“You would never do things that way, right?” Harris asked, cutting her off. “But that’s the key; it’s exactly why you never suspected. Cruises may be more for the masses than ever before, but they’re still associated with the elite. Local customs, governments, and intelligence agencies all relax their standards for them. They think the very idea is absurd. And I know why you finally caught on, too—Mr. Iron ratted us out, didn’t he?”
Tessa made no reply, and the boat’s motor fell silent.
“Here we are,” he announced. “A luxurious flight awaits.” Through the cabin window, she could see the wing of a large aircraft, visible now that it had disengaged its ECS. Their boat slowly turned and docked on its starboard side.
“Get up.” Harris forced Tessa to her feet.
The craft they’d transferred to was the size of a jumbo jet, and large enough for several 50-ton tanks. It was far larger than the C-17 Globemaster II transports used by Mithril.
“Eyes forward! Walk!” A member of the aircraft’s armed crew prodded Tessa forward.
Soviet-made... Tessa realized. She’d seen a report about this from the intelligence division recently. It was the best plane in the world at water landings and takeoffs. A glimpse around the equipment loaded in the cargo room made it clear that it was designed for transporting smaller seacraft, too.
Once boarding was complete, the aircraft immediately picked up speed. It rocked as the waves licked the base of its hull.
The large aircraft lifted off from the ocean’s surface and rose into the night sky. There was nobody to stop them.Pacific Chrysalis
“They got away,” Clouseau said gloomily after he turned off the radio. “The enemy... took the colonel.”
“Hey, there’s gotta be something we can do!” Kurz began, agitated. “It’s still there, right? Just use an anti-air missile, or—”
Clouseau cut him off. “You want me to shoot them? With her on board?”
“Ugh...” Kurz hesitated.
The enemy craft was already airborne. It would be easy for the de Danaan’s anti-air missiles to shoot it down, but then Tessa would die as well.
Their failure was in not noticing the aircraft parked in the water close to the Pacific Chrysalis. But what else could they have done? The de Danaan had been engaged with the enemy submarines, and Lieutenant Santos’s helicopter had been focused on the support and transport of the Arbalest. No soldier, no matter how elite, could have spotted the lurking ECS-equipped craft any earlier.
Sousuke had taken out the robots and the torpedoes; Mao nearly had the safe open. Mardukas had neutralized the undersea threat. Santos’s helicopter had apparently survived the hit, and the hostage group was nearly unharmed. The worst off among them was the American that had kidnapped Tessa... but according to the medic who’d been sent to treat him, he would pull through as well.
They’d worked their tails off, and they’d be able to withdraw safely soon. Yet Tessa was still out there, their mission’s sole casualty.
“Dammit!” one of the soldiers cursed. “How could this happen? And on her birthday, too...”
“She never mentioned that to me,” Sousuke said through the Arbalest’s external speakers, as Clouseau and the others stood by helplessly, in the tennis court, among the remains of the Alastors. “So it’s her birthday...” he mused. “There’s a lot going on today. A lot...”
“Um, Sousuke?” Kaname, who was slumping despondently with the rest of the group, looked up. “I mean... understatement, much? They took Tessa! How can you act like—”
“Oh, I recognize the seriousness of the situation,” he reassured her. “But I’ve heard it said that Christmas is a night when anything can happen.”
“Huh?” The group scowled at him, and the Arbalest’s AI spoke in Sousuke’s place.
《He is correct. My comrades, today is Christmas. According to information I have been receiving via radio broadcasts for the last few days, it is indeed a night in which anything can happen. Dedication is the key. Let us sing lovely songs. Let us celebrate God’s blessings—》
“How many dozen times do I have to tell you?!” Sousuke hissed at Al. “Shut up!”
《I beg your pardon. Please explain our proposal, Sarge.》
Sousuke clicked his tongue disapprovingly at Al’s casual tone. Then he cleared his throat and addressed the group. “Lieutenant Clouseau. Contact the de Danaan. Tell it to surface and sortie the FAV-8s. Have them buy us time. Then prepare the equipment I’m about to list off. It’s important that the maintenance crew be on top of their game. First...”
Clouseau’s eyes went wide as Sousuke listed off the equipment. “Are you mad?”
“No,” Sousuke denied. “Al ran the calculations and said that it was possible. The only question is if we can pull it off in time.”
“It’s dangerous,” Clouseau pointed out, one hand on his jaw as he weighed their chances.
“Agreed.”
“All right,” Clouseau finally said, looking up at the Arbalest. We’ll try it.” He switched on his radio, opening a channel to the de Danaan—which was already nearby and heading their way—to explain the plan in detail.
Kaname, who was quietly listening in from nearby, looked up nervously at Sousuke. “Are... Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.
“But then...!”
“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“What—”
“I only realized it tonight. Don’t worry. It’s good news, I think. But I don’t want to say it while she’s still trapped out there.” The Arbalest’s eyes looked down on her. The machine’s right hand made a gesture; a thumbs up. “When I return, please hear me out.”25 December, 0013 Hours (Japan Standard Time)Over Pacific Ocean
She could see the moon from her window seat. Their plane seemed to be turning to the southwest... but confined as she was, Tessa could infer no more than that. What was their precise course? How fast were they going? What was their destination? She had no idea. Were her vessel and the cruise ship safe? Was the stubborn, yet kind-hearted, Sailor receiving first aid? Were Mao and the others making progress on the safe? Her mind swarmed with questions, and her own fate was
