Keisuke
hunched over a map of the surrounding area. As soon as the sun had come up, his
crew had started reporting signs of activity throughout the woods nearby. To a
trained eye, the trail was as stark as a highway cutting through the trees.
He’d handpicked his men, all far beyond competent. It was beginning to look
like they’d have the fugitives in hand by the end of the day.
Later in the morning, the trackers reported signs of a struggle deeper in
the woods. From that point, the one trail diverged into a few. It didn’t
appear that any of the people in question were moving at a more hurried pace,
but now there were signs that the fugitives were trying to cover their tracks.
One of them knows what he’s doing, Keisuke mused. He was not
disappointed. Instead, he felt a slight rush. Something challenging for a
change.
As he waited for another report, he considered the possibilities. It was
unlikely that the two young women had escaped after the scuffle. Had that been
the case, one of the trails would have been a hurried mess, untouched by whoever
had been covering the others. It was possible that the fugitives had
split up, taken a hostage apiece. If so, was the split permanent, or did they
plan to meet someplace later on? The last explanation- the most likely to
Keisuke- was that they’d traveled on together and that all but one of the
trails was false.
A report came in. Two of the trails had fizzled out completely, the other
two possibly real. One continued indefinitely into the woods, the other ended at
a stream.
“The stream looks really likely, Sir,” the tracker said. “Whoever
was doing the trails has some experience. He’d know enough to use the
water.”
Keisuke plotted the remaining trails onto the map. It was then that he
noticed the cabin.
“Who lives here?” he asked the tech at the table beside him.
The tech consulted a roster, coughed once, and replied,
“Moria Minako, Sir.”
The name touched a nerve somewhere in Keisuke’s mind. He closed his
eyes momentarily and concentrated. Recognition came to him.
“Ah,” he said. “She’s one of ours.”
“Angemal, Sir?”
“No. A Sabian weapons developer. Half the firearms we’ve got are her
designs- all the really nasty ones.” He was silent for a few minutes,
pondering. “Put in a call to the cabin. I want to do a search there.”
“Yes, sir.”
The tech did as he was told. Keisuke felt himself itching- he wanted to
conduct the search himself. They’re in that cabin. He knew it beyond
any doubt. He was so sure, he couldn’t focus on any other place. Flush them
out, he thought. Find them, kill them, take back the two Upper
Clanswomen. He wanted to be there for the carnage. He wanted to drink the
blood of this supposed “Clanless”.
But this was impossible. Here in his homeland, Keisuke must follow
protocol. And protocol dictated that he remain in the command center- telling
but not doing. His hands balled in frustration. He listened to the conversation
between the tech and the Sabian. She sounded calm, relaxed, kind of pleasant.
Her voice betrayed shock only when she learned that Keisuke was leading the
search. However, anyone who knew the Angemal as she did would be surprised.
“Dispatch Tachi and Yamada to the cabin,” Keisuke instructed as soon
as the tech had hung up. “Let them know to be thorough.”
“Yes, Sir,” answered the tech.
While nothing indicated that the fugitives might be there, the Commander
felt his suspicion turn to an ache.
They’re in that cabin.
Mina
was outside waiting for the HeadHunters when they arrived. She greeted them from
the front lawn of the cabin.
“Have you been waiting out here long, Miss Moria?” asked one of the
men. His uniform identified him as Lt. Tachi. Mina grinned a bit to herself. Her
status in the Clan meant that even officers she’d never met would treat her
with courtesy.
“Not at all,” she replied. “You set off the alarm.”
“Anyone coming or going on this property would do so?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is it ever disarmed?”
“Never. My work is of an extremely sensitive nature, as you know.”
“And it hasn’t gone off in the last 25 hours?”
She looked him straight in the face.
“No, sir.” She let a moment of silence pass. “Would you like to
come inside, or do you want to start by searching the grounds?”
“We’ll do the cabin first. The grounds may take a while.”
Mina led the HeadHunters into her home. They made a brief apology before
thoroughly nosing about her personal space, checking closets and crawlspaces-
even dresser drawers. Upon emerging from her office, Tachi exhaled loudly.
“Quite a collection you’ve got in there.”
“Thank you. All but one are my subjects.”
“Yeah, the one that isn’t might be of some interest
to General Kurokawa.”
“What makes you say that?”
The man was silent for a moment or two.
“He knows a lot of the former brass is all. On account of his
family.” The answer seemed lame to Mina, but she let it slide. She wanted to
take advantage of the soldier’s chatty nature.
“It seems strange that everyone calls General Kurokawa ‘The
Commander’. I didn’t think that was really a rank.”
“It’s not. Hey, even soldiers can have nicknames, you know.” He
laughed.
“What can you tell me about the people you’re looking for?”
“Strange case, Miss Moria. One guy’s a Night’s Herald. He’s got
no previous record of stirring up trouble, practically didn’t exist until now.
They’ve got an escaped Dauern with them, too. The last guy’s the really
weird one. We can’t tag him to a Clan. There are no census records, nothing.
Even a DNA test bought up no results. Claims to have amnesia, but who knows?”
“Is there a possibility that he might be… well, the Clanless?”
“If you’re one to believe that stuff, I guess so. Seems to me like
this isn’t really the way the Legend was written down- people getting
kidnapped off trains and all.”
Mina hugged herself for effect, then said,
“I hope you catch him soon. Sounds like a freak to me.”
“Well, you know the Commander’s never let one get away before.
Don’t see why this would be any different.”
Mina nodded.
“Let’s get down to the lab.”
She led him downstairs, her partner following silently. She waited
anxiously as they poked around the storeroom and the little room full of
computers. They spent a long time in the room where she conducted her tests.
Finally they entered the morgue. So far, they’d left no nook unexplored. There
was little hope that they’d leave the freezer alone. She cursed herself for
her stupidity. These were Kurokawa’s men. They would be the best of the
best.
There was still a chance to change her mind, to save herself. She could
lead them to the freezer. She could tell them that she’d had them hidden
there, guaranteed their safety so they wouldn’t get away. There they were,
sitting ducks. Hey, look, I delivered them to the body lockers for you and
everything. Why am I doing this? Why am I choosing this path? I know
the Angemal. I trust the Angemal. I don’t have any idea what these people are
up to. I don’t really even know why they’re here. I should turn them in.
She stood silently in a corner, not paying too much attention to the search or
to the freezer. They couldn’t win against the Commander. She knew they were
bound for death the moment the man on the phone had told her who was leading the
HeadHunters. If she didn’t want to die, this was the last moment she had to do
something about it.
Harata was balled up inside his locker, listening to the sounds of the
people in the morgue. He felt he’d been waiting forever for them to arrive. He
tried to concentrate on the sounds of the search, but his mind kept wandering.
He could feel panic climbing up from his stomach into his throat. What if one of
the others lost it? He realized that Blue was probably a world away, completely
content that any second now he may cease to exist. Chi seemed made of
unquenchable optimism. She was a Champion- nothing would hurt her. She probably
couldn’t fathom how much danger they were in. Kat and Ayame… they were the
ones he worried about. He said a silent prayer that they’d have the strength
to stay still, to hold back their cries of fear. And then there was Mina. She
was out there- he’d recognized her footsteps mingled with two sets of
unfamiliar ones. She’s going to betray us, his mind was whispering. She
works for the Angemal. She keeps human heads in her office. She could be a
HeadHunter herself, for gods’ sake. She’s evil. She is going to betray us.
He could hear the men getting closer to where they hid. Please, no…
“Hey,” Tachi called to Mina, breaking her chain of frantic thought.
“Why are some of the freezers open?”
This is it.
“Cost efficiency, my friend. I turn them off when they’ve got nobody
inside, but they get nasty if you don’t crack them open. Here, let’s take a
look.”
She casually strode past the men and opened up one of the lockers that
housed a former test subject. There she lay, frozen, a testament to the torture
she’d endured before her death.
“And here’s one that’s cracked open.”
Inside the freezer, Harata felt himself about to explode. Shit!
Mina slid out one of the empty lockers.
There was nothing inside.
“I’m sorry to ask this,” she began, “but the bodies in this
freezer were subject to highly classified tests. I don’t think it would be in
the best interest of the Clan if you delved further.”
“Yeah, I understand about stuff being classified,” Tachi answered
cordially. “You’ve been really cooperative, Miss Moria. I’ve done searches
in labs before and it’s always ‘Don’t touch that.’ ‘Don’t go in
there.’ You’ve made our job a lot easier.”
“You know I understand the importance of your role.”
With that, she led them back upstairs.
