Part Two, Chapter Two: Unforgivable Sinner
You know where you've sent her/ You sure know where you are/ You're trying to ease off/ But you know you won't get far/ And now she's up there/ Sings like an angel/ But you can't hear those words/ Unforgiveable sinner ~Lene Marlin
In a spotless, spacious office, decorated only with two crossed Japanese flags and a world map on the wall, a man in unmistakable dark green army uniform sits at the desk. In front of it stands a younger man, dressed in a similar uniform. The latter gives a salute, while the preoccupied former all but ignores this gesture and stares at a piece of paper, clearly worried.
Lieutenant Suketani?' enquires the younger man.
Suketani breaks out of his train of thought.
Sergeant-Major Itakura,' says Suketani. Have you been told yet about the latest complications in Leiutenant-Colonel Kawashima's latest mission?'
No, Lieutenant,' Itakura says briskly.
Sit down,' Suketani gestures to a chair, which Itakura pulls over to the desk and perches on stiffly. Now, Suketani continues. Lieutenant Colonel Kawashima was placed in charge of a mission, the aim of which was to eliminate Dehuai the Adept, but it also involved capturing the girl and her associate responsible for the murder of Japanese Army guards on the Changchun train, an incident I'm sure you were well informed about at the time, as were all Army officials working in the area. However, in the past few days, kawashima has failed to report in. It' s most unlike her, normally she is most meticulous about such things. So, we feel we have reason to believe something has happened to her.'
Itakura nods, seeing where this is going. Suketani glances back down at his piece of paper and begins to speak again.
Also involved in the mission was a spy who went by the code name Malkovich. Agent Malkovich has also been notably quiet for a significant amount of time. It has come to a point where it is deemed neccesary for someone to be sent in, to find out what has happened to them. Now you're probably wondering why you are being asked to do this instead of someone like myself being sent, someone already involved in this mission. . .'
In fact, Itakura hadn't been wondering at all. Ours not to reason why. Ours but to do, die, and try to keep our heads down while we do it. Suketani is obviously going to explain anyway.
We have become suspicious that Agent Malkovich is having dealings with someone outside the Japanese Army; perhaps that she was already spying on us for an outside party. Kawashima left notes regarding Malkovich's odd behaviour prior to departure. Lately she had failed to report in, and begun to question army practises, among other eccentricities. These coincided with her meeting with the Changchun train murderers, Elliott and Hyuga. If Malkovich is being disloyal to the Army, then it would be better if the officer sent in is one she does not know. And judging by your record, we felt you would be right for the job.'
Itakura nods. he doesn't like the sound of this mission, particularly its connection with the notorious Dehuai. He has heard much about him, all of it bad. Still it's his job, and he can't refuse to do it.
You,' Suketani says, will be sent to Shanghai, where the group ought to have reached by now, to locate them and establish what has happened to them. We will decide what to do next depending on what you discover.' He delves under a pile of paperwork to uncover a standard-issue blue cardboard folder. These are the details of when you will leave, descriptions of the people involved, and other mission information of the kind,' he tells Itakura, handing over the folder. The young Sergeant-Major takes it without a word and gets to his feet stiffly.
Yes, Sir,' he says with a salute.
***
It's become a bright, clear day. A cool wind ruffles the East China Sea, as a small boat bobs nonchalently on the waves, seemingly peaceful and dreamy. Far from it. . .
On the deck, Margarete takes in the scene. Most of the more suspicious mess; the blood, brains and worst of the slim; has been scrubbed away with the most suitable items they could find on the boat. There had been an old broom and a battered bucket tucked away in the wheelhouse, and they'd made do with that.
Margarete wipes her hands on her skirt and smiles.
Pretty nice job, huh?' She looks around the others for affirmation. Reckon no one'll expect a thing when we get into Shanghai.'
Yuri laughs. Maybe not about the boat. But look at the state of us lot. . .'
A suspicious looking foursome if ever there was one,' Zhuzhen adds quietly from his post at the wheel.
Margarete remained unconcerned. Now the shadow of earlier was finally gone from over her head, and her spirits were buoyant as a result.
Say we're a theatre troupe. You can get away with anything if you say you're a theatre troupe.'
Knowing our luck, they'd make us put on a play,' said Yuri with a lighthearted grimace. Margarete can't help but grin at the mental image.
The boat lurches ferociously and Yuri's grimace becomes all too real. Startled, Margarete swiftly turns to see what was going on. In front of them are grey docks, tall buildings, a vague sound of hundreds of people talking, dogs barking, all the everyday sounds they've been so removed from for what feels like a lifetime. Finally, they have reached Shanghai.
It's great to be back on dry land again,' Yuri announces with feeling almost the instant they set foot on the quay. Following him off of the boat, Zhuzhen nods in agreement, taking in the Shanghai skyline. Memories of his last visit to Shanghai begin to flood back into his mind. Putting them aside for the moment, he adds I think we should all get some rest now.' He sighs. We certainly need it after that. . And our troubles are hardly over yet.'
***
Margarete sleeps more easily than she had expected to. Listening to the soothing breaths of the others around her, she soon realises how tired she is, and sleep takes over quickly.
When she awakes, the others have already left. She gets up from the bed, wondering where they might all have gone to. They're probably just exploring the city. When she looks out of the window, Shanghai appears eerily deserted. . .
Margarete leaves the inn, wondering where they might have got to. Inexplicably, a nervous anxiety is building up in the pit of her stomach.
Her radio intercom beeps as it would if someone was trying to contact her. The sudden sound almost makes her panic, and she is reluctant to answer it. But then, if she didn't, things would only get more complicated. . . She lifts it to her ear, presses the button and listens quietly. Kawashima's clipped, brisk tones echo through.
Agent Malkovich. Why haven't you reported in for so long? It's been almost twenty-four hours.' Seems like longer. Margarete's mind flashes with a under possible explanations for this. . . . Maybe it's a cruel joke. . . Who'd play a joke this this? The Army'd just send someone in to shoot me, wouldn't they?. . And ghosts don't exist. . . Do they. . . Wait. But. . . If Li-Li was, then why not. . .
Meanwhile, Kawashima continues.
I think this mission has come to a stage where we must all work together. Agent Malkovich, leave the group now; we don't need you to track them any longer. They're not essential. If you joined Kato and I we could complete this mission so much more effectively. After all, we are ll working for a common cause here, are we not? We have had differences in the past, but I know you are one of the Army's most reliable spies. You haven't failed us once. The three of us will work together on this mission, then so try to reach us as quickly as you can. I expect to see you soon, Margarete.'
She lowers the radio from her ear and turns it off, shaking. She used my real name . . . She never has before. . . She looks around her, not knowing what she thinks she'll see, but now she expects that something will happen soon. Worried and jumpy, she keeps glancing back over the ocean, towards where she'd left the bodies, hen laughs at her own stupidity. What am I expecting? Zombies or something?
Shanghai is still deserted. Where is everyone? Maybe Yuri and the others are back at the inn. . . I'd better go and look for them.
She makes her way through the empty streets, each moment of silence bringing another worry. She's shaking a little, though she wouldn't like to admit it to herself.
At the inn, Margarete wanders through the empty rooms. It's so quiet. . . Like a grave. What's going on here? Her eye wanders over to the window again, over to where the two corpses must be, somewhere under the water, blue-grey decomposing cadavers, seaweed growing up and tangling into ribs, wrapping around necks. Shuddering at the image coming into her mind, she turns her back to the window.
At that moment she could have sworn she heard, at the very back of her mind, soft and faint, Kawashima's voice call out Get down!
It's too late though. She hears a tiny like something gathering momentum, just behind her. Margarete whirs around.
Smash.
There's an explosion of glass as a bullet speeds through the window.
Wait. Where could that come form? No one could aim in this window without me seeing them here.
Unless they were. . .
Ghosts don't have guns!
She was amazed that she managed to have all these shots in the instant before the bullet hit her in the forehead.
Margarete's eyes jerk open suddenly. It takes a while for her to register where she is. Tiny parts of the dream she'd just had keep breaking off of it and joining in with her everyday thoughts. Some parts of he dream are blurring with reality. She knows she didn't get phoned by a ghost, or shot in the head, but is everyone here? Is Shanghai really empty now? But Yuri, Alice and Zhuzhen are all still here; and a look out of the window confirms Shanghai is still as bustling and noisy as ever. In retrospect, it had been rather a stupid and far-fetched dream, she thinks. But you can't control what your brain does when you're asleep, and dreams don't give omens for the future.
***
Sergeant-Major Taro Itakura steps into the small aeroplane that will take him to Shanghai, subdued and quiet, though nervous underneath it. He settles into his seat, and looks out of the window at the small, bleak grey airfield. Why did they pick me out for this job? What singles me out from the others? When I started I was just a private. I didn't want promotion, but I didn't want trouble either so I just did what they told me as best as I could. And so I kept getting promoted. I was promoted quickly, too. I signed up when I was sixteen. And now I'm a Sergeant-Major. . . I'm only twenty. It wasn't my idea to joint the army anyway, but my mother was keen on it. Her father and brothers were all in the army and she thought it was a noble, respectable thing for a man to do. My father was in the army too, but I never knew much about him. He left my mother when she was pregnant with me. She married again when I was eight and I took the new husband's name too. He was also in the army, predictably. But they never had children. I think she was worried he'd leave her too if she had a child. . . She never really seemed to get over my father leaving her. She must've been so worried, so careful. . . They were married for years and she was still quite young when they met. Of course, all this was in retrospect, pieced together from stories and other peoples' memory, as well as some parts of my own. As a child I was just confused. I still am, but differently. So,I'm an only child and there's no one else to live up to my mother's hopes for her children. I never really had a choice about it.
Sir?' the pilot asks, breaking Taro's train of thought. Are you ready to take off now?'
Yes,' he murmours, still mostly lost in his memories. As the plane begins moving forwards, he returns to gazing out of the window and thinking.
Sometimes I still wonder about who my father was. All I really know is that he was quite high-ranking. Maybe I've met him and never known. He could be just about anyone in the Army. . . I seem to resemble my mother more. I have a birthmark on my arm. That comes down my father's side and it's all I have to tell me any way I might recognise him.
The plane pulls up into the air, flattening him backwards against his seat.
When I get to Shanghai, what will I do? How will I know where to go? How can the army be so meticulous in some places and so vague in others?
I haven't ever seen any of these people before. I have descriptions of them, though. I'll have to go by that. After all, Shanghai can't be full of caucasian women with blonde hair. And they do sound like a conspicuous group.
Taro realises the plane is landing, and that he must have fallen asleep. Gathering his thoughts, he sees there is a city not so far away. That must be Shanghai, then, he realises.
In an attempt to waken himself up, he stretches out his legs in front of him and immediately wishes he hadn't. Japanese Army aeroplanes were not built with legroom in mind. Annoyed by the bump, the pilot tuts.
Smoothly the plane touches down, though once on the ground it jitters around nervously. Finally it stutters to a halt. . . This is it then. . .
As Taro disembarks, bidding the pilot goodbye, he wonders just where to go, how to start. The buildings of Shanghai loom up above, challenging him.
Thank you last chapter's wonderful review people! You would namely be aegis (I don't know about flashbacks. But I will try to get an explanation of her past in somewhere.) and Dessa Rhiannon (Thank You ^^ I got fed up with trying to get the Seraphic Radiance and didn't get it first time round.) Now the fic has more reviews than chapters (or it ought to once this chapter gets a review. (Notice that was not . You have no choice. . . No choice, I say! Review!). And once the reviews overtake the chapters, I'm very happy. It's a sign of not-a total-hopeless-flop- fic! Yay!
. . .
*silence*
*A giant dustball rolls by*
*silence*
Bacon: . . .It IS a hopeless flop.
I might not update this for a while. I have to go and fail a few exams, but after them I think I might also start a new fic about Roger Bacon. It's gonna be LONG! Think you can put up with that? And also I found Breaking Mirrors was going down in a big spiral of crappiness so I had to just take a deep breath and delete it. Does anyone want to know what would have happened? It's just I found that I couldn't write for Alice at all, and I didn't know what to do with the plot except finish it really abruptly. Oops. . .