‘You sound pretty confident.’
Edgar smiled. ‘I used a similar tactic at the Monet Museum some years back,’ he said. ‘There was a lovely watercolour that I swapped for a copy.’
‘And it fooled them?’
Leaning close to Jack, he said, ‘To this day.’
Edgar wrapped the sword in a piece of cloth, grabbed another bag and they headed to the roof. Hiro was waiting. Another storm was in progress. Lightning flashed across the sky.
The dragonfly struggled as it took off against the gusty winds.
Gaining altitude, Jack said to Hiro, ‘Are you sure you’ll be able to land on the tower?’
‘With difficulty,’ he said.
‘I wonder if Fujita will keep his word.’
‘I have my doubts,’ Hiro admitted.
‘We have a backup plan,’ Edgar said.
His bag contained four small backpacks made of something that looked like a spider web.
‘What are they?’ he asked.
‘Parachutes,’ Edgar said. ‘I suggest we all wear them. They’re small enough to fit under your clothing.’
Mr Doyle raised an eyebrow. ‘You think we might need to jump off the building?’ he asked.
‘Simply a precaution.’
Jack put the parachute on under his coat.
The wind tore at the dragonfly, throwing it about like a cork on a restless sea. The sky had turned leaden with rain falling in big, gusty sprays. A distant rumble echoed across Tokyo.
‘There it is,’ Edgar said, pointing to a tower rearing from the mist.
Mr Doyle leant closer to the window. ‘Good Lord!’ he exclaimed.
The rooftop was as before: half Fujita’s residence, the other half a rooftop garden and landing pad. Now two figures stood in the torrential rain on the ledge at the far side of the garden. One was Scarlet, handcuffed. The other was Dr Livanov, who held a knife to Scarlet’s throat.
‘Those monsters!’ Mr Doyle muttered, clenching his fists. ‘I swear, if they’ve harmed her...’
‘Easy,’ Edgar muttered, clenching his brother’s arm. ‘We must keep our wits about us. Emotion will only lead us astray.’
Hiro made a loop around the penthouse, fighting against the wind before landing the dragonfly. Jack, Edgar and Mr Doyle climbed out while Hiro remained at the controls. Jack peered at Scarlet. She was drenched by the pouring rain, but otherwise appeared unharmed. She gave him a quick nod.
Fujita appeared from the apartment.
‘We have what you want,’ Mr Doyle called. ‘We have brought you the Kusanagi sword.’
‘Give it to me,’ Fujita ordered.
Edgar lifted the sword high. Lightning flashed, and for one brief moment, Jack wondered if it might strike the sword and kill them all.
‘Not until Scarlet is safe,’ Mr Doyle said.
But the weapon had transfixed Fujita. Rousing himself, he nodded to Livanov, who started along the ledge, keeping a firm grip on Scarlet’s arm.
‘Now the sword,’ Fujita said.
Mr Doyle’s eyes settled on the weapon. Though his jaw was clenched, the detective remained silent as Edgar crossed to Fujita. The crime boss frowned, snatching the sword from him.
‘No!’ he exclaimed. ‘This is a fake!’
Jack ran towards Scarlet. At the same moment, one of the blinds went up in the apartment, revealing a man with a machine gun. Mr Doyle produced his gun and fired, but the assassin ducked as the window exploded. A hail of bullets spat into the brickwork around Jack as he weaved through the garden.
Scarlet struggled against Livanov, but the doctor drew back a fist, slamming her in the face. Swooning, Scarlet teetered on the ledge as Jack expelled an extra burst of speed.
Almost there, he thought. Just a few more seconds.
But he was too late. Livanov gave Jack a sick smile as she pushed Scarlet over the edge.
‘No!’ Jack screamed.
Livanov ran at Jack, but he ducked, slamming a fist into her nose. She staggered backwards, her foot slipping over the edge. She teetered for a moment before she fell, screaming.
Without hesitation, Jack jumped off the building too. I have to save Scarlet. She was already far below, the wind pulling her away from the tower.
Jack tucked in his arms and legs to reduce wind resistance.
Fly, he told himself. Like a bird.
Spreading his arms, he tilted his body and the wind caught him, slowing his descent. The tower raced past, a blur in the corner of his vision as he and Scarlet fell through low-lying clouds. One of Scarlet’s arms moved. Her eyes shuttered open, and she screamed.
Jack was still twenty feet above her. Screaming her name, his voice was whipped away by the wind, but then her eyes focused on him in disbelief. He pulled his limbs in and dropped another ten feet, before spreading out again like a bird.
Scarlet reached out to him as Jack stretched with all his might.
Only five feet separated them.
Four. Three. Two.
Their fingers touched.
She grabbed his hand, and they drew close. Wrapping his body around her, Jack reached for the cord and pulled it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
‘That was close,’ Jack said.
Half a day had passed and they were now sitting back in their hotel next to the museum. Mr Doyle, Edgar and Hiro had escaped the battle on the rooftop of Fujita’s tower. Mr Doyle had killed the man inside with the machine gun, but not before Edgar had received a flesh wound. Fujita had escaped.
‘I thought we were finished,’ Scarlet said. ‘I didn’t know you had a parachute.’
‘I didn’t know if it would work,’ Jack replied.
Edgar smiled. ‘I’m told the parachutes are the best ever developed,’ he said. ‘Their success rate is as high as seventy per cent.’
‘Seventy per cent?’
The storm had eased. Rain splashed against the window as they drank their tea and thought about the day’s events. Mr Doyle sat quietly opposite his brother. The detective had said little since Hiro had collected them from the base of Fujita’s tower. Edgar continued to prattle on in his usual gregarious manner.
‘There’s always risks,’ Edgar was saying. ‘I’ve been in some pretty tough situations over the years, but you know what makes the difference?’
‘What?’ Mr Doyle said.
‘The friends at your side. You know what the Bard said about friends? Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel.’
Mr Doyle nodded slowly. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I know I’m a lucky man. More lucky than I deserve. I lost my son in the war, but I got him back. How many people can say that?’
‘Not many,’ Edgar agreed.
‘And I’m blessed to have Jack and Scarlet in my life,’ Mr Doyle said, turning to them. ‘My wife and I would have been the luckiest parents in the world to have children one-tenth as wonderful as you.’
Scarlet wiped a
tear away as Jack swallowed hard.
‘Thank you, Mr Doyle,’ he said.
‘Of course,’ Mr Doyle continued, ‘a man can’t have everything.’ The detective’s face hardened. ‘We can’t pick our family, can we? Especially when your brother is a rogue and a criminal.’
The smile on Edgar’s face faltered. ‘But that’s all water under the bridge now,’ he said. ‘As the Bard said—’
‘Shut up,’ Mr Doyle said, his face now white with fury. ‘Where is it?’
‘Where’s...what?’
‘The Moon Sword.’
‘Why...’ Edgar appeared bewildered. ‘Back at Fujita’s tower. We left it behind as we made our getaway.’
‘It never made it to Fujita’s tower,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘So I’ll ask you again—where is the Moon Sword?’
‘Mr Doyle,’ Jack said. ‘We took the sword to the tower in exchange for Scarlet.’
‘No, we took a sword to the tower. The sword that Edgar handed Fujita wasn’t the Moon Sword. It was a fake.’
‘But I stole it from the Japanese Museum.’
‘You did indeed,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘But Edgar couldn’t bear to part with it.’ He turned to his brother. ‘Could you? Was that your plan all along? For Jack to steal the sword so that you would switch it with a replica? Do you realise what you did? Your greed endangered Scarlet’s life. She could have been killed because of your stupidity!’
‘No, I—’
‘At least have the courage to admit it!’
Edgar’s mouth fell open as he looked at them helplessly.
‘I’m sorry,’ he stammered. ‘It’s true. It’s all true.’
Now Jack understood the look on Mr Doyle’s face as Edgar handed the sword to Fujita. He had immediately recognised it as a fake.
‘I don’t know why I did it,’ Edgar said. ‘I don’t know why I do a lot of things. I suppose I’m a small man. Ignatius has always been the big man in our family, the successful one. Smarter. Driven. A man to be admired.’
The room was completely silent except for the rain and the sounds of the city. A dragonfly buzzed overhead.
‘I’m sorry,’ Edgar said. ‘I never meant—Watch out!’
He threw himself at Mr Doyle as a hail of bullets smashed through the window. The roar of an engine became deafeningly loud, then the wall exploded inwards, sending debris flying.
A section of ceiling collapsed, narrowly missing Jack. He crawled out from under the devastation and saw a mechanical dragonfly, hovering above. Twice the size of its biological counterpart, its wings moved almost too fast for the eye to see. Its body was armoured with machine guns and rocket launchers were set into the head. Its whine was ear-splitting.
Jack screamed as the guns came to life.
Rat-atat-atat!
Bullets raked the walls, and plaster and timber spat in all directions.
‘Come on!’ Scarlet screamed.
But Jack couldn’t move. The sound of the gunfire had frozen him to the spot. Then he felt a hand at his shoulder. It was Hiro, and he proceeded to drag Jack and Scarlet from the room.
‘Mr Doyle!’ Jack cried, coming to his senses.
‘Right behind us,’ Hiro grunted.
Mr Doyle helped Edgar from the room. They staggered down the hall as another explosion came from behind, completely destroying their apartment.
‘What’s going on?’ Jack asked, bewildered. ‘Is it Fujita?’
‘No,’ Mr Doyle said. He had his arm around Edgar. ‘The men at the controls are dressed in trench coats.’
Nazis.
More rockets were fired at the building as they lurched down the stairs. Alarm bells rang as people abandoned the hotel. Racing into the street, Jack saw the mechanical dragonfly pull back from the building. Its rocket launchers locked into place.
‘Run!’ Mr Doyle cried.
Jack didn’t need any urging, but there was no time for thought, no time for reasoning, no time to make any kind of plan. The building gave an ominous groan. People screamed. The rocket launchers fired.
A giant shadow passed over him, and then—nothing.
When he next opened his eyes, Jack realised he was buried under rubble. He could hardly breathe. Dust was up his nose and down his throat.
Pushing at a piece of wood, Jack eventually broke free of the debris.
The hotel had collapsed. Hiro and Scarlet were further down the street, half-buried under bricks and broken timber, not moving.
Mr Doyle was trying to drag Edgar clear.
The dragonfly started to swing towards the street. The machine guns locked into position.
We’ll never get away in time, Jack thought. If only I had a weapon—
His eyes settled on the long, silver case, lying in the debris—the Kusanagi sword was supposed to lie within, but all it held was that useless handle.
But what had the old man in the garden said?
There is a gap between knowing and science.
Jack dragged himself across the debris.
The path will find you.
He reached the sword case. Did he truly believe in the power of the Kusanagi sword?
The whine of the dragonfly was deafening as Jack opened the case. He took out the handle and lifted it over his head.
The dragonfly now swept towards him and Jack saw the machine gun aim at his chest.
Whack!
The fist that slammed into the side of Jack’s face drove him to the ground. The handle clattered away from him. Dazed, he struggled to reach for it, but a boot slammed down, crushing his hand. He looked up to see Anton Drexler grinning at him.
‘You have done well,’ the Nazi said, as the dragonfly pulled away. ‘We came here to finish off you and your mentor. Retrieving the sword—even this fragment—is a bonus!’ Laughing, he picked up the handle. ‘Now we’ll see what power the sword contains—if any!’
Grinning down at Jack, Drexler lifted the sword overhead. ‘You see?’ he said. ‘It is nothing! Just a—’ The smile faded from his face. ‘What?’
The handle began to glow.
‘No,’ Drexler grunted. ‘What is happening?’
He tried releasing the sword, but it was as if it was glued to his hand. Smoke began pouring from his fist as orange flames slid down his arm.
‘No!’ he screamed. ‘I can’t let go! It’s attached to me!’
The flame spread across Drexler’s body, drowning him in fire. The Nazi continued to scream, but his cries were lost in the fiery blast. He glowed as bright as the sun before he was pulverised and the handle clattered to the ground.
Slowly, Jack became aware of the rain, the debris and the dozens of fires that continued to burn. A distant sound cut through the downpour from above.
Cra-ack!
The wall next to Jack had started to move. It was collapsing—on him!
He ran, but it was already too late. The bricks and mortar slammed into him, burying his legs.
Gasping with pain, he raised his head to see the mechanical dragonfly had started to turn. It began down the street towards him.
I’ve got to get out of here, Jack thought. But I can’t move!
Then a figure broke from a doorway. The red ninja!
She raced towards Jack, desperately pulling debris away. A hail of bullets slammed into the roadwork, racing towards Jack and the ninja. She dragged him towards a doorway as the gunfire reached them.
‘Aaarrgh!’ she cried as she fell, screaming.
Jack pulled the red ninja clear as her upper arm darkened with blood. Taking out a handkerchief, Jack started bandaging her arm. As he did, her mask slipped away—revealing her face.
‘No,’ Jack gasped. ‘It’s not possible.’
‘But it is.’ The familiar face of Hiro looked back up at him. ‘It seems you have discovered my little secret.’
‘But you’re male!’ Jack said.
‘No,’ Hiro said. ‘I am not.’
Dressed in a suit, Hiro had always resembled a young man, but now it was as if a curtain had been removed from Jack’s eyes. And not only was Hiro female—she was also the red ninja.
‘Why...?’ Jack started.
‘There isn’t time to discuss this,’ Hiro said. ‘You must save the others.’
‘How can I do that?’
But he already knew how. Gently releasing Hiro, Jack raced back into the street where the sword handle lay in the debris. The dragonfly had already begun another run. Jack lifted the handle high as the mechanical dragonfly bore down, the machine guns aimed directly at him.
Then a blast of wind, so powerful that it almost lifted Jack into the air, burst down the alley from behind. Howling like an avenging spirit, it blocked out all sound as it slammed into the dragonfly, throwing it sideways.
The pilot struggled to control the vessel, but then one wing clipped a wall. Going to full power, the dragonfly fought to climb from the alley as another gust of wind smashed into it. The vessel crashed into a building before it cartwheeled towards the ground and exploded.
The Lost Sword Page 21