by Joe Weber
"Stay calm, okay?" He clutched Susan's badge.
"What are my choices?"
They rushed out in the middle of traffic and Steve leaped in front of a taxi and held up the badge.
"Stop! Stop!" he shouted while they ran to the driver's window as the cab skidded to a halt.
"We have an emergency," Steve said and motioned for the two businessmen in the backseat to get out. "We must get to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible!"
The startled men got out of the back of the taxi and stood there in silence while Susan and Steve jumped in and the driver floored the accelerator.
"Steve," she said, staring through the windshield. "I can't believe you did--"
Susan's joyous relief was abruptly cut off by a round that penetrated the roof of the cab.
"Drive!" Steve ordered while he grabbed Susan and covered her with his body. "Isoideiru! Hurry!"
The frightened driver barely glanced up at his shattered roof as he skillfully weaved his way through the congested traffic. He hunched over the steering wheel and never once looked in the rearview mirror at his passengers.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked when he finally helped Susan to a sitting position.
"I think so," she replied weakly and slumped in the seat. "I don't know whether to thank you"--she looked up and shook her head--"or shoot you."
Steve shrugged with nervous fatigue. "Don't make any rash decisions. We're not out of this yet."
"May I ask just one small question?" Susan said while he returned her badge and Smith & Wesson.
"Sure"--he smiled uncomfortably--"if it isn't too personal."
"How have you managed to live this long?"
"Careful planning," Steve replied and motioned for the driver to pull over.
Wickham gave the shocked and confused man a generous tip and they walked a half block and caught another taxi to take them to the Keio Plaza Hotel.
"Susan," Steve began when the cab pulled into traffic, "we'll brief our people about who was behind the attack at Pearl Harbor, then check out of the hotel. We need to get out of the country and let the heavy hitters in Washington take over."
"I agree with that assessment." She noticed that her hands were trembling.
"Yeah," Steve replied with a grin of embarrassment. "It got a little crazy, but what do you do when the suspect from Hawaii walks into the office next to you . . . and looks through the glass partition?"
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Susan chided him while she clasped her hands together. "We didn't have any other options, except drawing our weapons and eventually being surrounded by Matsukawa's security personnel."
"Surrounded and shot. Thanks for what you did back there." An odd silence settled between them before she finally spoke. "Your quick thinking saved both of us."
"Well," he responded, "I'd have to describe it as shifting into survival mode."
Susan allowed a tiny smile and grasped his hand. "I think we're a good team."
Steve gently squeezed her hand. "A great team."
They stared into each other's eyes, keeping their warm feelings bottled inside so their collective vulnerability wouldn't show.
Steve finally broke the spell. "When I contact Langley, I'll make arrangements to have the military pick us up at Atsugi, then we'll go to the air base for security reasons."
"Atsugi?"
"It's a U. S. Navy airfield just west of Yokohama. We'll be safe there."
"I still think I'll shoot you," she observed with a quiet laugh, "and save you the trouble of waiting for someone else to put you out of your misery."
Chapter 41.
ANCHORAGE
Genshiro Koyama felt light-headed and feared that he might be on the verge of having a major stroke. Small black dots drifted to and fro in his field of vision and his balance was strangely off center. You bastard, he thought as he studied the American President. When your country is bankrupt and the remnants of your carrier battle groups are rusting in storage, Japan will own America.
"Prime Minister Koyama," the President went on with a renewed determination not to taunt the highly respected Japanese leader. "In the best interest of both of our countries and our combined allies and trading partners, we want to help make Japan's military strong enough to be a deterrent to would-be aggressors, yet not a threat to the global balance of power."
Koyama was only half listening to the man he considered to be an incompetent, dangerous fool. The Prime Minister firmly believed that the American President had developed a loud, irritating bark to offset his rubber teeth.
"We are going to increase our protective commitment," the President continued in a calm, relaxed manner, "to ensure that Japan has adequate U. S. military support in Southeast Asia."
Koyama finally found his voice. "I'm afraid you're deluding yourself about making the decisions on how large Japan's military forces are going to be."
The heavy mood, combined with the opposing personalities and tough talk, were threatening to shatter the fragile alliance of the former bitter enemies.
"I wouldn't have made the statement," the President said emphatically, "if I had any doubt about the outcome of the policy I intend to pursue."
The irascible Japanese politician scowled with anger and gave himself time to think. His contempt was further aroused by his indignation at losing face, and the American detected the emotion.
"Japan regained its independence in 1952," Koyama growled, "and we will decide what is in the best interest of our country and military."
The President struggled to hold himself in check. "Prime Minister Koyama, you're going out on a dangerous limb, and it's not all that strong."
Koyama bolted forward in his chair and flared his nostrils. "The days of dancing to the whims of the White House are over," the ruffled Prime Minister spat venomously, "and you better get used to it."
Now it was time for the American to measure his words before he opened his mouth.
"What we're going to have to get used to," the President responded evenly, "is helping each other through difficult times and agreeing to what is in the best interest of the whole world--not just Japan or the United States."
"We will not be dictated to by America," Koyama replied in a low voice, "or by anyone else, for that matter."
"The facts may be distasteful," the President conceded in a voice laced with canned sadness, "but Japan has had a taste of sobriety--a taste of reality, if you will--from the boom days of the eighties to the difficult days of the nineties."
The President fixed Koyama in his stare. "There are certain steps we must take to ease the concerns of our neighbors, and one of the first tasks is a realignment of the Japanese military structure."
The Prime Minister coldly returned the unblinking stare and leaned toward the man who was causing him a great deal of mental anguish and personal humiliation. "We will not reduce our military forces to suit the U. S., and I am not going to discuss the issue."
With his decision announced, Koyama leaned back and shifted in his chair.
Cocking his head to the side, the President gazed at the distant mountains and turned to Koyama. "There isn't an option available to Japan, and I'm confident that the United Nations and world opinion will be on our side.
"As partners," he continued, "we can reduce your active military in an orderly fashion and store much of the inventory to be used as replacements in the future."
The President peacefully folded his hands. "Or we can do it for you . . . by whatever means are necessary. It's your choice."
The years of Genshiro Koyama's deep-seated antagonism toward America boiled to the surface and overflowed. With fire in his eyes, he fought to control his emotions and keep his anger to himself while he considered the future.
"Ultimately," the Prime Minister spat, "we will prevail--and America will answer to Japan."
EPILOGUE:
Working with the Japanese National Police Agency, FBI investigators were able to interrogate Mishima Takahashi after
he confessed his involvement in the assault at Pearl Harbor and the JAL crash landing at Los Angeles International Airport.
The dethroned senior executive also implicated another Matsukawa Corporation top manager who had directed the attacks staged by the Chukaku-Ha terrorist group.
With his face twisted in an agonizing expression of sadness and guilt, Mishima Takahashi voluntarily appeared on Japanese television and admitted his part in the diabolical scheme. Less than three weeks later, Takahashi was sentenced to spend his life in confinement.
In a face-saving gesture, the Matsukawa Corporation paid over 1.8 million yen to each of the passengers and the families of the victims aboard the Star of Honolulu and Japan Air Lines Flight 62. In addition, the company donated the mansion to the state of Hawaii and established a generous scholarship fund at the University of Hawaii.
Using the information they had gained from Mishima Takahashi, FBI agents were able to link Bryce Mellongard and Senator Frank Brazzell, the powerful Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to Tadashi Matsukawa.
The tenacious Attorney General shifted into high gear and Washington hummed with investigations and legal wrangling. When the fallout settled around the Beltway, new faces appeared at the helms of the House Appropriations Committee, House Science and Technology Committee, the Committee on Foreign Investment, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Secretary of Defense was replaced by a retired Army general.
Known only to Matsukawa, the leak in the Central Intelligence Agency went undiscovered. The senior official, who had amassed a small fortune by providing classified information to the wealthy businessman, retired three months after Matsukawa died.
Despite a lengthy argument with Japanese law-enforcement officials, the identities of the two American agents who were involved in Matsukawa's death were kept secret.
After two weeks of extensive debriefings in Washington, Susan happily joined Steve for a twelve-night cruise to the Mediterranean. The amorous relationship, which had blossomed during the relaxing vacation, continued to develop after they returned from the trip.
Susan applied for a transfer to the Washington area and was reassigned to the FBI headquarters.
The President of the United States, gambling that Tokyo would not retaliate after the bitter encounter in Alaska, vowed to take a tougher stance on trade issues with Japan. Tired of the frivolous squabbles over endless details in the trade dispute, the President took a no-holds-barred approach to dealing with the Japanese government.
Using the Matsukawa scandal as political leverage, he increased import duties on various Japanese products and promised another round of antidumping lawsuits aimed at Japanese automakers.
***
After the Japanese submarine Harushio returned to port, Lieutenant Commander Oda Kanjiro had a change of heart and reported the Sea Ferret torpedo attack on the burning and defenseless American carrier.
Under intense questioning, Commander Shigezo Takagi initially grew defensive about his actions, then brazenly admitted firing the stealth torpedoes at Kitty Hawk. Consumed with rage, Takagi fervently cited his responsibilities to his country, to his devoted crew members, and to his submarine.
Takagi was immediately relieved of his command and placed under military arrest.
Defiant to the end, the ardent practitioner of Zen Buddhism and follower of Sun Tzu--The Art of War--committed harakiri by disemboweling himself with a screwdriver he had deftly slipped into his sock when he was escorted from Harushio.
Prime Minister Koyama, stunned by the Matsukawa revelation, publicly expressed sorrow over the horrible incidents that had been perpetrated by the Japanese billionaire. Behind the scenes, Genshiro Koyama grudgingly manufactured an air of conciliation and cooperation with the White House.
However, Japanese military research and development, including the production of an arsenal of nuclear weapons, continued unabated behind a facade of civilian-related enterprises.
The President and his advisers were unaware of the seed they had planted in the Japanese Prime Minister and his staunchest supporters. The feelings of humiliation and utter frustration galvanized the Japanese leaders into a core of driven men.
Koyama and his colleagues were determined to set Japan on a course to defeat and rule America, regardless of how many generations it would take to position themselves. The Prime Minister and other powerful Japanese leaders became obsessed with the ambitious dream, and dedicated their lives to the day America would become a Japanese colony.
REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR--KEEP AMERICA ALERT
The motto of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association
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