery into a glorious showplace of Chinese culture. The harmonious architecture was retained and enhanced to display Qin Shang's immense collection of art treasures. His thirty-year hunt netted art objects from China's prehistory to the end of the Ming dynasty in 1644. He pleaded, cajoled and bribed People's Republic bureaucrats into selling him priceless antiques and artwork, any cultural treasure he could get his hands on.