WHITE KNIGHT

The U.S.A. BASE PINE FOREST  Like loins that roar out of the mist from an African jungle.  Ego the night sky five black long wheels based articulate truck start their engines and leave the snowy iced gates of a base somewhere in the pine forest of the U.S.A.  As they depart a sigh that read. (We will shoot trespassers on sight no question asked)   An idyllic day aboard The Golden Dragon, a renovated antique Chinese junk anchored in a bay off the coast of Thailand. This is home of the Specialist Unit known as (THE WHITE KNIGHT) who’s Commander is James Spartan, his companions, Pooy and Kwan, two beautiful, retired Thai Army nurses, Lucky a dog with and Jimmy, a parrot. Com James Spartan is a non-conforming individualist.  Serving in Special Forces , wheeler-dealer entrepreneur and owner of Knight Air Service, a company specializing in the quasi-legal freight that other government shay away.  Quintessential items on behalf of clients who often require anonymity. The peace of the afternoon’s relaxation 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. Further south,  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 the Com James, has been retained to hi-jack the vessel, hold the crew to ransom and sell its cargo to the North Koreans.  The captain, sworn to secrecy by the Governments, plus the American knows the true nature of its manifest – not bicycle parts but mechanical, Alien technology. The hi-jack presents an unexpected opportunity to the devious Claims adjustors, Graham Smith, of Maritime Marine, the vessels 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 Hundred million dollars by secretly enhancing the ransom fee demand’s. Dispatches  Ginger, as a subterfuge turns to the British Vice Consul, Gilbert Martin, for help in finding the crew and vessel. I disincline Martin to assist officially, fearing that the case of the Lady Govinda is destined to spoil the peace of his posting, apart from the possibility of it affecting his pension rights negatively. It also disturbs his study of The Hustler an 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 Com James Spartan formed their lasting friendship whilst at school at Eton. They have cemented this friendship over the years by James Spartan often having to save his  friend , from Duchess or two, and his fascination with the gaming tables. In particular, the daring microlight 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”. The government where failure will not rebound on the powers that be but success will lead to high honor’s to all, with the exception of Horatio Alexander Parker. Parker meeting with Ginger at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok and charms her into a meeting at the Hard Rock Cafe in Pattaya with James Spartan, who he recommends as the only hope of finding the vessel and freeing the crew. Ginger, in her role as bone fide investigator for Maritime Marine, accepts James Spartan offer. of help, reluctantly, and agrees to share the reward money on offer. The meeting dissolves into chaos as a gang of ruffians, led by Big Al, ex American cage fighter James Spartan realizes that an alliance with Big Al may be mutually beneficial and makes him an offer he cannot refuse. James 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 it’s crew requires James Spartan, in turn, to steal a frieze from a temple in Ankor 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 Spartan, assisted by Pooy, 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 James Spartan. The Knight Air Services DC3 lands on a deserted Cambodian airstrip close to a jungle encampment at Koh Kong. Which is  HQ of Hammerhead and his pirates and where the crew is being held prisoner. The little team effects 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 Ginger’s betray. However, Pooy and Kwan have managed to avoid capture by hiding in the smugglers, hold of the DC3. As night falls, the girls determine somehow to rescue their b leader James Spartan. As they tread warily through the bush surrounding the airstrip, they are surprised to find Chris, who in a brave attack on Ginger, has been badly beaten and left for dead. Together, they discover the whereabouts of the Generals mansion. As Chris undertakes a reckie  he overhears Jason Ho talking with Ginger who is about to leave for London . Between them, they manage to free James Spartan, the crew, Big Al and his gang. As they make their escape to the airstrip, they are able to free Hammerhead and his pirates by remote control. Unfortunately, for them, the pirates are caught by General Kwang and his Khmer force who have been alerted to the escape attempt by the breakdown in there surveillance system. A fierce battle between the pirate gang General Kwang, accompanied by Jason Ho, race to the airstrip in the general’s jeep but, too late. They watch in disbelief, as the DC3 manages to take off and enraged, General Kwang swings the jeep across the airstrip. Suddenly, the jeep hits a land mine and . R.I.P. Jason Ho, Toi Toi and General Kwang. A celebration ceremony in the British Consulate for all concerned in the rescue of the crew is held by the Vice Consul, whose attempt at self, is thwarted when, it is Horatio Alexander Parker, who is awarded an O.B.E. Ho Noi, Gilbert Martin’s secretary, the young Karen girl, who was the unwitting cause of Hamilton and Parker’s escapade in Rangoon, introduces her daughter, Porn, a young worker for the U.N. Refugee organization in Darfur. Chris, who has been secretly jealous of his father’s relationship with his two beautiful companions, is immediately smitten. James Spartan has to remind everyone that the job is still only half done. They still have to locate and recapture the Lady Govinda, a fact which the Captain and his crew heartily endorse, but where? Parker reveals that he and Ho Noi have been busy in the interim.  Using stats and computerized satellite information on all vessels insured through Lloyds of London they have located the vessel anchored in a bay on the island of Jolo, home to Abu Sayyaf rebels.  Hammerhead, who has fled to Jolo, is naturally reluctant to give up his booty, especially since he has lost out on the ransom money but, he has underestimated the determination and ingenuity of James Spartan. After a fierce fight to recapture the vessel, it is he who has to flee and the Captain is reunited with his ship, although its cargo has been plundered. James Spartan puts his mind at rest that no fault will be found with the way that the Captain and his crew behaved and certainly, there is no blame attached since it would be a severe embarrassment to the Government and Maritime Marine if the affair were to be made public. In London, a ‘sting’ operation has been put in place as a result of the information received from Thailand. The UK’s Fraud Squad has also been alerted by Lloyd's of London due to their suspicions about Graham Smith’s activities.  Marine in their stately home in the country. There, the confrontation between Smith and Ginger results in Marigold taking the matter into her own hands and, as shed  deals two knockout blows to the conspirators, the police arrive to arrest them, Porn has a attraction for Chris is mutual, suggests that, in order to recover from the unexpected stimulation he has experienced, he take a six month sabbatical in the Tiger Temple of Say Yok where, to Chris’s astonishment, he discovers that both his father and Parker often went for meditation amidst it’s serene, if bizarre, surroundings. Six months later, Chris is leaving Thailand to enter the exclusive Fleet Air Arm College in the UK. Where his father has pulled a few strings to get him accepted. To his delight and surprise, Sir Thomas presents him with his very own first set of wings, which is  pin on him as to Porn arrives to pin them on him. Half the considerable reward money is going to a Cambodian Charity in aid of landmine victims and the other half to the U.N Refugee Charity in Darfur which will soon be Com James Spartans  next adventure.