The book of Raxworthy

Chapter 30 Part 1

Darren: "Hmmm, we absolutely can not drop any hints".

Li: "Hear that, guys?  No one is to use any Biblical terms".

Darren and Lionel were briefing their men.  They were about to go out and do some evangalising in the busy market in the middle of Kuala Lumpur.  It was the weekly market, bigger than the usual daily ones, which mainly had food.  This market was the event of the week for the inhabitants of KL, and many of the inhabitants of that city relied upon this market for a place to sell their goods, to earn a living.  Evangalism was strictly forbidden in this city.  It was for this reason that all the men were wearing latex masks, and wearing gloves.  The fact that they were wearing running shoes, and were all breathing heavily, panting as they listened to Darren and Li, was for the same reason.  

Darren: "Right, so it's no names.  If they look a bit dodgy, run".

On the back of their V-necked teeshirts, was written in large letters printed in white, "JSS".  The guys were all allowed to choose their own colour teeshirt, and had to wait for them to be imported from New Zealand where they were produced.  They wore these shirts for identification.  If they were asked what the letters meant by someone they didn't know or trust, they would tell them "It's a New Zealand brand name."  

JSS is the name of the tailor's shop whose sole employment is keeping a well heeled bloke in New Zealand up to scratch with the latest "made to fit" fashion.  He lives out of town in New Zealand, in what the more ponsy types would call a lifestlye block.  The well heeled bloke might have a different opinion.  "Too far to the fish'n chip shop", he might call it, or perhaps when he was being more practical, "too much petrol".  "The Primeras, they do guzzle", he was once quoted as saying, in a private interview.  Witnesses, however, would tell you without hesitating, that it's a miracle that the well heeled guy is still breathing.  "The way he takes off at the lights", one witness gasped.  Another mentioned having seen him back out of a curved driveway in a cul de saq, in a quiet little suburb in the town.  "Absolutely horrific", were the words he used to describe it.  Enough about the well heeled guy.

If you add two vowels to JSS, you get Jesus.  Which is why the guys patronise the tailor's of the well heeled guy".

The guys had got their breaths back now.  They'd just completed the pre-evangalism exercise routine, which makes SS training look like a joke.  These guys were elite.  More about them later, though.

Lionel: "Right boys, lets do this thing".

Before they headed for the elevator, to make the trip from the 17th level of the appartment building out to the street, the men prayed.  The sight of the dozen odd guys standing, heads bowed in front of Darren and Lionel was moving.  Their teeshirts were sweat soaked and their arm muscles, at the slightest movement of their fingers, rippled.  

When necessary, these guys would have to fight their way out of a tricky situation, or run for miles through the backstreets of KL, to escape the pursuers who wanted them behind bars.

Darren: "...And help us, to say the right things, and for everything we do, that it would be for your glory.  Amen"

Li: "Ok, lets move move MOVE!"

Darren: "Move out, and stay low!"

The men respond with a stifled wave of laughter, realising the solemnity of the mission. One of the men, Aaron, at just over six foot, slight of build, but extremely wiry and with a passion for his job, is the first to the door, and opening it, he leads the charge down the corridor to the escalator...

Darren: "Right, Li, you set?"

Li: "Gotcha".

Darren runs out the door after his men.  He is not exempt from the excercise, and, as the men, his JSS shirt sticks to his back.  The leader of the operation, Darren leads by example.  Li, who has been standing behind his desk, both hands on the edge, looks at the open door pensively.  “Why don't they shut the door?”.  Li just can't understand it, the guys, Darren, they never shut the door.  Whererever they are, whatever mission they're on, whatever the weather, they always forget this simple thing.  Having shut the door, Li heads back to the desk and, using his right foot to hook the computer chair behind him, he sits down.  His PDA rests beside the 21" CRT on his desk, charging.  Li taps the spacebar, causing the matrix code screensaver to stop, and with rapidity that could only be the result of much practice, he swiftly keys his password into the "This computer is in use and has been locked" box.  Not looking at the screen, Li presses start, programs, games, and clicks on Minesweeper.  He settles back into his comfortable chair.  There has to be someone back at the base to monitor the whereabouts and safety of the men.

By sheer habit, Li right clicks on the desktop, and goes to properties, where he changes the res of his huge screen to a crazy 400X600.  When asked by Darren once, why he did this, Li had said that it gave the game a more interactive feel.  "I get more "into" the game", he'd told his brother.  Li had a good ten or fifteen minutes till he'd need to get serious.  The men would have a short jog to the market, and during this time, Lionel mused, he'd have a go.  For ages, he'd been trying to get his time down.  He'd clocked Expert Minesweeper a couple of years ago, but he was constantly trying to speed it up.  371 seconds was his best time yet, but he'd been stuck on or above that for ages.  "Maybe Bill made it this way", muses Li, half-conciously clicking Minesweeper's title bar, bringing it to the front...