Wan Hai Telex ((install)) Today

Tzeo smiled for the first time in a week. “The Wan Hai telex says we’re free.”

“Wan Hai has frozen us. A surveyor is coming. They’ll cut our seals, open the container, and find nothing but air. Then Wan Hai will bill us for the air, plus damages, plus the surveyor’s coffee.” wan hai telex

The static hissed on the bridge of the MV Stellar Fortune , a sound Captain Tzeo had long stopped noticing. What he noticed was the slip of yellow paper the radioman handed him. The telex. From Wan Hai. Tzeo smiled for the first time in a week

It was short. Wan Hai telexes always were. Their reputation preceded them: cold, precise, and absolute. FM: WAN HAI LINES, TAIPEI RE: B/L NO. WHKK-8872 / 40FT HC ‘DREAMS’ CARGO DISCREPANCY. SEAL INTACT. INTERNAL CONTENT: 2,000 CTNS EMPTY. CONSIGNEE CLAIMS USD 480,000. VESSEL HELD LIABLE. DO NOT PROCEED. AWAIT SURVEYOR. - WAN HAI TELEX Tzeo read it three times. The air in the bridge grew thick. They’ll cut our seals, open the container, and

He thought of the shipper in Kaohsiung, the one who had loaded that container. A ghost now. And the consignee in Jakarta, claiming $480,000 for air . A perfect crime. And the only person left holding the bag was a captain with a Wan Hai telex in his hand.

“Mr. Kim,” Tzeo said quietly to his first mate. “We’re not going to Surabaya.”

Kim looked up from the radar. “Sir?”