The Rising Sea

38

Kurt was in the garage washroom, getting dressed and making himself presentable. Ten laps in the hot box of a race car had drenched him in sweat. He was back in his own clothes and splashing water on his face when his phone began to buzz.

He shook the water from his hands, dried his face with a towel and grabbed the phone. It was Joe.

“I hate to interrupt the fun,” Joe said, “but you’ve got a party crasher. Ushi-Oni just pulled up to the back gate.”

Kurt didn’t bother asking Joe if he was sure. He wouldn’t have made the call if there was any doubt. “So Nagano wasn’t able to track him down.”

“Wish that was the case,” Joe said, “but it looks like the hunter got taken down by the hunted. I saw Nagano in the back of the sedan. Mouth taped, hands tied.”

“Is he alive?”

“Can’t tell. He wasn’t moving.”

Kurt held the phone against his chin as he pulled on his dinner jacket. “Where’s the car now?”

“It pulled through the gate and parked just beyond the loading zone by the secondary building.”

“How do I get there?”

“You need to get to the southwest corner of the building you’re in now.”

Kurt needed to create a distraction. He had an idea that would dovetail nicely with the tools Joe had at his disposal. “I’m going to make a run for it. Get yourself into position. If they leave the building, you follow them. If they stay, give me two minutes and then start the fireworks.”

“I figured you might want some help,” Joe said. “I’m setting up the launch tray now.”

“Two minutes,” Kurt repeated. “Not a second more.”

Joe confirmed and hung up. Kurt put the phone in his pocket, straightened his cuffs and walked out of the washroom.

Akiko waited outside chatting quietly with Gao. Walter Han was nowhere in sight.

“Are we still on for dinner?”

“I’ll take you to the dining room,” Gao said. “Mr. Han will join you shortly.”

Kurt nodded and took Akiko by the hand. “Lead on.”

Gao took them across the garage toward the inner doors. Kurt spent every second scanning for the items he needed. Workbenches surrounded them. Tool chests filled with every implement known to man covered an entire wall, but Kurt was looking for the simplest of items.

Spotting what he wanted, he squeezed Akiko’s hand ever so slightly.

She looked over at him.

He nodded toward Gao.

Her eyes widened.

He held up one hand. Wait.

They reached the inner door. Gao pulled out his key card and held it to the sensor. The light on the door went green and the bolt disengaged with an audible click.

Before he could pass through it, Kurt clubbed him between the neck and the shoulder with a knifehand strike. The blow landed hard on Gao’s suprascapular nerve, rendered the right side of his body numb and dropped him to the floor in a daze. A right cross to the jaw put him down for the count.

“He’s out cold,” Kurt said, checking on him and grabbing the key card. “Find something to tie his hands with.”

She grabbed an electrical cord and began binding Gao. “What are we doing?” she asked. “You know they’re watching. There are cameras everywhere in here.”

“Which means we have to move fast.”

Kurt ran to one of the workbenches. Oily rags filled a garbage bin on one side. Spray cans of WD-40 stood nearby.

“Spray the WD-40 into that pile of rags and keep spraying,” he told her.

All he needed was a spark. He found it with the battery cart they’d used to start the race cars.

While she soaked the rags with the lubricant, he wheeled the cart over to the workbench, switched it on and scraped the terminals against each other. Sparks shot in all directions.

“Are you about to do what I think you’re about to do?”

“They burned you and Kenzo out,” he said. “Now we’re going to return the favor.”

Stepping around her, Kurt brought the cables up and placed them in line with the mist blasting from the can. A single touch released a new wave of sparks and the spray can was transformed into a miniature flamethrower.

Akiko held the nozzle open for several seconds before releasing it. By then, the garbage bin full of cotton rags had become a burning cauldron.

Kurt shoved it beneath a workbench so that it wouldn’t go out when the sprinklers came on. Akiko tossed the can of WD-40 inside for good measure.

“Let’s go,” he said, rushing to the door.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To the southwest corner of the building,” he said. “Joe saw a van pull up with Superintendent Nagano inside. Let’s just say he didn’t come here of his own volition.”

Kurt used the key card to open the door, smashed the glass of a fire panel with his elbow and pulled the alarm handle. Lights began to flash and the alarm began wailing.

“Wait,” Akiko said.

She dashed back into the garage.

“Come on,” Kurt shouted. “We don’t have time.”

She returned seconds later, dragging the unconscious body of Gao behind her.

“He would have been fine,” Kurt said. “This place isn’t going to burn up like your old castle.”

“I wasn’t saving him,” she said. “We need a doorstop if we want to cause any real trouble.”

She wedged him between the door and the wall, keeping it open and allowing the hall to fill with smoke.

“A helpful touch,” Kurt said. “Let’s go.”

They were off and running, heading down the hall to the southwest. At the end of the hall, Kurt found a locked fire door, but Gao’s key card opened it. They made it through what had to be a design room, filled with scale models and computers, and then found an elevator lobby, with doors on three sides plus the one they’d come through.

Kurt rushed to the farthest door and opened it with the key card. He saw only offices and a conference room.

He turned to see Akiko, waving him over. She’d found an emergency escape plan plastered to the wall. It showed the entire floor plan.

“Three cheers for the Japanese version of OSHA,” Kurt said.

Akiko was looking out into the room and rechecking the plan. “It’s got to be that one.”

They ran to the door on their right, opened it and found a long hall that led along the front of the building. Running through it, Kurt saw the first of many flares and phosphorus explosions raining down on the lawn outside. “Rocket’s red glare,” he said. “Right on time.”