The Kenji Files Dark Garden Part 5 - Hovering Spies

The Kenji Files:
Dark Garden Part 5
Hovering Spies

Leaning back in the comfortable seat, Emi let out a sigh and closed her tired eyes. Jun had kept in contact with her over the years, and she knew a lot about his financial prowess, but his helicopter seemed prohibitively expensive; not to mention illegal. Still, it was relatively well-insulated from the thrumming copter noise, and was leisurely furnished with large, plush chairs rather than hard benches; it was a cruise ship, not a military vessel.

Opening her eyes to have a look at the other two passengers, Nurse looked like he was a schoolboy on a roller-coaster, eyes wide with excitement or fear, clutching his briefcase with both white-knuckled hands. If his reaction to airplane travel was any indication, a helicopter ride was probably putting him close to a panic attack; he'd be fine, though. Kenji fidgeted in his seat, apparently finding the lavishly upholstered chairs less than comfortable; or maybe he was just nervous. Seeing his discomfort made Emi smile derisively; he deserved to feel a little uncomfortable after the hell he had caused.

Outside, the hull emanated a dull blue hue for a moment as Jun's voice over the headset explained, “we're now running silent to every detection method I know of.” Pausing as he threw a couple switches, he inquired, “what's our destination?”

Kenji, hearing the same query on his headset, stopped his anxious thrashing and held up a hand, opening his mouth as though to say something, but stopping. Emi raised a frustrated eyebrow at him and complained, “this is your expedition; though I'd go with Kingsmouth since it's closer.”

Watching him consider that for a moment, Emi shrugged and confessed, “I wouldn't mind catching some sleep on the way down south, though.”

Having only managed to sit down for a few minutes after Nurse finished their physical exams, and introducing the enhancements built into her new spikes, she felt the fatigue creeping over her, and the soft chair wasn't helping her stay awake. Evidently, Kenji had a similar thought on his mind as he nodded and replied, “we should start at the beginning. Take us down to Massachusetts, Mister Yamata.”

“Call me Jun; everyone do-” he replied, the radio crackling as it cut off his last word.

“Kenji still calls me Ibarazaki, so I wouldn't get your hopes up, Jun,” Emi sighed, turning a sardonic look at her bespectacled partner.

“You three catch some Zs,” Jun said cheerily, “I promise not to hit anything on the way down.” Jun's use of words like 'down' and 'hit' when talking about flying usally made people nervous. Evidently it worked on Nurse.

“How long will this take?” Nurse inquired, sounding barely coherent. Obviously the helicopter ride didn't agree with him, but Jun's flippant disregard for flight terminology etiquette was too much.

“Few hours, tops,” Jun replied, “don't worry; safest way to travel.” Nurse grinned faintly and tightened his seatbelt, clutching the briefcase tighter. A moment later Jun's sarcastic voice remarked, “unless I fall asleep.”

Nurse's eyes would have popped out of his head were that possible. Instead they stayed wide open as he sunk deep into the seat and glanced at Emi and Kenji, saying, “I-I'll stay awake... just in case.”

Rolling her eyes, Emi nuzzled against the headrest and sighed, “wake us before we hit suburbia.”

Kenji finally found a comfortable position, his frazzled hair leaning against the hull, and drifted to sleep almost immediately. Nurse, apparently determined to stay awake, kept peering around the cabin at every little noise, probably imagining a million different deadly scenarios as they flew. Shrugging, Emi sat there with her eyes closed for a few minutes before the fatigue finally washed over her, pulling her into blissful unconciousness.

Roused by a shove from Nurse's sweaty hand, Emi lolled her head and peered out at the hazy morning light. The sun barely crept up over the distant horizon, bathing the cabin with a soft, blue-gray glow. Looking over at Kenji, he was already awake, rubbing his eyes with one hand while the other held onto his glasses. Squinting and smirking, he pulled the headset back on and asked, “she awake?”

Nurse nodded, but quickly realized Kenji probably couldn't see that and added, “her eyes are open.”

“How poignant,” Kenji replied, smirking.

Sitting forward, Emi yawned and shook away the tired feeling, grabbing the microphone beside her face and inquiring, “did you set up a car, Jun?”

“Morning!” Jun replied, “and yes, a black sedan will be waiting for us near the landing zone.”

“Where's that?” Kenji asked.

“Schoolyard a few miles from your destination,” Jun replied, sounding apologetic, “area's too wooded to land much closer, but it's pretty deserted this time of year.”

“That's fine, we don't want to attract attention too close anyway,” Kenji replied. Taking the headset off and hanging it around his neck, he covered the microphone and leaned toward Emi, asking, “how much can we trust him?”

Emi sat back and thought for a moment. Jun was probably worthy of their trust, but imparting it would make him complicit in their venture. As much as she trusted him, she had no desire to put him through a firestorm of accusations if this went sour. “Plausible deniability,” she decided to suggest, “only what he needs to know.”

Nodding, Kenji pulled off the headset completely and hung it up to unbuckle himself and switch to the seat next to her. Wearing a stern expression, he explained, “we'll need to be covert. No mistakes this time, and no surprises.”

“I'm not planning to end up naked in the woods again, if that's what you mean,” Emi balked, crossing her arms defensively.

“I hate saying this, but we should go by the book for once,” Kenji added, looking sincere, “we don't even know who was behind our kidnapping, and I'm not going to underestimate them.”

“Agreed,” Emi replied, nodding, “that's why I asked Nurse along; he can back us up and call in the cavalry if something goes hinky.”

Turning to regard their flight-frightened compatriot, Kenji shook his head and smirked. “Guy Smiley looks like he's about to have a coronary,” he remarked, turning back, “maybe he has more in common with your boyfriend than you'd care to admit.”

Rolling her eyes, Emi gave Kenji a shove and sighed disdainfully, “watch it, bug-eyes, you're already on my shit-list!”

“Just lightening the mood!” Kenji claimed, “you look a little nervous.”

“Go back to your seat!” Emi ordered, “and leave Hisao out of this.”

“Fine, fine...” Kenji sighed as he crossed back to his original seat.

Nurse leaned forward, holding the headset to his ear, then and informed them, “Jun says we're two minutes out.”

The schoolyard was smaller than expected, but plenty large enough to land the chopper. Nurse practically ran out of the cabin, panting and nearly collapsing to kiss the ground as Emi and Kenji extracted their equipment.

“Gimme a call if you need another ride,” Jun said as they exited.

Emi grinned and reached forward to pat his shoulder, replying, “count on it!”

Finding the sedan parked in the nearby student lot, Nurse rested his briefcase on the hood and opened it, starting to clack away at a keyboard before the display brightened completely. A combination satellite laptop and medical suite, his case contained diagnostic tools, a broadly stocked pharmacy, and lab equipment designed for use in the field. The computer was linked into the NPC network, and he could relay all or none of their maneuvers through its various programs.

Usually, he just used it to play Solitaire, Emi mused.

“I'll be able to monitor your movements from anywhere within three-hundred miles,” he said absently, continuing to type. “Really a marvelous machine,” he remarked, “I wish I had the chance to use it more often.”

“You're about to,” Kenji commented, slipping into the passenger seat, “c'mon, Doc, we have a mystery to solve.”

“Right, right...” he replied, re-closing the case and turning his flat grin at Emi, “I guess it's too late to call shotgun.”

“Did you bring one?” Emi inquired, shooting him a raised eyebrow as she pulled open the driver's side door.

“No,” he replied.

“Then yeah,” she said, slipping into the seat, “too late to call shotgun.”

“Get in the back,” Kenji called out through his opening window, “we'll drop you off someplace secluded on the way!”

Finding a motel along the highway a few miles from the chasm, they rented a room for Nurse to use as a handler stage where he could watch from afar. Taking some radio equipment and ear-buds from his well-equipped briefcase, Kenji disliked using the irritating appliances, but grudgingly accepted seeing Emi's glare. Being connected so viscerally to technology bothered him on a fundamental level, but he was willing to bear it for the sake of not chancing fate; or Emi's wrath.

Leaving Nurse with his toys, they continued following road signs along the highway. Posted near every off-ramp, signs indicated how the chasm could be reached, though Emi didn't really need the reminders. Purgatory Chasm was a local landmark, part of the scenic countryside, and kept preserved by the state parks department, but, in her memory, it was the last place she was before being drugged and carted five-hundred miles to the north. Whatever else might be there, it was protected from industry and human encroachment, so whoever they did find was likely either a ranger or a conspirator; she liked the odds.

Seeing the signs indicating their destination was merely two miles away, and deciding to hike to the chasm instead of driving right up to the visitor's center like last time, Emi slowed and looked for a good place to turn off and hide the car. Finding an inconspicuous break in the tree-line, she shifted in to four-wheel-drive and turned into a grassy gully, aiming between a pair of oak trees, and drove straight into the wooded park.

Keeping an eye on Kenji as they rolled through the sleepy, mostly coniferous forest, Emi wondered what else he might be thinking. Remaining unusually quiet throughout the ride, his face was wrapped in a thinking expression that made her feel uneasy; Kenji thinking was rarely a good sign. Shrugging, she concentrated on avoiding pratfalls as she snaked the car between trees, finally coming to a stop under a pair of very large, old-looking pines.

Stepping out, the smell of pine and fresh air caught in her nose, much more powerfully than at the school or the motel. Unlike the wooded areas near cities, or suburbs, there was very little clutter on the ground. Although, the remnants of someone's recent visit were visible; paper cups and cartons. Kicking one of the cups away, Emi groaned, "some people are such slobs."

Kenji sniffed the air and nodded, remarking, “this is the place.”

“No shit, Sherlock!” Emi balked, rattling his calm demeanor, “did you think I was driving us to Tony's?”

“We could've gone to Tony's?” Kenji replied, “wait, what's Tony's?”

“I dunno, you're standing on a cup with it written on the side,” Emi mentioned, nodding toward the paper litter stuck to his foot. “C'mon, check your gear,” she said, shaking her head at his bewildered expression, “I'm gonna scout around.”

Heading off into the woods, Emi smirked as Kenji called after her, “remember where we parked!”

The morning light sent long shadows from the tall trunks, casting the needle-laden, rocky hillside in a zebra-pattern of light and dark streaks. A slight, foreboding mist hung lazily over the morning scene, and the still air felt damp, but not wholly unpleasant as she walked between the trees. Keeping her eyes focused, the darkened areas seemed much more sinister than on their last approach, but back then she hadn't really taken Kenji's warnings seriously.

Now knowing there was certainly something hiding in the nearby woods, she kept her eyes open and her mind alert, letting the sounds, smells and sights fill her senses. Pushing some stray limbs away, she frowned as her hand came back feeling sticky from the sap, but that didn't concern her much. A feeling of being watched settled over Emi, an unsettling sense of unease that tied knots in her stomach and caused her irises to dart around. Scanning the tree-line, she reached for her sidearm, but left it in the holster, deciding it might be better not to display her weapon before seeing the stalker.

As her hand left the inside of her jacket, a buzzing sound caught in her ears and she spun, looking for the culprit. Honey-bees were common in the area, she remembered Kenji mentioning; a number of locals kept small hives. However, the large, black and yellow creature she saw hovering between the boughs over a nearby pine gave her pause. Larger than any bee she had ever seen, easily three long inches from head to tail, it flitted behind a branch, then rose up to hover nearby.

Staying in place for several seconds, Emi had a crazy thought; that it was her stalker, but that didn't make sense. Although, nothing about their previous expedition had really made any sense, so maybe it wasn't that crazy. Whatever the case, it was certainly strange to see any kind of bee this far from blooming flowers, and its size indicated it wasn't indigenous. Never having been particularly frightened by bees, she wasn't allergic as far as she knew, so Emi approached the hovering insect to get a better look.

Still at least fifteen feet away, it backed away as she approached, mirroring her motion. When she stopped, it stopped. Pressing forward again, it retreated. Backing away, it followed; matching her movements as though it was observing her. Mesmerized by the strange behavior, Emi lost track of herself and started moving in different directions, seeing if the unusual bee continued matching her strides.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kenji's strained voice inquired, causing Emi to blink and spin to catch sight of him as he crested a nearby hill. Her lack of an immediate answer prompted him to add, “I waited for ten minutes, and got a little worried.”

Looking back over toward the bee, her face screwed up in confusion; it was gone. “There was a...” she started to say, trailing off as she ducked side to side, trying to find it again. “A bee,” she said finally, “but, it's gone, I guess.”

“A bee?” Kenji prompted.

Looking back at him, she frowned and explained, “yeah, a big one; it was following me, I think.”

Stopping his approach, Kenji glanced around at the surrounding trees before settling a bewildered look on her. “You're sure?” he asked, “weird place for a bee.”

“That's what I thought,” Emi replied, “It was mimicking my movements, too; almost like it was watching me.”

Hearing that made Kenji furrow his brow and hold up a finger. Something about the description was caught in his brain and Emi wasn't in any mood to wait for him to figure it out. “What's wrong?” she asked, her voice edged with frustration.

“Maybe it was a bug,” he replied.

“Of course it was a bug,” Emi retorted, not quite understanding.

“No, I mean like the listening and looking kind of bug,” Kenji explained, “like someone's been watching us.”

“Oh, right,” Emi conceded, screwing up her face in realization, “you mean like we're being watched?!”

“Maybe,” Kenji replied in a hushed tone, “here.” Holding out the case she had left in the backseat of the car, he motioned for her to take it off his hands, remarking, “we might need these.”

Checking around to try and find that bee again, she took the case and set it down on the ground. Drawing out the M90-Z and checking it over before tossing the strap over her shoulder, she turned a determined look at Kenji and grunted, “I've got point.”

Whatever was stalking them, she would be prepared this time.