Chapter 2
"Skipper, you all right?" Commander Matsu Takagi asked quietly, after making his way to his superior officer.
Captain Connor Reilly was on the ground, fiercely clutching his left shoulder as blood seeped through his clothing. His featured tightened and he glanced at the XO before looking at their attackers.
Three men all in civilian clothing. All carrying small weapons pointed at them. How did this happen? Family Day was supposed to be a happy time…they've never had to worry about a situation like this. During all his years of supporting it, he'd never had to deal with this.
Slowly sitting upright, he glanced at several of the children on the bridge, all who had gone very pale. Some were with their parents, holding on to their hands, in shock at the situation.
Reilly took a deep breath, wincing.
The one who appeared to be in charge of the whole operation, who had announced that the ship had been taken over, went to the window and tapped on the glass. The man outside on patrol came in within a few minutes.
The leader looked at the Reilly and Takagi, his eyes in thought. He had a medium build, with the shadow of a beard on his features.
"It is to my understanding that this particular ship has a new type of technology that is being tested," the leader spoke up. "You two…" He pointed to the captain and the XO, "…what can you tell me about this?"
The captain glanced at the XO before shaking his head. "Just upgraded radar systems. A…press release was sent out about two weeks ago."
The leader studied him for a second before picking up a clipboard and studying it. "It says you have sixty guests listed on this roster for today's visit," he said, glancing back at the captain and XO.
Takagi felt his breath catch in his throat and he swallowed fiercely.
The leader moved towards them and squatted down in their direct line of vision. "How many of these visitors would it take to convince you to tell me the truth?"
It took all of Commander Takagi's willpower not to flinch.
The leader gestured to one of his men and pointed to something on the clipboard. "Perhaps we can use this as leverage…"
His lackey nodded in understanding and promptly left.
0-0-
The halls of the ship were narrow, giving one barely any room to hide. Saitou carefully made his way around, listening for the sounds of footsteps.
How did the ship get taken over in the first place? A large group had to be running this in order to make sure that everyone on board wouldn't retaliate.
He needed to think. In a delicate situation like this…people would do anything. But take over a ship?
Saitou reached the corridor leading to the CO and XO's offices. About ten feet away, standing with his back facing him, a man dressed in civilian clothing yawned and stretched his arms over his head before securing his semi-automatic strapped around his torso.
Damn.
Here he was without a weapon.
Saitou turned another way, determined to find another way around the floor. Until he spotted the XO's office door opened a crack. Glancing around to make sure the hall was clear, he leaned towards the door, listening in for voices.
Nothing.
He quietly pushed open the door and peered inside.
No one.
The office was empty.
Wait.
Something…was off.
Closing the door as silently as he opened it, he trained his ears to listen. This office contained very important information and items. Hopefully something their attackers hadn't realized just yet.
The click of metal echoed within the walls and he felt his breath stall in his lungs.
0-0-
"Uncle?"
Saitou looked across the table to see that Mari was staring at him.
"You were quiet for a while, Dad," Tsutomu spoke up. "You space out or something?"
"Or something," Saitou murmured. Exactly how much of this tale was he going to keep and omit? He and Tokio knew that at some point their children would ask how they met. And while together, they had come up with what to say…they had never really practiced it.
"So when did you meet Mom?" Tsuyoshi asked.
His father smirked at the question. Saitou could still clearly remember the scenario…it was as vivid in his mind as if it had only happened the day before...
0-0-
"Who are you?" a voice demanded.
Saitou turned to see the black chamber of a handgun held securely between two slender hands propped on the desk. And behind that…a pair of startled but determined brown eyes. He couldn't see much else thanks to her position behind the desk.
She was taught well. He almost hadn't noticed her.
"I asked you a question," she spoke up.
"Are you with them?" he asked instead.
Those eyes narrowed slightly. "Answer the question, Lieutenant."
So she could tell by the bars on his uniform his rank. Experience dealing with people told him that she had no intention of shooting. Not until she was threatened. And since she was currently at the advantage, he decided not to push her.
Much.
"Lady first," he replied, briefly smiling at the annoyance in her eyes.
"I don't owe you any information."
"Neither do I," he declared. Then he shrugged, "But since you're the one with a weapon…Lieutenant Hajime Saitou."
"ID?" she prompted.
Of course she would have asked that. He slowly reached into his right pocket and pulled out his wallet, extracting a small plastic card with green and white pattern before tossing it onto the desk.
Carefully, with her weapon still trained on him, she got to her knees and reached for the card, glancing at it before looking at him again.
"Considering what's going on right now, anyone found in the XO's office is suspicious," he mused aloud.
She reached down to the floor, and he heard the sound of a zipper opening along with some shifting sounds. She then tossed her beige wallet towards him, which he caught one-handed. Flipping it open, the first thing he noticed was her driver's license, tucked in a clear slot. Other compartments were for holding credit cards and cash. He noticed that she only had two credit cards. One for a major company and one for gas.
Tokio Takagi.
"Any relation to the XO?" he asked before tossing the wallet back on the desk.
"My brother. You know him?"
Ah, so the XO had more than just his child on board. He had a sister as well. It was common on Family Days for officers to bring their siblings. "I met him earlier today to check in for my assignment," Saitou stated. He nodded towards the desk. "Read the schedule."
She lowered her eyes to the clipboard on her brother's desk before turning back to him again. "Weapons tour?"
He shrugged. "Show kids how we shoot on this ship and what we shoot with."
Her mouth parted in surprise. "You're serious."
"It's not something I would joke about." His eyes hardened slightly. "Someone has taken over this ship and who knows what they're going to do the longer they have control. There's a man standing guard just fifteen feet away from here…you're lucky he hasn't come this way yet."
Taking a deep breath, she lowered the weapon, setting it on the desk. "So you have a plan?"
Taking it as a sign that she was going to trust him, he moved towards the XO's desk and to the computer console.
"Didn't your brother bring his daughter on board?" He asked as he turned on the system.
She closed her eyes briefly, letting out a breath. "My niece. She was…with several other Navy kids and their parents."
"And where are they?"
"I…I'm not sure," she answered quietly. "When the announcement was made, I was just on my way from the mess hall…this was the only place I could think of to go at the time."
"It almost would have worked if you closed the door properly," he pointed out.
Something flashed in her eyes before she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not used to Navy ships."
"Obviously."
"Look, if you have a plan, then do it. Pointing out my mistake is getting us nowhere." He couldn't miss the irritation in her voice.
"Any idea what your brother's password would be?" Saitou asked as he settled in the leather chair, fingers paused over the keyboard.
"Hacking into my brother's system is your plan?"
He glanced at her through the corner of his eye. "It's faster than my way."
"No, I don't know the password."
Saitou shook his head and typed several commands and prompts. This was going to take a few minutes. The woman moved away, studying the photographs the XO had hung on the wall.
He continued to work until after seven minutes, he was able to sit back. Saitou took the time to observe his companion. She was tall and slender, probably around five-six or five-seven. Straight black hair fell just to her shoulders, held half up and away from her face with a wide silver clip. It parted on the left side of her forehead, with several long bangs falling towards her right eye. Her gray blouse had sleeves that went just past her elbows, and it fit to her frame. Dark blue jeans hugged her hips and flared slightly at her ankles.
Once the computer monitor showed a display map of the local area, he quickly sat up straight.
She must have noticed his movement and went to stand next to the desk. "What is this?"
"A new technology the Navy's testing. Not only can the captain and XO tell what ships are nearby, they can control everything on the ship. Weapons, heading…all from their own office."
Tokio stared at him. "How do you know that?"
"Because I sent the approval for it to be installed on here."
"This isn't what they're after, is it?"
"I haven't asked them," he said dryly.
She rolled her eyes. "I'll rephrase. What else on this ship would drive them to take over?"
"This is one," he gestured to the screen. "Revenge…Some need for attention…anything, really." He studied the screen for several moments before he typed in a command that brought up another screen. After typing in again, he sat back, done with his work.
"Now what?"
"In five minutes, the Coast Guard will be in our line of sight. I've disabled the weapons, but it'll only be a matter of time before our 'hosts' find out."
"How are you going to get their attention?"
He paused slightly. "Do you know Morse Code?"
She nodded quickly.
"How are you when it comes to working with electronics?"
"Why?"
"Chances are our hosts are monitoring every radio call within a certain mile radius." He typed in a command to bring up the map of the ship. "I can neutralize our hosts…you can send out a message to the Coast Guard."
"What does this have to do with electronics?" she asked.
He zoomed in on a particular room on the ship, right beneath the bridge. "This contains the controls for the lights on deck. And here...for the lights on top of the bridge."
Immediately, she guessed his train of thought. "You want me to use the lights and Morse code." She lifted two arched brows. "And you're going to play hero. What are you, a Navy SEAL?"
"Hell no." He immediately got up and snatched the gun off the desk. "I'll take you to the lights before I work on getting the XO and captain back."
0-0-
"So that's it?" Tsutomu asked. "You thought Mom was poking around Uncle's office and that's how you met?"
Saitou arched a brow. "I didn't know that they were related until I asked for her ID, remember?"
"Well, yeah…"
Thankfully, their server arrived to take their orders. Once everything was settled, Saitou sat back, watching his three-year-old son doodle random objects on paper.
His light eyes shifted to catch his niece staring at him, her expression clearly saying she was slightly dissatisfied with the story. "Yes?" he prompted.
"So it wasn't love at first sight?" Mari asked.
What were girls watching these days, anyway? Too many of those damn animated movies with princesses, probably. Love at first sight? Ha.
"No, it wasn't."
Rin pursed her lips. "Did you like Auntie at all?"
Saitou arched a brow at that question before saying, "You need to know someone before you like them."
"You didn't think Auntie was pretty? Boys in school when they think a girl is pretty they'll talk to them all the time."
Hmm. Kids sure were getting a head start these days when it came to relationships. Back in his day boys only cared about sports and toys.
"I didn't notice how she looked when we first met," he admitted, shrugging.
All he had cared about was doing what needed to be done and getting everyone home.
Back then, after he had escorted Tokio to her designated spot, he had gone to the bridge. The XO had managed to take down the leader, but after a brief…very brief…interrogation by Saitou, the leader had revealed the locations of his crew on board. And Saitou's guess about revenge had been right. Apparently, the leader's oldest brother died while working overseas when his submarine sank. The man had been disillusioned…angry…and had used the opportunity to sneak on board.
After making sure that the captain would be seen by a doctor, Saitou and the XO had split up to take down the rest of the hostiles on board. One of them had been a female and had come across Tokio while patrolling. It didn't take long for the XO's younger sister to knock the wind out of her assailant. Once she was done, Tokio volunteered to make sure all the guests for Family Day who weren't near any hostiles would be accounted for.
And that had been the last he saw of her.
At least for a few weeks.
"So what happened? How did you meet Auntie again?" Rin asked.
"I met her a few weeks later, thanks to coincidence."
"Thanks to what?" Tsuyoshi frowned at the word.
Instead of offering an explanation to his son, his niece beat him. Always patient with Tsuyoshi and his twenty questions, Mari explained, "It means by chance. Like you accidentally ran into her again, right Uncle..?"