"Harry where exactly are you?" Goto yawned into his radio "we got to the forum and Kanuka and Trenchard are still watching
Matsukaya"
"Well we went through Shibuya, across Roppongi-dori and then further up into Ebisu" Gallagher said as he sat low in his
seat in the Nissan Primera "they're turning into the car park for the National Park for nature study" Gallagher replied
pointing "pull over here so we can see at least which direction they'll be going in"
Goto mused for a moment "don't do anything rash, just observe for the moment"
"Fair one" Gallagher replied "we may as well stand Kanuka and Trenchard down?"
"Yes" Goto nodded, "I'll get them to meet up with me and DC Williams at the forum"
"Received, out" Gallagher replied, putting the radio down he looked at it for a moment then up at where the trio were
walking to.
"The park is very large" Asuma said "There are many small buildings in the reserve, they could go anywhere"
"And Arnwell and O'Tool will recognise me immediately, especially here" Gallagher said, laying back "send Ota out"
"Why Ota!?" Asuma blinked "he'll probably set the trees on fire to smoke them out!" he said sarcastically (in English of
course so Ota couldn't understand the mud Asuma was pasting over him)"
"I know that's a possibility" Gallagher said, giving a bemused Ota an amused wink "but not even Aoi would know who he was,
as long as he acts like the dumb arsed native, he'll be pandering to the westerner's vision of a foreigner" he explained
as he pulled out a roll of duct tape and a miniature microphone connected to a thin khaki coloured wire "tell Ota to follow
them, find out where they go and use this to monitor their conversation" Gallagher finished as he connected the mike to
Ota's radio before handing it back to him "this is the only one I brought with me, saved it before I left Special Branch in
Belfast last year"
Asuma nodded and turned to Ota, now speaking in his mother tongue "alright listen very carefully okay?"
"Okay, okay what do I have to do?"
"Right follow them, keep your distance" Asuma said with great pain "whether they jump around firing guns into the air or
if they walk on the grass even if a sign tells them not to, you do not I repeat not try to arrest them" Asuma said in a slow,
almost in a patronising tone to Ota.
"Hey!" Ota snapped grumpily, shoving the radio in his coat pocket "when you get promoted then you can talk to me like that,
but right now I'm no kid that's for sure"
"Whatever, but if you screw this up..."
"Oh yeah who says I'll screw this up!?" Ota said, almost incensed.
"Nobody I-" Asuma started.
"Look could you get him going, they've gone round that corner and I do not want to lose them okay!?" Gallagher said, rather
worried that he might have to break them both up in a moment.
****
It was 3 in the afternoon and Kanuka and Trenchard had said nothing since their late morning bust up, Trenchard looked up
and down the street, looking for somewhere he deemed decent to get something, anything to fill his groaning, moaning
stomach.
"Hey Kanuka, you want anything to eat?" Trenchard said "we didn't have anything for lunch"
"Officer Clancy come in please" Goto said on the radio "why we couldn't have used our newer radios I don't know" they heard
him grumble over his breath.
"Clancy here sir" Kanuka said "what's up?"
"You're to stand down, you have about 20 minutes to get over to the forum to meet up with myself and DC Williams" Goto said
"erm..that's about it, I think...yeah...yeah that's all"
"Thank you sir" Kanuka replied before putting the radio down before looking back at Trenchard "sure you can, I don't mind,
I'll have whatever"
Trenchard smiled and nodded "brilliant, I've just seen a really interesting place up the road, my treat okay?" he winked
before getting out of the car and walking off up the street.
Kanuka watched Trenchard walk up the road before settling in front of the today's newspaper which she with her.
About quarter of an hour later, Kanuka was worried. Did Tim get himself lost? Or did he walk into one of the thousands of
novelty shops that litter Tokyo? She was quite surprised to see Trenchard walking back, carrying a brown paper bag, parts
of it stained with fat or other liquid. He had what she judged to be either a maniacal grin or a grin of a person who had
just been reintroduced to solid food after 10 years.
"You won't guess what I got us" Trenchard grinned deeply, almost squirming with glee as he opened the bag.
"No, I don't" Kanuka said with clinical curiosity, looking into the bag which was filled with foil containers with paper
lids on.
"Well I was walking up the road when I saw something I haven't seen for a year, went inside and had a chat and it seems
they moved over here from Bradford last year after their son came over to Osaka Tech for a degree" Trenchard explained
pleasantly.
"Yeah, so what did you get us then" Kanuka asked, still puzzled.
"Well it might be a little early and I would not recommend drinking any sake or beer but..." he smiled then sighed an
almost orgasmic sigh as he smelt the deeply spicy and almost aromatic smell of an Indian Takeaway.
Kanuka frowned.
"What?" Trenchard asked defensively "I'll tell you one thing, I used to live on these when I lived in London" he said,
almost proudly as he started to point out bits "I got two Nhaan breads, 6 Pompadoms, a Tandoori Mixed grill, mixed rice,
an onion bhaji and a chicken korma" he said as he pointed each bit out.
"But we don't have any plates or utensils" Kanuka said.
"Ah! here is the ingenious bit!" Trenchard smiled "the foil containers act as plates!" he said as he took two clean and
empty containers out "have you had an Indian before?"
"Well, I'll be honest.." she paused "no"
"No?" Trenchard blinked "you'd think they'd make a killing selling this stuff in New York" he said as he broke a bit off
of his plain pompadom and dipped it with the Tandoori juices (which he had asked to be made extra hot) "ahhhh, pure heaven"
he said as he took a bite "here you have some of the Korma, it's not too hot so you should be okay with it"
Kanuka looked at Trenchard as he offered a fork to her. Then she smiled slightly and took an empty tray.
****
"Right" Gallagher said as he watched Ota run across the road to catch up with the three suspects "he should've turned the
volume on his radio"
"Yes sir, but what if they suspect anything?"
"Then we'll have to cordon off the reserve and send in blood thirsty bloodhounds" Gallagher said with a smile.
"Great" Asuma sighed in Japanese "humours sarcasm"
Ota panted a bit, using his tracksuit to make up the image of a jogger, using the reserve to jog his way back to nature.
He slowed his pace as he caught sight of the three, walking round a small pond, which was probably used by nesting birds
or something. Stopping to 'adjust' his shoelaces he peered at them.
The trio appeared to be moving towards a camouflaged hut on the pond's edge, what those in the know of bird watching
would call a 'hide'. Standing up, Ota started jogging again, watching them walk inside and close the door as he closed
on them. He would have to check to the side to see if there was a rear window.
""They went into a bird watching hut" Ota hissed into the mike (which was
connected to his radio).
Gallagher nodded, listening intently as he waited "he should be doing it
now" he muttered.
Asuma looked across at the calm DCI "do you think it will work?"
"It will" Gallagher replied, taking out a small notebook "when we get the
info that we need, we'll get back, you'll need to get back on watch anyway"
"But what about those three?" Asuma blinked.
"They won't be rushed" Gallagher smiled "they'll probably do a trial run,
thankfully they think that all the Cops went home the day they went in"
Ota crept round the side, "there must be a window at the back of the hide" he thought, he then saw the blacked out window,
there was a small hole in the lower left corner, creeping along he placed the radio at the base of the hut, the tape already
stuck to it as he pressed down, making sure it stuck firmly to the side. Then he pulled up the cable connecting to the mike,
popping the head of the mike through the crack and jamming it in there. Then he turned the mike volume up high before
slipping back to the path.
Gallagher shushed as he heard the conversation "That's O'Tool" he said quietly as the conversation from the hut started, he
switched on a Dictaphone and then started writing down what they were saying in shorthand.
***
"So you wanted us, what do you need us for?" O'Tool said, sounding like he
was drinking something.
"Our house needs to make a point against the big labour corporations at the LabourExpo" Aoi said "however, our experience
in explosives is very limited, we need the people with the experience to teach us how to do it"
"Heh, aye it'd be easy" Arnwell chuckled "ye have the cash payment doncha?"
"750,000 Euros now" Aoi replied "750,000 if you do the job"
"Ah sod the Euros!" O'Tool said, aggravated "We need dollars not monopoly
money!"
"Of course, I'll make the changes accordingly" Aoi said, surprised to say the least at the confidence of these men.
"Are ye sure we weren't followed?" Arnwell asked "ye're drivin' a nicked car
of course"
"Of course not!" Aoi said with a light chuckle "I make sure nobody follows
me, we'll put you in our safe house"
"Aye" Arnwell said "we can get started with the training when we get there,
then do a trial run somewhere 'bouts tomorrow"
"Where though?" O'Tool cut in.
"We could try where we met up earlier today?" Aoi suggested.
"That could be the best thing to do" O'Tool nodded, "we can see what the
Forum is like as well"
"Now what about food?" O'Tool said "what do you lads eat anyway?"
"There are plenty of dishes available, I will cover the cost" Aoi replied.
***
Gallagher looked up to see Ota slip into the car "good man" he grinned.
"We're all done here" Gallagher said with a smile as he flipped his pad closed and then turned the Dictaphone off, label
the tape and slip it into a plastic seal able bag "get us out of here and to the forum" he added as Ota slipped back into
the car.
Goto sipped his coffee, sitting on one of the forum's cafes, preparations were going on to set up the massive space in the
forum for the LabourExpo.
"This reminds me of being in the TA y'know" Williams said as he saw the Hishii Military exhibit's cardboard cutouts be
carried.
"How so?" Goto said as he frowned at the no smoking sign on the wall next to him, discreetly placing his packet of Silk Cut
back into his coat pocket.
"Well in 1998 they finally sorted out Bosnia, the Soviets as far as we knew had no interest into tapping into Tito's old
domain so they let the EU pick up the remains" Willams said, face turning into a half-bitter scowl "sadly because our
nice little people in government had cut back again, the only troops available to go into Bosnia with SFOR were the
Territorials"
"And you were one of them?"
"Yeah, you have three Labor units in the TA, one operational combat unit using the cheapest ones you can find, the second as
a mothballed reserve and then there was the maintenance and control unit, which was us" Willams explained "yeah,
no Helldivers in the British Army mate" Williams grinned "even if it was a national necessity, which it was back then, you
still needed one thing. Money"
"That's been a bit of a reoccurring theme with you Brits" Goto smiled "your scrooge like government"
"Yeah, and we still fall on our face in this brave new world economy" Willams chuckled "anyway, we were sent out to
decommission the old Warsaw Pact Labors that the Serbs had 'lent' to their Bosnian-Serb friends, incredible things, I'd tell
you one thing, even if one of our regular army units now came up against one of them, I'd put my money on the Warsaw Pact
model" Willams shook his head when he said that "a bloody farce that was, a tin pot army like that had even better
equipment than what is considered the most professional set of armed forces in the world"
Goto grinned "hey look on the bright side, at least that was the only thing you had to do out there"
"What disable labors?" Willams asked as he looked up.
"Yeah" Goto said, as he looked at the CCTV pictures of Arnwell, O'Tool and Aoi standing in the shopping centre.
"We dismantled them and sent them back to the UK for examination, I found out later that the UK government sold them off
for scrap. They would've been more use than the crap we have right now in the army"
"Look on the bright side" Goto said as he put the photos down "at least you don't have to worry about the runaway models
that our Military spew out every year"
"True" nodded Williams "same again?" he asked, lifting the empty Coffee cup"
"Thanks" Goto nodded as he peered outside "Gallagher and co are here"
"Wonder where Kanuka and Trenchard are?" Willams said as he came back with two more cups.
"They said they had to make a bit of a detour" Goto replied.
****
"You've been in there for 30 minutes!" Trenchard said as he leaned next to the entrance to a Ladies public toilet "I'm sure
the Indian wasn't that bad"
"Oh yeah well next time, try giving me something that won't make me make me this sick" a muffled shout came from inside of
the toilet, followed by loud groaning and coughing as Kanuka threw up again into the toilet.
"It was your own fault for drinking Diet Coke all morning, you know fizzy drinks don't mix with food like that"
"But I didn't know I was going to have that for lunch!" Kanuka shouted back "dinner maybe but not for lunch". Suddenly
all went quiet from inside the toilet.
"What's wrong now?" Trenchard sighed.
"Do you have any toilet paper?" Kanuka asked embarrassingly.
"For Christ's sake" Trenchard grumbled as he searched in his jacket pocket "here have my tissues" he said, throwing a packet
over the side "I'll go get some water so hurry up, we're late"
"We wouldn't be late if you hadn't have taken us for a culinary misadventure from Bombay!" Kanuka said, annoyed with her
sudden illness.
"Aww shush" Trenchard said as he walked off to cross the road to get to a small supermarket on the other side of the road.
By the time Trenchard had gotten back, Kanuka was out and getting into the car.
"You okay now?" Trenchard asked as he slipped into the Primera. He looked at Kanuka, blinking at her pale colour.
"I think I'm gonna throw up again" Kanuka moaned, taking the water that Trenchard offered.
"Hmmm, Delhi Belly!" Trenchard grinned "I think it's time you went home" he said as he picked up the radio.
"Commander Goto this is PC Trenchard, receive over"
"Goto here, where have you two gotten to?" Goto said into the radio as Gallagher, Asuma and Ota sat down at the table.
"Kanuka is quite unwell, she needs to sleep it off, requesting permission to take her back to her apartment"
"Well if she's that unwell-" Goto replied. Trenchard opened the channel again as Kanuka opened the door and ran to the
nearest bush.
"oi!" Trenchard called out to Kanuka "if this was London you'd get a £50 fine for that!"
"Well.." Goto said, raising an eyebrow "take her home, in fact on your way back, stop off at the supermarket and pick up
some food before you get back to base"
"Yes sir" Trenchard nodded as he started the engine, Kanuka using one of the tissues to wipe her mouth.
"Oh and another thing" Goto said as he stood to get some sugar "Gallagher wants you to find out the exchange rate for
Euros into dollars as well"
"Sure, any reason why?"
"No idea, he'll explain soon"
"Okay sir, out" Trenchard said as he turned off the radio and looked to Kanuka who looked a little bit better "lets get you
home" he grinned.
"No funny stuff" frowned Kanuka as Trenchard drove off.
****
Goto turned off the Dictaphone when the recording ended, taking off his 1 piece headphone "interesting" he said as he looked
over the shorthand "but I don't see how they could get that much money"
Gallagher nodded "they are a small scale organisation?"
"They are" Goto replied "that's why I'm puzzled as to how they got this much cash together"
"Drugs maybe?" Gallagher offered.
"No way" Asuma shook his head "the Yakuza would crucify them if they moved into their old markets"
"Car crime is also out of the question" Goto added.
"Have there been any big bank robberies in Japan recently?" Gallagher asked Goto "Security Van hijackings, Airport raids,
that kind of thing"
"A couple, but not enough was stolen to finance this" Goto said "we'll just have to look harder that's all"
"Guess we'll have to look harder at who the hell is financing this" Gallagher said as he sipped his tea.
"I could guess big business" Goto shrugged "who knows, but that's what we need to find out in the long run"
"But who would have anything to gain from the destruction of LaborExpo?" Asuma asked as he stirred his coffee.
"Anyone from Hishii to Schaft" Goto replied.
"Schaft especially, they have the most to lose here, the big world expos is where their competitors get most of their cash"
Gallagher added.
"Who did the EDA threaten exactly?" Goto asked "do we have the actual case briefing with us?"
"No and no" shook Gallagher as he drank from his cup "my case was on the RIRA pair and that was it"
"It'll be interesting to see how this develops" Goto smiled "who knows, we could have a charge of Corporate Terrorism"
Gallagher nodded, leaning back "I say that Schaft is in on this, they want to sabotage the Expo to give it more time to
entice business it's way"
"We can't do anything though" Asuma said as he finished his coffee.
"True" Goto nodded "but we can investigate it further till we can do something, as in how they are linked to the EDA and
RIRA"
"So what do we do right now?" Gallagher asked "I guess the forum can look after itself, the amount of security I see is,
well far more than one would think is needed"
"Get back home and get on shift" Goto said looking at his watch "we've been out long enough"
****
"Is this the turning?" Trenchard asked as he turned to go down a narrow street, surrounded by seemingly endless apartment
blocks.
"Yes, it is" Kanuka groaned "ohh goddammit" she cursed as Trenchard slowed down a bit.
"Could've sworn I saw that car before" Trenchard mused before shrugging.
"Here" Kanuka said as she half opened the door, getting out and running to the door to the apartment block.
"Hey slow down" Trenchard said as he locked the doors, running after her.
The run up the stairs was a challenging one at best, Trenchard catching up with Kanuka halfway down the corridor to her
apartment.
"I'll get the kettle on while you spend time in the bathroom!" Trenchard said as he let Kanuka in.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean" Kanuka glared, then convulsed as she was sick again, running to the Bathroom.
"What the hell is th- that's what I meant!" Trenchard shouted back, closing the door and walking to what he considered the
kitchen "right tea, coffee, lemsip, anything?" he said to himself as he searched though the cupboards.
"Hey Kanuka where is the Tea here?"
"Top left cupboard in the kitchen" came a painful reply in the bathroom.
Trenchard sighed before opening the kettle to see if there was any water in there, filling it up at the sink, he turned it
on while he looked for some tea. He peered out of the window, to check out the neighbourhood. It seemed pleasant enough, cars
lined up on either side of the road, it was still wide enough to get a fire engine through or something (he noted things
like that). He looked down at their car.
Here he frowned, there were several people standing around it, looking inside, and looking as though they were going to do
something not very nice to it. Looking behind him he thought of Kanuka ripping his head off if he intervened, then he
thought of a better idea. Taking out his J-phone he started to dial the local Police station when he heard something.
A quiet scraping at the door, like someone was trying to break the lock quietly without causing too much noise. Blinking
Trenchard dialled Emergency services instead quickly turning to the bathroom.
"Kanuka, better get out here quickly!" he said as he reached the Police Station.
"Please state your emergency" the operator said.
"Police, am off duty policeman, number 56303"
"State your situation Officer" the operator said as she typed away.
"In potentially lethal situation, am trapped in apartment, several unknown suspects forcing entry as I speak, address 24G,
Sansuzo Aparment Building, Shibuya"
"Understood, appropriate units are en-route"
"Good I-" Trenchard said as he suddenly heard boots at the door, the people outside obviously overhearing Trenchard's
conversation on the phone and getting a bit more hasty "bollocks, sorry" he said as he threw the phone to the couch,
grabbing his extendable steel baton and clicking it into full length "Kanuka get out here now, we have visitors!" he shouted.
"Okay I'm coming!" Kanuka shouted back out. It was too late however as the door came crashing down and three, young men
stormed inside, faces covered by balaclavas and brandishing metal piping.
"Bloody hell" Trenchard cursed himself as he took a step back, making his Baton look as big as possible "back off, I want
to hurt you" he said in Japanese.
"Ha!" replied one "fucking Ganjin, you hurt one of our younger members, we're gonna teach you a lesson!" with that he lunged
in with his large metal pipe at Trenchard, the others following. It was then that Kanuka emerged.
"What the!?" she exclaimed at the knocked down door, she blinked even wider when she saw two men trying to beat the crap out
of Trenchard while one had heard Kanuka come out.
"Ah, I see the Englishman's whore has come out!" he shouted, obviously not knowing who exactly he was up against.
"Try saying that with your all your teeth removed" Kanuka said coldly as she took a step forward.
"Bold words for a woman" he laughed. He stopped laughing when Kanuka struck with her concealed baton, clicking it open in
mid sweep, it's hard, heavy steel structure slammed straight into the man's gut, his eyes almost popping out with the
sudden disappearance of any air in his lungs. Kanuka (who was pretty annoyed at this point) swung her around, bringing her
bare foot up and round, striking the side of the stunned man's head in a perfect roundhouse kick, his head slamming into the
side of the wall with a cringe forcing crunch, as the man slid down to the floor, a couple of teeth fell out.
"Dick" she muttered as she stepped over the groaning body and towards the melee in the Living Room.
Trenchard had a bit more difficult time of it, he had managed to clout one of the thugs round the head with his steel baton
but had been forced into a corner by the more burly one, dodging the thug's attacks, Trenchard was running out of places to
dodge to. The Thug smiled as he stepped closer, raising his knife for a hard strike, Trenchard raised his scuffed steel baton
in defence.
The attack never came, the thug groaned and fell forward as Kanuka thwacked him behind the knees with her steel baton. The
Thug though never stayed for seconds, pushing Trenchard into the wall before he could do anything, he joined he comrade (who
had since recovered from Trenchard's head blow) in fleeing the scene.
"You okay?" Kanuka asked looking at the slightly shocked Trenchard.
"Yeah fine, cheers for the backup" he smiled as he saw the third one trying to get up and stagger out.
"Ah no you don't!" Trenchard said, leaping over the couch and into the hallway where he was, rugby tackling the poor fellow.
"I'm arresting you for Forced Entry, Assaulting a Constable and possession of a lethal weapon, you may not say anything, but
what you do say will be taken down as evidence, do you have anything to say sir?" he said as he pinned the man down, reaching
for his hidden cuffs.
The man garbled something in very complex Japanese, something that Trenchard had not learned yet.
"What did he say?" Trenchard asked as he slipped the cuffs on, making the thug groan in pain as he tightened them up.
"He said, he'll have something to say when he kills you" Kanuka smiled.
"Nonce" Trenchard muttered as he lifted the Thug up and shoved him on the couch as the sound of sirens filled the air.
"Guess we cleaned up" Kanuka said as she looked around her apartment.
"We'll need to clean this up though" Trenchard said as he looked at the door, rubbing his brow.
"Yeah" Kanuka nodded "Well at least I feel a bit less queasy now"
"Maybe action for you is an Anti-oxidant, get what I mean?" Trenchard winked.
Kanuka sighed as she looked around her wreaked apartment. Oh well, another day in Tokyo.
Matsukaya"
"Well we went through Shibuya, across Roppongi-dori and then further up into Ebisu" Gallagher said as he sat low in his
seat in the Nissan Primera "they're turning into the car park for the National Park for nature study" Gallagher replied
pointing "pull over here so we can see at least which direction they'll be going in"
Goto mused for a moment "don't do anything rash, just observe for the moment"
"Fair one" Gallagher replied "we may as well stand Kanuka and Trenchard down?"
"Yes" Goto nodded, "I'll get them to meet up with me and DC Williams at the forum"
"Received, out" Gallagher replied, putting the radio down he looked at it for a moment then up at where the trio were
walking to.
"The park is very large" Asuma said "There are many small buildings in the reserve, they could go anywhere"
"And Arnwell and O'Tool will recognise me immediately, especially here" Gallagher said, laying back "send Ota out"
"Why Ota!?" Asuma blinked "he'll probably set the trees on fire to smoke them out!" he said sarcastically (in English of
course so Ota couldn't understand the mud Asuma was pasting over him)"
"I know that's a possibility" Gallagher said, giving a bemused Ota an amused wink "but not even Aoi would know who he was,
as long as he acts like the dumb arsed native, he'll be pandering to the westerner's vision of a foreigner" he explained
as he pulled out a roll of duct tape and a miniature microphone connected to a thin khaki coloured wire "tell Ota to follow
them, find out where they go and use this to monitor their conversation" Gallagher finished as he connected the mike to
Ota's radio before handing it back to him "this is the only one I brought with me, saved it before I left Special Branch in
Belfast last year"
Asuma nodded and turned to Ota, now speaking in his mother tongue "alright listen very carefully okay?"
"Okay, okay what do I have to do?"
"Right follow them, keep your distance" Asuma said with great pain "whether they jump around firing guns into the air or
if they walk on the grass even if a sign tells them not to, you do not I repeat not try to arrest them" Asuma said in a slow,
almost in a patronising tone to Ota.
"Hey!" Ota snapped grumpily, shoving the radio in his coat pocket "when you get promoted then you can talk to me like that,
but right now I'm no kid that's for sure"
"Whatever, but if you screw this up..."
"Oh yeah who says I'll screw this up!?" Ota said, almost incensed.
"Nobody I-" Asuma started.
"Look could you get him going, they've gone round that corner and I do not want to lose them okay!?" Gallagher said, rather
worried that he might have to break them both up in a moment.
****
It was 3 in the afternoon and Kanuka and Trenchard had said nothing since their late morning bust up, Trenchard looked up
and down the street, looking for somewhere he deemed decent to get something, anything to fill his groaning, moaning
stomach.
"Hey Kanuka, you want anything to eat?" Trenchard said "we didn't have anything for lunch"
"Officer Clancy come in please" Goto said on the radio "why we couldn't have used our newer radios I don't know" they heard
him grumble over his breath.
"Clancy here sir" Kanuka said "what's up?"
"You're to stand down, you have about 20 minutes to get over to the forum to meet up with myself and DC Williams" Goto said
"erm..that's about it, I think...yeah...yeah that's all"
"Thank you sir" Kanuka replied before putting the radio down before looking back at Trenchard "sure you can, I don't mind,
I'll have whatever"
Trenchard smiled and nodded "brilliant, I've just seen a really interesting place up the road, my treat okay?" he winked
before getting out of the car and walking off up the street.
Kanuka watched Trenchard walk up the road before settling in front of the today's newspaper which she with her.
About quarter of an hour later, Kanuka was worried. Did Tim get himself lost? Or did he walk into one of the thousands of
novelty shops that litter Tokyo? She was quite surprised to see Trenchard walking back, carrying a brown paper bag, parts
of it stained with fat or other liquid. He had what she judged to be either a maniacal grin or a grin of a person who had
just been reintroduced to solid food after 10 years.
"You won't guess what I got us" Trenchard grinned deeply, almost squirming with glee as he opened the bag.
"No, I don't" Kanuka said with clinical curiosity, looking into the bag which was filled with foil containers with paper
lids on.
"Well I was walking up the road when I saw something I haven't seen for a year, went inside and had a chat and it seems
they moved over here from Bradford last year after their son came over to Osaka Tech for a degree" Trenchard explained
pleasantly.
"Yeah, so what did you get us then" Kanuka asked, still puzzled.
"Well it might be a little early and I would not recommend drinking any sake or beer but..." he smiled then sighed an
almost orgasmic sigh as he smelt the deeply spicy and almost aromatic smell of an Indian Takeaway.
Kanuka frowned.
"What?" Trenchard asked defensively "I'll tell you one thing, I used to live on these when I lived in London" he said,
almost proudly as he started to point out bits "I got two Nhaan breads, 6 Pompadoms, a Tandoori Mixed grill, mixed rice,
an onion bhaji and a chicken korma" he said as he pointed each bit out.
"But we don't have any plates or utensils" Kanuka said.
"Ah! here is the ingenious bit!" Trenchard smiled "the foil containers act as plates!" he said as he took two clean and
empty containers out "have you had an Indian before?"
"Well, I'll be honest.." she paused "no"
"No?" Trenchard blinked "you'd think they'd make a killing selling this stuff in New York" he said as he broke a bit off
of his plain pompadom and dipped it with the Tandoori juices (which he had asked to be made extra hot) "ahhhh, pure heaven"
he said as he took a bite "here you have some of the Korma, it's not too hot so you should be okay with it"
Kanuka looked at Trenchard as he offered a fork to her. Then she smiled slightly and took an empty tray.
****
"Right" Gallagher said as he watched Ota run across the road to catch up with the three suspects "he should've turned the
volume on his radio"
"Yes sir, but what if they suspect anything?"
"Then we'll have to cordon off the reserve and send in blood thirsty bloodhounds" Gallagher said with a smile.
"Great" Asuma sighed in Japanese "humours sarcasm"
Ota panted a bit, using his tracksuit to make up the image of a jogger, using the reserve to jog his way back to nature.
He slowed his pace as he caught sight of the three, walking round a small pond, which was probably used by nesting birds
or something. Stopping to 'adjust' his shoelaces he peered at them.
The trio appeared to be moving towards a camouflaged hut on the pond's edge, what those in the know of bird watching
would call a 'hide'. Standing up, Ota started jogging again, watching them walk inside and close the door as he closed
on them. He would have to check to the side to see if there was a rear window.
""They went into a bird watching hut" Ota hissed into the mike (which was
connected to his radio).
Gallagher nodded, listening intently as he waited "he should be doing it
now" he muttered.
Asuma looked across at the calm DCI "do you think it will work?"
"It will" Gallagher replied, taking out a small notebook "when we get the
info that we need, we'll get back, you'll need to get back on watch anyway"
"But what about those three?" Asuma blinked.
"They won't be rushed" Gallagher smiled "they'll probably do a trial run,
thankfully they think that all the Cops went home the day they went in"
Ota crept round the side, "there must be a window at the back of the hide" he thought, he then saw the blacked out window,
there was a small hole in the lower left corner, creeping along he placed the radio at the base of the hut, the tape already
stuck to it as he pressed down, making sure it stuck firmly to the side. Then he pulled up the cable connecting to the mike,
popping the head of the mike through the crack and jamming it in there. Then he turned the mike volume up high before
slipping back to the path.
Gallagher shushed as he heard the conversation "That's O'Tool" he said quietly as the conversation from the hut started, he
switched on a Dictaphone and then started writing down what they were saying in shorthand.
***
"So you wanted us, what do you need us for?" O'Tool said, sounding like he
was drinking something.
"Our house needs to make a point against the big labour corporations at the LabourExpo" Aoi said "however, our experience
in explosives is very limited, we need the people with the experience to teach us how to do it"
"Heh, aye it'd be easy" Arnwell chuckled "ye have the cash payment doncha?"
"750,000 Euros now" Aoi replied "750,000 if you do the job"
"Ah sod the Euros!" O'Tool said, aggravated "We need dollars not monopoly
money!"
"Of course, I'll make the changes accordingly" Aoi said, surprised to say the least at the confidence of these men.
"Are ye sure we weren't followed?" Arnwell asked "ye're drivin' a nicked car
of course"
"Of course not!" Aoi said with a light chuckle "I make sure nobody follows
me, we'll put you in our safe house"
"Aye" Arnwell said "we can get started with the training when we get there,
then do a trial run somewhere 'bouts tomorrow"
"Where though?" O'Tool cut in.
"We could try where we met up earlier today?" Aoi suggested.
"That could be the best thing to do" O'Tool nodded, "we can see what the
Forum is like as well"
"Now what about food?" O'Tool said "what do you lads eat anyway?"
"There are plenty of dishes available, I will cover the cost" Aoi replied.
***
Gallagher looked up to see Ota slip into the car "good man" he grinned.
"We're all done here" Gallagher said with a smile as he flipped his pad closed and then turned the Dictaphone off, label
the tape and slip it into a plastic seal able bag "get us out of here and to the forum" he added as Ota slipped back into
the car.
Goto sipped his coffee, sitting on one of the forum's cafes, preparations were going on to set up the massive space in the
forum for the LabourExpo.
"This reminds me of being in the TA y'know" Williams said as he saw the Hishii Military exhibit's cardboard cutouts be
carried.
"How so?" Goto said as he frowned at the no smoking sign on the wall next to him, discreetly placing his packet of Silk Cut
back into his coat pocket.
"Well in 1998 they finally sorted out Bosnia, the Soviets as far as we knew had no interest into tapping into Tito's old
domain so they let the EU pick up the remains" Willams said, face turning into a half-bitter scowl "sadly because our
nice little people in government had cut back again, the only troops available to go into Bosnia with SFOR were the
Territorials"
"And you were one of them?"
"Yeah, you have three Labor units in the TA, one operational combat unit using the cheapest ones you can find, the second as
a mothballed reserve and then there was the maintenance and control unit, which was us" Willams explained "yeah,
no Helldivers in the British Army mate" Williams grinned "even if it was a national necessity, which it was back then, you
still needed one thing. Money"
"That's been a bit of a reoccurring theme with you Brits" Goto smiled "your scrooge like government"
"Yeah, and we still fall on our face in this brave new world economy" Willams chuckled "anyway, we were sent out to
decommission the old Warsaw Pact Labors that the Serbs had 'lent' to their Bosnian-Serb friends, incredible things, I'd tell
you one thing, even if one of our regular army units now came up against one of them, I'd put my money on the Warsaw Pact
model" Willams shook his head when he said that "a bloody farce that was, a tin pot army like that had even better
equipment than what is considered the most professional set of armed forces in the world"
Goto grinned "hey look on the bright side, at least that was the only thing you had to do out there"
"What disable labors?" Willams asked as he looked up.
"Yeah" Goto said, as he looked at the CCTV pictures of Arnwell, O'Tool and Aoi standing in the shopping centre.
"We dismantled them and sent them back to the UK for examination, I found out later that the UK government sold them off
for scrap. They would've been more use than the crap we have right now in the army"
"Look on the bright side" Goto said as he put the photos down "at least you don't have to worry about the runaway models
that our Military spew out every year"
"True" nodded Williams "same again?" he asked, lifting the empty Coffee cup"
"Thanks" Goto nodded as he peered outside "Gallagher and co are here"
"Wonder where Kanuka and Trenchard are?" Willams said as he came back with two more cups.
"They said they had to make a bit of a detour" Goto replied.
****
"You've been in there for 30 minutes!" Trenchard said as he leaned next to the entrance to a Ladies public toilet "I'm sure
the Indian wasn't that bad"
"Oh yeah well next time, try giving me something that won't make me make me this sick" a muffled shout came from inside of
the toilet, followed by loud groaning and coughing as Kanuka threw up again into the toilet.
"It was your own fault for drinking Diet Coke all morning, you know fizzy drinks don't mix with food like that"
"But I didn't know I was going to have that for lunch!" Kanuka shouted back "dinner maybe but not for lunch". Suddenly
all went quiet from inside the toilet.
"What's wrong now?" Trenchard sighed.
"Do you have any toilet paper?" Kanuka asked embarrassingly.
"For Christ's sake" Trenchard grumbled as he searched in his jacket pocket "here have my tissues" he said, throwing a packet
over the side "I'll go get some water so hurry up, we're late"
"We wouldn't be late if you hadn't have taken us for a culinary misadventure from Bombay!" Kanuka said, annoyed with her
sudden illness.
"Aww shush" Trenchard said as he walked off to cross the road to get to a small supermarket on the other side of the road.
By the time Trenchard had gotten back, Kanuka was out and getting into the car.
"You okay now?" Trenchard asked as he slipped into the Primera. He looked at Kanuka, blinking at her pale colour.
"I think I'm gonna throw up again" Kanuka moaned, taking the water that Trenchard offered.
"Hmmm, Delhi Belly!" Trenchard grinned "I think it's time you went home" he said as he picked up the radio.
"Commander Goto this is PC Trenchard, receive over"
"Goto here, where have you two gotten to?" Goto said into the radio as Gallagher, Asuma and Ota sat down at the table.
"Kanuka is quite unwell, she needs to sleep it off, requesting permission to take her back to her apartment"
"Well if she's that unwell-" Goto replied. Trenchard opened the channel again as Kanuka opened the door and ran to the
nearest bush.
"oi!" Trenchard called out to Kanuka "if this was London you'd get a £50 fine for that!"
"Well.." Goto said, raising an eyebrow "take her home, in fact on your way back, stop off at the supermarket and pick up
some food before you get back to base"
"Yes sir" Trenchard nodded as he started the engine, Kanuka using one of the tissues to wipe her mouth.
"Oh and another thing" Goto said as he stood to get some sugar "Gallagher wants you to find out the exchange rate for
Euros into dollars as well"
"Sure, any reason why?"
"No idea, he'll explain soon"
"Okay sir, out" Trenchard said as he turned off the radio and looked to Kanuka who looked a little bit better "lets get you
home" he grinned.
"No funny stuff" frowned Kanuka as Trenchard drove off.
****
Goto turned off the Dictaphone when the recording ended, taking off his 1 piece headphone "interesting" he said as he looked
over the shorthand "but I don't see how they could get that much money"
Gallagher nodded "they are a small scale organisation?"
"They are" Goto replied "that's why I'm puzzled as to how they got this much cash together"
"Drugs maybe?" Gallagher offered.
"No way" Asuma shook his head "the Yakuza would crucify them if they moved into their old markets"
"Car crime is also out of the question" Goto added.
"Have there been any big bank robberies in Japan recently?" Gallagher asked Goto "Security Van hijackings, Airport raids,
that kind of thing"
"A couple, but not enough was stolen to finance this" Goto said "we'll just have to look harder that's all"
"Guess we'll have to look harder at who the hell is financing this" Gallagher said as he sipped his tea.
"I could guess big business" Goto shrugged "who knows, but that's what we need to find out in the long run"
"But who would have anything to gain from the destruction of LaborExpo?" Asuma asked as he stirred his coffee.
"Anyone from Hishii to Schaft" Goto replied.
"Schaft especially, they have the most to lose here, the big world expos is where their competitors get most of their cash"
Gallagher added.
"Who did the EDA threaten exactly?" Goto asked "do we have the actual case briefing with us?"
"No and no" shook Gallagher as he drank from his cup "my case was on the RIRA pair and that was it"
"It'll be interesting to see how this develops" Goto smiled "who knows, we could have a charge of Corporate Terrorism"
Gallagher nodded, leaning back "I say that Schaft is in on this, they want to sabotage the Expo to give it more time to
entice business it's way"
"We can't do anything though" Asuma said as he finished his coffee.
"True" Goto nodded "but we can investigate it further till we can do something, as in how they are linked to the EDA and
RIRA"
"So what do we do right now?" Gallagher asked "I guess the forum can look after itself, the amount of security I see is,
well far more than one would think is needed"
"Get back home and get on shift" Goto said looking at his watch "we've been out long enough"
****
"Is this the turning?" Trenchard asked as he turned to go down a narrow street, surrounded by seemingly endless apartment
blocks.
"Yes, it is" Kanuka groaned "ohh goddammit" she cursed as Trenchard slowed down a bit.
"Could've sworn I saw that car before" Trenchard mused before shrugging.
"Here" Kanuka said as she half opened the door, getting out and running to the door to the apartment block.
"Hey slow down" Trenchard said as he locked the doors, running after her.
The run up the stairs was a challenging one at best, Trenchard catching up with Kanuka halfway down the corridor to her
apartment.
"I'll get the kettle on while you spend time in the bathroom!" Trenchard said as he let Kanuka in.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean" Kanuka glared, then convulsed as she was sick again, running to the Bathroom.
"What the hell is th- that's what I meant!" Trenchard shouted back, closing the door and walking to what he considered the
kitchen "right tea, coffee, lemsip, anything?" he said to himself as he searched though the cupboards.
"Hey Kanuka where is the Tea here?"
"Top left cupboard in the kitchen" came a painful reply in the bathroom.
Trenchard sighed before opening the kettle to see if there was any water in there, filling it up at the sink, he turned it
on while he looked for some tea. He peered out of the window, to check out the neighbourhood. It seemed pleasant enough, cars
lined up on either side of the road, it was still wide enough to get a fire engine through or something (he noted things
like that). He looked down at their car.
Here he frowned, there were several people standing around it, looking inside, and looking as though they were going to do
something not very nice to it. Looking behind him he thought of Kanuka ripping his head off if he intervened, then he
thought of a better idea. Taking out his J-phone he started to dial the local Police station when he heard something.
A quiet scraping at the door, like someone was trying to break the lock quietly without causing too much noise. Blinking
Trenchard dialled Emergency services instead quickly turning to the bathroom.
"Kanuka, better get out here quickly!" he said as he reached the Police Station.
"Please state your emergency" the operator said.
"Police, am off duty policeman, number 56303"
"State your situation Officer" the operator said as she typed away.
"In potentially lethal situation, am trapped in apartment, several unknown suspects forcing entry as I speak, address 24G,
Sansuzo Aparment Building, Shibuya"
"Understood, appropriate units are en-route"
"Good I-" Trenchard said as he suddenly heard boots at the door, the people outside obviously overhearing Trenchard's
conversation on the phone and getting a bit more hasty "bollocks, sorry" he said as he threw the phone to the couch,
grabbing his extendable steel baton and clicking it into full length "Kanuka get out here now, we have visitors!" he shouted.
"Okay I'm coming!" Kanuka shouted back out. It was too late however as the door came crashing down and three, young men
stormed inside, faces covered by balaclavas and brandishing metal piping.
"Bloody hell" Trenchard cursed himself as he took a step back, making his Baton look as big as possible "back off, I want
to hurt you" he said in Japanese.
"Ha!" replied one "fucking Ganjin, you hurt one of our younger members, we're gonna teach you a lesson!" with that he lunged
in with his large metal pipe at Trenchard, the others following. It was then that Kanuka emerged.
"What the!?" she exclaimed at the knocked down door, she blinked even wider when she saw two men trying to beat the crap out
of Trenchard while one had heard Kanuka come out.
"Ah, I see the Englishman's whore has come out!" he shouted, obviously not knowing who exactly he was up against.
"Try saying that with your all your teeth removed" Kanuka said coldly as she took a step forward.
"Bold words for a woman" he laughed. He stopped laughing when Kanuka struck with her concealed baton, clicking it open in
mid sweep, it's hard, heavy steel structure slammed straight into the man's gut, his eyes almost popping out with the
sudden disappearance of any air in his lungs. Kanuka (who was pretty annoyed at this point) swung her around, bringing her
bare foot up and round, striking the side of the stunned man's head in a perfect roundhouse kick, his head slamming into the
side of the wall with a cringe forcing crunch, as the man slid down to the floor, a couple of teeth fell out.
"Dick" she muttered as she stepped over the groaning body and towards the melee in the Living Room.
Trenchard had a bit more difficult time of it, he had managed to clout one of the thugs round the head with his steel baton
but had been forced into a corner by the more burly one, dodging the thug's attacks, Trenchard was running out of places to
dodge to. The Thug smiled as he stepped closer, raising his knife for a hard strike, Trenchard raised his scuffed steel baton
in defence.
The attack never came, the thug groaned and fell forward as Kanuka thwacked him behind the knees with her steel baton. The
Thug though never stayed for seconds, pushing Trenchard into the wall before he could do anything, he joined he comrade (who
had since recovered from Trenchard's head blow) in fleeing the scene.
"You okay?" Kanuka asked looking at the slightly shocked Trenchard.
"Yeah fine, cheers for the backup" he smiled as he saw the third one trying to get up and stagger out.
"Ah no you don't!" Trenchard said, leaping over the couch and into the hallway where he was, rugby tackling the poor fellow.
"I'm arresting you for Forced Entry, Assaulting a Constable and possession of a lethal weapon, you may not say anything, but
what you do say will be taken down as evidence, do you have anything to say sir?" he said as he pinned the man down, reaching
for his hidden cuffs.
The man garbled something in very complex Japanese, something that Trenchard had not learned yet.
"What did he say?" Trenchard asked as he slipped the cuffs on, making the thug groan in pain as he tightened them up.
"He said, he'll have something to say when he kills you" Kanuka smiled.
"Nonce" Trenchard muttered as he lifted the Thug up and shoved him on the couch as the sound of sirens filled the air.
"Guess we cleaned up" Kanuka said as she looked around her apartment.
"We'll need to clean this up though" Trenchard said as he looked at the door, rubbing his brow.
"Yeah" Kanuka nodded "Well at least I feel a bit less queasy now"
"Maybe action for you is an Anti-oxidant, get what I mean?" Trenchard winked.
Kanuka sighed as she looked around her wreaked apartment. Oh well, another day in Tokyo.