Russell Brooks - Pandora's Succession

“It’s in your watch!” yelled Sato. Fox immediately ripped it off and threw it on the side of the road where it fell into a storm drain. Sato swept him again with the detector but there was nothing else.

“You’re clean. Let’s go.” Both Sato and Fox jumped back into the car.

Fox sat there pondering how anyone could’ve bugged his watch without his knowledge. As Sato raced past other cars through the streets of Shibuya, he thought back hard. If he’d been compromised, then it meant that Walsh, Dobbs, Levickis, and Parris were all in danger. “I need to make a phone call.”

“You can’t.”

“I’m not here alone. The mission’s most likely been compromised. Give me your phone.”

“I don’t have one. And may I suggest that you keep away from them. They’re everywhere.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Listen. You’re not in control anymore, they are. And you’ve seen what they can do. So you’ll just have to do as I say if you want us to get through this. Your teammates will be fine.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe. And when we get there, you’ll get to see what we’re really up against.”

Dr. Hideaki Hashimoto’s Residence, West Tokyo, 12:21AM

Marx wasn’t startled even though she could have sworn that a lightning bolt struck, just outside one of the five floor-to-ceiling windows she passed on her way to Hashimoto’s office. Her close call with Fox a few hours ago would no doubt cause concern with Hashimoto, who in her opinion panicked too much. The bandage below her right shoulder would be a constant reminder of how Fox had left his mark on her that evening. But Fox didn’t worry her-Ares did. They had found Valerik and dumped his body onto a freeway. How much more blatant of a message could they send that they were closing in on us? Valerik’s capture could only be due to a breach, there was no other explanation. It didn’t appear to be too long ago that she had ordered Hashimoto to trick Valerik into visiting him so that his henchmen could ambush him. The gratification she felt when she personally clarified him in the chair was too sweet. Although he was useful, she wouldn’t miss him. After all, he was a former KGB operative that worked for the same people that had brought so much misery to her.

As Marx opened the double doors to Hashimoto’s office, a crack of thunder boomed as though she had summoned it. The lights in the room began to flicker. Hashimoto, Tanaka, and Commissioner Yushida were already there.

Hashimoto got up from behind his desk and faced Marx. “I was told what happened-”

“I’m fine,” Marx cut him off by raising her hand. Hashimoto got up from his chair and she sat in it. Hashimoto sat in another chair beside the others.

“I’m going to get to the specifics. Valerik’s dead, and I think there’s a leak. I want your input on where you believe it came from.”

Commissioner Yushida pointed his right index finger in the air. “That’s assuming that there was a leak.”

Marx shot a stern glance at him. “Yes, I do assume. It was either that or Valerik got very sloppy. And I’m not so convinced of the latter. Has your investigation turned up anything on what happened to him?”

“All signs lead to a professional hit,” Yushida replied. “The investigation’s at a standstill.”

Hashimoto crossed his arms. “What about Fox and his CIA cohorts?”

Marx shot him a menacing glance. “I’ll ask the questions, if you don’t mind.” There’s no way you’re controlling this meeting. “Fox is, and should remain, the least of our concerns. As long as we can track him, he can be controlled.”

“I have to agree with Dr. Marx,” said Tanaka. “We’ve been tracking him all day.”

Marx relaxed back into the cushioned chair. “And has he come into contact with anyone in particular?”

“He did earlier in the Azabu District.” Tanaka raised his hand slightly and then dropped it on his leg with a sigh. “But our satellites couldn’t capture an image of the individual due to the weather.”

“What about infrared tracking?” asked Marx.

Tanaka looked away from Marx as though he were embarrassed. “We lost his contact on the subway.”

“That’s just perfect,” said Hashimoto sarcastically. “Maybe you should’ve had real men tail him instead of relying on fancy equipment.”

Tanaka looked back at him. “We did so initially, and Fox lost them within minutes.”

“Then what about his partner, Walsh?” asked Hashimoto.

“We didn’t get a strong signal from him to begin with. We had something at first but it faded soon afterwards,” said Tanaka.

Hashimoto gave Marx a questioning look. “How’s that possible? Didn’t you tag both of them?”

“I did.” Marx crossed her arms as she gave him a stare that he’d seen once too often. He got the message and shrank back into his chair. “Neither of them suspected anything when I shook their hands at the outbreak site. Unfortunately Walsh had a weaker stomach than I expected. He threw up once he saw the remains of one of the Pandora-infected victims. He must have washed his hands thoroughly before an effective dose of the isotope powder was absorbed through his skin.”

“Fox has been useful to us so far,” said Tanaka. “In fact, he unknowingly helped us track down and eliminate the agent you were looking for. As a bonus, so were a few members of Ares.”

Hashimoto leaned forward. “A few but not all. Valerik’s killers will now come for us.”

“And that concerns me.” Marx crossed her legs and looked up at the ceiling. “But I’d still like to know who Fox met in Azabu.”

“It could be Walsh.” Hashimoto turned to Tanaka. “You were able to follow him from the airport, weren’t you?”

“He didn’t arrive at the same time as Fox, nor was he spotted at Narita Airport. I’m assuming that he must have slipped into the country through the American Base in Okinawa.”

Marx looked back at Tanaka. “Then we need to concentrate more on keeping a closer eye on whom Fox contacts. Valerik mentioned that Ares has a mole within the CIA, but he didn’t know who it was. We can assume that this mole will be keeping tabs on Fox. As long as this continues then Ares will not find us.” She glanced at Hashimoto, who had an expression on his face that said I sincerely hope so.

Marx leaned forward and rested both of her elbows on the desk as she turned to Hashimoto. “Onto another matter. How’s the recruitment process going? I heard that there was a problem during the experiment this morning.”

“Not at all. None that wasn’t fixed.”

Marx raised a curious eyebrow. “Oh really? I tend to believe that when you have two test subjects undergoing the same experiment and one of them goes postal, then there’s a problem. A very serious one.”

Marx then saw the worry in Hashimoto’s eyes. She hadn’t seen this look since she first introduced herself to him with evidence of his involvement in human trials several years ago.

“I assure you that there’s no problem. Everything’s in order, as it should be.”

“Then forgive me for not sharing your optimism. In fact, I learned that the young woman who conducted the experiment, Dr. Nita Parris, was injured during the experiment. I also learned that she didn’t follow procedure.”

“Our findings over what happened this morning are still inconclusive. That’s why I’ve decided to terminate any further experiments with the new variant of Clarity.”

Marx brought her hand to her chin as she kept her arms crossed. “That’s a bit premature, don’t you think?”

“Why do you say that?” asked Hashimoto.

Marx stared at him through slightly narrowed eyes. You already know the answer. “What do we know about Dr. Parris?”