The Samurai Strategy

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  _"Komban wa_, Tamara." The voice emerged from the dark as her keyturned in the door of room 328. "How are you?"

  "Ken!"

  "Good to see you again."

  "How did you . . .?"

  He chuckled as he switched on the light by the chair. "Rank in MITI hasits moments."

  "I thought you were coming tomorrow."

  "I am, officially." He rose and moved toward her. "But tonight I'dhoped we could be together." He smiled. "Alone."

  She stood in the open doorway, unmoving.

  "Ken, we have a lot to talk about, all right." She closed the door."And I don't mean in bed."

  Truthfully, she wasn't even sure she wanted to see him at all. The DaiNippon scenario was getting too complicated, too insidious. Noda's playwas turning into something with worldwide implications.

  "Tamara, I came because we need to talk. I think you're in danger.Maybe we both are."

  "From Noda? Just because he's a megalomaniac--"

  "You think it's that simple?" he interrupted. "Don't be so sure. Fornow let's just say he's very, very clever, and very powerful." Hereached out to welcome her. "But whatever he is, the time has come tostop him."

  "I think Matt and I just figured out why. He's a threat to MITI, isn'the, Ken? A peril to your power base."

  "He's a threat to everybody. But yes, MITI is definitely in his way atthis point. Or at least I'm in his way. Somebody has to be."

  "So what do you expect me to do about it? As a matter of fact, what hasMITI done for me lately except try and move in on my work?"

  "Tam, you can't stand up to Noda alone. But maybe together we can, atleast for a while."

  "What makes you think . . .?"

  "I have a weapon at my disposal. A powerful weapon. The ministry. If wecan use it to focus attention on what he's--"

  "How?"

  "I want to speed up the ministry's involvement. Bring in lots morepeople. We do that and we'll---"

  "I see." She slipped past him and headed for the second chair. 'That'sa terrific idea. Give it all to MITI." For a moment there she'd almostbeen ready to start trusting him again.

  "Tam, we only have to make it seem that's what is happening." He turnedto face her. "It'll be like waving a red flag under the nose of yourCongress. Surely that'll wake everybody up to what he's doing. They'dmove in and stop him cold. Guaranteed."

  "Ken, Matsuo Noda made me a very intriguing proposition today. Matterof fact, it sounds better than yours." She got up and walked over tothe small refrigerator fitted under the sink. "Want a beer? I'm goingto have one."

  "All right." He looked at her. "What were you saying just now? About aproposition?"

  "Noda asked me to head up a Japanese-American consortium run as asingle industry. It's almost as if he wants to put together an Americanversion of MITI, an organization that can oversee and coordinateAmerican R&D nationwide."

  "Do you believe he means what he says?"

  She turned and stared at him for a moment. "I guess the honest answeris no. I think it's just a smokescreen to get his hands on everythinghe wants in the U.S., disguised under the rubric of assistance." Sheretrieved two cans of cold Asahi and popped the tops. "On the otherhand, you're suggesting we have to give America's industry to MITI inorder to save it from Matsuo Noda." She extended a can of beer and aglass. "Right now, I don't trust MITI any more than I trust him."

  "Tamara, this is a high-stakes game. Against a man with more money andpower than the world has ever seen in one place. It's not going to beeasy to stop him. It's also going to be risky. For us both."

  "And you think a MITI takeover is the answer."

  "It's the only thing that's left." He sobered. "Unfortunately it'llalso damage MITI's political credibility badly worldwide. But that'sthe price I'm willing to pay to stop Noda. What other choice is there?"

  "Hurt MITI? I'm not so sure. Taking over all of DNI's American researchlabs should give quite a boost to your Marketshare - 90 program,wouldn't it. You'd be acquiring America's high-tech sector for Japanall nicely wrapped up in a bundle." She poured from her can. "Ought totrim years off your timetable."

  "I don't know where you heard about that, Tam." Vague surprise in hisvoice. "But that's not a real program. Market- share - 90 is just aplanning exercise over in the General Affairs Section. Part of sometraining for their new people."

  "When we asked Noda about it, he seemed to think it was real enough."

  "Then he was just bluffing. He had to be."

  "Ken, what do you take me for . . .?" She wasn't sure how much moredouble-talk she could stand.

  He waved his hand to stop her. "Please. Just trust me for this once.That's all I ask."

  "You're sure as hell not making it easy. I think it's time you told mewhat's really going on."

  "All right. I'll show you the bottom line. Maybe then you'll accept thetruth." He got up and went over to his briefcase. "I have something inhere you ought to see."

  "What?"

  "It's an advance text of the speech His Majesty delivers on Januarysecond."

  "That's his annual New Year's appearance at the Imperial palace, right?When he bestows his blessings upon the land."

  "Exactly." He pulled out the sheet. "I think this sheds light on a lotof things. Here. I made a rough English translation, just to hear howit sounds."

  She took the paper, torn from a yellow legal pad, and began to read.

  The speech began with a long-winded celebration of the famous YasukuniShrine, home of the spirits of all Japanese warriors. That shrine, HisMajesty then went on to declare, was increasingly misconstrued by theworld as a symbol of Japanese militarism, a misapprehension bothunfortunate and untrue, since Japan had indeed renounced martial forceforever. However, to reinforce that commitment in the eyes of a nervousworld, he was now announcing the dedication of a new national shrine toJapan's spirit that would have no such misleading overtones. This newshrine, at Tsukuba Science City, would be a memorial to the peacefuluse of technology, to man's mastery of the physical world sanctified solong ago by the Shinto gods.

  She looked up. "A new national shrine? Nice political move."

  "Better read the rest before you jump to conclusions."

  She glanced down and continued on.

  It had further been decided, the Emperor would say, that the newlyrecovered Imperial sword would not be housed at Ise after all. It wouldinstead be the centerpiece of this new memorial to Japanese technology.

  Well, she thought, it still sounds okay. Theme shrines are perfectlywithin tradition. After all, the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo commemorated thenineteenth-century emperor who began Japan's modernization. However,the thing to remember was that new shrines can have a philosophicalsubtext. The Meiji told the Japanese that their country had acceptedWesternization. So, given that the creation of a new shrine can embodya message to everybody, she found herself wondering what word was beingsent out this time.

  The Emperor would go on to spell this out, lest any of his subjectswere too dense to get the picture. Unlike the Yasukuni Shrine, he wouldsay, this new memorial at Tsukuba would not commemorate Japan's warriorpast; rather it would celebrate a modern Japan whose world eminencewould be fashioned not with arms but through economic struggle. In sodoing, it would symbolize the regeneration of Japan's ancient spirit,_Yamato damashi_, of which the _bushido _of the samurai was merely onemanifestation, only a stage. Grander things were on the way. Japan'srightful place in the new world order was only now coming into its own.The new Tsukuba _damashi _would harness modern technology to Japan'sancient traditions, would put the new at the service of the old.

  What he was really telling his people, she realized, in obliquelanguage only they would comprehend, was that Japan was now prepared towage open confrontation through commerce--their trading state pittedagainst the world's military states, whose economic base and martialascendancy they would now proceed to challenge through technologicalsuperiority and cutthroat trade.

  "Ke
n, does this mean what I think it means?" She passed back the yellowpage.

  "If you think it means Noda's got him now, then the answer is yes. He'sco-opted the Imperial house." He took the sheet and returned it to hisbriefcase. "I'd bet you anything Noda himself wrote that speech. He'sbegun, Tamara. His total takeover, of America and Japan."

  She sat a moment in silence, a strange sensation in her stomach. Didshe believe it? She wasn't sure.

  "Ken, there's something you should know. A colleague came with me onthis trip. An American lawyer. Knowing him, he's probably still down inthe bar. I'd like him to read this. Why don't we go down and I'llintroduce you."

  "Who is he? Can he be trusted?"

  "As a matter of fact, he's an old friend. From a long time past. Butwe've been through a lot together lately."

  He leaned back and sipped his beer. "Am I to assume this travelingcompanion is more than a casual friend?"

  "That's not exactly your worry, is it? I don't pry into your life whenI'm away." She got up to retrieve another can of beer.

  "You can't blame me for being curious, Tam. It's a simple, reasonablequestion."

  Nothing Kenji Asano does is ever simple, she told herself. There'salways a subtext.

  "Don't try to change the subject. One thing at a time." She sipped fromher glass. "And regarding your plan, as far as I'm concerned, there'sbeen too much MITI dabbling already. Frankly it pisses me off."

  "I'm sorry if you choose to feel that way, Tam." His eyes darkened."Please believe me when I assure you we're on the same side. I've toldyou what I propose doing about Noda. But I haven't heard any of yourideas."

  She sighed and sipped her beer. "I don't have any. Yet."

  "Then why not trust me?"

  Trust. There was that word again. Trouble was, she wasn't sure shetrusted anybody anymore. She rose, strolled to the window, and reachedfor the curtain. Should she let him stay the night? Maybe that was justasking for more heartaches. Letting Japan screw America two ways. Withthat dismal thought she pulled open the curtains.

  It had begun to snow, a swirl of drifting white.

  "Ken, come and take a look." She beckoned him. "I think I'd like to gooutside for a while. I'm weary to death of arguing."

  He rose and came over to the window, standing next to her. "It's juststarted." He glanced around the room. "Did you bring any boots?"

  "No, and I don't care. I just want some fresh air to help clear myhead."

  "All right, but we'll have to use the service elevator. I can't be seenwalking through the lobby, not till tomorrow."

  "We can take the stairs. Come on."

  By the time they emerged onto the driveway leading out toward the road,traffic had slowed to a crawl and the futuristic shapes of Tsukuba'slabs seemed like a fairyland. She noticed that the hotel had its ownhelicopter pad, undoubtedly to accommodate MITI officials who needed topop up for a quick consultation. The place was high-tech, powerful,frightening.

  Just like Kenji Asano.

  "Ken, I'm afraid maybe we've lost it, you and me."

  "Lost what?"

  "Whatever we had there in Kyoto." She sighed.

  "Maybe you've lost it, Tamara." They were striding through the firstthin film of white that now blanketed the sidewalk paralleling theroad, leaving a trail of flattened footprints. "Nothing has changed forme. You're welcome to come back and be part of my life anytime youchoose."

  "Well, right now I just want to walk in the snow." She glanced at him,wondering if she still felt anything at all. "You know, it's a funnything, but the snow tonight reminds me of a trip I once took, yearsago, up north to Hokkaido. The innocence, the simplicity, it was allcaptured in that pure, endless white." She looked around them. "Howcould Tsukuba Science City even be part of the same country?"

  He smiled. "As the tour books always say, 'Japan: land of contrasts.'Well, the old ways are going fast, Tam, except in our hearts. Somethings will always be the same."

  "Tell you the truth, that's what scares me the most. Things like thesword, which can cause this whole country to go crazy overnight."

  "Ah yes, the sword. Matsuo Noda's magic talisman. You know, that's thereal reason he'll be so hard to stop. What a

  genius. He delivers it to the Emperor, almost the same way the SunGoddess supposedly once did, and in the process makes himself a livinggod."

  "Speaking of the sword, by the way, Matt is going over to theMetallurgy Lab tomorrow to see it. Live and prime time."

  "Matt?"

  "The lawyer I told you about."

  "So his name is Matt?"

  "Short for Matthew. Walton."

  "But why . . ."

  "Well, besides being a corporate attorney, he's supposed to be anamateur expert on swords. Hobby of his."

  "And Noda is actually letting him see it?" There was a faint note ofsurprise in his voice. "Very unusual. That sword has been kept verytightly under wraps, or so I've heard."

  "Believe it. Tomorrow Matt Walton gets a command presentation. Courtesyof Noda. He's arranged everything with the Imperial Household." Shegazed up at the sky, now a white marble reflecting back the lights fromthe traffic.

  "Tam, I'd like very much to see it too. Think you could arrangesomething with Noda-san?"

  "I can try."

  "You know, not many people outside the Imperial Household have actuallyviewed it really up close. I hear it's almost perfectly preserved."

  "Then this could be your chance." She reached and took his hand. Afterall, the weather was cold. "I'll ring Noda in the morning."

  "Thanks. But no matter what happens, with that or anything else, justseeing you again will make this trip worthwhile." He gave her hand asqueeze.

  "All right, Ken, dammit you win." She turned and slipped her armsaround his neck, then drew his lips down to hers. The snow drifted ontoher eyelids. "You're right. I don't have any answers, to anything."

  Again she felt almost as though time was running in reverse. Thesmoothness of his skin, the ease of his touch, the firm muscles.

  "It'll be over soon, Tam. It has to be. And then we'll all look back onthis like a bad dream." He encircled her in his arms. "We'll go off toHokkaido if you like it so much there. Together. Just you and me."

  "Why is it all the men I know keep offering me trips?" She laughed andbrushed the snow out of his hair. "Matt keeps trying to get me to godown to the Caribbean. Now you want to take me to Hokkaido. I soundlike everybody's getaway girl."

  "Nobody's called you a girl. You're a woman. You decide what you want."

  "Well, at the moment I just want to go to bed with you." She pulled hislips down. "After that I'll worry about the next move."

  "We just have to trust each other. That's all that matters."

  Well, she thought, how could she not trust this man?

  At least for tonight. Tomorrow she would think about tomorrow.