The Ninja - 01 by Eric Van Lustbader

Author:Eric Van Lustbader [Lustbader, Eric Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781480470934
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2014-03-25T04:00:00+00:00

Osaka / Shimonoseki / Kumamoto / Tokyo Suburbs

WINTER 1963

AT THIS TIME OF the year the countryside was bleak and pale. The searingly spectacular deep reds and oranges of the autumnal foliage had already faded, dropped away to dull brown mulch under animals’ hooves, and the first snow had obstinately yet to fall to leave the sere land hidden beneath its ghostly luminescence.

Rolling by rail under a low sky full of incipient rain reminding him of a child’s face full of an emotion unacknowledged, it seemed sad to see the lines of bare trees like rough wire approximations of next year’s model in among the eternal dark green of the sentinel pines. So forlorn, almost as if God had, after much effort, at last given up on this part of the world.

Nicholas allowed his eyes to focus on the far horizon. The speed-blur of the landscape passing closer about on a fun-house ride. Yukio, leaning half across him to get a better glimpse, pressed the side of one hard breast against him. Fingers spread on his thigh to brace herself against the rocking. Nails digging in, giving her purchase. Warmth spread upward into his groin and he wondered, half-afraid, half-expectant, if her hand would move up with it to cup him.

Opposite, on a seat facing them, a Japanese businessman in a dark-colored pinstripe and a scrubbed face; calfskin attaché case placed carefully on the seat beside him as mute company, surmounted by a charcoal-gray cashmere overcoat folded meticulously and, atop that, like the miniature couple on a white wedding cake, a black bowler hat—in all, an arcane archaeological pyramid offering no ancestral clues—glanced up from reading the paper. His eyes were given the unnatural size and annularity by his thick round glasses. He blinked much as a fish might upon encountering an unexpected foreign object close to hand. Was he staring at the proximity of her fingertips to his crotch before he returned to his reading? The paper rustled slightly. It might have been a brick wall.

Nicholas could see the flash of reflected light from the curving edge of the thick gold ring. He imagined the man to be an important member of the zaibatsu. But which one, he wondered? Mitsubishi, perhaps? Or Sumitomo or Mitsui? Not one of the groups, surely, Fuyo, Sanwa, Dai-Ichi Kangyō. Of the seven lesser konzerns, he was obviously not from Nippon Steel, Toyota or Nissan. No, he had the look about him of the burgeoning electronics firms like Tōshiba-IHI, Matsushita, Hitachi—on second thought, scratch Hitachi—or Tōkyū. Did Tōkyū manufacture electronics, come to think of it? He wasn’t all that certain.

Perhaps this man’s family had started Mitsubishi—the families, he knew, were back running the zaibatsu as they had since the beginning. The American laws that had forced a hiatus had been stricken after only a brief term.

Nicholas stared at the paper barrier as if he had X-ray vision. He could see in his mind the round yellow face, slightly burnished with a light film of sweat,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.