They ended up in downtown Hong Kong, which was like New York on steroids. Cars and people and bicycles and motorbikes and just the sheer amount of them would have overwhelmed Jason, if he didn’t calm himself by assessing the situation for the possibility of having to get out quick. When they stopped at a light, he tensed, staring at the door as if waiting for it to open and people with guns come barreling inside.
They pulled in front of a huge glass skyscraper, that had a monorail going through it about a hundred feet above their heads. Bau let the two young men out. “You will be staying here,” he said. “I have secured a room among our recruits for you both.”
“Thanks,” said Jules. He had been chatting with Bau the entire time. Jason looked around. He saw a man come flying through the sky, streaking to the monorail platform, and landing somewhere above it.
“What is this place?”
“The Hall of the Dragons,” he said. “Our Hall of Heroes, so to speak.” He led them to the front desk.
They had to give their thumbprint and a retina scan. Then they were let into the building and took the elevator to the 38th floor.
“We will meet with the entire group later today,” he said. “But for now, I will take you to your room.”
The three of them stepped off the silent elevator onto an area that was carpeted and tastefully decorated. It looked like a hotel. The two young men wheeled their suitcases over the carpet. The turning wheels on the suitcases were louder than the sound of their footfalls.
Bau went to the last room in the hallway and opened the door with his thumbprint. “I hope this is to your satisfaction.”
Jason entered first, warily looking around the room. It was a hotel room, with a short hallway and the bathroom off of it. Two beds were to their left, two desks across from them to their left. In front of them was a large bay window looking across to another skyscraper. Jules smiled as he put his bag on the bed. “It’s good.”
Bau smiled. “You can rest after your long flight.”
“Actually,” said Jason, “I’d like to get started.” Jules nodded in agreement.
Bau frowned. “I’m sorry, but I have some things to do myself, in addition to getting the students ready to meet you.”
“Oh,” said Jules. He looked back at Jason, who was walking around the room. “We’ll just find something to do. Because I know if I lay down, I might not get back up.” He smiled at Bau.
“We have internet and satellite TV. We have many English-language stations..”
“That’s fine,” said Jason, looking at the TV across from the beds. Bau went to the door. “I will send someone up to get you in a couple of hours.”
Jason and Jules nodded and Bau left, letting the door gently click closed behind him. Both Jules and Jason immediately went to the door and tried it. They could pull the handle down but the door didn’t open.
“I knew it,” said Jules, bending down to look at the lock.
Again, Jason wondered what had come over Mike to send them here to Red China. They knew they were bugged, and there were probably cameras in the ceiling. Jason went to the window and shut the shades, throwing the room into a dusky light. Jules felt along the lock. He nodded, getting up. He walked over to his laptop suitcase and pulled out a USB cord and Android phone.
Jason watched Jules plug one end of the USB cord into the door handle, and the other end into the Android phone. Jason stood with his back to the room, standing over Jules to make sure that the cameras couldn’t catch them.
They heard a buzz and a click. Jules turned down the handle and pulled open the door. He glanced back at Jason, grinning. “Vulkan apps.”
