Ben Baird, wireless operator of the Ming-Po Maru, notices strange happenings on board ship. What do these strange radio messages mean? Who is it that cries for help? In trying to find out the answers suddenly Ben entered the static-room, picked his way swiftly and unnoticingly across the littered floor, and jerked open the frosted glass door of the chief operator's office, the assembled operators followed him with glances of admiration and concern. No one ever entered the Chief's office in that fashion. One waited until called upon. Ben now finds himself thrust into the underworld clutches of a Chinese crime lord. the despotic Scarlett Dragon, as he travels into "The City of Stolen Lives," all in the pursuit of a beautiful woman The Time: 1938-9 The Place: The Pacific Rim