The Ninja Apprentice: The Lost Scrolls of Fudo Shin

by Jon F. Merz

  “Most people disregard western boxing as nothing but a sport, but if you know how to throw a jab and a cross effectively, you’ll set yourself apart from most of the world’s fighters. Knowing how to impart massive amounts of power behind your strikes means that when you hit someone, they will go down.”

  Jimmy rubbed his head. “I think I recall a few of those strikes.”

  Hideaki smiled. “And you know now that I wasn’t even using the majority of my skill when we fought.”

  “Thank god.”

  They continued talking and training nightly, but again, Hideaki never pressured Jimmy too much. To Jimmy it seemed as though they trusted him to do what was expected and if that meant studying all night, they knew he would.

  He felt different now. All of the training and the experiences he'd had in a relatively short time seemed as though they'd happened years previously. He felt more comfortable each day, despite the fact that he still pushed himself harder than ever.

  Vanessa had caught him staring out to sea one evening soon after Hideaki had shown him some of the Silat knife fighting. The roar of waves from far below and the crisp night air had made Jimmy pensive.

  Vanessa was her usual quiet sneaky self as she approached, but Jimmy sensed her coming toward him.

  “It’s a nice night. Just thought I’d take a moment and appreciate it for a bit.”

  Vanessa made no comment on the fact that he’d detected her. She merely nodded as if confirming something she already knew and then sat next to him. “So, what are you thinking about?”

  “Things.”

  Vanessa smiled. “Things. Indeed.”

  “It feels different now.” He looked at her face partially in the shadows of the night. “Is that how it’s supposed to be?”

  Vanessa shrugged. “How does it feel different?”

  Jimmy told her about the fear he’d felt before. “It’s not that I’m not afraid anymore – I mean I know I’ll always have fear in my life depending on what I do, but-“

  “-but now you know how to deal with it.”

  Jimmy nodded. “I know I can’t defeat it. I have to accept it.”

  Vanessa smiled. “Courage isn’t the absence of fear, Jimmy. It’s doing what you have to do in spite of the fear you feel. The bravest people are often the most scared. But they don’t let that fear stop them from acting or doing what they have to do. That’s the difference between warriors and other people.”

  Jimmy said nothing. Was he a warrior? He wasn't sure he felt like one yet.

  Vanessa continued. “Other people let fear control every aspect of their lives. From what they do for work to how they act and even who they marry. It’s a common comment these days for people to say silly things like, ‘well, I’m this old now so this is what I’m supposed to be doing.’” She smiled. “Can you imagine giving up the freedom to choose your own destiny?”

  Jimmy frowned. “Well, actually, yeah. I kinda feel like I don’t have any control over my destiny right now.”

  “I know it’s felt that way,” said Vanessa. “Given everything that you’ve been exposed to. Everyone who wants to harm you. You feel like all you’re doing right now is running, isn’t that right?”

  “Yeah, exactly. I mean, here you are telling me that I’m part of this warrior thing and yet I feel like I’m a prisoner because other people want to kill me for being someone I've never even known I was.”

  “They want to kill you because of what you represent, Jimmy. And that is the notion that a person can live and truly be free. Those in power are in power precisely because they oppress others and keep them from realizing that possibility. Being what you are – what you’re being trained to be – you represent a serious threat to that control they have.”

  “But you’re a warrior, too. So is Hideaki.”

  Vanessa nodded. “Indeed we are. But you are something we are not.”

  Jimmy sighed. “The last in the lineage, I know.”

  “Your bloodline runs back many, many generations, Jimmy. And every ancestor you’ve had has been just as you are now.”

  "So, how did they handle it?"

  Vanessa shook her head. "I have no idea. Probably about as well as you're handling it."

  "That well, huh?"

  You will learn to embrace it in time.

  Jimmy jumped. “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  “Never mind.” Jimmy stared out at the ocean. All this talk of being a ninja warrior and he had weird voices in his head. Now Vanessa probably thought he was going nuts.

  We will speak more when you arrive in Japan.

  Jimmy perked up and saw Vanessa staring at him with a searching look in her eyes. “You all right?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Good, because we’ve got things to discuss.”

  “We do?”

  Vanessa stood and ran a hand through her hair. “Been a long trip, hasn’t it?”

  “In some ways, yeah. But in others, it’s been nice, I guess. I mean now that Hideaki and I are friends and all.”

  "Are you friends?"

  Jimmy frowned. "Well, yeah...I mean, I guess so. He's not being a jerk anymore."

  Vanessa nodded. "Good." She stared out at the ocean. “We’ll be in Japan in two days.”

  “What happens then?”

  “We leave the ship and hit the ground running in Tokyo.”

  Jimmy sighed. “Great, more running. I imagine there will be lots of people there who want to kill me as well?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I’m hoping we’ve given the majority of them the slip for the time being. We’ve hopefully vanished off their radar and they’re scrambling to find you. That should give us a little bit of breathing room.”

  “That would be nice.”

  Vanessa shrugged. “In any event, you won’t be doing much running.”

  “I won’t?”

  But Vanessa was looking skyward. “Ah, right on time...this should give us some much needed information.”

  “What will?”

  Vanessa pointed up at the inky sky. Jimmy frowned but could make out nothing up there that seemed out of the ordinary. What was she looking at? The stars? “Vanessa-“

  But in the next moment, he heard the sudden fwop of something like a giant wing opening and then in the periphery of the ship’s lights, he thought he saw a pair of boots that gradually materialized into the form of a someone dressed entirely in black wearing a helmet and oxygen bottle strapped to their chest. Jimmy saw now that it was a woman.

  She dropped easily onto the deck and the parachute folded in around her. She flipped it off and then unbuckled the oxygen feed and helmet.

  Jimmy stood up.

  Vanessa folded her arms. “Fair one. A bit noisy on the final approach and all but overall, I’d give it about an eight.”

  “An eight?” The woman off her parachute rig and then took off her helmet. “Some people just can’t be impressed.” She turned and smiled at Jimmy. “How ya been, Jimmy?”

  Jimmy caught his breath. “Merlin?”

  She bowed slightly. “The same.”

  “Where’d you come from?”

  Merlin pointed skyward. “A friendly lift from an unassuming commercial airliner. They dropped me at thirty-five thousand feet and I shot down here.”

  “Just like that?”

  Vanessa grumbled. “She makes it sound so easy.” She pointed to the oxygen bottle. “She’s got oxygen so she doesn’t pass out above thirteen thousand where the air’s too thin. On her left wrist is the altimeter so she knows when to pull the ripcord. And then she’s got the GPS locator strapped on her as well so she can guide herself on to the drop zone. Plus, in case she blacks out because there’s a problem with the O2 bottle, she has an AOD – automatic opening device that will pop the chute and save her life.”

  Merlin sighed. “Talk about taking all the magic out of it, sheesh. I still had to make sure I didn’t land in the drink. And it was a HALO drop. I should have j
ust HAHO’d instead. Would have been more impressive.”

  Vanessa shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. There’s something about shooting down at terminal velocity before popping the canopy at 1500 feet that’s rather majestic.”

  Jimmy frowned. “HALO? HAHO?”

  Merlin held up her hand. “Sorry, HALO means ‘High Altitude Low Opening’ and HAHO means ‘High Altitude High Opening.’ When you HALO, you jump high and pull low. HAHO gives you the option to jump high and open your chute high up. From there you can guide yourself onto target without making that sound I made when I popped the chute lower to you.”

  Vanessa sighed. “All this technical jargon is nice, but at the end of the day, they’re simply two options for inserting into an area.”

  “Again with the raining on my parade,” sighed Merlin. “I swear I don’t know why I tolerate it.”

  Vanessa smiled. “Well, it’s nice to have you back with us.” She raised her eyebrows while Jimmy examined the parachute. “Am I correct in assuming you have some news for us?”

  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.