"Acting Director Kirihara Misaki, Public Security, Foreign Affairs," Misaki rattled off, holding her badge and ID up to the startled airport guard when he opened the door to the security office. "Captain Yagame should have radioed ahead."
"Uh, yeah," the potbellied man said, looking her and Aisha over curiously. "He said you needed to see some camera footage?" The man - Nishio was the name on his badge - jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the wall of black and white screens behind him.
Misaki pushed past him into the room and stood in front of the bank of screens, arms crossed and radio gripped tightly in her right hand. It was a busy Saturday afternoon at the airport, and crowds of people were rushing to and from the gates across the large, multi-storied terminal. "We may have a contractor-related situation," she said. "Corporal…Aisha and I are going to monitor the feeds from here, while Captain Yagame and my subordinate coordinate things in the terminal."
"Contractor? Seriously? What, uh, what should I do?"
Misaki glanced at the man; his expression was serious and professional, but she could tell that his knees were shaking beneath his uniform. "Stay here and be on hand in case we have any questions," she said, and he relaxed with evident relief.
Aisha, meanwhile, had plopped into the chair at the central computer without any invitation and was running her fingers across the keyboard.
"Do the airlines have photo IDs attached to the tickets in their systems?" Misaki asked.
A faint blue glow appeared around the contractor. "Some of them do; I'll start sorting through them."
"Right. Start with Japan Airlines, they have the highest number of flights that fit our time frame. I'll scan the monitors. We're -" She turned to the guard, only to find him standing stock still, staring at Aisha with a look of horror on his face.
He raised a shaking hand, finger pointed at the contractor. "She...that…"
Damn it, I don't need this right now. Misaki fixed a stern expression on her face. "Mr. Nishio," she snapped, and the guard tore his gaze from Aisha to meet hers. "This woman is assisting Section Four with a vital investigation; the subject of that investigation is a dangerous contractor who is on his way to Sapporo right now, and could be landing at any minute. We may need your help with this operation, but if you are unable to take orders at this time, please leave the room and let us work."
Nishio's eyes widened and he snapped to attention. "No ma'am. I mean, I can help, ma'am."
"Good." Misaki nodded towards the screens. "We're looking for a Filipino man - about five-six, late twenties, shaved head."
"What flight is he on?" Nishio asked, his voice quavering only the tiniest bit.
"We don't know. All we know is that he's headed this way, and he's likely on a plane." It wasn't much; it was practically nothing. But Misaki was sure that it was right.
Mizuta had caught HG-139's movement out of the Tokyo sector early; the star was drifting at a velocity that he said suggested flight rather than ground movement, and Misaki trusted his judgment, as much as any such speculation could be trusted.
Star movements were notoriously difficult to track and predict; while the stars followed their contractors almost as if physically tethered to them, the connection, such as it was, was tenuous at best. A contractor might be heading west across the country, while his star made an arc to the north before centering over his general location once he stopped traveling. And the further from Astronomics' data array they moved, the less accurate the readings. HG-139 might not be headed towards Sapporo at all.
But Misaki would bet anything that he was. It was just too much of a coincidence - after weeks of no activity, HG-139 suddenly appeared to be moving towards the city where she had just interviewed a Syndicate peon regarding the servers? Hourai had died a bare hour after Misaki had asked him about the Syndicate's data; she'd be damned if she was going to let the same thing happen to Officer Tou.
The problem was, they had zero information to go on. All they knew was that HG-139 had started to shift at twelve forty-nine, and it was a ninety-minute flight from Tokyo to Sapporo. Mizuta estimated an hour-long window surrounding the star's movement versus the contractor's; at worst, that gave them half an hour to get back to the airport and try to prepare for his hypothetical arrival. Misaki had called Detective Murai - the head of Section Four's Sapporo unit - and Captain Yagame of airport security on the drive over to coordinate.
Now, all they could do was watch and wait - and hope that Mizuta's estimations hadn't been off. Misaki found herself wishing that Kanami was at the helm of Astronomics that weekend; she knew that when it came to star analysis, Mizuta was just as good, but still. She implicitly trusted her friend's abilities over anyone else's.
Misaki stared at the wall of monitors in front of her, her gaze jumping from screen to screen in search of anyone who even slightly fit the vague description that they had of HG-139. Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted a bald man hurrying out of a gate - but the man was tall and thin. Not him. The airport was the busiest in Hokkaido - if Aisha couldn't find a photo of him in the airline's system, spotting him on the camera feeds was going to be a challenge, if it was possible at all.
Assuming that this was even the right airport. There was always the chance he would have gotten a flight into Okadama, Sapporo's older, smaller airport; but Misaki had exactly one bet to place, and she'd placed it on New Chitose. She could only hope that she was correct.
"Will he - this contractor - be glowing too?" Nishio spoke up.
"These cameras ought to pick up any synchrotron radiation," Aisha commented absently, the computer screen directly in front of her flipping through image after image of tickets and passenger IDs.
"But if he does use his power, we'll only get a glimpse of it before he disappears," Misaki said. "If we're lucky. His ability is to become invisible."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
Aisha clicked her tongue. "If you don't want to see the knife coming before he guts you, sure."
Misaki shot the contractor a glare, but focused as she was on the screen, she didn't see it. "Don't worry about it," Misaki told Nishio. "He's unlikely to use his power or hurt anyone unless he feels trapped; my people and Yagame's have instructions not to engage until we're sure we can grab him without accruing any collateral damage. He -"
"Aha," Aisha said suddenly. "Got him."
"What? Where?" Misaki almost fell over in her haste to lean in to Aisha's screen. A passport photo showed a bald, brown-skinned man with no eyebrows under the name of Alejandro Calbo. A mixture of relief and anxiety washed over her. "You're sure it's him?"
"It's the same as the picture in his file. HG-139, code name Abo."
Abo. Got you. "What flight is he on - what time does it arrive?"
"Flight number JAL one six three. Landing…hang on; let me check the boards."
Misaki turned back to Nishio. "I'm going to need a printout of that photo."
He nodded, then pressed the button on the radio on his shoulder and relayed the request.
"Flight boards, flight boards," Aisha was muttering to herself. "Stay out of traffic control…that never ends well. Ah, there he is. Landed on time at thirteen-oh-six at gate five."
"Shit, that was ten minutes ago." Misaki pressed the button on her own radio. "Kouno, he's landed already; gate five, Japan Airlines flight one sixty-three. I don't have him on the monitors yet."
"Copy," came the staticky response from her subordinate.
"Yagame, have your men keep an eye on the exits; Murai, stand by. Do not engage; if you spot him, radio in and keep eyes on at all times." The last thing they needed was for him to get spooked, turn invisible, and slip away.
Damn it, she wished that she was out there with her men instead of cloistered away in the security booth. She wished that all of her team were out there. Murai's team were competent, but they lacked the firsthand experience that Misaki's had; there just wasn't a lot of contractor activity here in Hokkaido, and Misaki hadn't worked with this unit often enough to get a feel for how they typically operated. Their joint operations tended more towards prisoner transfer and investigation, rather than active field work.
She tapped her fingers on the desk distractedly. Landed ten minutes ago; he might not even be off the plane yet. If he was, he'd head straight for the nearest exit - ground transportation, probably. Hopefully not the train; that would be a logistical nightmare.
Aisha had brought up the camera that showed gate five on the central monitor; Misaki spotted Kouno, hanging back with the people waiting to meet their friends and relatives. He had his phone out and was making a good show of fiddling with it rather than scanning the crowd too obviously; but Misaki knew that Abo would have to be invisible to make it past him.
Passengers were still streaming through the gate; Misaki stared until her eyes watered.
"I have him," Kouno said abruptly, voice soft. "Gray jacket, blue duffel bag."
Misaki narrowed her eyes at the black and white screen, and then she spotted him: a fairly short, bald man in a high-collared jacket was striding out of the jetway, a small overnight duffel slung over his shoulder. Aisha had been right - beefy was indeed the best word that Misaki could have chosen to describe him. "I see him. Stay on his tail; Murai, have your men keep eyes on him, but don't follow. We don't want to spook him."
The acknowledgments came in over the radio, but Misaki hardly heard them, she was so focused on the central screen. HG-139 - Abo - exited the frame, but Aisha immediately pulled up the feed from the adjacent camera. They watched him stride down the length of the open terminal towards baggage claim; at one point he pulled out a cell phone, but didn't appear to do anything with it other than check the screen.
It was a little unnerving, watching him walk confidently down the wide corridor: the man who had slipped into the high security facility without detection - directly behind her - was here, in front of her eyes. She remembered that stray draft that had brushed her cheek during her interview with Hourai, and barely managed to suppress a shudder.
Kouno followed several paces behind, moving with the crowd but never letting too many people get in between him and the contractor.
"Looks like he's headed towards ground transportation," Misaki muttered, more to herself than anyone else.
They watched as Abo exited onto the street through the airport doors followed shortly by Kouno; Aisha switched to an external camera. He was making for the taxi stand.
Misaki gripped her radio tightly. Try and arrest him now, with so many bystanders in the potential crossfire? Or let him get into a cab and risk losing sight of him completely?
But before she could make a decision, an empty cab pulled up and Abo climbed in.
"Get that cab's number," she ordered into the radio, dashing from the security booth. "Aisha, let's go!"
"What? Okay..." the contractor began, but Misaki had already turned back to her radio as she ran down the stairs to the main floor of the terminal.
"Murai, send a unit to follow at a distance; Kouno, get the car started but wait for me."
Misaki dashed through the crowded terminal, Aisha on her heels. She heard Murai and Yagame giving orders on the security channel, and someone replying with a license plate number; but long practice enabled her to register the information without really paying attention.
Her rain jacket flapped behind her as she flew through the exit. Kouno had the government car that Kaede had borrowed waiting at the curb, engine running. Misaki jumped into the passenger seat; Aisha had barely shut the rear door before Kouno was speeding away down the street toward the airport exit.
"Catch up to the cab," she told him, leaning as far forward as her seatbelt would allow, as if that would help increase their speed. "We'll look less suspicious approaching than one of Murai's cruisers."
"Right Chief," was all Kouno said. He floored it, and the car sped forward, weaving through the moderate traffic exiting the airport grounds.
New Chitose Airport was on the outskirts of the Sapporo metropolitan area; a good distance from downtown. They had time to tail him, but Misaki begrudged every second that flew by.
"Cab's getting onto Hokkaido Expressway," an officer reported through the radio.
"Do you think he's headed straight for Tou?" Kouno asked, as he made the same turn onto the green, tree-lined toll road. The squad car that had called in was two cars in front of them; it slowly dropped back as Kouno accelerated, leap-frogging to take point.
Misaki could see three cabs up ahead of them, but she couldn't make out any of their plates. She gripped her radio so hard that she could feel it imprinting on her skin.
"Back off a bit," she said, and Kouno immediately slowed, keeping a silver Hyundai between them and the closest cab. "I doubt it," she said in answer to his question. "Tou's handler set a meeting for tonight; if he's targeting her, I'm guessing that's when he'll hit."
It was what Hei would do, she was sure. The target would be guaranteed to be in a specific location at a specific time, and eleven in the evening would be plenty dark to hide his actions - invisibility was fine as long as no one saw you appear or disappear and raised an alarm.
"What if he's after the servers - doesn't want to risk the chance that we'll find them at all?"
"He's not going to make it to the warehouse, if that's really where they are," Misaki said grimly. "We'll -" she began when the buzzing of her phone cut her off. She pulled it out of her pocket and flipped it open, eyes still tracking the taxis. One of them exited the freeway, and she caught a glimpse of the plate. Not the one that the officer had called in. "Kirihara."
"Chief!" It was Ootsuka. "I'm at Astronomics - HG-139 just activated."
Her stomach did a little flipflop. "Shit - he went invisible in the cab?"
Misaki leaned forward for a better look at the two remaining cabs, but a lorry changed lanes in front of them, blocking her view of both. "Damn it; Kouno -" but her subordinate was already swerving around the truck. Misaki finally caught a glimpse of the plate of the nearest taxi, two cars up and one lane to the left. There was no passenger in the back.
"That's him!" Kouno exclaimed.
"Unit 412," Misaki radioed, mentally recalling the call sign of the unit that was tailing behind them. "Close the distance and pull them over. Carefully; I don't want him to suspect that it's anything more than a simple moving violation."
The squad car acknowledged the order and behind them, red and blue lights flashed. Then the cruiser sped past, sirens blaring. They pulled up right on the bumper of the taxi, blocking Misaki's view of the rear seat. She ground her teeth in frustration.
The taxi came into sight again as it navigated over one lane, then took the next off ramp and exited the freeway. The squad car and Kouno followed. The driver pulled over to the side of the road; the squad car halted behind it and two officers leapt out, guns aimed at the taxi but not approaching.
Kouno screeched to a halt, gravel flying from beneath the tires; Misaki had opened the door and jumped out before the car had even come to a full stop. She drew her weapon from beneath her jacket and approached carefully; she heard Kouno doing the same behind her.
"Stay in the car," she shouted to the driver as she came up on the passenger side. "But put your hands up."
The driver complied - he was in sixties, probably, a terrified expression on his face. His window was rolled down; so was the one behind him.
"Kouno, get the rear door."
Aiming his gun towards the cab with one hand, Kouno stepped forward and yanked open the door behind the driver. Misaki watched for any sign of someone invisible exiting the car. There was no movement, no scuffing of the dirt or gravel on the shoulder of the road.
She took another step closer, the gravel crunching beneath her foot.
"Careful, Chief," Kouno warned. "He could be armed."
Misaki's heart pounded in her chest, and she shivered despite her jacket. She tried not to imagine a bullet speeding out of the seemingly empty car. "Abo," she said. "HG-139. You're under arrest for the murder of Hourai Yoshimitsu. Show yourself; or we'll be forced to take lethal action."
No sound came from the cab except the panicked breathing of the driver, audible even over the traffic rushing by in the background.
Gravel crunched behind Misaki, and she tensed - but it was just an officer shifting his weight. "You," she said, indicating the man behind her without actually turning her gaze from the cab. "Do you have your baton?"
The officer passed it up to her. Gripping the fifteen-inch-long stick tightly, Misaki leaned forward. She kept her weapon aimed into the back seat, but angled herself so that it wasn't within reach of anyone who might be inside. She pushed the baton into the empty space above the seat but met with no resistance. "Check the other side!"
Another officer stepped forward; biting his lip nervously, he poked his baton into the rear of the cab, then shook his head.
"Front seat."
The second officer jogged around the car and performed the same procedure in the front passenger seat.
"Is it really empty?" Kouno muttered.
"Please," said the driver, "there's no one here. The cab is empty - for hire." Sweat was beading on his forehead despite the chill in the air.
"Your sign says it's in use," Kouno said, and the man started sweating more heavily.
Misaki ground her teeth. She was tempted to just start firing into the seats, consequences be damned. Instead, she stooped down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and tossed it into the rear of the taxi. The dust and pebbles fell, completely unimpeded by anything. She threw the baton in, hard - it bounced harmlessly off the vinyl seat bench.
"God damn it!" she growled. "When did he bail - how? Is this even the right cab?"
"Hey," said the driver, "who's going to clean up that mess?"
"Be grateful it wasn't bullets!" Misaki shoved her weapon back into its holster and stood with her hands on her hips, inwardly fuming as she stared into the empty cab.
Kouno glanced at her, then turned to the driver, who immediately blanched, his hands still in the air. "Did you pick someone up from the airport just now?"
"Answer honestly or we'll arrest you for obstruction of justice," Misaki said coldly.
"Yes," the driver nodded furiously. "A bald man, yes."
"So where is he now?" Kouno asked.
"I don't know - I thought he was in the cab! I was turning onto the expressway, looked in my mirror to merge, and he was just…gone."
"Disappeared into thin air?"
The driver nodded, then shook his head. "I didn't see him - but I heard his voice tell me to keep driving, and to tell anyone who asked that the cab was empty. So that's what I did. He paid extra." The man held up a wad of bills.
"Takes those for prints," Misaki ordered. At the sight of the driver's downcast expression, she added, "Give him a receipt for it."
Leaving Kouno to finish up, she walked slowly back to their car. As she walked, she felt herself begin to deflate, her anger draining out of her as her adrenaline ebbed. Damn it, they'd been so close! Misaki leaned up the Toyota's trunk and folded her arms with an exhausted sigh. Ultimately, it was the server subnet that was important, she reminded herself. She wanted to catch Abo, of course, but as long as they got to the stored data before he did, she could afford to let him go.
At least, she could tell herself that.