Of Cinder and Bone

by Kyoko M

  The hood was lifted away and Jack blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light. He’d been expecting some dark, dank warehouse with torture victims hanging from meat hooks.

  Instead, he stood in a pristine lobby with a pretty young woman at the desk answering phone calls. A logo embellished in bright red kanji hovered on the wall behind her.

  “Sugimoto Pharmaceuticals,” Jack muttered. “Why am I not surprised? What? Are you going to grind me up into one of your pills and sell me to the highest bidder?”

  The man ignored him and dragged him over to the counter. Surprisingly, the secretary smiled and didn’t even seem to notice that Jack was in fact zip-tied. The man said something brief to her and she nodded, tapping her intercom. Jack picked out enough from her words to tell that she was waving them through to see someone.

  “This way,” the enforcer said, guiding Jack towards his left. The air was frigid and he could smell the sharp lemon of the floor cleaner. They passed several doorways that were accessible only by keypads with handprint scanners. They turned right into the next hall. On the right side, Jack saw a huge room with long tables. Various lab equipment was perched on them and men and women in masks, gloves, and lab coats hunched over their work.

  At last, the man swiped his key card to open the door to a room at the end of hallway. This one was a conference room with a table that had eight cushioned black leather chairs and bland paintings of flowers on its pale blue walls. A woman in her mid-thirties sat at the far end of the table shuffling papers. She glanced up as they entered and offered them a faint smile.

  “Welcome, Dr. Jackson,” she said in perfect English. “Please have a seat.”

  She motioned to the man at his side. “Please wait outside, Watsuki-san.”

  “Hai.” The man slipped out of the door, but he noted that he hovered right in front of it. No chance for an escape, or at least not an easy one.

  Jack quickly took stock of the room. Only one door. No windows. The table had nothing but papers and a pen on it.

  Next, he examined the woman. Her hair was pulled back in a simple bun and she had a white blouse beneath a tailored navy suit. Her makeup was light and he didn’t see any suspicious bulges suggesting she had a firearm. Nevertheless, something about her made the hairs on his neck stand on end.

  “Sit,” she said again, still smiling.

  “I just sat for an hour in the limousine I was kidnapped in. I think I’ll stand, thanks.”

  “Very well,” she said, nonplussed. “We have much to discuss.”

  “Yeah, no shit,” Jack growled. “First of all, do you seriously not care that your boss just blackmailed and kidnapped me in broad daylight and then brought me to your facility? Maybe all of you are corrupt and this happens all the time, but I doubt that a legitimate business like Sugimoto Pharmaceuticals can keep the lights on pulling shit like this constantly. That leads me to believe these are extenuating circumstances. Secondly, if Okegawa knew where I was, he could have gotten to me earlier, which means something on your end just went wrong. The fact that you’re meeting with me and he isn’t, also says a lot. I’m guessing the authorities finally moved their asses on this investigation and he’s lying low, or else he’d be here to rub it in my face that he got one over on me. Lastly, who the hell are you and why aren’t you concerned that I might wrap my hands around your neck and use you as a human shield while I try to bust out of here?”

  The woman folded her hands. “You may call me Minako-san if you wish. No, we do not handle our clients this way on a regular basis, and I am very aware that this is highly unprofessional as well as dangerous. I am also aware of your reputation, Dr. Jackson. You are angry and you have every right to be, but you are not a violent man. You’re a scientist. You know very well that it is inadvisable to try and fight your way out of here. You are isolated from any form of outside contact, and you will be unable to use me to bargain for your freedom, even if you threaten me. If you attempt to do so, my associate Watsuki-san will do whatever is necessary to pacify you.”

  “Do you want me to say it now or later? Because I’m fine with either.”

  She tilted her head slightly. “Say what?”

  “Go to hell. I’m not helping you, any of you, no matter what you tell me. I didn’t come here to surrender, lady. I came here to stall for time. Fujioka’s not an idiot. If Okegawa found her and placed someone there to threaten her, she’ll find out, and then she’ll wipe the floor with them. After that, maybe she’ll have enough time to come and get me, but until then you can all go fuck yourselves.”

  “Dr. Jackson, you misunderstand. I am not here to procure your assistance.”

  “Oh, is that right?”

  “Yes. I am here to show you the dragon.”

  Jack swallowed hard. “Excuse me?”

  “She’s being held here. Would you like to see her?”

  Jack glared. “You think that’s funny?”

  “I am not joking. The reason that Yagami-san is not here is because of your volatile temper. I have been instructed to show you the dragon. Nothing more, nothing less. Your file states that you are much more logical and receptive around women, and so I was charged to convince you to cooperate. Again, I ask, would you like to see your dragon?”

  The silence was deafening. Jack took a deep breath and spoke quietly. “If you’re lying to me… know that I will take my chances at fighting my way out of here.”

  “Understood, Dr. Jackson.”

  “Then yes. I’d like to see her.”

  Minako stood and gestured towards the door. “Follow me.”

  She opened the door and walked out, turning to the left. Watsuki fell in step behind Jack as they made another turn before reaching an elevator. She pressed the down button and went in. Minako retrieved a key card from her pocket and swiped it, yping in a four-digit code to select the basement level. Jack counted the floors as they descended, his stomach twisting itself into a constricted knot.

  At last, the metal doors parted to reveal a long hallway with concrete floors. Instead of walls, there were thick plate-glass windows on either side of them, numbering up to ten. Each room was about eight-by-ten feet with stone walls and small holes in the glass, and had the same panels with key card access as the upper floor. However, strangely, the rooms were empty. A couple of janitors were sweeping one of them and laying down fresh hay in one corner.

  “I caution you,” Minako said, slowing her gait as they reached the end of the corridor. “Do not make any loud noises. It upsets her.”

  “Why?” Jack said, snorting as he came up to the last room on the right. “Scared of a little bitty—”

  The last word dropped out of his open mouth breathy and hoarse. “…dragon?”

  Before she’d been stolen, Pete had been about the size of a chameleon.

  The dragon lying on the floor of the cell was the size of a young horse.

  Heavy manacles rasped and clinked at her swan-like neck and limbs, each connected by thick chains that were bolted to the center of the floor. She filled most of the upper part of the room with her luminous yellow wings, sprouting from her shoulders at almost four feet long each. Her tail curled around her muscular scaly body and its spiked tip lashed to and fro like a cat’s. The spines along her neck and back were sharp and pointed, much like her teeth. Her claws clicked as she shifted to scratch her hind leg, and there was a thick nylon band holding her jaws shut.

  Deep furrowed scratches ran down the walls and glass, evidence that she hadn’t been an easy captive. There was a drain in the center of the floor with reddish-brown splatters surrounding it, and some had dried on her pale belly.

  Her snout twitched once, twice, and then she opened her golden eyes to focus on her new visitors.

  “Pete,” Jack whispered, touching the glass with both hands. “God. Look at you.”

  The dragon tilted her head until the profile showed, her pupils contr
acting to slits. Then a low humming sound filled the air, vibrating through the glass and down Jack’s arm. She blinked slowly and rose to her feet, shaking her streamlined body. A few dead green scales drifted free to the floor as she came forward, the chains dragging behind her. She sniffed the holes in the center of the glass and then the humming changed into two sharp barking sounds. Pete rubbed her head and neck along the glass where Jack’s hands rested on the other side.

  Jack choked on a laugh, tears pouring down his cheeks. “Hey, girl. Long time no see. Looks like you’ve been eating your veggies.”

  The dragon huffed on the glass, fogging it up momentarily, and then barked again before settling down with most of her body up against it. “She’s beautiful.”

  “She’s killed three people.”

  Jack’s head whipped around to face Minako. “What?”

  “When they were transporting her, one of the men that gave her the sedative was bitten while administering it. A few hours later, he died of a massive infection from the bite. When she woke up in this facility, a man sent to retrieve her for examination died when she spat venom into his eyes. Earlier today, she went berserk when they fed her and managed to decapitate one of our workers. That’s why she’s chained to the floor. This is the most docile I have ever seen her.”

  Jack wiped his face. “Guess she doesn’t like being kidnapped any more than I do. How did she reach this size? What’s her growth rate?”

  “We have estimated that her body is constantly growing due to a genetic anomaly that is similar to Gigantism. It’s the closest explanation we have. She has grown proportionally and shows no other defects.”

  “What does this mean for her life expectancy? If she’s grown this much in three days, how can her body possible take the stress of such an intense biological process?”

  “We aren’t sure.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t have taken her in the first goddamn place,” he snarled. “How do I even know that this isn’t a by-product of you experimenting on her?”

  Minako held out the folder she’d carried from the conference room. “See for yourself, Dr. Jackson. Her physical exam and blood work, everything we’ve done since she was brought here.”

  Jack snatched it and flipped through the papers, muttering to himself. “You think this could be a defective gene?”

  “Yes. By my estimation, if her growth remains constant, it will put too much stress on her body. She will be dead by tomorrow morning.”

  Jack swallowed hard. Minako moved closer. “If anyone can save her, Dr. Jackson, it’s you. I cannot explain to you what we’re doing here. You wouldn’t believe me either way, but in spite of your doubts, I am here for the same reason you are. This dragon is important. She will revolutionize the world of science. I do not agree with the methods that have been employed to bring you to me nor do I condone them, but if you are willing to put your anger aside we can save her.”

  “To what end? Why save her at all when I don’t know what Yagami wants to do to her in the first place?”

  “I don’t have all the answers. I just have what is in front of me. All I know for now is that you have a decision to make. Choose.”

  “So, you hold a gun to my head and tell me to fix the problem I was already going to fix back in Cambridge? I’m not agreeing to shit until you tell me what the hell is going on. It never had to come to this if all you wanted to do was help. We could have collaborated.”

  “I’m afraid that is an answer only Yagami-san would have.”

  “Fine. You want a decision, right? Bring me to him and I’ll save her.”

  Minako glanced at Watsuki, then back at Jack. She sighed. “Excuse me.”

  She disappeared around the corner for several minutes. When she returned, she nodded to Watsuki. “Yagami-san has agreed to see him. Let’s go.”

  ~*~

  “Something’s wrong.”

  “What?”

  Fujioka waved her hand in the general direction of Okegawa in the building across from them. “He should be sweating bullets. I know for a fact that the authorities are actively looking for him. He shouldn’t be sitting on a loveseat smoking a cigarette like the cat that got the canary. No. We’ve missed something.”

  She set down her binoculars and unsnapped the hip-holster to her handgun and checked the magazine. “Call Jack.”

  Kamala pulled out her phone and speed-dialed Jack. She swallowed hard. “It went straight to voicemail.”

  Fujioka grimaced. “Try again.”

  She did. “Still the same.”

  “Just as I thought,” Fujioka muttered. “We’ve walked ourselves right into a trap.”

  “Just as you thought?”

  “I had this inkling that it was too simple to find Okegawa,” Fujioka continued, standing and beginning a methodical sweep of the rooftop. “I’ve been in this business a while. Clues don’t just fall in your lap. You have to claw and fight for every one of them. We might have actually lucked out with Nakamura’s phone, but everything past that point was planned.”

  She finished her sweep and then returned to Kamala’s side. “Do you have a compact mirror?”

  “Yes.” She took it out of her small knapsack and handed it to Fujioka. The older woman knelt and pulled out her lipstick, starting to apply it.

  “Hell of a time for a touch up,” Kamala said tersely.

  “The high rise building over to the right has a spotter. We’ve been made, Dr. Anjali.” Fujioka snapped the compact mirror closed and handed it back to Kamala.

  “He has the better vantage point so I can’t take him out. If Jack’s not answering, then Okegawa’s men must have gotten to him.”

  Kamala marched towards the staircase, but Fujioka stepped in front of her. “We can’t go after Jack with that spotter there. If he’s not already an abductee, we’ll lead Okegawa straight to him.”

  Kamala balled her hands into fists, reminding herself to think logically despite the raging anger sizzling through her. “What do you propose instead?”

  Fujioka pulled out Nakamura’s phone. “Let’s see how good Okegawa’s poker face is.”

  She held the phone up to her ear. Kamala raised her binoculars, watching as the shategashira glanced at his ringing phone and then slowly answered it.

  “Moshi moshi?” he said lazily.

  “Ohayou, Okegawa-san,” Fujioka said. “I think you know who this is.”

  “Misaki Fujioka. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, so to speak.”

  “Likewise. I thought it necessary to have a little conversation with you, considering our current predicament.”

  “And what predicament is that?”

  “That you used me to lure Jack out of the apartment and into your custody. That you have a man with a rifle pointed at me right now.”

  “Fujioka-san, I am offended. I would never do such a thing.”

  Kamala watched as he turned in the loveseat to stare out the window in their direction, though he couldn’t possibly see them. She muttered a rather rude word in Hindi and continued listening intently to the conversation.

  “I’m sure you wouldn’t,” Fujioka said with dripping sarcasm. “I will admit you outplayed me. I have underestimated you and your people. I will not make such a mistake again. So, in return for my generous admission, you’re going to call your man off.”

  Okegawa laughed dryly. “What made you think I would do that for you?”

  “Because if you don’t, I’m going to shoot you.”

  Kamala watched as Okegawa’s eyebrow rose. “You have a handgun. You can’t possibly hit me from that distance.”

  “Oh, no, I have no doubt that it won’t hit you. But the gunshots will without a doubt bring the authorities right to your doorstep.”

  The smug smile on Okegawa’s face fell right off and hit the floor with a splat. He stood and walked to the window, glaring. “You won’t. The police will
interfere with your investigation and you will never find Dr. Jackson if you involve them.”

  “I’ll take my chances, scum. Call. Him. Off.” She clicked the hammer back on the pistol for added effect.

  “And if I tell him to shoot you before you pull that trigger?”

  “Go ahead, if you think he’s fast enough.”

  Okegawa’s hands balled into fists. “All you’re doing is stalling. You will not find him. I promise you that. Do yourself a favor and take ojō-sama to the airport and send her back where she came from. Your friend is lost. Your cause is lost. There is nothing left for you here, Fujioka-san, and if you cross me, I will not hesitate to crush you the same way I intend to crush your little scientist.”