The line flashing, unlike all the others, wasn't monitored by his receptionist.  A direct line, it reached no phone other than his.  Few people had the number.  It was an encrypted line.  Its ringing usually signified trouble, either for the company or for Wong.  With trepidation, he reached for the phone.  "Yes," he said.  He didn't have to identify himself.  Anyone calling would know it would only reach him.

"I need a favor," the voice on the phone said.

Wong had been expecting - and dreading this call - for two years.  It was from Lester Delray, a man even more ruthless than himself.  He wished he'd never met Delray, but their meeting had been inevitable.  They were among the richest men in the world, and Delray had purchased a security system for his compound from Wong's company. It was a purchase significant enough to require Wong's personal attention. Besides -- they shared an affliction, the need to inflict pain upon others.

Particularly upon young boys.

Two years before, at one of Delray's compounds, Wong had gone too far.  He had killed the boy Delray had provided for him.  It wasn't the first boy he had killed, but it was the first one that had been recorded holographically. 

He should have known Delray would have had hidden cameras in his suite.  But then, he hadn't intended to kill the boy.  It had just happened.  He'd hit the boy too hard and had broken his neck.  Unfortunately, Delray had recorded everything. He also didn't care how bad Wong felt about doing it; after all, it was such a waste. If the boy was dead, then he couldn't hurt him anymore.

Delray hadn't made any threats when he'd played it back for him, but Wong had known that he would someday want to be compensated.  The recording -- even if it didn't result in criminal charges -- would ruin him and his company.  No one would purchase security systems from a company run by a man whose predilection might subject him to blackmail.

And he knew that Delray was about to blackmail him.  Not for money, perhaps -- Delray had more of that than he could spend in a lifetime -- but for something Wong was likely to value more than money.

"What do you want?" asked Wong.

"A boy," answered Delray.

A boy?  Why would Delray be calling him for a boy?  He already had at least a dozen neutered slave boys, none older than twelve, at his compound in Dubai, and probably had many more at his various residences around the world.  Unlike Wong, Delray didn't care who knew of his predilection for little boys.  Delray was rich enough to be unconcerned about what anyone -- even governments -- thought about him. Besides, the governments in countries where he tended to reside only cared about his tax revenues – and someone that rich made a lot of that for them.  Possibly the only person as rich as Delray was Ben Toeber, the owner of San Carlos Island.

Wong had, of course, had been to San Carlos Island.  His company had installed their security system.  Ben Toeber supplied his clients, some of the richest men in the world, with beautiful neutered slave boys, all trained to satisfy their every sexual desire - and with complete anonymity.  Unfortunately, Ben didn't allow the clients to torture any of his boys.  After Wong had hurt the boy Ben had provided him, Ben had let him know that he and his money were no longer welcome on San Carlos Island.  He hadn't been back since.

"Why are you calling me?" asked Wong.  "What boy can I get for you that you can't get for yourself?"

"A boy on San Carlos Island," said Delray.

"Can't you buy him?  Surely YOU can offer Ben a price that even he can't refuse."

"Toeber won't sell me a boy at any price," said Delray.  "Unfortunately, money means little more to him than it does to me.  He has no qualms about neutering a boy, but he won't see him hurt afterward.  He's aware that I sometimes play a little rough. You know what I mean?"

A little rough?  Wong wondered how many bodies Delray had already disposed of.  He had no doubt Delray had killed more boys than he had.  He just had no proof of it.

"Why this boy?" asked Wong.

"He's beautiful," said Delray.

"The world's full of beautiful boys," answered Wong.  "Can't you find another just as beautiful?"

"Of course," said Delray, "but I can have them.  Toeber won't let me have this one.  No one, not even ol’ Ben -- especially not Ben -- denies me a boy I want. And besides, YOU owe ME. Remember?"

"But Toeber only puts his boys under contract for a few years.  You can have him after he's fulfilled his contract."

"Why would I want him then, the used, castoff goods that he'd be?" said Delray.  "It's bad enough that Toeber has already neutered the boy -- that I wasn't able to do it myself.  You're an intelligent man.  As you well know, I want the boy because Toeber won't let me have him.  As I said, no one denies me anything I want, and I want this boy -- now -- not years from now."

"If Toeber won't sell him to you, why do you think he'd sell him to me?" asked Wong.  "He won't even let me back on his damned island."

"I don't want to buy him," said Delray.  "I want to take him.  I intend to steal him -- to kidnap him."

"That's impossible," said Wong.  "San Carlos Island is protected by one of our own security systems.  Each boy wears a collar that tracks him, recording anything he says, or is said to him.  You'd never be able to take a boy off the island, even if you could gain access to the island in the first place.  No place on Earth is as secure as is San Carlos Island.  And even if by some miracle you DID get him off the island, the GPS tracker in the kid’s collar would tell Ben right where he is. It's impossible to break into anyplace protected by any of our systems, and San Carlos Island has our best.  No one can crack it."

"Tsu Chung Shin can.  He designed the system," Delray replied.

"Not as a client -- as a seller of merchandise. All he has to do is show up with a beautiful boy for sale, and Toeber will gladly purchase the boy."

“And where do we…does he…get said boy?” Wong asked.

“Does Tsu have any sons of his own?” Delray asked in a cold tone.

Wong almost dropped the phone. How could Delray know that? Stupid, he told himself, of course he’d know. He’d do his homework if he wanted to blackmail me. Of course he’s found out about Tsu’s four boys. “Y-yes, yes he does, he has four,” Wong answered.

“And you’re sort of friends with Mr. Tsu, aren’t you?” Delray went on, “Spent some time with the family, I think?”

Bastard, Wong thought, he’s good, I’ll give him that.

“Yes.”

“So,” Delray went on helpfully, “Here’s the plan: Have Tsu go to San Carlos Island and take one of his boys with him. Ben will see him, buy him, and then Tsu’s on the island.”

“And just what makes you think Tsu will want to sell one of his boys?” Wong asked, “Why would he need to, or want to? And even if he did, why would he try to crack his own security system?” Wong was hoping that Delray didn’t hear the apprehension in his voice. Unfortunately, he did.

“He’d need to sell him if he needed the money that badly,” Delray explained, as if talking to a very small child. It annoyed Wong a lot. “Faced with losing everything he’s got, a man as far in debt as Wong is would probably jump at the chance to ‘rent’ his boy out for 500k CR a year, two years, that’s a cool million CR’s. Wouldn’t you do it?” Delray asked.

Wong just knew what was coming next. In his mind’s eye, he saw the Tsu boys: An Dong, Guo Jian, Hop Sing, and Jie Kang. Quickly, he calculated the chances of which one would be sold. An Dong was too old; at 16, he was already well into puberty and hopelessly straight, with a girlfriend. For Guo Jian, it was possible. He was 13, but he still had the build of a child, ‘baby fat’, and no signs of puberty; a late bloomer. Jie Kang was way too young, at only 4 years old. That left 11-year old Hop Sing.

Just as Delray had said, Wong was indeed familiar with the Tsu family. Hop Sing and Jie Kang even called him 'Uncle John', he was that much a figure in their lives. Having no children of his own, Wong had come to think of the Tsu family as almost being his own. He’d grown attached to the boys, and even given his predilections for playing rough – not to mention his sexual orientation in that direction as well – he’d never harmed any of them. He couldn’t imagine harming any of them. For some reason, the Tsu boys were different in his eyes, and spending his free time with them was all the more time that he wasn't out harming other boys. They were more than the boys he saw on the streets. They were more than the boys he sometimes picked up and paid for sex – and other things. He was more than a ‘rental’ boy on some damned overpriced island resort.

He was Hop Sing.

He was the smiling boy who called him ‘Uncle’.

He was the boy who sat on his lap and laughed.

11-year old Hop Sing, to whom he’d just given a restored antique model electric train for his birthday.

“Tsu’s doing OK with his bills, I just gave him a raise,” Wong countered, hoping to head that one off.

“Come, come,” Delray almost laughed, “We all know that your clientele is limited, Wong. And what happens when the patent on your newest systems runs out and the competition can duplicate them? What about sell-outs, disgruntled employees? Overpaid employees?” Delray hinted. "And with the stock market, why, there's even hostile takeovers to worry about."

“Your point?” Wong demanded, realizing that Delray could very well make good on that threat.

“Fire Mr. Tsu,” Delray snapped. “Spread some rumors about design flaws in his work - that way, no one else will hire him. Let the dogs bark at his door for a while. You’d be surprised what a desperate man will do. He might even sell his own son.”

Then something else occurred to Wong. "Even if we did this, what makes you think Tsu could get at the security system? I mean, Ben isn't going to just let him at it, technicians or not - escorting him - so he can play with it?"

"Ben values his island above all else," Delray replied, "If Tsu were to tell him who he is, why he's selling his son, and why he got fired, Ben will get nervous if he thinks there's a bug in his system. That system is valuable beyond words to his enterprise. Tsu will offer to find it, fix it, and salvage his reputation...probably in hopes of getting his son back as a reward.  In any case, I'll leave that up to you and Tsu.  All I care about is that the security system is disabled, allowing me to steal the boy.  All you should care about is the video.  Do we understand each other?"

Wong was silent for a while, hoping that Delray had hung up. Try as he did, he couldn't find a loophole. Delray seemed to have thought of everything.

“I’d hate for this video to get loose, Wong,” Delray finally said, “Even I get goosebumps watching it. Seeing that limp little head bobbling around on the boy’s neck like one of those antique dog ornaments…,”

“FINE!” Wong shouted at the phone. “You ruthless bastard!”

“You like the Tsu boys, don’t you?” Delray snickered, “I’ll bet Ben will too. Fire Mr. Tsu, Wong. Fire him tomorrow, and think about which boy will be going to San Carlos Island.”

CLICK!.........and then silence on the line.

Wong sat at his desk for a long while, eventually taking out a photo from his wallet. All of the Tsu boys were beautiful, being the offspring of very handsome parents. As stared at the photo with his stomach tossing, Wong bit his tongue as he willed away the erection that forming in his pants. He failed.

Not THESE boys, he told himself, Any boys but these!

But still, he couldn’t take his eyes from the image of Hop Sing.

Hop Sing, with his flawless round face and fuzzy, outgrown buzzed black hair. His mischievous expression, his dark eyes that sparkled with it. He wondered at the small flat area on the boy’s left earlobe, even, thinking of how he often just touched the boy’s face and told him how handsome of a boy he was. That always made Hop Sing giggle. In his mind’s eye, he saw the boy again: sitting there playing his video game…chasing his little brother through the house while his mother yelled at them…protesting his nightly bath…and finally, just lying in bed fast asleep and looking very much like an Angel.

Then he saw a new vision of his favorite “nephew” come to mind: Hop Sing, naked, with a green slave collar locked around his neck, Hop Sing with a smooth, hairless, groin where he once had genitals.

Wong got erect again, cursing himself.

Of course, he’d seen Hop Sing naked before. As a joke, he’d once stripped him and bodily dropped him into the deep bathtub one night. That, and the Tsu boys weren’t raised to be ashamed of themselves. More often than not, any of them were liable to walk into the room naked without caring who was there in their home.

He’d have to find a boy that night. Any boy. He desired it.

He needed it. He needed a boy.

No, not ANY boy.

Some boy he didn’t know. Some boy he didn’t love.

Is it love? He asked himself, his erection growing almost painful, Or is it lust? Where’s the line? He wondered, feeling disgusted at what Delray demanded that he do, and feeling disgusted by the feelings that staring at this new vision of Hop Sing was giving him.

He was beautiful, this boy.

And Wong wanted him. Suddenly wanted him in ways that he’d never wanted him before.

Or had he?

Was it reflex that he got erect when they play-wrestled, or when he saw them naked? It made him feel almost ill as he realized it, thinking back to his past trips to San Carlos. He always picked the Asian boys. Asian boys with round heads, short hair, yellow-tan skin…he thought of the velvety feel of Hop Sing's head after a buzzcut...the roundness...that slight tan line at his hairline....

Wong put the picture away and reached for the phone again.

And he didn’t want to do it.

But it was either do it, or be ruined.  And it could work.  Although a brilliant engineer, Tsu had a flaw.  He gambled -- playing both the horses at the Sha Tin racetrack and the tables in the casinos in Macau.  He owed money to the wrong people, ones that would have no tolerance for his inability to repay them. They'd make the mortgage company look like Girl Scouts.

Wong couldn't just fire him, though.  Tsu would be snapped up by other companies, competitors of Wong.  He had a solution, however.  He would accuse Tsu of embezzlement, and even design flaw, as Delray had suggested.   That would serve a two-fold purpose, putting Tsu under his control, and accounting for certain missing funds, diverted by Wong for his own use. 

Wong smiled to himself.  Maybe this call from Delray hadn't been the disaster it had seemed at first.  A half million credits were missing.  Tsu would likely receive a million for Hop Sing.  For half of that, Wong would not press charges against Tsu and would let him keep his job -- would insist he keep his job -- at reduced pay, of course.

Yes, it could work.  If anyone could hack into the security system at San Carlos Island, Tsu could.  After all, he had designed the system.