* * * * *
CHET NORTHFIELD'S P.O.V.
I had initially been looking for homing pigeons.
You see, over the years, I had gradually learned that those were the preferred choice of aerial transport for the rank-and-file genin of the Heikegani-ryu. Yet, I had also learned that some of their more elite chunin often rode specially-trained birds of prey (including barn owls, honey buzzards, and even New Zealand keas*). Consequently, I had learned to include various copies of Peterson ornithology guides with me whenever I staked out potential Heikegani-ryu targets.
That, in turn, was why I was only half-surprised to see a Eurasian kestrel (subspecies Falco t. interstictus) hovering above Cal-Tech's Biophysics Building, in the back-and-forth manner that had earned these particular birds the unflattering nickname "wind-friggers!"
I must have watched it through my binoculars for, at least, fifteen minutes before I saw another exotic specimen leave the roof of that same building. This one, a gray hawk-owl (Sumia ulula), normally found much farther north. And, when the kestrel finally broke off its hovering, to follow the much larger bird, I knew I'd been right!!
Now, for anybody else, how to follow them would be a problem. You see, I'm not a "shrink-and-grow" ninja like the Heikegani-ryu. Instead, I'd been trained in eguzairu-do ninjitsu which (according to family legend) was partially based on the philosophies and teachings of Nichiren, himself. And, like the Boy Scouts of America, practitioners of this ninja art were trained to be well-prepared.
"You ready, Clairice?" I asked, as I opened the door to the bird cage previously positioned on the backseat of my VW Thing.
"Ready! Ready!" she repeated.
"Then, go get 'em, sweetheart!"
And, I released the half-starling mynah bird into the air. She was accompanied by Tai, the Western kingbird that I had hand-reared alongside her, so that he would always feel protective of her. Sort of my own personal variation of the foster parenting techniques used by cuckoos and cowbirds.
I then activated the micro-electronic transceiver imbedded inside Clairice's leg band before turning the ignition key and driving off.
Keeping track of the signal from the ground was the real challenge, what with L.A.'s justifiably notorious traffic and all! But, ultimately, I followed the signal to a Motel Six located on the outskirts of Venice Beach. And, it's only after I found a parking space a block up from the motel that Clairice and Tai came back to me.
"What room are they in, sweetheart?"
"658!" she chanted: "658!"
"Good girl! An extra cricket for each of you, tonight."
I put the two of them back in their cage, before locking the car up (with the windows rolled down just enough to let in some air) and, then, sauntering up to the motel's lobby, as casually as possible.
"Hi," I said to the clerk behind the registration desk: "I'd like to leave a message for the party in Room 658. Do you have any note paper?"
"Certainly, sir!"
He handed me a blank piece of paper, and I took out my ball-point pen. I then wrote a message in Japanese ideograms which only someone who'd spent considerable time in that part of the world would be able to translate. When I was done, I handed the note back to the clerk.
"Thank you, again."
"Not all, sir."
Translated into English, the message I had left was simply this:
"I know who you are, and what you are planning. I will not permit it. Leave L.A. by sundown, tonight, or by tomorrow, dawn, you will be dead."
I had then signed it "Bonin-san." Which roughly translates as "Mr. Nobody!"
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
MAY 20, 2009 (12:30 P.M./PST)
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
MAY 20, 2009 (12:30 P.M./PST)
Chapter End Notes:
* Barn owl: see "LITTLE" KNOWN SECRETS.
Honey buzzard: see A "LONG-LOST" TALE.
Kea: see DIARY OF A NAZI ARCHEOLOGIST.
Peterson ornithology guides: the field guides, authored by Roger Tory Peterson, most often used by bird watchers.
Western kingbird: often referred to as the "tyrant flycatcher" from the way mated pairs will defend their nests from much larger birds, such as crows and hawks.
Honey buzzard: see A "LONG-LOST" TALE.
Kea: see DIARY OF A NAZI ARCHEOLOGIST.
Peterson ornithology guides: the field guides, authored by Roger Tory Peterson, most often used by bird watchers.
Western kingbird: often referred to as the "tyrant flycatcher" from the way mated pairs will defend their nests from much larger birds, such as crows and hawks.