Текст книги "The Solomon Curse"
Автор книги: Clive Cussler
Соавторы: Russel Blake
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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 26 страниц)
CHAPTER 34
They returned to find that the hotel now had the air of a fortified camp. The security guards brandished their clubs nervously, as the attendant raised the gate, watching the road, which was empty except for emergency vehicles. To their surprise, a new tablet had already been delivered to their room and was lying on the bed. Sam and Remi spent a half hour cleaning up. Remi changed from her glass-dusted clothes while Sam busied himself online.
“So now what? Do we have lunch or risk our lives going out to the boat to see what Leonid’s up to?” Remi asked.
“I’d say lunch is a safer bet. Pretty sure that Leonid can supervise the dive without us, don’t you think?”
“No question,” she said, joining him in front of the tablet screen. “What are you looking at?”
“I was browsing the web to see if there were any reports of rebel activity before the aid workers’ kidnapping. But, no, it’s a new development.”
“What can we conclude from that?”
“That it just started since we arrived. Timing’s everything.”
“Right. But wouldn’t you think if this was a popular uprising, someone would have said something? Sounds fishy to me.” Sam sat back and stared out at the water. “There’s a lot of money involved in the mineral rights. The gold is a big deal, sure. But the petroleum dwarfs that. We’re talking many billions, potentially.” Sam rose and turned to her. “Fortunately, it’s not our fight. We’ve got other fish to fry. Sunken cities. Hidden treasure.”
“Grilled mahi mahi with mango chutney,” she said, then tiptoed and kissed him. “Why are you always spoiling me?”
“All part of my evil plan to bend you to my will.”
Service was slow, and by the time they’d finished lunch it was two o’clock. After a brief chat with the manager, who cautioned them that although the morning’s unrest appeared to be over they should still be careful, they returned to the Toyota and made their way to Island Dreams.
The car rental agent was understanding about the damage to the vehicle, once a wad of hundreds materialized in Sam’s hand. The agent apologized for the unrest as though he’d personally been responsible for it and then escorted them to a dark blue Nissan Pathfinder that looked like it had circumnavigated the globe. They climbed aboard and strapped in.
“It sounds like the muffler’s shot,” Remi observed as Sam accelerated.
“An authentic island vehicle in every way,” Sam agreed with a grin.
The sat phone rang as they were parking and Sam answered it while they strolled to the lobby.
“Hello?”
Selma wasted no time with small talk. “We got a hit on Kumasaka. His daughter lives in Tokyo. Well, in Sawara, in Chiba prefecture. She’s in her seventies, retired, no children.”
“Have you made contact?”
“No. I thought you might want to do that.”
Sam considered the question. “How’s your Japanese?”
“About as good as my Bulgarian.”
“Do you have any friends that could help you with the daughter?”
“Of course. What do you want me to say?”
“That you’re working with historians documenting the stories of Japanese POWs imprisoned in Australia and New Zealand. That her father, being a high-ranking officer, is of interest and we want to speak to her.” Sam paused. “Remi and I can be in Japan at the drop of a hat if you can get us a meeting.”
“Okay, boss. But she must have been a child during the war. She might not know anything worth traveling for.”
“I know, but she’s our only lead so far and we’re running low on options. Just see if she’ll agree to meet us.”
“Don’t turn the phone off,” Selma said, and hung up.
Once in their room at the hotel, Sam strolled out onto the terrace and called the Darwin.
Des answered, his voice typically chipper. “G’day, Sam. Heard on the radio there was a bit of excitement this morning.”
“Yes, we got caught up in a little of it, but it’s quiet now.”
“All’s well, I trust?”
“Never better. Listen, Des, I have to apologize. We were hoping to make it out today, but time got away from us. How’s everything going?”
“All good. Your man Leonid’s on the ball. Slow but steady wins the race.”
“Is he nearby?”
“Just a sec.” A few moments later, Leonid came on the line.
“Leonid. How’s the exploration going?” Sam asked.
“It’s going,” Leonid said, his tone sour. “Were you able to get a bigger boat?”
“Working on it, my friend. Any news on the ruins?”
“No. Just clearing barnacles and seaweed off the main temple. It’s going to be a long process, even with better equipment and more divers.” Leonid didn’t sound excited at the prospect.
“Well, good things come to those who wait. Patience is a virtue, right?”
A faint hum of static was the only reply. Leonid eventually sighed. “Are you coming to torment me in person?”
“No, my friend, not today. But soon.” Sam hesitated. “There was some more unpleasantness in town this morning. Does Des still have the men watching the shore?”
“Yes. There’s nothing to report. Just jungle and more jungle.”
“Consider yourself lucky.” Sam gave him an abridged account of the near miss at the hospital.
“Do you think we’re still safe out here?” Leonid asked when Sam finished.
“Yes, but it can’t hurt to keep an eye out for trouble. You’re in a desolate spot, so best not to let down your guard.”
“I’ll add the risk of being beheaded by madmen to my list of worries. After seasickness, it’s actually beginning to sound like a relief.”
“The secret is to dive, Leonid. You’ll see.”
“What I’m hoping to see is a much, much bigger boat.”
Sam couldn’t help smiling at the crusty Russian’s tone. He was nothing if not persistent. “I spoke with Selma earlier today. I hope to have news on the new boat soon,” Sam said, reminding himself to ask Selma about it when she called back. “You’ll be the first to know.”
Sam had just hung up when the phone rang.
“Selma! That was quick.”
“A friend of mine at Scripps is half Japanese. She made the call for us and said we needn’t have bothered—the daughter speaks good English. She agreed to meet you whenever you can get to Japan or you can call her. Your choice.”
“We’ll fly to Tokyo. Is she expecting our call?”
“Yes, we told her that someone would contact her. We left it open-ended. You want her number?”
“Shoot.”
Selma read off the information.
Sam repeated it, and then he remembered the boat. “Have you made any progress on finding us a larger research vessel? Leonid’s driving me a little crazy, asking about it.”
“That was the next item on my list. I’m in final negotiations to get a two-hundred-sixty-footer, fully equipped with the latest gear. It can be there within a week.” Selma mentioned a price. “Will that work?”
“They understand we want to rent it, not buy it, right?” Sam joked.
Selma paused, and when she spoke again Sam recognized the tone: she’d learned something and couldn’t wait to share with him. “Are you sitting down?”
“Yes, Selma. What’s up?”
“I did some more digging on your Japanese colonel’s history. Or, rather, on Japanese history that might be relevant to your man. I think I discovered the reason nobody wants to talk about the mysterious Meiji Corps. Have you ever heard of Unit 731?”
“No.”
“Unit 731 and several associated groups were units of the Japanese military that engaged in experimentation on prisoners and civilians. They tested every depravity you can think of—vivisection without anesthesia, freezing or burning victims to death to see how long it took for them to die, injecting them with poisons and chemicals for the same reason, you name it. They operated in China, mostly out of the Pingfang District, where they had a complex of one hundred fifty buildings just outside of Harbin, China. Unit 731 was run by a Japanese general named Shiro Ishii.”
“Shiro Ishii,” Sam repeated with a slight grin.
“The complex was disguised as a water purification facility. The atrocities went on for ten years. Besides the experimentation, they were also involved in germ warfare, where the Japanese dropped special bombs containing contaminated fleas into Chinese populations to spread the plague. To make a long story short, the Japanese made infamous Nazis like Josef Mengele look like Mother Teresa.”
“Why haven’t I heard of any of this? You’re describing war crimes that went on for a decade.”
“Well, that’s where it gets interesting. And, I mean, really interesting. After the Japanese were defeated, the Allies granted the Unit 731 scientists blanket immunity from prosecution. And apparently many of the worst offenders went on to become rich and powerful in postwar Japan.”
Sam’s tone hardened. “Do you have proof of that?”
“Well, it depends on what you mean by proof. The Japanese government claims it has no documentation on Unit 731.”
“How convenient.”
“Exactly. And the way I understand it, under Japanese law, all the eyewitness testimony and confessions from Unit 731 personnel are considered inadequate to prosecute. There were plenty of accounts from workers, even some photographs, but nobody wanted to pursue it. Especially when the people who were responsible for it became bigwigs—I’m talking owners of pharmaceutical and technology companies, seriously highly placed politicians and lawmakers, the whole nine yards.”
“Why on earth would the Allies grant those animals immunity?”
“At the end of the war, the Americans wanted to keep all information on biological and chemical weapons to themselves, out of Soviet hands. There was only one way to accomplish that—and to acquire the knowledge that years of inhuman research had generated. The Soviets wanted to prosecute all the Unit 731 scientists, but the Americans refused for the ones in their custody. The Soviets had a trial for a dozen they’d captured and the evidence was irrefutable, but it was dismissed by the U.S. as Soviet propaganda until the 1980s, by which time it was ancient history.”
“And you think that the same thing was done with the Meiji Corps?”
“It would certainly explain why everything related to it is still top secret.”
“And you’re sure about all of this?”
“Hundred percent.”
Sam hung up, and filled Remi in on the Tokyo contact and Selma’s research. When he finished, Remi was shocked.
“I don’t want to believe it, but if it came from Selma . . .”
“I know—it must be true. We can probably research more online—at least the Unit 731 stuff. She said there’s now plenty of information about it, after decades of total secrecy.”
Remi shook her head in disgust. “We need to talk to Kumasaka’s daughter, Sam. Sooner, the better.”
“I know. You want to make the call or should I?”
“I’ll do it. Don’t want to scare her off.”
“I’ve been told I can be very persuasive,” he said, handing her the phone.
“Then put all that persuasiveness to good use and book us a flight to Tokyo. Since you were the one who decided not to bring the Gulfstream to Guadalcanal . . .”
Sam sighed. “I’ll look at the flight schedules.”
“Good idea.”
CHAPTER 35
Tokyo, Japan
The customs line at Narita International Airport moved at a rapid clip. Sam and Remi were waved through, after a cursory study of their passports and a few disinterested questions in perfect English, and were blinking in the sunlight a few minutes after changing money at an airport kiosk.
It had taken them a full day to get from Guadalcanal to Japan since all flights went through Australia first. Remi had poured on the charm with Kumasaka’s daughter in their brief phone conversation the prior day and found her to be friendly but cautious in her replies.
Sawara turned out to be closer to Narita Airport than to the proper city of Tokyo. Sam took one glance at the map of train lines and instructions Selma had e-mailed him and then headed to the waiting line of taxis.
“No train?” asked Remi. “Afraid to navigate the system?”
“Time is money,” replied Sam, “and I’d rather not spend the better part of the afternoon puzzling out which train is the local and which is the express. It’s only about fifteen kilometers from here. How hard can that be?”
The first cab in line pulled up, the passenger door swung open automatically, and the white-gloved driver jumped out to help them with their carry-on bags, stowing them efficiently in the trunk before slipping behind the wheel again. He nodded vigorously several times when Remi showed him the address printed neatly on the paper. He spoke limited English, learned from watching American movies and YouTube, he said, and pointed to the GPS unit in his dashboard when Remi asked if he knew the quickest route.
The trip took longer than they’d expected, as the taxi wound around country lanes bordered by rice fields. They were a good forty-five minutes late when they finally rolled to a stop in front of a modest wooden house in a residential neighborhood. The driver told them he’d wait for them, after pocketing Sam’s generous tip. They stepped out onto the sidewalk and made their way to the front door, eyeing the crumbling concrete steps that led to the porch without comment.
The door opened before they had a chance to knock and a diminutive woman wearing a sweater and dark slacks offered a tentative smile from the shadows. Remi smiled at her as the woman fiddled with the screen door, Sam standing slightly behind her, having agreed that Remi would take the lead in the questioning.
“Mrs. Kumasaka?” Remi asked.
The woman nodded. “Yes. But, please, call me Chiyoko. You must be Remi-san. I recognize your voice.”
“This is my husband, Sam,” Remi said.
“Nice to meet you,” Sam said with a small bow.
“Come in,” Chiyoko said. Remi smiled again, her expression offering no reaction to Chiyoko’s profile when she turned to allow them to step past. The Japanese woman’s face was puckered scar tissue on the left side, artfully repaired at some point in the past but still obvious even with a layer of heavy foundation applied in an attempt to mask it.
“Thank you for agreeing to see us,” Remi said as they entered. They slipped their shoes off and left them by the front door, where several other pairs, most likely Chiyoko’s, lay on the floor.
“My pleasure. I’m just not sure I’ll be able to help you much. I hardly knew my father,” Chiyoko said. “Please. Help yourselves to slippers,” she said, motioning to a neat rack of house slippers behind the shoes. “This way, please,” she said, leading them up the little step that separated the entryway from the hall. “Let’s go to the living room.”
Remi and Sam sat on a stuffed chintz couch and looked around the room. The overhead lights were dim, but even in the faint light they could see the scar tissue on Chiyoko’s hand as well as her face.
“I’ll be right back. I have made some tea. I hope that’s all right,” Chiyoko said, and disappeared through a doorway.
Sam and Remi sat wordlessly, waiting for Chiyoko to return, the only sound the whirring of an overhead fan. When the Japanese woman reappeared, she was carrying a tray with three small cups, a teapot, and a plate of sweets.
Once the tea was prepared and they had sipped appreciatively from their cups, Chiyoko sat back in the shadows and eyed them expectantly.
Remi leaned forward and cleared her throat. “Thank you so much for the hospitality,” she began.
“It is nothing. You have traveled a long way.”
“Well, it’s true, we have. We’re so glad that you agreed to meet with us.” Remi paused. “Your English is very good.”
“I was a secretary for an international company that did considerable business with the United States. I studied it in school, which proved wise, because as Japan changed after the war being an English speaker became a valuable skill. But it has been some time since I have had a chance to practice, so forgive me if I am a little rusty.” Chiyoko touched a hand to her beautifully styled gray hair. “You mentioned you are researching my father. I hope you haven’t come so far to go away empty-handed.”
“Yes, we’re trying to piece together his story. He was one of the highest-ranking Japanese prisoners of war in Australia and New Zealand. But we’re having a difficult time creating a coherent account of his time before being captured or during his imprisonment. All we have about his stay in the camp was the account of his illness, and later his death, from the camp physician’s records. There are no real details.”
“I am afraid there is not much I can tell you about his time before the war. He was already in the service when I was born in 1939 and was gone most of the time on one campaign or another. I only have the vaguest memories of him.”
“But surely you looked into his life as you grew up?”
Chiyoko shook her head. “After the war, there was no real mechanism in place to do so. The country was busy reinventing itself as it rebuilt, with no interest in revisiting the past. I did spend a little time investigating him when I was in college, but it was like chasing ghosts. There were no records left—almost nothing to go on.”
“Did he have any siblings? Anyone he was close to?”
“Yes. A sister.” Chiyoko swallowed hard before continuing. “She raised me. But she passed away twenty years ago. The only things she could tell me about my father were that he was a very brave, honorable man who died doing his duty and that he had been a scholar and a fine husband to my mother, who also passed away during the war.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Remi said in a soft voice.
“It is still hard to talk about even after all these years. I was six. The Allies bombed Tokyo regularly, but in the final days of the war there was a huge firebombing campaign that destroyed whole residential neighborhoods.” Chiyoko stopped and drew a ragged breath. “She was caught in the fires. I was lucky. She wasn’t.”
“It must have been terrible,” Remi said.
“Nothing I say can describe it. Miles of Tokyo burned to ashes. Over a million lost their homes, and it’s said that over a hundred thousand civilians died. My mother one of them.” When Chiyoko looked Remi directly in the eyes, they were moist, the pain still fresh. “It was a vision of hell I’ll never forget. Nobody who went through it could.”
“I’m . . . I’m so sorry, Chiyoko,” Remi whispered.
“It was a long time ago. Regrettable acts were committed on all sides. I’m grateful to have lived, and that there has never been another war like it. I grew up and lived in a time of relative peace and prosperity. A rebirth of Japan as a world power, but without the need to conquer militarily. A better time, I think.”
Remi sat silently for several moments before she spoke. “What about photographs? Letters?”
“Most were lost in the fires. Although I do have some very old ones that my aunt salvaged. I’m not sure they would be of any help. Mostly, him as a young man.” Chiyoko hesitated. “Would you like to see them?”
“That would be wonderful,” Remi said. Chiyoko stood and left the room, and Sam gave Remi a hopeful look. She returned several minutes later, carrying a cardboard box. Sam leapt to his feet and approached her.
“Please. Let me help you.”
Chiyoko reluctantly handed him the box. “Thank you. It’s easy to forget that I’m not as fit as I once was. Time is a thief. It steals our memory, our hopes, and our strength, leaving only the sense there’s never enough of it.” She pointed to the low table in the center of the room with a scarred hand. “You can put the box there.”
Sam complied and sat beside Remi again, watching as Chiyoko removed several tiny metal picture frames. She stared at them for a long moment and then handed them to Remi.
“These are the best ones. My father as a young boy, then as a student, graduating from university. And that one is his wedding photograph. That is the only one I have of my mother.”
Remi and Sam gazed at the picture. A stern-faced young man stood by his diminutive bride, who seemed to glow in the faded black-and-white picture. Remi gasped as she held the frame. “Oh my . . . she was breathtaking.”
“Yes, she was considered a great beauty. My aunt reminded me all the time.” Chiyoko’s voice was oddly flat. She lifted a final frame from the box and passed it to Remi with trembling fingers. “This last one is my favorite—I keep it by my bed. It was taken by his sister at the cherry blossom festival in Arashiyama before the war with America began. She said that the trees bloomed late that year because it had been an especially cold winter. They were there on the final day before the blossoms began falling. She said when they did, it was like the air was filled with pink snow.”
Remi and Sam studied the photograph of the martial Kumasaka in uniform, staring off into the distance beneath a canopy of cherry blossoms, figures in the background adorned in traditional Japanese garb. The image had an otherworldly quality to it, something from a different era. They both regarded it with intense concentration, trying to reconcile the accounts of a savage monster with the serious man in the shot, about mid-thirties, his profile pensive. Sam noted the insignia—Kumasaka was already a colonel by that point, already a veteran of Japan’s foray into China, which had begun in 1937 with the start of the bloody Second Sino-Japanese War.
“Do you know anything about your father’s service? His involvement with Unit 731 or the Meiji Corps?” Remi asked.
Chiyoko looked confused. “I’ve never heard of either. Do they have some significance?”
“They’re army groups that were involved in medical research.”
“Medical? My father was a soldier, not a doctor.”
“He had a degree in microbiology.”
“Yes, but he became a career officer. He never put the degree to use. It was a strange time, according to my aunt. Many educated Japanese pursued military careers instead of their trained professions.”
“Do you know anything about what he did in the army?”
“My aunt said he was in communications. I’m not sure what that involved, to be honest.”
Sam was looking in the box. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing to a small leather-bound notebook, battered and scarred almost beyond recognition.
“Ah, I was going to mention it. My father kept a journal while he was a prisoner. I have read it numerous times. There is not much in it. Some poems, his thoughts on being a prisoner. Nothing very detailed that relates to his captivity. One of the men in the building where he was imprisoned gave it to me after the war. He said that the prisoners were allowed to keep diaries, but they were regularly raided and read to ensure that nothing seditious was being written. It is pretty bland.”
“May I see it?” Remi asked.
“Certainly. But I must warn you, it is all written in kanji.”
Chiyoko handed her the book. The pages were badly yellowed and stained in many places, covered in neat, tight Japanese symbols from top to bottom. Remi handed the journal to Sam and lowered her voice. “Is there any way we can get a copy made and return the diary to you? It might provide some information we can use. We’ll guarantee it isn’t damaged in any way.”
“There is nothing in it, but if you want to make a copy, I have no objection.”
They continued their discussion for another half hour, but as friendly and helpful as Chiyoko was, she really had no material information that they didn’t already know. When it was obvious that there was nothing further to be gained by continuing the questioning, Sam and Remi stood and Chiyoko showed them to the door.
“Thank you so much, Chiyoko,” Remi said. “We both appreciate the time and your sharing painful memories.”
The Japanese woman looked down at her small feet. “It’s been a pleasure. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more I can offer.”
“You’ve done more than enough. Thanks again.”
The taxi was still parked where they’d left it, and when they got into the car, they were both silent. Only once they were under way did Remi lean forward and speak to the driver.
“Can you take us to the nearest place that would have a scanner and a printer?”
