15

Regrouping

The taxi they had given chase in would be getting one more fare from them, though not for chasing another taxi this time. Agent Hessman kept it simple as he paid the man in advance. “Get us to Central Park.”

Claire tried to position herself directly in the middle of the group, the better to catch what everyone was saying, until Harris and Phelps pulled her into the rearmost row to sit wedged between them while putting a hand each over one of her ears. That left the others to talk, while the driver made a point of not listening to anything anyone said as he drove them through the city.

“The Japanese and now the Germans,” Agent Hessman pondered aloud. “Are they here for the same thing or completely different motives? Or did they come in response to the Japanese team?”

“It could be more complicated than that,” Dr. Weiss stated. “While both teams arrived back here the same as we did, the Germans might not have left until as much as, say, ten or fifty years after we did. We don’t have anything on us to track what year they came from.”

“A very good, if disturbing, point,” Agent Hessman admitted. “But that may not change much at this point. We know now that the Japanese have come back for Tojo. Ben, you said that it was Tojo who caused all that misery.”

“He was the chief architect of everything that happened in the‍—that other war,” Professor Stein replied, careful of his words with other ears around that shouldn’t be hearing any of this. “The attack, the camps, all of it.”

“So let’s assume that we’re in the first iteration of history,” Agent Hessman continued. “Tojo did all the horrible things he did, which means now the Japanese team is here to change all that. They want to stop or even kill General Tojo before he becomes a general. The question is why? What do they gain out of it?”

“It could be any of several objectives,” Professor Stein stated.

“They came out of that war pretty bad,” Dr. Weiss suggested. “Maybe they want to stop their entry into it and avoid all that.”

“But look what they grew into being in our day,” Professor Stein countered. “Or maybe without Tojo, an even better general is allowed to come into play who could win them their part of the war before Germany loses theirs. We don’t have enough data to really know.”

“And even less for the Germans,” Agent Hessman said. “But with them entering this mix, I can’t help but suspect that both teams’ motives lead back to the next Great War. Two of the three member nations of the old Axis back in this same time period? I’m not a believer of coincidence when it comes to this sort of stuff. If Italy had a machine, I’d expect to see them here next.”

“Italy was more of a client state of Germany before the war was midway through,” Professor Stein interjected. “But you’re right. It’s looking like that war is the focus we’re looking for; we just don’t yet know why.”

Before their ponderings could get much further along, Claire finally managed to push her way forward and pry herself free of Harris’s and Phelps’s clamping hands long enough to launch a question in a more determined voice than before. “Now listen, I agreed to help you, but this is a partnership, and as such I demand to know what it is you people are into. First the Japanese, and now some Germans, and you still haven’t told me what any of this is about. If you don’t tell me something soon, then my next story is going to figure a few of your names rather prominently.”

The men looked from one to another. Finally Captain Beck’s gaze rested pointedly on Professor Stein, accompanied by a harsh whisper in his direction. “Ben, handle it before we’re forced to find another way.”

“Well, I must admit,” he replied, “while I am starting to admire her tenacity, this is not the time for that.” He moved around in his seat to face her, and Harris and Phelps scooted far enough away to give her a little freedom of movement while keeping an eye out on the road ahead. “Claire,” Professor Stein began, “the parts we have to keep from you are a matter of national security.”

“I get that part, but don’t you think the secrecy is getting a little bit too melodramatic? I deserve to know something. I’ll only write what it is you guys clear me for, but I deserve‍—no, I need to know.”

He considered her words for a moment and replied with a nod, “You’re right, but for reasons we cannot tell anyone, our secrecy must be maintained. Sue here? She’s a lot more than you might suspect. Her orders are to see to the safety of this team under any circumstances. If she thought you were a threat, she would drop you in your tracks before you could take in another breath.”

“What, her?” Claire said. “But she’s just—”

“Watch it,” Agent Harris cut in. “No version of that sentence will end up doing anything but displeasing me.”

Claire glanced to the woman beside her, saw the challenging look in her eyes, and relented. “Okay, I apologize for that. But what manner of—”

“And Robert here,” Professor Stein continued, “as far as his orders are concerned, every single member of this entire team is expendable as long as our mission is completed. So when I warn you that there are some things that we must keep from you, believe me.”

She thought over his words for a few moments as the taxi turned a corner, then replied in a less harsh tone, “Okay, I get it. But what can you tell me about what’s going on?”

“Well, all we know for certain is that a team from Japan is here on a mission that somehow involves one of their own countrymen and possibly the security of this nation. As far as the German we encountered, we know even less, but his presence means there’s another team around here with a mission of their own. For reasons we cannot get into, we believe the two to be related, though in what way we honestly do not know. Is there something more that we’re keeping from you? Yes, but as far as the pertinent facts, that’s all of it. Will this satisfy you for a while?”

She coughed and after a moment, nodded. “I guess it will have to,” she replied.

“Good.”

Professor Stein was just turning around to face front again when the driver called out, “Central Park on the right. Just passing up the East Green with the menagerie coming up in a bit.”

“Okay, driver, here would be fine,” Agent Hessman told him. “And about our conversations‍—‍”

“You’d be surprised how many times I’ve been paid not to hear anything as much as I’ve been paid just to drive.” The man grinned.

“Not a problem,” Agent Hessman said as the vehicle pulled to a stop. “Will a twenty percent tip do?”

“Better make it thirty,” the man replied. “There was some really oddball stuff that I didn’t hear.”

Agent Hessman pulled out a few bills, handed them to a rather pleased-looking cab driver, and exited the cab with everyone else. They were left walking down Fifth Avenue with Central Park on their right, and ahead of them the entrance to the Central Park Menagerie‍—what would one day be named the Central Park Zoo.

“Let’s just hope it’s not too late to catch them,” Agent Hessman remarked as they walked.

“I’m thinking not,” Agent Harris said, coming up alongside him. “Over there by the front gates. That’s them.”

A grand arch of brick and wrought iron spanned the flow of people coming and going beneath it, but amid that flow was a cluster of Japanese men milling about and seemingly making a point of not catching anyone’s eye.

“I can’t see their faces too well,” Dr. Weiss stated. “How do you know it’s them?”

“Can you think of any other group of five Japanese,” Agent Harris replied, “comprised all of males who aren’t a family that would be milling around in front of a zoo trying that hard to blend in and not get noticed?”

“She’s right,” Claire agreed. “Say, they probably don’t know my face. Maybe if I just went up to them and‍—‍”

“Come on!” To her own command, Agent Harris waited for no one and started into a charge, followed nearly immediately by Lieutenant Phelps, who had quietly vowed not to let them get away this time.

“Just don’t stand there,” Agent Hessman told the rest. “There are no civilians on this mission. Before they spot us!”

They all took off as fast as they could run, before any of their targets might turn to see them.