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didn’t want to draw attention to. Dr Bishop, who ran the show over at ZanChai Med, still owed him a personal favour for sorting things out after a run in with some semi-illegal narcotics. After the plane was sorted, he pulled some strings with Yuna Ling and Zoe Chow who worked in a different department to him. They knew nothing about the international projects that he was involved in and would never admit to giving him the equipment they had arranged, for fear of losing their jobs. Before he began the long journey to the private aircraft hangar which he was due to leave from at 8.45pm, he wrote out a short text message to Xin:
    ‘Xin, I hope you arrived safely. There have been developments here but I can’t really say much in this message. I have something you need and I’m bringing it to you. By the time you receive this I will be on a plane, but message me back when you land. I will need the details of where to find you. See you soon, Bao.’

3.
    ‘Well, I’m Pete. Peter Rzewski if you wanted my full name. I’d not known Xin for very long when she suggested that we get a hotel, but how could I say no? Okay, so it wasn’t like that but still I was pretty surprised. It shocked me most how quickly we began to trust each other. I knew that she was aware of something big that was happening, it was clear from the moment she asked me to stay with her. When we had managed to secure separate but adjoining rooms at the hotel, I tried to prepare myself to hear whatever it was that Xin was going to tell me...’
    The room was decidedly gaudy. Maybe that was just to be expected in Vegas. The walls were painted in shades of purple and there were shiny, silver accents scattered throughout. A mirrored disco ball hung from the centre of the ceiling and there was a switch that would cast beams of light at it, refracting dancing spots of colour all around the room. None the less, it was clean and comfortable. The bed was piled with furry throw pillows and a quilted, satin blanket.
    This high up, the windows didn’t open. It was a health and safety precaution that prevented unlucky gamblers from returning to their rooms after a night in the casino and jumping from them. Pete would have appreciated the fresh air. Instead an oscillating room fan circulated the stale air, stirring it up and creating the illusion of a fresh breeze.
    Pete opened his suitcase, which was laid on the freshly made bed in his room. He had parted ways with Xin just outside of her room next door. They both needed to change and freshen up after the madness of the plane ride and the crushing airport. He took out his electric razor and plug adaptor and headed into the en-suite bathroom. Dumping them beside the sink, Pete gratefully discarded his clothes, which seemed soiled by the travel and stress. He left them pooled on the floor and stepped into the glass shower cubicle, before turning on the water. The soothing torrent gradually washed away some of the bewilderment he felt at finding himself in this situation. He kept telling himself that the reason he liked to travel a lot was, after all, to experience new things. And this was definitely going to be new for him. Pete didn’t know how long he’d been stood under the water, but a knock on the adjoining door told him it must have been a while. He smiled to himself, thinking about how it was typically said that women were the ones that took forever to get ready. He turned off the water and brushed his hair back from his face, before stepping out and wrapping a towel around his waist.
    “Sorry, could you give me another ten minutes?” He called.
    “Oh, yes, of course. Sorry,” Xin flustered. He sensed that she was anxious to have this over with, and so he shaved quickly and threw on some beach shorts. Pete pulled on a t-shirt and hurriedly cleared away his laundry and used towels. He was still towelling his hair dry as he knocked on the adjoining door.
    “Okay, I’m all done. Let’s get this show on the