* * * * *
MELISSA BELMONDO'S P.O.V.
As soon as the ninja calling himself "Darth Brooks" had grabbed us up, Hana Nozama and I found ourselves in darkness for what felt like half an eternity! But, a quick check of my wristwatch (when we could see again) showed me we had only been concealed for little over an hour. By which time, we found ourselves on some kind of office desk top.
With a giant Japanese woman, in her late seventies/early eighties, smiling down at us from a swivel chair.
"Who are your little friends, my nephew?"
I yelled upward to her, identifying myself and Nozama. I then asked who she was. To which "Darth Brooks" replied:
"This is Connie Watanabe (nee Kitahara Tsune), my father's sister. And, the ex-wife of your sensei at M.A.C.H.O.* "
I looked up at him in shock.
"What???"
He nodded: "You heard me, correctly. In fact, I'm now going to contact Uncle Jiro and have him tell your boss where to find you."
I face-palmed myself, like Macaulay Culkin in HOME ALONE, as "Darth Brooks" whipped out a cellphone. When Myron Meriwether heard about this breach in security, I had no doubt he'd go ape-shit!
* * * * *
M.A.C.H.O. HEADQUARTERS,
MYRON MERIWETHER'S OFFICE
(TWENTY MINUTES LATER)
ANJIRO WATANABE'S P.O.V.
The Director of Operations glared at me with undisguised anger after I had filled him in on Chet's rescue of the two shrunken women.
"Jiro? I've kept you on a pretty long leash over the years, because of the way you saved my ass back in '62."
He briefly paused to pound the top of his office desk with his right fist.
"BUT, WHAT THE FRIG WERE YOU THINKING, LEAKING CLASSIFIED INFO TO A REPORTER???!"
"With all due respect, Mr. Meriwether, I've never told my nephew about anything that did not involve the Heikegani-ryu. And, even then, I only relayed the information through my ex-wife. You see, Chet's on a personal crusade against the Heikegani-ryu. He wants to wipe them out, to the last genin, due to the giri--the obligation--he feels he owes Buck Fogarty's family. A feeling I can empathize with!"
Meriwether shook his head in dismay.
"The oversight committee may not be as willing to split those semantic hairs as finely as you do. Breached security is still breached security. No matter what motivates it!"
"Will they take that same position," I replied: "...when you make the usual recruiting pitch to Detective Sergeant Dillinger at the time she hands over Ned Fogarty?"
"That's different, and you know it!"
"Actually, I don't. All the contacts we have, in all the bureaus of missing persons around the country, are still police officers proper rather than undercover Federal agents. So, why should it be regarded as treasonous to have an investigative reporter as a non-Federal affiliate, as well?"
"Even if the committee sees your point," he retorted: "...you should've made that suggestion through the proper channels."
"In this particular case, there was literally no time! Any unreasonable delay could have led to a re-enactment of the Russo-Japanese War on American soil."
There was an awkward pause as he barely stifled a gasp.
"How on Earth...?"
I grinned: "No, I don't have your office bugged. Agent Belmondo simply told my nephew about her original mission briefing. And, then, put that together with what she had heard Park and this Junyo-Chen arguing about. Seeing as how the Yakuza are on relatively good terms with the Vladivostok Apparat, it only made sense that a rival faction--like Igor Getzov's St. Petersburg Apparat--might hire the Heikegani-ryu to upset that arrangement!"
"I see," Meriwether muttered in reply: "Well, hopefully, we've nipped that frightening possibility in the bud."
To Be Concluded
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
WATANABE DOJO,
TARZANA, CALIFORNIA,
MAY 20, 2009
(4:00 P.M./PST)
TARZANA, CALIFORNIA,
MAY 20, 2009
(4:00 P.M./PST)
Chapter End Notes:
*Multi-Agency Counter-Homunculist Organization.