Chapter 6
Ken looked out at passing scenery of the small crowded aluminium motor powered river boat with a shade canopy made of bamboo over the top of them to keep out some of the muggy heat, his mind worked overtime as he stared at the muddy water giving way to the slow chugging of the boat.
Looking towards the river banks covered on mangroves he looked for the man who had been shadowing him. His instinct told him the man is on his side, because he rescued Ken when he could have killed him or handed him over to the Burmese militia.
Galactor had been setting up a lot of operations through out this region from what Ken observed in his travels. The deals they made with the militia had come unstuck when they destroyed the headquarters at Cross Karakorum. From what Dr. Nambu told him before he left it had sent the region into to destroy the base and any others he found along the way, and find out who wants to get hold of Galactor technology.
Those men in the camp were Scandinavian, but who is their boss? Ken mused quietly still watching the mangroves for signs of his shadow.
His lips turned up just a little when an image of Jun jumped onto his mind and his thoughts turned to the last six months of his relationship with her. What would have been the saddest days of his life turned to the happiest because of her. Their grief for Jun tainted some it in the early days. Together they got through it. Ken still carried a sadness in part of his heart for his lost brother. But being with Jun made it worth while to build a life, to keep going …
The arms dealers are having field day with the amount of abandoned weapons, Ken though, as his mind came back to the mission, letting out a long breath he stared ahead of the moving boat. A military vessel rounded the bend and it began to head towards the crowded boat of civilians.
Ken felt the people around tense up and fear generate among them from the glances they passed to each other as the boat sped in closer, it became obvious now that the military men intended to board the small boat.
"Hide the women…and weapons." The native Burmese man driving the boat said frantically. There were only three on the boat but still they covered their hair and sank into the bottom of the boat while the men moved in to protect them.
The Commander of the boat stepped up to the side of his war ready boat and arrogantly grinned at the foreign civilians with his hands on his gun pointing it towards them.
"Hand over women…and arms…den you can go peacefully." He said in abrupt broken English.
Ken gritted his teeth, these bullies are not going to get away with this. He though while he prepared himself for a fight.
"You…" The commander pointed to him. "Get up and bring that woman to me." The Commanders condescending eyes rested on Ken.
Ken stood up slowly, looking over at the Ameris woman the commander had spotted. With casual movements he helped the trembling woman to her feet. Her husband pleaded with Ken with his eyes not to do it while he clung to his wife.
The Commander watched without any emotion in his eyes or his face.
"Do what I tell you to do…" Ken told her through his teeth. She glanced at him fearfully but didn't say a word. The Eagle took in the positions of his enemy. Seven soldiers armed with hand held machine guns, one standing casually behind the bigger machine gun on the boat, the Commander up standing there looking important, and the other five scattered on the deck with fearsome expressions on their faces.
Casually appearing to follow the Commanders direction without a fight Ken went to step onto the other boat.
Quickly he looked at the young blond Ameris woman. "Get down, and pull off the hook that's linking the boats." He commanded, and with lightning speed he pulled out his birdrang killing the Burmese man behind the machine gun first, it arched around taking out the three soldiers close by. Quickly boarding the boat he took hold of the closest soldier, and forced him to point his gun at the other soldier taking him down before he had time to react.
The Commander tried to get in a shot as the two boats drifted apart. Ken from the corner of his eye glimpsed a man starting up military boat and another two men emerged from the stairs that lead down inside it.
Ken acted on instinct, leaping over the bodies of the dead soldiers and taking hold of the head of the Burmese soldier trying to arm the boats machine gun. In a swift precise move he snapped his neck and threw him at the other soldier about to pull his trigger of his hand held machine gun. The dying man filled his comrade with bullets making his body fall to the ground like jelly just as the shuriken Ken pulled out entered the gun mans heart killing him instantly.
Adrenaline pumping through his veins from the fight Ken pulled out his shuriken "One for the Condor," He said putting it back into his pocket. He looked around for more opponents- he turned just in time to see another military boat speeding towards them.
The boat drew closer and Ken prepared to board it, when a missile sped towards the approaching war boat from the mangroves on the other side of the river. The boat exploded sending shockwaves through the water rocking the boat Ken was still standing in wildly throwing debris all over him and knocking him flat on the deck.
Ken looked up at the civilian boat- people ducked to avoid the sprays of debris. Ken decided it was leave and he jumped off the boat into the muddy water and swam quickly towards the boat of people crying in terror at the thought of death looming over them. Just as he pulled himself up onto boat with the husband of the woman he saved helping him in he felt more than saw the boat he had just abandoned explode from the heat on his back and the sprays of water and more debris that followed.
Scanning the shoreline Ken didn't see anyone running from the mangroves, the short range missiles seemed to come out of no where. Silently he thanked the black clad man for his help. Ken knew the need to keep anonymous from his time with the active
Science Ninja Team, and he respected the man shadowing him for his bravery. Even now he longed to be in his Birdstyle, it made fighting an enemy much easier and less painful from the protection it gave.
The frightened missionaries cowered in the bottom of the boat while they sped away from the scene as fast as the small motor on the boat could go with the Burmese boat owner shaking in his boots.
The young pretty blond haired woman smiled warmly at him. "You are a blessing on our journey…we prayed for protection and God delivered you to us…" She said confidently, her brown eyes shining, and the other missionaries bowed their heads in a prayer of thanks, a few muttered that killing is a sin and he should have taken another course of action.
Ken smiled reluctantly at her way of thanking him- he didn't have any religious beliefs. But he still said a silent thank you to the strange man shadowing him for his help, and he hoped he could repay him some day in kind.
Deep inside Ken had still had to find his inner peace, the only time he felt anything close to it is in Jun's arms when they held each other close…
Some days, especially when was away from Utoland and Jun he just figured he just did what he had to do to survive and to bring isome/i peace into the world. He still held some of his disillusions towards ever really being able to totally settle down like he longed to do.
When they defeated one oppressor, another seemed to be lurking in the background waiting for their opportunity to rise up in power. Ken had started to make it his personal mission to prevent them from rising up to the extent that Galactor had.
The world is full of people wanting to rule it or destroy it. He thought sadly looking at the young Burmese mother clutching her toddler close to comfort him. He hated killing too, he detested it. He silently told the people still looking wearily at him while he let his body sink towards the bottom of the boat. He rested his head against the cold side of the grey boat.
Trying to ignore the discomfort of soaking with clothes he thought about Jun and his deep love for her, and the way he had gradually over a long time fallen in love with her. He had been glad that they wouldn't be bringing children into this world anytime soon being still teenagers and Jun is only seventeen. They both agreed they are far from being ready for it anyway. Looking discreetly at the young mother and her child, Ken didn't know if he would ever be ready for it because of the state of the world, even though in his heart he wanted a family in his future.
The ninja watched the departing small boat from his hidden place among the mangroves. Putting his rocket launcher over his back he began to move quickly out from the mangroves ignoring the sticky mud through his boots he emerged on the side of the river and ran a short distance into the trees.
His body had begun to feel the effects of his activities over the past few weeks, and he knew it needed fixing badly. But still he pushed forward through the undergrown, snapping branches that stood in his way, his body began to weaken even more, the normal effect of a rapidly beating heart evaded him. He doubted he even had a heart any more. The doctor had warned him not to push this new body too hard.
Since when did he listen very well to medical advice? He thought bitterly. Still when he began following his old friend Ken Washio through the jungle he knew he had to help him, he knew more about this threat than he did. Count blue is all he knew about the arms dealer. No one knew where to fund him, or what he looked like, only a name without any substance.
Looking at the small boat chugging along the muddy river he thought about the past three weeks of destroying anything he found that resembled Galactor. It took him by surprise to see Ken standing in an abandoned Galactor base he had planned to destroy.
Ken, his closest friend and brother should have been back in Utoland doing mail runs and romancing a beautiful girl he could only ever dream of having in his life.
Especially now… He would never be the same the same man he had once been less than a year before, and he never would be again, he felt less than human in this strange body and the thought of it well unquenchable rage with his soul that he shut tightly inside of him, but he needed the pent up rage to be let out, so he it seeped through slowly and he unleashed it in small doses upon the people bringing harm world.
The thought of what he is now depressed him, a machine, a weapon against evil organisations, and nothing more. Still he kept driving forward. Running at a fast steady pace to keep track of the boat on the river his thoughts focused on his one goal, to make sure Galactor never came back; the threat had to be totally neutralized forever and if a single base stood abandoned or a group wanting to buy its weapons existed then he had to be the one to destroy them before they rose up to power.
Up ahead he spotted a small village, after almost a full day of following the boat. The village was set hap hazard on the edge of the river, the small boat had docked at the thin wharf and the passengers had begun to depart.
Running further up the river he jumped into the water and swam towards the other side, the strong current pulled at him but he swam hard towards the other side. Emerging from the colourless murky water and onto the muddy river bank he watched Ken as he walked up the hill towards the small white plane sitting on the dirt runway.
He spoke to the man sitting close by, pressed money into his hand and then Ken jumped into the pilot's seat.
The small plane taxied down the poorly kept runway and gain speed. The skill of the pilot made the take off look simple.
He watched the small plane circle the area and he wished the pilot the best of luck in his journey home. The desire for Ken to learn his identity had been overwhelming when Ken knocked him to the ground. The thought of Ken learning he had become a machine stopped him, the thought of Jun knowing he is now less than a man stopped him. Her soft green eyes and sweet nature, he came close to revealing his true feelings for her in a short intimate conversation in evening in his trailer still burned into him. She had cared for him deeply, at least that had been something he clung to in his last painful hours at Cross Karakorum.
He could never be one of them again, so why bring them more grief.
Enormous pain shot through his mechanical body, warnings set in place by the doctor that 'saved' him to let him know he needed repairs. Joe had ignored the pain for days…he could ignore it long enough to reach the lab of Dr. Raphael. He watched the plane become a white dot in the horizon. "Goodbye Ken…" He said simply before turning in the direction of the village and putting his thoughts into finding a transport back to his new home.