Kingston watched grim smiles appear on the bodyguards’ hard faces.
“We are on American soil, after all.” The general laughed, not a sight a man wants to see before lunch. Even a sumo wrestling match would be easier on the eyes.
Kingston wondered if he should share his findings about the new team with the general. That they were indeed a crack outfit, and had been behind the recent discoveries of the existence of old gods’ bones and artifacts around the world. Kingston zoned out for a second—was the new Russian find linked with that?
He decided not to share his knowledge. The last thing he needed was a bunch of trigger-happy Koreans running around DC.
“We’re watching them.” He nodded. “We know where they live. So to speak.”
The Korean general smiled expansively. “Good. Good. Now tell me more about these weapons.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Mai Kitano stood at the edge of their makeshift encampment, watching the sun sink over the horizon. She used the quiet moments to compose her mind. She watched the sea catch fire, and then the water boil, and then the light was gone.
She adjusted her gaze toward the enemy base, waited a few moments more for her eyes to adjust. It was darker down there, shrouded in shadow with deeper wraiths already settling in. Her kind of darkness. The darkness of predators and hunters.
Drake had floated the idea of one person attempting a deep reconnoiter. Mai had stepped up instantly. Not only was she the best person for the job, she had an ally on the inside. Or so they hoped. No one challenged her.
Now Mai crept deep into the forest, making her way around to one of the camp’s blind spots she’d marked earlier. The loamy undergrowth gave to her passing without sound, the trees barely whispered as she crept by. Nothing moved. She gained the tree line in less than thirty minutes and stood silently, staring at the rough sides of the buildings, a shadow amongst shadows.
Nothing stirred in the camp. No sounds could be heard, save those that hailed from the anchored warship. Mai stayed low and crept toward the building until she could touch its weathered side. She rose carefully beside the window as a faint noise reached her straining ears.
The building must be soundproofed. How strange — here — in the middle of nowhere and on a secret base. Even the seamen, it seemed, were not a party to what was going on. Of course, Dai Hibiki had said as much in his message.
Mai took a quick glance, saw an empty room, and then allowed herself a longer look. She was peering into a small, rectangular stone-walled room that gave onto a wide hallway. Through the open door she saw banks of lights hanging from low rafters that illuminated a long corridor. Closed doors ran down each side, most with letter-box like openings at their base.
Prison cells?
Gently, Mai pulled at the window frame. Nothing budged. No such luck. But there was another window a little farther along and more around the other side. She sank into the shadows again, low against the wall. As she did so, an almost silent footfall came from her right.
Her eyes flicked, nothing else. A large shadow stood there, barely visible in the dark. Then his arm moved, travelling toward his pocket and Mai readied to spring, but it returned flicking absently at a lighter, the flame short and sharp, and lighting up his hard, severe features.
Could be a doctor having a time-out, Mai thought. The man carried no weapon that she could see. After five minutes, the man sighed, spat on the ground and walked away. Mai wasted no time in sneaking to the next window along and taking another glance inside.
Same view, from another angle. This time she could clearly see the cell doors. She watched as the man she had just seen strolled down the corridor, tapping his fingers lightly on the walls as he walked by. He disappeared out of her sight.
She tried the window. Again, it didn’t budge.
She pushed harder. This room, away from the corridor lights and what might be the Operations Center, was her best chance of sneaking inside unseen. With a grunt she took a hard grip and heaved. The window frame gave a little. One of the catches slipped open. Complacency had to be second-nature in a place like this.
Mai pushed again. This time the window eased open a crack. She waited half a minute before sliding it all the way up, climbing inside and then closing it after her.
Then she crouched in the darkness, listening.
Now inside, she could hear all the telltale signs she had expected. Forlorn shouts echoing from behind closed doors. Intermittent screams shooting from farther away. The shouting of angry men. The cajoling of others. The whine of instruments. The constant hum of machinery.
This was a hell-house to be sure.
Mai inched toward the door and peered out. Stark rows of cells marched away. She counted at least ten to either side, doors standing amidst bright white walls. Beyond the last cell, she spied rows of windows and two men peering through whilst talking to each other in Korean.
What she heard made her shiver.
“He isn’t succumbing. The drug is rejecting him. Our efforts are useless with this one.”
“Sometimes this happens, Kwan Lee. It has happened before.”
“Yes. But it is a waste. And now we are one short.”
The second man hung his head. “The general will not be happy.”
“The general does not control this operation. If the manager knew we were being forced to replace these assets…”
“But he will never know,” the second man said with vigor. “Will he, Kwan Lee?”
“No.”
“It is not just your life. It is all our lives.”
“I know.”
“And more will come.”
“They always do.”
At that moment, a door opened behind the man and out stepped a third. Mai blinked rapidly. It was Dai Hibiki, the man who had started Drake and her on this journey with his warning communication.
One of the men turned to him. “Is our new patient comfortable, Leading Seaman Hibiki?”
“She is, Seonbae. Fed, watered and strapped down.”
Mai felt as though she’d had her heart doused with a bucket of ice. Why was Hibiki using the honorific address of Seonbae? The word meant teacher, or mentor. Which meant Hibiki was this man’s student.
It was possible he was faking. Hibiki was deep undercover. But still…a little niggle of doubt ate at her. It wasn’t just the word, it was the tone, the way he spoke it, the subservience, the awe.
“You are proving a useful beast, Seaman Hibiki. And quite suited to this work. We are always short a pair of hands here. Perhaps you could stay when the ship leaves us?”
Hibiki dropped his gaze. “That is up to my commander, Seonbae.”
“Of course, of course. But, they rarely perform a head count, Seaman Hibiki. And our successes all glorify the general’s victory. Our dedication will make possible Korea’s superiority over its arch enemy.”
Hibiki remained silent, head down. The doctor dismissed him. “Go now. Think on it.”
Mai slunk back into the shadows as Hibiki came walking toward her. Her hiding place was bare. No cupboards, not even a desk or a chair. She fancied it was an interrogation room of sorts. If she had been sure about Hibiki, she would’ve given him some kind of sign as he clumped past, but Mai stayed hidden, heart and mind heavy with worry.
As he passed Hibiki’s eyes flicked toward her. But Mai was stood so deep in shadow, he couldn’t discern her shape.
Mai lingered. She had what she needed. The majority of the Koreans remained on the warship with the island crew being little more than a smattering. But there would be other guards that she hadn’t seen yet.