Shadows of Justice Book III
a novel by
Richard Lee Orey
Author of the Hunt for the President's Wife
and The Paradise of Revenge
The sizzling adventure story of Sister Maria Camarillo, a sheltered
young nun engaged in an urgent and daring political mission for the
President of the United States to rescue the wayward protégé of
China's President Fong Ji Ming.
"Sister Maria" takes you where you've never been in electrifying
scenes of Sister Maria confronting the unbridled sexual morality
of young Sun Yat-sen with her mission goal of persuading him
to break off his relationship with Viktorya Wu of Singapore,
his libertine lover, in order to assume his role as a future world
leader of the Republic of China.
Sister Maria is caught in a quagmire of conflicting loyalties to
her Roman Catholic Church, to the United States and to China's
President Fong, all requiring her faithful performance of sworn
allegiances.
A BOLD AND DARING JOURNEY. ARE YOU GAME?
EXCERPT:
Chapter Five
Strolling early Wednesday evening across the magnificent grounds of California’s
Stanford University, Sister Maria and godfather McKinley Clearwater felt confident
in their plan as they searched out Professor Donald Schulman’s lecture hall for
his Philosophies of Life class.
Professor Schulman looked up as the two late arrivals entered the lecture hall.
But it wasn’t a near tardiness that caught his and everyone else’s attention;
it was their unique pairing: Petite young Sister Maria in full nun’s attire with her
large crucifix hanging from a chain across her chest and Native American Mac—enormous
in size by any comparison—accompanying her with his dark hair fixed in two long braids
tied off with orange scarves, a brilliant squash blossom turquoise necklace hanging
around his neck and an authentic deerskin jacket with fringed sleeves draped across
his shoulders. Without hesitation, the two took seats at the far left of the professor’s
lectern and turned their attention to the subject of the evening’s presentation.
At the conclusion of his lecture, Professor Schulman invited any and all to offer
constructive thoughts about the subject under consideration. There followed a short
period of somewhat embarrassing silence as no one responded.
Quite unexpectedly, Sister Maria rose and began to speak with a full and measured voice.
“To amplify your Philosophies of Life, Professor Schulman, I would like to share a
quotation from General Chiang Kai-shek, our steadfast ally in World War II and the former
President of the Republic of China, who said:
Prayer is more than meditation. In meditation, the source of strength is one’s self.
When one prays, he goes to a source of strength greater than his own.
“This is an inherent part of Ancient Chinese Culture and remains so today. I believe it's a
philosophy of life that deserves recognition.” Sister Maria nodded the completion of her
comment and sat down.
Godfather Mac whispered to her, “Young Yat-sen was watching and listening to your every
word, Sister. You definitely caught his attention.”
“As we thought he would, Mac. Now, we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
* * * * *
Dressed in tight white jeans and a loose red blouse, Sister Maria slipped through the
doorway of the privately owned Campus Book Store and glanced around. In the far corner sat
young Yat-sen, just as the White House support team had informed her and Mac was his
Thursday afternoon habit.
Sliding a pre-selected reference book from a shelf, Sister Maria made her way to the table
where Yat-sen sat reading and quietly took a seat next to him and began to read. After a
few moments, she coughed twice. A few seconds later, she coughed again.
Yat-sen looked up. “May I get you something to drink? Perhaps a cup of coffee.”
Sister Maria made eye contact with him. “Why, thank you. Hot and black, please.”
When Yat-sen returned, Sister Maria sat studying her reference book.
“You know, I’m probably wrong,” he said, “but I seem to know you from somewhere.”
“Do you?”
“I think so. It’s your voice that I recognize, perhaps.”
“But not my face?” she asked, looking up.
“Oh, now I know. I think. Are you-- Can you possibly be Sister Maria from Professor’s Schulman’s class?”
Sister Maria responded with a smile. “Indeed, I am.”
“And you’re really a nun?”
“I’m a Roman Catholic Novitiate Nun of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy Convent
in Sonora, Mexico.”
“But where’s your nun’s clothing?”
“I’ll be glad to tell you if you’ll hand me my coffee that you’re still holding.”
They both laughed as he held out the cup. “Hot and black.”
“Thank you. Now, since you know my name, might I inquire of yours?”
“Oh, certainly. My name’s Sun Yat-sen, but everyone just calls me Sunny.”
“Well, Sunny, I’m on a sabbatical from my convent to visit relatives in this area.
I just arrived in town an hour or so before the Philosophies of Life lecture began, and I
wanted to audit the class and didn’t have time to change my clothing first.”
“Well, I’m glad you did today.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Because you looked a little intimidating last night, but you look fabulous today.”
“Thank you, Sunny.”
Sunny sat back down next to Sister Maria. “So what is it you’re so totally absorbed
by?” he said, indicating her reference book with a pointing finger.
“Male Sexual Responses: A Clinical Study.”
“Wow! I’d never have guessed that.”
“Because?”
“Because you’re a nun."
“Well, if I may say, Sunny, as a nun I get absolutely no exposure to the subject of male
sexual responses, and I’m curious about the subject. So I looked around the book shelves
here and spotted this book. And here I am, reading and learning.”
“Well, that’s sort of a dull way of learning, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it is. But what other choice do I have?”
“Well, you might go right to the source live, so to speak.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Look, Sister, if you want to know about male sexual responses, why don’t you ask a man
who has male sexual responses, someone like me, for instance?”
“You mean, I could interview you on the subject?”
“Well, I guess you could call it that. I mean, who else do you know you could ask
the questions?”
“You’re right there, Sunny.”
“So, are you interested?”
Sister Maria drew in a deep breath and paused. “Yes, I certainly am, but not here in public.
If you don’t mind my being a bit forward, my place is just up the street a couple of blocks.
I could interview you there, if you promise me you’ll be as polite and as courteous as here.”
“Sure. What kind of place are you talking about?”
“Oh, I have a small suite in the Main Street Hotel. I could fix us a nice pot of tea first,
if you like.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“I’m in Suite 606. Give me about a ten-minute head start so I can get a pot of water heating, okay?”
“See you shortly, Sister.”
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