with Fox?”
“Problem? What are you talking about?”
“Come on. I asked you before what you knew about him. You didn’t have anything nice to say.”
“We had a falling out in the past, and that’s all I’m going to say.” She saw him glance at her out of the corner of her eye, but she wouldn’t look at him. Now he wants to bring up Fox. Levickis remained silent for the rest of the ride.
When they made it into the Shinigawa ward, the breathtaking view of the Tokyo Harbor with its high-class restaurants and hotels instantly made Parris forget about the ride. Levickis found a parking space a block away from the Shinigawa Empress Hotel. Parris was more than anxious to get out of the van and was ahead of Levickis as they crossed the street.
The hotel’s lobby bustled with tourists-even at that hour-most of whom she figured were meeting in groups to spend a night on the town. Just as well that nobody knew what was going down. She shuddered to think of the mass carnage that could tear the city apart.
They both rode the elevator to the third floor and quickly found their way to suite 305, where Levickis knocked on the door.
There was the sound of fast approaching, heavy footsteps towards the door before it was opened. Walsh’s haggard but robust figure, stood before them. “Come on in.”
“Good evening,” said Parris as she walked in.
Levickis merely nodded his head.
As they passed him, Walsh pointed to Dobbs who was seated at the coffee table in front of his laptop. “That’s Bill Dobbs. He’s helping us with tech.”
She looked at Walsh. His hair was a mess, and his tie undone. “What happened to you? Bad flight?”
“More or less.” Walsh moved the second chair away from the coffee table. “The flight was over-booked and I ended up riding in coach beside some woman who must’ve been going through a damn mid-life crisis. She wouldn’t stop talking to me and complaining to the stewardess. God knows how many hours of sleep I need to catch up on because of her.”
“That’s why I never got married,” said Levickis.
Walsh frowned at Levickis’s comment. “Our relief came when we got word that our connecting flight was changed, and we were redirected to Okinawa. It was longer, but Downing must have had a good reason.”
Walsh gestured to the two single beds. Parris first told them everything that she had learned from Fox about her experiments, the cult and Hashimoto’s connection. She then told them about Fox’s contact at the airport.
Walsh crossed his arms. “I’d personally like to know how Ares tracked Fox to this location so quickly.”
Levickis answered, “My guess is that they must have obtained airport security footage, the same way Dobbs was able to trace Valerik back to Minsk, where he boarded a plane to come here to Tokyo. And how they knew when and where to find him, they must’ve planted some kind of tracking device on him.”
Dobbs looked up from his laptop. “A tracking device? I know Fox, and trust me no one can simply plant a tracking device on him.”
“Unless, it’s done underhandedly. Like from someone he knows,” said Levickis.
Dobbs looked back down at his laptop. “Then whoever it is, they’d have to be a real pro.”
Parris turned to Dobbs. “Maybe it wasn’t planted on him. Maybe he was unknowingly tagged.”
Walsh looked at Parris. “What do you mean?”
“Back in the 1970s and 1980s, it was discovered that East German agents, the Stasi, had used radioactive sprays to track dissidents,” Parris answered. “Stasi agents sprayed their clothes or belongings with Scandium-46, which emits highly dangerous gamma radiation but harmless beta radiation. The agents would then carry miniature radiation detectors in places such as their armpits, which would vibrate if the unsuspecting victim ever came near.”
“If you’re saying that Fox was sprayed with such a dangerous isotope, wouldn’t he be dead?” asked Walsh.
“I didn’t say that he was sprayed. Secondly, not all radioactive isotopes are harmful. For instance, doctors use Iodine-131 radioactive dye to help them in treating thyroid cancer. If Fox got close enough to someone, he could’ve been tagged with a harmless radioactive isotope. A kiss, or a handshake, maybe something that he drank, could easily allow it to be absorbed into his bloodstream.”
“Exactly how would he be monitored?” asked Walsh.
“By satellite,” said Levickis and Dobbs in unison. Levickis walked over to Dobbs. “One specially equipped to detect radioactive isotopes. That’s assuming that the Japanese have perfected a satellite that could zero in on their target without having interference from other radioactive sources in the environment.”
Dobbs looked up at Levickis. “I wouldn’t be surprised. The OST’s been trying to contract with American companies to develop one for years.”
Walsh sighed. “Well, ain’t that a goddamn mess! With Fox running off like that, God knows how many people he came in contact with. And what’s even more frustrating, is that we didn’t think of tagging him in the first place so that we’d know where to find him, or if he’s even still alive.”
Dobbs continued to type away at his laptop without glancing at the others. “My guess is that he still is. I’ve worked with him before. Trust me, he’s a survivor.”
“And I hope he’s vexing his captors the same way he’s done to all of us,” quipped Parris.
“But wait a second.” Walsh pointed towards Parris, his mouth slightly hung open for a few seconds. “If Fox was tagged and he’s being monitored by satellite, whoever’s been watching him would’ve seen everyone he’s come in contact with. That means they’d be watching you too.”
Parris glanced once at everyone in the room before she stood up and began to pace around. “Oh Lord. What do we do now?”
Levickis raised his hand to stop her. “Calm down.”
“What do you mean calm down?”
“Satellites work by capturing either an infrared image from a person’s body heat signature or by taking an actual photograph,” answered Levickis. “They would’ve started observing you the moment you left Fox. But, they couldn’t have taken photo images of you because it was cloudy today, and you would’ve had your umbrella. And even if they decided to follow you by infrared, your image would’ve been lost in the subway. You’re sure you weren’t followed?”
Parris raised her right hand to her temple and sighed with relief. She then sat back down. “No, I wasn’t. That I’m sure of.”
“As for Fox, let’s hope that he gets himself out of whatever crap he’s gotten himself into,” said Walsh.
Parris looked up at Walsh. “If and when he does, he’ll contact us. That’s when we have to warn him.”
“But if the tag is in his system, how would he get it out?” asked Walsh.
Parris rested her elbows on her knees. “Normally, a tagging isotope would decay over time. But as for the one affecting him, it could range from several hours to a few days. So to be on the safe side, he’d have to ingest a masking agent to neutralize the detection properties of the tagging isotope until it decays.”
Walsh glanced at everyone. “We don’t have masking agents on us. Where will we find one at this hour?”
“I have access to Hexagon’s labs so I can create one tonight,” answered Parris.
Walsh cleared his throat. “Well, I was with Fox in Uganda, so you better make one for me too.”
Parris glanced at everyone. “As easy as it was to go after Fox, Ares could’ve gone after us too. They haven’t yet, so to be on the safe side I’ll get enough masking agents for all of us.”
“Just to add to that, the room’s secure,” said Dobbs. “I’ve got anti-surveillance equipment setup close to all the windows. So if anyone were using any type of equipment to eavesdrop, I’d know about it. I can tell you about the time that I was in Brazil, and the hotel I was in was located right next to-”
“You can tell us about it later, Dobbs,” said Walsh covering Dobbs’s mouth with his hand. “Anyways, moving on. Regardless of this unexpected situation, we’ve received new instructions from Downing, and some of them especially involve you, Dr. Parris. You’ll have to access everything you can find in Hexagon about Pandora.”
Parris ran a hand through her hair. “I’d have to break into Hexagon’s high security level, better known as the Safe.”
“Downing gave us the green light,” said Walsh. “As you stated in your last report, you believe the Safe is the repository of all of the intel. From what you told us earlier, my guess is that not only might you find intel on
