Past Glimpse

I peered outside the front door, looking at the black sky and the full moon. In the windowless room was silence as Aimi typed away while Mana sat there, thinking. I shut the door and returned.

“It’s time,” I said, nodding at the two of them.

Aimi pulled out a flash drive from her pocket then handed it to me.

“When you’re in, plug this in and leave it to me. After I’m done, pull it out and get out of there.”

I nodded, and we headed for the front door, but Aimi’s voice interrupted us.

“Be careful out there. If you can’t get in, then don’t worry about it,” said Aimi, glancing away from us.

We smile, nodded, and left the air conditioned building into the humid night. The airport was a while away from here, and I stared out the window, making sure no one was following us. The streetlamps illuminated the road which we followed to our destination. We had already made plans with Aimi a few hours back, so nothing should go wrong unless we were surprised.

We arrived at a massive building, its many lights illuminating the night. A few planes were taking off and landing behind it. Mana drove to the underground garage where we parked and got out, taking the elevator up.

We were greeted with the bright lights of the spacious interior. A few people pulling their luggage were walking about, their footsteps and the wheels of their luggage echoing throughout. I looked around, trying to get a feel of the place which felt completely different when we looked at the floor maps. I regained my sense of direction and headed for the area where the CCTV control room was located.

We faced the door to what I believed was the control room. At this time of night, I was hoping that the security officers were asleep or too tired. They had different shifts of course, but we could take advantage of the prolonged lack of danger they have faced. We didn’t know how many were in the office, but right now, we needed to get a key to enter the room. I weighed my options, thinking of the best plan. I could search the area for a lone officer and take his keys, but there wasn’t any guarantee that there would be any. The other plan was to knock on the door, hope only one guard opens, and lure him out then take his keys. Either way, we’ll have to knock one out unless I could think of another way.

“Mana, go around this area and look for a guard that’s by himself. When you see one, tell me, and I’ll come to you. If not, then just come back here,” I said.

She nodded, leaving my side. I stared at the door, waiting the call from Mana. After what felt like an eternity, a voice came through the earpiece.

“I couldn’t find any lone guards, but I did find a group of them. It looks like they’re from the control room taking a break,” said Mana.

“Ok, keep watch. If they move, try to distract them. I’m going in,” I said.

I knocked on the door then waited. No one responded. I knocked again. The door opened, revealing a guard with droopy eyes and a mouth wide open in a yawn. A nonviolent idea came to mind, and I thought why not. I glared at him, putting my hands on my hips.

“What do you think you’re doing, sleeping on the job?! The chief wants to see you, so you better hurry it up!” I said, trying my most intimidating voice.

He shook and squealed, running to where the chief must’ve been. I made sure to hold the door open as he ran off, entering it and looking around. There wasn’t anyone else, and in the room were multiple screens showing the camera’s point of views throughout the airport. I approached the control panel and inserted the USB into the computer tower.

“Aimi, it’s in. Are you getting it?” I said.

There wasn’t a respond.

“Aimi, can you hear me?”

She wasn’t answering.

“Masa, the group of guards are heading your way, I’ll try to distract them, but it won’t be for long,” said Mana.

I gripped the edge of the table. I didn’t know what Aimi was doing, but I refused to leave without the CCTV footage. The more information we had, the better, and we made it all the way here too. A whisper came through the earpiece.

“Katayama, I’m being chased,” said Aimi.

“What? By whom?”

“I don’t know, but I’m downloading the data now. It should take about three minutes.” I heard the sound of concrete or something being smashed on the other side. “I need to go.”

I looked at the security footage and saw a few screens showing outside the control room. Mana was trying her best to stall the guards, but they were getting tired and were trying to brush her off. They left her standing there as she turned away from them.

“I can’t do anything else. They’re coming your way.”

Outside, footsteps were approaching the room. On one of the screens, four guards were coming my way. I searched my surroundings, looking for a second exit. There was another door at the back of the room. I pushed a table at the center of the room to the entry and flipped it, pressing the surface against the door.

A key was inserted and twisted, and someone pushed open, but the door hit the table. They pushed harder while I ran around the room, sliding chairs and other stuff towards the entrance. The guards called their friend from inside, but none responded. The objects I had piled up fell as the door widened just a little. The table was moved to the side, and I could do nothing but return to the control panel and watch the flash drive, waiting for it to finish.

“Aimi, is it done?”

The silence stilled the room but not the guards who widened the door with every passing second. I wrapped my fingers around the drive, preparing to pull it out regardless of whether the download was finished or not. A voice came through from the earpiece.

“It’s done, get out of there,” said Aimi, her voice barely audible. Two gunshots resounded from the other side, but the call ended before I could hear their echo.

I rushed out the backdoor just as the guards staggered into the room, keeping their eyes on the pile of furniture instead of me. I was met with the high-rise ceiling of the airport as I made my way back to Mana. I saw her at the elevator where we had entered from.

“Mana, I’m done, but Aimi sounds like she’s in trouble.”

“I know. We have to hurry back to the safehouse.”

As Mana pressed the button to call the elevator, we spotted in our peripherals several police officers entering the airport. A security guard confronted them, but with a word from the officer, he backed away. We took cover behind a corner, waiting for the elevator to open. It chimed, and the door slid open.

We descended to the basement and snuck to our car. Halfway there, an officer in the dark pointed then shouted at us, alerting the others near us. He unholstered his pistol and fired, but the bullet only pierced the concrete wall at our side, kicking up some dust. A few others emerged and aimed their pistols. We ran towards the car, entered, and Mana drove faster than she normally would. In the night, police sirens lit up behind us, blaring through the dark.

I held onto the handle bar as Mana swerved through the roads. She’d turn right, then left, then right again. She narrowly missed streetlamps and trash bins on the street. The blue and red sirens behind us faded, and we continued towards our destination while I kept a lookout for any more police.

“Were those the police from yesterday?” I said.

“Probably. If they’re here, they’re probably after Aimi as well.”

We passed a familiar alleyway and park. The streets around here were just like they were yesterday when we were hiding from the police.

We parked a little bit away from the safehouse, looking at it from our car. The building was dark, and it didn’t seem like any police cruisers or officers were around. We disembarked and headed for the safehouse, looking left and right, staying away from the light of the streetlamps. As we got closer, I noticed the door was battered down, leaving the doorway wide open. Broken shards of glasses littered the ground near the entrance.

We stepped inside, flicking the light switch but none came on. I took out my flashlight and turned it on, illuminating the room we had spent a night in. It was humid, and I thought something stank. The table was upside down, and a few pillows were at the entryway to the room. The tack board on the wall had fallen down and laid out flat on the floor. Mana opened the closet and found nothing.

We stepped out for fresh, cool air looking around the building. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary either. I heard an electronic cackle on my earpiece and heard Aimi’s voice again.

“I’m safe right now. I’m at a nearby depot,” she said, sending us the address.

“Mind explaining what happened?” I said.

“I need to catch my breath for a second, ok? Just get over here, and I’ll tell you.”

With no other choice, we drove to the address she gave us. Soon, we arrived at a storage facility. The building’s lights were still brightly lit even in the night. There was a black car parked in front, and its windows were darkly tinted. I thought I saw smoke inside but ignored it and entered the facility. We saw a storage unit already open with a few white tank top guards posted outside. They stepped aside when they saw us, and we entered the unit.

Aimi was sitting on a plastic stool, a laptop on a small table. There were two other stools prepared for us.

“Aimi, are you ok?” said Mana.

She shifted her gaze from the laptop screen to us. “Yeah, I’m ok right now.”

“What happened?”

She steadied her breath. “Before I knew it, the power was cut off, and the door was smashed open. I couldn’t see in the dark, but some guy was standing there with a bat. I managed to pepper spray him and run out, but he still came after me. And then I was saved by her—I mean my men. They shot at him twice before he ran off.”

“This guy—what did he look like?” I said.

“I couldn’t see him well, but I think he only had one eye.”

Mana and I glanced at one another.

“You know him?”

“Yeah. We had a run in with him once. He’s Kamiko’s personal assassin.”

We sat there, bewildered that he was still alive. Silence gripped us, but it was broken by Aimi.

“Well, thanks to you guys, we got a view of Kamiko’s face, but I think it’ll surprise you.”

She turned her laptop to face the screen towards us. Sure enough, Aimi was right. On the screen was a picture of a lone woman walking through the airport, heading for the exit. Other than the face, she wasn’t similar at all to the woman we had met that day. Her face was kind and innocent, her clothes were what everyday women would wear. This was not the person I expect to have bribed cops and sent an assassin after us.

“How’d she go from this to taking over the city?” I said.

“In less than a month too,” said Mana.

Aimi shook her head. “I don’t know, but at least we have her face now. I’ll spread this around and let you guys know if I found something.”

Mana peered outside the storage unit where the two guards continued their watch. “It’s not safe here. That assassin might come back.”

Aimi closed her laptop and stood up from the stool. “I need to be getting back to headquarters. Will you guys come with, or would you rather get to the airfield?”

“The airfield. It’s night, so we’ll have an advantage,” said Mana.

“We’ll need gear,” I said.

She left the storage and faced the one next to it, crouching and unlocking it with a key. She stepped away, beckoning for one of the guard to open it for her. As it slid open, we saw a plentiful supply of weapons, from pistols to rifles lining the walls. Ammo cartridges were piled in the back of the unit.

“Didn’t know you guys were also arms dealer,” I said.

“Not at all. The price of these fell around a year ago, and we just bought a lot.”

It was great that there was such a large selection of weapon to choose from, but our objective was only to sneak into the air tower and get the information like we did in the airport.

“We’re looking for protection. Body armor and such,” I said.

She went to another storage unit, unlocked it, and had it opened. Inside were multiple bulletproof vests and helmets neatly lining the walls. They were all covered by a thin layer of dust.

“Price of these also fell a year ago?”

“A few months ago, actually.”

We browsed the selection of armor and weighed them, looking for our preference. They were all black and were fairly heavy. We chose the lightest one and put them on.

Aimi led us outside, and she faced the sky. A buzz came from overhead, and we saw something flying. It grew larger as it got closer, and I recognized it as the helicopter from a couple hours ago. Its silhouette seemed to larger than before as it looked like something extra was attached to the front. Gusts of wind rustled our clothes and the trees nearby. It landed on the parking lot, and the familiar pilot was inside. He stepped out and greeted us.

“It’s you two again,” said Tamotsu, a faint smile on his face.

We greeted him and formally introduced ourselves.

“There’s a clearing near the airfield. He’ll land there, and you’ll have to continue on foot,” said Aimi. “If things get hot, he’ll help you out.”

With a nod, she walked off towards her car, and before her hand reached the handle, she looked back. “Remember, if anything goes wrong, just get out of there. The data is secondary.” With the guards and her inside the car, they drove off.

We followed Tamotsu to the helicopter and climbed inside. The blades whirled above, and we were off the ground. I could see Aimi’s car from a distance, and we rose so far until she was no longer visible. The night cityscape gleamed underneath us, and it blurred past as we flew to the airfield. Unlike a couple hours ago, the aircraft felt heavier and was slower for some reason.

“How you holding up, Tamotsu?” said Mana.

“I’m alright. This mission is a bit dangerous, but it’s the least I can do for you who helped me keep my job.”

“We’ll try our best not to get you into danger.”

“I can handle myself, you know?” He chuckled. “It’s a few hours until we get there. Why don’t you two get some shut eye?”

We nodded and stared out the window. Despite the discomfort of sitting in a helicopter, sleep drifted over me none the less. After this was all over, I was going to tell the detective to get a proper bed in the office.