CHAPTER 12
BACK TO YOMI
RESEARCH FACILITY 5, ASIAN PACIFIC CONSORTIUM BLACK LAB – CHISHIMA ISLANDS
The wind was a moaning constant out of the Pacific, an icy wall of sound and force off the churning water that drove painfully into his body, stinging uncovered skin to numbness. Completely alone on the surface of the island, Dr Shoei stood and leaned forward ever so slightly, relaxing in slow degrees, and allowed the force of the gale to keep him upright. Below, blue steel waves hurled onto black crags, smashing to mist, hissing as they withdrew. The sound of their assault poured up and over the cliff edge roaring in the air around him, joining the relentless howl. He found it perfect.
His coworkers never joined him in his weekly trips to the top. “Expeditions”, he jokingly called them. After their first time - usually in the first month of their assignments at the facility - they never came with him again. Ever. They complained it was too empty, desolate, and stayed below after that initial exposure, choosing instead to recreate in the gym, library, or V.R. Not even Security accompanied him any more. Where could he go? But he returned to the black rock surface of the island every week. This was his pilgrimage, and he, like a junreisha, trod the same path, along the same promontory, to the same high cliff faithfully every time. There on the sharp overhang, the ocean and sky stretched away vast and empty beneath his feet, and the far horizon vanished in alloyed gray. And he was surrounded, subsumed by it all.
He decided his fellow scientists were frightened by it, so conditioned were they to the frenetic hives of Tokyo or Osaka, Kobe or Nagasaki, with their endless rivers of people, vehicles, light, and noise, that the harsh expanse unnerved them. To be honest, he’d felt far more alone in those warrens of steel, glass and concrete - labs, universities, mega cities - than he ever felt here. They seemed to need the comfort of commotion, distraction. But after his first time, he’d found himself craving these visits. There was a primal solitude, the severity of penance, as if the wind were scouring out the static and chatter, blowing away the chaff of incessant demand and petty pressures, leaving behind a stark wilderness, terrible and beautiful in its clarity. This was his chiseled shuin for another week below. The wind paused and he caught himself abruptly, straightening up, and opening his eyes.
He looked down at his watch: 10 minutes before he had to get back to the elevator. Back to Yomi he smiled ironically. He looked out over the ocean, off to the mercury line of sea and cloud. His work was out there, not down below. They were still out there. His creation - his children. Three of them, released into the world before their time, flawed, erratic and fatal. And they were there against his will.
He’d received no reports about the mission. True, the orders had come from a superior, but still he had not refused. It was by his hand they’d been awakened and unleashed. He was ultimately responsible. He looked out again into the sky smelling the wind as if it could bring their scent, the slightest quiver of knowledge with it from across the oceans - through the atmosphere. There was nothing but the far off moan. He weighed his thoughts, listening to the wind fill his ears. He had to do it - he would file a protest with the Sendai bureau. With Tokyo Head Office if needed. They had not been ready; he would request a recall. Surely there were trained agents who could perform the tasks the Arbiter needed? Asian Pacific’s security division had some of the finest operatives in the world. It could mean a demotion, possibly his job and career if he questioned a top level executive like an Arbiter, but he was willing.
With that, Dr Shoei turned and headed toward the hidden guard house with it‘s elevator, the wind pushing him now down the narrow trail.
COMPLICATIONS
BARCELONA PORT DOCK COMPLEX ASIAN-PACIFIC CONSORTIUM TRADE OFFICES - BUREAU D LEVEL 5 - SOUTH DOCK HUB
Colonel Otsu stared out the window in his tiny office. Somewhere beyond the labyrinth of concrete slabs and steel girders lay a warm, bright day and the sparkling Mediterranean Sea. He craned his neck for a better angle, and a trio of oil streaked, rust scabbed automated forklifts slid past, laden with massive hot pink “Hello Kitty” shipping crates. He sighed and spoke over his shoulder.
“No word yet?”
His secretary had been waiting for his reverie to pass. “No sir. Nothing yet.”
“Situation reports were every two hours. How many has he missed?”
“Just one so far Colonel. His second deadline is in 16 minutes. I’m sure he has things under control. Last contact stated they were headed to a meeting to arrange delivery - he probably made them do it now and he’s on his way back with the goods as we speak.. He’s a capable officer. No need to worry.”
“Capable officers don’t miss sit-reps. What was their last known position?”
“The safe house is in a nearby district and the rendezvous was up north.” His secretary consulted one of her data pads. “The Sant Adrià de Besòs zone.” She looked back up at him. “There could be complications from all the Dawson Hull emergency enactments. Patrols, jamming, interference.”
“Complications.” he said flatly. “Let’s hope not.” He saw Arbiter Hsiang’s face in his memory, heard him say ‘Shinsengumi designation. Highly valuable prototypes…’ An ominous feeling spiked through him. He turned around to face back into the room again. “Do we know where the rendezvous was to take place?”
“No. It was only a preliminary meeting. He said he’d check in after with details.”
“But he didn’t. All the more reason for concern then. The Lead Arbiter who authorized this has spent enough time telling me this mission bears vital corporate consideration. And Arbiter Hsiang is not a man who takes disappointment well. Send a security detail in plain clothes out to locate and assist Lieutenant Kaneda. Send the best team we have. Tell them to start with the safe house and if there’s no one there, activate and track his chip. I don’t care if DH surveillance picks up our signal - I want this brought to a successful conclusion as quickly as possible.”
“Yes sir.” She left the office.
Colonel Otsu turned back to the window. A pyramid of orange and purple “World-Mart” containers had grown up outside, the overhead cranes jabbing down into the pile picking it apart like giant mechanical beaks. For a second, in the thin line of open space as one lifted up and away, he thought he caught a shimmer of blue and the sparkle of light on wave tops.
ASIAN PACIFIC CONSORTIUM EURO DIVISION REGIONAL OFFICES. NEW AMSTERDAM NETHERLANDS REGION.
His office was large, befitting his position. Nothing ostentatious, it was calculated understatement in satin black and brushed steel that emitted a sense of power like radiation at a Siberian nuclear test site. The stark minimalism of a single desk under high vaulted ceilings, back dropped on three sides by panoramic windows that overlooked the city, was all calculated to emphasize executive transcendence by blunt subliminal. Beyond the tall armor glass, pulsing veins of light entwined black towers in the night, restless traceries of arrhythmic urban glare. It was a precipice of dizzying authority, but Avery Hsiang bent forward under the desk lamp and rubbed his stinging eyes. He never looked out the windows anymore.
The hardcopy report compiled by his secretary lay stacked in two neat piles in front of him. He continued reading.
- while these agencies act as intermediaries for any number of subcontract outfits, both legitimate and covert, Asian Pacific Consortium’s security department has determined that Eshu Export, [Belfast Metro Zone, Ireland sector, principles: Jaithirth Rao and Mathew Dengler - see Appendix 1A] is the exclusive handler for at least two elite level clandestine operation teams: Black Friar Executive Solutions and Tam Song Associates. It should be noted Eshu Export has been engaged on numerous prior occasions with a high degree of success and profitability. Due to the very nature of our dealings, much of the information following is partial and speculative. However, several known Black Friar operators were injured in a recent asset reduction mission in the Singapore Maritime Zone, making it likely Tam Song Associates is the team currently engaged in this extraction operation. Knowledge of team members is sketchy and to be considered unreliable and out of date. [BES & TSA Personnel Profiles attached -Appendix 1B &1C]
He yanked out the attached profiles and grunted, thumbing through them quickly. As he suspected; typical outcasts, zone trash. All military and corporate failures.
Tam Song - North Korean. Raised in State military orphanage. Drafted into NK ground forces for the Unification War ‘38; served 18 months with distinguished service citation during Pacification and Withdrawal phase. Selected for NK Special Response Unit. Advanced training in urban combat, surveillance, and demolitions. Combat citations in Malaysian Counter Insurgency, Thai, Cambodian & Indo-Pakistan theaters. Suspected Military Assistance Advisor Group in Philippine Revolution. Battlefield promotion to Captain. Last known action during Taiwan Crisis, D day +1. Missing, presumed dead.
Jace Manner - North American Union, Canadian Sector. Volunteer, Canadian Armed Forces. Two tours in Canadian Ranger regiment. Expert arctic and survival training. Recruited for the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron (SOAS) at CFB Petawawa. Two years fixed wing, VTOL, and helo training. Meritorious Service medal for Siberian Operation in ’40. Volunteered Joint American/Canadian Drug Interdiction Task Force. Advanced CBQ and Surveillance cross training with US Delta force. Stationed to Detroit-Windsor-Cleveland Metro Zone ‘41-‘43. Wounded 4 times. Deployed with N.A.U. forces to Taiwan Strait ’45/46. Wounded in action. Dishonorable discharge: Gross Insubordination. Court Martial transcript sealed.
Devante Galeno Perez, alias “Poet9” North American Union, Central American Sector. Mexico City Sprawl. Child prodigy in computer systems and programming. Convicted in ‘33 of e-fraud and grand theft. Sentence commuted. Employed by BioGen International under 20 year indenture, System Security Division. Surgically fitted with advanced model cortical cybernetic interface. Disappeared while on loan to Dawson Hull Conglomerate in ’51.
TSA has been thought to hire from a pool of experienced former military and police members as tactical parameters dictate, however unconfirmed rumors persist of 2, possibly 3 Pretoria series combat clones attached to their permanent roster. If verified, this represents both a considerable force multiplier and a serious hazard to any potential adversary, not to mention a breech of numerous international laws and U.N. Resolutions. Advised to proceed with caution-.
His intra-corporate link chimed. Avery frowned as the vid-link screen slid up out of the desk surface. Who knows I am here at this time of night? Arbiter Tetsuo’s icon flashed on the pop-up screen. He straightened up, moved the report off to the side, adjusted his tie, then spoke the command.
“Accept.”
The screen brightened to life and the aged face of Senior Arbiter Yoshio Tetsuo appeared.
“Ah, Arbiter Hsiang. My sincerest apologies – it must be late there. How fortunate to catch you still in your office. I won’t keep you long. It’s simply that certain old matters have come to my attention, and I thought we might resolve them amicably between ourselves.”
“Of course, what ‘old matters’ can I assist you with?”
“My district managers have alerted me regarding ongoing trading in the Turkish and Ukrainian regions. I was under the impression we had resolved that issue. Those areas were determined to be under my jurisdiction. Why, might I ask, are your men still operating there?”
“Arbiter Tetsuo, if you recall, the Board decision permitted my department to conclude any and all existing commitments, then relinquish the contracts to your office. We will certainly do so when our commitments are complete.”
“That was 17 weeks ago. An estimated 90.3 million in transactions have happened since then. How do you explain that?”
Avery Hsiang leaned back and steepled his fingers in front of him. More like 112 million, you decrepit relic. Smiling inside, he looked over them apologetically. “We established strong ties. I can’t be faulted for my local directors performing their jobs well.”
“Aren’t you stretching the definition a bit?”
“No more than your representatives did in the Resolution Hearings.”
Yoshio Tetsuo smiled briefly, but his eyes tightened, and when he spoke again, it was almost too soft to hear. “This dispute was settled Avery: the Board sided with me. You were in violation. Those markets are clearly in my jurisdiction and you stepped out of line. You ordered your men to pursue local firms.”
“That is our job, is it not, Arbiter Tetsuo? Borders in those regions are historically fluid. It was an honest error - excusable to zeal. The parties involved were not only willing, but capable of handling sufficient volumes; my division administrators were only developing new markets for Asian Pacific. Ones your managers failed to capitalize on.”
“I heard all these rationalizations at the Hearings. Let me remind you, the schedule for the upcoming Assembly is quite demanding. It would be a shame to interrupt it with an issue we all considered settled. An inconvenient digression in the face of far more pressing matters, wouldn’t you agree? The Directors are very attentive to whether their executive decisions are respected.”
“I’ve always found the Board more receptive to initiative and maximum production & profitability.”
Unblinking, Senior Arbiter Tetsuo smiled again at Avery Hsiang. “Yes. Yes indeed. I suspect we’ll see then. My sincere apologies for disturbing you at your work.” The old head bowed slightly and his arm reached out on screen to cut the link. It paused halfway and Yoshio Tatsuo looked up suddenly. “One further question if I may?”
“Of course Arbiter Tetsuo.”
“You of course know the Sendai Research Division falls under my administration.” He lifted a small datapad up in front of him, squinting at it as if he found it difficult to read. “Oddly enough, I just received notice – as yet unconfirmed - that there has been an unauthorized deployment of Chishima products. Use of clone units is always a delicate matter at best; but this was not just standard types.” Arbiter Tetsuo was looking carefully at Avery Hsiang now through the vid-link. Avery kept his face totally blank and feigned a look of mild surprise.
“No? What type was deployed then?”
“According to the Supervisor there, someone requisitioned three of the Infiltrator prototypes using Tier Two administrator codes. Without Board approval.”
The face of Senior Arbiter Tetsuo sat utterly still in the middle of the screen, and for a moment, Avery Hsiang stopped breathing. Then he blinked and forced a smile.
“It must be a serious matter if someone requested three of those. I understand the development of those units was not yet complete.”
“You are correct on both counts Arbiter Hisang; they were not complete, and it is a serious matter. Please inform my office immediately if you hear anything. As I mentioned, I still require confirmation before I report this matter to the Directors. I am most grateful in advance for your assistance.” The old man smiled. “Tetsuo out.”
The screen closed down to a gray dot and dull sheen, then started folding back into the desktop below. No sooner had it snicked into place when the chime sounded again. Avery started in his chair, focused in the reemerging panel and saw it was his assistant.
“What.”
“Mr. Hsiang. We just received a transmission from Barcelona sir.”
“And?”
“It was the agents. They say there’s been some complications.”
RESEARCH FACILITY 5, ASIAN PACIFIC CONSORTIUM BLACK LAB – CHISHIMA ISLANDS
The wind was a moaning constant out of the Pacific, an icy wall of sound and force off the churning water that drove painfully into his body, stinging uncovered skin to numbness. Completely alone on the surface of the island, Dr Shoei stood and leaned forward ever so slightly, relaxing in slow degrees, and allowed the force of the gale to keep him upright. Below, blue steel waves hurled onto black crags, smashing to mist, hissing as they withdrew. The sound of their assault poured up and over the cliff edge roaring in the air around him, joining the relentless howl. He found it perfect.
His coworkers never joined him in his weekly trips to the top. “Expeditions”, he jokingly called them. After their first time - usually in the first month of their assignments at the facility - they never came with him again. Ever. They complained it was too empty, desolate, and stayed below after that initial exposure, choosing instead to recreate in the gym, library, or V.R. Not even Security accompanied him any more. Where could he go? But he returned to the black rock surface of the island every week. This was his pilgrimage, and he, like a junreisha, trod the same path, along the same promontory, to the same high cliff faithfully every time. There on the sharp overhang, the ocean and sky stretched away vast and empty beneath his feet, and the far horizon vanished in alloyed gray. And he was surrounded, subsumed by it all.
He decided his fellow scientists were frightened by it, so conditioned were they to the frenetic hives of Tokyo or Osaka, Kobe or Nagasaki, with their endless rivers of people, vehicles, light, and noise, that the harsh expanse unnerved them. To be honest, he’d felt far more alone in those warrens of steel, glass and concrete - labs, universities, mega cities - than he ever felt here. They seemed to need the comfort of commotion, distraction. But after his first time, he’d found himself craving these visits. There was a primal solitude, the severity of penance, as if the wind were scouring out the static and chatter, blowing away the chaff of incessant demand and petty pressures, leaving behind a stark wilderness, terrible and beautiful in its clarity. This was his chiseled shuin for another week below. The wind paused and he caught himself abruptly, straightening up, and opening his eyes.
He looked down at his watch: 10 minutes before he had to get back to the elevator. Back to Yomi he smiled ironically. He looked out over the ocean, off to the mercury line of sea and cloud. His work was out there, not down below. They were still out there. His creation - his children. Three of them, released into the world before their time, flawed, erratic and fatal. And they were there against his will.
He’d received no reports about the mission. True, the orders had come from a superior, but still he had not refused. It was by his hand they’d been awakened and unleashed. He was ultimately responsible. He looked out again into the sky smelling the wind as if it could bring their scent, the slightest quiver of knowledge with it from across the oceans - through the atmosphere. There was nothing but the far off moan. He weighed his thoughts, listening to the wind fill his ears. He had to do it - he would file a protest with the Sendai bureau. With Tokyo Head Office if needed. They had not been ready; he would request a recall. Surely there were trained agents who could perform the tasks the Arbiter needed? Asian Pacific’s security division had some of the finest operatives in the world. It could mean a demotion, possibly his job and career if he questioned a top level executive like an Arbiter, but he was willing.
With that, Dr Shoei turned and headed toward the hidden guard house with it‘s elevator, the wind pushing him now down the narrow trail.
COMPLICATIONS
BARCELONA PORT DOCK COMPLEX ASIAN-PACIFIC CONSORTIUM TRADE OFFICES - BUREAU D LEVEL 5 - SOUTH DOCK HUB
Colonel Otsu stared out the window in his tiny office. Somewhere beyond the labyrinth of concrete slabs and steel girders lay a warm, bright day and the sparkling Mediterranean Sea. He craned his neck for a better angle, and a trio of oil streaked, rust scabbed automated forklifts slid past, laden with massive hot pink “Hello Kitty” shipping crates. He sighed and spoke over his shoulder.
“No word yet?”
His secretary had been waiting for his reverie to pass. “No sir. Nothing yet.”
“Situation reports were every two hours. How many has he missed?”
“Just one so far Colonel. His second deadline is in 16 minutes. I’m sure he has things under control. Last contact stated they were headed to a meeting to arrange delivery - he probably made them do it now and he’s on his way back with the goods as we speak.. He’s a capable officer. No need to worry.”
“Capable officers don’t miss sit-reps. What was their last known position?”
“The safe house is in a nearby district and the rendezvous was up north.” His secretary consulted one of her data pads. “The Sant Adrià de Besòs zone.” She looked back up at him. “There could be complications from all the Dawson Hull emergency enactments. Patrols, jamming, interference.”
“Complications.” he said flatly. “Let’s hope not.” He saw Arbiter Hsiang’s face in his memory, heard him say ‘Shinsengumi designation. Highly valuable prototypes…’ An ominous feeling spiked through him. He turned around to face back into the room again. “Do we know where the rendezvous was to take place?”
“No. It was only a preliminary meeting. He said he’d check in after with details.”
“But he didn’t. All the more reason for concern then. The Lead Arbiter who authorized this has spent enough time telling me this mission bears vital corporate consideration. And Arbiter Hsiang is not a man who takes disappointment well. Send a security detail in plain clothes out to locate and assist Lieutenant Kaneda. Send the best team we have. Tell them to start with the safe house and if there’s no one there, activate and track his chip. I don’t care if DH surveillance picks up our signal - I want this brought to a successful conclusion as quickly as possible.”
“Yes sir.” She left the office.
Colonel Otsu turned back to the window. A pyramid of orange and purple “World-Mart” containers had grown up outside, the overhead cranes jabbing down into the pile picking it apart like giant mechanical beaks. For a second, in the thin line of open space as one lifted up and away, he thought he caught a shimmer of blue and the sparkle of light on wave tops.
ASIAN PACIFIC CONSORTIUM EURO DIVISION REGIONAL OFFICES. NEW AMSTERDAM NETHERLANDS REGION.
His office was large, befitting his position. Nothing ostentatious, it was calculated understatement in satin black and brushed steel that emitted a sense of power like radiation at a Siberian nuclear test site. The stark minimalism of a single desk under high vaulted ceilings, back dropped on three sides by panoramic windows that overlooked the city, was all calculated to emphasize executive transcendence by blunt subliminal. Beyond the tall armor glass, pulsing veins of light entwined black towers in the night, restless traceries of arrhythmic urban glare. It was a precipice of dizzying authority, but Avery Hsiang bent forward under the desk lamp and rubbed his stinging eyes. He never looked out the windows anymore.
The hardcopy report compiled by his secretary lay stacked in two neat piles in front of him. He continued reading.
- while these agencies act as intermediaries for any number of subcontract outfits, both legitimate and covert, Asian Pacific Consortium’s security department has determined that Eshu Export, [Belfast Metro Zone, Ireland sector, principles: Jaithirth Rao and Mathew Dengler - see Appendix 1A] is the exclusive handler for at least two elite level clandestine operation teams: Black Friar Executive Solutions and Tam Song Associates. It should be noted Eshu Export has been engaged on numerous prior occasions with a high degree of success and profitability. Due to the very nature of our dealings, much of the information following is partial and speculative. However, several known Black Friar operators were injured in a recent asset reduction mission in the Singapore Maritime Zone, making it likely Tam Song Associates is the team currently engaged in this extraction operation. Knowledge of team members is sketchy and to be considered unreliable and out of date. [BES & TSA Personnel Profiles attached -Appendix 1B &1C]
He yanked out the attached profiles and grunted, thumbing through them quickly. As he suspected; typical outcasts, zone trash. All military and corporate failures.
Tam Song - North Korean. Raised in State military orphanage. Drafted into NK ground forces for the Unification War ‘38; served 18 months with distinguished service citation during Pacification and Withdrawal phase. Selected for NK Special Response Unit. Advanced training in urban combat, surveillance, and demolitions. Combat citations in Malaysian Counter Insurgency, Thai, Cambodian & Indo-Pakistan theaters. Suspected Military Assistance Advisor Group in Philippine Revolution. Battlefield promotion to Captain. Last known action during Taiwan Crisis, D day +1. Missing, presumed dead.
Jace Manner - North American Union, Canadian Sector. Volunteer, Canadian Armed Forces. Two tours in Canadian Ranger regiment. Expert arctic and survival training. Recruited for the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron (SOAS) at CFB Petawawa. Two years fixed wing, VTOL, and helo training. Meritorious Service medal for Siberian Operation in ’40. Volunteered Joint American/Canadian Drug Interdiction Task Force. Advanced CBQ and Surveillance cross training with US Delta force. Stationed to Detroit-Windsor-Cleveland Metro Zone ‘41-‘43. Wounded 4 times. Deployed with N.A.U. forces to Taiwan Strait ’45/46. Wounded in action. Dishonorable discharge: Gross Insubordination. Court Martial transcript sealed.
Devante Galeno Perez, alias “Poet9” North American Union, Central American Sector. Mexico City Sprawl. Child prodigy in computer systems and programming. Convicted in ‘33 of e-fraud and grand theft. Sentence commuted. Employed by BioGen International under 20 year indenture, System Security Division. Surgically fitted with advanced model cortical cybernetic interface. Disappeared while on loan to Dawson Hull Conglomerate in ’51.
TSA has been thought to hire from a pool of experienced former military and police members as tactical parameters dictate, however unconfirmed rumors persist of 2, possibly 3 Pretoria series combat clones attached to their permanent roster. If verified, this represents both a considerable force multiplier and a serious hazard to any potential adversary, not to mention a breech of numerous international laws and U.N. Resolutions. Advised to proceed with caution-.
His intra-corporate link chimed. Avery frowned as the vid-link screen slid up out of the desk surface. Who knows I am here at this time of night? Arbiter Tetsuo’s icon flashed on the pop-up screen. He straightened up, moved the report off to the side, adjusted his tie, then spoke the command.
“Accept.”
The screen brightened to life and the aged face of Senior Arbiter Yoshio Tetsuo appeared.
“Ah, Arbiter Hsiang. My sincerest apologies – it must be late there. How fortunate to catch you still in your office. I won’t keep you long. It’s simply that certain old matters have come to my attention, and I thought we might resolve them amicably between ourselves.”
“Of course, what ‘old matters’ can I assist you with?”
“My district managers have alerted me regarding ongoing trading in the Turkish and Ukrainian regions. I was under the impression we had resolved that issue. Those areas were determined to be under my jurisdiction. Why, might I ask, are your men still operating there?”
“Arbiter Tetsuo, if you recall, the Board decision permitted my department to conclude any and all existing commitments, then relinquish the contracts to your office. We will certainly do so when our commitments are complete.”
“That was 17 weeks ago. An estimated 90.3 million in transactions have happened since then. How do you explain that?”
Avery Hsiang leaned back and steepled his fingers in front of him. More like 112 million, you decrepit relic. Smiling inside, he looked over them apologetically. “We established strong ties. I can’t be faulted for my local directors performing their jobs well.”
“Aren’t you stretching the definition a bit?”
“No more than your representatives did in the Resolution Hearings.”
Yoshio Tetsuo smiled briefly, but his eyes tightened, and when he spoke again, it was almost too soft to hear. “This dispute was settled Avery: the Board sided with me. You were in violation. Those markets are clearly in my jurisdiction and you stepped out of line. You ordered your men to pursue local firms.”
“That is our job, is it not, Arbiter Tetsuo? Borders in those regions are historically fluid. It was an honest error - excusable to zeal. The parties involved were not only willing, but capable of handling sufficient volumes; my division administrators were only developing new markets for Asian Pacific. Ones your managers failed to capitalize on.”
“I heard all these rationalizations at the Hearings. Let me remind you, the schedule for the upcoming Assembly is quite demanding. It would be a shame to interrupt it with an issue we all considered settled. An inconvenient digression in the face of far more pressing matters, wouldn’t you agree? The Directors are very attentive to whether their executive decisions are respected.”
“I’ve always found the Board more receptive to initiative and maximum production & profitability.”
Unblinking, Senior Arbiter Tetsuo smiled again at Avery Hsiang. “Yes. Yes indeed. I suspect we’ll see then. My sincere apologies for disturbing you at your work.” The old head bowed slightly and his arm reached out on screen to cut the link. It paused halfway and Yoshio Tatsuo looked up suddenly. “One further question if I may?”
“Of course Arbiter Tetsuo.”
“You of course know the Sendai Research Division falls under my administration.” He lifted a small datapad up in front of him, squinting at it as if he found it difficult to read. “Oddly enough, I just received notice – as yet unconfirmed - that there has been an unauthorized deployment of Chishima products. Use of clone units is always a delicate matter at best; but this was not just standard types.” Arbiter Tetsuo was looking carefully at Avery Hsiang now through the vid-link. Avery kept his face totally blank and feigned a look of mild surprise.
“No? What type was deployed then?”
“According to the Supervisor there, someone requisitioned three of the Infiltrator prototypes using Tier Two administrator codes. Without Board approval.”
The face of Senior Arbiter Tetsuo sat utterly still in the middle of the screen, and for a moment, Avery Hsiang stopped breathing. Then he blinked and forced a smile.
“It must be a serious matter if someone requested three of those. I understand the development of those units was not yet complete.”
“You are correct on both counts Arbiter Hisang; they were not complete, and it is a serious matter. Please inform my office immediately if you hear anything. As I mentioned, I still require confirmation before I report this matter to the Directors. I am most grateful in advance for your assistance.” The old man smiled. “Tetsuo out.”
The screen closed down to a gray dot and dull sheen, then started folding back into the desktop below. No sooner had it snicked into place when the chime sounded again. Avery started in his chair, focused in the reemerging panel and saw it was his assistant.
“What.”
“Mr. Hsiang. We just received a transmission from Barcelona sir.”
“And?”
“It was the agents. They say there’s been some complications.”
