Масахико Симада - Death by Choice

Astonished, Kita now at last understood that this man was a killer. He pulled the needle out and held it. “What have you done?” he yelled.

“I think you know,” the killer responded. “You’ll be able to die the day after tomorrow. If you don’t like the idea, though, come with me. I’ll give you an injection to reverse the poison. I’ll be waiting right here, so you go on back to the ship now, give Shinobu the ice cream, and say your goodbyes. This is the end of the abduction story. I’ll inform the police. You’ll oblige me by disappearing.”

“Why is this happening?”

“Because you trusted that fellow Yashiro. Whatever happens, you get to die. The only difference is, whose rules do you die by?”

Kita would have liked nothing better than to be able to turn the clock back to last Friday again. He didn’t recall having opened Pandora’s box. His idea had simply been to have some modest fun with his desires, then die quietly and anonymously. Pandora’s box had sprung open quite unasked, unleashing merchants of death into a feeding frenzy on some poor fellow who only wanted to die by choice. All they wanted was to make money out of some fool prepared to sell his life over to them. The day of his death was almost upon him. Kita longed to have just one day of complete freedom before he died.

Did he have no choice but to submit to the doctor’s coercions? Or should he play out the abduction act to the end? The doctor was right. Whichever choice he made, he’d end up dead. The fact was, the only freedom of choice available to him now was his method of dying.

At any rate, he’d deliver the ice cream. He set off toward the waiting ship, and summoned the crew with a cry of “Hey, Bolshoi Ballet!” The gangplank was up, so he couldn’t get back on board unaided. A few moments later, a torch shone down onto his face. Dark figures moved about, and the gangplank was lowered. When Kita arrived on deck, Siberian Electrics was there to greet him, grinning from ear to ear. He immediately began to press Kita to buy a Makarov. Kita shook his head.

“I saw on TV. You need Makarov, of course. Fifty thousand!” said Siberian Electric, and out came a hand like a baseball mitt. Well, thought Kita, it might be wise to have a pistol, just to stop the doctor having his way. There was nothing to prevent him shooting himself, after all. OK, he thought, I’ll buy it, and he tapped Siberian Electric on the shoulder.

Siberian Electric beamed with pleasure, and gripped his hand to shake on the deal. “Yes, yes. The Captain say he want a word with you. Your lover’s in his room. I bring Makarov later.” So saying, he took Kita by the arm and led him to the captain’s cabin.

Shinobu was playing poker with Valkewpin and Lipsikov. She looked up and saw Kita and the ice creams. “Welcome back,” she said, then added with innocent pride, “I’ve won ten thousand! Isn’t that great?”

“Sounds like these guys have discovered about the abduction,” said Kita. “I don’t like the look of things. Look at Valkewpin’s face there. He’s grinning away even though he’s lost. I’d say he plans to make money out of us.”

Sure enough, Valkewpin began to negotiate a deal. They’d had no idea they were sheltering a kidnapper. They were in a quandary. They had to maintain good relations with the police, for the sake of Russia’s trade with Japan. But they understood his position too, of course. Both parties should be able to profit from the situation. The question was, should they report him, or protect him? They couldn’t make up their minds. What was his opinion?

“I didn’t think you Russians would watch Japanese television,” Kita sighed, while beside him Shinobu spat out, “They’re despicable! Let’s get off this ship right now.” She tugged at Kita’s sleeve. But they were faced with a gang of people who didn’t seem likely to let them get away so generously.

“What’s your proposal for protecting us?” Kita asked.

Well, replied Valkewpin, the ship was due to leave tomorrow, so they couldn’t shelter them much longer. Why not just pretend they’d never met? Of course, they would need some hush money… Kita waited for him to continue. They’d had to pay these guys thirty thousand to come on board. How much would it cost to get off again? The answer was a shocking one hundred fifty thousand yen!

“No way,” Kita shot back. “This is pointless. Look, just go ahead and tell the police.”

The price immediately came down to a hundred thousand.

In the end they agreed on one hundred fifty to cover the hush money as well as the cost of their board, plus a Makarov and three hundred grams of caviar. A loaf of black bread and three bottles of vodka were thrown in free of charge. They divided the goods between Kita’s backpack and a carrier bag, and climbed off the ship together, licking their ice creams.

The doctor was waiting in the darkness of the wharf, hands clasped behind his back. “You said those goodbyes?” he asked.

Shinobu cowered behind Kita. “Who’s this?” she asked, warily sizing him up.

“This is where we have to part, Shinobu. This man’s a killer, and he’s injected me with poison. If I don’t do as he says, he’ll kill me any way he likes. So this is the end of our kidnap act. Go back to Tokyo now and leave me here.”

Shinobu glared up at him. “I’m coming with you,” she declared. Kita wavered. It would be next to impossible to escape, and whatever they did from now on the killer would be with them. If they didn’t part now, they were doomed to a much more difficult parting later. But he wouldn’t be around by then, he decided, so there was nothing to lose by giving in to the impulse of the moment and going with his instincts. Besides, he’d just got himself a very handy little instrument.

“Right. We’ll go it together.” Kita put his arm around her shoulders, and they set off walking towards the streetlights in the distance. Behind them trudged the killer, lugging his heavy bag.

“Kita, that guy still seems to want us,” Shinobu said worriedly.

Kita quickened his pace. “Ignore him. He’ll disappear before long.”

The killer seemed upset at being spurned like this. He addressed Kita’s back. “You’ll die if I don’t inject you with an antidote to that poison, you know.”

“Fine by me. I’m sick of worrying about it all. Just leave me alone.”

The killer drew a deep breath through his nose, squatted down, and began to remove something from his bag. A round box emerged. Kita drew out the pistol from the bag that had contained the ice creams, and pointed it at the doctor, who froze for a moment still half-squatting, then went on rummaging in his bag, his eyes on Kita.

“Give the bag here,” said Kita.

“You wouldn’t know which of these is the antidote,” the doctor muttered.

“Just give me the bag.”

“I’m afraid I must refuse. I have an obligation to save your life.”

“Make up your mind. Are you a murderer, or a doctor?”

“Both. I may have been a murderer just now, but right now I’m a doctor. You two can’t get away, you realize. As soon as you get out into the light, everyone’ll be after you. You’re on stage wherever you go now.”

Kita wavered again. Everything the doctor said was true, and it was getting on his nerves.

“Go on Kita, kill him. This guy’s shot you full of poison, after all. Why not get your own back by shooting him full of lead?”

There was no way for either of them to know if the pistol Kita was holding was real. He couldn’t trust Siberian Electrics and Valkewpin, Kita told himself. It could well be a toy, for all he knew. Meanwhile, the doctor looked perfectly happy to have a bullet put through him.