by Titan Books
Yutani’s daughter was present, as well. Bruised and scraped in places that were visible and others that were not, she sat stiffly, both earlobes carefully protected by bandages she had colored a bright blue. A tight invisible wrap braced her sprained left knee.
One Brit, two Yutani board members—Kasawi and Arikoki, an ineffectual company cop, and his daughter. These were all he required at the moment—at least until the police filed their preliminary report on the attempted kidnapping. Though he did his best to restrain himself from haranguing the authorities, he had made it clear that he was not happy with the pace of discovery.
Some of his frustration and anger seeped away as he regarded his daughter.
No father could have been prouder of his offspring. If not for her quick thinking, the kidnapping might well have succeeded. Had he been taken, as well, Yutani would have tried anything to prevent her escape attempt. The fall from the back of the van could easily have proven fatal. He had to prevent himself from smiling, though, when he imagined the confusion it must have caused her kidnappers.
A smile would not do—particularly not now and especially in front of his subordinates.
In contrast, the image of his daughter lying dead and broken on a road almost brought a tear to his eye. Almost. He steeled himself. Jenny herself would not approve of such a show of raw emotion on her father’s part. He was Hideo Yutani, and he had an aura to protect.
The martial arts training that likely had saved her life had also saved her face. A team of the best doctors in Tokyo had made quick work of repairs to her abraded skin. The bandages on her earlobes showed that they would take longer to heal, and the invisible wrap caused her to walk with a very slight limp that no employee would have been indelicate enough to comment upon.
As Yutani prepared to speak, Captain Sato rose, approached, and bowed as low as he possibly could without embarrassing either himself or his boss. In his left hand he held a small package that had been wrapped in thick gold leaf and secured with a bow glistening with glitter made from crushed amethyst. Yutani eyed it with a mixture of curiosity and approval. Whatever it was, it had clearly cost the security officer plenty. The result was elegantly done and not overstated.
“What is this, Captain?”
“Something for your daughter, Shacho-san. She may choose to throw them away, but I thought it best that she be offered that option.” Yutani nodded, and the man turned toward his daughter.
When he handed it to her, the younger Yutani accepted the package politely. Sato resumed his seat while she unwrapped the box he had handed her. Amethyst dust sparkled purple in the air of the cafeteria as she untied the ribbon and casually tore open the gold leaf wrapping.
The box contained two objects packed in aerogel. One was the heel of the shoe she had broken off while being forced into the elevator, and the matching shoe she had abandoned in the garage. The satellite chip and transmitter were barely visible in the broken heel.
Sato bobbed his head in her direction. “We could not have located you nearly so quickly, or perhaps not even at all, had you not had the foresight to equip your footwear with suitable tracking devices.” He indicated the broken heel. “By leaving that behind, you informed my people that there was no helicopter coming to take you off the roof. The second sent the nearest patrol to the garage, where they were able to begin following your abductor’s vehicle, after which it was never out of our sight, or that of the authorities.”
Her father nodded. “Everything happened so fast that they were not given time to inspect or scan my daughter’s attire.” He shrugged. “It’s possible they might never have discovered the inserts. Their operation was sophisticated, but not perfect. That is the case with most criminals and many companies: in concentrating on the big picture, they often overlook the small things that cause their operations to fail.
“My initial assumption,” Yutani continued, “was that the attempt to kidnap my daughter was simply for ransom. That was her thought as well, yet if money had been the object, why go to the trouble of penetrating building security? Why not simply try to accost her and her bodyguards when she was out visiting friends, or shopping, or at a spa?” He looked around at his diminished group of advisers. “Taking her from here, and in the middle of a board meeting, suggested that her abductors wished to make a statement. Thanks to Jenny we have confirmation of that.” He nodded at his daughter. “Tell everyone what your kidnappers told you.”
She shifted in her chair. “When I told them that my father would pay whatever ransom they asked, they replied that they weren’t interested in money.” She paused for emphasis. “What they wanted was for the company to cancel the Covenant mission.”
Murmurs arose from among the assembled. A startled Davies spoke first. “But—that’s the same demand that was made by the would-be saboteur on the ship!”
Shiro was next. “First the incident on the Covenant, then the episode in London, and now this. Happening so close together, I cannot but believe they are connected. That they must be part of some greater plot.” He looked baffled. “Why this sudden desire on the part of people half a world apart to kill the colonization project? A desire strong enough to cost several of them their lives? Who would benefit that much from the cancelling of the Covenant mission?”
Davies all but snarled. “Our competitors, that’s who. Or rather, our only remaining competitor for the colonization contract with the wherewithal and the desire to formulate and carry out such a world-wide effort. Not to mention a desire to see Weyland-Yutani fail.” He growled the name. “Jutou.”
Raising a hand, Yutani quieted the resultant mix of excited conversation and cursing. “I must say that was my initial thought, as well. Zhang Qiangda, Chen Chao, Lin Niu: any one of that triad running the Jutou Combine would be capable on their own of formulating such a plot. Working together, I would put nothing past them.”
“Deki sokonai,” Shiro murmured. “Even for them, going to such lengths seems extreme.”
“Who else could it be, then?” Davies muttered. “Who else would have the resources, the reach, and the desire to see Weyland-Yutani fail so spectacularly? Who else would have the gall even to try?”
“That there are others who would wish such an outcome cannot be denied.” Yutani turned thoughtful. “But you are both right, I think. Confronted with such allegations, Jutou would of course deny everything. I have no doubt that if they are indeed the prime mover behind all this, they are clever enough to do so with clean hands.” He shook his head slowly. “That Zhang, she would kiss you passionately while carrying a knife in each hand behind her back.”
Kasawi flinched. “Forgive me, sir, if I confess that the image unsettles my stomach.”
The head of Weyland-Yutani managed a slight grin. “Better unsettled than skewered.” The grin vanished as he eyed his bandaged daughter. “Do not worry. If it is indeed Jutou who is responsible for these multiple affronts, we will deal with them appropriately.”
Wincing slightly at a lingering pain, Jenny Yutani addressed them again.
“I don’t understand. Why such a desire to see colonization fail? Not Weyland-Yutani necessarily, but a project that stands to benefit all peoples? The successful colonization of other worlds and the spread of humankind not only provides a relief valve for the population, it will eventually lessen the demands on our dwindling natural resources, while ensuring the survival of the species.” She shook her head sadly. “One would think such things would outweigh any personal or corporate greediness.”
Davies was nodding knowingly. “Yes, one would think that. You would, I would, all of us here would—but we are not Jutou.”
“Come now, Mark.” Yutani waved a hand. “If the situation was reversed, if it was Weyland-Jotou that had control of the colonization project, do you think we would be any less rapacious?”
The Englishman gave a slight shrug. “Perhaps not, but our methods of reacting would be different.” He hesitated a moment, suddenly uncertain. “Wouldn’t they?�
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“Of course they would.” Yutani’s voice did not rise, and his subordinate relaxed. “While we would pursue any reasonable means at our disposal to regain the contract, those means would not extend to kidnapping and sacrificing of the lives of our employees.”
His daughter indicated her agreement. “So then, we may conclude that their intention is to give Weyland-Yutani a black eye where the Covenant mission is concerned. To force its cancellation, whereupon they would likely step in and offer to ‘save’ the future of colonization.”
Her father was about to concur and add a comment of his own when the meeting was interrupted by the arrival of a courier. Bowing to Sato, the man handed the captain a sealed eproof envelope, pivoted smartly, and departed. The others waited while Sato opened the container. Harkening back to the very advent of writing, it seemed a primitive method of communicating. It was also slow and comparatively expensive. As such it was reserved only for communications of importance, where the contents had to remain inviolate. Provided it was conveyed in an appropriately impenetrable vessel, ordinary writing was unhackable.
When Sato had finished reading, he refolded the letter, a look of astonishment on his face.
“It appears we were wrong about at least one thing.” He met each of their gazes in turn. “The men who drowned in the front of the service vehicle that was used to kidnap Jenny-sama were not Yutani employees, like the saboteur on board the Covenant and the assassin who died in London.” He concentrated his attention on the only Brit present. “They were Weyland.”
It was silent in the cafeteria as those present digested this. “It could be coincidental,” Yutani proposed, “except that nothing else involving this business has been coincidental. If the assassin in London was a Yutani employee, then let us go a step further and presume that his female accomplice, who escaped, was also a Yutani employee. So. Two Yutani employees attack us in London. While here in Tokyo, we are assailed by Weyland employees.
“Assuming once again that there is design behind everything that has occurred, what might be the rationale for this?”
Kasawi managed to speak before the others.
“To make the team at Weyland fearful of Yutani, and those of us here worry about motivations at Weyland.” He appeared to be very confident of his analysis. “To sow dissention in the company, even as our antagonists try to have the Covenant mission cancelled.”
Yutani nodded. “Such attention to detail shows much forethought.” He turned to Sato. “My daughter told us of five kidnappers. What of the other three?”
The captain looked unhappy. “The garage through which the van fled before driving into the river was thoroughly searched. So were the attached office complex and the surrounding area. It was assumed that the three who carried out the actual kidnapping would quickly have resorted to a change of clothing and perhaps facial features as well, but every one of those citizens who were confronted in the immediate vicinity were able to establish their innocence.”
“So the three men who abused my daughter simply vanished?”
Sato swallowed hard. “The police continue to scour the area for clues. I am assured that the instant they find anything of significance, I will be informed.”
“Perhaps, father,” the younger Yutani opined, “what you said about fostering dissention within the company is true, but it is not Jutou who is responsible.”
They all looked at her. “If not the combine, then who?” Davies asked. “Who else would have the resources—or the motive?”
“I do not know the answer to that,” she replied demurely. “I am only saying that in our understandable haste to condemn Jutou, it might be wise to consider the possibility that others might be behind this. Consider that a third party wishing to see the Covenant mission cancelled would benefit greatly from any clash between Weyland-Yutani and Jutou. Not only would it enhance their apparent goal—which is to disrupt the mission itself—but pitting the two great companies against one another could only result in further delays in the settling of other worlds.”
The reactions of the men around her showed that in their eagerness to point the finger of accusation at Jutou, hers was a rationale they hadn’t fully considered.
“What if,” she continued, “whoever is behind these incidents wishes not only to see the Covenant mission scrapped, but Weyland-Yutani destroyed? And for all we know, the Jutou Combine, as well?” She paused, letting the argument take hold.
“Who, or what, is out there that would like to see that?”
* * *
The flood of accusations that followed the kidnapping of Jenny Yutani employed her father’s use of the shotgun effect. Throw out enough theories, engage a sufficient number of suspects, and one might hit the mark. Meanwhile the police pursued investigations of their own.
No one turned up anything useful.
As an active precaution, security guarded every site where suppliers to the Covenant were active, lest another saboteur find their way aboard. The same precautions were taken at relevant company locations without providing anything in the way of explanation. Staff often reacted with bewilderment.
No one could explain why even disgruntled employees of the highly successful company would seek to undermine its most prestigious project. Had the principals behind the disruption—from the security applicant in London to the kidnappers in Tokyo—been bought by Jutou, or by someone else? And if they had not been bought, if they were operating and sacrificing themselves out of other, as yet unrecognized, motives, what could be extreme enough to drive an employee to attack his own company?
The ship’s would-be saboteur had been a model employee. The same proved to be true of the operators of the service van. As yet, nothing was known of the three black-clad kidnappers who had actually carried out the attempt, but when they were finally tracked down and captured, it would surprise no one to learn that they, too, had been members in good standing of the worldwide Weyland-Yutani family.
Provided they don’t kill themselves first, Hideo Yutani mused.
The penthouse that formed his principle residence occupied the top five floors of the Kurihama complex. Below that, the 122nd and 123rd were occupied by security, servants, and other staff while three more were reserved for Yutani himself and visiting family. Typical of its kind, the twisted, cylindrical building was designed to sway slightly during earthquakes and facilitate airflow around its exterior in the event of a typhoon.
Since it had been built it had survived both—as had Yutani.
By far the greatest of storms, however, was the one that had involved the takeover of the Weyland corporation. Now sudden, unforeseen events threatened to cast a shadow, not only over the development of the David series and the departure of the great colonization ship Covenant, but over the entire empire he had built. This latest incident had struck at the heart of his own family, indicating the intensity that drove its perpetrators. Finding out who they were became an overriding imperative for him and for his staff.
Since the Englishman Davies had immediately pointed the finger of suspicion at Jutou, Yutani had ordered him to turn his suspicious mind toward other potential enemies, as well. Since Kasawi had shown himself to be more flexible in his theories, Yutani assigned him the task of investigating Jutou. It was always better, the chairman felt, to divert subordinates away from their pet theories and force them to examine other possibilities. Working separately, the two vice-presidents were more likely to come up with a correct explanation.
As a wild card, he acceded to his daughter’s request that she be allowed to investigate other, less obvious alternatives. He could of course have forbidden her from having anything to do with the rapidly expanding investigation. As her father he commanded her respect. As her senior within Weyland-Yutani he demanded compliance. On the other hand, it was difficult to fire one’s own offspring for disobedience—especially when she had time and again proven herself as skilled as any of his other employees.
He did not fear a second kidnap
ping attempt. Not given the increased security that now surrounded all Yutani family members. Also, given the expertise the initial effort had demonstrated, he would be surprised if the perpetrators would prove so unwise as to repeat something that had already failed.
No, the company’s unknown tormentors would strike elsewhere, and most likely in a manner just as unexpected. The notion was unsettling, but not frightening. Weyland-Yutani wasn’t some poor shopkeeper hawking stimulants and rice cakes beneath an elevated train. The company commanded vast resources that were only now being put into play. Be it the Jutou Combine, another company, or some unknown entity, they would be found out and their perfidy suitably punished.
Meanwhile, once all final preparations were complete and the Covenant’s crew was at full-strength, the colony ship would depart on schedule. Nothing would stop that, no matter what the reason behind the recent incidents.
Lifting a glass to his lips, he took a long sip of Rokku-prime. In front of his underlings and the public, and in keeping with the image of the hard-driving head of a giant corporation, he could readily drink hard liquor. In private, he preferred plain sparkling water. One needed a clear head for thinking in private.
In the distance he could see the snow-capped crown of Mount Fuji. Later in the day the city’s notorious haze would obscure it, but this morning a cantankerous breeze kept the atmosphere clean enough for him to enjoy the view. If he looked in another direction, up the bay, he could see the heart of the great metropolis. Swivel a hundred and eighty degrees and the roiling Pacific would come into sight.
He made a disappointed sound with his lips.
Everything had been going so well. The modification of the David series had led to the introduction of its Walter successor. There had been a party to announce the final couple chosen for settlement on Origae-6. Now chaos, that sleek and intrusive serpent, threatened to disrupt and even destroy the successes.
