Chapter 8: Saipan Rendezvous

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at Saipan International Airport in ten minutes," the captain of the Albatross Seaplane announced over the intercom.

7:08 pm. Six hours since departing Odo Island. The sun hung low over the horizon, blasting the clear-blue sky into the coming onslaught of twilight reds, purple, yellows on the west horizon. Black sky encroached from the east, outlining the far off tropical palms and tall exotic vegetation.

Ishiro and Yamane sat in the front row on the plane's double-seated right side. Both were typing on their laptops. A topographic map of Trinidad was wedged in the space between Yamane and his window. Erika and Shinzo sat immediately behind them, while Emiko and Hideo sat behind Erika and Shinzo. Akane was the only team member on the left side of the plane, in Ishiro's prior single front row seat.

"It's nice to get a confirming opinion from a colleague," Yamane said. "I mean, we tend to disagree on the details, but that's progress. We're the best of the best; a power team."

"Are we going to learn the identity of your friend helping us Yamane?"

"Probably. Probably not. He keeps on constant guard to not divulge his business affairs. The only thing I can say about him is that he's very amiable and extroverted, involved in global geopolitics and economics, and has an interest in aviation technology. He's also quite monetarily helpful and always willing to help when able, so, here we are! On another note though Ishiro, after Trinidad, we should backtrack eastwards to survey a few other islands."

"Which ones?"

"The Marshall Islands. What do you think Ishiro?"

"Hmm... I've long suspected the testing there may be related, though I didn't fully realize the relevance of radioactivity until I saw those radiation sensors at camp."

"Really? How did you not think of radiation being relevant Ishiro?"

"Until now I had no data to go off of. You know Odo has been off limits for any kind of research or visitation since 1955. Even with my notoriety and academic standing I've never been able to get official permission to do my own research there. Why did you think I was so surprised to be invited there by you? "

"Hence why it pays to have connections,"Yamane gloated.

"Hence why I know you," Ishiro replied in an equally boisterous expression. "In all seriousness though Yamane, do you suspect the nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands had any relevant effect on the creature?"

"Six months before the Odo Incident forty-seven nuclear tests occurred on the Marshall Islands. A confidential 1955 survey on Odo found dangerously high levels of radiation under the landslide. The radioactive soil contained fallout properties similar to those of the Castle Operation tests. The type of radiation detected, plus the time frame? I think this is no coincidence. It's incontrovertible to me that this creature has radioactive properties that descend from those tests. How this came about is your area of expertise."

"I've considered the connection for a very, very long time now, over fifty years. I have no testable hypotheses. The only viable explanations I've come up with are extravagant and well beyond the current confines of the physical and biological sciences. I do have two tentative conclusions based on my research."

"What are they Ishiro?"

"First, that the current body of science is insufficient to properly explain this creature. For this creature to exist, basic laws of physics and chemistry and theories in biology, paleontology and evolutionary history need serious reevaluation, refinement or rejection. The second..."

Ishiro paused for a moment, keeping Yamane on edge. Ishiro pulled out a small black bag between his legs. Inside was a solid black case with metal snaps and two combinations. Inside the case was a foam mesh covering the interior. Inside the mesh he pulled out a wrinkled, old rag that smelled of fish and dirt. Within that rag was a velour cloth, pearl and cream-colored. He opened it up and pulled out a small flute, worn down but otherwise in pristine shape. He held it in his hands delicately, wiping off any particulates that may have attached to it.

Yamane, shocked by actually seeing the object from the story, stammered out, "Ishiro, is that Akira's Komabue?"

"...it needs to be annihilated."

Erika and Shinzo sat behind them. Overhearing Ishiro's comments, she tried refocusing on her task at hand. Erika was analyzing the radiation data detected from soil samples deep underneath the Odo landslide. Shinzo was slouched asleep, drool streaming down his right chin, making a translucent trail on the window.

"Why Erika? Why did you sit with Shinzo? Unless it's a bioluminescent jellyfish or whatever deep sea bug, he doesn't help. I swear Shinzo."

The seaplane turned at a slight angle to the left. Shinzo's head tilted from the window onto Erika's shoulder.

"Don't strike him, don't strike him, don't strike him," she said in a mantra to control her irritated state. A line of drool trickled down her sleeve.

"That's it...SHINZO," she yelled loudly in his ear, poking the dry side of his face, garnering momentary glances from the others. He gargled out, "What, are we there yet?"

"We will be. In the mean time, wake up, here's a towel, and wipe your damn saliva off my shoulder and the plane window...please."

"Oh...sorry Erika. I'm sorry for salivating on you in my sleep."

"Just please try to refrain from drooling on me when sleeping. You should get up now anyways."

Shinzo wiped his face off, along with Erika's saturated shoulder. He yawned louldy, his jaw stretching wide like a lion yawn. He then stretched his arms and legs, cracking his neck and back. Something strange took shape on his face...a smile.

"Wow am I feeling good right now. Maybe I'm finally catching up to this trip."

"Trip Shinzo? This is now an investigation that's a matter of national security. Trip probably isn't the best term for it."

"I know Erika. It's finally something worth our time. You know, this investigation could easily uncover the most important breakthroughs in science yet. It's arguably going to be classified and never released to the public, but it's still something spectacular to be part of."

"Wow...you haven't been this positive in a very, very long time. It's quite a nice change for you."

"I know, right? Usually I'm grumpy, sarcastic, or bored with life. Now I feel...spirited, jubilant, and very well rested. By the way, thanks again for those sleeping pills."

"You should be like this more often. Just please take it easy on them. Here, have a couple of these."

Erika put four round green little tablets in Shinzo's hand.

"What are these Erika?"

"Breath mints."

Emiko and Hideo were tasked with researching the literature Ishiro had brought with him. Akane's primary duty was analyzing the Trinidad footage for details about the chronology of events, the creature and its affects. Overall she found them to be quite simple and self evident ...nightmarishly hellish. She was curious about the creature's size, so she ran multiple height approximation models on her laptop. While waiting for the results she indulged reading the text she glanced in Ishiro's room on the ferry ship: "Anomalies in the Ocean: Case Compilations for the Atlantic and Pacific."

"Akane might know how to further integrate these variables," Hideo said under his breath, scratching his head at a single problem he wrote out on thirteen pages of paper. "She's the math expert."

"Didn't you both go through the same upper-level math courses?" Emiko asked.

"Professor Sato has me reading this advanced biomechanics textbook. He's trying to have me do the impossible; find a potential flaw or exception to the Square-Cube Law. Plus, it would be nice to get a second opinion from her on whether I'm framing this calculation right."

"Well, we're landing soon, so worry about it later Hideo. I for one scored big time on this reading assignment. See?" Emiko said as she showed Hideo the book.

He read out loud, " Bigger than Sauropods; Conjectures on Potential Exceptions to Size Limitations and the Possibility of Gargantuan Organisms. They sure made bulky titles back then. Does this crack-pot author even take into account the Square-Cube Law Emiko?"

"He's dancing around it, though then again, does that creature in the video footage obey it?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're touching down in Saipan International Airport in five minute. Please secure your loose items and carry-ons. We hope you enjoyed the extended ride," the Captain announced with a soothing yet tired, drained manner.

Akane looked at her finished calculations just as they were about to land. She was very disturbed by the results."I'll tell them once we're settled in the other plane," she said, highlighting the predicted solutions and major reasons for the calculation result.

Height estimate: 114 meters ± 3 meters.

7:20 pm. Saipan International Airport.

The group departed onto the runway. They were immediately picked up by two four-person minicarts that each hauled a luggage carrier. One lone minicart hauled two luggage carriers that transported all their technical equipment to the hanger across the runway. They headed towards a large red building situated between two hangers, one where their equipment was transported into on their left. Glancing to their right hanger they saw it packed with numerous sports cars and limousines. A series of tall palm trees outlined building's perimeter.

"Is this your colleague's place Professor Yamane?" Hideo asked.

"Not quite. The building is just his waiting terminal."

"What? His own terminal? Wow, he must be really wealthy."

They walked along a red brick trail and gathered around the front door. To the left of the house was a large pool and a hot tub, the later jetting hot bubbles of water.

"How fast does his jet go anyway," Shinzo asked Yamane.

A loud, booming voice behind them echoed out, "Top speed is 1132 kilometres per hour, and cruise speed is 955 my friend." The group turned around and saw a huge middle eastern gentleman in a white dress suit, arms out in a welcoming pose. The man had an enormous curled black beard, tiny but piercing brown eyes and a large smile that seemed permanently attached to his face.

"Ajar Kadin! Very nice to see you again," Yamane said, turning around and approached, motioning for a small hug.

"No Kyohei, the pleasure is all mine," his voice boomed as he wrapped his arms around Yamane, giving him a crushing bear hug.

"Ooo...at least I won't need a chiropractor for a while. Ajar, this is my team," Yamane said, huffing to regain the air back in his lungs. Ajar released Yamane and gradually began greeting the others one by one with extreme geniality.

"Wow, you speak very good Japanese Mr. Kadin?" Shinzo said to him.

"I picked it up five years ago. Comes in very handy when there's a cultural class between the countries I mediate with." Ajar then began showing off his various language skills in Mandarin, French, Spanish, English and Russian.

"Lastly, I think you remember my granddaughter Emiko from out last visit, right?" Yamane said, looking over the group, finding Emiko behind Hideo. Ajar looked right over him.

"Oh my goodness, Emiko! You've grown into such a wonderfully beautiful woman. You were so little last time I saw you."

"That was only five years ago Mr. Kadin," Emiko replied back. Ajar thought for a moment.

"So you are right. I guess I'm the one who grew...dimmer and wider! HA! Well friends, please make yourself at home. The jet won't be departing for another hour and a half, so dine and drink liberally. You're free to use the hot tub and pool as well. I have some acquaintances over, so I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all Ajar. Are they colleagues of ours?"

"Not exactly Kyohei."

Just then two tall black women in white bikinis walked from the front door and dipped into the hot tub.

"Glad I brought some shorts," Shinzo whispered to Hideo. "Got an extra pair for me?" Hideo replied back.

Emiko gave a "I'll beat the crap out of you" look to Hideo.

"Isn't it a bit too hot out to be in a hot tub," Ishiro asked.

"HA HA, NONSENSE! They love it. This weather never changes anyway, so it's like a very hot and moist sauna. It doesn't even phase them so long as they have my company...or each other's. HA!" Ajar smiled boisterously at the women who smiled in kind seductively at him.

"Anyway, I need to confirm that my pilots know of the flight plan and work on a project for the time being. I'll let you get comfortable. Relax and enjoy everyone! I assume you've arranged for extra assistance while in the US Kyohei?"

"I have Ajar. Again, thank you so much for your assistance."

"Not at all. A friend is a friend, and any friend of a friend is my friend!"He walked over and pulled the whole group in a huge hug, then marched away towards the jet's hanger.

"This guy's staggeringly euphoric," Akane said, regaining her breath.

"I like him. He's got some...captivating tastes, that for sure," Hideo said, sneaking a peek over at the two ladies in the hot tub. Emiko slapped him across the head.

"I thought you said he likes to keep his privacy Yamane?" Shinzo asked.

"Well he's private about his professional affairs, but I didn't say he was an introvert."

"Quite the opposite actually," Erika chimed in. "He gave me some weird looks."

"That just means he like you Erika."

She said with a slight treble in her voice, "I hope strictly in a professional manner."

"You wouldn't know, but beyond his geopolitical and economic dealings...and exotic tastes, he was once a research geneticist; published with several leading Middle Eastern Journals in the late 1980's."

"Really? Why did he switch from genetics to geopolitics and economics?" Ishiro asked.

Yamane pointed at the private luxurious building that functioned as Ajar's personal terminal, the two hangers with the jet and sports cars, the pool and finally the hot tub with the two scantily-dressed women.

"That's why."

8:46 pm

Nighttime. A cool sea breeze fluttered over the semi-active airport. Several large 747's on the other side of the airport took off westward. Ajar lead the group to the large hanger housing his jet. He was followed in order by Ishiro and Yamane, Shinzo and Erika, Akane, and lastly, Hideo and Emiko.

"Indisputably the best terminal wait ever," Shinzo announced, smiling and looking back towards the hot tub.

"The best airport treatment ever, no question. Those hot tub water jets felt like little foot massages," Erika replied back.

"No kidding. My feet are definitely feeling less sore," Akane chimed in, also beaming from the relaxation time. "I still need a new pair of shoes. I can't keep working in these cursed boots. Erika, we're the same size. May I borrow your extra pair."

"Sure thing Akane."

Hideo's head was slouched over. His face registered a tinge of disappointment when they passed the bubbling, empty hot tub.

"Come on Hideo," Emiko said nurturingly to him. "Cheer up! That snack buffet was glorious. Plus, wasn't that little underground bowling alley fun?"

"Well, that was fun, especially when you were guttering every other turn. You were so mad on that one turn you threw the ball at an angle hard into the gutter. I still can't believe it popped back out at the last second and got a strike! What are the odds you'll ever get a pin down in normal life?" Hideo laughed out.

"That's not funny," Emiko shouted back, struggling not to laugh at herself.

Ajar halted the group in the middle of the dark to wait outside the hanger. A tiny exterior lightbulb hung on the metal exterior. Draped under the hanger's roof were red-amber colored lights, dimmer than the lone bulb yet not as piercing to one' eye. Ishiro looked at the lights. He began developing a dislike for amber colors lately.

Ajar grabbed two orange flags, opened a small entry door and went inside the dark hanger. It was an eery but short wait outside.

Erika made a big yawn, causing it to ripple through the waiting group. A light breeze flowed through a row of small Jumbay trees bordering the trail around them, ruffling off the tiny, delicate leaves onto the group. Ishiro coughed out several of the small leaves that flew in his mouth. The breeze continued through the still open entry door, wallowing inside the hanger and oscillating the aluminum siding, some of them wobbling unusually violently.

"I thought the hanger doors were open earlier?" Emiko asked.

"I thought so to. Ajar must have closed them," her grandfather replied. Then, slowly the sounds of the main hanger doors creaked opened. The group walked towards the main hanger doors.

The interior view was dark, but there were definitely figures moving inside. Suddenly the noise of starting engines pierced the bowls of the hanger. Ajar's white suit reflected off the low light coming from the cockpit interior. He walked out waving around orange guide flags. Bright lights erupted from the dark hanger. The jet slowly drove out, then gained a bit more speed to match Ajar's pace, following him to a small private airstrip adjacent to the main airfield until coming to a complete halt. Ajar motioned for the group to walk over and climb aboard.

"A GULFSTREAM G650!" Hideo shouted in extreme excitement.

"Have you seen this kind of jet before," Yamane asked him loudly, trying to talk over the loud noise.

"I've only read about them, "he said loudly back, "but its infamously known in all my Aviation magazines as one of the fastest private jets on the market!"

"It won't be once I'm done with a few meetings this month," Ajar said loudly with bravado, overhearing Hideo. "My boy, within the next two years you'll be seeing public and private air transportation that will be traveling over 4,000 kilometers per hour!"

"That's unbelievable!" Hideo shouted back over the engine noise, a wacky grin on his face.

"So was what you're looking for in the seas, but here we are my boy! Please board everyone, not much time left!"

"Everyone please! Take your seats. I have a few departing words," Ajar announced to everyone on the steps of the jet.

As they entered, the atmosphere of the interior resonated high-class luxurious comfort and amenities. Eleven creamy tan-leather seats sat spaced out allowing an enormous amount of foot space for each seat, a commodity vastly in demand in general plane rides. A large flat screen television was anchored to the wall on the right side near the sound-dampening doors of the cockpit. Shinzo and Akane quickly glanced past the seats. Just before the kitchen lay a small food section, filled to the brim with all sorts of snacks, microwave foods, dinner trays and an assorted variety of juices, water and soda. The kitchen had a small sink. The bathroom followed, closed off with a wall and door, plated with images of DNA structures, futuristic aviation and space technology and world currency symbols. Hanging on the bathroom door were several quotes in gold-platted writing on wooden plancks in English. One wrote, "Where could we have been by now if conflict didn't rule civilized history? Among the Cosmos? Among extraterrestrial brethren? With our loved ones?" Another wrote, "The four fundamental forces of reality are feeble when compared to the most powerful force in the known universe; a parent's love for their child."

Ishiro whispered over to Yamane with a smirk, "Ajar seems to know more about our investigation than you let on. I bet he's the source of your funding, isn't he?"

"A good proportion of it. Grants and government agencies are wonderful, but they can't always get you from point A to B fast enough."

All took their seats. Ajar closed the plane door and motioned for a flight attendant coming from the front cabin.

"This is Anjum. She will be your personal flight attendant. She is trained in aviation-based service, culinary delicacies and body massages. You may utilize her as you wish. Please be easy with her, as I'll need her for my trip in a week from now, " Ajar said, smiling and hugging the young middle eastern woman.

"Before you depart my friends, I wish you all the best luck. Professor Yamane has alluded that you'll be visiting a hellish disaster zone. Get plenty of rest now. You'll need it. Be safe and God bless your efforts."

"Ajar? A moment please?" Yamane asked, halting Ajar's huge frame in a second.

"Ajar, I can't thank you enough for your help."

"What you did for my son is one of the greatest, most heavenly things anyone has ever done for me; the best gift a father could ask for. This is the least I could ever do for you. Now I leave you to your team. Professor Sato?"

Surprised by the personal address from this large, loud and extroverted man, Ishiro turned and quietly asked, "Yes Mr. Kadin?"

"I hope you find the answers you're searching for. GOODBYE EVERYONE!" Ajar boomed loudly, waiving to everyone before departing off the plane. The flight attendant Anjum closed the door and infomred the captain it was okay to prepare to take off.

Several minutes later everyone settled into their seats, the lights dimming down. The jet prepped and shot forwards down the runway.

"Yamane, what did you do for his son? Ishiro asked over the loud thrust noise.

"Seventeen years ago my old team and I found the only survivor of a horrible plane crash far north of our digsite. He was a ten year old middle eastern boy, wandering the Libyan desert. He spent a week on his own, barely surviving, suffering dehydration and starvation, just near death before we found him by chance following a desert fox to our camp. We decided to hold up our dig and take him to the closest village to nurse him back to health. We came upon some of his luggage still intact in the plane wreckage, learned his identity, and put a post to the respective authorities that this boy was still alive. We were visited within the next day by a huge middle eastern man, crying his eyes out in happiness and joy. Ajar was the boy's father Ishiro."

Honking could be heard from the right side of the accelerating jet. Everyone looked out. A red sports car was keeping pace. It was Ajar, waving fiercely and erratically goodbye, the wind blowing hard at his already big goofy smile, long black beard wrapped around his shoulders.

"Now that's one awe-inspiring way to say goodbye," Hideo said, him and Akane waiving back at him fiercely too.

"What a nice person...eccentric, but nice," Emiko said, hesitantly waiving back along with Hideo.

"Although it is wildly dangerous to be driving that fast next to a jet in motion in an International Airport." Erika said curtly.

"You'll have to forgive him Erika. He's living eclectically now. Ajar doesn't have a lot of time left."

"Time left...Oh no!"

"He's going to die?" Hideo asked in sadly.

" How much longer?" Shinzo interrupted loudly.

Everyone turned to Yamane, taken aback by this revelation.

"Lung Cancer. He has anywhere between one and a half to three years. At the rate he's living, I'd say less than either."

"Poor guy. He's the most jubilant, vibrant man I've met yet. The best thing about this whole part of the trip," Shinzo said solemnly.

"Let's not discuss this any further," Ishiro announced. "We'll be at the site in nine and a half hours. Now is the time for us to focus on getting well-rested and prepping up for our investigation. I recommend brushing up on your English before we get there."

"Ishiro?"

"Yes Akane?"

"When we're further settled, I would like to show you and Professor Yamane the notes from my analysis of the Trinidad video footage."