Dragon (Dirk Pitt 10)

"According to Team Honda," Kern informed them, "Suma and Yoshishu joined forces to underwrite the weapons plant and the Kaiten Project."

"The Kaiten Project?" Pitt repeated.

"Their code name for the bomb-car operation. Literally translated into English it means à change of sky.' But to the Japanese it has a broader meaning: à new day is coming, a great shift in events.' "

"But Japan claims to ban the introduction of nuclear weapons," Pitt ventured. "Seems damned odd that Suma and Yoshishu could build a nuclear weapons facility without some knowledge or backing from the government."

"The politicians don't run Japan. The back-room movers and shakers behind the bureaucracy pull the reins. It was no secret when Japan built a Liquid Metal Fast Breeder reactor. But it wasn't general knowledge that besides functioning as a power source it also produced plutonium and converted lithium into tritium, essential ingredients for thermonuclear weapons. My guess is Prime Minister Junshiro gave his secret blessing to a nuclear arsenal, however reluctantly because of the risk of public outcry, but he was purposely cut out of the Kaiten Project."

"They certainly don't run a 'government like we do," said Sandecker.

"Has Team Honda located the weapons plant?" Pitt asked Kern.

"They've narrowed it to a sixty-square-kilometer grid around the subterranean city of Edo."

"And they still can't find it?"

"Jim Hanamura thinks the city has deep tunnels that connect to the facility. An ingenious cover. No aboveground buildings or roads as a giveaway. Supplies entering for the thousands of people who live and work in Edo, and their trash exiting. Most any nuclear equipment or material could be smuggled in and out."

"Any leads to the detonation command?" asked Giordino.

"The Dragon Center?"

"Is that what they call it?"

"They have a name for everything." Kern smiled. "Nothing solid. Hanamura's last report said he was onto a lead that had something to do with a painting."

"That makes a hell of a lot of sense," Giordino carped.

The door opened to a cramped communications compartment in the rear of the bus, and a man stepped out and handed three sheets of paper to Kern.

As his eyes flicked over the wording, his face became stricken. Finally, after coming to the end of the third page, he rapped his knuckles against the arm of his chair in shock. "Oh, my God."

Sandecker leaned toward him. "What is it?"

"A status report from Mel Penner on Palau. He says Marvin Showalter was abducted on his way to the embassy. An American tourist couple reported seeing two Japanese men enter Showalter's car when he stopped for a stalled truck a block from the embassy. The husband and wife only happened to report it to embassy officials because of the U.S. license tags and the surprise shown by the driver as the intruders leaped into the car. They saw nothing more, as a tourist bus pulled alongside them and blocked their view. By the time they could see the street again, Showalter's car had disappeared in traffic."

"Go on."

"Jim Hanamura is late reporting in. In his last report to Penner, Jim said he had confirmed the location of the weapons plant three hundred fifty meters underground. The main assembly area is connected to Edo City, four kilometers to the north, by an electric railway that also runs through a series of tunnels to arsenals, waste disposal caverns, and engineering offices."

"Is there more?" Sandecker gently persisted.

"Hanamura went on to say he was following a strong lead

to the Dragon Center. That's all."

"What word on Roy Orita?" Pitt asked.

"Only a brief mention."

"He vanished too?"

"No, Penner doesn't say that. He only says Orita insists on sitting tight until we can sort things out."

"I'd say the visitors have outscored the home team by three to one," said Pitt philosophically. "They've snatched two of our legislators, cut Teams Honda and Cadillac off at the knees, and last but easily the worst, they know what we're after and where we're coming from."

"Suma is holding all the high cards," Kern conceded. "I'd better inform Mr. Jordan at once so he can warn the President."