suitably impressed by his work ethic and acumen, and Soval could see promotion to partner soon following. When the time came, he felt unfairly overlooked for a local lawyer who had family connections with the boss. This flagrant rejection still burned him to the core. Sitting on his verandah on La Bajan, he cursed them under his breath. At the time, in an incandescent rage, he had verbally castigated his boss along with his colleagues, and came close to physically assaulting them. This was unlike Soval but years of continued discrimination both in England and now here had taken their toll on his psyche. He had snapped. Hard, and completely. Calling his employer a “stupid island hick,” he spat the words into his face from close proximity. Understandably, this had gravely offended his boss and ruined any potential rise through the ranks. The emotive display would continue to haunt Soval. Others heard about it on the island grapevine and felt that he was belittling them too. Of course, he departed ways with that law firm.
Confident in his abilities, Soval had started his own legal business in Mitre. Initially, work was hard to come by. His career on La Premiere had stalled before it had really begun. Although eventually he had work and made money, mainly through his connections to Lee’s businesses, he never truly recovered his reputation. He was a marked man within the local legal community.
Soval drained the remnants of his teacup and raised it to the heavens. He quietly toasted the thought of the power that would be delivered when Lee won the presidential elections. Soval was Lee’s right-hand man, and legal resource.
My time is coming, he thought, It’s long overdue! Crossing the road to the beach and the waiting jet ski, he rehearsed the prospective title in his head, Attorney-General Soval Pape. He waded out to the jet ski, thrusting his legs forcefully through the shallow water. Climbing aboard, he used his spare key to fire up the machine. Throwing off the mooring rope, Soval revved the engine. He took off faster than he should, and faster than regulations allowed this close to the port, but he was drunk with the promise of power. He negotiated the small waves of the fringing reef and was soon powering through the ocean swell. He felt invigorated as the sea spray whipped and cooled his face, and he smiled joyfully as he headed along the coast into the dusky evening light.
Chapter 4: Lee
January 29th, 2010
They sat on hefty wooden furniture hewn from a hardwood black bean tree and looked outwards over the expansive sea. Secreted within the spacious interior of the waterfront bar, they were alone in the cool midday dimness. Felix was the owner of the bar and Soval knew him, but he and Lee were still cautious not to be overheard with such important information. The time and place afforded the desired privacy, and, without undue haste, they sipped their beers. Lee clinked his bottle with Soval’s to salute their promised success. Normally they drank whisky but there was much to discuss.
“To friends and partners.” Lee smiled brightly at the thought of what was to come.
“Cheers, Lee,” Soval responded. “It’s a strong plan.”
Lee was the smaller man in stature, but it was clear that he was the boss. A remnant crown of close-cropped dark hair skirted a large forehead. His brown eyes appeared intuitive and kind and were magnified by his characteristic large, light-framed glasses. Despite angled and uneven teeth, he could manufacture a perfectly disarming smile that captured the essence of ‘peace and goodwill to all men’. The façade of a consummate politician. He was a canny businessman who had made his fortune as the owner of the dominant tuna fishing operation in the Sedois Islands. Lee still controlled the company but more at arm’s length than previously. He also had a large construction company on La Premiere with a smaller La Bajan subsidiary. Lee had cultivated powerful friends both locally and abroad, and this scheme would, finally, allow him to achieve his lofty political aspirations. He felt ready to take control. And his time was now.
Soval was his long-time friend and legal advisor, and Lee felt comfortable with the advice that although their plan was not legitimate, it would be almost impossible to challenge any alleged manipulation of the election result. It was critical not to have a paper trail and, thus, face-to-face meetings were preferred. Either way, they reckoned, by the time anyone questioned the process Lee would already be president.
Lee was cautious that nothing should interfere with their careful planning. He knew how to keep secrets, the dark kind, that most would avoid. He was aware that secrets could create and hold immense power but could also be fatally destructive. He had learnt from bitter experience.
Born as Guang Li in Beijing in the austere winter of 1954, he had adopted the moniker ‘Lee’ when he arrived in the Sedois Islands. The second son of a noted artist and scholar, his fabled family dynasty could be traced back to the Song and Mongol empires. Lee’s forebears had been advisors to Kublai Khan, and his family were part of the wealthy elite. His father had connections in government and was respected as a calm intellectual and wise strategist. Unfortunately, times were changing in China, and being an intellectual was a definite liability. Lee’s family faced tough times during the Cultural Revolution; their finances and fortunes suffered, but they managed to survive largely due to his family’s longstanding connections.
During this difficult period, Lee was encouraged by his father to work hard and continue his education. This consisted mostly of reading forbidden tomes in clandestine libraries. Ultimately, as restrictions lessened, he was successful in gaining admission to a tertiary institution. In the mid-1970s Lee attended the University of Peking studying political science and, given the recent state upheavals, the irony was not lost on him. He wanted to be better prepared for whatever lay ahead. Lee’s personal history had made him wary of openness, and he made few friends at university. His only trusted friend was Lei Pingsheng, a pharmaceutical science student a few years his senior. They developed a strong connection and, ultimately, a solid friendship based on shared adversity, sharp mental acumen, and optimistic outlooks. Most people of this era in China had experienced prolonged hardships but few had been able to endure with mind and spirit wholly intact. Spending their spare time together discussing future desires and opportunities, they became inseparable. For Lee, all his plans would soon change when he recognised an opportunity too good to ignore.
Lei Pingsheng had suffered tougher times than most during the Cultural Revolution. He was sent to a remote and poor village in Shaanxi province for re-education through hard labour. There, he endured four punishing years of privation and desperate survival. During this time, he had shared a basic cave dormitory with another young man, Xi Jinping, whose star was now on the rise. After the Cultural Revolution, Xi Jinping enrolled in a chemical engineering degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing. On a grey Saturday in a quaint teahouse looking onto Zhengjue temple in central Beijing, Lei Pingsheng introduced his friends Lee and Xi.
Lee gravitated towards Xi and his confident ideological beliefs. This fascination gradually evolved into idolatry of Xi, and a steadfast belief in the teachings of Chairman Mao. Together they postulated that communism was unequivocally the way forward, but for communism to work optimally it required a single, strong, and competent leader to govern for the masses. This, of course, was not classical communism and was kept as a closely guarded secret. It was during this formative time in Beijing that fate intervened in Lee’s plans. He had thought that he would eventually enter Chinese politics with Xi but, through one of Xi’s father’s friends, Lee was offered the opportunity to own and run a tuna fishing business in the Sedois Islands.
The practicalities were that Xi’s father’s friend, Wei Yang, owned the business but had declining health and wished to spend more time in mainland China. Wei had no sons to take over the business and his only daughter, Ai-qun, was now in her mid-twenties and unmarried. Wei suggested that Lee could take over control and, ultimately, ownership of the business after he had married Ai-qun.
Lee didn’t know anything about boats or fishing but recognised this fortuitous opportunity to prosper.
