The Final Countdown
Chapter 5.
The Emperor Showa awoke early, as was his habit. He meditated for a half and hour as he watched the sun rise from the window of his bedroom. He washed and dressed himself in the formal clothing of the Emperor knowing that he would be seeing officials of the government and the military in a few hours. The kitchen staff were well aware of Hirohito's early breakfast hour, and they had his morning meal waiting for him when he arrived in the dining room.
Astro saw the first glint of the sunrise though the eastern window of the guest room he was sleeping in. He quickly donned the clothing that had been left for him, so as to make an early appearance. The prince had told him and Daichi that they could make their way downstairs at anytime for something to eat, that there would be a member of the kitchen staff to assist them. Astro felt a little strange leaving his red boots sitting in the closet and wearing the Tabi and Zori on his feet instead. If he needed to use his leg jets for any reason he'd have to first kick off the footwear, his boots were designed with a foldable flap that automatically got out of the way of his jet nozzles. (He could of course fly by use of his arm jets, but that left him without any free hands.)
Astro found the kitchen area by scent. The aroma of boiling rice, brewing tea, and frying ham were drifting towards him as he entered that wing of the building. The kitchen was next to what must have been the formal dining area where the Emperor and members of the royal family would occupy, but a servant with an apron and a chief's hat beckoned him towards a small table in an alcove just to the other side of the kitchen.
"Ohayo" The servant called to him, "Tea?"
"Hai", Astro replied, adding "Arigato."
The servant poured him a small cup of hot green tea which Astro sipped slowly. The man wearing the chief's hat and apron loaded a wheeled cart with several covered trays and pushed it towards the dining room on the other side of the kitchen. Astro followed him from a distant, he stepped lightly and was glad to find that the Zori's didn't make the dim squeaking sound that his red boots did when he tried to tip toe quietly.
Astro ducked behind a large potted plant near the entrance to the dining room as the servant exited with the empty cart. He found the door to the dining room ajar and he slowly entered trying to look as innocent as possible. The Emperor was seated at the end of a long table where the various covered trays had been set before him. He was drinking tea from a large cup while studying a stack of papers. Hirohito was too busy looking at his paperwork to notice Astro, but he turned quickly to the sound of the door opening behind him when Akihito walked in.
"Ohayo O oya", Akihito called out to his father.
The Emperor acknowledged his son's greeting and then spotted Astro standing at the other end of the table. "Who are you?" he asked.
"That is one of my two guests," The prince replied. "You invited us to have tea with you yesterday, but we got involved with a Shogi match and had dinner up in my room."
"Yes, I remember that now." His father smiled.
"You can call me Astro," Astro said bowing to the Emperor. "I'm sorry to walk in on you unannounced."
"I'm usually glad to meet my son's acquaintances," the Emperor replied. "Why don't the two of you sit here and enjoy some breakfast. I am expecting visitors this morning and will soon be busy with affairs of the government. I expect to be occupied with such business for some time, so it is a good thing that you both found your way here so I could meet you."
Astro nervously cleared his throat. "Your royal highness, there is something that I need to talk with you about, something of great importance."
At that moment the door at the far end of the room opened, and Diachi entered.
"Ohayo," he said, with a polite bow. "Am I in time for breakfast?"
"Certainly, take a seat," Hirohito replied, "You must be Diachi, I'm so glad we all were finally able to get together. Now then Astro, what is so important that you need the Emperor's ear?"
Atlas turned his head to give Astro a stern look. "I suspect my friend here wanted to tell you that the idea of war with the Americans was the idea of a Baka. I wouldn't listen to him."
Astro's face glowed red with anger as he slammed his palms down on the table and turned to face Atlas.
"I thought you were opposed to the idea of war!" He blurted out.
"Not if means a better position for our country in the world standing!" Atlas replied back. "I've given the mater much thought during the night, and came to realize what a fool you are."
The Emperor's face showed a look of extreme surprise, while Akihito looked back and forth between his two guests. Finally the prince spoke.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked.
"I suspect that somehow your guests have guessed the purpose of my meeting this morning." The Emperor replied. "I will be in conference with the Prime Minister and heads of the military. We have a decision of grave importance to make, and it does concern the possibility of war with the western world. But how did you two know this? Are you spies?"
"Current events make it obvious that our country is having difficulties with its neighbors in the world." Astro quickly blurted out. "What other pressing matter could account for the look I saw on his majesty's face when I first walked in?"
"You have the observational skills and the mind of Conan Doyle's great detective." The Emperor replied. He stared at both Astro and Diachi as he spoke. "Rest assured that I will make a sound decision for the fate of my country based on facts. I can promise you nothing else."
The door slowly opened and the Emperor's secretary appeared at the doorway. "Our visitors have arrived your Excellency," he said.
"Arigato." The Emperor replied. Then turning to face his son and guests, "I must leave you now. Akihito, please keep your guests company until they are to leave. I will be quite busy for the foreseeable future." The Emperor left the room with his secretary.
Astro and Atlas glared at each other for a moment. The prince looked at each of them in turn and then spoke. "While he was most polite, I saw in my father's eyes that he was annoyed by your outbursts."
"I'm sorry, your highness," Astro replied. "Diachi and I seem to see things differently," he said as he glared at Atlas, "But we are both loyal countrymen."
"Perhaps, but I think you should both leave before evening." The prince said. "You may stay for the noon meal, but It would be best if you were not here when father's visitors are gone."
Prime Minister Tojo, Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, Naval Minister Admiral Shimada, Admiral Nagano, and Army chief of staff Sugiyama entered the Emperor's study with the Emperor and his secretary, and the was locked. The study was off to the side of the building where it jutted out under a low roof line and had windows around three sides affording the Emperor a view of the gardens of the palace.
Atlas grabbed Astro and pushed him towards an outside door into the garden. From their vantage point outside the building near the Emperor's study they could see the room, but the window shades had been closed. The heavy glass panes in the windows made the room sound proof and neither of the two robots hearing was good enough to make out what was being said inside the room.
Atlas ran back into the building dragging Astro with him. There was a closet next to the Emperor's study in the hallway, and the two of them quietly snuck into it. Atlas pressed his ear against the wall adjacent to the Emperor's office, but he could hear nothing but muffled voices.
"Your hearing is better than mine, you try it!" Atlas barked at Astro in a muffled whisper. "We need to know what is going on in there!"
Astro tried as well, but even with his 1000x hearing the wall was too soundproofed. Atlas looked up and noticed a hatchway leading into the ceiling. "There is a crawlspace up there." He piled a few empty boxes on top of each other and stood on them to open the hatch in the ceiling leading into the crawl way. He poked his head into the opening and quickly came back down.
"It's too tight for me up there." Atlas said. "You're smaller than I am shrimp, you get in there and listen!"
Astro glared at Atlas. "You really trust me to tell you what I really hear?"
"Actually I do." Atlas laughed. "I know your programming won't allow you to lie, not even to me."
Astro shrugged his shoulders and climbed on top of the boxes and crawled into the ceiling. He slowly made his way to the middle of the space above the Emperor's study, being careful to keep his weight on the ceiling beams to avoid falling through the thin plaster.
"The review of your eleven points has been in vain." Nagano said. "We've considered all of the possibilities and it appears unlikely that the Americans and the British will stand by idly while we continue our conquest of the Pacific. The American's are sure to cut off our supplies and will leave us no choice."
The Emperor looked at his new prime minister and the army chief of staff. "Do you also agree with Nagano's assessment?" he asked.
"I do," Tojo replied. "I see no alternative." Sugiyama agreed. "We must make the first move in this game of chess with the west."
"I see." the Emperor sighed. "In that case, are you going to provide justification for the war?" he asked.
"I've already prepared the document for your approval, your highness." The Foreign minister replied, opening his attache case to remove a thick document which he handed to Hirohito.
The Emperor quickly scanned though the document, pausing here and there to carefully study some sections. Finally he nodded his head. "I will need to see the detailed plans for our initial action against the enemy before I can give you my official go ahead." he said.
"We will have them for your review tomorrow," the military leaders responded in unison.
Astro slowly crawled out of the ceiling and landed on top of Atlas who was standing right underneath the hatchway in the ceiling. "Watch what you're doing you clumsy oaf!" he hissed. "What did you hear?"
"I hope you're happy," Astro sighed. "The Emperor has given his initial approval for the attack on Pearl Harbor."
The two robot boys got out of the closet and into the hallway just as the door to the Emperor's study opened and the group of government and military officials walked out. The Emperor's secretary escorted them out of the palace leaving Hirohito alone sitting at his desk. He motioned for them to enter his study.
"I'm sorry if we were out of place with our remarks earlier, Your Excellency." Astro said bowing.
"I totally understand," the Emperor replied. "I can also excuse youth of your age being a bit short sighted and single minded. War isn't something that should be taken lightly, however you are a little too young to understand world politics."
Prince Akihito entered his father's office and his two guests standing there. "I'm sorry father, I had asked them to be gone by the time your visitors had left. I assumed that you were displeased with their actions earlier."
"They were perhaps a bit strong minded, but not disrespectful, Akihito," the Emperor replied. "Come, it is a bit late for the midday meal, but let us enjoy it together. I can use a break from the displeasure of dealing with government politics."
The kitchen servants brought a cold lunch of sushi and green tea which the four of them ate in silence.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Diachi said when the meal was finished, "But I think that we should be leaving."
Astro and Atlas politely said goodbye, and left the palace grounds by the main entrance. Astro looked Atlas in the face. "Just what do you have in mind now?"
"The best course of action for me is to sneak into the task force and see to it that the attack is done correctly." Atlas said. "When the time comes the Navy and Air Corp must finish the job, not leave it half done."
"I still disagree." Astro replied. "The attack should never happen. Only if Japan and the United States never cross swords will Japan be spared from the utter defeat and the two atomic bombs."
"Do as you will then," Atlas said holding a fist up to Astro's face. "Just keep out of my way, or you will regret it!" With that Diachi morphed back into the battle bot form and blasted skyward, flying towards the Northeast.