Christmas, isn't it?
This is the mirror explanation to what's goingon in Chapter 10, and I couldn't help resist to try out the most favored
trick in the FanFic writer's arsenel: gratituous self-insertion... which is
part of the reason this was held up so long. Someone told me don't try
S-I if all you're going to do is write yourself as an omni-potent-whiny-can-
do-it-and-knows-it-all kinda person.
I'll let you all judge how (un)successfully I did that...
Regards
* * *
"CANADIAN Consulate? What kind of joke is this?! Sousuke!!"
I only smiled benevolently.
"There is no joke, Kaname. We are in Los Angeles, at the Canadian Consulate."
"Uh-huh. Do you have a roadmap handy, Sousuke?"
"No, I..."
"I thought not, because you have a SERIOUS problem with directions in addition to everything else! We're supposed to be on our way to New York, not to some damned foreign embassy!"
"Actually, Miss Chidori, I am part of the reason why you two are here."
"What do you have to do with this? Who are you anyways? And how do you know our names?"
"If I could just get you to calm down a bit, Miss Chidori. Please."
"I am perfectly calm!"
I paused a moment and resorted to a little trick of mine: I simply focused my gaze on her right eye. An old trick my mentor taught me as a means of gauging, or shaking, your opponent's strength and confidence in themselves. She sat down without further comment.
"Iced Tea?" Sousuke took both glasses, gave then a swirl and a sniff before passing one on to Chidori.
"Doesn't seem to be laced with anything."
"Sousuke!"
"After all that has happened to you, Miss Chidori, I'm rather surprised you would still blindly accept things from people you don't even know."
"And end up like HIM?" She gave a long glare in Sousuke's direction.
"Alright, point taken" I said, taking a sip of my own drink before sitting down with a long breath. "My name is Francis Chow, I'm the head here at the Canadian Consulate. I am also what you could call a spy for Mithril."
"Huh?"
"I'm one of the numerous go-betweens Mithril uses when they need direct communications to and from governments -- I'm sure you've noticed, Mithril's phone number is not exactly conveniently listed in your neigborhood directory. I also gather any relevant information Mithril may be interested in and pass it on to the appropriate persons."
"Okay, and how does that figure into us ending up here?"
"I'm getting to that. First of all, I want you to understand that I am entirely on your side, no strings attached whatsoever. Anything you need, you've got it. Second of all, what I'm about to reveal to you both is very sensitive information, the act of which is patently illegal in both Canada and the United States. Given just how precarious it is for me to reveal this to you, well... consider that when you decide whether to believe me or not."
"If this pertains to classified information, Mr Chow, then it should remain classified information."
"I understand your point of view, Mr Sagara, and the mindset that believes that 'secrets should remain secrets.' However, there are times in which keeping secrets will do more hurt than help when kept from the people that it will help the most. Don't you agree?"
"In this case, I believe Miss Chidori more than has a right to know, as this concerns her life and well-being. Now, where shall I start?"
"The story I'm about to tell starts, oh let's say, six months ago. Should be familiar to you both."
"Quite. That was the time Gaulun got control of the Tuatha de Daanan."
"...and in the process, fired two anti-ship missiles at a US warship. Minor damage, no casualties, the Admiral backed off, Mr Sagara saved the day, Gaulun declared dead, yah-dah, yah-dah, yah-dah. Should've been a happy ending, right?"
"You're saying it wasn't?"
"Nope. What wasn't made known publically, and this is highly classified information, is that Mithril requested the current US President to intervene by directly ordering that Admiral to cease his attack on the Danaan. Not smart, but it had to be done or the Danaan and her crew would've become scrap metal and fish food on the Pacific seabed."
"Why? I mean, all those lives at stake..."
"Miss Chidori, one thing that makes Mithril so effective is that no one knows it exists or who controls it. A bit Byzantine, I admit, but for what Mithril does, a small price to pay in comparison. Anyways, I digress. The Admiral, to say the least, was not pleased at the order. Having one of your own ships shot out from under you and then being ordered to do nothing about it is rather hard on a career, not to mention the ego. It wasn't kind either on a certain submarine captain either, who..."
"You mean..."
I slowly nodded. "The story gets even better. Shortly after both officers start making noises about coverup to the press. In trying to stop a potential embarassment to his office, the US President offers honorable retirement and full pension to both officers if they'll keep their mouths shut. No go, they merely complain louder. This catches the attention of a certain ambitious man who thinks he can use the situation to write himself a ticket to the White House."
I pulled a photo from my files and handed it to them both to examine. "Recognize him?"
"No. Should we?"
"Senator J. R. Hincks. The certain ambitious man I was talking about, and the reason why Mr Sagara here was sent on vacation to Tokyo specifically, Miss Chidori."
"How...?" Sousuke tried to start.
"Major Kalinin told me. I'll admit I don't know the man personally, but in our... correspondences he's come across as a most decent and honorable man as I've ever had the pleasure of being introduced to. Now do you believe that I'm on the level here, Mr Sagara?"
I had hoped to open up a rapport with them both, Sousuke especially, by giving them this information. I knew gaining his trust would be the key to everything, but somehow...
"I am still not entirely sure you are who you say you are. You know a few proper keyphrases and have excellent information sources, Mr Chow, but little else to prove you truly are on our side."
I shrugged. Round one to you, Sousuke. "Alright, where was I..."
I paused again for a sip of iced tea. "Miss Chidori, you recall how Mr Sagara was originally assigned to guard you because of your... special nature, correct?"
"If I hear that word again...!"
Okay. "Never mind, you do. The point is, Mithril knows of at least twenty other nations engaged in programs of 'locating' Whispered individuals besides the Soviet Union. Mithril also knows of an additional one hundred nations actively pursuing BlackTech research and development. One of them is the United States."
"Yeah... so?"
I shook my head. How do you distill as complex as a theory like the outlook of the world into a short sentence or two somebody not politically astute would readily understand? News services did it regularly, but I was not a news service. I was trying to get her especially to understand her situation here, but without exposing myself too much.
To hell with it all! I threw a thick folder onto my desk. Chidori herself was caught between silence and shock, while the look on Sousuke's face barely hid a deep sense of contempt.
"Mr Chow, how did you..."
"...Come into possession of this document? Who do you think obtained it for Mithril, who obviously, passed it on to you?"
Stamped across the folder was the title ON WHISPERED CANDIDATES: STAFF STUDY. INTERIM CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, 17TH DRAFT Under Sponsors was the name Senator J. R. Hincks.
"Sousuke, what... what is he talking about?"
"Let me spell it out for you, Miss Chidori. This document paints a lovely picture of Whispered as being the greatest resource since drinkable water. It also goes into great detail of how this resource," and I made a point to emphasize that word, "is quite important to the world over, yet how to properly get it? They don't know, only that they must get it, regardless of the means. Why? Because the other side is in the race, and they're in it to win as well."
"Which means, Miss Chidori, you and other Whispered individuals are a walking, talking gold mine, and the gold rush season is about to start... if what is contained in this document were ever to be made public. Believe me, if people like Senator Hincks gets his way, this will be made public."
"Just imagine, anyone confirmed to be Whispered will be herded into labs en mass, tested daily, their very essence probed, and when everything of value is obtained, discarded. If any die along the way, well, that's just the price of progress. Don't think this can happen? Slavery was thought to have been wiped out at the turn of the century, yet in parts of the world, it's still rampant. I'm not talking the occasional family selling their son or daughter into indentured service, I'm talking an organized, world-wide network in the traffic of human beings."
"Are you saying the United States proposes such a... blatant disregard for human rights in regards to... these people?" Sousuke said, almost disbelievingly. "That is... arrogant assumption on your part."
Round two to you again, Sousuke. "If you're a spy, there's two infallible sources where one can go to. Number one's the bedroom, but I don't go that way. Number two is over alcohol and small talk, and believe me, number two is where I pick up alot of my information."
"As for the Senator himself, well, I can speak from personal experience, Mr Sagara. The man is all refinement and manners in public, but when you come down to it, he's by far the biggest out-and-out Son-of-a-Bitch ever!"
"You can call my feelings about dealing with him unprofessional, even personal, but believe me, to describe his modus operandi is to describe a dictator at best, a despot at worst! He's as much told my government to get on-board or be cut off... permanently!"
"The ends justify the means?"
"His ends, his means. I'm sure Major Kalinin has already told you he's begun a systemic penetration into Mithril and its secrets... publicly cloaked as an 'investigation' into the foreign penetration of Mithril."
"Very little in the way of specifics, actually..."
"Well, Mr Sagara. How far Senator Hincks has penetrated into Mithril through his 'coverup investigation' is anyone's guess right now, but I'd say he's gotten enough to form a basic picture of Mithril. Nothing incriminating, but no one's losing any sleep over it yet. It's anyone's guess if he will find anything substantiative."
Calm yourself, I kept thinking to myself. No one's losing sleep over this? I sure as HELL am! How the hell did I get myself into this predicament? I cursed to myself. I looked back at the last folder sitting on the desk, and looked over at Miss Chidori. Question answered. Need you've asked?
"Mr Chow... what is the official position of the Canadian Government on... people like Miss Chidori?"
"We're dragging our heels, officially... but there's a momentum building to oppose the horseshit that Senator Hincks proposes in this document, and turn the matter over to Mithril." And that's what's got you pissed, isn't it, Hincks? You just can't stand the thought your Nothern Dumbass Neighbors actually having their own brain to think with, and telling you to fudgie off at the end of the day... Good Neighbor Policy, Hincks, Good Neighbor Policy.
Finishing off the last of my drink, "Well, Mr Sagara, Miss Chidori. That concludes my little story. Don't rush to decide whether you believe me or not. It's getting late, and I've arranged for rooms set up for you both. Get some sleep, we can talk later."
"Mr Chow..." Chidori began. Obviously she'd already gotten to that section of the folder in front of her.
"Francis, please."
"Francis... I mean,... I don't even know where to begin..."
"Sleep on it, Miss Chidori."
Somewhat reluctantly, she stood up to leave. Sousuke protectively took her by the arm and escorted her out of my office. I had to look quite enviously at the scene. Kalinin, you old son-of-a-bitch!
"Oh, I have one more piece of information for you, Mr Sagara." They both stopped and turned to listen. "Mithril has been out of contact with your ship, the Tuatha de Danaan I believe she's named, for the last forty-eight hours. I only found out about this myself shortly before your retrieval, but I thought it relevant to pass on to you."
"Out of... contact?" Sousuke's brow furrowed.
"Just that, out of contact. Her last reported position put her not too far away from a US and ChiCom naval battlegroup. Get some sleep, you two."
* * *
