The Devil's Playground

by Michael Reagan

middle," Mike said.

  "Do we want that?" asked the President.

  "If it helps stops World War Three and stops both sides from being unable to escalate, then I would say yes, Danny!"

  Parker thought on the words of Mike for a few moments. He was right.

  "Take the olive branch!" he told his tired mind.

  "Thank you, Vladimir," Parker responded immediately down the telephone, lifting the tension in the room.

  "I will inform the Premier of China and revert back to you in thirty minutes," responded Putin, who cut the line.

  Both men never got a second to digest the conversation though. A former Navy SEAL who served as one of his aides interrupted them.

  "Yes Commander?" answered the President.

  "Mr. President, SIGINTEL reports that Japanese aircraft have just bombed Korean air bases," he said.

  "Fuck!" responded Parker. "Could this day get any fucking worse?" he said out loud.

  44

  Osaka / Houston / Seoul

  Thomas, Mikhail, and Yuri cautiously walked together into the gas lamp lighted club owned by Katamaya because with the power stations out of action, the city was in virtual darkness. Inside, they were met by a fearsome looking bull of a man dressed in a black suit with matching tie and white shirt. The man smiled at them, something that as far as Thomas was concerned, resembled a shark opening its jaws before it ate you, and asked them to follow him.

  Within seconds, with their shoes removed, they were inside a traditional Japanese meeting room this time lit with candles where a tall man, in his seventies dressed in a suit that Thomas instantly recognized as the work of his tailor on Saville Row, was standing. No introductions were necessary as Thomas and Mikhail knew who he was. Manners meaning, everything Miss Yuri handled the introductions in Japanese. Greetings out of the way, Thomas used the craftsmanship of Martin Nicholls, the tailor to break the ice.

  The Japanese Yazuka nodded his head, and answered in perfect English.

  "As is yours, Sir Thomas," using his title instead of the traditional "San," referring to Thomas's double-breasted dark blue suit by Martin Nicholls as he gestured for them to sit on the floor.

  Thomas looked at the seventy year old Kuicho. He had thought long and hard about how he would react to sitting in front of the man who had tried to ruin his business and no doubt was complicit in the assassination attempt on his life ever since O had asked him to represent him in an attempt to find a peaceful solution to the fast growing Korean crisis.

  A crisis that had gotten decidedly worse over the last five hours, according to the reports on the television with the Japanese Air Force destroying just about the entire Korean Air Force on the ground in retaliation to the attack on their LNG facilities, despite the Koreans' continuing denials, after shortly following the incredible decision by the Chinese leadership to cripple the American Task Force carrier in the East China Sea and, with that the Americans' prompt response.

  Earlier, Mikhail had thought the whole world had gone mad and had said as much to the television set as they watched together in the hotel bar. Thomas hadn't disagreed with him. He already had a worried Saul on his mobile asking for his authorization to move out of dollars to sterling, Euros, and gold, the natural hedge bets of the dollars.

  For once as Thomas formulated his opening remarks to Katamaya he was grateful to the Mayor for stepping into the middle of the dispute between two of the world's superpowers. The placement of Russian warships in the exclusion zone to assist in search and rescue operations had for the moment stalled the hostilities from getting worse. The only thing had truly surprised him in the last few hours, if he was honest, had been the removal of Young, one of the instruments of the man sitting in front of him, on charges, it was being reported, of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

  That had told him that Rob and his superiors must have made the President aware of his actions for the time being though he parked that information at the back of his mind. He needed to work out whether this man sitting in front of him would help O.

  "Katamaya-San, I am aware of your organization's attempts to destabilze my business interests however this is secondary to as to why I am here," Thomas said removing the personal letter that O had given him from inside his suit jacket and going for the direct approach for once.

  "Vice President O tells me that you are a sensible and honorable man and you have no wish to see what madness is happening around us in Asia from getting worse," Thomas said. "This is why he asked me personally to represent him and give you this," he continued, handing over the letter.

  The Yazuka cautiously took the letter from Thomas and examined it closely. As he did so, Thomas noted a micro-expression that showed, despite the old man's best efforts, that he was surprised. Nothing was said for a few moments while the old man broke the wax seal and read the letter, although Thomas did note that his face appeared to be quite emotional.

  Thomas wondered what was in the letter that would make him that way. He didn't have to wait long to find out. The Yakuza boss clicked his fingers and pointed to the door, dismissing his bodyguards and Miss Yuri in the process. Once they had all left he spoke.

  "Sir Thomas, you might be wondering why I am so emotional at this moment." Before Thomas could answer, Katamaya continued. "Many years ago when O was a young intelligence officer with the DPRK, he went to prison rather than betray me," Katamaya said confirming the story that O had told him in Moscow.

  "He is now calling in that debt on behalf of his country," he explained as he sat up straight and put both hands on his knees to reflect strength.

  "He has requested that I assist you in doing so. I will do this, because Bushido demands that I should do so," he said in measured tones. "That does not mean however I believe that you have not brought great harm to my country," he continued while narrowing his eyes before adding, without a flicker of emotion, "I still consider you still to be an enemy of the Katamaya-Gumi."

  Thomas had sat many times in front of men like Katamaya. He had no doubt that in any other circumstances he would have been dead without the protection of O, but for now they were allies. That didn't mean he should bow down to him though.

  "You have tried already once, Yorijo-San, and failed; there won't be a next time," countered Thomas with his eyes firmly fixed on that of Katamaya's.

  "The Sobame of Ruslan made that attempt, not the Katamaya-Gumi," the old man countered.

  Although Thomas's knowledge of Japanese wasn't perfect he knew what the word Sobame meant: concubine. "Jennet!" his mind quickly grasped, knowing full well whom person the old man was referring to.

  "But rest assured for now we share the same path," Katamaya said dismissively with a hand gesture. "Your feud with Rejejow's daughter is no concern of mine for the moment!" sending another arrow to pierce the heart of Thomas Litchfield although Katamaya had no idea.

  Thomas barely struggled to keep his emotions in check as his mind processed the information that Jennet happened to be also to be the daughter of Oleg Rejejow.

  "Rejejow!" blurted Mikhail to Thomas, having processed the mention of the name at the same time. Thomas grabbed his longtime friend's arm firmly, giving him the signal that he should go no further. Reluctantly the Israeli did so.

  "Forgive my old friend, Yorijo-San," said Thomas to Katamaya as his eyes changed. "We have history between our two families, so the mere mention of the Rejejow's name always brings forth a response!"

  Masatoshi Kushibiki, known simply as "Mas" to his colleagues and friends, was a twenty-eight-year-old DEA Tech field agent assigned to monitor the Katamaya-Gumi in Osaka who despite all the world problems still had a job to do in stopping drugs from entering the United States of America.

  The daily digital scan of the faces taken by the various hidden cameras that were located across the road of the club owned by Katamaya-Gumi had just sent an alert to his laptop.

  Mas clicked on the screen.

  The picture it had frozen on was of the man himself,
Yorijo Katamaya, and two Caucasians departing the club together.

  He put down his Big Gulp of Fanta and clicked on the picture then zoomed in it, cut and pasted, and then dropped the faces of the men into the second screen of the walls of screens in front of him that belonged to the Homeland Security Central Server. Within seconds it had retrieved the names.

  He read the first note: "Sir Thomas Litchfield - Diplomat with the Russian Foreign Service. Codename "NOBLE" All contacts with individuals on the DHSWL (Department of Homeland Security Watch List must be reported immediately)."

  "Wow," thought Mas as he then read Mikhail's bio as if he was talking to his wall of computers whilst sending his contact report to central site in Houston.

  "Jesus!" thought Sam Dawkins the second he read the contact report three hours later in his office in Houston. He picked up the phone and dialed Rob immediately. Seconds later, they were connected.

  The DEA Director didn't ask about where his friend was. He pretty much guessed with what was going on at the moment in the Far East and what had happened with the arrest of the Secretary of State that Rob had to be involved.

  Instead as they agreed when they were last together over dinner that if the DEA came across something out of the ordinary with regard to Katamaya-Gumi he should contact him. So being a good friend Sam did just that.

  "Check your inbox, Englishman," he said before clicking off.

  "Bloody hell!"