The Lost Scroll of Fudo Shin (17 page)

Merlin nodded.  “Sure do.”

“Then let’s not keep us waiting any longer, shall we?”

“Can I get something to eat?”

Vanessa sighed.  “Later.  Let’s get inside and hear what you’ve got to say.”  

"All right then."

Jimmy started to turn when he heard someone walking over.  Hideaki rushed up and then Jimmy's stomach dropped as he saw Hideaki grab Merlin in a great big hug.

"I missed you," said Hideaki.  And then he kissed Merlin on her lips.

She seemed embarrassed at the display of emotion and pushed Hideaki away with a grin.  "We can catch up later."

Vanessa folded her arms.  "Yes, I think that would be best."

Jimmy swallowed hard.  So Hideaki and Merlin were an item.  He frowned.  Not that he could blame Hideaki.  Merlin was gorgeous.  

Merlin and Hideaki started walking back toward the superstructure with Vanessa.  Vanessa suddenly stopped and glanced back at Jimmy.  "You coming?”

Jimmy tried to shrug off the pangs of jealousy and looked up.  “Me?”

Vanessa grinned.  “You said you were tired of running, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, let’s stop running.”

Chapter Eighteen

The Kage Maru steamed into the port of Tokyo two days later.  Jimmy stayed in his cabin while the harbor master came aboard to pilot the ship into its berth.  Merlin and Vanessa hung out with him.

Merlin had shed her black outfit from the other night, dressed now in a T-shirt and jeans, and Jimmy had to struggle to keep his thoughts on the mission at hand, rather than how attractive she was.  

“I don’t get it, aren’t we basically broadcasting our presence by coming directly into Tokyo?  Shouldn’t we have entered a smaller port?”

Merlin nodded at Vanessa.  “I like his thinking.”

“You’re not necessarily wrong, Jimmy.  Sometimes, coming into a smaller facility would be better.  But the opposite also holds true.  In this case, the port of Tokyo is so utterly massive, it helps shield us.  Over a hundred million tonnes of cargo come into this port every year.  There are so many ships, so many facilities and so many workers, that we can basically blend in and disappear.”

Merlin nodded.  “And anyone who tries to put surveillance on this place would just be asking for a massive nightmare.  There’s no way they can keep tabs on everyone and everything happening here.”

“Whereas if we entered, say even Yokohama which is further south, we might be making it easier for our enemies.”

Hideaki poked his head in from outside.  “Hey.”

Jimmy waved him in.  Hideaki came and sat down in one of the chairs.  “We’re pulling into the Shinagawa container terminal.  That’s good news.”

“Why?” asked Jimmy.

Hideaki smiled as he rattled off some facts.  “Oldest container facility in Japan.  Got three berths and almost eighty thousand square meters of space.  Plus, the other two berths are all occupied and in the process of unloading.  There’s going to be so much going on, you shouldn’t have any trouble vanishing.”

Vanessa nodded.  “Excellent.  How long until the pilot is off the ship?”

Hideaki shrugged.  “Figure maybe another thirty minutes until he’s got the ship nestled in nice and close and all the paperwork done for the bureaucrats.”

"Good."  Vanessa looked at Jimmy.  “You ready to get out of here?”

“Absolutely.”  He glanced at Merlin and Hideaki who sat close to one another.  “Uh, are you guys coming with us?”

Merlin shook her head.  “Not us.  We’ve got other fish to fry right now."  She smiled at Jimmy.  "But I’m sure we’ll catch up with you at some point.”

Jimmy tried to conceal his disappointment.  He would have liked nothing better than to have Merlin along with them.

“I wouldn’t worry about these guys,” said Vanessa.  “They’ll be around if we need them, but right now, their skills are required in other locales.  In fact, you might say that they’ll be helping confuse the enemy as to our true location.”

Jimmy glanced at Hideaki.  “A diversion?”

“A couple of them if we manage things correctly.  Should give you and Vanessa here plenty of time to run down the business here.”

Jimmy frowned but then stuck his hand out to Hideaki.  “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me.”

Hideaki looked surprised.  “Huh?”

Jimmy shrugged.  “You helped me overcome a lot of my fears.  And then there’s the stuff you taught me afterward.  I’m sure it’ll be a big help.”

Hideaki took a breath and let it out slowly.  "It was my honor to assist you.”  And then he grinned.  "And hey, at some point, I’d like another sparring session with you, okay?”

“I’d like that.”

Merlin whistled.  “You guys sparred?  Jeez.  I would have liked to see that.  I hope you handed him his butt, Jimmy.”

“Very nearly,” said Hideaki.  “Jimmy is endowed with the heart of a lion.  I was honored to do battle with him.”

Merlin stood and shook Jimmy’s hand, too.  “I’m not nearly in the same league as Hideaki, but I’d be happy to show you my particular skill set when there’s more time.”

Jimmy swallowed.  “What skill set is that?”

Merlin smiled.  “Sniper, demolitions.”  She shrugged.  “I know, two extremes – I’m either nice and surgically precise or else I blow it all to hell.”  She laughed.  “But there ya go.”

Jimmy smiled in spite of himself.  “I’d appreciate any knowledge you’d be willing to share.”

“Consider it done.”  Merlin nodded at Hideaki. “Time to disappear.”

“Regular contact schedules if you please,” said Vanessa.  “I don’t like anyone going dark unless we know what it’s for.”

“Roger that,” said Merlin.  Then she and Hideaki left the cabin.

Jimmy sat there and let out a long breath.  “Seems like every time I get close to knowing them, they take off.”

“You don’t really know anyone that well just yet,” said Vanessa.  “Despite what you'd like.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Vanessa leveled a gaze on him.  "Merlin?"

"What?"

"You're not exactly subtle, sweetheart.  I can tell you think she's something."

Jimmy sighed.  "I don't suppose there's much point in trying to deny it, huh?"

"Not with me."

"Well, don't say anything.  It's obvious she and Hideaki are together, anyway."

"I wont,” said Vanessa.  "Just try to stay focused on the job at hand, all right?"

"Yeah."

“Be ready to do as I say at any moment.  If we’re discovered before we can get our job done here then we may have to make a run for it.  As much as I don’t want to do that.”

“What exactly are we here to do?”

Vanessa stood and looked out of the porthole.  “I’ll explain that once we’re ashore.  No sense telling you too much now.  Just make sure you’re packed light.”

“What about the hanbo?”

“Same as at the airport.  Put the false handle and rubber tip on it and it becomes a cane that is perfectly acceptable in public.”

"How'd you know I did that at the airport-?"

Vanessa just stared at him.  

"Never mind."  Jimmy dug around in his bag and put both pieces back on the hanbo.  It was weird how attached he’d grown to the tool.  He ran a hand down its oiled length and marveled at how much damage it could do in trained hands.

Vanessa let the curtain on the porthole fall back into place.  “That’s it, we’re docked.”

Jimmy stood up.  “Time to go?”

“Yes.”

She led him up to the main deck.  Stepping out into the bright sunshine, Jimmy smelled an assortment of scents, but Vanessa was already tugging his hand and directing him to put on a hard hat and a red jacket that made him look like a dock worker.

“30,000 people work here everyday.  Now you’re just one more of them.”

“I don’t exactly look Japanese,” said Jimmy.

“You don’t exactly not look Japanese, either,” said Vanessa.  “Besides, this place is a melting pot.  Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, and more all mingle here when the boats come in.  If anything, I’ll stick out more than you.”  As she said that, she tucked her hair under her own helmet and shrugged on a jacket as well.  “But let’s hope we can minimize our exposure, shall we?”

Jimmy followed her down the gangway and stepped onto the dock.  Planting his feet firmly on the ground for the first time in weeks felt odd, but as they walked the length of the berth, he got used to it quickly.

“You okay?” asked Vanessa.

“Getting my legs back,” said Jimmy.  “I’m good.”

Vanessa pointed at the entrance to the terminal.  “We can find a taxi over there.”

“Where are we going?”

“Jimbocho.  You know it?”

Jimmy shook his head.  “How would I know it?  I’ve never been here before.”

“If you say so.”

What did she mean by that?  He frowned.  Of course he had no idea where Jimbocho was or even what it was.  Was it s street?  The name of a place?  A store?  Nothing seemed to make sense.  Jimmy just let himself get caught up in the flow of people all around him and made sure to keep an eye on Vanessa as she threaded her way through the throngs of workers.

At the terminal entrance, Vanessa opened the door to a taxi and Jimmy noticed that as she held the door for him, she made a cursory glance around to check for any interest.  Seeing none, she slid inside and nodded at Jimmy.  “Tell him where to go.”

“Uh…”

Vanessa looked at him.  “Well, he won’t go anywhere if you don’t tell him.”

“I don’t speak Japanese.”

Vanessa’s eyes opened wider.  “Are you sure about that?”

“Of course I’m sure.  Why would you think that I did?  I’ve never been here before in my life.”

“You just asked me a moment ago where we were headed and I told you.”

“You said Jimbocho.”

From the front seat, the driver grunted suddenly.  “
Jimbocho, hai
.”

Jimmy looked at him and without thinking said, “
Domo
.”  The driver inclined his head slightly and then tiny taxi shot away from the terminal entrance and into the traffic slipstream.

Jimmy frowned.  “How did I know how to say that?”

Vanessa looked amused.  “You tell me, Mr. Linguist.”

Jimmy shook his head.  “Something tells me that I’m the only one not being let in on the joke here.”

“You will be soon enough, Jimmy.  Just stay patient a little while longer and I promise you’ll have most of your questions answered.”

“Most of them?  What happened to all of them?”

Vanessa shrugged.  “Some of your questions don’t have answers.  Well, at least not yet they don’t.”

“How is that possible?”

“It’s possible because you haven’t created the answers yet.  The future isn’t written.  Once it is, you’ll know the answers.”

Jimmy shook his head and tried to focus on the mass of cars and trucks whizzing past them on the highway.  “Sometimes talking with you is more confusing than just staying quiet.”

“Yes, but it’s nowhere near as fun,” said Vanessa.  She nudged him.  “You are having fun, aren’t you, Jimmy?”

He frowned.  “I don’t think that answer’s been created yet.”

She laughed.  “Excellent.  Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.  Sometimes, that’s all any of us have.”

Once your work is done in Tokyo, you must tell Vanessa to take you to Mount Matsuda.

The voice startled him.  “Mount Matsuda?”

“What did you say?”  Vanessa eyed him.

“Uh, nothing, never mind.”  Jimmy sighed.  Why Mount Matsuda?

Because that where the Matsuda-ryu ninja call home.

Home.  Jimmy stared out of the taxi window.  He wondered what it would be like to truly have a home after all this time.

He thought about Kotogawa then and wondered if he'd ever get a chance to see it after all.

Chapter Nineteen

A weird assortment of cars and trucks zipped past Jimmy’s window as he stared out at the Tokyo metropolis.  He’d never seen the majority of the models of cars flying along the roads and said as much to Vanessa.

“They don’t sell the same cars in the United States.  Some of them aren’t approved for sale there.”

“Yeah, that and the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” said Vanessa with a smile.  “Seems to me they’ve got it the right way around.”

Jimmy grinned.  “You would say that being from England and all.”

“Great Britain,” said Vanessa.  “I prefer that.”

The taxi driver wheeled around a van so fast that Jimmy nearly smashed his face against the window.  He slid back against the seat and checked to make sure his seat belt was secure.  Vanessa smiled again.

“Better sit back until we get there.”

Jimmy nodded.  “Yeah, that might be good plan.”  He glanced at her.  “Where are we going, anyway?”

“Jimbocho.  It’s in the Kanda district.”

“Okay, so what are we there for?”

She eyed him seriously.  “Sort of slipped your mind, has it?”

“What has?”

“What we spoke about a few weeks back when I first brought you to the house.  You don’t remember it, do you?”

Jimmy frowned.  The house.  It all seemed so long ago now.  Especially given everything else they’d been through since then.  He remembered arriving there at night.  The attack.  The workout.  Vanessa talking to someone-

“Scrolls.”

Vanessa nodded.  “So, it was still in there.”

“Are the scrolls one of the relics you told me about?"

"The first relic we must recover, yes.  We’re going to Jimbocho to see if we can find a lead on the scrolls.”

“You mean they’re not in the place we’re going?”

“That would be a bit too obvious.  And given the people who are after them, it would make their jobs far too easy.  No, the scrolls are elsewhere.  We’ll be doing a lot more traveling before this is all over with.”

Jimmy nodded and then slumped back.  All of a sudden the taxi lurched and then came to a screeching halt.  Jimmy would have planted his face against the Plexiglas separator, but Vanessa held him back.

From the front seat, the driver grunted again.  “Jimbocho.”

Vanessa withdrew a wad of yen notes from her bag and handed them over to the driver.  “
Arigato
.”