Dragon (Dirk Pitt 10)

"There is another problem," said Tsuboi grimly. "Only Hideki knew the operational codes to activate the prime and detonate signals."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then Yoshishu said slowly, "We always knew he had a cunning mind."

"Only too well," agreed Tsuboi.

"Then I leave it to you to discover new directions."

"I won't fail your trust."

Tsuboi set down the receiver and gazed out the observation window. A silence came over the control room as everyone waited on his word. There had to be another solution for delaying any retribution by the United States and other Western nations. Tsuboi was a smart man, and it only took him a few seconds to come up with alternate plans.

"How complicated is it to set off one of the bombs manually?" he asked the assembled engineers and scientists in the control room.

Kurojima's eyebrows raised up questioningly. "To detonate without a coded signal?"

"Yes, yes."

The technical brain who headed the Kaiten Project from start to finish bowed his head and answered.

"There are two methods by which a mass of fissionable material can be made subcritical and forced to explode. One is to surround the mass by a ring of high explosives whose detonation will in turn set off the fissionable material. The other is to shoot together two masses by a cannon-type device."

"How do we explode a bomb car?" Tsuboi demanded impatiently.

"Velocity," Kurojima answered briefly. "The impact from a high-velocity bullet through the compressor shell and into the mass should do it."

Tsuboi glared inquiringly. "Are you saying the bombs can be set off by nothing more than a shot from a rifle?"

Kurojima bowed his head. "At close range, yes."

The effect on Tsuboi was just within the limits of credibility. "Then why don't you simply program a robot to fire a high powered rifle into the airconditioner shell?"

"There is the problem of time again." replied Kurojima. "The robots that are programmed to drive the cars to their detonation sites are not constructed or programmed for anything else."

"One of the roboguards, could it be modified?"

"The reverse. Security robots are designed for mobility and weapons fire. They are not designed to drive a car."

"How long to make one that can do the job?"

"Weeks, no less than a month. You must realize we have to create a very complicated piece of machinery. We do not have one in production that can drive a car, climb out on articulated legs, open a hood, and shoot a gun. A robot with these built-in movements would have to be built from the ground up, and that takes time."

Tsuboi stared at him. "We must detonate one within the next five hours to make the Americans think the system is operational."

Kurojima's confidence had returned. He was in control and his fear of Tsuboi had faded. He gave the financier a long steady look. "Well then, you'll just have to find a human to do the job."

It was about five in the evening, and the sky to the east was turning dark blue as the C-20 winged over the Pacific toward California. They were only two hours out of a refueling stop at Hickam Field in Hawaii. Loren looked down, straining her eyes to pick out the tiny shape and white wake of a ship, but she could see only the flat expanse of the sea and a few whitecaps.

She swiveled the executive chair she was sitting in and faced Suma. He sat arrogantly composed, sipping a glass of soda water. The shock of the hijacking and the distress at knowing Yoshishu had ordered his death had long since melted and he was now relaxed, supremely confident that he would regain the upper hand once he reached Washington.

He stared at her and smiled thinly. "So you intend to promote legislation to close all your markets to Japanese goods."

"In light of what I've seen and experienced in the past few days," said Loren, "do you blame me?"

"We Japanese have planned far into the future for just such a possibility. Our economy will survive because we have already invested heavily in the European and Asian markets. Soon we will no longer need the United States consumer. The closing of your market is merely another unfair tactic of you Americans."

Loren laughed. "What do you know about fair trade practices?" Then she got down to serious business. "No foreigners can come into Japan to sell their products without being hassled to death by your trade barriers, stonewalled by your graft-ridden distribution system, and undermined by your home competition. All the while insisting that no outsider understands your culture."

"Your behavior, Congresswoman Smith, is obviously motivated by racist antiJapanese sentiments.