Zero Sum Game, page 5
When they had departed at the end of the line, Ichihara had followed a discreet distance behind Fujiya, but the other Noigel never looked around him. Ichihara had debated about confronting Fujiya but decided against it. He hated sneaking behind a friend like this, but he needed a look at the bigger picture. If he talked to Fujiya, he would be showing his hand too soon.
Ichihara made his way to a four-story building several hundred meters away. Looking around to make sure he was unseen, he leapt, his battle suit-enhanced strength propelling him onto the roof in a smooth motion. He landed, crouching down, and paused for a moment, listening for any sounds of commotion, then made his way along the roof until he reached the edge. He had a perfect view of the port and watched Fujiya walking towards the docked submarine.
As Fujiya approached the DSV Kaiyou Infinity, his clothes morphed into a different set of attire. Then he strode across the gangplank and entered the submarine via the entrance near the conning tower.
What would Fujiya be interested in a submarine for? Ichihara thought. He debated whether to follow or not. This late at night, he figured most of the crew onboard would be asleep. Fujiya's clothes had been altered to match the uniforms of the sub's crew, and Ichihara didn't have the necessary details to replicate it. He opted for waiting.
About ninety minutes later, Fujiya exited the submarine. Stepping off the gangplank, his clothes morphed back to their usual attire. He slipped a handheld scanner into his pocket. He seemed to be talking aloud to himself.
"He is making a transmission via his battle suit," Dolim said.
"Can you intercept it?"
"Not without his suit detecting it."
Ichihara crawled on his stomach to the edge of the roof. He enhanced his hearing and the audible world grew a thousand-fold. The lap of the nearby water sounded like tidal waves crashing, and the passing of vehicles on the streets roared like F-1 racers. He could hear the sounds of conversations as employees talked to one another, and the gentle pings and thuds of boats at moor bumping against the docks. Ichihara focused on Fujiya, trying to block out the other distracting noises.
"The scans are complete. The submarine will be able to handle the stress." Fujiya stopped talking, listening to the other end of the conversation, presumably the other Noigel on Earth.
A burst of white noise filled Ichihara's head, like the world's largest guitar amp going on the fritz. He managed to stifle his scream of pain, but he clenched his eyes shut and covered his ears with his hands. For another half second the noise continued, a static roar that jolted and tore at him so bad he might have crawled out of his flash skin, to lie exposed on the tar and gravel roof. Then Dolim reacted, turning down his enhanced hearing to human levels.
Rolling onto his side but still covering his ears, he searched for the source of the excruciating blast. It was the air conditioner unit for the building. It had turned on, and the fans and machinery noise and rushing of air had combined to cause a headache-inducing cacophony. Ichihara lay on the roof for a few more moments, gathering his bearings, then rolled on his stomach to resume watching Fujiya.
The conversation had finished during Ichihara's auditory attack. Fujiya now walked towards the general direction of Ichihara's building.
He stayed on top of the roof for ten more minutes, making sure Fujiya had left the port for good. He glanced at the Kaiyou Infinity before he jumped off the four story building. He knew that if the Noigel's plans included a submarine, his mission had become more complicated.
"Dolim, find out everything you can about that submarine."
— — —
The next morning, Ichihara followed Fujiya's truck in a cab as it drove to Amano Heavy Industries' main factory on the outskirts of Hiroshima. He ordered the driver to drop him off at the end of the site's grounds. As he passed the front gate, Ichihara saw Fujiya's arm hanging out the driver's side window. A guard at the gate returned Fujiya's ID badge, and the red and white barrier raised up. The cab passed by, and Ichihara's view was cut off by the concrete fence and wire barrier on top of it. The taxi deposited Ichihara and drove off.
Ichihara drummed his fingers on his briefcase, unsure how to proceed. He couldn't loiter in front like he had at Amano's main building; there were no bus stops or taxi stands to aid his cover. He saw security cameras placed every few feet along the top of the wall; some pointed inwards to cover the grounds and some recorded the streets outside.
He crossed the street and continued straight, walking towards the back of the complex. The long wall was unbroken, there were no entrances or exits, either for vehicles or people. He turned at the corner and continued along the back.
He came across a heavy barred sliding gate. The sign stated 'Employee Parking. Authorized Vehicles Only.' He peered through the bars and saw no one around. He didn't find an access button or ticket machine either. A smaller sign attached to the gate said it was open only from 7-9am and 5-8pm. For now, everyone has to go through the front. Perfect, he thought.
He made sure the street behind him was deserted, then grabbed the nearest pair of vertical bars. He bent the bars apart with no effort and quickly slid through, then pushed the bars back. They were slightly deformed, but it was barely noticeable.
Inside the complex, he found the main office and walked to it like he belonged at the site. The workers paid him no mind; he was another suit here to do business. His gaze darted everywhere, taking in the layout of the place, but also searching for Fujiya. The site was large with lots of free space, and had three main buildings: the administration building, the shipping building, and the factory itself, which dominated the landscape. It was two stories high, long and rectangular, painted an uninspired gray and white. Solar panels on the roof were angled to catch the most amount of sun. There were numerous smaller satellite buildings: supply sheds, equipment storage, and more. Cars and trucks were parked all over the place, but Ichihara didn't find Fujiya's vehicle, it may be parked on the far side of the delivery building. While there was the continuous noise of vehicles and heavy machinery in motion, Ichihara was surprised at how little noise came from the factory. He had expected it to be rumbling like an oversized semi-truck—a deep ground-shaking rumble—but there was none of that.
He passed through the automatic doors. Inside the cool administration building, he found the receptionist. He put his briefcase on the counter to catch her attention. She looked up at him, a professional fake smile plastered to her mouth. Her eyes told a different story: Who are you, and what the hell do you want?
Ichihara put on his most disarming smile and reached into his inside jacket pocket, producing a business card. He passed it to her, and she grudgingly accepted.
"I'm Hiroshi Ichihara, an advisor for JAXA. I'm looking for Shota Fujiya. Is he here today?"
"You would have to check in the export building," she replied. "But you must sign in first."
He signed his name in the ledger, and was instructed to an exit on the far side of the building where he would be required to grab a hard hat and wear it at all times while on the premises. Ichihara did so and headed for the shipping building. From here AHI exported all of its finished goods. From his investigations, Ichihara knew Fujiya worked as a delivery worker in the shipping building, moving merchandise out and supplies in, a blue collar worker doing what he was told. It fits him well, he thought. Fujiya had been a colonel in the Noigel military and liked following orders. It made sense that such a low level working position was chosen as his cover.
He entered the shipping building; a large open area that held pieces of equipment and machines of various sizes, models and uses. Machine parts were stacked, waiting to be exported. Ichihara wasn't sure what a lot of them were intended for, he wasn't knowledgeable about engineering. Loaders, forklifts, and electric pallet jacks hummed and rumbled their way everywhere, moving metal parts in every direction. But it wasn't chaotic. The vehicles moved at turtle-like speeds, and each worker was always aware of where he was in relation to everything else. Ichihara knew it would be easy to block out the noise, get too focused on your task, and end up being run over by a loader or impaled on the tines of a forklift.
A man in blue coveralls, a hard hat, and carrying a clipboard walked towards him. He realized that he stood out in his three-piece suit. The man raised his voice to be heard over the din of the vehicles. "May I help you?"
"I'm looking for Shota Fujiya. It's urgent that I talk to him," Ichihara said.
"Is he in some kind of trouble?" the man asked, looking him up and down.
I'm not a cop or a loan shark for the yakuza, Ichihara thought. He gave the man his business card. "I need to talk to him. That's all."
The man nodded and held up a hand. "I'll get him. Wait right here." He walked down the main floor and out of sight.
Ichihara leaned against the wall near the door and waited, watching the choreographed dance of the moving machines. A few minutes later, the man with the clipboard and Fujiya came around a large tube of rolled metal. The man pointed at Ichihara, and Fujiya walked alone up to him. He gave a slight bow in greeting and Ichihara returned it.
"What can I do for you?" he asked in a blunt tone. "I'm a little busy. This had better not take too long."
As straightforward as any soldier, thought Ichihara. He said, "Can we talk outside?"
Fujiya gestured to the door. He followed Ichihara out then led him to a little snack corner set up with a small bench and two vending machines. Fujiya faced him. "What do you want?"
The corners of Ichihara's mouth turned up into a faint smile. Fujiya wasn't a subtle man. "Colonel Dolok."
Fujiya's eyes narrowed. "I think you have the wrong person."
"No, I don't, Colonel. But these flash skins do their job a little too well, don't they? I look a lot different from our last meeting with General Novs."
Fujiya's eyes widened. "Major Tru?"
Ichihara had been hoping Fujiya would be happy to see him, but that wasn't the case. The other Noigel didn't smile or make any move to greet him.
"What are you doing here?" Fujiya asked.
"Me? What about you? When did you agree to the principles of genocide?"
His friend took a step back. "It's them or us."
Ichihara couldn't believe the black-or-white response. "Are you ready to wipe out an entire species?" He stepped closer to his friend. "Help me. Tell me who you're working with."
Fujiya's mouth twitched.
He always did have a terrible bluffing face, Ichihara thought. "I know another Noigel is here. Help me stop him. We don't have to kill these people."
Fujiya walked around Ichihara as he talked. "You joined the Defiant, didn't you? Those soft-hearted pansies would have us suffer and die. We are trying to save our species. Our heritage, our legacy, everything."
"At the expense of another."
"Don't you get it? If the terraforming catoms work, we live. If they don't, we move on to another world and no one back on the ark will know this place existed. It's a win-win situation."
Ichihara couldn't believe his friend. "Speciescide isn't a win-win. It's immoral."
"What would you have us do?"
"Look for other worlds! Terraform moons—"
Fujiya interrupted. "There is no time!"
Ichihara paused to take a deep breath. He looked around, wondering if they had attracted attention with their raised voices, but they were still alone.
Softer, Ichihara said, "Tell me who you're working with. Is it someone in the military? An intelligence deep-covert operative? Who?"
Fujiya shook his head. "I can't, Volon."
"You will be a mass murderer."
"I'll be alive." He paused. "But we were friends in the military. I can do you one favor. His name is Yusuke Shimizu."
Ichihara smiled. "Thank you." His friend had come through for him after all. As a colonel, Dolok had to be tough. But he had known the man wasn't a killer. He turned away from his friend.
"Danger behind you," Dolim said.
Ichihara spun around a split second before the massive arm wrapped itself around his neck. An elbow jab to his assailant's chest loosened the hold. Ichihara swung his briefcase at the larger man's head. Fujiya's fist smashed through it, blowing apart the hinges and scattering papers and pens everywhere. Ichihara gave a straight jab to Fujiya's mouth. The blow would have dented steel, but Fujiya's battle suit was stronger than that, and with no blood in the flash skin, he didn't bleed from the blow.
Ichihara tried to swing again, but Fujiya caught his arm. He tried again, Fujiya caught his other arm as well. Fujiya gave him a vicious head-butt that sent him stumbling backwards. Fujiya kicked him in the chest and his body went airborne, moving like a rag doll in a hurricane. He flew a hundred meters before slamming into a white work truck, crumpling the cab and rolling the truck onto its side. Momentum carried him farther until he landed in a heap on the ground.
Stunned, he weaved as he stood; even through his battle suit-enhanced imperviousness, he had felt the kick. Over the top of the now-sideways truck, he saw Fujiya running at him. Ichihara leapt over the vehicle, legs tucked underneath him, and rammed his knees into Fujiya's chest. They both went to the ground but Ichihara stood back up first. They traded blows and Ichihara fell back on his training, using a Noigel martial art similar to Muay Thai that emphasized the legs and knees. Fujiya tried to kick but Ichihara blocked it with his own foot, slamming both their feet several centimeters into the cement.
Fujiya managed to push Ichihara away and get his foot out of the small hole. Ichihara wasn't sure how much longer he himself would last; he was faster than Fujiya and a better fighter. Even though they had received the same military training, Ichihara had augmented it with the guerrilla, no-holds-barred tactics of the Defiant. But Fujiya was more powerful. Ichihara's punches landed true, but when Fujiya struck back, his blows were harder. Fujiya was a skilled fighter in his own right, but Ichihara knew if he ever let Fujiya get another hold on him, it would be over. His friend's strength was hard to match.
"Such actions will undoubtedly ruin our cover," Dolim said in a calm voice, as if he had commented on the fact that grass was green.
"Do you think so?" Ichihara replied in a sarcastic tone. But he knew the suit was right. With all the security cameras around, the fight would be recorded and analyzed. He couldn't afford to have his cover blown. He needed everyone to think he was a human, at least until he could figure out how Shimizu and Fujiya were going to terraform Earth.
Ichihara told his suit to go into neutral configuration. The gray suit flowed and reformed into a black one-piece with small horizontal ridges running across it from neckline to feet. It covered Ichihara completely except for his hands, head, and feet. At least this way, he thought, the camera won't be picking up a business man in a gray suit. He hoped it would confuse the authorities when they watched the playback video.
They needed to get this fight out of the factory and into a more private area. Fujiya rushed him, and Ichihara ripped a speed limit signpost from the ground, along with a large chunk of concrete attached to the end, like a gray, dirty, half-eaten lollipop. Fujiya couldn't stop his charge. Ichihara swung the signpost like a bat; it caught Fujiya in the stomach and lifted him into the air, sending him over the factory's far concrete wall and out of sight. Ichihara dropped his weapon and ran several meters then leapt, his superhuman strength rocketing him in the direction Fujiya had gone.
Ichihara found Fujiya in a clearing. He landed in the hard dirt and sprinted after him as Fujiya bolted towards the forest. He was glad Fujiya had decided to run on foot; their super jumping would have attracted more attention than he needed at the moment.
The two aliens ran, dodging trees and hurdling fallen logs. At first Ichihara swatted away branches that slapped his face, but he did it out of reflex. He knew his battle suit made him impervious to almost any natural or manmade object on Earth. After several moments, he stopped slapping and let the plants and trees whip him. He gained on Fujiya; he heard the larger Noigel crashing through the forest, wood snapping and animals protesting at the intrusion into their home. Ichihara caught sight of him as Fujiya neared a large, fallen tree trunk.
Between the trunk and the ground was a gap, but Fujiya wouldn't fit through it. He crossed his arms in front of him and ducked his head down. He plowed through the tree. A boom of snapping wood rang out, startling birds and small animals. The two halves were pushed aside like Volkswagens trying to stop a freight train. Ichihara continued on through the hole Fujiya had made but he was losing distance. He stopped and scooped up a large rock.
He never could have made the throw in his natural form. But Dolim helped guide his aim. Ichihara threw the rock. It shot like a missile, impacting against Fujiya's back and shattering in a cloud of dust. Fujiya flew forward off his feet. Even before the impromptu weapon had hit its target, Ichihara started running again. Fujiya had been flung past the edge of the forest and landed in a small clearing. Ichihara saw they were near a power relay station.
Fujiya stomped towards him. Ichihara jumped up, tucking his legs underneath him, before shooting them forward. His feet caught Fujiya straight in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Ichihara landed on his back then scrambled to his feet. Fujiya grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it in his face. Ichihara squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed them with his hands. Fujiya leaped on top of him, trying to beat him to the ground. Ichihara kicked out and his foot connected with Fujiya's chin. He blocked one punch by Fujiya but couldn't avoid the other, and it rammed into his stomach, doubling him over. Fujiya grabbed his right arm in both hands and flung him like a sack of grain being tossed into the flat bed of a truck.
Ichihara slammed into a tree; it cracked and fell forward. He leaned to one side to avoid it, but Fujiya caught it in one hand, holding it aloft like it weighed not more than a pillow, and tossed it aside. Ichihara rushed, but Fujiya sidestepped and delivered a vicious blow to the back. Ichihara stumbled forward; Fujiya picked up the fallen tree he had tossed aside and played Ichihara's own trick on him: he tossed the tree like a lance, and it rocketed into Ichihara's back. He flew forward through the fence protecting the power station and into the machinery itself. Sparks went off like miniature explosions. Electricity like tens of lighting bolts hitting him at once coursed through his flash skin, his battle suit, and his body. The energy overrode the built-in safeties, charging the flash skin and suit with more power than they could handle. The excess fed back into the station and it exploded in an ear-splitting boom.
