Giant Robots of Tunguska

by Dave Robinson

  “Please sit,” General Ueda pointed towards a hard wooden chair facing the desk.

  Doc took the offered seat while the general opened a small notebook, dipped a brush in a nearby inkwell and began to write. As the general wrote, Doc took a look around the office. For the most part it was Spartan, with a large map showing the border between Manchukuo and Soviet occupied Mongolia. The only other decoration was a large picture of the Emperor looking over the room like a benign but fairly militaristic cousin.

  After a few minutes General Ueda laid down his brush and turned to face Doc, stretching one leg out on a padded stool. “You would think that after five years I would be used to this one. But no, it aches like the original and there’s nothing I can do about it because the part that hurts is not there.”

  Doc nodded. “I can only imagine.”

  “I hope you never have to do more than imagine.” Ueda poured himself a cup of tea and sipped delicately. “You are a conundrum, Doctor Vandal. On the one hand you are simply a very rich man traveling in Asia with an invalid Countess. Had you a reputation as a patron of the arts, perhaps I could understand your choice of Dairen.

  “However, you have no such reputation. Instead you have a reputation for what I can only call meddling.” Ueda smoothed out his mustache. “A reputation that recent events in the vicinity of Java, events that turned out directly against the interests of the Empire of Japan, have only served to enhance.”

  Doc spread his arms. “That was not intentional, simply the result of an investigation into my cousin’s murder.”

  “So you say.” The general replied. “Intentional or not, you have already proved yourself a thorn in the Empire’s side. Now I find you in Dairen and my sources tell me you are apparently interested in a strange mineral of Russian origin and I am supposed to believe your actions will be in the best interest of the Empire?

  “I rather doubt it.”

  “I do see your point, but I’m only here seeking medical help for my associate.” Doc kept his eye on the general, waiting for the shoe to drop. “We’re looking for…”

  “I know what you’re looking for,” General Ueda interrupted. “You are looking for that strange Siberian mineral from the Tunguska region which the Soviets seem to be using in some kind of experimental war machines.

  “Unfortunately for you, that mineral has been declared a critical strategic resource here and in Manchukuo and so I have to place you under arrest until we can secure any samples you might have.”

  “Any samples I might have?”

  “Come on Doctor Vandal,” Ueda replied. “Do you really thing I wouldn’t know what you were up to coming to Japan? You are far too well known to travel without drawing attention to yourself. My people have been tracking you since you boarded Asama Maru.”

  Ueda reached out and pressed a button on his desk. A moment later Doc caught the faint sound of a buzzer in the anteroom, and then the door opened to reveal two members of the kempeitai in full uniform. One saluted the general, the other approached Doc. The tramp of boots outside the office revealed more troops were on their way.

  The soldier pulled out a pair of handcuffs and extended them towards Doc. “Hands.”

  For a moment Doc considered making a break for it, but the sound of the troops outside the office made him reconsider. Better to wait until the odds were better, or the guards were less alert. He put his hands out and let the secret police lead him away.

  #

  Vic sighed as Gilly pushed her towards yet another door. The streets of Dairen had been quiet, with most of the population already drawn into the Japanese war effort. What few people Vic had seen had been walking quickly, their heads down as they scurried from one place to another. The first few places had been nothing to write home about, just stuffy little places that reminded Vic of nothing so much as root cellars. Ming hadn’t been impressed either; she had spent less than a minute in each of the first two places. Once she hadn’t even spoken to the proprietor; she had just walked in, looked the place up and down and then turned around. It had been so fast Gilly had no time to react, so Ming had ended up in Vic’s lap on the wheelchair. After that, Gilly had kept more of a distance.

  Now Ming was approaching what Vic devoutly hoped was the last doctor, apothecary, or wild woman of the woods. Gilly was good natured about pushing her, but the seat was harder than her ass appreciated, and the damn thing had no suspension at all. Every single bump rattled up her spine to her teeth.

  “Sorry,” Gilly muttered as he bounced her over a particularly wide crack.

  “Sorry won’t salve my bruises,” she growled, trying her best to keep a little humor in her tone.

  “Get Ming to give you a massage when we get back to the hotel.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Vic shook her head slowly; it was too much effort to move it any faster. Gilly meant well, but he really didn’t understand how much even this little exchange had taken out of her. Talking was hard work when every breath felt like you were lifting an anvil with your chest.

  “Hurry up,” Ming called from ahead. “I’ll hold the door.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Even though he was behind her, Vic was sure she could see Gilly pretending to tug his forelock as he spoke.

  A small bell rang above her as Gilly pushed Vic through the doorway. This was the first place they had been in that neither looked nor smelled like a root cellar. The faint scent of incense drifted from a counter in the rear of the long narrow room, where a vaguely familiar looking Chinese woman looked up from the counter. All in all, it almost reminded Vic of the first time she had walked into Ming’s old shop in New York.

  “You!” Ming snapped from behind her. “What are you doing here?”

  “Close the door and don’t make a scene. Don’t forget the blinds.” The woman’s face clicked into focus as Vic realized just who was running this shop: Ming’s mother.

  The bell rang again as Ming shut the door and flipped the sign to closed before advancing into the shop like a stalking tigress. No, Tigress was her mother. Vic sat back to watch the confrontation while Gilly closed the blinds.

  “It took you long enough to find me,” Tigress said. “I expected you hours ago.”

  “That was nice of you, but it brings up another question: What are you doing here?” Ming asked. “I thought you were flying off into the sunset looking for somewhere new to start a revolution.”

  “It’s hard to continue a career of air piracy and terrorize imperialists when the Japanese take back your flying wing.” Tigress came out from behind the counter and approached Ming, her arms open as if for a hug.

  Ming stopped moving and stood like a statue, until Tigress lowered her arms awkwardly. “Anyway, I’ve known you were on your way to Dairen for a few days now. So have the Japanese. It only made sense that you would contact me.”

  “What do you mean you’ve known we were coming for days?” Vic broke in, pushing her voice to the limit.

  “It would be hard not to,” Tigress turned to face Vic. “Ever since that affair in Batavia the Japanese have been very interested in Doc, his friends, and doings. He put their plans for the Indies back years and they aren’t going to forget that. I’m sure General Ueda would love to get his hands on Doc.”

  “That’s the governor-general, isn’t it?” Vic sucked her teeth. “Didn’t I see a picture of him in this morning’s paper?”

  Tigress nodded. “You should have, he’s here in Dairen with the latest spoils from the Soviet border. Apparently your people have found some new way to power giant robots.”

  “The communists are not my people.” Vic glared up at the shorter woman; she was as bad as Ming. Why did everyone have to be taller than her now that she was in the chair. Couldn’t they make ones where you stood up? Even as that thought tickled her brain, another one percolated through her head.

  “Damn it! I bet Ueda’s got Doc!”

  “What?” Ming and Gilly spoke simultaneously.

  Vic met Tigress’ eye a
nd the older woman nodded. “Ueda knew we were coming, and so when Doc went to the Prefecture Office, he probably just up and grabbed him. Simple enough to do.”

  “So what do we do now?” Gilly asked.

  “Apart from get Doc back?” Vic asked sarcastically. “Not much I guess; find some way to get me out of this chair, figure out where that mineral comes from, and then get our hands on some transportation. I think that’s about it.”

  “When you put it that way it sounds pretty simple,” Gilly threw in. “What do you have in mind for after breakfast?”

  Vic tried to squirm in her wheelchair, but she didn’t have the strength to do it, so she groaned instead. “Standing up would be good; walking would be better but I’d be happy with standing.”

  She tried to shrug, but only one shoulder went up. “I’m getting pretty tired of this.”

  Tigress gave Vic a closer look, and then her eyes went wide. “What happened to you?”

  “She’s become a rocksferatu,” Gilly said. “She sucks the life from the stones of her homeland.”

  Vic just sighed as Tigress raised an eyebrow and Ming shook her head. “If only I could drain what passes for a sense of humor from you.”

  Gilly grinned broadly. “You know you love me.”

  “Like the annoying little brother I never had.” Vic replied.

  “I’m sure reliving your respective childhoods is very fulfilling, but it doesn’t answer my question,” Tigress said. “What happened to you?”

  “She was exposed to the mineral the Russians are using to power their suits, and ever since then she’s been dependent on it,” Ming explained. “Give her too much and it’s like she’s supercharged; then once it wears off she’s barely able to sit up”

  “And I’m guessing it’s worn off,” Tigress said. “Especially since you didn’t seem to know I was here.”

  “Worn off and run out,” Vic muttered. “Your daughter thinks I’m a week away from an iron lung.”

  “Is this true?” Tigress turned back to Ming, who was standing with tears on her cheeks.

  “Yes Mama.” Ming started to sob.

  Tigress moved forwards and gathered her in her arms. “There, there.”

  Tigress held the hug for a few moments and then returned her attention back to Vic. “You’ve been making my daughter worry. Let’s see what we can do about it.”

  “I thought you weren’t a doctor.”

  “I didn’t get to go to medical school, but I know a lot about traditional remedies.” Tigress smiled. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll test your meridians. Once we get you back in balance you’ll feel a lot better.”

  “If you say so.” Vic tried to move in her chair but her body didn’t respond.

  Tigress appeared to notice her struggles, but didn’t say anything directly. Instead she turned to Gilly. “Come on and make yourself useful, young man. I can’t get her onto the table by myself.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Vic turned her head just far enough to catch Ming’s eye, and Ming came over and laid a soft hand on her shoulder. “It will be alright, love; let’s see what my mother can do.”

  #

  Doc walked into the cell as the door slammed behind him. Thekempeitai had taken him deep into the bowels of the Prefectural Office where he found himself stuck in what looked to be a very well-used cell. It was about six feet by ten with a bunk against one side and a bucket for a toilet near the back wall. A drain in the center of the concrete floor made him wonder how the Japanese treated their prisoners here.

  He was in a small cell block, with three cells along each side of a short hallway. A couple of guards sat in a small guardroom across the end of the hallway. From the looks of things, these were special holding cells for people either the kempeitai or the army thought they would be better off without.

  Doc laughed softly to himself. It wasn’t like being thrown in jail by Commissioner Pennyworth back in New York. He was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to get either a phone call or a court-appointed lawyer; then again, he didn’t think he had technically been arrested either. This was more a disappearance than an arrest.

  The good news was that he didn’t feel this incarceration had the same kind of legitimacy as one back in New York, or even the regular police in Japan. He smiled, that meant he felt no need to refrain from trying to escape. Vic and Gilly thought he was crazy because he always insisted on letting the system do its job; this wasn’t the system so he felt no such compulsion. One good thing was that they hadn’t subjected him to much of a search. They’d taken his belt and boots, but left him his shirt and khakis.

  The trick was going to be getting out without killing anyone. Secret police or not, he had no desire to kill the kempeitai officers for the crime of doing their jobs. At least this time he didn’t have anyone else to worry about, unlike the last time he had been imprisoned by the Japanese. Then he had unknowingly found himself imprisoned alongside Ming’s mother, a revolutionary known as Tigress.

  None of the other cells were occupied, which gave him a little pause for thought. Everything he had heard about the kempeitai lately had indicated they had a very liberal policy when it came to deciding who should disappear or not.

  Speaking of disappearing, where were the others? Had the kempeitai detained them? Were they free, or where the Japanese even looking?

  His line of mental questioning came to an abrupt halt as the door from the guardroom opened.

  A Japanese officer strode through the door, with a blade in his hand and the three stars of a colonel at his collar. At about five feet six inches he was almost a foot shorter than Doc, but there was no mistaking the air of command on his face. He marched down the corridor and turned to face Doc. Rising, Doc returned his gaze.

  After about half a minute of examination, the colonel spoke. As Doc had expected, his English was impeccable. “So, Doctor Vandal, I understand you have an interest in Tunguskite.”

  “Is that what you’re calling it? I hadn’t given it a name.”

  “I mean the Russian mineral that has brought you and your troop of hangers-on half-way around the world on a forlorn hope to save a woman who isn’t even your wife.”

  Doc just stood there quietly, letting the man speak.

  “I do not understand your loyalty to such people, but do not worry; I will use it,” The colonel continued. “My men are waiting at the Hotel Yamato for your companions’ return even as we speak. You are going to help my men unravel the secrets of Tunguskite or your associates will pay the price.

  “The army is always in need of comfort women.”

  “If you have everything so clearly laid out, why come see me now?” Doc asked. “Why not simply present me with a fait accompli, and be done with it.”

  “Because I wanted to give you the opportunity to this about the ramifications of your choices before you have to make them. I know your reputation, Doctor Vandal, both for strength and for squeamishness. Today is the day you will begin to learn that Colonel Senda Tetsuo is the better man.”

  Doc raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything; there didn’t seem to be anything he needed to say. He simply kept his gaze fixed on the smaller man and waited for Colonel Senda to continue.

  “I hope you are a very good engineer, Doctor Vandal,” Senda finally said. “You will need to be.”

  Doc watched the colonel leave, his face impassive. At least the others were still free, and even with Vic in a wheelchair, they were probably going to be much harder fish to catch than Colonel Senda thought.

  #

  Vic rolled over and sat up on the table. Reaching up with her right hand she rubbed her neck where Tigress had removed the needles. There was nothing, not even a faint bump where the needle had penetrated her skin.

  “What did you do?” she asked, looking at Tigress as the older woman finished putting her needles into a fine silk case.

  “I balanced your meridians.” Tigress bowed slightly. “It’s not a cure for your condition, but
it should help over the short term. You should find you have the strength and energy of a seventy-year-old woman. As your condition worsens your effective age will increase.”

  “At least I’m out of that wheelchair.” Vic grinned. Her hips ached just from sitting on the table and she could already feel her neck cracking as she looked for Ming. She felt stronger than she had, but Vic could already tell she had traded strength for pain.

  She pushed herself off the table, holding onto the edge for balance. “Where’s Ming?”

  “She went back to the Yamato to see if she could get your mineral.” Tigress gestured towards a loveseat. Once Vic had carefully seated herself, her hostess took the armchair opposite and poured them each a cup of tea.

  “Thank you.” Vic took the tea and sipped appreciatively. It was Darjeeling; the same kind of tea Ming usually served. The taste seemed somewhat muted, but for Vic it was enough to sit upright and drink like an adult.

  “My daughter loves you,” Tigress said unexpectedly. “While we sit here sipping tea, she’s out risking her life to try and keep you alive one more week.”

  Vic almost spilled her tea setting it down on the end table as she tried to rise. “I have to help her.”

  Tigress reached out and grabbed Vic’s hand, preventing her from moving. “And you’ll help her best by sitting right there in that loveseat so that you’re here when she gets back.

  “The most important thing you can do is forgive her.”

  “Forgive her?” Vic shook her head, still surprised at how easily Tigress had overpowered her. She wasn’t used to not being the strongest woman around. “What do you mean, forgive her. There’s nothing to forgive.”