Pandora's Succession

by Russell Brooks

  Fox saw an area separated by a glass enclosure. Even the inner ring of that section had its bars replaced by glass. Tanaka opened the glass door, and when it closed behind all of them, the loud music was left behind as well.

  Tanaka stepped aside and gestured to the others to walk past him. “Ah, much better, much quieter, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Actually, I liked it out there. I was about to have a John Travolta moment.”

  For the first time, Fox noticed that Tanaka didn’t laugh. Obviously he didn’t seem to understand the joke.

  Unlike the dance floor outside, this room was a cocktail lounge complete with booths and round tables with a glass vase and candle on each. All of the tables were empty, except for the last table where Fox saw the silhouette of a person. The person sat alone, facing away from them.

  Fox squinted as he tried to discern the shadowy figure. “So, you’ve brought me to meet Hashimoto personally.”

  Tanaka laughed again, and Fox rolled his eyes. “Hashimoto? That’s not Hashimoto.”

  Fox took a second look at the person, but still couldn’t identify who it was. Of course, Katori told me that Hashimoto reported to someone else.

  “I thought I told you to watch your back, Fox,” said the silhouetted figure.

  Fox stopped where he was. Hold on, I know that voice.

  The two guards were close to Fox as he was made to stand about eight to ten meters away from the booth, where he finally saw the woman, confirming his guess.

  “Surprised?”

  He was surprised, and Fox’s blank stare probably didn’t hide it. “I thought I’d learned everything tonight, until now.”

  Dr. Tabitha Marx took a sip of what Fox thought to be a Black Russian. “There’s a lot that we need to talk about.”

  “Really, where would you like to start? Do you want to talk about how you managed to recruit Japanese secret agents into your organization? Or would you rather talk about your acts of treason and how many years back they go?”

  Marx relaxed into the cushiony seat and took another sip. “The recruitment process wasn’t much trouble. We help people see things as they are. Once they see the alternative that we offer, they’re practically on hands and knees begging to join. It might surprise you to know how resourceful I really am. Given the right moment, I could even recruit you.”

  Fox smirked as he nodded. “Is that right?”

  “Oh, I know so. Would you rather hear it from Tanaka instead? Or would you prefer to hear it from the police commissioner?”

  Fox lost his smirk once he heard this.

  Tabitha’s smile grew as she saw his expression change. “By the way, the word on the street is that you’re a murderer. A vicious assassin, I might add. Five, no, in fact nine men in total this evening. All of them believed to be of Russian origin and one of them Japanese, all ambushed and slaughtered. I’m impressed.”

  “You would be. And I’ll bet that my fingerprints magically appeared all over the victims and the murder weapons that were conveniently left at the scene of the crime.”

  “Correction. Scenes of the crimes.”

  Fox chuckled and turned to Tanaka. “So are you going to offer me more sake, then lift my prints from the oshokos to frame me for another murder? Or do you have enough?”

  Tanaka laughed.

  “Oh Fox, it’s good to see you can still keep your sense of humor, or sarcasm, or whatever you want to call it,” said Tabitha. “No, if I wanted you thrown in jail or executed, I would’ve already given the order. But I need you alive, not just because I admire your presence, but because there’s something I need from you. And within the next few minutes I’m going to have it.”

  Chapter 21

  Shinigawa Empress Hotel, Shinigawa Ward, Tokyo, 10:25PM

  The drive was long, and Parris wasn’t a fan of vans, especially the eight-year-old one that Levickis drove. Simply put, she did not feel safe in it whatsoever. Its base was too narrow for its height, like some of the vans she saw on the roads in Barbados that looked like they would flip the moment they flew around a curve. Levickis’s van was similar, and she sat firmly into her seat with one hand gripping the hand bar above her passenger window and the other on the seat next to the gear. On top of that, she wanted to reach over to the volume dial and turn down the loud music he played, too.

  Levickis glanced over at Parris. “You’re safe, you know. That’s what the seatbelt’s for.”

  “I feel much safer hanging on.” Parris’s grip tightened just as Levickis took a curve without slowing down. “Will you turn down some of that noise?”

  Levickis quickly glanced at her. “This noise is what’s keeping me awake. You wouldn’t want me to fall asleep and crash, would you?”

  “Trust me, it’s not the music that’ll make you crash this van.” Parris held her breath as he overtook a motorcyclist. “For now, I’m not in the mood for any song that keeps repeating the verse, ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it’.”

  Levickis sighed and turned down the volume. “I’ve been wanting to ask you something. What’s your problem with Fox?”

  “Problem? What are you talking about?”

  “Come on. I asked you before what you knew about him. You didn’t have anything nice to say.”

  “We had a falling out in the past, and that’s all I’m going to say.” She saw him glance at her out of the corner of her eye, but she wouldn’t look at him. Now he wants to bring up Fox. Levickis remained silent for the rest of the ride.

  When they made it into the Shinigawa ward, the breathtaking view of the Tokyo Harbor with its high-class restaurants and hotels instantly made Parris forget about the ride. Levickis found a parking space a block away from the Shinigawa Empress Hotel. Parris was more than anxious to get out of the van and was ahead of Levickis as they crossed the street.

  The hotel’s lobby bustled with tourists-even at that hour-most of whom she figured were meeting in groups to spend a night on the town. Just as well that nobody knew what was going down. She shuddered to think of the mass carnage that could tear the city apart.

  They both rode the elevator to the third floor and quickly found their way to suite 305, where Levickis knocked on the door.

  There was the sound of fast approaching, heavy footsteps towards the door before it was opened. Walsh’s haggard but robust figure, stood before them. “Come on in.”

  “Good evening,” said Parris as she walked in.

  Levickis merely nodded his head.

  As they passed him, Walsh pointed to Dobbs who was seated at the coffee table in front of his laptop. “That’s Bill Dobbs. He’s helping us with tech.”

  She looked at Walsh. His hair was a mess, and his tie undone. “What happened to you? Bad flight?”

  “More or less.” Walsh moved the second chair away from the coffee table. “The flight was over-booked and I ended up riding in coach beside some woman who must’ve been going through a damn mid-life crisis. She wouldn’t stop talking to me and complaining to the stewardess. God knows how many hours of sleep I need to catch up on because of her.”

  “That’s why I never got married,” said Levickis.

  Walsh frowned at Levickis’s comment. “Our relief came when we got word that our connecting flight was changed, and we were redirected to Okinawa. It was longer, but Downing must have had a good reason.”

  Walsh gestured to the two single beds. Parris first told them everything that she had learned from Fox about her experiments, the cult and Hashimoto’s connection. She then told them about Fox’s contact at the airport.

  Walsh crossed his arms. “I’d personally like to know how Ares tracked Fox to this location so quickly.”

  Levickis answered, “My guess is that they must have obtained airport security footage, the same way Dobbs was able to trace Valerik back to Minsk, where he boarded a plane to come here to Tokyo. And how they knew when and where to find him, they must’ve planted some kind of tracking device on him.”

  Dobbs loo
ked up from his laptop. “A tracking device? I know Fox, and trust me no one can simply plant a tracking device on him.”

  “Unless, it’s done underhandedly. Like from someone he knows,” said Levickis.

  Dobbs looked back down at his laptop. “Then whoever it is, they’d have to be a real pro.”

  Parris turned to Dobbs. “Maybe it wasn’t planted on him. Maybe he was unknowingly tagged.”

  Walsh looked at Parris. “What do you mean?”

  “Back in the 1970s and 1980s, it was discovered that East German agents, the Stasi, had used radioactive sprays to track dissidents,” Parris answered. “Stasi agents sprayed their clothes or belongings with Scandium-46, which emits highly dangerous gamma radiation but harmless beta radiation. The agents would then carry miniature radiation detectors in places such as their armpits, which would vibrate if the unsuspecting victim ever came near.”

  “If you’re saying that Fox was sprayed with such a dangerous isotope, wouldn’t he be dead?” asked Walsh.

  “I didn’t say that he was sprayed. Secondly, not all radioactive isotopes are harmful. For instance, doctors use Iodine-131 radioactive dye to help them in treating thyroid cancer. If Fox got close enough to someone, he could’ve been tagged with a harmless radioactive isotope. A kiss, or a handshake, maybe something that he drank, could easily allow it to be absorbed into his bloodstream.”

  “Exactly how would he be monitored?” asked Walsh.

  “By satellite,” said Levickis and Dobbs in unison. Levickis walked over to Dobbs. “One specially equipped to detect radioactive isotopes. That’s assuming that the Japanese have perfected a satellite that could zero in on their target without having interference from other radioactive sources in the environment.”

  Dobbs looked up at Levickis. “I wouldn’t be surprised. The OST’s been trying to contract with American companies to develop one for years.”

  Walsh sighed. “Well, ain’t that a goddamn mess! With Fox running off like that, God knows how many people he came in contact with. And what’s even more frustrating, is that we didn’t think of tagging him in the first place so that we’d know where to find him, or if he’s even still alive.”

  Dobbs continued to type away at his laptop without glancing at the others. “My guess is that he still is. I’ve worked with him before. Trust me, he’s a survivor.”

  “And I hope he’s vexing his captors the same way he’s done to all of us,” quipped Parris.

  “But wait a second.” Walsh pointed towards Parris, his mouth slightly hung open for a few seconds. “If Fox was tagged and he’s being monitored by satellite, whoever’s been watching him would’ve seen everyone he’s come in contact with. That means they’d be watching you too.”

  Parris glanced once at everyone in the room before she stood up and began to pace around. “Oh Lord. What do we do now?”

  Levickis raised his hand to stop her. “Calm down.”

  “What do you mean calm down?”

  “Satellites work by capturing either an infrared image from a person’s body heat signature or by taking an actual photograph,” answered Levickis. “They would’ve started observing you the moment you left Fox. But, they couldn’t have taken photo images of you because it was cloudy today, and you would’ve had your umbrella. And even if they decided to follow you by infrared, your image would’ve been lost in the subway. You’re sure you weren’t followed?”

  Parris raised her right hand to her temple and sighed with relief. She then sat back down. “No, I wasn’t. That I’m sure of.”

  “As for Fox, let’s hope that he gets himself out of whatever crap he’s gotten himself into,” said Walsh.

  Parris looked up at Walsh. “If and when he does, he’ll contact us. That’s when we have to warn him.”

  “But if the tag is in his system, how would he get it out?” asked Walsh.

  Parris rested her elbows on her knees. “Normally, a tagging isotope would decay over time. But as for the one affecting him, it could range from several hours to a few days. So to be on the safe side, he’d have to ingest a masking agent to neutralize the detection properties of the tagging isotope until it decays.”

  Walsh glanced at everyone. “We don’t have masking agents on us. Where will we find one at this hour?”

  “I have access to Hexagon’s labs so I can create one tonight,” answered Parris.

  Walsh cleared his throat. “Well, I was with Fox in Uganda, so you better make one for me too.”

  Parris glanced at everyone. “As easy as it was to go after Fox, Ares could’ve gone after us too. They haven’t yet, so to be on the safe side I’ll get enough masking agents for all of us.”

  “Just to add to that, the room’s secure,” said Dobbs. “I’ve got anti-surveillance equipment setup close to all the windows. So if anyone were using any type of equipment to eavesdrop, I’d know about it. I can tell you about the time that I was in Brazil, and the hotel I was in was located right next to-”

  “You can tell us about it later, Dobbs,” said Walsh covering Dobbs’s mouth with his hand. “Anyways, moving on. Regardless of this unexpected situation, we’ve received new instructions from Downing, and some of them especially involve you, Dr. Parris. You’ll have to access everything you can find in Hexagon about Pandora.”

  Parris ran a hand through her hair. “I’d have to break into Hexagon’s high security level, better known as the Safe.”

  “Downing gave us the green light,” said Walsh. “As you stated in your last report, you believe the Safe is the repository of all of the intel. From what you told us earlier, my guess is that not only might you find intel on Pandora, but also of the cult’s contacts, the whereabouts of other possible laboratories, warehouses-everything we’d need to know in order for the CIA to raid all of these facilities and shut them down permanently.”

  “Yes, I do.” She then looked at Levickis and Dobbs. “But I’ll need special clearance to enter the Safe.”

  “You’ll have it.” Dobbs got up and brought over a series of printouts from his laptop and placed them on the opposite bed, side by side, to form a layout. Parris and Levickis stood up to take a closer look at the layout as Dobbs pointed things out with a pen as he glanced at Parris. “Have you actually seen the area around the Safe?

  “No, I just said that I don’t have clearance for that area.”

  “This is where you’ll get off the elevator.” Walsh pointed out the area with a pen. “You’ll enter a room with a guard sitting at a small monitoring station. From that room you’ll access the Safe directly, but you’ll need an access card and you’ll also have to punch in a four-digit code into a keypad.”

  Parris turned to Dobbs. “What about cameras? Someone’s sure to recognize me and know that I’m not supposed to be there.”

  “Levickis and I will be in control of that. We’ll actually be underground, but outside Hexagon, where we’ll gain access to the mainframe computer and to all of the cable and video feeds throughout Hexagon.”

  Levickis turned to Dobbs. “We’ll loop a segment.”

  “Correct. So anyone else watching will only see a recording of the security guard instead of you,” Dobbs replied.

  With his index finger, Levickis drew a circle around the area of the guard’s workstation. “But we’ll allow her to be seen by the security guard from his monitoring station in his room, of course. We’ll just block out the other viewing areas.”

  “And we’ll still be able to maintain contact with you via your earpiece, until you enter the Safe,” said Dobbs. He referred to the microprocessor-controlled receiver that was small enough to nestle in the ear canal. One would need a flashlight to find it. Inside Parris’s jacket lapel would be a voice transmitter of the same size. The transmissions would be burst UHF, making them next to impossible to track. Even if one were to track it, the transmissions would still be scrambled.

  “What do you mean, until she enters the Safe?” asked Walsh.

  “Because it really is a s
afe,” Parris said. “It has high-end anti-surveillance equipment which will interfere with all communication to the outside of it, knocking out both audio and video. I’ll be on my own from that point on, until I leave.”

  Dobbs then handed her a disc. “This SCSI CD contains a virus which will eliminate all the firewalls and other security features that prevent hackers on the outside from breaking in. It’ll actually trick Hexagon’s system into thinking that the security protocols are still active. Think of it as unlocking a window from the inside.”

  Walsh then pointed to the disc as he turned to Parris. “Once uploaded, Dobbs and Levickis will hack into the system and download all the info we need.”

  “Once this is done, the CD will automatically reset all of the security protocols,” said Dobbs.

  Parris played with the disc in her hand. “Anything else I need to know?”

  Levickis cut in. “Yeah, don’t damage the earpiece.”

  Chapter 22

  Fox was forced to sit down in front of a round table. The ninjas had no intention of allowing him to get any closer to Marx and literally shadowed his every move. Tanaka stood opposite him, leaning against the side of the booth next to her. She got up and walked towards Fox, stopping about five feet from his table’s edge.

  Dr. Marx rested her drink on another table close by, just as a momentary blast of loud music caught his attention. When Fox looked at the entrance to the cocktail lounge, he saw a waiter enter with a glass on a tray.

  “Care for a drink?” asked Dr. Marx.

  “I’ll pass.”

  “I insist.” Marx motioned to the waiter to put the drink down in front of him. She then crossed her arms.

  There was a moment’s blast of loud music as the waiter left the lounge. Fox put the glass to his lips and tilted it towards him, but didn’t drink any of it. For all he knew, she had slipped something into his drink. He needed to be in fighting form.