Fox rushed him, but the man whipped out a Micro-Uzi from inside his trench coat and pointed it at Fox whose hands shot up so fast that he fell back off balance and onto the floor.
Damn it, not another Micro-Uzi! First Ares and now this guy. Fox scrambled to get up but he knew he was a dead man. There was no way he could dodge gunshots from this distance while he was on the ground.
The man kept his eyes on Fox-there was no anger in them, just a simple blank stare that Fox found difficult to read. Fox could recognize a killer’s intention to shoot him by just looking into his eyes, but unless this guy mastered his emotions, he didn’t fit the profile of someone who was going to do so.
The man pointed the submachine gun towards the ceiling and fired.
Bedlam!
Screams mixed in with the staccato of shots and a stampede of people immediately followed. Fox got up and was almost knocked back onto the floor as people bumped and slammed into him from all directions. Seconds later, the gunman stopped firing. A hand grabbed Fox by the shoulder, and at the same time he heard a man yell at him.
“Fox!”
Fox spun around and knocked the hand off, and he saw that it was the gunman.
“Come with me quickly!”
Sato?
The carnage spilled outside the club and was all around them as they made their escape. Adding to the cacophony, Fox heard several police sirens closing in on their position. Fox tried to catch up to his rescuer, who had a head start on him. The gunman darted across the street, his Micro-Uzi pointed upwards, and ran around the next corner. He passed about ten cars to his left, when he saw the gunman unlock and open the right-hand side door of a sporty, yellow hatchback and get inside. Fox got to the car, slid between the back of it and the car parked behind, ran to his door and hopped in.
“Ridley Fox, I’m Aijima Sato, Ken Katori’s partner. I’m pleased to finally meet you.” Sato started up the car and sped out from his parking space, passing a few individuals who hadn’t stopped running from the club.
Fox panted as he looked behind and saw the screaming cacophony pouring out of the nightclub. “Yeah, glad to see you, too. Now of all times.”
After Sato sped off, Fox heard a faint beeping sound. “What’s that noise?” At that moment Sato pulled over and slammed on the breaks.
“Get out, now. You’ve been bugged.” Fox did as he was told, and Sato opened the glove compartment and took out an object the size of a small television remote, complete with antenna. Sato approached Fox on his side of the car and swept him from head to waist, where the beeping increased simultaneously with the light-emitting diode or LED. The frequency increased as Sato brought the device closer to Fox’s left arm and stopped above his watch where the device’s frequencies maxed out.
“It’s in your watch!” yelled Sato. Fox immediately ripped it off and threw it on the side of the road where it fell into a storm drain. Sato swept him again with the detector but there was nothing else.
“You’re clean. Let’s go.” Both Sato and Fox jumped back into the car.
Fox sat there pondering how anyone could’ve bugged his watch without his knowledge. As Sato raced past other cars through the streets of Shibuya, he thought back hard. If he’d been compromised, then it meant that Walsh, Dobbs, Levickis, and Parris were all in danger. “I need to make a phone call.”
“You can’t.”
“I’m not here alone. The mission’s most likely been compromised. Give me your phone.”
“I don’t have one. And may I suggest that you keep away from them. They’re everywhere.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Listen. You’re not in control anymore, they are. And you’ve seen what they can do. So you’ll just have to do as I say if you want us to get through this. Your teammates will be fine.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe. And when we get there, you’ll get to see what we’re really up against.”
Chapter 23
Dr. Hideaki Hashimoto’s Residence, West Tokyo, 12:21AM
Marx wasn’t startled even though she could have sworn that a lightning bolt struck, just outside one of the five floor-to-ceiling windows she passed on her way to Hashimoto’s office. Her close call with Fox a few hours ago would no doubt cause concern with Hashimoto, who in her opinion panicked too much. The bandage below her right shoulder would be a constant reminder of how Fox had left his mark on her that evening. But Fox didn’t worry her- Ares did. They had found Valerik and dumped his body onto a freeway. How much more blatant of a message could they send that they were closing in on us? Valerik’s capture could only be due to a breach, there was no other explanation. It didn’t appear to be too long ago that she had ordered Hashimoto to trick Valerik into visiting him so that his henchmen could ambush him. The gratification she felt when she personally clarified him in the chair was too sweet. Although he was useful, she wouldn’t miss him. After all, he was a former KGB operative that worked for the same people that had brought so much misery to her.
As Marx opened the double doors to Hashimoto’s office, a crack of thunder boomed as though she had summoned it. The lights in the room began to flicker. Hashimoto, Tanaka, and Commissioner Yushida were already there.
Hashimoto got up from behind his desk and faced Marx. “I was told what happened-”
“I’m fine,” Marx cut him off by raising her hand. Hashimoto got up from his chair and she sat in it. Hashimoto sat in another chair beside the others.
“I’m going to get to the specifics. Valerik’s dead, and I think there’s a leak. I want your input on where you believe it came from.”
Commissioner Yushida pointed his right index finger in the air. “That’s assuming that there was a leak.”
Marx shot a stern glance at him. “Yes, I do assume. It was either that or Valerik got very sloppy. And I’m not so convinced of the latter. Has your investigation turned up anything on what happened to him?”
“All signs lead to a professional hit,” Yushida replied. “The investigation’s at a standstill.”
Hashimoto crossed his arms. “What about Fox and his CIA cohorts?”
Marx shot him a menacing glance. “I’ll ask the questions, if you don’t mind.” There’s no way you’re controlling this meeting. “Fox is, and should remain, the least of our concerns. As long as we can track him, he can be controlled.”
“I have to agree with Dr. Marx,” said Tanaka. “We’ve been tracking him all day.”
Marx relaxed back into the cushioned chair. “And has he come into contact with anyone in particular?”
“He did earlier in the Azabu District.” Tanaka raised his hand slightly and then dropped it on his leg with a sigh. “But our satellites couldn’t capture an image of the individual due to the weather.”
“What about infrared tracking?” asked Marx.
Tanaka looked away from Marx as though he were embarrassed. “We lost his contact on the subway.”
“That’s just perfect,” said Hashimoto sarcastically. “Maybe you should’ve had real men tail him instead of relying on fancy equipment.”
Tanaka looked back at him. “We did so initially, and Fox lost them within minutes.”
“Then what about his partner, Walsh?” asked Hashimoto.
“We didn’t get a strong signal from him to begin with. We had something at first but it faded soon afterwards,” said Tanaka.
Hashimoto gave Marx a questioning look. “How’s that possible? Didn’t you tag both of them?”
“I did.” Marx crossed her arms as she gave him a stare that he’d seen once too often. He got the message and shrank back into his chair. “Neither of them suspected anything when I shook their hands at the outbreak site. Unfortunately Walsh had a weaker stomach than I expected. He threw up once he saw the remains of one of the Pandora-infected victims. He must have washed his hands thoroughly before an effective dose of the isotope powder was absorbed through his skin.”
“Fox has been useful to us so far,” said Tanaka. “In fact, he unknowingly helped us track down and eliminate
