Chapter 5: His Problem
October 23rd, 11:38 (Eastern China Standard Time)
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island Special Region (“People’s Liberation Committee” Side), Mid-Level
Ten minutes passed as they continued through the spacious reception room. The master of this room- a member of Mithril’s Intelligence Department stationed in Hong Kong- had not come yet.
The ceiling was high, and there were large windows. Abundant natural light brightened up the room. This place was built on the steep slope of Mt. Victoria with a view of the ocean, the aboveground 30th floor of a tall mansion.
There were a countless number of structures on this steep slope- and from this building, which was the tallest high-rise apartment building out of all of them, one commanded a panoramic view of the city of Hong Kong below.
Big and small, old and new, the buildings were closely crammed together. They had heard about it, but the density of those high-rise apartments wasn’t normal.
Confusion. Disorder. Chaos. The scenery could only be described as such.
“When you look at it like this, it doesn’t look like it’s changed that much, really,” mumbled Mao, who was standing next to Sousuke.
“You’ve been here before?”
“Many times before the restoration, yeah. Relatives on my mother’s side lived not too far from here. But they moved to New York and aren’t here anymore. Before I joined Mithril, I stayed here for about two months. Just hanging out, pretty much.”
“Hanging out, huh?”
“After I was kicked out of the Marines. I didn’t have the willpower to work, and I didn’t want to go back to my parents’ house in New York, since my old man would rag on me. Damn Air Force jerk...” she said, clicking her tongue.
Because Sousuke hadn’t heard much about Mao’s personal history before, he was a little surprised to hear talk about the old days.
“Your father was in the military?”
“Yup. A dumb bomber pilot. He’s retired now, and works at a company. He acts all-important in spite of the fact that he’s a stingy coward. He’s also a conspiracy-monger.”
“Conspiracy...?”
“Yeah. When I tried to do serious work after high school, he went around behind my back and tried to marry me to some Harvard pretty boy. I was disgusted by it, of course. So I went and joined the Marines on the day of the wedding to get back at him.”
She had probably gotten great pleasure from doing that.
She lowered her head with a wide grin on her face.
“I snuck out of the church by myself, and went to the recruitment office four blocks away, still in my wedding dress. The corporal on duty there, his eyes were thiiis wide. ‘Are you serious?’ he said, and I said ‘Of course.’ Everyone in the office tried to talk me out of it. ‘Miss bride, you should rethink this. Surely your parents will be upset,’ they said, and I told them ‘My dad is in the Air Force.’ When I said that, everyone said ‘Oh, if that’s the case, okay then. Sign these papers first.’”
Yang, who had overheard the story from a little way off, couldn’t contain himself and burst out laughing.
“What do you think of a girl like that?”
“She’s the best... heh heh. No, she’s too cool,” he said. Yang’s shoulders were shaking in laughter and there were tears in the corner of his eyes as he gave the thumbs up.
The atmosphere was strange. There was the tension before an operation mixed with a funny story to kill time. There was the silence of the room and Yang trying to suppress his laughter. The light from the window created the shadows of Mao and Yang clearly. In that scene, however, there was a strange melancholy looming about in the air.
Mao sentimentally gazed off into the deep sky.
“The best, huh...? It’s true, that was the best time. I had just made a decision, and I felt like the world had spread out infinitely before me. I said ‘No matter what it is, I can do it, and no matter where it is, I can go.’”
“No matter where...?” Sousuke said as if he were hearing these words for the first time, but Mao just shrugged.
“That’s right. Of course a lot of stuff happened after that, setbacks and disappointment. But I think that being that way was really great. I liked myself more than I ever had before. That was how it was.”
Sousuke didn’t really understand what Mao meant by that. He didn’t grasp why she would suddenly tell this kind of story at a time like this.
“Well, it was just something that coming back here made me remember. Don’t think about it too much.”
“Mm... okay,” Sousuke answered, albeit a little confused.
Then the door of the reception office opened, and a middle-aged, plump, white man entered the room.
“Wow, I’m so sorry to make you wait this long.”
He quickly wiped the sweat from his temple with a handkerchief and walked up to them. He had very friendly eyes,
his black hair was slicked back with pomade, and he wore a mustache. He looked to be around 50 years old, but he could have been much younger.
This man is...?
Sousuke and Mao both looked at each other.
He was a member of the Department of Intelligence, Gavin Hunter.
They had imagined a stoic old war veteran from that name, but the person who had come in was a profusely sweating fat man. They were rather surprised by this.
On the outside, Hunter appeared to be an influential trade merchant, as he was proficient in both Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. He had a lot of pull with both the North and South armies, and seemed to go out to eat every night with their leaders.
It was a different image from what you would call a “spy”, but it wasn’t necessary to go out on big adventures like James Bond in order to collect information. The casual remarks of the army’s leaders, the small articles in newspapers’ financial columns, as well as unfamiliar ships coming into port- one could guess a lot from just those things alone. Besides, that was essentially the job of the Intelligence Department, anyway.
“This is probably obvious already, but both the North and South Armies have become extremely nervous,” Hunter explained. “You’ve only had a brief look at it, but the situation is very serious. Together, both of the armies have had three incidents of friendly fire, and four incidents of firing at civilians. It’s a miracle that the North and South armies haven’t declared war on each other yet. However, that is only a matter of time.”
“And if it does happen?”
“Then Victoria Bay will be in the middle of a terrible shootout. They can get at all sorts of weapons besides guns. Rifles,
machine guns, trench mortar guns, rockets, anti-tank missiles... it could become scary. A sea of fire in a split second. Just like the row of houses that you see.”
Since they divided, the North China Army and South China Army had confronted each other with Victoria Bay in between. It hadn’t progressed into battle because of the intentions of both armies, neither of which wanted Hong Kong to become a lake of fire. However, those intentions were now starting to wane due to the terrorism of the AS.
“What about the citizens?”
“They started throwing accusations a long time ago. The other side blames the inland people of Sangaai. Our side blames South Hong Kong and Lantao... well, it is the center of women and children. I also sent my wife to our vacation house in Lantao. Relations between the North and the South have mostly stopped due to the strict guard conditions of both. The ports have been closed, and most of the flights to the Kai Tak and Chek Lap Kok airports have been cancelled. We can only cover our eyes as stock prices and exchange rates plummet. Geez... and after we were really starting to make progress since they divided up, too. It really will become another Berlin at this rate.”
“But it was becoming like that anyway, right?” Mao unexpectedly muttered, and both Hunter’s superiority complex and eyebrow rose in response.
“That’s Chinese people for you. They’re cunning, full of vitality, and so commercially driven it’s surprising. They freely manipulate their official stances and real intentions, as well as the positives and the negatives.”
“Ahh.”
“Just try some Chinese cuisine, then you will understand these people and just how much culture they have. The ideology
that westerners have concocted in just 100 years is really quite insignificant in comparison. The drama over the division was both a danger and an opportunity for those of us in business. Some were ruined, and some became rich. That’s how it always is. Even if it is politically divided and there are two military forces present, it was relatively easy to come and go as one chose up until the day before yesterday. In short it was mutual back-scratching.”
The triumphant tone in Hunter’s voice made it seem as if he felt he were of pure Hong Kong descent, even though he was the only white person in the room.
“Well, what about the problem AS?”
“As of right now, its whereabouts are where we absolutely cannot catch it. Its last appearance was three hours ago, in Shau Kei Wan on the Hong Kong Island side. They reported serious damage to two ASes as well as an armored vehicle. There were four casualties in the North China Army, as well as eight civilians wounded... such a terrible thing.”
“And there’s no doubt that it’s hidden somewhere in the city?”
“I can’t confirm that, but our analysts and I both think so. And my long years also tell me so. Though it would trouble that particular area...”
Hunter spread out a map, and began the technical explanation. It was the opinion of a not-so-detailed pro, who had thoroughly and exhaustively scrutinized all sorts of information. And from every word he spoke, Mao and the others could tell how deeply he cared about Hong Kong.
Mao and Sousuke, who were both very knowledgeable about the methods for continuous use of the invisible type ECS, offered advice as well as narrowed the scope of Hunter’s analysis. It was a profitable discussion. Mao’s group as well as Hunter’s
group were all practical people. The discord of the intelligence bureaus in the upper departments had no effect here.
“Anything else? Areas or conditions that we can exclude?” Hunter asked, typing on the keyboard of the AI’s computer terminal.
“Mark out places where there are a lot of dogs or crows.”
“Hmm. Why birds and dogs and such?”
“Because it’s presumed that birds can see the AS, probably because the ECS can’t conceal in the ultra-violet spectrum. Crows especially will make a lot of noise and fly about, and other various annoyances. Dogs, too. They’re sensitive to the smell of the ECS’s ozone.”
“Ha haa... I guess so. Anything else?” Mao looked at Sousuke’s profile.
“I think that’s about it... Sousuke?”
“Hm?” Sousuke said, looking as if he had just pulled out of his own thoughts.
“There’s nothing else, is there?”
“N... no. Not really.”
To Mao, it seemed as though Sousuke had been having problems concentrating, which was rather unusual. Ever since they had left the Tuatha de Danaan.
Just then, Hunter, who was staring at the computer terminal screen, said in a voice of admiration, “Amazing. There are 49 places on the Hong Kong side, and 78 places on the Kowloon side. With this, we can divide our forces up and cover them in a half-a-day.”
“If the conditions are right... however. If we do find it, let’s find its weakness and nail it.”
Without delay, Hunter’s subordinates and Mao’s group decided on who would scout out the hiding place of the enemy AS. There was no time to lose.
They decided that Mao’s group from the Operations Department would split into three teams to help with reconnaissance.
Sousuke and Mao would cross over Victoria Harbor and go over into the Kowloon peninsula.
Yang and Wu would look around Hong Kong Island.
The third team was the transport helicopter that brought them. They would activate the ECS Invisibility function and search all of Hong Kong from the skies using the ECCS (the anti-ECS sensors). Because the ECCS would be of little use in urban areas, they would be in charge of mainly the suburbs and the various-sized islands.
The two light vans that they borrowed from Hunter had [狩人清潔有限公司] written in large blue letters on the side. Hunter’s cleaning company. That was all it meant, but to Sousuke, who was not familiar with Chinese, it was a very strange representation.
“It looks like that old man’s business is pretty extensive...” Mao said as she folded her arms in the underground parking lot of the building. The four of them had already changed into the uniforms of the cleaning company, but they suited Sousuke the least.
“Do you have your permits? Check your operating permits, as well. Go ahead and put your fake passports and credit cards in another pocket. Only one weapon a piece, and don’t fire it. Communicate at all times. Be careful since it’s martial law around here.”
“What if it looks like we’re going to be held up by cars or police for inspection? There are a lot of units where Hunter doesn’t have any influence, right?” Yang asked.
“That’s why you have to be careful. If you have to run, then run. But don’t open fire. Attacking innocent bystanders in cars is out of the question. We’ll plan the rest out later. If you’re caught, you’ll probably be interrogated until Hunter can pull some strings. Even if you’re tortured, don’t say anything. That’s all.”
“That’s pretty tough...”
“Also, be thinking about what to do when the enemy is located, since we don’t have consent to kill him without contact or approval. Got it?”
“Roger.”
“Then let’s go.”
The four then took the cleaning company’s vans and left the parking lot.
The two groups separated, heading into town.
Yang’s group’s vehicle headed in the direction of Victoria Peak.
Sousuke drove their van down a steep road surrounded by rows of trees for a few minutes, and left the heart of Central. Rows of skyscrapers seemed to jut into the sky on both sides of Des Voeux Road, and it felt like they were passing into a manmade valley. For Sousuke, who grew up in the country, the majesty of this scene was quite overwhelming.
The cloudy sky was extremely confined.
Central would probably be a business area comparable to Shinjuku or Marunouchi in Tokyo, but there were very few people about. Traffic was sparse, too. There was almost no one other than the drivers on the double-decker trams that ran through the middle
of the road. The sound of the rail scraping against metal rang pointlessly throughout the area.
“Surprising, isn’t it... I’ve never seen Central like this before,” Mao said, looking over the quiet urban streets from the passenger seat.
When they came to a wide five-lane road, they were able to see the armored vehicles and ASes of the North China Army. They were olive colored Rk-92 Savages. They were the same type supplied by the North Koreans, with their specifications geared towards exportation.
Heading east along the street, they passed through Wanchai going towards Causeway Bay.
The valley of buildings continued on. The number of famous Hong Kong “zhaopai” [signboards] grew. Flashy signs in colors like red and green protruded from the buildings, thoroughly covering the sky above the road.
[雅胎美容護膚中心]
[展藝設計装飾公司]
[福村東苑菜館]
[華爾登影音器材有限公司]
[新華中西薬行]
[富搖海鮮酒家]
[佛如來素會]
[釣藝琴行文化藝術中心]
To Sousuke, who wasn’t very good at kanji, they were nothing but nonsensical Japanese readings*1. Of course there were illuminated signs, and one could even see a large number of the new hologram signboards.
They were civilian products that used a basic form of the ECS. They reached the entrance of an underground tunnel. Going
through this tunnel would take them towards the Kowloon Peninsula, which was controlled by the South China Army.
The entrance of the tunnel was on high alert. There were four Savages, two armored vehicles, and more than 60 heavily-armed foot soldiers. There were sandbags piled up all over the place, along with barbed wire fence and turrets established around the perimeter.
There was a clearance gate shortly before the tunnel. Civilian vehicles were lined up in front of it, with soldiers arguing with the people inside the cars. In the end, and without approval, the civilians would make a U-turn and head back.
The arrangement was that Hunter was supposed to call the leaders of this garrison.
“Now, let’s see if they will kindly let us through...”
“If Hunter’s connections are certain.”
A soldier with an AKM rifle over his shoulder spread his arms out in front of the gate and told them “Stop” in Cantonese. He walked over to the driver’s side, and quickly spouted something over the window. Since he had only memorized a few everyday phrases on the helicopter ride over, Sousuke didn’t understand anything of what the man said.
“Mao, would you help?”
“Ming baak laa. Hoi cheung.”*2
“?”
“He said ‘Understand? Open the window.’”
“...”
Sousuke obeyed, opening the van’s power window. After that he only watched from the side as Mao spoke fluently in Cantonese to the soldier. She showed him their operating permit and passes, and when she explained something to the soldier, he faced Sousuke and said, “Ho yi.”
“...?”
Mao poked Sousuke’s shoulder and pointed in front of the van.
“Nei tai. Ngodei ho yi jau laa.”
The gate in front of them started to noisily open. “Go” was what Sousuke interpreted it to mean, and he took off. It had been set up so that they would clear this first barrier without any problems.
They crossed through the tunnel that ran underneath Victoria Harbor. There were no other cars around. Their van was the only vehicle on the spacious three-lane road.
“This is unbelievable. This tunnel used to always be backed up.”
“It seems everything’s surprising.”
“Of course it is. Anyone who knew what Hong Kong was like before would be shocked.”
“Is that so?”
“Try to imagine how you would feel if Tokyo was like this.”
This surprising statement unexpectedly hit home to Sousuke.
“If Shinjuku and Ginza were divided in two, and the two sides were one step away from war. A town where there’s supposed to be fashion-conscious kids shopping or eating ice cream- now full of armored cars and ASes. On a bayside perfect for taking a stroll, there are gigantic pillboxes and hidden trenches. In Hong Kong, of all places! It’s weird. This world has gone mad.”
“...”
For the first time, Sousuke finally understood the “peace” of the city he had lived in for a half a year. There were no tanks. There were no ASes. There weren’t any policemen or soldiers
demanding bribes. Cars and people flooded the streets, and there were the sounds of lively music and laughter in the air.
Peaceful Tokyo. A peaceful school. A peaceful classroom. And-
“Sousuke?”
“Hm?”
“What’s wrong?”
“...no, it’s nothing.”
Sousuke shook off the image of the face that almost came to mind.
“Be careful. There’s the South Army’s Gate.”
“Understood.”
They hadn’t reached the exit of the tunnel yet, but they could see the gate sealed up by wire netting. It was the entrance into the South China Army dominated Kowloon Peninsula. Hunter was supposed to have pulled some strings with this commander, as well. After two or three exchanges, the soldiers quickly let them pass.
“So this is how it is.”
“Surprising, huh?”
The two were disappointed that it had been so easy to pass inspection at both camps. It was strict guard, after all. They had prepared themselves for anything that would give them the slightest shiver.
“It appears that Hunter is a pretty important person.”
“I know, since he’s had influence with both of the armies up to this point. I can’t believe that he’s a completely respectable merchant.”
“Probably not.”
More than likely, he was in the business of buying the black market goods from the munitions stores of both armies.
Selling favors to the military leaders who were working hard to build their fortunes, while at the same time taking advantages of their weaknesses. For a member of the Intelligence Department it was killing two birds with one stone. Sousuke had seen a lot of trouble with men like that.
“We’re almost there now, it’s this area.”
They entered a street lined with modern hotels. This vicinity was one of the places on the list, right in the middle of a construction site for a trade center- the perfect place for an AS to hide. In Hong Kong, Malaysian merchants without much in the way of an actual track record were accepting these construction projects, and there were many various obscure points in their contracts.
“Wonder what we’ll do if we find it right off the bat.”
“There’s nothing to wonder. We should always have that intention.”
They passed in front of a wide park surrounded by hotels and shopping centers on three sides.
There was a South China Army AS standing guard at the entrance of the park. It was an early model “Bushnell” M6, a model intended for export and not equipped with ECS. Right next to it there was a British-made electric car. It was connected to an outside power supply, probably because it had been on standby for a long time.
That electric car...
He suddenly remembered. That electric car was the same model as the one that he had stolen from the enemy right after he had saved her in Shun On. She had made such a racket, making it hard to explain the situation to her. Without even trying to believe what he had told her, and with enemy bullets flying all around them, she had admonished him saying
“Sagara, get a grip. You’re confused and clinging to these wild ideas of yours!”
‘Sagara’...?
That’s right. That’s what she used to call me back then. When did she start calling me ‘Sousuke’? That’s definitely-
“Sousuke!?”
Mao screamed. Sousuke snapped back.
The van he was driving had just run the red light at an intersection.
It was a noisy pile up. There was a taxi coming from the left. He squealed the brakes. The van pitched forward, and the bumper scraped along the asphalt. There was a shrill sound, sparks, and impact. The taxi had torn off the van’s bumper.
The car went flying right as if it had been kicked, and glass and metal fragments scattered as it skidded sideways.
♦ ♦ ♦
Sousuke and Mao’s van was stopped in the middle of the intersection.
The driver of the wrecked taxi jumped out of the car and was yelling something at them. Four soldiers from the park that they had just passed a moment ago were running to the scene. The M6 had not moved from where it was standing, but its head was fixedly staring in their direction.
The color drained from her face, Mao looked at Sousuke from the passenger side. She looked as if nothing would come out other than abusive language.
“... Anyway, let me handle it. You just stay quiet.”
“I-”
“Never mind, just don’t do anything!” she snapped, and got out of the van.
Mao headed towards the soldiers who were running up, and called out something in a very embarrassed voice.
“Mafaan chan nei...”
It probably meant something like “We’re sorry, he wasn’t careful.” However, without even responding to her somewhat stupefied remarks, they suddenly thrust their rifles at her.
Shut up, or something like that, they yelled at her.
The soldiers’ demeanor turned bloodthirsty at anything that went wrong, probably because these past few days of being on alert had worn down their nerves.
They caught Mao by the shoulder and forced her down on the ground, then pulled Sousuke out of the driver’s seat. They seized the driver of the taxicab as well in the same manner. The taxi cab driver cried out in a pitiful voice, clinging to the soldiers and pointing at Sousuke and Mao in blame.
With her hands tied behind her back, Mao was desperately explaining something to the soldiers. It was a cleverly pitiful voice that called out for sympathy, but its effectiveness was doubtful.
This was terrible.
A mistake in judgment during battle would have been better, but this was a traffic accident due to his carelessness. He had never made such a stupid mistake before. This was a failure that even Sousuke’s own pride could almost not accept. Being restrained like this went well beyond reconnaissance. He had to think of something- he thought.
Just then, a thunderous roar rose up from the M6 standing 30 meters away, and its knees dropped.
“...!?”
Its long, slender head was forcibly twisted off by some unknown power. Sparks and flames gushed from the neck, and with cables and pipes pulled out, it looked as if it were the severed head of some ghost floating out into the empty sky. The broken metal went into death throes. The stumpy figure of the M6 writhed, its arms and legs flitted around, and it tried to make a grab for its invisible attacker.
“Wa...”
The large body of the M6 let out a loud roar, and went flying like a slingshot.
Crossing over the road, it hit some hotels on the other side of the park, and pieces of concrete and glass flew everywhere. White dust suddenly arose, enshrouding the area in a solid cloud, when a large bolt of lightning flashed amid the confusion.
ECS Invisibility mode.
In the remnants of the blue light, one could see the shape of an AS.
Its upper body had the shape of an inverted triangle, with a head shaped like a diamond. It was gray and dark green camouflaged. It also had what you would never forget after the seeing it once- that one red eye.
It was Venom.
The soldiers gasped, their eyes fixed on the figure of that very ominous machine.
The Venom took the head of the M6 that it had just torn off and simply threw it on the road. The lump of a machine gun and deformed sensor fell on a Benz that was parked nearby, smashing its front windshield. The Venom then took the assault rifle from its back, aimed it at the M6, which was still trying to move, and opened fire full out at point-blank range. The M6 was helpless as its arms and legs were shot to pieces, and blew up.
The tremendous sound, hot wind and shock wave from the explosion reached all the way to the intersection where Sousuke and the others were. Mao grabbed the driver of the taxicab and forced him to the ground. Immediately after, when she noticed Sousuke standing there dumbfounded, her eyes widened in shock.
Hearing the uproar, another M6 on alert in a neighboring vicinity had rushed over. It exposed half of its body from behind the corner of a hotel across from Venom, and took aim with its rifle. Mao got up, this time jumping on Sousuke.
It shot.
The Venom raised its left arm. Just in front of it, numerous shells burst open. There was an invisible shield. The diverted ballistic shells hit the surrounding buildings and signboards, and a storm of destruction swept over the area.
“Gau meng a...!”
Even its movements were unpredictable. The soldiers screamed out amidst the chaos. Debris rained down incessantly all around Mao and Sousuke.
The Venom quickly crushed the newcomer M6 with its rifle, and then ran back towards Sousuke and Mao’s direction. Someone cried out in despair. The gray machine drew in close, then kicked the ground just in front of them. As if it had exploded, the asphalt was smashed into pieces by the impact. The Venom then suddenly disappeared.
“...”
Brushing away the thick dust, they looked up overhead. The Venom had landed on top of a twenty-story building. It had probably had used a wire gun to help it make it that far so fast. It had jumping capacity second only to that of the M9.
The machine’s red eye paid absolutely no attention to Sousuke and the others, but looked off in the distance. It had
probably confirmed the movement of the South China Army’s forces.
After glaring over the entire vicinity, the Venom turned around and activated its ECS system. As its gray body became invisible, it disappeared beyond the rooftop.
That was the end of the battle.
The intersection was covered in smoke. A soldier whose arm was injured by some flying debris was making a loud racket. Another one appeared to be injured as well, saying “that’s not it, this isn’t it,” very quickly. The one who appeared to have the most experience out of the four was yelling something into his radio, and the remaining soldier was just standing bewildered in the middle of the intersection.
The South China Army soldiers seemed to have completely lost interest in Mao and the others.
Mao started to talk to one of them, and after rattling off an answer to her, he hastily ran in the direction of the burning M6. She said something to the taxi driver and then pointed her thumb up at the van with Hunter’s company written on it. He looked a little dissatisfied, but when Mao said something else, he then seemed to understand, and then walked back to his own car.
“Let’s go,” she whispered in a low voice in Sousuke’s ear as she approached.
“Is it okay...?”
“He said ‘If it hadn’t been for your accident, we would’ve probably been crushed to death next to the M6, so we’ll let it pass,’” she said, quickly getting into the now bumper-less van. Naturally, she got into the driver’s side.
With no reason to cite dissatisfaction, Sousuke silently sat in the passenger seat.
A car accident and seeing Venom. Completely unexpected events happened as if they were pressing him for answers, and it disturbed Sousuke considerably. Being relieved of his guard duty of Kaname, his utter defeat to Clouseau in their match- it was the shock of all of them lined up together.
What in the world am I doing?
If Venom had not have shown up when it did, they would have probably been restrained by those South Army soldiers and been in even more trouble.
Where was the irony?
The irony. He had absolutely no control over this reality.
His arms and legs were numb and senseless as the feeling of helplessness ate at his mind and body. Right now for Sousuke, everything had stopped making sense.
Starting the engine, Mao said, “You missed the light. We could’ve died, you know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Were you thinking about her?”
“...”
When he didn’t say anything, Mao suddenly grabbed his lapel.
“Forget right now. If you can’t do that, then get out. You know the situation. But now- I’m not that nice of a babysitter. I’m not gonna die because of you...! If you’re gonna be like this, I’d be better off by myself.”
What she was saying was right. She took up this severe attitude especially because she recognized their equal relationship. Showing sympathy here, either as a colleague or as a friend, would be a mistake.
However, that correctness right now was helplessly unpleasant to Sousuke.
“...you’re right.”
Sousuke grabbed his bag with the radio and other equipment, and opened the passenger side door.
“Sousuke?”
“I’m sorry. I... can’t do this anymore.”
“Wai...”
“Please continue the mission.”
Getting out of the van, he stepped on the road now covered in building material and rubble, and walked off alone. He had nowhere to go, of course. Mao yelled something at him from behind, but he didn’t hear it.
It didn’t matter what happened. Nothing did. Not Mithril’s mission, Venom, Arbalest or Al, or the fate of this city.
♦ ♦ ♦
October 22nd, 19:53 (Eastern China Standard Time)
Hong Kong Island Special Region, Sheung Wan
It had already been three hours since they parted with Mao and Sousuke.
In that time, Corporal Yang and Private First-class Wu had finished checking eleven of the possible hiding places on their list, and had come up with nothing.
Yang and Wu slowly drove through an area with a line of tall apartment buildings in one section of Sheung Wan. In this town, which was constructed on the slope of Mount Victoria, there were many steep and narrow curves.
“...I wanna drive.”
Being on a road such as this one, on the outskirts of his hometown of Daegu, brought back the excitement of that time
when he would attack the passes almost every night. And he kept asking himself “Why am I in this kind of place, doing this kind of mercenary work?”
The answer was because he had no money. Being the third son of the owner of a small car garage, he had not had the economical luxury to aim at being a racer. And it was even more ironic that he was favored more for his talent as a soldier than for his gift to drive. He grudgingly entered the army because of the draft, and while he grudgingly managed through his training, a commissioned officer on base spotted him and sent a letter of recommendation to the air force. After that, because of some mistake, even his own country was involved in a secret operations “battle”- he didn’t care what happened afterwards, though.
And yet, he was still here. In this van, in the passenger seat.
“No, Corporal,” Wu warned from beside him. “Don’t get anxious. If we screw something up, we’ll be killed by the president instead of our enemies.”
“...I know that. Look, we’re here.”
They stopped in front of a high-rise apartment building under construction. It had an ideal underground parking lot that an AS could hide in, and disreputable foreign merchants were accepting the construction work.
“The is Uruz 9. We’re about to inspect point 28. If there’s no contact for 15 minutes, shrink the perimeter.”
“Uruz 2, roger,” Mao’s voice replied curtly over the radio. For some reason, Sousuke didn’t even reply once. He had heard about Venom showing up in Kowloon, but had there been some kind of trouble?
“Wanfu Headquarters, roger. Be careful.”
That was Hunter.
“Let’s go. Be on your toes, Wu.”
“Yeah, yeah...”
The two men got out of the van and approached the high-rise apartment building.
From Hunter’s information, it seemed that construction on this building had stopped three days ago. The reason seemed to be because of a “Labor Strike”, but that had not been confirmed.
Going around a bamboo scaffold and net, they entered into the dim building.
They took out their automatics with silencers attached. There was no sign of people inside. They went down the stairwell carefully so as not to make a sound. The entrance to the parking garage didn’t have a door. In front of the empty doorway, they strained to hear anything, and Yang signaled to Wu with a look and hand signal. Then they stepped noiselessly into the underground parking garage.
It was an empty concrete room. There were no cars at all- only construction equipment.
“Nothing. This is the eighth one-”
“Shhh...!”
In the shadow of some bags of carelessly piled cement, he saw a leg. Someone was lying on the other side of the cement bags. When Wu noticed, he shut his mouth.
While signaling warnings to each other, the two men approached the area.
It was a man in his forties, wearing dirty work clothes. He had been shot in the head.
“-buh... you think it’s one of the construction workers here?” Wu said, looking away from the corpse.
“Yeah. I guess he forgot something and when he unexpectedly came to get it, he ran across someone and they shot
him. Pity. I’d say it’s been... around two days since he was killed,” Yang said as he calmly searched the corpse.
With his bare hands, he opened up the mouth, which had small maggots coming out of it, and checked the mouth cavity. There didn’t seem to be any kind of explosive device hidden inside.
“You know the time pretty well.”
“The rigor mortis has relaxed, and decay has set in. Other factors, such as the mucous membranes drying out, the state of the eye sockets, and the color all indicate that’s probably how long he’s been dead. But there’s no way to pinpoint an exact time of death without an autopsy.”
“Ha hah... this was a safe house, then?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, even if he had used it as one of his hiding places, the enemy probably won’t come near here again. Anyway, keep an eye out for the criminal’s ‘parting gift’.”
“Parting gift?”
“A trap. A bomb in place of an alarm.”
Suddenly looking extremely uneasy, Wu looked back and forth all over the area.
“It’s alright. Just don’t touch anything other than what I’ve already touched. Got it?”
“Understood. Just... you’re definitely in the SRT.”
“Huh?”
“No, never mind... anyway, that’s man’s chest...”
“Right.”
Yang also had noticed. He could see a strange stain on the T-shirt the body was wearing underneath his work uniform. At first he had thought it was the color of faded blood, but that didn’t seem to be it. While watching for any traps, he very carefully pulled down the zipper.
It wasn’t a stain. It was a message written in magic marker, in English.
“To the Tiger Cub of Badakhshan. Meet Hamidallah in Tsim Sha Tsui.”
That was all.
“...do you understand what it means?”
“Not at all,” Yang shrugged, and turned the radio on.
♦ ♦ ♦
October 22nd, 16:14 (Eastern China Standard Time)
South China Sea, Tuatha de Danaan
It was extremely congested overhead. Because it was now prohibited to enter the port, many ships were now on standby just on this side of Hong Kong.
Because of the number of ships that didn’t think this was normal, it was the first time that the sonar room and TMA system had been this busy since the ship had first set out.
Tessa decided to have her own ship approach by creeping along the bottom of the ocean floor. If they unskillfully tried to rise up to periscope depth, they would be in danger of it colliding with the merchant ships. While very carefully probing the floor’s terrain with high frequency sonar, they slowly moved along, making it look like the dance of a whale. It was a maneuver that not only took time, but was also grating on the nerves; however, it was better than being detected by South China Army patrols.
<Captain. There is an incoming message from the Intelligence Department.>
The ship’s AI, Dana, informed her. Tessa looked over the information.
The situation had gotten much worse. The North China Army was starting to believe that Venom’s destruction was mostly the handiwork of the South Army.
The North China Army was calling the spread of destruction into districts on the South Army’s side “a lesson learned from their own mistake”. Chairman You Shoukon*3 of the Beijing Government (People’s Liberation Committee) proclaimed, “If the risky provocation of the Guangzhou puppet force continues, we will prepare to raise appropriate military action in order to protect the interests of the citizens of China.” From the looks of the Northern China Army on the footage captured by Mithril’s spy satellites, it was clear that this was not just a threat.
The Belvedere Secretary-General of the Guangzhou Administration (Chinese Democratic Alliance) Chou Kou*4 also appeared in a mass communication to the west side, criticizing the reaction of the North side. The reason: “Beijing is using this situation to try to gain control over the Sanxia Dam. We, the democratic government, will not yield to any kind of military threat made by the North Army.” The South Army forces were also entering into a response formation.
The North Army had set the time limit. Today at 2200 hours. They were basically saying that until then, as far as the conclusion of the situation in Hong Kong, if the South Army didn’t show some kind of good faith, whatever happened after that would not be their responsibility.
In other words, the revival of the civil war. Meaning that many people would be caught up in the war and die.
Tessa looked at the clock. Right now it was 1631 Hours. There were only five hours left.
“That’s not enough time. What a thing to say...”
She was right. There wasn’t enough time. If they would just wait another eight hours, Mithril would bag Venom. The reconnaissance mission of Mao’s group and the Intelligence department had been designed for at least that much time.
What were Mithril’s upper levels doing right now? If they didn’t persuade both armies using the intelligence that they possessed, then there would be nothing that her own force could do by themselves. Did they plan on entrusting everything to a 16-year-old commander and a squadron of 200 men and women?
“Connect to the Department of Operations Headquarters. Line G3.”
<Although very small, there is a risk of interception on line G3.>
“I don’t care. Hurry.”
<Aye Ma’am... There is a message on G1. It is Uruz 2.>
This time it was a communication from Hong Kong. It was urgent.
“Put it through.”
<Yes Ma’am.>
It was Mao reporting from Hong Kong.
It was about the strange message and dead body that Corporal Yang found. In the second instance, the Information Bureau’s reconnaissance team discovered the same message in an entirely different place. It wasn’t on a corpse, but had been scribbled on the walls and floor. And in the third instance, the same message had appeared in a three-line classified advertisement in a local newspaper.
“‘To the Tiger Cub of Badakhshan’...?”
Tessa raised her eyebrows when she heard the message.
“I wonder what that means? It doesn’t sound like a threat... or a diversion,” Mardukas said.
Tessa had heard of Badakhshan before. It had been four months already, but there were two people around her who had deep involvement in that area.
The ship’s AI, Dana, analyzed the message, but not matter what kind of cryptanalysis it used, it was not able to guess as to the meaning.
“Badakhshan” was the name of an area in Northeast Afghanistan. “Tsim Sha Tsui” was talking about the district in the heart of the Kowloon Peninsula. And “Hamidallah” was a very common Arabian name. They found four people when they looked up residents by the name of “Hamidallah” in Hong Kong. They sent orders to the Intelligence Department asking them to catch these four people.
Just then, Kalinin came up from the hangar.
“I’m back.”
“Perfect timing, Lt. Commander. Please take a look at this.”
When he looked at the message on the display screen, the wrinkle in his brow became even deeper.
“Do you understand something, Mr. Kalinin?”
“...one part of it. The ‘Tiger of Badakhshan” is the nickname of the legendary commander of some Afghani Guerrillas.”
“Afghani...?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I fought him many times, as well. In order to get rid of him, the Soviets would often send assassins to his camp. There was one assassin there who wasn’t even eight years old. However, the assassination attempt failed completely. Deeply compassionate, he took in the very young assassin as his own, and gave him a new name. That name was-”
Kalinin was quiet for a moment, then continued.
“‘Kashim’.”
“...Kashim.”
She recognized that name from the Arbalest’s mission recorder during the sea jacking incident two months before.
“Captain. Can we get a hold of Sergeant Sagara?”
“Yes... TDD-HQ to Uruz 2. Put Uruz 7 on the line.”
“This is Uruz 2. Umm, well...” she said over the noise, with hesitation in her voice.
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry. Uruz 7... isn’t here.”
♦ ♦ ♦
October 22nd, 17:08 (Eastern China Standard Time)
Kowloon Peninisula Special Region (“Chinese Democratic Alliance” Side)
A weak wind swept by, blowing garbage across the road.
This is a strange scene, thought Sousuke.
There were numerous signboards. There were numerous shops. Normally, this district would probably be cluttered with shoppers and automobiles.
Now it looked as if it were ruins.
Even Sousuke didn’t know where he would go from here.
No kind of plan came to him. If his body were the body of an AS, he wanted to hand over the controls of the machine to someone else. Almost like that white AS, right now his own existence was an unpleasant thing.
Mithril would probably not trust him a second time, now that he had abandoned his mission. When he thought of the looks of disappointment on his colleagues’ faces, as well as the looks of contempt, his heart felt like it had fallen into his stomach. Even
with the Arbalest, he didn’t think they would want to rely on him anymore.
He also thought a little about returning to Tokyo.
However, he would no longer be a student at that school, nor would he have a place to live. He also wouldn’t have a mission to guard Kaname. Also- he couldn’t earn a living there, since there was no war. His only saving grace was his ability to fight. He didn’t know how to do anything else.
Maybe going north of this city into the mainland of China would be a good idea. As long as he had money, he could head North or West, and he would surely hit a war zone along the way. And they would probably have an unlimited need for mercenaries. He would live fighting one battle after the next, without principles or pretensions, just like he did before he joined Mithril. And then he would die like that one day.
That was starting to sound like an attractive plan.
What would his colleagues do in this kind of situation? The mercenaries he had met before joining Mithril would often drink. They would drink like they were bathing in it, make a lot of noise, fight with each other, then throw up all over the place. It didn’t really look like much fun, but even so, it seemed like some kind of diversion. That was what alcohol was for.
Alcohol...huh?
I’ll try it, he thought to himself. According to what the old soldier Jacob had taught him, drinking was a foolish act. But because of the circumstances, Sousuke didn’t care. And in any case, Jacob was dead.
There was a 7-11 open. Impressed a little, he walked inside. Most of the grocery shelves were empty. The neighborhood residents must have bought them up because of the uproar.
Sousuke grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and an English newspaper and went to the register. When he paid with the 500-dollar bill he had, the middle-aged female clerk gave him a hateful look and handed him back a lot of small change.
He walked to a small park about a block away, and then opened the bottle of whiskey.
Without hesitating at all he gulped down a large drink. A moment later, there was a strange pain followed by a sudden rush of fever that felt like his throat was burning. He immediately choked and started coughing violently.
It was a terrible taste. Why did everyone drink this stuff like it tasted good? Jacob was right.
He threw the bottle in the recycling bin and opened up the newspaper. All the articles were about Venom, but of course, they didn’t know the code name “Venom”. They listed all sorts of information about the mystery AS as well as all sorts of speculation, and there was a list of the comments made by military critics. Frightened citizens. Evacuation highway congestion. The impact on the economy. Everything was terrible.
Then suddenly- his eyes stopped on one of the small advertisements in the classifieds.
“To the Tiger Cub of Badakhshan. Meet Hamidallah in Tsim Sha Tsui.”
More than likely, that message was meant for him- and Sousuke realized at a glance that he was probably the only one in the world who could discern its meaning.
♦ ♦ ♦
It was barely a ten-minute walk from Jordon to Tsim Sha Tsui.
His head felt a little clouded and as if his field of vision had narrowed. Probably because of the drink earlier.
He went into a lone open tourist camera shop, and asked the salesperson questions about this and that.
“If you’re looking for an office block full of Arab stores, there’s one near here,” the salesperson answered in perfect English. Sousuke thanked him, and headed that way.
There were a number of dark-skinned young men with mustaches hanging around in the narrow entrance. They stared at Sousuke, but none of them went out of their way to talk to him.
The block was crammed full of small shops all muddled together. It was mainly a marketplace and a very noisy area.
In great contrast to the quiet main street, inside people were overflowing. Many various goods- clothing, foodstuffs, electronics, and video software, were jutting out on display into the narrow pathways as they usually did. Popular music was blaring from somewhere, people were doing business in loud voices, and men with time on their hands were shooting the breeze with each other about various things. It didn’t look like this area was concerned at all about the threat from Venom.
All of the men going back and forth through these pathways were Arabs, probably men who came all the way here to work here. Most of them were from Iran, but he could also see a number of black people from Africa.
“Is there an electronics shop run by an Afghani? Or a Turkish person would do, too,” Sousuke tried asking a man idling at a T-shirt shop in the Afghan dialect of Persian*5. He was surprised by how rusty his pronunciation was.
The man didn’t answer him. He simply looked at Sousuke blankly with his mouth half-open.
Sousuke repeated the question, but the man still didn’t answer.
He gave up, then asked the shopkeeper in the CD shop next door.
“Third corner up ahead, on the right. There’s a sign for it inside,” the shopkeeper told Sousuke without even trying to sell his goods to him, and pointed to the opening to a narrow passageway.
He then said in a thin, low voice, “I won’t say anything bad. When you’ve finished your business, hurry up and leave the building. You look like a cute little kid here.”
“I know.”
Certainly a number of the people passing by were looking at Sousuke like that. Since he was a 16-year-old Asian male with smooth skin and no beard or body odor, there was nothing he could do about it. Even when he had been with the other group of guerrillas a long time ago, they had always been unusually kind to him. There were also many times when it seemed that they would attack him in his sleep.
Sousuke soon found the shop he was looking for.
It had an old, worn-out neon sign. It was an electronics store.
“To the Tiger Cub of Badakhshan. Meet Hamidallah in Tsim Sha Tsui.”
To Sousuke, that message was a very simple code.
The Tiger of Badakhshan. That was the nickname of a man called Majid, who won fame from leading one of the Afghani guerrilla groups. He was a tactician beyond compare when it came to fighting in mountainous areas, a poet, and a scholar in architecture as well.
Until the early nineties, his band of guerrillas was invincible. But when the Soviets brought ASes into Afghanistan,
the situation changed completely. Unlike the land weapons that they had used up until then, the human-shaped weapon called “AS” could move freely into the impregnable mountainous region. There really wasn’t any way for the flesh and blood guerrillas to oppose these new weapons. Majid’s forces fought a good fight, but for several years they took too much damage and were substantially annihilated.
The whereabouts of Majid himself since then were unknown. Sousuke didn’t even know whether he was dead or alive.
Until three years ago, Sousuke had been a member of those guerrillas. The name “Kashim” had been given to him by Majid. When the war situation still looked favorable, Majid had given custody of Kashim to his right-hand man, the old soldier Jacob, and ordered him to teach him the art of war as well as compassion and mercy.
So in other words, “The Tiger Cub of Badakhshan” was talking about Sousuke. Majid had many other sons, but when he read that one sentence, he didn’t think that possibility was likely.
“Hamidallah” was the name of one of Sousuke’s dead associates. He had formerly owned an electronics store in Kabul, and when he lost his shop in the civil war, he joined with the guerrillas. Hamidallah repaired half-damaged enemy ASes so that Sousuke could use them. Lt. Commander Kalinin also had an acquaintance with Hamidallah, but he wouldn’t know his name or occupation. Because of that, even the Lt. Commander wouldn’t understand this code word. Sousuke was the only one who would know the dead guerrilla soldiers.
This message more than likely was saying “To Sousuke Sagara. Meet the Afghani owner of the electronics shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.” He couldn’t think of anything else.
Was one of his former colleagues still alive? No, that wasn’t it. He had seen their bodies with his own eyes.
Then maybe one of their friends or family members...?
It was possible. But if it were, how did they know that he would come here to Hong Kong? Did that mean that there was some connection with the Venom disturbances...?
Was this a trap, or someone trying to help? He didn’t know.
But he couldn’t disregard it.
He had come this far.
The electronics store was in the very middle of the dim pathway. There was no sign of anyone there. He reached for the pistol that he always kept underneath his work clothes, and checked to see if there were any guards. The feeling that someone was following him was probably sheer habit, but he felt foolish a moment later. He didn’t have a mission now. Even if he did die, no one would care.
He looked into the shop. There was an old man sitting alone inside whom he didn’t recognize. Sousuke approached him, but before he could say anything the old man opened his mouth.
“Are you Majid’s son, Kashim?”
“That’s right.”
“You stink of whiskey... worthless brat. You trying to disgrace the name of Badakhshan Tiger?”
“You know about it? Tell me your business.”
The old man looked displeased as he thrust out his left hand. He was holding a small folded up piece of paper.
“I was only asked to give this to you.”
“By who?”
“A man from Hong Kong. I don’t know anything else. Now take it and scram!”
Sousuke took the piece of paper, and without saying any word of thanks to the man, left the shop.
He opened the note. It was one section of a tourist map.
The fountain in the Kowloon Park a few hundred meters away had been circled in red.
♦ ♦ ♦
October 22nd, 18:09 (Eastern China Standard Time)
South China Sea, Tuatha de Danaan
In order to save time, they communicated with the Operations Headquarters over a real-time G-line. Even while they were notifying them, the situation had become rather sticky.
“There is no longer any time to waste on reconnaissance. We’re discontinuing the plan to sneak up on him,” the voice of Admiral Borda echoed painfully.
“The TDD-1 is to deploy all of its M9s. Bring it down with a concentrated force. However, use of the Arbalest is prohibited. I don’t want that machine jeopardizing that mission.”
“P... please wait,” Tessa protested, leaning out of her Captain’s chair. “The counter-measures against Venom are still incomplete. If we make them sortie like this, we don’t know what kind of damage they will receive. At least give us two more hours.”
“I can’t. Even Sir Mallory agrees.”
“But-”
“The tension between the North and South army is at its limit. And there are more casualties each time Venom appears. We can’t allow any more damage. How many more people should we let die by ‘waiting’?”
It was a harsh thing to say, and Tessa lost the will to object to the Admiral’s point.
“The Venom’s weaknesses are exposed during the time that it’s operational. We have no choice but to take advantage of them. We will be relying on your subordinates, so for that reason, they will be the most elite.”
This was different from a normal mission. Most of the pilots who would go out on this mission might not be coming back. This order was more than just understanding that.
“It’s hard, isn’t it, Teletha. But I told you about the precariousness of the road you’re following. And even though you knew that, you didn’t separate yourself from that chair. Am I wrong?”
“...no. It’s just as you say.”
“Right. Then execute the mission, Captain Teletha Testarossa.”
“...roger.”
She ended the transmission, and took off her headset.
With her head bent down, she told Mardukas, “Surface to periscope depth. Have the M9s on standby depart underwater. Also, please have the ARX-7 equipped with an emergency expansion booster. Arm it with a Boxer Shot Cannon and have it on standby in the elevator.”
“Captain. Wasn’t use of the Arbalest prohibited just now...?”
“We’ll use it as a decoy. Even if it’s only by a little bit, I want to decrease the danger to the M9 team as much as possible. Besides... Sagara is still...” Tessa mumbled, to which Mardukas gave a small rebuke.
“You say that, Captain. But you have to take into consideration that Sagara abandoned his mission. It’s an obvious mistake to rely on him or that AS.”
“That’s not the only thing, is it?”
“This isn’t a school club activity.”
“I’m well aware of that. Are you lecturing me?”
The voices of the Captain and Vice-Captain resounded all throughout the command center. Even the crew was watching them in astonishment. Mardukas noticed this and hesitated for a moment, but without losing his determination, he continued his admonitions.
“No, but I won’t keep silent this time. You’re going by your own interests and going so far as to twist the orders from headquarters. What about structure and discipline? Giving special treatment to an officer who abandons his mission is out of the question!” the veteran officer said in a voice so severe that it would made one cringe, but Tessa didn’t back down.
“Very well. Then tell me, who are the ones that always get a ridiculous amount of responsibility forced on them?”
“That’s-”
“We are! Correct me if I’m wrong!”
“...”
“Six months ago, who was the one who brought us valuable information in an air field full of enemies with no regard for his own safety? Four months ago, who was the one who fought in an impromptu performance against an enemy so powerful that it made Venom look like nothing, and won? And two months ago, who was the one who struggled to protect this ship?”
“Tha...”
“Say it! Who was it!?” The command center was completely silent. Mardukas was stunned for a little bit, but he sighed and said it.
“...Sergeant Sagara.”
“That’s right. Yet you still condemn him? Do you think he’s that much of a coward?”
“...no.”
“I’ll admit it since you want me to. I like him. But my feelings have nothing to do with this. I give you my word; he will definitely come to help. He could never forsake us. No matter how bleak it may look right now, human nature does not change. He- he’s strong, and kind.”
“Strong and kind?” Mardukas said after a very long pause. “Captain, am I supposed to be satisfied by that?”
“That’s not the issue, is it? Do you trust me? Or do you not? Every time up till now- everything I’ve done up till now. Choose!” she said resolutely.
The Commander turned his back to the Captain, and took off his hat. He looked down at the hat that he had received a long time ago from someone as a memento, and ran his thumb along the embroidery.
“You’ve become quite strong,” Richard Mardukas said, as if he were alone. “Roger, Captain. We’ll put the Arbalest on standby.”
“Thank you. I... just want everyone to come back safe,” she said downheartedly.
♦ ♦ ♦
As a matter of fact, their quarrel had somehow been broadcast throughout the ship, and had been directed through to the M9 pilots on standby.
“...that’s what I’m saying. The communication just started by itself. Did someone want us to hear it on purpose?” Kurz said to four of pilots on standby over a private line.
“No... I don’t know,” Lieutenant Clouseau replied.
“Perhaps the Lt. Commander?”
“Maybe.”
“Besides, what they said about him abandoning the mission... is that true? Sagara did? I can’t believe it,” said “Uruz 8”, Corporal Spake.
“That’s only what the Commander said. Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“Have you not heard anything, Lieutenant Clouseau?”
“I’ve heard the particulars. However, I can’t judge based on just that. Lt. Commander Kalinin feels the same way. Either way, Sagara and the Arbalest have immeasurable power.”
“What do you think, Roger?”
“...I don’t know what kind of person Sagara is. But the Captain did have a point. A falcon is a falcon till the day it dies.”
“A falcon is a falcon... huh?”
After they had expressed their thoughts for a while, the SRT men resumed checking their machines.
“Even so, for Tessa to argue so intensely with the Commander...”
“She likes Sagara, right? They are the same age.”
“That’s not the only reason,” Kurz said in almost a criticizing voice.
“‘I just want everyone to return safely,’ is what she said. What do you think, gentlemen?”
“Of course she would want that,” said Clouseau.
“It’s not like we can make our princess mourn for us, now can we?” said “Uruz 3”, Lieutenant Castero.
“She’s been worried about us before now. What, was she moved to expressing her true feelings?” said Corporal Spake.
“That’s enough,” said “Uruz 5”, Lieutenant Roger Sandarapta.
Everyone sank into their own thoughts. There were thoughts of Danigan and Guen, but they thankfully and uncertainly believed in Tessa, who trusted them absolutely.
Just then, the order from the command center for all units to sortie came over the regular line.
“This is Uruz 1, gentlemen. You heard the order, right? We will meet up with Uruz 2 at the actual place, then stand by on alert. All of the orders will be given by Lt. Commander Kalinin from the air. If you are a pro, live up to his expectations. I won’t make a mistake. You guys won’t mess up, either. If you don’t, then everything will work out. Got it?”
“Roger.”
♦ ♦ ♦
October 22nd, 18:24 (Eastern China Standard Time)
Hong Kong Island Special Region (“People’s Liberation Committee” Side)
Mithril’s Intelligence Department, Hong Kong Branch Office
The same altered orders that Teletha Testarossa now faced had been handed down to Hunter from the head of the Intelligence Department, General Amit.
“...in other words, our time is up?”
“That’s correct. We will leave the rest to the Operations Department.”
“Understood.”
“Very well, then.”
When Amit’s figure disappeared from the screen, Hunter cursed out in a loud voice.
“God damn it!”
Just when he thought that taking on a favor from Melissa Mao and her superiors and dividing up his valuable people would somehow result in them catching the enemy by the tail. If only- if only they would give him two more hours. If they did, then maybe they could make it through this without much gunfire.
“President... excuse me? President Hunter?” his native Hong Kong secretary said as he entered his office.
“What is it?”
“Visitors to see you, Sir. They came in earlier, saying they had some urgent business...”
“Send them away, please. Right now I’m in an exceedingly bad mood. I don’t care what excuse you give.”
“U-understood.”
The secretary started to bow, but then the two guests stepped into Hunter’s office, pushing the secretary out of the way. One of the people was an old friend from the Intelligence Department, and the other- was an Asian person he had never seen before.
“Hey, old man? Just how long are you planning on making us wait!?” the girl yelled as she approached Hunter.
♦ ♦ ♦
October 22nd, 18:31 (Eastern China Standard Time) Kowloon Peninsula Special Region (“Chinese Democratic Alliance” Side), Kowloon Park
With the tourist’s map in one hand, Sousuke walked to the deserted park.
In the middle of the Kowloon Peninsula, which was full of buildings, it was a place that opened up like a green island- that
was Kowloon Park. The atmosphere was like that of Central Park in Shinjuku.
There was a fountain with the water stopped. It was the place marked on the map. Without showing any caution, Sousuke sat down on the bench beside it. It would be troublesome to check the area, and he just really didn’t feel like doing it. If someone wanted to kill him, that was fine with him. It would be easier that way.
The streetlights were bright. He could see tall buildings lined up in the distance. There were about five very low but perfect places to snipe him from.
No one came. Five minutes passed.
An electronic sound rang from a nearby wastebasket. He moved over and looked inside. Underneath a snack cake wrapper was a ringing cell phone.
He picked up the cell phone and pressed the respond key.
“This is Sousuke Sagara, right?” said the voice of an unknown man.
“That’s right.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a taxi waiting at the North exit of the park. Take the cell phone and get in it.”
That was all he said, then the call cut off. Sousuke heavily stood up, then made his way to the North exit.
When he left the park, there was a taxi stopped in front of a convenient store. There were no other vehicles; only the sound of an ambulance siren in the distance.
He got into the taxi, and after the driver said something to him they took off. It didn’t look like the driver understood English, and Sousuke didn’t understand what the driver said. They went
north on the main street, going towards the squalid downtown area. There were very few people out.
The taxi stopped in front of a hardware store with the shutters down. The driver motioned Sousuke to “get out”. It seemed that he didn’t need to be paid.
The taxi then took off.
The downtown area was still and silent this evening. Countless signboards covered up the gray colored sky.
The ringing of the cell phone in Sousuke’s hand resounded against the lonely street lamps.
“There should be a yellow signboard. Inside, there’s a key in postbox number 13. Get it,” the man’s voice told him. On the other end of the line, some kind of power source let out a humming sound.
“Next to it is a staircase. Go to the second floor. There will be a corridor. Open the fifth door and go in. ‘He’ is waiting for you.”
“‘He’? Who are you talking about?”
“Think about the name of this place.”
The phone hung up and that was it.
<九龍寨城>
Kowloon Walled City. It didn’t ring a bell.
No- Kowloon.
No. It couldn’t be. It was impossible. This time?
But now everything made sense.
Since he had come this far he couldn’t turn back now. Sousuke did just as the man over the phone had instructed him, taking the key from the postbox and going up the stairs next to the hardware store. He walked down the corridor of apartments, and stopped in front of the fifth door.
“...”
Even Sousuke, who had lost most of his will, felt a good amount of tension come back to him. He inserted the key and opened the door. Inside was a cramped, one room apartment. It was even smaller than his apartment in Tokyo, and had almost no furniture at all.
Sousuke slowly made his way into the dark room. He was unconsciously aware of himself looking for wire or laser traps. Before he knew it, he had drawn out his automatic. He was a fool. This was a trap, and he was walking straight into it headfirst.
Even so, he didn’t stop.
He moved into the living room. Light poured in through the window. In the center of the room, in the deep darkness, there was a bed. Someone was lying on that bed.
“Yo...” an electronic voice reverberated in the pitch-darkness. But- it was speaking Japanese.
“I’ve been waiting a long time, Kashim.”
The reflection of a car’s headlights from outside of the window, just for a moment, illuminated the face of the man lying on the bed. When he saw that face- even though its features were drastically different from before, Sousuke muttered:
“Gauron.”*6
♦ ♦ ♦
In the Cantonese dialect, the characters <九龍> were pronounced as “Gauron”.
Kowloon Peninsula. Kowloon Park. Kowloon Castle.
Why hadn’t he noticed it? No, why had he noticed it, but hadn’t thought of him? Also- he even knew his name of “Kashim”. Even though he was the only one other than Kalinin to know about him and Hamidallah.
But there shouldn’t be any reason for him to still be alive.
“Gauron...”
He was a small man.
His arms were gone. His legs were gone. All that was left were his right thigh and the upper part of his left arm- other than that, all four of his limbs were missing.
There were quite a few intravenous drips and tubes. There were a number of cords connected to medical appliances, which were making low, humming noises. He probably could no longer live without them.
His face was in pitiful shape, as well.
The skin on the left half of the face was peeling off and becoming keloidal. The left eye had been crushed, and in the socket where an eyeball was supposed to be, there was only a gaping hole. His mouth drew up and he smiled at Sousuke.
That man, lying on a clean bed and with just one eye, gazed at Sousuke in delight.
“I’m glad to see you, Kashim,” said an electronic voice. It was the sound of an electronic voice box.
“You want something to drink? I’m afraid this place is self-service, though.”
“Why are you-”
“‘Still alive?’, right? That’s the third time you’ve asked me that. But don’t worry. This will be the last.”
A rough, dry noise echoed through the room. He was probably laughing.
“You haven’t forgotten, now have you? That my Codarl was equipped with a Lambda Driver? When the time came, it was able to protect the operator from self-destruction... well, at least as much protection as this. Heh heh heh.”
“How did you survive in that storm...”
“A fishing boat unexpectedly passed through the area. Half of my body had already become fish food. The sea is a mysterious thing, you know. I’m half dead. I’m in a pretty horrible state.”
Sousuke pointed his gun at Gauron’s head.
“I’ll put you out of your misery, this time for sure.”
“That’s fine by me. But look at the state I’m in. I don’t think you can speed it up by much.”
“...what do you want?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“Get serious.”
“I’m telling the truth. Heh heh... as you can see, my time is almost up. That was the reason for the elaborate act up till now. I stole the Codarl M from my organization and set it loose on this city. I figured that if I did, you and that white AS would be called out here. I went ahead and scattered that message all over the city, in places you would investigate, as well as the media you might run across. That kind of thing.”
The classified ad that Sousuke read was one of them. Maybe Mao or Yang had also found that message, but they wouldn’t understand its meaning.
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