Girl Rides the Wind

by Jacques Antoine

  He shouted an order at his men, and they levelled rifles at her. But no one fired after Lt Yan made a commotion, waving his arms as he ran over to whisper in Diao’s ear. Whatever it was, Yan’s message did not seem to mollify his boss’s mood, at least not judging by the expression on Diao’s face.

  “Yes, I imagine it makes a difference how I’m killed,” Emily shouted once more, switching between Mandarin and English. “I mean for the staging. The wrong bullets, the wrong guns… a Type 81, or whatever knock-off Kalashnikov your men are carrying will hardly do. You need to match the guns carried by the Crown Prince’s security detail.”

  “No problem,” Diao said with a sneer. “It will suffice if you are merely beaten to death.”

  At his signal, three of the men surrounding her attacked, knives in hand. Of course, the problem such attackers face is their own reluctance to wound each other, or to be wounded by each other’s knives. Their hesitation made it that much easier for Emily to disarm one man, smashing an elbow and stabbing him with his own knife. The other two, emboldened, or perhaps enraged by the reduction in their number, lunged at her from both sides with no better results. Three men wounded, though Perry could see she’d been careful not to kill them, and figured she was still trying to manage the mood of this crowd.

  “You remind me of your girlfriend,” Emily said. “… or was Yu Mei your sister? It’s so hard to tell, the way you guys change names.” When Diao’s face tightened into a red knot, Perry knew she’d found his soft spot. “She was a very difficult woman.”

  “Hold,” he shouted to his men. “I’ll deal with this one myself.”

  Diao strode into the circle his men had formed, and handed his rifle to a subordinate. Emily dropped the M4 at her side, though in her case, the weapon was now useless, since she was empty.

  “I remember Diao Chan quite well, masquerading as a student, terrorizing teenagers. Quite an impressive specimen, that one.”

  “I will give you a lesson in the White Crane, Miss Tenno, and once I break you, we’ll leave you here with the bodies of your friends, and Princess Akane, for the Jietai to find. Then everything Diao Chan fought for will come to pass.”

  He circled her, moving always to his left, and she shifted her position to keep facing him, but when she turned in Perry’s direction, he thought her eyes were closed.

  “What the hell is she doing?” he said. “This isn’t a tournament. He won’t wait for her.”

  And Diao didn’t wait, lunging at her with a fist aimed at her face, which seemed to make contact, though Perry couldn’t quite tell from that distance. She twisted away, eyes wide now, and somehow managed to land a counterstrike. At least that’s how it seemed from Diao’s reaction, though Perry had seen nothing. Grimacing and clutching at his ribs just below the armpit, Diao turned to face her again, his face now even redder than before. Emily rubbed her cheek where it seemed his blow had landed, and Perry realized it was all for show. He’d hit nothing but air.

  Emily dodged and feinted for as long as she could, but risked no direct strikes and initiated no attack. Eventually Diao made solid contact, and she withdrew into the purely defensive position she’d been so keen to demonstrate for Tarot and Racket that day on the BHR. Perry winced to see how many blows she was willing to absorb – she protected her head and her legs, blocking where she could without extending her guard very far. It didn’t take Diao long to recognize her strategy and find the most damaging strikes to use, but even he wearied of the exercise, eventually.

  “The second bird’s here,” Danko called over the radio. “Devil Dogs are on the scene. Over.”

  “The princess is safely away,” Ishikawa reported. “We are advancing into the ravine.” He repeated his message in Japanese.

  The sound of gunfire from Kano’s position on the west ridge increased, suggesting he’d received Ishikawa’s signal. A moment later, a similar sound rattled the heavy air and Perry knew Theo and the Marines would come crashing through the forest any minute. Emily just needed to survive a little longer.

  “You’re cleared hot, Danko,” Connie said. “If you have a shot, take him down. Over.”

  “Shit, I’ve got no shot. I’ll hit her, too. Over.”

  “I’m moving forward along the east ridge,” Connie said. “Does she even know the reinforcements are here? She doesn’t have to take any more punishment.”

  “Damn, her radio’s probably busted,” Perry said.

  He watched in horror as Diao, now weary of striking her with fists and feet, drew a large knife from his belt.

  “I think our time together is coming to an end,” Diao said, looming over her. Did she even hear him? She seemed dazed, still holding her guard up to protect her head from strikes that no longer came.

  “Shoot him, somebody,” Perry barked through the radio. “He’s gonna kill her.”

  The stroke came quickly, almost before anyone realized he’d moved. He must have meant to stab through her spine along the back of her neck, hunched over as she was. A subtle shift of her shoulders saved her, though the blade still tore the flesh on her back, under the left shoulder. She shrieked in pain and pivoted away, slipping under his arms, and without anyone realizing what she’d done, she managed to draw the wakizashi and slash at his ribs. It all happened so quickly, Diao might not have realized that he’d been cut until he saw the blood dripping from her blade.

  “Holy crap,” Danko said. “Did she really just do that? I was sure she was a goner.”

  “Just keep it together a little longer, girl,” Connie said.

  The sound of the advancing Marines grew louder, and the chatter of gunfire from Kano’s position had gone quiet, but Diao couldn’t focus on what that must mean. He touched his side and saw the blood on his hand, then glanced up at her, his eyes wide.

  “I recognize that look,” Emily said, now seeming more focused. “Right about the time I cut her head off, Diao Chan had that same look.”

  Nothing could keep Diao from charging at Emily, attacking her, ripping the life from her body. He blocked her first stroke with the knife, holding off the blade long enough to punch her face, the impact twisting her to the ground. Before she recovered her wits, he kicked the wakizashi from her hand, and crouched down to plunge the knife into her chest. She managed to buy a few more seconds with a scissor kick from her supine position on the ground, catching him on the side of the head, and allowing her to roll away and recover her blade, though now she bled profusely from wounds on her back, arm and leg.

  Diao was on top of her before she’d managed to find her feet, bringing the knife down through her shoulder, narrowly missing her neck. The two of them fell backwards, Emily taking his full weight on top of her, just as the tip of the wakizashi broke through the center of Diao’s back, and his body went limp.

  The suddenness of the turn of events caught the Chinese troops by surprise, and a brief moment of befuddlement gripped them, before the first few rushed to Diao’s aid, rolling his body off the intruder, hoping to find him still alive. But the blank look in his eyes was unmistakable, and they turned to vent their rage on her, kicking and punching her as she tried to defend herself from the ground. She reached for the wakizashi, which still protruded from his chest, but it was lodged firmly in the bones of his spine.

  Perry saw his moment, and charged down the hill spraying the crowd between him and Emily with rounds from his M4. He’d emptied all his clips by the time he made contact with the first man who’d stood to face his onslaught – “I’m black. Cover fire would be appreciated. Over.” – he swung his M4 into the man’s head like a club and stripped the Type-81 and clips off his unconscious body. Re-armed, he continued the charge, just as the attention of the Chinese troops turned to the onslaught of Theo’s men, who’d come pouring over a rise, crashing through the last bit of foliage.

  In the ensuing battle, the Chinese found cover behind the many fallen trunks in this old, volcanic forest, coordinating fire with surprising effectiveness, and driving the Ma
rines and Ishikawa’s units back. The Chinese were fighting for their lives, like cornered animals, and would not go down easily, and they still had superior numbers, even if they didn’t know it.

  Connie and Danko responded to Perry’s call and looked for targets wherever they could find them. But Emily’s position in between two hostile forces made it too dangerous to get to her. It seemed like a standoff, until Kano’s men arrived on the scene, bringing a new source of fire from an unexpected direction.

  “This is our moment,” Perry shouted. “She’ll bleed to death if we don’t get her now. Over.”

  “We’re on it, sir. Over.” A familiar voice crackled in Perry’s ear, and then Tarot and Racket broke from the tree cover and converged on Emily’s position. Tarot scooped her up in his arms as if she were as light as a rag doll, and Racket tossed smoke canisters and laid down cover fire as he followed his buddy back toward their line, and Perry charged in from the side to divert fire.

  * * *

  Emily drifted in and out of consciousness, her head lolling over the elbow of a huge arm, rocking slightly with each stride.

  “Back to the LZ, sir. We’ll get her there. Over.”

  Tarot’s voice rumbled down to her through an improbable quiet, and she opened her eyes and tried to bring him into focus, but all she could see was his chest and the chin that jutted out in defiance of danger. With her head swimming, she tried to turn to see what they were running from, and there was Racket, following by a few feet, turning to fire behind him, and over his shoulder she caught a glimpse of a full-on firefight.

  “No, Tarot. Don’t waste your time on me. They need you guys.”

  “Sorry, LT. Orders are to medevac you.”

  In the next moment, Tarot stumbled and she felt the strength in his arms flag for an instant.

  “Racket,” Tarot called out, trying not to let her hear the pain quaking his voice. “Take her, man.”

  “I got you, brother,” Racket said. “I got both of you.”

  “No, take the LT. Get her to the medevac. I can still cover you from here.”

  Other voices joined Tarot’s, though she couldn’t place them. In a quick handoff, Tarot practically poured Emily into Racket’s arms, who then took off at a dead run.

  She looked again over Racket’s elbow, her mind now coming into better focus, and saw Kano and his men rushing across the clearing where Tarot had fallen. Kano took six men to drive toward the Chinese line, yanking free the wakizashi still sticking out of Diao’s chest on the way, and sent the rest of his men to pick up Tarot. Then, gripping a Mil-9 in his left hand and leading the charge, he slashed at anyone who made it through the fire his men laid down.

  She faded out again and the next thing she heard was the corpsman tending to her inside the bird that carried her back to the BHR. She didn’t recognize him, his face still pink from razor-burn.

  “How old are you?” His face slipped out of focus while she waited to hear his voice. Why didn’t he respond?

  “Don’t worry, ma’am,” someone said. “You’re in good hands.”

  The corpsman seemed to have other things to tell her, but his voice faded out of her hearing again. She wanted to ask about Tarot, since she didn’t see him in the Phrog. Just before she drifted away again, her mind turned to the image of Kano seizing his father’s sword and carrying it into battle. She felt equal parts sorrow for the prospect that he would experience the death of another by his sword, and satisfaction that he might finally come to understand his father’s sacrifice.

  When she came to next, she found herself in a trauma bay on what she assumed was the BHR, though it seemed unusually quiet. IV’s sprouted from one arm, and a cuff on the other arm gave a read-out of some vital functions, as did a clip covering the end of one finger. A nurse bustled about her for a moment, and then removed the cuff.

  “Are you ready for a visitor, Lieutenant?” she asked. “She’s pretty insistent, and she has an entourage.” Emily nodded, and touched the woman’s hand.

  “Where are the other casualties?”

  “They were mostly taken to the BHR or the Nimitz, but Admiral Crichton had you brought to the Blue Ridge.”

  “Do you have any news of the others?”

  “Is there someone in particular?”

  “Tarot… I mean Lance Corporal Stallings.”

  “I’ll make an inquiry for you, Lieutenant. In the meantime, I’ll send in your visitors.”

  Emily took a breath and waited to see who would enter, and was surprised to see that Perry and Theo were not members of the entourage. Of course, it made sense once she had a chance to think about it. Kano entered first, followed by Princess Toshi, and then Tsukino, whose hand she clutched tightly.

  “Ama,” the little princess cried out and ran to the side of her bed. She chattered at Emily at top speed, until Kano intervened. In very stately Japanese, no doubt influenced by the presence of royalty, he inquired about her condition, told her about her men, and tried to hand over the sword, which he’d recovered from the battle.

  “No, Kano-san. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to return this sword to you. It belonged to your father… and now it belongs to you.”

  Kano stared at her, emotions swirling behind his steely demeanor, but still visible in his eyes. Something in him undoubtedly wished he could refuse it, but there was no easy way to do so, not with her in this condition, and not in the presence of the princess. But something else in him was gratified to close a circle of debt and obligation, and she had counted on this.

  She reached for his hand and said, “Thank you for taking care of my man.”

  “I am only sorry we could not do more for him.”

  Kano took his leave, and Tsukino bowed his head to her.

  “I am in your debt, Tenno-san.” Emily could see what it cost him to address her with such respect. “You have retrieved my lost honor. May I ask why you took such an interest in me and my troubles?”

  “I saw the pain it would cause a noble lady.”

  Tsukino fumbled for words. “Gyoshin-san? How do you even know her?”

  “I met her at Sasebo, and it was easy to see what really matters to her.”

  “But she is guilty of treason. How can you sympathize with her after what she has done?”

  “Yes, that may be true. But I suspect she is trapped by the ambitions and desires of others. I think she is not entirely the author of what has been done in her name.”

  “Is this a woman’s intuition?” Tsukino smiled at her for the first time since she’d known him.

  “Two women’s intuitions. Even if I’m wrong about Gyoshin-san’s role in the coup, I am not mistaken about her feelings for you, and I know she would have done everything in her power to keep you clear of it.”

  “… and so you entrusted her highness’s safety to me?” Emily didn’t answer, and when he looked down at the princess, he realized he didn’t need one.

  Chapter 28

  Hiding Chrysanthemum One

  “Are you sure you’re up to this, Lieutenant?” Admiral Crichton asked. Emily looked around the Admiral’s wardroom at a circle of expectant faces.

  “The doc cleared me, sir, at least for this meeting.”

  “You know most of the people here, but let me introduce Captain Kim, the Airwing Commander of the USS Nimitz.”

  “It’s an honor to meet you, Lieutenant. I hear you did bloody work last night.”

  Emily nodded and Crichton patted him on the back, and then took over the conversation.

  “First of all, allow me to express our gratitude for what you accomplished yesterday. I have a feeling we owe you the largest debt no one is ever going to hear about.”

  “Thank you, sir, but I think it’s important that all the credit goes to the Jietai. Whatever happened on that island will be wasted if my name is connected to it.”

  “I thought you might say that.” Crichton turned to the others in the room to secure their assent. Kano stepped forward and bowed his head to h
er.

  “My people… our people owe you a debt, Tenno-san, and we may never be able to repay you.” Kano finished this very elegant speech by bowing at the waist, which was all the other people in the room needed to understand.

  “Now we have some other decisions to make,” Crichton said. “First, how do we return the princess to Japan? She must arrive safely, but also in such a way as to rally public opinion against the coup plotters.”

  “If we can put her in an F18-E Superhornet, we can have her on the ground in Nagasaki in less than thirty minutes.”

  “Is that really feasible?” Emily asked.

  “If we put her in the second seat, and give her the entire airwing as an escort, we can skim the waves and avoid all ground radar.”

  “Is she even big enough for the harness?”

  “Excuse me, sir, but has SECNAV weighed in on this?” Theo asked.

  “State and ONI recommend flying her to Naha on Okinawa,” Crichton said. “Fewer chances for mischief along the way.”

  “Okinawa’s no good,” Emily said. “With all due respect, sir, the US presence is too great there. It will look like we were behind it all along. We might as well fly her to Sasebo as to Naha.”

  “CIA thinks the Crown Prince is in hiding in Hokkaido. A family reunion would play well.” Crichton turned to Kano and gestured to Emily to translate for him. “Is there any way we could coordinate with his security people?”

  Kano waited for the translation and then shook his head. “I don’t know how we could contact them, if they’re even still alive.”

  “Is it worth asking your mother if she knows a way?” Emily asked.

  “It could place her in danger, if the plan does not work.” Kano rubbed his chin and pondered the suggestion, and Emily took the opportunity to translate their conversation for the others.

  “This is no way to run an op,” Capt Kim said. “We can’t really rely on someone’s mom for intell.”