Spartans/Redwing

An idyllic day aboard The Golden Dragon, a renovated antique Chinese junk anchored in a bay off the coast of Thailand. This is home to James Spartan, his two constant companions, Pool and Kwan, two beautiful, retired Thai Army nurses, Lucky a dog shoe fetish. SirJames is a non-conforming individualist. An adventurer, wheeler-dealer entrepreneur and owner of Spartans Air Services, a company specializing in the quasi-legal freightage of items such as S.E. Asian antiquities, precious stones, and other quintessential items on behalf of clients who often require anonymity. The peace of the afternoon's relaxation is disturbed by his being the recipient of a surprise package in the shape of a nineteen-year-old son, Chris. A former lover, fearing that he might have inherited his father's genes and his association with an old school chum, Horatio Alexander Parker, had kept his existence a well-guarded secret until her unexpected death, whereupon, in her will, she determines that Sir James should now honor his paternal obligations. Further south, there is also a surprise awaiting the captain of a freighter, The Lady Govinda sailing in the Malacca Straits, Mecca to pirates. Hammerhead, a notorious pirate and longtime adversary of Sir James, has been retained to hi-jack the vessel, hold the crew to ransom and sell it's cargo to the North Koreans. Only the captain, sworn to secrecy by the British Government, knows the true nature of it's manifest - not bicycle parts and mechanical spares but thousands of centrifuges and a number of precision scales, equipment used to enrich uranium utilized in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction. The hi-jack presents an unexpected opportunity to the devious Claims Adjustor, Graham Smith, of Maritime Marine, the vessel's insurers. He enlists the assistance of Ginger Galloway, a former summa cum laude law student turned freelance private investigator and bounty hunter. Ginger, who supplemented her income when a student by running an escort agency, of which Graham was a regular customer, is the ideal partner in his scheme to defraud his employers of some sixty million dollars by secretly enhancing the ransom fee demanded. An additional benefit is that it would also free him from the ties of marriage to the Chairman's daughter, Marigold, a virago of gargantuan size. Despatched to Bangkok, source of the ransom demand, Ginger, as a subterfuge turns to the British Vice-Consul, Gilbert Martin, for assistance in finding the crew and vessel. Martin, shortly to retire, is disinclined to assist officially, fearing that the case of the Lady Govinda is destined to spoil the peace and quiet of his posting, apart from the possibility of it affecting his pension rights negatively. It also disturbs his study of The Hustler and involuntary attempts to destroy a persistent fly also determined to disturb his peace. However, Ginger has presented him with references from some highly influential sources in Whitehall and to cover his back, he turns to Horatio Alexander Parker, RN. Parker and Sir James Spartan formed their lasting friendship whilst at school at Eton. This friendship has been cemented over the years by James often having to save his friend from the results of his habitual dalliances with other men's wives, including a Duchess or two, and his fascination with the gaming tables. In particular, the daring microlite rescue of a beautiful Karen girl, Ho Noi, from the hands of a top Burmese Army General in Rangoon. He is also an embarrassment to the Establishment. Too much of a liability to remain in public service but too valuable to let go, he is "retired" to effect clandestine missions on behalf of the government where failure will not rebound on the powers that be but success will lead to high honors to all, with the exception of Horatio Alexander Parker. Parker effects a meeting with Ginger at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok and charms her into a meeting at the Hard Rock Café in Pattaya with James, who he recommends as the only hope of finding the vessel and freeing the crew. Ginger, in her role as a bona fide investigator for Maritime Marine, accepts Spartan's offer of help, reluctantly, and agrees to share the reward money on offer. The meeting dissolves into chaos as a gang of ruffians, lead by Big Al, ex American cage fighter and felon, enraged at being made to look a fool by Spartan in retaliation for his boorish behavior, starts what becomes a "keystone cops" brawl. Unlikely, as it might seem, Spartan realizes that an alliance with Big Al may be mutually beneficial and makes him an offer he cannot refuse. Spartan with Chris and Big Al, visits Jason Ho, alias Scorpio. A grossly overweight Chinese gangster with a penchant for exquisite antiques and beautiful young men, in particular, his current beau, Toi Toi. As Scorpio, he has his fingers in virtually every criminal activity in S.E. Asia. Jason's offer of information on the whereabouts of the Lady Govinda and its crew requires James Spartan, in turn, to steal a frieze from a temple in Angkor Wat. This quid pro quo is refused and Big Al has to persuade Jason to part, grudgingly, with the information to save his young lover becoming a castrato! As James, assisted by Pool, Kwan and Big Al set their plans for the rescue of the crew, Ginger, who has followed Sir Thomas to Jason Ho's shop, has wasted no time in allying herself with Scorpio with whom she shares a mutual passion for money and vice of greed. Together, they make their own plans to thwart Spartan, who is Jason's hated nemesis and Ginger, who regards him as an incompetent English amateur. The Spartan Air Services DC3 lands on a deserted Cambodian airstrip close to a jungle encampment at Koh Kong. This is the HQ Heamsdhead and his pirates and where the crew is being held, prisoner. The little team effect a daring rescue, ably assisted by Chris whose presence comes as a surprise to his father. The subsequent chase through jungle roads and rice paddies by the pirates, directed by Hammerhead, slows the escape down sufficiently to enable Jason Ho and a renegade Khmer army force lead by General Kwang, to prevent them successfully taking off. Ginger's betrayal is revealed as the crew, accompanied by Spartan, the majority of his team, Hammerhead and a handful of pirates are imprisoned in the cellars of General Kwang's nearby mansion. However, Pool and Kwan have managed to avoid capture by hiding in the luggage hold of the DC3.