They entered Hakase's office. He closed the door and turned on the
anti-surveillance devices.
Without a word he turned on the DNA scanner and looked at the results of Jun's examination. He double checked tissue and DNA results. He triple checked for any chance of cloning or accelerated DNA growth. There was none.
"My God." He still seemed stunned. The evidence was undeniable. "Kentaro how is this possible? We looked and looked for days. There wasn't even enough wreckage to put any of the capsule back together."
"Apparently Rafael found me first." Kentaro stated.
Ken stood there digesting the fact that Hakase had known his father might be alive. There had been wreckage. He had searched for his father and never said a word. The anger built in Ken. Hakase had lied to him again!
"Dr. Rafael?" Nambu asked stunned.
"Yes, he was there when I landed from what he told me." Kentaro said. "Jun made a recording it's in the there. I'll fill in any details you ask."
All these years he had stayed away. Ken's voice shook with fury. "Why didn't you tell us you were alive? Why did it take so long?"
He practically spit the words at his father.
Kentaro looked at his son. Ken was barely keeping control. Kentaro couldn't really blame him.
"I was injured" He directed his comments to Ken. Nambu could watch the recording. He was concerned with Ken. " I was badly burned and had internal injuries from the explosion and re-entry. I was comatose for five months due to the injuries. The physical will confirm this."
He paused and let his son absorb the information.
Hakase looked at the examination records nodding affirmatively. "It's here Ken."
Kensat taking all this in. It was overwhelming. Kentaro continued.
"When I first came to I was semi-conscious for several months. I had several surgeries and regeneration once they determined I would survive. I don't really remember much of this period. Nearly a year had gone by at this point.
After that I had another year of rehabilitation. My body had atrophied and needed to be rebuilt again. At first I couldn't walk and had trouble talking. It was two years before I was able to even try to contact anyone."
Nambu looked at the records. Dr Rafael had saved Joe by rebuilding him. There was no mention of anything mechanical here at all. Apparently the craft had been sturdy enough to survive re-entry with Kentaro's body mainly intact. He had been severely injured the physical confirmed his story. It was a miracle he had survived at all according to the physical.
"Where were you during this time Kentaro? Why didn't you call me? You know I would have come." Nambu asked him.
Kentaro turned to Nambu.
"I was in Rafael's lab or doing intelligence for him mostly. I tried to contact you Kozi. I tried several times. Every time I tried someone shot at me. One of my operatives was ambushed trying to arrange a meeting. I tried several times before I gave up. After that I had no choices left. I decided to stay dead, until I could come up with something better.
Now we need to deal with the airbase. I don't have the network to do that. It's too big. Even coming here might be a risk, but I had no other choice."
Ken looked at his father in horror. He had been trying to contact them. All this time they thought he was dead.
Ken plopped down on the couch and put his head in his hands. All this time wasted grieving for him.
"Who did this? Ken asked in horror.
"I don't know for certain. One of my men Taro was involved. I took care of him. I don't know where it ends. There has to be someone in ISO or Red Impulse squad. You should have seen this base. There is no way the satellites could have missed it."
Ken looked to Nambu for an explanation.
"We knew we had a traitor for a while. We never could track it down. We know they led the team into the trap that killed Masaki and Onishi. We don't know who set us up. We thought with the war over and the unit disbanded that was the end of it."
Kentaro's face clouded over. He knew his former wing mates had died. He didn't realize how.
"I want this person! I want to wring their neck."
"We'll get them." Ken promised. "They died saving us. We'll get them." His voice was soft and deadly.
"Tell us about the base" Nambu said.
Ken's insides went cold. His father had come in because of the airbase. He'd had no option he'd said. Otherwise he might have never seen him again.
Kentaro took out several data tapes and a folder of photographs. He handed them to Nambu.
"It's all here. It's not Galactor. It's the leftovers from the war staffing it at the moment. Whoever is organizing this is bigger than that though. It is definitely connected to the Huntworl government. I don't know who is the head of this monster is though. I've tried and I can't get high enough to figure it out."
Nambu took the data and put the tape in the drive. Nambu was studying the schematics and photographs of the airbase. Kentaro was right. They never should have missed something this size. ISO had a problem, a big problem.
Ken glanced at the data. His heart wasn't in it at the moment. His father was thorough if nothing else. He was always good at his job Ken thought bitterly.
Ken looked at his watch. It was late. They couldn't do much more tonight. He felt tired beyond bearing. With a sigh he got up to leave.
"Hakase, it's late. I'll be at the airstrip."
Nambu looked at his watch. It was late. "Until tomorrow then." He agreed.
Nambu knew that this was difficult for Ken. He hoped Ken would give Kentaro a chance. He suspected though he didn't show it, Kentaro was having a very difficult time also.
There were so many questions that needed to be answered. There were so many years to make up. Miraculously Kentaro could finally provide his son some answers. Nambu just hoped Ken would allow him the chance.
Kentaro watched as Ken turned his back and walked toward the door to leave.
Ken stopped at the door. Unsure of the impulse that made him do it, he asked "Are you coming or not?"
Surprised Kentaro looked up at his son. His back was turned to him.
Nambu motioned Kentaro forward. It had taken a lot for Ken to make the offer. Now was not the time to question him for the reason.
Kentaro looked uncertainly back at Nambu. "I'll come." Kentaro said very softly. He got up and put his glasses back in place and followed Ken.
Ken led Kentaro down to the elevator and out to the parking garage. He led him to two-seater sports car and motioned for him to get inside.
Ken said nothing and didn't even look at his father as they drove.
Kentaro left him to his thoughts. The airstrip was about 45 minutes away as he recalled. He leaned back in the seat. He was tired beyond reason. He had barely slept since this whole thing had started. He knew this would be hard. He'd had no idea exactly how hard.
He had missed his son. He had wanted to come home. He had tried. When he realized someone else was aware of him, he had hidden. He didn't know whether being here right now was putting Ken in danger. He hoped not. He wanted nothing more than to be here right now.
The pain and anger was still rolling off Ken. Kentaro had no idea how to diffuse it. He sighed hoping for some inspiration from somewhere. He really had no idea how to talk to his son. "They didn't write a manual for this situation." He thought wryly.
Ken looked at his father. His eyes were still covered with the glasses. He seemed tense. At least he wasn't completely unaffected. He had no idea what his father was thinking. He was an expert at hiding his thoughts, hiding himself. He only let you see what he wanted seen. Ken wanted to talk to him. He didn't have the faintest idea where to start.
Ken chuckled softly to himself as he realized the absurdity of the whole situation. It was too bizarre to believe, but here he was caught directly in the middle of it.
"Hmmm?" Kentaro grunted by way of a question.
Ken looked at his father briefly. "I was thinking about this whole situation. I'd tell it to the psychiatrist, but they would have me committed."
Kentaro chuckled at the observation. "Are you saying I'm driving you insane literally?"
"Did you ever see the old show, The Twilight Zone 1?" Ken asked. "I feel like I'm in the middle of an episode."
"As I recall, you made me suffer through a marathon of it one time when you had gotten hurt training."
Ken had forgotten about that. He chuckled at the memory. It was a comfortable thing to remember. "You grumbled something about getting even with Hakase for making you stay with me if I remember correctly."
"I think he was getting even with me for putting you there in the first place." Kentaro added amusement in his voice.
"It was only a minor concussion." Ken added.
Kentaro laughed a real laugh for the first time. He had enjoyed spending that time with his son. He tried to hold on to such moments. There were too few of them.
Ken looked at him. "I'm surprised you even remember. I'd forgotten about those videos."
"Sometimes it's the little things that stay with you."
Ken pulled into the driveway and down the path to the shack.
They got out of the car and headed inside. Kentaro removed his glasses and looked around. The cabin had been upgraded since he had last seen it. It still had much of the furniture he had left in place. It had been fixed up, painted and generally maintained better than previously.
Ken had placed his own personal stamp on the place without eliminating Kentaro's earlier presence. Kentaro noticed the two seemed to blend well together.
1. "The Twilight Zone" TM & Copyright © 2002 by UPN. All Rights Reserved.
Without a word he turned on the DNA scanner and looked at the results of Jun's examination. He double checked tissue and DNA results. He triple checked for any chance of cloning or accelerated DNA growth. There was none.
"My God." He still seemed stunned. The evidence was undeniable. "Kentaro how is this possible? We looked and looked for days. There wasn't even enough wreckage to put any of the capsule back together."
"Apparently Rafael found me first." Kentaro stated.
Ken stood there digesting the fact that Hakase had known his father might be alive. There had been wreckage. He had searched for his father and never said a word. The anger built in Ken. Hakase had lied to him again!
"Dr. Rafael?" Nambu asked stunned.
"Yes, he was there when I landed from what he told me." Kentaro said. "Jun made a recording it's in the there. I'll fill in any details you ask."
All these years he had stayed away. Ken's voice shook with fury. "Why didn't you tell us you were alive? Why did it take so long?"
He practically spit the words at his father.
Kentaro looked at his son. Ken was barely keeping control. Kentaro couldn't really blame him.
"I was injured" He directed his comments to Ken. Nambu could watch the recording. He was concerned with Ken. " I was badly burned and had internal injuries from the explosion and re-entry. I was comatose for five months due to the injuries. The physical will confirm this."
He paused and let his son absorb the information.
Hakase looked at the examination records nodding affirmatively. "It's here Ken."
Kensat taking all this in. It was overwhelming. Kentaro continued.
"When I first came to I was semi-conscious for several months. I had several surgeries and regeneration once they determined I would survive. I don't really remember much of this period. Nearly a year had gone by at this point.
After that I had another year of rehabilitation. My body had atrophied and needed to be rebuilt again. At first I couldn't walk and had trouble talking. It was two years before I was able to even try to contact anyone."
Nambu looked at the records. Dr Rafael had saved Joe by rebuilding him. There was no mention of anything mechanical here at all. Apparently the craft had been sturdy enough to survive re-entry with Kentaro's body mainly intact. He had been severely injured the physical confirmed his story. It was a miracle he had survived at all according to the physical.
"Where were you during this time Kentaro? Why didn't you call me? You know I would have come." Nambu asked him.
Kentaro turned to Nambu.
"I was in Rafael's lab or doing intelligence for him mostly. I tried to contact you Kozi. I tried several times. Every time I tried someone shot at me. One of my operatives was ambushed trying to arrange a meeting. I tried several times before I gave up. After that I had no choices left. I decided to stay dead, until I could come up with something better.
Now we need to deal with the airbase. I don't have the network to do that. It's too big. Even coming here might be a risk, but I had no other choice."
Ken looked at his father in horror. He had been trying to contact them. All this time they thought he was dead.
Ken plopped down on the couch and put his head in his hands. All this time wasted grieving for him.
"Who did this? Ken asked in horror.
"I don't know for certain. One of my men Taro was involved. I took care of him. I don't know where it ends. There has to be someone in ISO or Red Impulse squad. You should have seen this base. There is no way the satellites could have missed it."
Ken looked to Nambu for an explanation.
"We knew we had a traitor for a while. We never could track it down. We know they led the team into the trap that killed Masaki and Onishi. We don't know who set us up. We thought with the war over and the unit disbanded that was the end of it."
Kentaro's face clouded over. He knew his former wing mates had died. He didn't realize how.
"I want this person! I want to wring their neck."
"We'll get them." Ken promised. "They died saving us. We'll get them." His voice was soft and deadly.
"Tell us about the base" Nambu said.
Ken's insides went cold. His father had come in because of the airbase. He'd had no option he'd said. Otherwise he might have never seen him again.
Kentaro took out several data tapes and a folder of photographs. He handed them to Nambu.
"It's all here. It's not Galactor. It's the leftovers from the war staffing it at the moment. Whoever is organizing this is bigger than that though. It is definitely connected to the Huntworl government. I don't know who is the head of this monster is though. I've tried and I can't get high enough to figure it out."
Nambu took the data and put the tape in the drive. Nambu was studying the schematics and photographs of the airbase. Kentaro was right. They never should have missed something this size. ISO had a problem, a big problem.
Ken glanced at the data. His heart wasn't in it at the moment. His father was thorough if nothing else. He was always good at his job Ken thought bitterly.
Ken looked at his watch. It was late. They couldn't do much more tonight. He felt tired beyond bearing. With a sigh he got up to leave.
"Hakase, it's late. I'll be at the airstrip."
Nambu looked at his watch. It was late. "Until tomorrow then." He agreed.
Nambu knew that this was difficult for Ken. He hoped Ken would give Kentaro a chance. He suspected though he didn't show it, Kentaro was having a very difficult time also.
There were so many questions that needed to be answered. There were so many years to make up. Miraculously Kentaro could finally provide his son some answers. Nambu just hoped Ken would allow him the chance.
Kentaro watched as Ken turned his back and walked toward the door to leave.
Ken stopped at the door. Unsure of the impulse that made him do it, he asked "Are you coming or not?"
Surprised Kentaro looked up at his son. His back was turned to him.
Nambu motioned Kentaro forward. It had taken a lot for Ken to make the offer. Now was not the time to question him for the reason.
Kentaro looked uncertainly back at Nambu. "I'll come." Kentaro said very softly. He got up and put his glasses back in place and followed Ken.
Ken led Kentaro down to the elevator and out to the parking garage. He led him to two-seater sports car and motioned for him to get inside.
Ken said nothing and didn't even look at his father as they drove.
Kentaro left him to his thoughts. The airstrip was about 45 minutes away as he recalled. He leaned back in the seat. He was tired beyond reason. He had barely slept since this whole thing had started. He knew this would be hard. He'd had no idea exactly how hard.
He had missed his son. He had wanted to come home. He had tried. When he realized someone else was aware of him, he had hidden. He didn't know whether being here right now was putting Ken in danger. He hoped not. He wanted nothing more than to be here right now.
The pain and anger was still rolling off Ken. Kentaro had no idea how to diffuse it. He sighed hoping for some inspiration from somewhere. He really had no idea how to talk to his son. "They didn't write a manual for this situation." He thought wryly.
Ken looked at his father. His eyes were still covered with the glasses. He seemed tense. At least he wasn't completely unaffected. He had no idea what his father was thinking. He was an expert at hiding his thoughts, hiding himself. He only let you see what he wanted seen. Ken wanted to talk to him. He didn't have the faintest idea where to start.
Ken chuckled softly to himself as he realized the absurdity of the whole situation. It was too bizarre to believe, but here he was caught directly in the middle of it.
"Hmmm?" Kentaro grunted by way of a question.
Ken looked at his father briefly. "I was thinking about this whole situation. I'd tell it to the psychiatrist, but they would have me committed."
Kentaro chuckled at the observation. "Are you saying I'm driving you insane literally?"
"Did you ever see the old show, The Twilight Zone 1?" Ken asked. "I feel like I'm in the middle of an episode."
"As I recall, you made me suffer through a marathon of it one time when you had gotten hurt training."
Ken had forgotten about that. He chuckled at the memory. It was a comfortable thing to remember. "You grumbled something about getting even with Hakase for making you stay with me if I remember correctly."
"I think he was getting even with me for putting you there in the first place." Kentaro added amusement in his voice.
"It was only a minor concussion." Ken added.
Kentaro laughed a real laugh for the first time. He had enjoyed spending that time with his son. He tried to hold on to such moments. There were too few of them.
Ken looked at him. "I'm surprised you even remember. I'd forgotten about those videos."
"Sometimes it's the little things that stay with you."
Ken pulled into the driveway and down the path to the shack.
They got out of the car and headed inside. Kentaro removed his glasses and looked around. The cabin had been upgraded since he had last seen it. It still had much of the furniture he had left in place. It had been fixed up, painted and generally maintained better than previously.
Ken had placed his own personal stamp on the place without eliminating Kentaro's earlier presence. Kentaro noticed the two seemed to blend well together.
1. "The Twilight Zone" TM & Copyright © 2002 by UPN. All Rights Reserved.