Once we were on the ground, we were met by a warm breeze.
It was a common misunderstanding that Russia was cold all year round. In reality, the average summer temperature in Moscow was 22°C. Even Siberia heated up to about 20°C during its short period of summer.
The terminal I wore on my arm now told me that the temperature was 24°C, making today slightly warmer than average.
I took a deep breath of the refreshing air.
“There’s a car waiting,” said one of the men who’d gotten off the plane with me. “Please come with us.”
I did as I was told and walked towards a hangar in the corner of the base where a high-class black car was waiting, along with a large four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The man walked towards the car and opened the rear door. He looked at me as if he was waiting for me to get in. I couldn’t refuse after coming this far.
I tried to appear as relaxed as possible as I accepted his invitation and climbed into the car.
Inside, an elderly man wearing a suit and a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue uniform were waiting. The man in the uniform greeted me as I took my seat.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Arakawa. I’m Lieutenant Colonel Yakov Tarkovsky. I’m an intelligence officer. The man beside me is Yuri Pamfilova. He’s here from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And the man sitting here is Anton Bortkiewicz. He’s a member of a top-secret Russian unit. Anton sought asylum in your country after his involvement in a top-secret project, but yesterday, he was placed under arrest after illegally entering the country. Is he an acquaintance of yours, Mr. Arakawa?”
The lieutenant colonel’s face reminded me of a cat toying with a mouse as he introduced Anton. But none of that information was news to me. The capture of both Anton and Joseph might have surprised me without Ageha’s help, though.
After giving me back my terminal, Ageha had kept using its spare resources to track Anton this whole time, as she was worried about him. She’d also hacked the main terminal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and learned that both men had been captured.
Having been told this, I knew I needed to use my political influence to its fullest extent.
“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Colonel,” I said. “My name is Kouki Arakawa. Naturally, I’m acquainted with Anton. It was under my orders that he returned to his home country on business. But there must have been some misunderstanding. I’m shocked to hear that he’s under arrest.”
“Under Mr. Arakawa’s orders? I see. And what business brings you to this country today?”
Here’s the first hurdle. Clare said to “state your business in a roundabout way when you want to negotiate carefully” but to “cut to the chase when you want to achieve your goal quickly.” My main goal is to rescue Anton’s commanding officer. I don’t have time to waste. I’ll cut to the chase.
“I’d like you to hand over Anton and his former commanding officer, who’s in your custody.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you’re referring to,” the man said smoothly. “And suppose such a person were in our custody? I don’t see how that would be any concern of yours. Not even you should be interfering with our internal affairs.”
“Let’s not play games. I expect it would be a problem for you if foreign nations learned that you had me confined in this car?”
Yuri raised his eyebrows just a little when I suggested that I was currently “confined.”
That’s right, I thought firmly. I’ll decide whether this counts as confinement or not.
Now his options were limited. He could tell me, “No such person exists, and I’d like you to leave” before deporting me, but I could cause a lot of trouble later by declaring, “The Russians detained me!”
“Supposing such a person really were in our custody...” he said carefully. “This is a country based on rule of law. That person would have to be guilty of some crime. Are you suggesting that a criminal be handed over to you? To Noa?”
So he’s bringing Noa into it now. He must be wondering how far I’m willing to go. Or maybe he wants to know whether my mom is involved. I didn’t know what his intentions were, but I had to say something. Think. What’s the diplomatic way to handle this?
“Of course not,” I said. “But my understanding is that this person was arrested very recently. Could it have been the result of some sort of mistake or miscommunication? That sort of mistake can make it very difficult for someone to continue their current job, even if they’re later released and everything is cleared up. This is even more the case if they’re executed for a crime they didn’t commit in... say... nine hours from now. That’s why I’m here as a recruiter. I thought perhaps this person might want to join me.”
“Very well. Now I understand.”
“Indeed,” I said. “The job I had in mind is no ordinary job. I couldn’t possibly offer such a post to someone without first asking permission from someone like the lieutenant colonel or Mr. Yuri Pamfilova first. And of course, I wouldn’t attempt to headhunt someone of such exceptional skill without offering some form of compensation.”
How’s that? I watched the men carefully. Judging from the lieutenant colonel’s reaction, he won’t make any objection, but I’m worried about Yuri. He hasn’t said anything.
We all remained silent for a while. During that silence, Ageha spoke to me using an earpiece connected to my terminal.
“Based on a spectral analysis from a satellite and the local environment, there is a 99.89% probability that the deposits you spoke of are present, Father.”
All right! Let’s take this discussion forward. I should ask Ageha whether there’s anything I can do for her later. As a reward, maybe I should transfer her to a big terminal with more resources rather than keeping her crammed into the terminal I’m wearing?