“Captain, Arakawa has arrived. He’s currently changing his clothes in another room.”
So he’s here? It’s only been 26 minutes since he escaped the hotel. That’s not too shabby.
I looked up at the man. “What state is he in? Injured and full of adrenaline, I bet.”
“Not at all. He seems quite composed. In fact, he was relaxed enough to laugh at my appearance. I think he must have already guessed what sort of group we are.”
So the rumors were true. He’s 15 at most... or perhaps 16 if he had a birthday recently. A boy that young just barely escapes from terrorists, and then he’s calm again after just half an hour? It’s no wonder they call him a monster.
We were ready to take him with us to Japan immediately. We would request asylum once we arrived. If we handed Arakawa over, there’d be no objection from the Japanese government, and Miki wouldn’t use her political influence against us.
“Is the plane ready to fly us out of here?” I asked.
“It’s waiting in a secret airport at the city outskirts. It’s ready to take off the moment we arrive. There are also aircraft ready to escort us as far as Japanese air territory... but...”
“But what?”
“Are you sure you want us to bomb Moscow’s radar station before we take off? Those are our allies operating that radar system. I don’t—”
“We’re not betraying our country; our country betrayed us. They tried to have us killed over false charges! Consider it payback.”
I knew that we’d be killing some of our own soldiers. But there was no other way to escape from New World now that they’d found their way into the highest ranks of the Russian government.
Besides, it was undeniable that our country had been ready to kill us to ensure Russia’s survival. They had no right to complain if we sacrificed the nation for the sake of our own survival.
As I sat there thinking to myself and chewing on the end of the cigarette in my mouth, there was a knock at the door and Arakawa entered the room.
“You wanted to speak with me?”
Arakawa stood there dressed in a black suit that had been prepared for him at the last minute. There was a leather holster hanging from his waist that one of my men must have given him. Judging from the way the grip looked, he had one of the small pistols that we used while working undercover. It seemed he’d already made contact with one of our members before arriving.
“Well done making it this far,” I said. “Do you know who we are?”
“You’re Anton’s former colleagues... Chernobog. Which would make you Captain Yulia.”
He knows I’m a woman despite the way I look?
My hair was long, but my body could hardly be described as “human.” Yet he didn’t look surprised at all.
The side effects of the Reinforced Soldier Project had left me with just 18% of my original body remaining. The rest of my body was machine parts made from iron and oil.
“I don’t scare you?” I asked.
“Not really. Well, I was a little surprised.”
“All right, then, I’ll tell you our itinerary. A car’s coming to pick us up in 15 minutes. The car will take us to an airport on the outskirts of the city where we’ll board a plane. After flying to Hokkaido, we’ll force a landing at Wakkanai Port. Obviously, the Japanese self-defense forces are going to be on high alert, but we’ll be able to negotiate asylum for ourselves by handing you over to them. To put it bluntly, you’re our hostage. Don’t hold it against us.”
“How many of you are seeking asylum?” he asked.
“Fourteen.”
Arakawa tilted his head as if puzzled by my answer.
Whatever he’s thinking about, it doesn’t matter. We need to get moving. Before I could tell him that there’d be no further questions and no changes to the plan, he opened his mouth to speak.
“That’s weird. That’s not the number I heard. I met one of your people in the hotel. He was disguised as a waiter and he told me that eighteen members were seeking asylum. Now it’s just fourteen? Did you suffer causalities?”
✦ ✦ ✦
So he really did make contact with another Chernobog squad at the hotel. That explains how he got the gun. Looks as though our other squad is isolated and couldn’t contact us.
We could have visited our usual rendezvous points to pick my subordinates who were still in the city, but I knew if we didn’t keep our heads down, there was a chance we’d be arrested once again. We had a rule: those with the greatest chance of escaping take priority. As much as I hated to leave anyone behind, it was the best option in this situation.
Once we’re safe, maybe we can come back for the others.
“He was with another squad,” I explained. “Sadly, I don’t have time to round up every last member of Chernobog in hiding.”
“Well, that’s awkward,” he said. “I promised I’d save everyone I could, Anton and the lieutenant colonel included. I didn’t even want to leave Anton behind in the hotel.”
“This is just how it is. I have a duty to save what subordinates I can and get them to Japan. If you want to save Anton and the others, wait until you’re back in Japan with the force of Noa behind you.”
“You may be right. But I can’t help but notice that your body is built more for combat than espionage...”
“Yes, we’re a secret combat unit known as Serp. On paper, this is an espionage unit, but in reality, we specialize in combat. But you’ve asked enough questions already. If you won’t cooperate, we can just restrain you. You’d better come quietly.”
I was growing tired of this, so I moved toward Arakawa intending to grab him by the arm, but he drew the weapon at his waist with alarming speed. He immediately chambered a round and put his finger on the trigger ready to fire.
Besides a few people with unusual occupations, people from Japan shouldn’t have the opportunity to use firearms. Noa must have given him self-defense training. Regardless, I doubt an amateur could hit anything with that little pistol. At this distance, I can get near him before he has a chance to aim. Children who don’t know how to behave need to be punished.
Before I could find the right timing, Arakawa went into motion. I started to rush toward him, but then I screeched to a halt.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, but Arakawa stood there smiling with the gun pointed at his own head.
“Don’t be stupid!” I couldn’t help but cry out. “You got that gun from one of my people. It’s not carrying blanks!”
“I figured this would stop you. If you try to restrain me, my finger might put a little too much force on the trigger, and then I’ll end up blowing my brains out.”
Has he lost his mind? No, he looks calm. I can’t take any chances here.
“Captain, just give me ten minutes to explain myself,” he said. “If you don’t like what I have to say, that’s fine. I’ll go with you and board that plane.”
“All right. Just lower the gun. If someone makes a loud noise, you might jump and blow your brains out.”
“Okay. But don’t come charging at me when I lower it. I’m a lot more frail than you’d guess. If you knock me down with that body of yours, I’ll look like tomato ketchup. I can’t imagine my mom giving you asylum after that.”
This dirty brat. He knows we can’t make a deal without him.
I kept my anger inside and checked the time on my watch. It was 2:40 AM.
Fine. He can have his ten minutes. As long we’re out of here by 3 AM, I can figure something out.
“Ten minutes and no more,” I snapped. “Speak.”
“Okay. First off, I promise you I’ll tell my mom to give you all asylum with Noa no matter what. Even if I die, I want her to take you in. And I always keep my promises. Whatever happens, I won’t betray you or Chernobog; you have my word. I’ll stand by you until the end. Bear that in mind while you hear me out.”
That’s what everyone says right before they betray us. Our fellow soldiers, our own country, even the civilians we were fighting to protect...
“I want to use myself as bait to lure out New World, and then we can wipe them out. I’ll need your full cooperation to make this work.”
He’ll use himself as bait? I don’t understand what he’s saying. And what’s with this kid’s eyes? They look so pure. It’s like they’re drawing me in.
Those eyes were unlike any I’d ever seen.