How quickly life had changed. A day earlier, Chuck would have been over the moon about the possibility of his being a father. Now it was like they were discussing an appointment with the dentist.
“Yes, it could be, but I doubt it. I admit that it may be wishful thinking, but I’ve got a feeling. A blood test would tell me which it is.”
“When were you planning to do that? Did we come to Australia for some other reason than to tell me that you’ve been lying to me for a year?”
“Chuck, that’s not fair. I admit that I lied about my work, but most of our conversations were the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
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Synopsis- Hiromi tells Chuck the truth about herself.
Thank you to Puddin for all her help preparing this story chapter for publication.
Author’s note- The word Alice is commonly used by Australians when referring to the city Alice Springs.
“Kimi-chan, is that true?” Chuck asked Hiromi as he studied Gabrielle’s FBI identification.
What Gabrielle had told Chuck was shocking but it filled him with admiration for his wife. She was working to put her hideous gangster family all in jail.
“Yes, Chuck, it is true, but there is more.”
Chuck handed Gabrielle back her identification. “Like what?”
“Chuck, I am the woman you married, your wife, but I’m not exactly the one you first met six years ago.”
Hiromi watched as the look on Chuck’s face changed. He still wasn’t angry looking but the puzzled, ‘This is some kind of April Fools joke, right?’ expression was now history.
Gabrielle spoke up. “Chuck, what Hiromi is saying is true.”
Chuck began to pace the room. “I knew it.”
Hiromi wanted to explain but Chuck was letting off steam. He was talking about how he noted the periodic differences in Hiromi’s behavior and the lack of a scar on her left leg.
“She ruptured an Achilles tendon while jogging six years ago. To repair it, an operation was done. A month ago when we were in the shower together, your leg had no surgical scar on it.”
“We didn’t know, Chuck.”
“Who were those people chasing us three weeks ago? Are you Agent Ripley?”
Chuck was referring to Operation Firecracker. It was the disastrous attempt by Major Hollins to bring Ripley in from the field after she failed to communicate with the Swan Song committee for four months. “Yes, I am Agent Ripley and those were Swan Song people trying to communicate with me, because I’d forgotten them.”
“You almost killed both of us.”
“I know, Chuck, and I’m sorry. I didn’t know what they were going to do.”
Chuck finally stopped pacing. “Who are you and where is Hiromi? How……How can every inch of you look just like her? The birthmarks that are on your leg and buttocks, the tattoo, the freckles on the back of your neck are all the same as Hiromi. I mean everything.”
Hiromi answered her husband honestly. “Till May of last year Chuck, this body was Tom Slater. I was a Captain serving in the United States Army. My mother was born in Japan, so I was half Japanese. I spoke the language and could read it. Because of that, and because I had an accounting degree, I was placed on a short list of candidates and eventually selected for an Operation called Swan Song.”
Chuck was shaking his head. “I can’t believe this. There is no way a man can be made into a biological woman. A sex change operation is one thing, but I’ve seen you use sanitary napkins. A transsexual wouldn’t have a woman’s reproductive system. Not to mention there is no way even with plastic surgery a man could be made into a woman as attractive as you are.”
“It’s true, Chuck,” Gabrielle told the disbelieving Australian. “A German-born scientist has perfected a formula that can change a person’s DNA to that of another person and cause the body to reform itself into the duplicate of that person.”
Hiromi added, “The Tuesday before Mother’s Day last year I was given the DNA formula invented by Dr. Heidi Wagner.”
Chuck took his head into his hands. His life was some surrealistic nightmare and his head was beginning to ache.
Hiromi shot a glance at Gabrielle. The FBI agent got the message. Becky would take it from here.
Gabrielle headed to the hotel room door. She looked back at Hiromi and Chuck before opening it.
“Wait, Gabrielle, we have to talk,” Hiromi called out before addressing her husband who looked like might fall over any second now. “Chuck, give me and Gabrielle a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Gabrielle spoke to Hiromi once they were both out in the hallway. “Good luck. If you need help, there are some Australian police in room 411.
“Thanks, Gabby, but before you go I got something important to tell you. A triad saw you talking to me and the police while you were in Hong Kong. You might be blown.”
Now it was Gabrielle’s turn to be shocked. “When did you learn this?”
“It was only yesterday. Gabby, just take my word for now, I’ll explain it more when we get to wherever the meeting is being held.” Hiromi was very concerned for her friend’s safety.
Gabrielle got Hiromi’s message. She needed to be with Chuck. “All right, we’ll talk more tomorrow. One more thing, the meeting is going to be held at Pine Gap. Have you heard of it?
“Vaguely. It’s a satellite tracking station close to Alice Springs.” That was all Hiromi knew about the closely-guarded base.
While recuperating at Walter Reed, Tom Slater had met a talkative master sergeant who let it slip that he had once been stationed at Pine Gap. When another convalescing soldier inquired more into his time there, the master sergeant clammed up and refused to say anything more.
“You and Chuck won’t be flying to Alice on your own. We will be picking both of you up at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. I’d suggest you order room service and not go out.”
Hiromi thought about telling Gabrielle about her possibly being pregnant, but Chuck needed her, so her personal business would have to wait. Also her husband should be the first one to know. “We will be ready. Thank you, Gabby, for being here for me.”
“You’re welcome, Becky.”
Hiromi then went back into room 414.
Superintendant Carey was waiting for Gabrielle when she re-entered room 411. “How did it go?”
“All right, I guess. Charles is in a state of shock but doesn’t appear to be angry.”
“For Ripley’s sake, I hope that state doesn’t change. You did inform her of our presence?”
“Yes, I did. Superintendant, I may have a problem now…..”
When Hiromi got back in room 414, she found Chuck sitting in the room’s dining area. Even when sitting down, he looked about ready to fall over.
“Are you having a headache?”
“Yes. My head feels like it is going to explode.”
Hiromi, after fetching a glass of water, gave Chuck two Tylenol pills. Since he’d started having these attacks, she always kept a supply of them in her purse.
Chuck took the pills and water but without any enthusiasm. When he was through, he went back to holding his head.
Hiromi sat down in a chair positioned diagonally from Chuck. “Do you want to lie down?”
“No.”
Hiromi then tried to hold Chuck’s hand. He flinched from her touch.
For the first time, tears began to well up in her eyes. “Chuck, I love you. I really do.”
Chuck didn’t do anything. He wasn’t even looking at Hiromi now.
“I want to explain myself to you, Chuck, and I hope you will listen. Before that let me say this, when I started my mission and took Hiromi’s place, I didn’t know you were living with her. Many of the lies I told were meant to protect you from the Watanabes. Even now, my choosing to tell you in Australia far away from anyone connected to the Watanabes is in order to protect you.”
Chuck made eye contact with his wife for the first time since she returned to the room. Hiromi looked back at him.
“That is the truth. I do love you with all my heart.”
“You’re not Hiromi.”
“Not exactly. I admit I wasn’t born Hiromi Sato. But I am her now.”
“Other than the missing scar, you had me totally fooled. I know Hiromi better than anyone and that includes her family.”
“I know, Chuck. In order to stay alive, I had to make everyone think I was Hiromi Sato. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“Yes, I do, but how did you accomplish it? I never found your memory at fault for anything, either big or small.”
“It was evidently due to the treatment I was given, although I’m the only one to experience this effect that I know of. When I became Hiromi physically, I acquired her memories and some of her personality too. I don’t understand the science and I’m sorry that I can’t help you understand it, but when we first met, I began to remember you, in fact, there was a long time when I couldn’t really remember being Tom.”
“What you and Gabrielle have said makes sense but it’s fucking impossible too.” Chuck said somewhat loudly. He rarely used curse words, but he was in obvious pain as well as baffled confusion.
“I want to tell you everything, Chuck. Do you want to hear it?”
“Tell me anything you want.” He spoke listlessly, as if he’d heard more than enough already.
“When we got married less than two months ago, it was the happiest moment in my life.”
Chuck didn’t say anything but his eye contact with Hiromi was so penetrating; it was almost a message of its own. ‘Why should I believe anything you say after all your lies?’
“Let me back up. Until May of last year my name was Tom Slater. I was born October 2nd, 1978 in California while my father was serving at the United States Army Base known as Fort Ord……”
Superintendant Carey was making a phone call. “I need a car at the Langham’s service entrance as soon as possible. Also call the resident at Burton Street. Tell him he will have a guest shortly.”
“Are we going somewhere?” Gabrielle asked the Superintendant once he was off the phone.
“Not we, Agent Tanaka, but you are. I’m having you taken to one of our safe houses.”
“Why?”
“Agent Tanaka, I thought that would be self evident,” Superintendant Carey explained. “By a series of coincidences you have been identified as a potential police informant who also keeps company with a member of the criminal underworld.”
“Yes, Superintendant, but that all took place in Hong Kong.”
“I know Agent Tanaka, but some Chinese triads work world-wide including here in Australia. Until more information is gathered from Agent Ripley, we must not take any risks with either her or you.”
Gabrielle knew Superintendant Carey’s hyper-caution was probably justified, but in her present frame of mind it was still frustrating. “All right, Superintendant, I will do as you say.”
Superintendant Carey took a moment to assuage Gabrielle’s so far unspoken concerns. “There will be members of the Federal police in this room all night long just in case Ripley needs assistance. If Ripley asks to speak to you, one of my men will contact you at once.”
“Thank you, Superintendant. You do remember the recognition code I taught you earlier?”
“The one that makes mention of foot care? Of course I do. If I ever meet the chap who thought it up, I may let him know I don’t appreciate being made to sound like a character out of a bad 1960’s spy spoof,” Superintendant Carey said with a slight chuckle.
Gabrielle laughed slightly also. “I will tell them to choose something out of le Carre or Deighton next time.”
“It was my good fortune, Chuck, to have a happy childhood. I have a great Mom. Dad could be strict and his military service sometimes kept him away from me and my sisters and half brother, but he has always been there when it mattered for me, my half brother, and two younger sisters. How much do you know about Hiromi’s childhood?”
“She rarely talked to me about it.”
“That was because Hiromi grew up in misery. She felt unloved and abandoned. Her Aunt Emiko wasn’t a relative at all but someone paid by Keiji to care for her.”
“I didn’t know that. How do you know this? Did Hiromi tell it to you?”
“No, Chuck, as I said earlier, the treatment I was given somehow caused me to remember everything that was Hiromi. This includes her wretched childhood, to your and my personal habits and routines, to knowing all about you.
“Like what?”
“Your nicknames for me, and why you use them. Then there were the clothes you like to wear and your favorite foods. All little things but I knew them all.”
Hiromi began to feel slightly better because Chuck showed curiosity about her. Maybe there was a chance for the couple to have a future together.
Chuck was still disbelieving towards what Hiromi was saying to him. He therefore gave her a test. “What shirt was I wearing the first time we met?”
“You mean the hideous red, blue, and green plaid shirt that made you look a lumberjack who just arrived from Wisconsin.”
“Yes, that one. What happened to it?”
“I had you throw it out because it got torn but my real reason was because I didn’t like it. That was just before we began living together, Hiromi didn’t like the way you looked in it, but in my opinion you were very handsome when you had it on. It made your muscles stand out.”
Unlike when she’d told everything to Gabrielle, Hiromi felt no relief in revealing the same information to Chuck. The burden she had been carrying was still there,, and was now greater. She’d known that all along, and it was one of the reasons she’d feared this moment, feared what might come of it. She had read a magazine article once which claimed that a loving marriage causes the souls of a husband and wife to become one. She hadn’t believed it then, but she believed it now. Her heart was breaking now, because Chuck now carried his own burden, greater then her own because he hadn’t volunteered, and because so many difficulties were inherent in this new situation.
“What else do you remember about our first meeting?”
Hiromi rattled off a quick answer. “It happened on a Friday in June 2002. I was driving the Fairlady I owned at the time and Yuri was traveling with me when the taxi cab you were in as a passenger rear ended me.”
“What time of the day was it?”
“It took place shortly before five in the afternoon. I was mad and impatient at what happened and the delay it was causing but you were so nice, charming, incredibly handsome, and totally non-threatening to Hiromi, the accident didn’t bother me. You were new to Japan and offered to make amends by taking me to dinner. That’s how it all started.”
“You keep telling me you aren’t Hiromi, but you talk about her life like you experienced it.”
“I did experience it, Chuck. It’s due to the treatment I underwent back in the United States, but from my perspective, I was there. We talked. We had our first date, and I began to fall in love with you right then. For me, after my miserable childhood, and living in the midst of horror and crime, you were like a breath of fresh air, honest and good right down to your soul. I know it must seem crazy, but I have two memories, two pasts, and they’re both part of me, the best parts of Hiromi and Tom without either of their weaknesses, I think.”
He furrowed his brow, trying to work through what she’d said, then shook his head. “Can we back up a little again? I would like to hear what this Operation Swan Song is you are working on for law enforcement in three countries.”
“Operation Swan Song is a joint effort by United States, Japanese and South Korean law enforcement. I don’t know when it was first conceived, just that my role in it began in May of last year.”
“Swan Song sounds like a science fiction version of a very old American movie I once saw.”
“The House of Bamboo?”
“Yes, that is the one. Were you sent to assassinate Goro or Hiromi’s Grandfather?”
“No, I was not.”
“Who had Goro killed?
“I don’t know, Chuck, but I suspect it was my Grandfather. The objective of Swan Song was to build a criminal case against Goro Watanabe and to bring him to justice. It was hoped that by replacing Hiromi with me, that law enforcement would learn the inner workings of the Watanabes.”
“Did anyone consider approaching Hiromi and asking for her co-operation?”
“Not as far as I know. The committee only had a sketchy background on Hiromi before I took her place. We didn’t know about you or her family connections to the Watanabe Yakuza.”
“What’s this committee you mentioned?”
“It is a group of people who manage Swan Song. Gabrielle is on it, Dr. Wagner the scientist who changed me into Hiromi, Gabrielle’s FBI boss his name is Grant Williamson, A Yokohama police inspector named Yoshida, United States Major Ed Hollins who with Gabrielle were the first people to approach me about Swan Song, and a couple of other people. Other than Gabrielle, Major Hollins and Dr. Wagner, I’ve met none of these people in person. I did a couple of teleconference calls with them before taking Hiromi’s place.”
“Were you ordered to do Swan Song?”
“No, I volunteered. I was approached by Gabrielle, Major Hollins, and Dr. Wagner and told about the formula and the Watanabes. After talking it over with my parents and sisters, I volunteered. Two days after that I was given the formula by Dr. Wagner.”
“Your family thought this was a good idea?”
“My father was career Army before he retired. Dad and I take pride in serving in serving our country.”
“Where do your parents live?”
“In a Washington State town named Darrington or about a two-hour drive from Seattle. Mom is a housewife.”
“You have two sisters and a half brother?”
“My half brother Stuart was killed in Iraq. While I have been doing Swan Song, my sister Susan and her husband were killed in an auto accident. They left behind a baby boy named Shannon who wasn’t quite two-years-old at the time.”
“I’m sorry to hear about that.”
“Mom and Dad were hoping I would adopt Shannon and be his mother.”
“Your parents know what was done to you?”
“Yes, I talked to Mom and Dad a few times since I was changed. Gabrielle has also been giving them updates.”
“How much have you been talking to Gabrielle?”
“Chuck, let me tell you that Gabrielle worked a lot with me as I trained for Swan Song. I was a woman like I am now and we became very close. We fell in love but neither of us called it that at the time and we were never intimate.”
“All right.”
“Before this week, I’ve seen Gabrielle twice since I took Hiromi’s place, once at a banker’s conference in Tokyo, but I didn’t recognise her then, and then we met face to face at a debriefing when we came to Hong Kong last January.”
“You did that rather than go shopping like you told me you were doing?”
“Yes, I lied to you about my reasons for going out, Chuck, but I told you about our meeting as soon as I returned, and everything that happened. We had french fries, and I kissed her.”
Chuck paused for a few moments. “What was that envelope you had me mail for you a couple of weeks ago?”
“It was a message for Gabrielle. She has a married sister in California and the addressee was her husband. I had no other way of getting a hold of her or the committee at the time.”
“You say you love me and lied so to protect me. Then how do you explain you having me mail that Swan Song message? You were putting me in danger if the Watanabes discovered what it was.”
“Chuck, you’re right about that. I thought the risk was very small but you are right.”
Hiromi went on to tell Chuck about the emails she had gotten from Gabrielle or the Swan Song committee in the last two weeks. She also told him about the aborted Singapore meeting.
“You volunteered for a dangerous mission that you went into blind essentially,” Chuck said in an exasperated angry tone of voice. “You’re crazy, you know that.”
“I’m sorry about everything, Chuck.”
“Are you working to get incriminating financial information on the Watanabes?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Can you tell me how you have been doing this?”
“I was given a ghost computer program to install the Watanabe Trucking computer I use. It transmitted copies of financial documents back to the Swan Song committee.”
“That can be done?”
“Yes, but I never understood the technology behind it. It isn’t working any more. When I was having my breakdown, I had Omar come in and work on my computer. He re-formatted the hard drive and in the process the ghost program was lost.”
“What breakdown?”
“I’m getting a little ahead of myself, Chuck, and my story is confusing enough without jumping around in time. Can we skip that part for now?”
“OK. What have you been doing since then?”
“I still gather verbal intelligence for the committee. Also I have made copies to compact disc of all financial files I could get before we left Japan. They are in my laptop bag. Would you like to see them?”
“No, I believe you.”
Hiromi knew there was a limit on Chuck’s trust in her. “The South Korean contingent of Swan Song were interested in learning who ordered a hit on a Judge Song and his wife. He had sentenced a Watanabe cousin to jail in 2006.”
“I remember hearing about that,” Chuck admitted.
“I was able to learn who the killers were and who their paymaster was.”
“Was it Hiromi?”
“No, it was Ryoji Ishii. He works with me at Watanabe Trucking.”
“Yes, I know who Ryoji is. How long did it take it to change you into a double of Hiromi?”
“The process took a little over a day. I was asleep for the whole time.”
“How did they get some of Hiromi’s DNA?
“I don’t know. It may have been Reina Shimizu who acquired it.”
“Did Reina work for Swan Song also?”
“Yes, Reina did.” Hiromi hadn’t gotten around to telling Chuck what happened to Reina. As she was making a full confession, Hiromi was going to tell her husband of what she did to Agent Chrysanthemum.
“Can you tell me what happened to Reina?”
“The same night we became engaged to marry, Reina was caught trying to get on Goro’s computer.”
Chuck gave a slight nod of his head. “That is what Roger needed you for.”
“Yes, I was brought to where Reina was being held. Dai was there and a bunch of others. Before I left, I was forced to kill Reina, because she was my employee and because they suspected that I was weak and my failure to obey the Yakuza code would give them an excuse to kill me, probably within minutes of my refusal. After that happened, the Hiromi part of me was in control. I only regained control a couple of weeks ago. That what I meant when I said I had a breakdown.”
“If I killed someone in cold blood, I’d probably crack up too.”
“That isn’t all of it. Hiromi was planning to have Goro killed, but someone beat me to it. I suspect Keiji is the one responsible.”
Chuck shook his head in reply, looking like he’d bitten into a sour crabapple.
She couldn’t let him think badly of Hiromi, so added, “Hiromi had a loveless childhood that caused her to become twisted mentally, Chuck, and that’s why she did bad things sometimes. Your love for her almost made her well, at least until she saw an opportunity to become Oyabun because of Goro’s shortcomings.”
Much of what happened over the prior months was beginning to make sense to Chuck. He had dismissed much of Hiromi’s conduct as either being caused by female mood swings or due to stress caused by his wife’s Yakuza work.
On the other hand the switching of personas had Chuck confused. “I understand why you had a breakdown but please explain to me why if everything you said happened, then why you’re talking to me now?”
“I snapped back to myself after the chase into Yokohama three weeks ago. When I thought how I risked your life, I started acting like myself again. Chuck, you mean the world to me.” She looked to him for some hint of forgiveness, but his face was still impassive.
“The Hiromi memories I have are very real,” she continued, “but so are the Tom memories and I became a woman, with a woman’s hormones and thought patterns, when I was given this body and this brain, and between the two of us we made a complete woman. Both Hiromi and Tom were flawed,, which may be part of what caused our two personalities to merge so closely, but Hiromi’s latent schizophrenia was more resistant to the stress of our having to kill Reina, our friend. I couldn’t live with myself, other than you and Gabrielle, Reina was my only friend during Swan Song.”
“How about Miriam? Isn’t she your friend or is she part of Swan Song too?”
“No, Miriam isn’t part of Swan Song. She has become a friend of mine. It was Miriam who suggested I ask for your permission to see Gabrielle on Wednesday night.”
Hiromi watched as Chuck began holding his head again. “I can’t believe what has happened to me. My whole life has been a lie for a year.”
“Chuck, please understand, I couldn’t have told you any of this before now. With us surrounded by gangsters, I couldn’t take the chance. I am willing to gamble my own life, but didn’t want to put yours at risk any more than it was already. When I started this mission, I knew nothing about you. Then that night when you first got in bed with me, all these memories came into my head.”
“Do you know how insane you sound?”
“Maybe I’m a little crazy, Chuck. Yes, I suffered a nervous breakdown. Now, I am over it and whole again. It is hard to explain, just believe me.”
“How am I supposed to believe you after all the lies you have told me? I’m not even sure what’s real. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Chuck, I never did want to lie to you. The lies have become a terrible burden to me because I knew how much they would hurt you when the truth was told.” Hiromi knew she had lost Chuck’s trust and justifiably so. It was going to be difficult to ever get it back.
“Why didn’t you think of that before you started Swan Song?”
“At the time, I didn’t know you and Hiromi were living together. Gabrielle and the committee learned about you but only after I took Hiromi’s place.”
“You and Gabrielle are very close. Now I think it is her you really love.”
These last words from Chuck hurt Hiromi more than anything he had said since they began talking. “No, Chuck, that’s not true. I’m your wife, and promised to be yours forever, remember? We talked about Gabrielle, and I told you that I’d never see her in any intimate way if you didn’t want me to. I want to be pregnant with your child and want to give you even more children in the years ahead. If you tell me not to see her again, I won’t, because you’re my husband, and have that right. All of this, the schemes to get us out of Hong Kong and safe, is an expression of my love for you. You can call me a liar and a killer, but don’t ever tell me I don’t love you, because I do. If I had to, I’d sacrifice my life to save yours.”
Chuck stared at his wife with weary eyes. He looked as drained as Hiromi did from all that passed since they arrived at the Langham. “Forget what I just said, I’m sorry.” Chuck wasn’t jealous of Gabrielle. After all he had let his wife see her.
“Hiromi liked women too. In fact before you, the only person she had been with was Ryuku.”
“Yes, I knew that. Your attraction to Gabrielle is natural and I understand.”
“Thank you for being so considerate. I was a party girl back then and felt more attracted to women but because I feared a negative reaction from my Grandfather, we had to keep our relationship a secret. I began looking for a suitable guy, but hadn’t had any luck. It’s a problem when most of the men you know are gangsters, That’s when you ran into me. You’re very handsome, but more importantly, you’re a good man, and you treat me like a queen.”
Chuck looked confused again. The woman next to him was talking like they were two different people.
“I love Gabrielle, but it’s different. She has put her neck out on the line for me not once but many times over in the last few months. Gabrielle has done that because she loves me and my family. I owe her my life.”
“The time I spent with Gabrielle as a man was very short, and we never had sexual relations in either of my forms, but we had chemistry together. She is also very attractive. You still agree with me about Gabrielle being pretty?”
“Yes, I still think Gabrielle is pretty.”
“She is also a lot of fun to be with. We had some good times together as women while I trained for Swan Song.”
“Like what?”
“She’s a great shot for one thing. Whether it is a firearm or nightie she don’t miss very often.” ”¨
“A nightie?”
Hiromi was beginning to have second thoughts about her joke. It was too late, so she pushed forward. “On Wednesday night, Gabrielle flung the nightie she had just been wearing, across the room and landed it on a chair without even looking.”
“All right,” Chuck replied. He wasn’t in a humorous mood.
“It is more than that, but the love between Gabrielle and I remained constant even after my gender changed. Before I left for Dr. Wagner, my Mom asked me to bring Gabrielle home the next time I visited. The next time we spoke, Mom said she would be very happy if we got married.”
“Your mother has probably changed her opinion by now.”
“No, she hasn’t. According to Gabrielle, Mom has said she would be happy if I and Gabrielle were co-Moms to my nephew Shannon. I love Gabrielle and my family would like us to be together. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“No, you have me confused.”
“I love Gabrielle and I love you, but I wouldn’t have asked you for permission to see her if I didn’t think you’d like her. Gabrielle is important. What my family thinks is important, but my marriage vows matter most of all. I love Gabrielle, but I’m your wife so you’re the center of my world. I love both of you, but I’m in love with you. You have both saved me, but you are my husband.”
“Would you sacrifice your life to save Gabrielle?”
“Don’t put me on the spot, Chuck. Both of you love me and it has been tearing me apart that I’m taking the chance of hurting both of you.”
“You put yourself in that spot.”
“I confess, I should have done things differently.”
“Are you telling me you loved me from the first minute we met after Hiromi was abducted?
Chuck had Hiromi cornered. “Not exactly. I was surprised when I woke up and you were kissing me, but you may remember that I kissed you back. I was instantly attracted to you, but it seemed crazy to me. Do you remember that night? You’d come home from visiting your mum and wanted to make love to me right away. When your... thing... touched me down there, Hiromi’s memories of you, of making love to you, just washed through me. It was disorienting, and I was tired, so I begged off, but we kissed in the morning and you made me really hot, even then, and you were amazing that night. I was attracted to you from the start.” She paused for a moment, trying to be honest, but not cruel. “Chuck, I don’t think Hiromi loved you back then quite as much as we learned to love you. You must have noticed. She liked you a lot, and knew that you loved her, but we were just intimate friends back then, so it’s also true that I love you more now than I did then. We both do. If you wanted a start date, I’d say that my breast augmentation was a real turning point, because I did it for you. And then when we visited your Aunt and Uncle and I got to know your family, that was when Hiromi and I both fell deeply in love with you. I got to ride Dolly. I’d always wanted to ride a pony when I was a little girl, but Grandfather only provided what he absolutely had to while I was growing up, so I envied you the wonderful family I’d been denied, and wanted to be part of it, and Tom recognised the same sort of loving family he’d grown up then, so we both saw then what our life could be like with you and that love became more real with every day that passed. After Australia, I was really deeply in love with you. I wanted to have your baby.”
“So you have lied about loving me.”
Hiromi knew she had just dug herself a hole. “Not really, Chuck. It’s confusing. You always treated me in a loving way, and I gave you love in return. Even on that very first night, you made me want to do things that I never contemplated before. I’d say I was in denial about loving you for a while, but so were you, I think. When you introduced me to your Uncle Harry, you called me your friend, not your sweetheart, and you hadn’t told them anything about my family ties until that trip. That trip was a turning point for both of us, I think. I think it was after you saw how well I related to your family, and you saw that that they liked me, that you decided to ask me to marry you.”
“Did you lie when I asked you to be my wife?
Hiromi, maybe due to fatigue, was getting a little impatient with Chuck. He was going over ground she thought she had covered already. “No, I did not. I knew the commitment I was making. Just like my duties as a soldier, I don’t take either of them lightly. Remember when I dumped my birth control pills in the toilet? I’d thought about dumping them before you asked me to marry you, because I wanted to give you a child even then, before you’d asked.”
He looked confused, even unsure of himself, a weakness she’d rarely seen in him, and his eyes flickered from her face to her belly, then back again. He frowned. “I have to use the bathroom for a minute.”
“All right, Chuck. I’ll be waiting here when you come out.”
Chuck was back in about five minutes. “I’m back.”
Hiromi was a little unsure about to say next. “Chuck, do you realize the power you have over me and other women?”
“I know many think I’m handsome,” Chuck said nonchalantly.
“I’d say a lot think you’re handsome, but it’s the manner you have. You’re masculine but without the aggressiveness that causes women to feel scared. That’s what drew Hiromi to you, and why I fell for you too.”
“All I have is your word. We both know how much that’s been worth.”
“Yes, I am a liar, it’s part of my job. I lied for the Watanabes for years, laundering their dirty money to make it seem clean. I’ve lied to the Watanabes recently, trying to make amends for what I’ve done to help their rotten schemes, and I’ve lied to you, trying to keep you safe, but I had what I thought were good reasons. Before they made me kill my friend, they made me watch while Dai chopped off a man’s head with a sword. He was very skilled, so I guess he’d done it before. Should I have told you how much blood there was? How it sprayed from his headless corpse across the room? Would you have been able to keep that terrible knowledge secret, Chuck? Both Hiromi and I lied to you from almost the first moment, because we cared for you, and were afraid that you wouldn’t want to love us if we knew what we were really like, and were afraid that they would kill you if they ever found out that you were privy to family secrets. And they would have found out, Chuck. You’re an honest man. That’s why Hiromi was attracted to you. It’s part of why I was attracted to you, although I had a head start, because the part of me that is Hiromi was already attracted to you. You don’t keep secrets. Your life is an open book. We both wanted to be like you, to be worthy of your love. But put that aside, have I ever acted unloving towards you?
“No, you haven’t. Let me mention this. You say you were once male but you say you want to love me the rest of your life and want to have children. Were you gay before you took that formula?”
“No, I wasn’t. As you might guess, Tom wasn’t a really macho kind of guy, but he wasn’t a wimp either. I think -- well, I know -- that most men wouldn’t be willing to be turned into a woman, no matter how patriotically the notion was pitched to them, so Tom was a gentle man who wasn’t particularly hung up on his own masculinity, but had a strong sense of social responsibility and a commitment to justice. When I took the formula and underwent the process, my brain was changed into an exact duplicate of Hiromi’s brain, a normal heterosexual woman’s brain and hormone system with everything working as it should. Like many women, I’m more-or-less open to bisexuality, and I do love women, so when I was still feeling wounded by what I thought was my father’s abandonment, I didn’t trust men, but my body reacts to you like almost any woman’s would. I can barely remember having a penis, or standing in front of a toilet to pee, and even that dim memory is overlaid by my real memories of growing up as a girl, giggling in the girl’s room or at recess about the boys, and who had a crush on who, experiencing my first period, cramps, a hundred periods. It’s like you might dream of flying, and think you had wings, but when you wake up you know it was just a silly dream. I’m completely at home in my body, although I had moments of confusion at first, before I learned to sort out the dream memories from the real ones. I was never married as a man, but was engaged for a short time.”
“What happened?”
“I was in the Army Reserve and wanted to go active duty. My fiancée, a woman named Karen, gave me a choice. Either I choose the Army or her.”
“Did you ever regret not picking Karen?”
Ӭ
“No, I didn’t. Even at the time, I knew she wasn’t right for me, but Tom wasn’t as strong as Hiromi, and Karen wanted to be married.” She shrugged.
Chuck nodded, and then winced, holding his head very still.
She was suddenly anxious for him. “How is your headache?”
“I still have it.”
“Do you want to lie down? We can talk more in the morning.” Hiromi knew she would not be taking Chuck for a ride that evening and the couple would be sleeping in separate beds.
“No, I don’t.”
“I love you, Chuck. I love you very much and I do want to have your baby. I may be pregnant already.”
“You said that before, but how would you know that? Don’t you have to wait until you miss your period? Isn’t it still a few days off?”
“When I used the bathroom at the airport, I saw some small blood spots on my panty liner. It could be implantation bleeding.”
“Or it could just be a preview of upcoming period.”
How quickly life had changed. A day earlier, Chuck would have been over the moon about the possibility of his being a father. Now it was like they were discussing an appointment with the dentist.
“Yes, it could be, but I doubt it. I admit that it may be wishful thinking, but I’ve got a feeling. A blood test would tell me which it is.”
“When were you planning to do that? Did we come to Australia for some other reason than to tell me that you’ve been lying to me for a year?”
“Chuck, that’s not fair. I admit that I lied about my work, but most of our conversations were the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I’m not a bimbo for whom pregnancy ‘just happens.’ I set out to bear your child with my whole heart, and you know, even with modern medicine, that I’m taking a very small risk of dying for you and for our love. If you don’t know, Hiromi’s mother died as a result of giving birth to her.”
“Hiromi didn’t talk much about her mother except to say she died when she was little.”
"My mother didn't have much money after father left. She went to a midwife to deliver me. There were unexpected complications and Mom started to hemorrhage. Mom died shortly after she arrived at a hospital. Medicine is better today than it was in 1979 and of course I can afford the best care, but pregnancy is always a risk. In the USA, eleven women die for every hundred thousand births, and the rate in Japan is half that, but a small chance looks bigger when your own life is on the line."
He frowned impatiently. "Yes, I know that."
She set her jaw and furrowed her brows slightly. “You'll pardon me if I'm not quite that dismissive about a danger that killed my own mother, Chuck, but I had several reasons to come to Australia."
He had the grace to look embarrassed, so she continued. "Safety was on my mind, Chuck, because I knew I might be pregnant, and Australia was the only place outside of Japan or Hong Kong where we could go safely, with no suspicion being raised, because your family lives here and I love them. I love you, and I wanted you to be safe if anything happened. I wanted you to meet Tom’s parents, my parents, and to introduce them to you because I intended to spend the rest of my life with you, and still intend to if you’ll have me. And finally, I came here to Australia to talk to some people about my mission. Have you heard of Pine Gap?”
“Of course I have. It is twenty-five kilometers from my mother’s home. That is where you were going for the meeting?”
“Yes, it is.”
“What will happen there?”
“The future of my operation will be discussed.”
“What future? Your grandfather shipped us out to Hong Kong. I don’t think he will be too happy if we come back.”
“I don’t disagree with you, Chuck, although I think his feelings run a little deeper than that. Gabrielle told me Hong Kong customs found a bomb in our belongings. Keiji wants me dead, not just out of the way in Hong Kong. That’s the main reason we’re in Australia. I wanted to keep you safe until the situation becomes clear.”
Gabrielle left the Langham by going down one of the hotel’s fire escapes. An unmarked police car was parked just a short distance from where she exited the building.
The Burton Street safe house was a two story town home in suburban Melbourne. Gabrielle was welcomed at the door by a middle aged man.
“Please wait here. Someone will be arriving shortly.” Gabrielle took a seat in the first floor hallway.
‘What is going to be Director Williamson’s reaction when he hears what happened? Will I be taken off Swan Song?’ Were just two questions Gabrielle was asking herself.
Two federal policemen soon arrived. One was carrying Gabrielle’s luggage, the other introduced himself to Gabrielle.
“Agent Tanaka, my name is Walter Brady. I hold the rank of Deputy Inspector in the Australian Federal Police.”
“Nice to meet you, Deputy Inspector,” Gabrielle replied. ‘Who’s going to stand up for Becky if I get taken off Swan Song?’
Gabrielle was shown to the second floor where she would have four rooms, one of which was a bathroom, to herself. Three minders would remain downstairs.
“I’ll have breakfast brought to you at 6:30,” The middle aged man, who went by the name of Alex Bateman, said to Gabrielle.
Walter Brady was still present and Gabrielle addressed him. “Deputy Inspector, I’m supposed to be flying to Alice Springs in the morning.”
“Yes, Agent Tanaka, I am aware of that. Transportation will be arranged for you but I won’t have any details for you till morning.”
“There! There! That’s crazy! Why would you want to go further with Swan Song? Does your life mean so little to you? I thought you wanted to be my wife till death do us part. Like fifty years from now.”
“Yes, but I’d like to finish Swan Song properly, if possible, not half-assed. That is what the outcome would be now.”
“Wouldn’t those computer files you copied get everyone arrested?”
“It would get a lot of Watanabe Yakuza, but not everyone. Take for instance Akira Sudo and Ryuku. Both have been shareigashiras for a short time. They stand a good chance of surviving any carnage, and hundreds of minor players and hangers-on. If they do, Ryuku and Akira have the toughness and brains to reform their own Yakuza out of whatever’s left of the Watanabe. They would probably get help from other Yakuzas who don’t want the Inagawa-kai to get too strong.”
“Should what you describe happens with Ryuku and Akira, we both know who will be the boss there,” Chuck almost chuckled in reply.
“Yes, Chuck, you are right. Ever since Ryuku pulled a knife on him, Akira has treated her very deferentially.”
“What you describe the Yakuzas doing if the Watanabes collapse sounds like the old balance of power foreign policy that was put in place to keep the peace in Europe after Napoleon’s downfall. The small and medium powers align themselves together against the strongest power.”
Hiromi smiled for the first time since Gabrielle showed her face in Room 414. “Yes, exactly like that.”
“If Swan Song continues on past this meeting you are all having, what do you think will happen?”
“First of all Keiji has to be made into a figurehead. Dai Hashimoto realizes this also and has people working on this.”
“Will Hiromi’s Grandfather have to be killed?”
“That decision won’t be made by me. Does it matter?”
“If it takes murder for Swan Song to go ahead, are you any better than the Yakuza you’re trying to arrest?”
“The world isn’t black and white, Chuck. You know it, I know it, though I’ve only come around to learning it belatedly. To defeat the bad guys, sometimes the good guys have to be bad too. Truthfully, I don’t like it, but killing to stop killing has to be done sometimes, however unfortunately or reluctantly. Millions of innocent Germans were undoubtedly killed in order to bring down Hitler.”
“If Keji is taken care of, then what?”
“Keiji Watanabe and the Yakuza he leads have brought death and misery to hundreds of thousands of people, Maybe the total is over a million, the Watanabe Yakuza date back to the late 19th century.”
“I, with the help of the Swan Song committee, might be able to change this organization. Direct people like Akira, Ryuku, and other young members, to enterprises that will help society rather than harm it. That doesn’t mean Yakuzas or organized crime will disappear but a small but not insignificant bit of it will be changed”
“Who will be the next Oyabun?”
“Dai Hashimoto. He will be taking over effective September first.”
“You can’t possibly be thinking of challenging Dai. He’s a ruthless…”
Hiromi interrupted Chuck in mid-sentence. “Dai wants me to return. He is willing to share power with me in an unprecedented way.”
“The Yakuza isn’t exactly female friendly.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“What has caused Dai to change?”
“There are a few factors. First of all, Dai is surprisingly pragmatic. He has seen how profitable legitimate enterprises have been for the Watanabes. Maybe we can’t make as much money as organized crime, but the risk is far less. In fact, the illegal activities threaten the legitimate profits, because the government can punish criminals with monetary penalties and confiscations that may dwarf the profits from any given criminal enterprise. Dai is beginning to realize this. He is also very impressed that we have the patronage of members of the Japanese Royal Family. That’s a great honor, and if used properly, Dai knows how enriching it can be and it can be done with honor and openness instead of criminality and in the shadows. Remember, whether it’s true or not, the Yakuza see themselves as being descended from the old Samurai. The Royal Family means a lot to most of them, especially the older generation, and the ancient Samurai code of conduct has been twisted into something dirty by their association with organized crime. We could offer a way out of that, and restore the honor of the family. Remember, it’s the public who call these gangs Yakuza. Their own name for themselves is ninkyÅ dantai, ‘chivalrous organizations.’ They’re delusional, of course, but also naive.
“Modestly, I have to admit that I’m a financial genius and organized crime is only a small part of the investments I’m responsible for. With all the time I spend fiddling the books to hide petty extortion money, I could make twice as much for the family handling legitimate investments. My gender isn’t as important as the skills that Dai and the Watanabes need from me. Look at you, I have a gaijin husband and nobody except unlovable monstrous Grandpa holds it against me. They have to know that we have plans for children, and I’ll make it known more widely. They don’t care, because I’m making money for them. They may be glorified street thugs, but they know the difference between a thousand dollars they can put in the bank and a thousand dollars they have to bribe someone to hang onto.
“Also that car chase three weeks ago was witnessed by Dai and others, and it’s gained me a great deal of respect. No one before that day thought of Hiromi as particularly tough, but I changed that with my virtuoso performance and courage at the wheel of my car.”
“That’s an admirable plan you got.”
“Thanks, Chuck, it makes me feel good that you think Swan Song is worth while.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Couldn’t you call it a success now if you wanted? Then we would be able to get on with our own lives.”
“Chuck, I already told you why quitting Swan Song now wouldn’t do much more than get ten to twenty people thrown in jail and cause some politicians to step down. The list of elected officials and high ranking bureaucrats on the Watanabe payroll is mind boggling, and we’d both still be in terrible danger, even in Australia, if Grandfather is still a power behind the scenes.”
“I always thought it was impossible to stop. Organized crime is just too successful in my humble opinion.”
She partially agreed, and nodded her assent. “I thought so too. It was only the middle of last week that I was ready to quit Swan Song and let them fight it out among themselves. Then I got to see this hideous prostitution club in Yokosuka, and I began to re-think my position. There are real people being hurt by these gangs, and perhaps these people could be helped.”
She looked into his eyes, willing him to understand. “Chuck, I wish for you to stay with me. After all the wretched work I do during the day, it is your love when I come home that keeps me from falling apart. There will be no more lying, the only things I’ll hide from you will be related to my Yakuza work and only if was something that would put you at risk by learning of it.”
“Your plan won’t ever happen. I can’t believe Dai Hashimoto has changed in the way you describe.
“Chuck, you would be surprised. Dai has a brain behind all that muscle, and he’s smart enough to know that I’m smarter about banking than he could ever be. At the airport before we left for Hong Kong, he made it clear he would be arranging for my safe return.”
“Let us assume Dai isn’t setting you up for a double cross, remember you’re the only threat to his future leadership of the Watanabes, with the present state of affairs in Yokohoma Dai can’t ensure your or my safety.”
“You might be right, Chuck, but I don’t think so. When I was crazy and the old Hiromi was in charge, I thought that I could wave a magic wand and the leadership would fall into my lap, but there are too many people who would never accept a woman at the head of the Watanabes. It goes against thousands of years of Japanese cultural assumptions, not just Yakuza tradition. Not to mention the face that I don't want the job. I'm perfectly content to work behind the scenes, or off-stage, however you look at it.”
Neither Chuck nor Hiromi spoke for over five minutes. Both were physically and emotionally drained from their conversation, after traveling all day.
“Do you want to talk more tomorrow, Chuck? We can go to bed now and continue in the morning if you want.”
Chuck had a few more things to get off his chest. “You killed Reina.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Does that make you any better than the Watanabes? Chuck was back talking again. He had a lot of anger inside of him and understandably so. If he was almost any other man, he would be yelling his head off at Hiromi.
“No, I’m a murderer too,” Hiromi said. “I made the decision to choose between her life and mine. I told you what it cost me.” Some, like Gabrielle Tanaka, would say she had been coerced into pulling the trigger. Maybe so, but Hiromi wasn’t making excuses in her talk with Chuck. She was taking responsibility for her actions instead, in hope that might smooth the path toward her husband eventually forgiving her.
“Did Hiromi ever kill someone?”
“No, but she planned to kill Goro, and she laundered drug money, money taken from trafficked women and children, money extorted from hapless shopkeepers. We’re both smart enough to know the destruction narcotics use causes, and extortion and sexual slavery only work if you’re willing to kill people or beat them within an inch of their lives if they don’t submit.”
“Yes, but investing drug money isn’t the same as pulling a trigger.”
“Chuck you won’t get an argument out of me on that,” Hiromi replied. She’d already mentioned how Hiromi planned murders to gain what she thought was her rightful place as Oyabun, but she didn’t pursue the point. It just seemed unlikely to sway Chuck, because he still couldn’t really see the evil that Hiromi was capable of. In a way, she was proud of his loyalty, and of the fact that his own heart was pure enough that he found it difficult to comprehend how others could be tainted.
“Where is Hiromi?”
“She is in a Japanese prison, I don’t know which one.”
“You must be holding her in seclusion. Otherwise Hiromi would have contacted her family or me by now.”
“I don’t know any of the details, Chuck, except that she was captured last August. I took her place three days later.”
“Those files you sent to the committee. Do they contain information on Hiromi?”
“Yes, Chuck, I’m afraid they do.” Hiromi didn’t elaborate. The real Hiromi stood a real chance of spending the rest of her life in prison, but Chuck could figure that out on his own. He knew the investment and banking laws almost as well as she did.
While what she said to Chuck was true, it wasn’t helping their relationship. Even though Chuck had been proud of her co-operation with the authorities at first, he seemed to have some schoolboy resentment of ‘tattle-tales’ as well.
Chuck fell silent for about a minute. Hiromi sensed her husband was still processing everything he had learned that night.
“Am I part of tomorrow’s Swan Song plans?”
“Only if we both want to, Chuck.”
“I don’t want to.”
“All right, I have been expecting that. Chuck, I haven’t been completely honest with you in the past, but I always had what I thought were your best interests at heart. I’ve never betrayed you in any personal way, or lied to you about our relationship. Every time I told you that I loved you, I was speaking from my heart. When I gave myself to you, I didn’t hold anything back. I don’t deserve someone as good as you, but please give me another chance.”
Chuck stood up, not smiling, but neither sneering at her as he had initially, which gave her some hope. “I’m going to get ready for bed.”
“You can have the master bedroom. Let me get my suitcase out of there.”
It was Chuck who transferred Hiromi’s suitcase to the second bedroom. At first she was surprised, then she remembered that her husband was always a gentleman towards women. Chuck had always made her feel like a queen.
“Thanks, Chuck.”
“You’re welcome and good night.” Chuck said before he closed the doors to the main bedroom.
‘I’m shut out of his life now,’ Hiromi thought to herself. ‘Chuck doesn’t want me anymore and I don’t blame him.’
While Hiromi was deeply anguished and was almost ready to cry, she kept her emotions inside of her. It wouldn’t be fair to Chuck to let him hear her weeping. If Operation Swan Song were to continue, she would have to be extra strong in the months and maybe years ahead.
‘Remember what you said to Her Imperial Highness,’ Hiromi told herself as she went to the other bedroom. ‘Our husbands are a source of our strength. When they become weak we must draw more on ourselves and other loved ones.’
Hiromi would have to start living those words though it wasn’t out of any weakness Chuck had. It was instead due to her own shortcomings.
Since she would only be staying at the Langham for one night, Hiromi did not unpack her suitcase. Instead she took out the clothes she would need for that evening and tomorrow as she travelled to Alice Springs and Pine Gap.
After she was through showering and was dressed again, Hiromi took out her laptop computer. It had been a long day but she was too wound up to go to bed yet.
Hiromi worked on her notes for the big Swan Song meeting till her eyes could stay open no longer. She turned off the laptop and went to sleep. She didn’t go to bed, but dozed in a chair near Room 414’s door. Before Chuck left her, she wanted again to say how sorry she was.
Five Watanabe shareigashiras were invited by Dai Hashimoto to have dinner at his house on Saturday evening. After they were through eating, the five men and one woman moved to the Saiko-komon’s study so they could all speak in private.
“On the first day of September I will officially take over the duties of Oyabun,” Dai told everyone present.
The news came as no surprise, but all the shareigashiras still took the time to congratulate Dai. “We look forward to years of your strong leadership, Tiger-san,” Said Shinzo Natsume.
It was a dangerous period for the Watanabe Yakuza. Dai did not want time wasted on tributes to him, so he kept the meeting going forward. “As all of you know, a conference was to be held this coming Saturday. Our present Oyabun has decided to postpone it.”
Two of the shareigashiras asked why the meeting was postponed. Akira Sudo told everyone what had been discovered earlier in the week. “There are people planning an attack on the Oyabun. For that reason he was moved to a safer home today.”
“Can you tell us where the Oyabun is living now?” Shinzo asked. He had been a sharigashira for less than a year. He had only met Keiji Watanabe on one occasion.
“At a home in the Midori Seya Ward,” Dai said. “That is part of your territory, Shinzo-san. Before you leave tonight I will want to have a word with you.”
“I will do as you tell me, Tiger-san.”
All the shareigashiras asked Akira how it was learned an attack was being planned against Keiji. With Dai’s permission, he passed around the room the photos taken by Bunrukuken Inukai.
“This is military equipment,” Katsuaki Koike said after only a few moments examination of a photo given to him.
“The Inagawa-kai are not behind this?" Ryuku Kinjoh asked.
“No, they are not,” Dai said firmly. Some talk broke out about whether the Inagawas may have hired para military types to attack the Oyabun or the possibility Japanese Self Defense Forces had been bribed.
“Does it matter who the attackers were? Their plan has been stopped,” Shinzu said.
“It does matter, Shinzu-san. For if they are Self Defense Forces, we can safely assume they will try again.”
Akira spoke up. “Our current Oyabun is no longer well enough to run the family. It is my opinion we should act as if Tiger-san is already Oyabun.”
“With all due respect to Tiger-san here, how about the pledges of loyalty all of us have taken?” Sanraku Kuromochi asked.
“Are we pledged to the family or a Oyabun?” Ryuku asked. “If we are to the Oyabun, what happens when they are no longer able to lead?”
Katsuaki gave his opinion. “At this moment we are all still pledged to Watanabe-san.”
“This is different, Katsuaki-san, we have a new Oyabun in all but name. Should we in this time of danger stand by because we don’t want to accept the leadership that is available to us?” Ryuku argued.
Dai was growing more impressed with Ryuku as she debated the other shareigashiras and refused to back down from her opinions. She was tough and possessed a wisdom `that rivaled Hiromi Sato’s but in a different way.
“What is wrong with the Oyabun now? Is he ill?” Sanraku asked.
Ryuku looked over at Dai. She didn’t answer Sanraku’s question till the he nodded his head towards her. “The Oyabun has a terminal illness. The doctors say he don’t have long to live.”
“What type of illness? Katsuaki asked.
“Hiromi-san says her Grandfather has a form of cancer. He is also refusing treatment.” After Ryuku’s reply the five shareigashiras went back to arguing whether the orders of a sick Oyabun should be followed.
“Ryuku-san, are you speaking with Sato-san?” Katsuaki asked.
“Yes, we spoke just yesterday. She told me about her Grandfather’s condition and also mentioned she would be taking a trip to Australia with Chuck.” Ryuku would speak to Dai after the meeting was over to discuss the details of her next conversation with Hiromi.
“We need Sato-san to come back here to Japan soon, but only when we can guarantee her safety,” Akira said.
Dai knew better than anyone how important it was to get Hiromi back to Yokohama. Her wise counsel, financial expertise, and administrative skills were vital if the war with Inagawa-kai was going to be brought to an end. In only the short time he had been acting Oyabun and without Hiromi, Dai had learned how difficult it was to run the Watanabe Yakuza without her.
The argument that Dai was letting go forward at the meeting was one of many signs the Watanabe Yakuza was adapting to the modern world. Tradition said an Oyabun’s power was absolute, and when he gave an order, a Yakuza did it without question. There were no debates, total obedience was expected. A Yakuza who did not automatically comply would at best suffer great bodily, or worst be killed by the Oyabun so as to set an example.
Dai had lived a Yakuza life of strict obedience. It was tradition and normally a good system except now when a crisis was happening internally and externally for a Yakuza. A course of strict obedience now when an Oyabun was both sick and out of touch would result in disaster.
When the arguing was over, all the shareigashiras agreed to take directions from Dai instead of Keiji. With the war with the Inagawa raging, all fervently believed the Watanabe Yakuza had to be run by the leader or leaders most in touch with the situation and able to give prompt orders.
“Our present Oyabun must be made to think he is still in control? That will not be easy,” Katsuaki said.
Katsuaki was considered future Oyabun material by almost everyone in the Watanabe Yakuza. Dai planned to promote him to Saiko-komon in the very near future.
“Measures have been taken to alleviate that problem,” Dai said before going to explain the surveillance system and listeners at Keiji Watanabe’s new home.
Ryuku had some potentially bad news. “Hideichi-san met with the Oyabun earlier this week.”
“Do you know what was discussed, Ryuku-san?” Akira asked.
“No, I do not.”
The strategy meeting continued for another half hour before breaking up. Katsuaki and Akira talked as they left Dai’s home together.
“We have a bigger problem than the Inagawa-kai, Akira-san. I think the people at the Nimura house knew of the meeting for next week.”
“That is my opinion also. We must begin looking for the informant at once.”
Akira and Katsuaki were soon at their cars. “Are you going home now, Katsuaki-san?”
“Yes, I am,” Katsuaki replied. He was married and father to two children, a boy age six, and a daughter age three. “Tomorrow my niece is being baptized. Afterwards a party will be held at the Rosebud.”
“Let me keep you no longer, Katsuaki-san. I hope you and your family have a very enjoyable day tomorrow.”
Hiromi was woken on Sunday morning by the sound of the master bedroom door being opened. Chuck was packed and getting ready to leave the hotel room.
“Did you sleep out here all night?”
“Yes I did,” Hiromi said as she gently rose from the chair. Her back hadn’t reacted well to sleeping in a upright position. “What time is it?”
“It’s a quarter to seven. Where are our e tickets to Alice?”
“If you hold on for a minute, I will get it for you,” Hiromi said to Chuck before going in the second bedroom. She was back very quickly. “Here it is.”
“Thanks,” Chuck said as he put the e-ticket in the front pocket of his carryon bag. “I guess you are going to Alice and then Pine Gap on a different plane than me.”
“Yes, Chuck, I am, but only if you choose not to fly with me. Can we talk?”
“I got to get going,” Chuck said as he headed to the door. Hiromi raced across the room to intercept him.
“I’m sorry for everything I and the Swan Song committee have done to you.”
“What about Hiromi. Are you sorry about her?”
“Chuck can we please talk some more about me, you, her, all of us?
“I can’t let you keep Hiromi locked up forever.”
“You’re an honorable man, Chuck.”
“Thanks. Right now I got a good mind to go to Elizabeth Street and report this whole stinking Swan Song business.” Melbourne’s Elizabeth Street was the location of the city’s Japanese consulate.
“All right Chuck, if that’s what you want to do, go ahead. I won’t stop you, but ask that you take a few moments to think. What will your anger, which is justified, accomplish if you take that action?
Chuck stared at the woman he married. “I can’t abandon Hiromi.”
“What about me, Chuck? I’m Hiromi too and your wife and maybe even mother to your baby. Hiromi is inside me, and I’m more her than I am Tom Slater now. You aren’t dumb and must be able to recognize that.”
Hiromi and Chuck stood there looking at each other. After over a minute of this, Chuck put down his luggage.
Chuck was thinking of his own childhood, and how his father had abandoned his own family by having an affair. It was while he was seeing his mistress that Peter McBride cracked up his car killing the two of them one rainy Hong Kong night in 1991. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“Can I make a suggestion, Chuck? Why don’t you and I talk some more as you eat breakfast? The committee will be picking us up at ten. You can still go wherever you want then and I won’t stop you. What do you think?”
“All right, I will do that.”
Gabrielle didn’t get much more sleep than Hiromi did. She was already awake and lying in bed thinking of Operation Swan Song, when Alex Bateman knocked on her door.
“Miss Tanaka, I am sorry to disturb you. It is twenty past six and I was told to wake you at this time.”
“Thank you,” A groggy Gabrielle called out.
“One last thing, Miss Tanaka. Would you happen to have any preferences for breakfast?”
Gabrielle was by now sitting on the edge of her bed. “No, anything is fine with me.”
It was while Gabrielle ate her breakfast that Deputy Inspector Brady came to visit her. “I have come to tell you, Agent Tanaka, that transportation has been arranged for you to Alice Springs and Pine Gap.”
“Thank you, Deputy Inspector. When will I be leaving?”
“Is half past seven too early?”
“No, Deputy Inspector, it is not.”
Gabrielle got to Melbourne’s Avalon shortly after 8 a.m. Deputy Inspector Brady, using his police credentials, got Gabrielle whisked through check-in and the pre-flight security screening. After that she was boarded onto the Boeing 737 before the rest of the passengers. A member of the Australian Federal police stayed with Gabrielle till just before the plane’s door was closed for takeoff.
Qantas Flight 796 was scheduled to arrive in Alice Springs at 11:15 a.m. local time.
Midori and Stuart Slater were just arriving at Pine Gap at the same time Qantas Flight 796 was taking off from Melbourne. The couple was tired but excited also. In a matter of hours they would see Rebecca for the first time.
An Australian sergeant named Jennifer Leighton showed the Slaters to the room they would be living in during their time at Pine Gap. It was underground and looked like it was seldom used.
“The cafeteria we walked by will start serving lunch at eleven thirty,” Jennifer explained to Midori and Stuart. “Feel free to use it but please don’t leave the section till a coordinator welcomes you here officially.”
“When will that happen?” Stuart asked.
“I don’t know sir,” Jennifer replied. Pine Gap was expecting over 100 visitors before the day was over. The Joint Defense Facility wasn’t accustomed to the events like the Swan Song meeting and its manpower would be stretched to the limit as a result. “He or she will be over sometime shortly. Is there anything I can get you now?”
“You wouldn’t know when certain people will be arriving, would you?”
“No sir, I do not.”
Midori spoke up. “Thank you for bringing us here.”
“Please remember to wear the identification tags given to you at all times when you’re out of the room,” Jennifer reminded the Slaters before leaving the couple alone.
Stuart was looking at the bunk beds which reminded the retired Army Master Sergeant of his days at Camp Red Cloud twenty years earlier. “Gabrielle and Rebecca will find us when they get here.”
“I know Stuart.”
Hiromi ordered room service for herself and Chuck. The couple talked again as they ate their meals.
“Chuck, when I get to Pine Gap I will ask what is being done with Hiromi. I respect you for not abandoning her.”
“You may want to relate to the committee that I won’t stand by while Hiromi is kept in prison. I’ll go to the press. Tell them that for me and say I’m not joking,” Chuck said angrily.
Hiromi tried to calm Chuck down. “I will talk to the committee about Hiromi, but you can’t expect me to make threats for you. Please let me try to help but don’t put me in an untenable position.”
“You’re in an untenable position? How about me? I am married to a woman I don’t know and the woman I do know is in prison.”
“Chuck I am sorry. Please forgive me.”
As Chuck calmed down, he changed topics. “Are you feeling nauseous at all?”
Hiromi knew Chuck was thinking of morning sickness. “No, I am not.”
“Have you had any more bleeding?”
“No, I have not had any since last night. How is your headache?”
“It is better than it was last night.”
“Chuck, if you only do one more thing for me, make it a promise to see a doctor about your headaches.”
“All right, I will go see a doctor in Alice. I think you need to see a doctor too.”
“Oh, which specialty are you referring to?”
“A psychiatrist, who do you think. You have to be nuts to be thinking about a continuation of Swan Song.”
Hiromi put down her fork. Her husband’s statement said he still cared about her fate in spite of his being angry and deservingly so. “I’ve come here to talk about it, Chuck. Nothing is set at this time.”
“You mean the Swan Song mission could be ended here too?”
“Yes, it could. If that happens, I’d spend the rest of my life as your wife. The farm, the children, the horses, all of what we talked about, I would like that to be our life.”
Chuck paused for a few seconds. “Did you ever consider what my opinion would be so far as Swan Song goes?”
“No, only because I felt my confession to you would end our marriage.”
Chuck shook his head. “If I went along with you back to Yokohama, you aren’t just putting yourself at risk but me and any children we have.”
“You are right about that, Chuck,” Hiromi admitted.
A period of silence followed. Hiromi wasn’t talking, but her mind was fast at work. She was thinking of certain memories she had gained from her environment and Dr. Wagner’s DNA therapy.
Hiromi began mentioning them to Chuck. “Hiromi introduced you to her father in October 2002.”
Chuck was growing a little more used to Hiromi’s recall of memories she shouldn’t possibly have. “Yes, it was sometime like that. I only met Mr. Watanabe that one time.”
“He was assassinated by Inagawas a few months later.”
“Yes, and Hiromi took it very badly.”
“What did you think of him?”
“Mr. Watanabe was all right I guess. He didn’t give me as bad a time as I was expecting. Fathers are always tough on their daughter’s boyfriends but you wouldn’t know that.””¨
“You’d be surprised what I know. Father didn’t react negatively to me having a non-Japanese boyfriend.”
“If Mr. Watanabe did, he never said anything to me directly.”
“Father asked me questions about you. Like what work did you do? Were you kind to me? He never said anything negative to me.”
“How about other Watanabes? Your Grandfather, for instance.”
“I don’t think he approves but Grandfather has never said anything.”
“That’s the impression I have gotten also. Before I proposed, I went to speak to him. Keiji mentioned his desire for you to change careers.”
“It doesn’t surprise me. No matter how skillful a woman is, Grandfather will never set aside his bias against women Yakuza members.”
“Then why did he give Hiromi Kanagawa Bank?”
“That I think was the work of my father not my Grandfather. He never wanted to abandon my mother and me; it was his father who made him do it, although of course I didn’t realize that until after I was grown up, and the damage was done.”
In talking to Chuck about the real Hiromi’s family and life experiences, they were becoming more real to Hiromi. Like she had lived them.
Hiromi was fifteen years old when she met her father for the first time. Hideki came to Hiroo and paid her a visit. At the time his daughter was already a very angry young woman full of resentment towards her family but just a little bit of fatherly attention began to alleviate this.
The anger lessened even further when Hideki had his daughter brought to Yokohama the next time her school was observing a break period. During her visit material things were lavished on Hiromi but most importantly she got more one on one attention from her father.
When Hiromi’s visit to Yokohama was finished, she returned to a very different life on Hokkaido. Instead of living in a coastal backwater in a house with no indoor plumbing, Hiromi and her ‘Aunt’ now lived in a small but comfortable and modern house on the outskirts of Kushiro, one of the island’s biggest cities.
Hiromi was now going to a better school, had an allowance, and saw her father for one weekend every month or two. When her grade schooling was completed, Hiromi came to Yokohama to study at Tokyo University. It was during this time the father and daughter got to spend even more quality time together.
The relationship Hiromi had with her family was improved but not perfect. She still held some resentment towards her family, most of which was directed at her Grandfather. Keiji refusing her request for a trainer to help his granddaughter in her quest for Olympic marathon glory was not easily forgotten by Hiromi.
Chuck met Hiromi for the first time when her mental health was probably at its best level in her entire life. “I wasn’t mad at everyone back then,” Hiromi said to Chuck as they finished their second cup of coffee.
After the loss of her father, the angry side of Hiromi again became strong. It was a slow process but it seemed to parallel her rise within the Watanabe Yakuza. The more powerful Hiromi got, the worse her mental illness became.
“Chuck, your love for Hiromi, was almost powerful enough to overcome the hate she felt for her Grandfather and other family members who ignored her when she was growing up. If you had brought her to meet Uncle Harry and Aunt Zeny two or three years ago, maybe her soul wouldn’t have become poisoned.”
“Is Hiromi telling me this or are you playing amateur psychiatrist?”
“I’m telling you this, Chuck, and I'm Hiromi. You had to know Hiromi wasn’t a totally well person. She'd been kept away from her own family, such as it was, and she resented the fact that you seemed to be keeping her away from yours. She thought you might be ashamed of her because she was Japanese.”
Hiromi was referring to the 'White Australia policy' and the anger many older Australians felt towards the Japanese because of the aerial attacks Japan made on Northern Australia and the sinking of Australian ships by submarines.
"Hiromi wasn't a woman who ever felt secure, Chuck, even with you. I'm telling you the way I thought back then. I thought you wanted me to have breast implants so I'd look more like a white girl. At first, I thought so too -- I mean when I became Hiromi. This is confusing for me, and I know how confusing it must be for you, so I apologize. Anyway, because my initial impressions of you were Hiromi's thoughts, I felt like that too, but I knew I wanted to do it, because I really, really liked you, and you were my rock, my safe harbor, my Gaijin lover who gave me a little distance from my family, my first act of serious rebellion. I was braver and more secure after Tom joined me and I got to know you better from our shared perspective, because I got some of his personal integrity and his faith in himself and his family, as well as his sweet and gentle nature, which I needed, so it was easier to separate myself from being just 'your girl.' It was because of Tom that I was eventually able to step back a bit and look at our relationship with new eyes. The first thing I realized was that you loved me for myself, and looking like a 'caucasian' girl had nothing to do with it. These breasts gave me an aura of female power and self-confidence that distinguished me from many other Japanese women, and I moved from an office in a trucking company to being CEO of a bank. You were absolutely right; they're the perfect accessory for a female executive, and I thank you for your intimate knowledge of male psychology."
Chuck waited for a few seconds, obviously waiting for the shoe to drop. "Well, what's the other thing?"
Hiromi hesitated, then smiled and said, "That you liked big breasts, you randy man, and you liked them on me."
Chuck almost broke into a grin, but remembered he was supposed to be mad and said instead, "Well, I do know something about how men think. You're right, though; I do like big breasts. I think every man does, just like lots of women like a man with a strong jawline and a bit of manly muscle. I think it's some sort of instinct. But breasts put us off guard, especially breasts that catch your eye, and make us more eager to please the owner of those breasts, so they're powerful negotiating tools. Nothing shady, though, just a bold statement: 'I'm a woman, so deal with it.' We're visual creatures, we men. A lot of men would cut off their arm if asked nicely by a woman who looked like their internal concept of the perfect woman, like those insects who mate while the female happily saws off their head. Women are more subtle, and less easily fooled." He scowled at her.
Hiromi said, almost angry now, more fiercely than before, without apology, "Chuck, you persist in thinking that I'm Tom and somehow highjacked Hiromi, but in fact the opposite is true. I highjacked the best parts of Tom, his sense of duty, his honesty, his family values, his ability to love, even the sweet relationship he had with Gabrielle, to heal my shattered sense of self, and I'm standing before you now as Hiromi, a better Hiromi than I've ever been since I was a very young girl and my father abandoned me and destroyed my spirit. I never had a mother, Chuck, but Tom did, and now I've highjacked her too. I never want to be Tom again, so it's Tom's plans that have been shunted aside for my purposes, his life, his friends, mostly, to make it possible for me to be the Hiromi I needed to be for us to have a life together. Tom's mother, Gabrielle, his father, all of them have to deal with the fact that their son is gone and I'm your woman forever. There's no going back to Tom's life, not ever. I honor his sacrifice for me, and want to honor those who loved him, but that's up to you, because I'm your wife and I love you, first you, 'forsaking all others.' You saved me. You saved us both, but it's taken you long enough to get back to it." She scowled right back at him.
Chuck seemed taken aback for a second, but then glanced at his watch. The time was a few minutes short of half past eight. “What did you talk to Gabrielle about in the hallway last night?”
Hiromi realized that the talk with Gabrielle should have been done inside Room 414, since Chuck was already paranoid. Going outside and closing the door would have made it seem more like a conspiracy. 'Can't be helped,' she thought. 'Remember Hachiko Monogatari.' “She told me about the plan for today and I had to give her some personal information.”
“Like what?”
“A Hong Kong triad named Yuan Po Sang came to visit me on Friday. He informed me Gabrielle had been seen speaking to me and the police.”
“So?”
“Gabrielle could be blown so far as police work goes in Hong Kong. I just wanted to warn her.”
Chuck nodded his head slightly. “When are we leaving for Alice?”
“Gabrielle said she would come to the room at ten o’clock. I’m going to take a shower and get dressed. Is that all right?”
“Do what you have to do.”
Hiromi went to her bedroom. This was the day Tom Slater’s parents would first meet Rebecca in person. She wanted to make a good impression.
The taking of a shower to become fresh was the first step. After Hiromi was dried off, she put her underwear back including her bra. She examined her breasts, did they feel any different than was normal for her?
Hiromi wasn’t sure. Her menses caused her breasts to become swollen and pregnancy would do the same but they didn’t feel more tender than normal than was usual. Hiromi told herself it was still early to know for certain if she was pregnant.
Next up for Hiromi was her hair. She hadn’t been to a hairdresser since her wedding, and some styling may have been useful. Instead Hiromi brushed her hair out more thoroughly than was her norm.
After that, Hiromi did her makeup. When training for Operation Swan Song, she had noted the over use of eye makeup by the real Hiromi. Even quipping to Gabrielle that maybe she got a discount for buying it in bulk.
In Swan Song’s early operational days, Hiromi chose to cut down on her eye makeup but reverted back to habit. For her appearance on the day she would her parents, Hiromi decided on a more natural look for her face.
It was one of the first things Chuck observed about her when Hiromi emerged from the bedroom at half past nine. She was wearing a peach colored polo shirt and white pants.
“Are you trying to convince your parents that you are still their son?”
“Not really, Chuck. I’m Rebecca not Tom to my parents now. Gabrielle has told them about how I feel and that we are married.”
“Can I still ask a favor from you?” Hiromi asked Chuck a few minutes before ten.
“It depends on what you are asking,” Chuck replied.
“Can we still act like husband and wife when the police are around? I will tell them that you are going to see your mother when we arrive in Alice.”
“Why should I do this?”
“I don’t want the police or Swan Song people to learn yet that we’re breaking up. When I meet with the committee at Pine Gap, I will tell them then. Chuck I want to do it this way so not to get you tangled up in my own problems.”
Chuck thought it over for a few moments. “All right, I will do what you ask but I don’t see how you are going to keep me out of ‘your problems’. I am hip deep in them all ready.”
Before Hiromi could say another word, a knocking sound came from the room’s door. She and Chuck got out of the seats and went to greet the persons who would be taking them to Alice.
“Hello,” Hiromi said to Superintendant Carey. Behind the senior Australian Federal Police Officer were two additional men. ‘Where is Gabrielle?’
“Mrs. Sato, have you ever picked your feet in Poughkeepsie?”
“No, but I have been to Peoria.” Hiromi and Chuck were holding hands and acting like odd greetings were routine for them.
“The people in Peoria are very nice.”
“Yes they are.”
“Mrs. Sato, I am Superintendant Vincent Carey. I have been given the job of seeing you and your husband’s safe travel to Avalon Airport. An aircraft is ready and waiting there to take you to Alice Springs.”
Hiromi and Chuck were out of the Langham less than five minutes later. They didn’t check out of the hotel before leaving. Superintendant Carey said that would be taken care of for them.
A private jet was waiting for Hiromi and Chuck at Avalon airport. As she boarded the aircraft, Hiromi announced Chuck’s intentions. “My husband is going to see his mother instead of going to Pine Gap when we get to Alice.”
Superintendant Carey remained unflustered by the change in plans. “Have a pleasant trip, Mrs. Sato.”
Like the Slaters, Gabrielle was shown to her underground living quarters on arrival at Pine Gap. After she had all her personal belongings secured in addition to washing her hands, the FBI agent went looking for Rebecca’s parents.
Gabrielle found them in the cafeteria. “Hello Mom, Hello Dad. How was your trip?”
“It was good, Gabrielle, and it is so good to see you again.” Midori replied. She and Stuart had only sat down with their lunches a minute or two earlier. “Why don’t you go get some lunch for yourself? After that we can talk.”
Gabrielle was back a few minutes later. She had gotten a sandwich and diet Sprite for herself. “I saw Rebecca last night.”
“How was she?” Midori asked.
“She was all right. Becky is excited to see you and Dad.”
“We feel the same, Gabrielle. Have you talked to your Mother lately?”
“Yes Mom, I did. We talked yesterday morning. Shannon is doing just fine.”
Ӭ
“That is good Gabrielle, and I must thank you for helping Stuart and I. You have a very nice mother, she help us too. I think you should talk more often to her.”
“I am already, Mom. My mother and will talk again in the next few days.”
Stuart spoke up. “Is Rebecca on the way here yet?”
Gabrielle had gotten an update from Superintendant Carey just as she was arriving at Pine Gap. “Yes Dad, she is. Rebecca should get here a little after one o’clock.”
Stuart nodded his head. “We have another hour then.”
“Is Chuck coming with Rebecca?” Midori asked
“No Mom, he isn’t coming.”
Hiromi and Chuck didn’t talk much on the flight to Alice, only because she fell asleep shortly after takeoff. Only when the pilot announced the jet was fifteen minutes from landing, did she wake up.
Chuck was seated across a table from Hiromi. He was drinking some bottled water. “We’re almost there.”
“Yes, I heard that,” Hiromi said before switching languages. “Can we talk in Japanese?”
“Talk to me in whatever language you want to.”
Hiromi spoke in Japanese to her husband. “Chuck I love you very much and I am very sorry for everything. Can you please give me a second chance?”
“I am thinking about it.”
“Please take good care of yourself.”
“I will.”
Hiromi wrote down a telephone number for Gabrielle and gave it to her husband. “If you want to talk to me, call that number.”
“All right,” Chuck replied as he folded the piece of paper and placed it in his wallet
The plane touched down in Alice Springs a few minutes later. It taxied to a terminal where a two cars and a taxi were waiting.
Hiromi and Chuck soon disembarked from the aircraft. “Can my husband and I have a minute to ourselves?”
“Of course you may, Mrs. Sato,” Said Federal Police Officer Bruce Phillips.
Hiromi had Chuck step to the side. “I’m going to miss you. Bye.” The couple shared a very brief but emotionless kiss.
A passenger travelling from Alice Springs airport to Pine Gap can expect the trip to take a little over twenty minutes. The satellite tracking station, which is officially called Joint Defence Space Research Facility is one of the biggest signals intelligence bases in the entire world.
At one time Australia had another similar base. Its name was Nurrungar. Nurrungar, located near Woomera in South Australia, was closed down in 1999.
Pine Gap is also one of the most secretive and heavily protected pieces of real estate in the whole world. Unwanted visitors are reminded by frequent signs that they are nearing a prohibited area and they should turn back. If not, security personnel would stop a vehicle long before it got to the heavily guarded main gate.
There are also restrictions on planes overflying Pine Gap. They can only overfly the tracking station if they are at an altitude of 18,000 feet or higher.
Hiromi was expected at Pine Gap but still had to undergo scrutiny before being let into the installation’s facilities. As a Australian sergeant read off some rules to her, Hiromi couldn’t help thinking of the nuclear apocalypse novel ‘On the Beach’ written by Nevil Shute in 1957. It featured a plot where the last survivors of a nuclear war were in Australia.
The novel became outdated in 1970 when both Nurrungar and Pine Gap came online. If an all out nuclear exchange ever took place any time after that year, the tracking station or stations located on Australian soil would be near the top of any target list.
Hiromi felt as if she was in a post apocalyptic world because of Chuck leaving her. As Hiromi put her purse back together, Gabrielle emerged from a staircase. “Becky, it is good to see you.”
“Hi Gabby.”
Gabrielle saw the weary look on Hiromi’s face. She need not ask how everything went with Chuck. “After we get your things dropped off at your room, we’ll go straight to your parents. They are very excited to see you.”
Hiromi’s quarters at Pine Gap were much bigger than her parents. It consisted of a sitting room/eating area plus a bedroom with a king size bed.
Once she and Hiromi were alone and the door was shut, Gabrielle gave her friend a big kiss. “I’m so sorry.”
“Chuck said he needs time to think.”
“I’m here for you, Becky, and so are your parents. How are you holding up?”
“Right now I am trying to be strong but it isn’t easy.”
“I’m sure it isn’t,” Gabrielle said before giving Hiromi a great big hug. “You look great by the way.”
“Thank you. I didn’t put on a dress only because I don’t want to be too feminine for when Mom and Dad see Rebecca for the first time.”
Gabrielle let out a loud laugh. “Becky, with those large but heavenly breasts of yours, there is no way in the world to downplay your femininity.”
Hiromi let out a giggle. “Yes, they stick out more than a little bit, don’t they? Gabby, I think I’m pregnant.”
“That is great news, but how do you know? Gabrielle asked.
Hiromi said, “I had spotting last night, which might have been implantation bleeding, because my period hasn’t started and usually I’m gushing by now.”
“Well, that’s simple, then. You haven’t been told yet, Becky, but you’re going to have a whole series of medical tests done during your visit here. They’ll start tomorrow night, so you can just add a pregnancy screening to the menu. Maybe they could do a prenatal work-up as well, as long as you’re up on the rack.” She grinned.
She grinned back, a little ruefully. She’d only experienced a few pelvic exams in this body, but that was enough to know she didn’t like them, and she had memories aplenty to add to her distaste for them. “I’ll tell the doctor to rotate my tires as well, then, as well as the blood test.”
Gabrielle and Hiromi kissed again but this time it was a little longer and more passionate than the first. “I love you very much, Becky Slater. If Chuck won’t have you, I will, and that includes any unborn child you’re carrying, and Shannon too.”
“Thank you, Gabby, and I love you too. I would like to see my parents now.”
As she and Hiromi walked down a corridor, Gabrielle explained to her friend why she hadn’t been at the Langham earlier that day. “That is all right, Gabby. Superintendant Carey got me and Chuck to the airport all right."
Stuart and Midori’s living quarters weren’t too far away in the maze like underworld of Pine Gap. Hiromi saw her parents even before she stepped into their room.
“Hello, Mom. Hello, Dad.”
Sundays were only sometimes a day of rest for Tokuro Inagawa. With the Watanabe conflict raging, the Ingagawa-kai Saiko-komon could not afford to take much time off.
This was particularly true after Tokuro was taken away from his work due to the Shinto funeral rituals for son Hideki. Hideki’s assassination by the Watanabes had taken place only nine days earlier.
Tokuro had just gotten off the phone with a shareigashira, when he heard a knocking sound at his office door. “Come in.”
“Forgive my interruption, Inagawa-san,” Said Nariaki Matano one of Tokuro’s aides. “We have received a phone call from a person who says he has information on Hiromi Sato.”
To be continued in Part Twenty Five
Comments
I'm the first one.
To comment on this chapter and want to make it a good one. If this one was as wearing to write as it was to read, no wonder it took the time it did to get it out. Chuck and Hiromi have some thinking to do, don't they?
At least Rebecca is seeing her parents again, and is with Gabrielle for the time being. Hopefully Chuck's family will be a help for him.
And the plot moves on in other places as well.
Skillfully done, as usual, and I enjoyed seeing this new chapter today.
Duty, Honor, Country, Family - Part 24
WOW! Spending the entire chapter on Hiromi and Chuck as great! You covered verything about her and Tom as well as Chuck's innocence. You have me waiting to see what happens next in the story.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Ruh Roh Scoobs
Ok, I think Chuck has major problems in his head as indicated by his headaches.... I'm also getting a feeling that he is the person who made this call.
“Forgive my interruption, Inagawa-san,†Said Nariaki Matano one of Tokuro’s aides. “We have received a phone call from a person who says he has information on Hiromi Sato.â€
Falling in Love
This is a great, emotional chapter. I loved it.
Chuck needs to realize that he really fell in love with Becky, not Hiromi. And it's plain that she loves him too. The shock of learning the truth would have to cause some problems. That's understandable. I just hope Chuck snaps out of it soon.
Another reader mentioned that they thought Chuck is the one who called the Inagawas. That's not likely. There's no way he'd want to have Becky killed, and he wouldn't have a phone number for them. Would he even know to call them? Did Becky mention the war with them? Arrgggg!
I continue to enjoy this story. There are so many plot elements to follow. I'm on the edge of my seat.
Thanks!
- Terry
>> really fell in love with Becky
I think it's a little of both. He was attracted to Hiromi, and likes her. He was living with her for six years, according to the text, before the swap was made. If someone made off with your partner of six years and replaced them with a "better" version, would you be able to write off the original as a sort of replacement under warranty?
It's a complex issue for which there are no easy solutions, but I think both "Tom/Hiromi" and Chuck have family obligations to the original Hiromi, at very least to see if she can be helped. The consistent theme of this story is the conflict between duty and family, and how these differing obligations can be reconciled.
The Yakuza "chivalrous organisations" are family operations perverted into criminality, although they started out as more-or-less military organisations dedicated to a tradition of self-help, service, and honor. Unlike the historical Samurai, upon whom they often model themselves, the Yakuza kobuns (foster children) overwhelmingly come from a despised class of Burakumin, whose origins lie far back into Japanese feudal times. Originally, they were gravediggers, executioners, leather workers, and other groups involved with the deaths of either humans or animals, but they were and are severely discriminated against, so normal employment is difficult for them. It's impossible to say who actually perverted these so-called "criminal" so-called "self-help" groups into actual criminality, the outcasts themselves, or the repressive society which refused to allow them to work or lead normal lives.
The Swan Song operation, ostensibly designed to do good, is run by organisations (the police and the US military) dedicated to keeping the peace, but has mushroomed out of control and gone far beyond its original purpose, which was to investigate the Yakuza Goro, but he's dead. Rather than "waste" all the effort already expended on the project, it's been turned into a sort of fishing expedition in which laws have been broken, a more or less innocent (whatever her faults, we know that a likable man loved her, despite her wounded past) victim (Hiromi) has been kidnapped and held in solitary confinement for an entire year. If she wasn't completely crazy to begin with, she's likely to have been horribly traumatised by that experience alone, so the "good" Swan Song has in fact replicated her "bad" Grandfather's cruel treatment of her, exiling her from everyone she loves.
The version of Hiromi that lives inside her cloned body has also been traumatised, through being poured into a single body with Tom and then whipped up through a Waring blender, so it's hard to claim that her actions when the "raw" Hiromi was in control of the body were any less tainted by coercion and trauma than the "real" Hiromi's mental state is now.
Nor is Tom an innocent in all this, since he not only took advantage of Hiromi's kidnapping, but even after learning of the events which traumatised her and may have contributed to her association with the criminal gang, hasn't really given her a thought. Despite the fact that Chuck is being a bit of a jerk now, his own hands are the cleanest of the lot of them, and he seems set on rectifying the situation somehow, although exactly how doesn't seem at all clear yet. We note, however, that his own instinct -- just as was Tom/Hiromi's -- is to shine the light of truth and openness on the whole sorry mess, so it would seem that Tom/Hiromi and Chuck have a chance at co-operation and reconciliation.
To her credit, Hiromi/Tom appears to have been persuaded that there are wrongs to right in many areas, including areas she hadn't considered, so the couple may yet be reconciled, but at this moment it seems unclear what the outcome might look like, or who will be involved.
The fact that Tom and Hiromi have survived as a blended personality is perhaps a miracle, and a tribute to both of their strengths, but it's not necessarily a recommendation for the technique as a therapeutic mechanism.
The current situation, in which the merged Tom/Hiromi has emerged as a stronger "wild card" in a formerly relatively stable relationship between rival gangs, may in fact have precipitated the war now raging, since it's been explicitly stated that the rivals of the Watanabes hated and feared Hiromi. So the Yakuza "crisis" may in fact have been partially precipitated by Swan Song.
This chapter has been about Chuck and "Tom/Hiromi" struggling to reconcile their separate duties to each other, to their families, to the people they love, and to society as a whole, but it looks like more "blowback" is set to stir things up a bit before they make their curtain calls.
Cheers,
Puddin'
Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive.
--- Sir Walter Scott, Marmion
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Tough chapter
I do not envy Chuck. Who did I marry?
The only reasonable way to resolve Chuck's difficulties is to reintroduce him to the 'real' Hiromi. The Swan Song committee would have to arrange such a thing. He really has to realize who he really fell in love with AND wanted to marry. The Hiromi he would have wanted to marry is not the one who is rotting away right now in that prison cell.
I think actually it would help if Rebecca insist on reintroducing herself to Chuck as Rebecca. Currently there is a notion that she is just a bad Hiromi clone, come to destroy his life. In reintroducing him back to the original, Rebecca of course must be willing to risk losing her husband totally. FWIW, I've made this point before, Rebecca will be poor as a church mouse after all this is over. After all she is only being paid a Captain's salary LOL. Hiromi's money will never be hers, post-mission. Enjoy it while it lasted I suppose.
Maybe the mission can last but Chuck must be brought to heal and yes a child could make her more vulnerable.
Problem is, Chuck is not being paid enough to be part of Swan Song. I think he might even me more forgiving if Rebecca goes ahead and ends her mission.
As I read this chapter, I kept trying to see if Chuck's reaction to such a revelation is reasonable as there are so many ways this could have gone. The round and round, repeating things over and over again was a good touch as Chuck is in shock and when you are in shock you tend to harp on things repeatedly as you REALLY want to know what you are hearing is correct.
Looking forward to the next one. I also prey Gabrielle stays Gabrielle and at mission's end is still part of Rebecca's life.
Oh, one final thought. As Chuck is going ahead and going to meet up with his family. Maybe they can help sort him out or maybe some aboriginal voodoo ..... ?
Kim
DHCF - 24
Hi
I've only just discovered this gem and it has taken a few long sittings to get up to here. It was well worth the read and I'm sure the future chapters will be worth reading too
Karen