Harmon drove out of the lot and headed back to Berkeley. She glanced over at Lake a couple of times. He knew she wanted to talk, but he was deep in thought.
“You’re troubled,” she finally said.
“Well, we just discovered that there might be an old atomic bomb tied off to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge,” Lake said. “I’d say that might be cause for concern.” He sighed. “I feel like I’m only seeing part of what’s going on here. Sort of like an iceberg — most of what’s happening is hidden from me.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Harmon said tentatively. “There’s some aspects of this that bother me beyond the idea that there might be an atom bomb sitting at the base of the bridge.”
“Such as?” Lake asked.
“The end of the war. I’ve been analyzing it with the added perspective of the Japanese having an atomic bomb.
Asking myself how that would have affected things that happened.”
“And what have you come up with?” Lake asked.
“It might explain some things that have puzzled historians, especially recently. Under the Freedom of Information Act, quite a bit of material on World War II has become unclassified and open for researchers to study. One of my colleagues recently published a book based on some of this information. He uncovered documents that indicated that the Japanese ‘and the Russians were conducting secret negotiations in June of 1945. They were going to split Asia between them. That would allow the Japanese to redeploy their Kwantung army in Manchuria — over a million troops — back to Japan to face the American invasion. My colleague stated that the documents he had access to said that the Soviets had very seriously considered the proposal.
“When I first heard of that, I thought it was almost as ridiculous as the story of a Japanese atomic bomb,” Harmon said. “I saw no reason for the Soviets to negotiate for what they could, and did, seize by force. But putting the two together, I see now that maybe the Japanese did have something to offer the Russians. Maybe they offered to split Asia between them without a fight and throw in the secret of atomic weapons at the same time. The Russians were already splitting up Europe at that time and looking ahead to their next enemy — the United States.”
“Jesus,” Lake said. He was staring at Harmon as they negotiated the streets of San Francisco. “Do you think that’s possible?”
Harmon’s hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly. “I think it is. I think the dropping of our bomb on Hiroshima put an end to that, but I think the Russians would have been very tempted to get the secret of the atom from the Japanese and might have been willing to pay.a very high price for it. It might also explain why the Russians were so keen on occupying and keeping North Korea after the war was over.”
Lake felt a splitting headache, centered right between his eyes. They were turning onto the Bay Bridge, leaving San Francisco behind. “I don’t know, Peggy. This whole thing is so far beyond me, I can’t even begin to see all the angles and edges to it. Is anything the way it was in the history I was taught in school, or is it all just a bunch of lies and cover-ups and double-dealing?” “Depends if you want to look at the world as a good place or a bad place,” Harmon said.
“No,” Lake disagreed. “There is a truth under it all.”
“There may be, but it’s a truth no one will probably ever know. Even if you can find out exactly what happened, you can never be sure you know the why. And it’s the why behind an action that is key. That’s the trouble with being a historian.”
“But I’m not a historian,” Lake said. “I can try to find out.” He looked out the window at the water of the harbor below. “I can most certainly try to find out,” he whispered.
He felt her right hand slide over and touch his forearm. It slid down his arm until she had his hand. “I’ll help you as much as I can,” she said. She wrapped her fingers in his and they made the rest of the trip like that in silence.
“I believe I am getting tired of seeing you here,” Okomo said.
Nishin was tired of coming to the Japan Center. He felt like he was tied to the Yakuza’s coattail for information, but this was their country, not his. “I need to find where a phone number is.”
“You come to me for something as simple as that?” Okomo shook his head. “Have you never heard of a reverse directory?”
Nishin remained silent, not wanting to admit he hadn’t. He longed for this mission to be over and to be back in Japan where he understood the environment in which he worked.
“The number?” Okomo asked, his voice dripping with disgust.
Nishin repeated the number Jonas had given him and one of the men at Okomo’s side spoke into a phone. A few seconds later he wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to the old man. Okomo looked at it, then folded it and tossed it at Nishin’s feet. “There is the location of your phone. Is there anything else you need? Perhaps someone to wipe your chin after you eat?”
Nishin slowly bent down and picked up the paper. He locked eyes with Okomo.
“Take him out of here,” the old man said, not blinking. Two Yakuza grabbed Nishin’s elbows and hustled him to the staircase. As soon as he was gone, Okomo slowly walked to the elevator to his rear. It slid down into the earth and when the doors opened to the dim red light he stepped forward, head down.
“Nishin is going to the gun dealer’s last location.”
The voice that came out of the shadows behind the desk was no more than a rasp, a whisper of what might have once been something more. It was old, but beyond that little could be told of the owner of the whisper. Only Okomo of all the Yaku/a was allowed down here. “That is no longer important. The North Koreans have a trawler en route. It will arrive much sooner than I expected.
“The gun dealer’s superior is the one we want to be here and he is coming. Direct Nishin further so that he is where we want at the right time and most importantly so that word gets back to his superior that the stakes have risen and that time is short. Hold your men ready. As we planned, the clouds are gathering and the storm will break very soon.”
Okomo bowed at the waist. “Yes, Oyabun.”
Lake briefed Araki as succinctly as possible about all they had found out, leaving out the detail of the bomb’s location. He felt that since the bomb was in American water, that was more his concern than Nishin’s. They were seated on a bench outside Wellman Hall, the sun shining brightly down on them. Students passed back and forth on the walkways all around.
“So the bomb might be here?” was the first thing Araki said when he was done.
“Yes,” Lake answered, feeling like he wasn’t holding too much back from the Japanese agent. For all he knew, Araki knew exactly where it was. “Somewhere off the coast. Maybe within three miles of the harbor.”
“And that is why the Koreans are coming,” Araki said. “This is very bad news.”
Lake frowned. “How would the Koreans know that, though? It wasn’t in the records that we found.”
“Maybe they have other information,” Araki said.
“What about the trawler?” Lake asked. “When is it due in?”
“Sometime after midnight and before dawn at its present course and speed.”
“And your stealth ship is still off shore?” Lake asked.
Araki gave a half-smile. “Perhaps.”
Lake had had enough. It was Feliks’s problem now. He stood up. “I don’t know what’s going on and it’s no longer my jurisdiction. I’m done with it.” “What do you mean?” Araki asked, surprised at his sudden movement.
“I’ve been relieved. My superior is coming here to take over the entire case.” “You did not tell him about me, did you?” Araki asked, concerned.