Silence In Numbers: File One (13 page)

Katsumi smiled softly.
Of course we are. Even if it’s raining. Now go back to sleep, it’s midnight. I don’t want you falling asleep on me when I’m there.

Ugh, you’re such a slave driver! You and your ‘caring about my health’ nonsense, I swear…

Katsumi laughed at her sister.
Sleeping now, try to get some yourself, see you when I get there!

Katsumi sat back with a sigh, feeling better than she had earlier. She counted herself lucky that she and her sister had each other, and friends like Sano and the ones Ayane had that Katsumi had only met a couple times. Doing things alone made them a thousand times harder.

A small beep from her computer caught her attention. She’d received a message from an online chat program she never used, and the name on it was one she didn’t recognize, what appeared to be a random series of letters:
ASDF
. Frowning, she clicked on the window to read the message.

Katsumi sat up ramrod-straight, her entire body tensing. She immediately began typing furiously, setting up a back-trace protocol that would follow the message back to the computer it had originated at. She also started a scan over her system to ensure nothing was breaking in or would be able to break in, and activated a program that would record all activity on her computer. It only took her a few seconds to start most of this, and in-between she typed a response to the message.

She pressed enter and finished her set-ups before watching the message window anxiously until another beep announced the reply.

Katsumi typed back, trying not to let her emotions direct her responses.

He disconnected before she was able to respond to his last statement. She rapidly checked her back-trace and discovered with immense relief that it had gotten a location locked down before the disconnection. Katsumi shot up from her desk and threw the door open, shouting down the hall. “SANO! Get down to the car; we need to get going, NOW!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In a dark room lit only by the glow of six bright monitors sat a man who was still unknown to the world at large. He was shrouded in shadow both physically and figuratively, a status that suited him well for the moment but was destined to change soon enough. One of his monitors had recently shown a surge of activity on a computer belonging to one Katsumi Samakura, and a little investigation had led him to learn she’d just been contacted by the person who’d been giving her so much grief over the past few days.

A strange smile lifted his lips as he rested his cheek against the fist of one hand, browsing through tons of data on several of the screens with the other. “Looks like Round One is finally kicking off… Let’s review the players.” He lifted his hand and tapped a part of the screen, bringing up a large information page with pictures along the side, reading over the information displayed there.

“The old war buddy…” The man smiled. “Dangerous to any opponent using explosives, such as their current target. Blindly loyal to his Captain but he won’t be involved as much directly.” He closed the tab and opened the next page.

“The family man. That could be a problem for him at some point.” The man tapped another screen, bringing up a report. “His low CP and relative weakness nearly caused his Captain’s death. Perhaps a weak spot on the team, perhaps not.” He moved to the next page.

“Ah, yes, the expert.” The man smiled at the cold picture on the page. “Calculating and without the compunctions his current officer is restrained by. Possibly a weak link psychologically. I believe I have him marked as the most likely candidate in the event of a team betrayal.” He closed the page and opened the next one.

“The second-in-command.” The man tilted his head and studied the page. “He doesn’t have quite as much experience as some of the others, so more thought must have gone into his placement. According to my other files his position was requested by Captain Samakura based on his history and psych evaluation reports… How very interesting. I don’t believe he is a weak link in any way. He will factor strongly in this round.” He switched over to the final page in this file. “And here we have our champion…”

“Hmm, I didn’t send any birthday regards. How rude of me. Let’s see… How will she do in this round? What do we know of her opponent…?” He tapped a window on another monitor, expanding it.

The man inspected the page for a minute as his smile widened. “I give you… Three weeks. You’ll fit right into the schedule, I’m sure.” He was interrupted by a call on a phone which he drew out of a pocket and answered calmly. “Sigma.” He listened for a moment, smiling. “And no congratulations or well-wishes? Such terrible manners.”

He chuckled a few seconds later, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Really? Are you sure about making contact that soon?” Another pause. “Well, I don’t plan to argue. The timing is good. You should try in… Two days. Mmm, yes, but it shouldn’t take long… Correct.” He waited for a few seconds, listening, before smiling. “Go ahead, then. Just remember not to bring me into it; I would be terribly disappointed if you ruined my introductions.”

He closed the phone, an eerie smile on his face as he watched new data scroll onto one of the monitors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sano shook his head as he and Katsumi got out of the car, happy to be alive. On the way Katsumi had driven like a madwoman. He was, in fact, pretty sure there wasn’t a single road safety law in existence that she hadn’t broken in the short ride there. That alone was telling about her current state as she was usually a reliable, if a bit reckless, driver.

He silently thanked God that they hadn’t taken any flying vehicle as he looked up at the sign of the internet café they were heading for the entrance of. “So he was contacting you from here, huh?”

“Unfortunately,” Katsumi replied as she pushed through the doors. She and Sano showed their badges to the people inside. “Everyone remain calm and stay where you are. We’re in the middle of an investigation and have reason to believe our suspect was here recently.” Katsumi didn’t believe the terrorist would still be here. In fact, she’d half expected to find a smoking crater once she got here. Even now she and Sano were watching everyone in the place, worried that one of them would explode at any moment. They both drew their guns and moved around inspecting the café for anyone trying to hide, and then Katsumi managed to find the computer she’d been contacted from.

Before touching anything she and Sano did a sweep of the entire area for explosives. Katsumi then accessed the computer to learn every recent log-in had simply been “ASDF”. She looked up at the corner of the ceiling, pointing to the camera there and speaking to the owner of
the internet café. “We’ll need the feed from that camera, and any others you might have.” The owner agreed, eager to help.

An hour later Katsumi and Sano had every bit of data they could get from the place. They’d reviewed the tape, which of course didn’t show the face of their suspect, but they’d been able to determine none of the people in the café were their target and had released them. Outside the establishment Sano leaned against the smooth black car, hands in his pockets, watching Katsumi as she slowly paced, deep in thought. “What’s bothering you, boss?”

Katsumi shook her head, not responding. About a minute later he was about to ask again when she spoke and interrupted him. “Why wasn’t this a trap?”

Sano blinked, then raised an eyebrow. “Did you want it to be a trap?”

“No… No, of course not, I just…” She shook her head. “Why wasn’t it? Why didn’t he have a victim there waiting to explode on us, to erase evidence of himself and possibly erase us?”

Sano shrugged. “Too obvious?”

“It’s only obvious because it’s the smart course of action to take. Even if he knew we’d suspect a trap he’d still succeed in destroying evidence and killing more people.”

“Not everything has to be a trap.”

“This did.” Katsumi looked at him wearily. “Don’t you get it? This simply doesn’t make sense. Some of his moves have been very smart, brilliant even, but some are downright amateur or simplistic. He was able to set a trap for our chopper along a specific flight path between buildings and nearly kill us. Then he knew what subway train I’d be on and when, even what car, but instead of safely blowing it up he had his attacker try to stab me first instead. I could let that go because perhaps he wanted to be sure I wouldn’t survive that encounter. But now, after already trying to kill me once, he misses an opportunity to do so tonight? Why would he contact me if it wasn’t to set up a trap for me? He knew I’d have no choice but to come and investigate even if I suspected a trap.”