Russell Brooks - Pandora's Succession

“He escaped with me, but we often don’t stay together, to make it more difficult for Hashimoto to track us. His name’s Aijima Sato. We still work together and were able to find out that the CIA would get here sooner or later. He’ll find you when the time is right.”

“I think it’s way past that time. If Sato has valuable information then he must give it to me if you both expect me to help you.”

“You’ll get it. If you want to take down both Ares and Hashimoto, you’ll have to do it on our terms. Don’t forget we have to be careful. Hashimoto got to Tanaka-Tanaka of all people! And it’s no thanks to that former KGB spy.”

“Valerik.”

“Exactly. My only regret is that we didn’t eliminate him earlier. He’s the only one who could’ve provided Hashimoto with enough information to aid in Tanaka’s capture and subsequent brainwashing.”

“I didn’t think the Boeisho would’ve killed Valerik,” added Fox.

“Of course not. His own people did it.”

“The Arms of Ares.”

“Exactly. I’m surprised he allowed himself to be tracked down so easily.”

“It’s starting to make sense now. Hashimoto stole Pandora from Ares and now they’re trying to get it back. And they’ve killed off Valerik-”

“For revenge.”

“I don’t think it’s only for revenge,” asserted Fox. “They didn’t want him talking to me when I found him, or anyone for that matter. This brings me to my next question. I’m assuming you heard what happened in southern Uganda?”

“Yes, a bit.”

“Why would Ares risk infiltrating a military-guarded compound to steal back Pandora when they already knew of Valerik’s whereabouts? All clues point to them but I always felt something wasn’t right.”

“Oh that wasn’t Ares. It was Hashimoto.”

“I don’t understand. He already has Pandora, he didn’t need any more. Unless he wanted to frame Ares.”

“That’s exactly what he wanted to do.”

“But he obviously knew that the CIA would’ve figured out that Ares wasn’t involved eventually.”

“Yes, eventually. ” Katori said. “He’d be way ahead of you by the time you found out that you were on a wild goose chase. Hashimoto would’ve had someone on the inside. It’s my theory that one or more of his recruits were already at the compound at the time. Once Pandora was delivered, they destroyed it.”

Fox sighed with a chuckle. “It was all staged. Only one of the scientists had torn clothing, meaning that he was the only one attacked with the dagger found at the scene. Up until now, no one has been arrested at any of the checkpoints set up on all of the highways and airports. The culprit or culprits were on a suicide mission.”

“Exactly.”

“Tell me a bit about Tanaka. What’s he like?” asked Fox.

“There’s not much to say about him. He’s been Head of Section for the past ten years. He lost his only daughter in a traffic accident about six years ago. He got the news while at a Tchaikovsky recital with his wife on their wedding anniversary. Other than that, he’s normally reserved. Why?”

“I was curious. Wanted to see if there was a connection between his…” Fox paused just when he noticed that Katori had stopped walking with him and was two steps behind him. What he wanted to know was if there was a connection between Tanaka and the other brainwashing victims.

Fox didn’t have to know what was on Katori’s mind. From his body language, he knew that Katori sensed that there was something wrong-as though they were being watched.

Katori pulled the peak of his baseball cap lower over his face and walked quickly in the opposite direction away from Fox.

Fox ran and caught up to him as Katori said to him. “Sato will get in touch with you and tell you the rest.” They passed through the exit and walked out onto the sidewalk. Fox had to shout to be heard above the noise from the cars and trucks that zoomed by. “Look, I can get you protection.”

“What are you going to do, call them? The Boeisho will trace your phone signal, or worse yet, even block your call. Think. You sat in Tanaka’s car. Did it occur to you that he had a recording device to register your voice patterns so they could be used to track you?”

Damn, he’s right.

“Besides, it’ll do neither of us any good. Not against them. Now I’m warning you, Fox. This meeting is over.”

“No, it isn’t.” Fox grabbed Katori by the shoulder, and he immediately and violently slapped him off. He stared back at Fox with narrowed eyes and heavy breathing.

“Listen, it’s always on our terms when either I or Sato chooses to meet with you. We know who these people are and how far they’re willing to go. So if you want to stay alive, I suggest you go back to your car and get away from here, and me, as quickly as possible.” He turned and walked away rapidly.

While Katori tried to act tough, Fox knew he was scared. All he could do was obey him and nothing else. He watched Katori run off to the curb where he was just in time to catch the bus.

Fox ran the opposite way in a slow jog and snatched his cell phone off his belt clip. With his thumb he switched it off and replaced it on its clip. Its internal scrambler should keep him undetected for a while. Walsh and Dobbs would be pissed off, Walsh more than Dobbs since Fox hadn’t contacted either of them yet. But after what Katori told him, it was for their own good. But Dobbs should be able to tell whether or not they were under surveillance. He was one of the best technicians he had ever worked with. In fact, Fox wouldn’t be surprised if he knew of every satellite in orbit. The Boeisho wouldn’t find him easily. And as long as Walsh stuck close to him, they shouldn’t find him either.

The Tokyo City Dome was nearby, and Fox headed that way. There were always crowds in which he could lose anyone that may have been following him. Fox already knew where all of the closed-circuit cameras were along the way. It was all a matter of keeping his face hidden from them.

After having walked through the Tokyo City Dome and its labyrinth of underground connecting corridors, he emerged to the surface from an exit that was reserved for city maintenance workers. Fox’s navy sports car was the third car away from the intersection. He used the automatic locking mechanism on his keys to unlock the door, and then got in his car from the street side, where the driver’s side was. When he started her up, a blast of warm air flowed from the vents. He lowered the temperature to a cooler setting, turned up the defogger, and threw the gear into drive.

Whenever he parked, he always left enough space between his car and the back of the car in front of him to allow him to simply drive out. This was useful when he needed to make a quick getaway. Nevertheless, that tactic was useless this time.

A vehicle with disabled headlights screeched to a stop beside Fox. The back bumper lined up exactly with the front end of his car and blocked his path. Just as quickly a red sedan screeched to a halt right behind it, blocking the back passenger door of his car.

Fox expected to see a group of Asian men rush out of the two cars, but to his surprise, two Caucasian men dressed in jeans and light jackets appeared instead. It only took seconds before men with Micro-Uzis surrounded him. For sure if they wanted him dead, Fox knew they would’ve shot him already. These men wanted him alive.

Fox heard a car door slam behind the red sedan, and when he turned to look, Fox saw a man about his height, with thuggish looks and a pair of thick eyebrows that practically joined to become a single brow. He walked up and stood a few feet away from his door.

“Get out of the car. Keep your hands where they can be seen.” The heavy Russian accent gave him away. Valerik’s killers no doubt, and now they came for him. Fox had no plans to become the cause of another pile-up on a Tokyo freeway, but he wasn’t going to be forced to give up intelligence either. This called for a more reckless and aggressive approach. No matter how slim his chances were of getting out unharmed, it was still a chance he had to take.