Kyle had not lost his look of shock. “If there's anything I can do, Kato...” he said. Kato nodded. He then looked back at Martin. “Let's go.”
High above Eastern Europe, night began to turn to day. Kato clenched his eyes shut as he fought to keep his stomach contents down. “You know, Martin,” he said, fighting the bile, “Every time a family member's life has been on the line, I was weightless.” A few seconds later, Kato opened his eyes and turned to Martin, who was sitting on his right in the spaceplane. “Susan, Zara after the hijacking, and now this...” Martin opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Martin reached into the lower pocket of his cargo pants. Taking out a small dispenser, he said: “Here, take one of these. You'll feel better.” After a few seconds he added: “Her life's not on the line. Don't you go thinking that. There'll be an explanation...”
“But... she was drugged!” Kato snapped.
“So was the kid she was with,” Martin said. “His memory's probably hazy. What if they were taking illegal drugs? He passes out, she leaves...” Kato sighed, but took some comfort in this possibility, even if it did mean Zara had been involved in substance abuse. He remained quiet for a while, as the anti-nausea medicine took effect.
Chapter 21
The landing in Tokyo and the train ride into the city were all a fuzzy blur for Kato. He was sleep-deprived and out of his mind with fear. He remembered a vague sense of awe at the sheer scale of the city. It was day time, so the buildings were not lit up yet. Tomimuro was not yet visible either. Once at the city's Central Police Station, he inquired about what was going on. No signs yet of Zara, but Akio had been arrested for trespassing. He was being held at the Itabashi District Police Station.
“Now what?” Kato asked, exasperated and worn out, as he and Martin stood on the street outside the police station. Vehicles passed by, silent apart from a slight swoosh of air.
“I suppose we should go to the other police station and see if we can talk to Akio,” Martin said. He silently ordered a cab. They slowly wound their way several kilometers north, on congested streets. Kato looked up at the amazing sight of the buildings, the tubular railways suspended hundreds of meters above the ground, and the vee-tols flying around even higher than that. The cab crossed a river. Soon after that, Kato saw what appeared to a giant bowl-like amphitheater on the right. They kept heading north. Ten agonizing minutes later, they arrived at Itabashi Police Station. Kato barged in and spoke breathlessly to the desk sergeant: “Any news on Zara Sasake-Robbins’ whereabouts?”
“The investigation is ongoing sir. Might I ask who you are?”
“Her father. Buzz: neutralize disguise.”
The sergeant looked as though he had seen a ghost. “Oh…” Kato nodded, silently confirming who he was. The sergeant shook himself back to reality. “We do have one suspect in custody, Kato-san. At this very station.”
“Yes, the Central station sent us here,” Kato said, heavily irritated.
“Ah. So you know about the boy who claims that he was with her?”
“Yes.”
“What do you know about his relationship with Zara?
“He was a traveling companion,” Kato said. “She was staying with him here.”
The sergeant nodded, slowly. “What are you doing to find her?” Kato demanded.
“We have all the city’s entry and exit ports being watched. We’ve got all the surveillance systems watching with facial recognition. Communications networks are on alert to tell us if she turns her Buzz system on again. “The Tomimuro grid, where she was last seen, is being combed for clues. So far, no DNA has turned up apart from hers, Akio’s, and that of the people that work in there.”
Kato sighed. He felt sick. After a short pause, he asked: “Are you going to enlist the public’s help in finding her?”
“Negative. We’ve decided not to go to the media yet. However, we might consider it, if we don’t get somewhere soon.”
Martin touched Kato’s elbow. “How about we finding somewhere to stay?” he asked gently.
Kato’s shoulders slumped. “I suppose so,” he said, looking down. Then, he looked back up at the sergeant. “I want to see Akio.”
The officer looked uncertain. “I’ll check with my superiors.” Kato nodded. The man disappeared for a minute. “Right this way,” he said when he returned. The sergeant walked out of view from behind the desk, and unlocked a door to Kato’s right.
Martin looked inquiringly at Kato. “Shall I come?”
“Umm… no. It’s okay. Stay here.”
“Right.”
The sergeant beckoned Kato in. The two men walked twenty meters along a barren corridor, and then turned righthrough two more locked doors. Then, after traversing a third corridor and a fortified door, they entered a prisoner visiting area. Visitors were separated from prisoners by thick glass. The area was deserted. Two minutes later, a frightened looking Akio appeared from the left, in prison garb, escorted by a black-uniformed officer. He looked like a child. He sat down opposite Kato.
“Oh, Kato-san…” he began.
“Did you do anything to her?” Kato yelled.
“No! No! I swear…”
“But you were trespassing?” Kato pressed.
“Yes. Everybody does it…”
“No, they don’t,” Kato said accusingly. “They said there was no DNA up there besides yours and hers.”
Akio exhaled, and looked down. Then, he looked back up at Kato. “I swear on my life, Kato-san. I love her! I would never do anything to her!” Akio had a tear in the corner of his right eye.
Kato looked skeptical. His eyes narrowed. “Do you remember anything about the men who supposedly took her?” he said, in a firm, somewhat menacing voice.
“No, sir! It was dark… I couldn’t make them out.”
Akio began to undo his jumpsuit. “See! Here, in my leg. This is where they hit me with a dart. They knocked me out!”
“No need to do that,” said the officer beside him firmly, placing a hand on Akio’s shoulder to restrain him. “That much is true. Akio tested positive for tranquilizers and our doctors confirmed it was from a dart.”
Kato looked at the officer and nodded slowly. “Okay.” He turned back to Akio, and glared at the frightened boy. “You’d better hope they can find her,” he said angrily, jabbing a finger in Akio’s direction.
“I do, sir,” Akio said.
Kato turned to the officer who had escorted them in. “I’m ready to go,” he said. The officer nodded, turned, and opened the heavy steel door. He beckoned Kato to exit first and then followed him out, securing the door behind them. Back in the lobby, Kato sighed. “Akio doesn’t know anything,” he said to Martin, gloomily.
“Oh my God, buddy.” Martin placed a hand on Kato’s shoulder. Martin shook his head slowly. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.” Kato nodded, hoping against hope that Martin was right. “I booked us a hotel. Two blocks from here,” Martin continued. “Let’s go. I don’t think there’s anything else we can for do now.”
“Okay.” As they walked the short distance west, through the urban canyon, Kato said: “I don’t think the boy’s lying, actually. I think, or at least thought, when I first knew him, that he’s a good kid. And when we were in there, he didn’t have the manner of a criminal at all.” Kato shrugged. “It’s a hunch,” he continued, “but I don’t think he was involved.”
Two hours later, Kato lay on his bed on the 131st floor of the hotel. The window gave a view to the south, towards downtown. The shape of the city skyline resembled a sand dune with a sharp crest. The buildings seemed to be competing with each other for air and light, like trees, with the spoils going to the one that could grow the tallest. Kato stared out at the view for a few minutes. Then, he closed his eyes. His stomach was queasy. The last thing he had eaten was at Manchester Air and Space Port, on the short layover before the flight to Tokyo, and that was only at Martin’s insistence. Kato could now neither eat nor sleep. His mind whirled. He sh
ould have insisted that she stayed with him until they were acclimated to 24th century society. He should have quizzed that Akio kid and found out more about his intentions and where they were going. He should have…
Once he was done beating himself up with guilt, Kato began to force himself to think. Who would go all the way up there to abduct her? Why was no DNA left that was unaccounted for? Was it a professional of some sort, who took elaborate precautions so as not to leave DNA? Maybe it was a robot? Maybe Seung Yi’s clan, or dynasty, or whatever was involved? Couldn’t be. They all lived hundreds of millions of kilometers away. Besides, any axe they had to grind was over 250 years old…
Oh God, Zara, please be okay. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.
At around 7 PM there was a knock on the door. “Kato?”
“Yes?”
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
Martin entered and sat down in one of the armchairs to the left of the bed on which Kato still brooded. “Let's get some dinner,” he said.
“Not hungry.”
“Come on Kato. You're not going to be of any use to anybody if you don't look after yourself. Do it for Zara.”
Kato turned to Martin. “Underhanded manipulation tactics. Some friend you are!” Kato smiled for the first time since the whole thing had begun.
“That's more like it. What do you feel like eating?”
“Oh God, I don't know. Nothing sounds good,” Kato said.
“Right. Pizza it is then. You like any weird toppings?”
Kato's face brightened. “Anchovies!”
Martin laughed. “Well, that's pretty disgusting, I'll grant. But, if that's what the man wants, that's what he gets!” Martin spaced out for a few seconds as he ordered room service.
The sky was beginning to darken outside. Kato looked out the window again. His mouth dropped open and he pointed. “Look! There it is!” Both men jumped up and went straight to the window. Their eyes traced the narrow filaments of light, which interlaced in a fine, mesh in the sky. It peaked above the city center. “That's it! The grid!”
“By God, you're right,” Martin said, with wonder in his voice. “That's amazing! I didn't even know about it, else I'd have to come to Tokyo just to see it!” Both men just stared for a few minutes. Kato tried to picture Zara inside it.
Kato turned to Martin. “That's just the sort of thing she'd have done,” he said morosely. “Climbing up in there when she wasn't supposed to. She always had a knack for getting herself into trouble.” Martin nodded sympathetically.
Kato's eyes narrowed. “I wonder how long Akio was tranquilized up there?”
Martin looked back at Kato. “We never found out, did we? She could have been taken anywhere in the time from when he was knocked out to the time he woke up. We don't know exactly how long she's been missing...”
Midway through the consumption of the pizza, at the table beside Kato’s hotel room window, their faces were suddenly illuminated by a blaze of color coming in from outside. Kato blinked a couple of times. “Holy cow!” he said, as goose bumps broke out on his arms.
“I’ll second that!” Martin said. The exteriors of the buildings were suddenly ablaze with their stream of animated advertising. The two men watched in utter fascination. The edifices partially obscured each other, and due to the distance, the individual images could not be made out. It just looked like a shimmering sea of color.
“Unreal,” Kato said, after a minute. “Would have been impossible back in my day. I can't imagine the amount of power, or display technology, that must use.” Martin nodded. Kato quickly turned back to Martin, his jaw set, and a new purpose in his eyes. “You know what? I'm going to see if I can use it to our advantage.”
Chapter 22
The cold shocked Zara rudely awake. She shivered, like she was outside without a coat. Not quite winter, thankfully. Zara was already curled up in a ball, trying to preserve precious body heat. Her sweatpants and t-shirt did nothing to insulate her. Zara’s brain was scrambled. She couldn’t remember how on earth she had gotten there. As she opened her eyes, everything seemed white. Where was she? It was too cold to be hell, and it sure wasn’t heaven. Why did she weigh so little? Zara’s surroundings gradually came into focus. She was curled up at the bottom of a white tube. It seemed to be as tall as the length of two buses, and about twice as wide as a truck. The inside was harshly lit by four halogen lamps, spaced equally up one side, flush with the surface. One side of the tube was flat. There were four other sides, but it was an irregular pentagon as these were not as long as the first one. Their intersections were curves, rather than geometric angles. The walls were laden with dust, and longish scrapes and dents. These looked like they could have been made by rocks.
Looking around further, Zara saw two medium-sized cardboard boxes nearby. Their labels were in a strange language that used strokes and curves rather than regular letters. A pallet of water was also present. The bottles were labeled in the same strange language. Zara also found, to her relief, that she was lying on a blanket. This separated her from the cold metal. It wasn’t much bigger than she was, but she pulled it around herself as best she could. Her teeth chattered. Zara propped herself up on her right elbow, and stayed that way for several minutes. There was only the faintest hum. It came from the top of the tube. She squinted up there and saw a small ventilation fan.
This was really, really not good. Zara was sick with fear. Oh God... Her stomach contents exploded up through her mouth before she could do anything about it. The vomit sprayed across the floor to her right. Particles of it flew in a slight arc, almost unencumbered by gravity, and hit the wall. Feeling dreadful, Zara laid down again and pulled the blanket around her. Her long hair stretched out, straight up from the top of her head, having settled there after the violent retching motion of her body. The end of it dipped in some of the closest particles of vomit. Zara closed her eyes. She willed her brain to start working and tell her where on earth she was. If this was even Earth.
Chapter 23
It was 3 AM, and Kato had gone thirty-six hours without sleep. He felt sick with fear. He had only eaten one slice of pizza earlier, since that was all he could manage. The rest of the pizza lay in its box on the dark marble counter at the back wall of his room. Kato's mind whirled with thoughts of Zara. Was she even still alive? Or just another statistic, a victim of a rapist and murderer? No, he mustn't think those things. There had to be an explanation. What the hell were the police doing, besides monitoring things? Any actual investigating?
Nausea made Kato want to stay still, but agitation made him want to move. Agitation won. He pulled on a red fleece sweatshirt and took the elevator to the first floor. The doorman greeted him as he left the building. He saw the look of surprised recognition on the man's face. “Buzz: activate disguise.” Kato turned right out of the hotel and marched south at a furious pace. He didn't care where he was going. Kato broke into a run at times. Building lobbies, intersections, vehicles, and elevators to the train network passed by. He looked at each face on the nearly deserted streets. Not one of them was Zara.
Eventually, Kato arrived at one of the city's many nightlife districts. There, amid the lights, pounding music, and crowds, he scanned the young faces. Occasionally, he saw a girl that somewhat resembled Zara. Why couldn’t one of them actually be her? Please, please come back to me. I'm so sorry for everything... Having walked and run an unknown distance, Kato was eventually exhausted. The first light of dawn began to show in the eastern sky. He took a cab back to the hotel, laid down again, and fell into a fitful sleep.
Kato’s room came quickly into focus. The first thing he noticed was the daylight streaming in through the windows. Then came the impossibly awful, stomach-churning realization that Zara’s disappearance wasn’t a dream. He closed his eyes again and sighed. She was out there, somewhere. There was nothing he could do to help her. Well, almost nothing…
“Buzz: call Martin.”
“Hey,
Kato! You slept in…”
“Why, what time is it?”
“10:45 AM.”
“Wha… oh no! We’ve… got to get going…”
“Going where?” Martin asked.
“I’m going to find an advertising agency, and see if I can’t get Zara’s face plastered all over those buildings.”
“Oh…”
Martin paused for a minute and then asked: “Have you got the money for that?”
Kato shrugged, even though Martin couldn’t see him. “I don’t know, but whatever it takes is what I’ll do.”
The stream of suits passing by Kato and Martin was steady. It would be for the next two hours, as Tokyo’s famously late-working salarymen headed home. Other people, dressed casually, headed to shops, restaurants, theaters, and bars. Kato and Martin looked up from the downtown street corner on which they stood. The vast urban canyon all around them showed its usual stream of advertising.
“It’s six fifty-nine and fifty seconds,” Kato said. The sky was giving way to dusk. Both men counted down. “Ten, nine, eight...” They kept looking up. “Three… two… one…”
At once, all the models, cars, and other toys disappeared. Zara’s giant face smiled at them from all around. The picture had been taken in the dining room on the Gansevoort. The Japanese words for “Have you seen this woman? If so, contact police immediately,” scrolled across the bottom. There were collective gasps from the shoppers and commuters around them. “Isn’t that Zara? One of the Sleepers?” Kato overheard in English. Many more astonished exchanges were heard in Japanese. Nobody had any idea they were in the presence of the other Sleeper. The photo switched to a different picture of Zara, this time with the New York pyramids in the background. It had been taken when they played miniature golf on Long Island. Kato looked down all the four boulevards that intersected at their location. Every building façade showed Zara. Faces looked up from passing cars.
Kato's War: Book Two of the Kato's War series Page 11