“Ahh, but... but I don’t think we should go that way...” Tessa protested. Sailor was heading for the shipboard shopping center; it was the block they’d designated as being the most difficult to secure in their pre-mission discussion. The shopping center was large, with a complicated layout that compromised visibility. It had a lot of exits, too, so it would be easy to escape from, and it was loaded with resources that could be used to make traps.
“Why don’t we go that way instead? I think it would be better for both of us...” She pointed towards the gym one deck up. That one was a dead end; her allies would be able to corral Sailor and capture him quickly.
“That’s a dead end,” he told her. “We’d be trapped like rats.”
“Ohh... I see. Then why don’t you simply throw down your weapon and surrender? I don’t think they’re as villainous as you think they are, Sailor-san,” Tessa suggested.
Sailor’s response was a condescending snort. “You’re naive. They’re like the Devil himself, same as all terrorists. Some civilian maid couldn’t understand. Or what? Have you fought terrorists before?”
“Yes, I’m afraid I have. More times than I’d like to— ow!” Tessa let out a small cry as he bopped her on the head. “What are you doing?!” she challenged him, tears in her eyes.
“Don’t make fun of me, stupid!”
“I’m not!”
“I can tell you’re out of your depth, so just shut up and follow me,” Sailor told her. “Got that?! If you try to run, I’ll shoot you!”
“This is absurd...” Tessa grumbled, while considering her options. Perhaps, at this stage, it would be wiser to stay with him and try to keep the situation under control. She couldn’t get in touch with her allies just yet, but she might still get a chance to use a shipboard telephone.
From what she’d seen, the ground teams had been caught off-guard by the amateur’s rampage. But they weren’t incompetent, and they wouldn’t keep losing forever. Besides, they probably weren’t particularly worried about her, anyway...
“Ah, very well,” Tessa capitulated. “Let’s hide somewhere and wait for our chance.”
“Good, glad you see things my way. Now, let’s go.” Sailor started moving, finally, dragging the stalling Tessa along.
Once he had the despondent Yang and Wu in front of him, Lieutenant Clouseau found he’d lost the will to yell.
“There’s no excuse for how badly we’ve failed...”
“We’ll take any punishment you dish out...”
They were still in the place where the ambush had happened, a corridor in the crew block. Despite standing at full attention like proper soldiers, they seemed terrifyingly deflated.
“Your punishment can wait until after this is over. Go run security on the cargo hold.” At Clouseau’s order, Yang and Wu offered a salute, then ran off.
“He might not be cut out for it after all,” First Lieutenant Castello, who’d accompanied Clouseau, said after they were gone. He was the PRT’s commander, and had the call sign Uruz-3. He was in his mid-30s, of Latin descent, and lanky, with a goatee.
“Yang, you mean?” Clouseau clarified.
“Yeah. Any other SRT member would’ve neutralized that guy, even at the risk of killing him. But he couldn’t do it. It’s more than just a matter of being caught off-guard.”
“I did forbid them from causing casualties,” Clouseau said. “Maybe that’s why.”
“That’s no excuse,” Castello scoffed. “Being part of the SRT means ignoring orders if necessary, even if that gets you a reprimand. Though obviously, we can’t just tell them that...”
Clouseau said nothing in response.
“Yang has skill and experience, but he lacks the mindset needed,” Costello continued to argue. “We should drop him back to the PRT.”
“We’ll need Major Kalinin’s input to decide,” Clouseau told him. “When this operation is over—” Just then, he received a transmission. It was from Sousuke’s team, which was searching for the rogue element.
“Uruz-7 here. Sorry I’m late. Someone’s emptied out a lifeboat. They took a satellite transceiver. Be careful.” The line was staticky, due to an allied helicopter jamming satellite transmissions above.
“Uruz-1, roger. The de Danaan intercepted their message, and we’ve got a Pave Mare jamming appropriate frequencies now. Don’t worry about communications; expand the dragnet and get searching.”
“Roger.”
After Sousuke signed off, Clouseau clicked his tongue. “That’s not good. In hide-and-seek, Harris has the advantage.”
If this had been a normal ship, they’d probably be able to find Harris without much effort. But the Pacific Chrysalis was extremely large; it was effectively a floating city. They didn’t have enough people to cover it all. And until the ship was secured, they’d need to spare most of their forces monitoring “hostages.”
“Don’t panic. From what I can see, the aggressor is a total amateur. He can’t cause too much trouble,” Castello was saying, but just then, they got a call from Mao.
“Uruz-2 here. More trouble. We’ve lost Ansuz. We found her things left in the crew kitchen. I think that wannabe John McClane took her.”
Mao was referencing the protagonist of the movie Die Hard, which had been a big hit a while back. It was about a one-man army who fought his way through a building occupied by terrorists.
“We already know she’s with the McClane-wannabe,” Clouseau retorted sharply. “That’s part of our trouble. Why did you let her out of your sight, anyway?”
“Well... ah, I screwed up!” Mao admitted. “The vault was giving me more trouble than I’d anticipated, and I got so tied up working on it...”
This reminder of their other problem prompted Clouseau to ask, “How much longer will it take?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It might all go as scheduled, or we might be three hours late.”
“Fantastic,” Clouseau grumbled. “By that time, the Japanese Coast Guard will have us surrounded.”
“I told you, I’m hurrying. I’m worried about Tessa, though... She really is clumsy and useless on land. Find her quick, okay?” Mao was apparently still working on the vault as they spoke. Her words were brisk... but she also seemed distracted. She probably wanted to join the search herself.
“I know,” Clouseau told her. “Don’t
