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“Aside from the fact that I can trust you, nothing.”

“It’s important you understand that I do not work for your government”

“I do.”

“Walter and I have a long-standing relationship. In matters of mutual interest we have been known to share information. So. Why don’t you start by telling me about the incident”

Tanner did so, giving Ieyasu the same details he gave Dutcher, and finishing with his second sighting of the pickup truck.

“The night of the murder, you saw none of the men’s faces?”

“No.”

“The victim, Umako Ohira, had you ever seen him before?”

“Never.”

“I don’t suppose Inspector Tanaka told you he was assaulted three days ago?”

“Again, no.”

“I’m unsurprised. You see, I know Tanaka. He lives beyond his means, if you understand me. Ohira was very specific about his description of his attackers; he even picked one out of a photo file.”

“For a retiree you certainly have solid information.”

“I have many friends. The man Ohira identified is named Tange Noboru. Your description of the driver at the beach matches him perfectly. Noboru is a former yakuza—what you call the Mafia — enforcer. He now works for one of our largest industrialists — some say for the richest man in Nippon — Hiromasa Takagi.”

“Of Takagi Industries?”

“The same.”

Tanner’s interest was piqued. Takagi Industries was a multinational conglomerate with holdings in everything from textiles to nuclear energy. That alone made Hiromasa Takagi influential, but it was his alleged connection with the Black Ocean Society that most concerned Western intelligence agencies. Though never proven, Black Ocean is said to consist of Japan’s richest men, a group whose clout not only dictated the direction of Japanese industry but also the policies of the Japanese government.

“This man that was murdered last night,” Ieyasu continued, “was an employee of Takagi’s, in his maritime division. He worked as an engineer at the shipyard south of Anan.”

“Let me see if I understand this,” Tanner said. “First Ohira is mugged by Takagi’s chief of security, then three days later he’s shot dead, and the police have missed the connection?”

“I doubt anyone has missed the connection. Certainly not Inspector Tanaka. As you Americans say, he knows where his bread is buttered.”

“I see.”

“I don’t think you do. Over the past year, eight Takagi employees have either gone missing or have died in accidents.”

“Takagi employees probably number in the thousands, many doing hazardous work,” Tanner countered. “Besides, most conglomerates have skeletons in their closets. Takagi is probably no different.”

“That might be true if there weren’t more to it. Do you remember the Tokyo subway gas attack a few years ago?”

“Of course.”

“I was still with the CIB then. I was assigned to the task force. Eventually, we found an informant who claimed the cult was simply a front. You see, the components used were more sophisticated than the government allowed. This informant alleged a connection between the cult, the Japanese Red Army, and Takagi Industries.”

“What connection?”

“The JRA supplied the material — most of which was very hard to obtain — to make the gas bombs, who was in turn supplied by contacts at Takagi Chemical. I pursued this but was told to stop. I refused, so I was… invited to retire.”

“And you think Ohira’s murder is somehow connected to that?” said Tanner.

“Not necessarily, but his makes nine mysterious deaths of Takagi employees in the last year. Perhaps it is my background, but I have never been a believer in coincidence.”

Tanner smiled; he liked this man. “That makes two of us. You said the previous eight employees either disappeared or had not-so-accidental accidents?”

“That’s correct.”

“So by simply murdering Ohira they broke tradition. I wonder why.”

“That, Mr. Tanner, is a very good question.”

6

Washington, D.C.

The President, DCI Dick Mason, and National Security Adviser James Talbot sat in the Oval Office reviewing the president’s daily brief. Classified top secret and tightly restricted, the PDB offers the president a condensation of what’s new in the world. Over the years, presidents have varied in how they got the PDB’s information. The current president liked to read the PDB personally and in an informal setting. Shirtsleeves, coffee, and bagels were usually the order of the day.

Dick Mason watched the president put down his bagel. He knew which section his boss was reading: a transcript of the Iranian prime minister’s most recent speech to a group of senior Pasdaran officers. The Pasdaran, also known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, was one of Iran’s deadliest terrorist exports.

The CIA had long believed the prime minister was being influenced by the current ayatollah, which in itself was unremarkable, but the content of this particular speech contradicted the call for reconciliation he’d been spouting for the past eight months. In Mason’s eyes, this meant that while Iran’s goals remained unchanged, their methods were leaning more toward the covert.

“This is an accurate translation, Dick?” the president asked, running his finger along the text. “ ‘At every turn we lure the Great Satan into our traps, and then crush him under our heel like a squirming beetle. We have countless allies, more than there are stars in the heavens, and when the sky rains fire, our enemies will be pushed into the sea.’” The president looked up.

“It’s accurate, sir. But to be fair, we couldn’t expect him to talk nice about us in front of a group of fanatical Pasdaran officers.”

“How much is just talk and how much is real?”

“Not an easy question, Mr. President Islam is more than religion for them; it influences every aspect of their lives, including government. The U.S., along with the rest of the nonbelievers, are evil incarnate. Failing to set us straight jeopardizes their own souls. For them, that’s serious business. The only change we can likely expect is a heavier reliance on covert action. Same goes for Syria and Sudan.”

“Define covert,” said James Talbot.

“Increased use of surrogates, front groups, political interference. In short, deniable operations.”

The president was silent for a few moments. “Okay. Next topic.”

“Still Iran,” said Mason. “Latest estimates have their oil exports down four percent in the last six months, but production itself hasn’t changed. Same with the peripheral industries.”

“Where’s it going?”

“Into diesel production, then storage. This could mean a lot of things, but the clearest analogy we have is the Iran-Iraq war, we saw this same trend in the years prior to it Iran was stockpiling for tanks and trucks and the like.”

“Are you telling me something, Dick?”

“Not necessarily, sir. As I said, there could be any number of reasons. We know next month they’re conducting an army exercise outside Hamadan. They’ve done it at this time every year, four years running.”

“Did they stockpile for previous exercises?” asked Talbot

“No. The point is, though, we’ve got nothing to suggest they’re on the warpath. It does bear watching, and we’re doing that”

“Jim,” the president said to his national security adviser, “OPEC’s meeting in Bahrain next week. Talk to State, see if the Saudis will do a little probing.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, Dick, what’s next?”

“Syria.”

“Good news or bad news?”

“Good news and undecided news, sir. Routine ELINT shows the Golan is still stable, no changes. But yesterday the NPIC caught a side-lobe image of what looks like a group of Syrian APCs, tanks, and even a few companies of airborne troops making a drop a couple hundred miles south and east of the Bekka.”