Chapter 22

Afterwards

We arrive back in the early afternoon to find everyone in the main room having a big laugh. They’re watching the week’s review of sports and the network is playing footage of my antics with humorous voice overs. After a few minutes of watching I’m laughing as hard as the rest. I wait until the segment is over before introducing all of the new people to my entourage.

The number of my slaves is a big eye opener for my new people. Chie and Koemi fit right in, while Emi and Ito are surprised to find their status is now below Tora. They know each other and they were well above her in the old Bento hierarchy. But the biggest shock for Emi, Ito, Haruko, Hideko, and Kazuma is finding out the top three in my line of command are a Lia, Kath, and Debbie. Mid-twenties Sharon is OK, but a fifteen year old girl as their top mistress is very humbling for them. Especially when I point out Lia is in charge of their education in advanced sexual matters. Kazuma’s eyes almost pop out when he’s told he has to learn both gender oral sex methods as well as the girls.

We’ve a few hours to pass so I take everyone shopping. Rob is very worried when I include Debbie and Jon, but they’re suffering a bad case of cabin fever. I have them all dress up in their Sailor Moon outfits and I have the senior girls do them all up with serious make-up to look as much like their characters as possible. Debbie and Jon are very hard to recognise like this. While they get ready Rob has a shuffle game going on with security staff so a lot more of them can slip out without Tanner’s spies realising how many are now outside.

When we go downstairs Debbie and Jon are in the middle of a group of taller people and are very hard to spot. We play a real big shell game when we walk out. Most of the remaining guards are downstairs to make it look like we’ve left a strong guard to protect our two special guests. With all of the curtains pulled closed, like they’ve been all week, no one can see in or use sensors on the penthouse to tell if it’s empty.

We’re a jovial group who get a lot of attention while we walk down the road. There’s twenty-nine of us plus over thirty security people.

We reach the salon to find Akimi and Randy waiting and dressed to match us as Lia had called them. The experienced girls get a trim while the new girls get a shave; Kazuma argues until I offer to cut it all off for him. The salon manager thinks it funny to be shaving a male. A few of the girls give me odd looks too, until I say, “All of my slaves shave.”

Next is a lot of fun getting swimsuits for the new slaves. Bikinis for the girls while I have Lia choose Kazuma’s swimmers, and she has all the girls provide input. His street legal outfit is a standard Speedo outfit, but she also gets him an outfit that has the shop staff salivating when he puts it on, since it’s little more than a tight fitting g-string that puts everything on display while it accentuates it. Both he and Hideko are embarrassed by it. I surprise the girls by getting all us guys similar outfits as well.

Then over to a men’s shop for Kazuma, plus Victoria’s Secret for the girls, followed by the cosplay shop for the cheerleader and schoolgirl outfits plus new Sailor Moon characters for the new staff. I manage not to laugh when Lia has a cheerleader outfit supplied for Kazuma. At first glance you’d think he’s a flat chested girl, but a closer look shows he’s wearing very baggy shorts that look like a skirt.

Then some wandering around for a little while. We stop for dinner in the mall food court, most of the people sit at tables while a few spread out to buy a mix of foods from the many vendors. Toward the end of the meal Kira, Tora, and I go to the toilets. Once there we get changed and we help three of the security team to put on our clothes. They’re very close to our builds and looks to start with, but the character make-up we have on makes it impossible for people to tell we did a switch. We use make-up to make us look older and leave well after the security people.

About fifteen minutes later the three of us are in the back of a van getting changed again while we put on body armour and dark grey camo night combat gear. Dark balaclavas (rolled down and hiding our faces), thermal gloves, and boots complete our clothing; we’re fully covered with only our eyes and mouths visible. The combat fashion accessories of belt mounted encrypted radio set, hang-glider harness, weapons harness, and weapons vanish in the well done camo pattern of dark grey, darker grey, and black.

Thirty minute later we’re stopping at the remote farm HQ of John’s people. They know our driver who’s one of my security people. They don’t know the three of us, but they know enough not to ask, even when they spot the swords Tora and I have strapped to our backs. I’ve Fang and Tora has her katana, it’s a bit shorter than Claw, my katana, but it’s still an acceptable katana length.

After unloading our two bags of gear my guard drives off. I pick up the largest bag, the hang-glider, and Tora picks up the other bag. We go into the barn a few metres away. In the corner is a table with a red light above it to show the papers on the table. I put the bag on the ground and signal for Kira to start putting the hang-glider together inside the barn, Tora is to help her and to pack the bag in the one she has when done.

I walk over to the fellow who’s the obvious boss of this operation. On the board beside the table are a few notes, when I get nearer I can read them. I smile at John’s idea of humour with code-names. Under the title ’Penetration Unit’ are the code names Smilodon, Leopard, and Lynx. Beside that is ’Medical Unit’ = Margay, ’Support Units’ = Falco and Gabar, with further code-names under the unit names. Below them are code words with their meanings. I note them while I walk up as most mean nothing to me. So I don’t bother with them because they relate to the internal activities of the support units. I do memorise the few I need to call for support: Hot Toast = urgent medical help wanted, Butter = one support strike team needed, Bread = both support strike teams needed, Cold Plate = kill all enemy forces, Dessert = civilian to be evacuated.

Holding out my hand I say, “Smilodon. Let’s make sure we’re on the same page before we start, please.”

The leader smiles as he shakes my hand, “Falco One, good idea.” We bend over the papers and photos on the table to discuss the mission plan. He points at a couple of places, “The mercenaries that were here and here got withdrawn a few hours ago. Tanner was called in and the big boss chewed him out for leaving them to watch the place. Tanner called them in and left. Ten minutes later two vans drove out and they haven’t returned yet. We’ll let you know when they turn up.” I nod to him, and we cover everything in the plan with the main possible changes. I run through the codes to confirm them then I leave him to brief his men.

I go back to the door where Kira and Tora have finished putting the hang-glider together. Both are now checking out and loading the guns one of John’s people gave us. These are not traceable to us. In fact, I recognise several as brand new items we removed from Grigori’s place. I like the misdirection John hopes to add here. I smile when I start to help check all of the weapons, two sound suppressed machine pistols plus two handguns each. All guns used are to be dropped and left on site. They all use the same ammo, 10 mm brass jacket rounds. Five spare ten round magazines for the handguns and ten spare thirty round magazines for the machine pistols for each of us. After they’re checked we place a magazine in each weapon, the handguns in our holsters, the machine pistols and spare magazines are placed in a blanket, rolled up, and put in the bag. The main bag is strapped to the carry rack on the hang-glider.

I go over all of the codes and code-names with the girls, making sure they understand them, Kira is Leopard and Tora is Lynx. We’re almost ready when I turn to Kira, “I want you to make three opportunities to ask me questions in Russian, the first will be a question which will be logical for me to say no to and anything after that will get a yes. I want this in case any of them speak Russian as I want them to think a few Russians were involved in the operation. I’ll also take opportunities to speak to Lynx in Japanese. This should give them some worries while they try to work out which Japanese and Russian organisations are working together, and why. I do want to leave some people alive as witnesses of the ferocity of the attack. Now let’s get this outside.” They both nod and we lift the hang-glider up to carry it outside into the dark.

A man is waiting for us with a cable laid out over fifteen metres to a helicopter being readied for flight. It wasn’t there when we’d arrived, so it must have been pushed out of the other barn. Kira directs us in how to orientate and place the hang-glider. She’s handed the cable ends and she clips them to the clamps. I go around to the release button, flick up the cover, and I push the button. They open properly. They’re attached again and she nods to the man. He smiles and walks off. I climb into my spot and Kira harnesses me in, the same with Tora, and herself. We’re ready to go. A moment later Falco One walks in front of me so I give him a thumbs up signal, and I get one back. Now we sit, and wait.

Night Visit

A few minutes later the very quiet helicopter starts up and the glider quivers in the breeze from the helicopter’s blades. The sound of the helicopter gets a little distant. We’re jolted when the glider is lifted off the ground and swings a little. We swing back and forth about four metres above the ground for a couple of minutes. Then the swinging stops. We start to lift and we move off into the night at an upward angle. I enjoy the view when the city and surrounding area comes into sight.

My radio comes to life, “Smilodon, Falco One, radio check.”

“Smilodon, check good.” My girls’ replies mimic me.

“Leopard, check good.”

“Lynx, check good.”

“Gabar, five by five.”

“Margay, five by five.” I’ve no idea what that means, but I guess it means good and we’ve just shown we’re not trained in their protocols.

“Falco, five by five, confirms all good. Good luck people.”

We can see more and more of the city when we swing out to head to the target. I look up to see the helicopter is ahead of us and the cable goes upward at an angle. The glider membrane is filled out with air. We fly on in silence for a few more minutes.

“Falco One, Leopard, ETA, bus stop.” Bus stop is where we drop off.

“Leopard, Falco One, forty seconds.” A short break which seems a lot longer than forty seconds. “Five, four, three, two, one. Good luck.” On the three I lift the cover and place my finger over the button. On the ’g’ of the good luck I press it all the way in, as instructed. The hang-glider drops a bit and changes its angle. We straighten up while I look up to see the helicopter banking away as they haul in the dangling cable.

We sail on into the night under Kira’s control for several minutes. She starts to bank and angle down. I look down to see we’re now inside the outer fence of the target compound, but we’re still very high. This is deliberate because we don’t want their guys near the walls to see us fly over them. The glider is on an angle while it spirals down to the ground in a very wide circle around the house, but well inside the outer fence. It takes a few more minutes to lose altitude and head for the flat grass area behind the garage at a suitable angle and speed to land.

At Kira’s nod I pull my feet off their rest bar and angle them down. The ground rushes at us. The angle changes dramatically and the glider seem to halt in the air just off the ground with only a little forward motion. I extend my legs to the ground to make contact. I start running when more and more of the glider’s weight comes on my harness while we continue to slowly glide forward. I concentrate on keeping the glider’s weight balanced while I slow down. All of a sudden it weighs a lot less and I know my companions now have their feet on the ground too. About twenty seconds or so after first contact we’re standing in the middle of what looks like two open grass tennis courts. At Kira’s command we kneel down to place the glider frame on the grass before we start to unhook the harnesses from the glider. I get free and I circle the flat area while the girls unhook and collapse the hang-glider. Five minutes later it’s folded up and put away in its bag again.

We move everything over to the side of the garage and distribute the munitions. Magazines go in the many ammo pouches, all of the weapons are cocked and safeties locked on, both machine pistols have lanyards to hang them from our necks for quick access. One machine pistol is slipped into a clip on the left side of our weapons harnesses while the other is clipped to the lower right chest. Tora and I undo the strings holding our swords in their koshirae. The glider bag is carried further into the garage shadows and the equipment bag is slung across Kira’s back. I check us before we move out. We take care while we approach the main house.

When we near the back door we spot two guards leaning against the wall talking in a melodic language I don’t know. I nod at Tora, and we both draw our tanto knives while we move forward. One is just starting to turn toward Tora when I slide my tanto between his second and third vertebrae while she does the same to his mate.

Audible

When we slide the bodies into the shadows under a nearby large bush the radio comes alive, “Smilodon, Falco One, vans returning. Please check them, possible dessert.” I acknowledge the signal with a single click while I swear about it to myself. The radio speaks again, “Looks like they’re heading to you.” I acknowledge that too.

We spread out on the far side of the little drive area that’s intended for deliveries here at the back of the house. We get out our pistols and make sure the silencers are attached. I also draw my sword and I hold it ready in my left hand. Tora sees this and does the same. A moment later two light vans come around the house. The headlights flash over the bushes we’re hiding behind, but they just make the shadows of our hiding places harder to look into. I close my eyes just before the lights hit my bush and I hope the girls do the same.

The lights move on as the vans manoeuvre to back up to the house. I move forward while the side doors of the vans open. I walk between the two vans as two men get out of the right hand van and a third releases the catch on the front passenger door while speaking to the driver. The driver of the left hand vehicle is turned to his right to look at something.

Raising my pistol I line up the driver and the passenger on my right and fire into the back of his head. The pistol is silenced, but not silent. When I fire I thrust forward with my sword to penetrate the spine in the neck of one of the men from the back of the van. He doesn’t make a sound when I cut his spinal column in half just above his collar bone. The front passenger isn’t aware of anything because his brains are blown into the face of the driver. He doesn’t care about anything after the bullet hits his forehead to scramble his brains before the other man’s brains arrive. Three down and the fourth is turning his head when I move my sword to slice across his throat to take out his arteries along with his ability to yell. He gargles while he reaches for his neck as I turn the pistol to shoot him in the head. I turn to see how the girls are doing because I heard the soft sounds of two silenced pistol shots at the same moment I fired.

The driver of the other van is sitting still, petrified in fright. Kira speaks in Russian. I reply, “Nyet.” She speaks again, “Da.”

She keeps her pistol aimed in his face while I open the door and turn him around to secure his hands behind him then gag him. I drag him out of the van and tie his legs together. Kira speaks again, and I give another “Da.” She puts her pistol away and grabs him by the shoulders to drag him to the bushes, pushing him under them and out of the way.