Fortunes of War by Stephen Coonts Read Free Book Online Page A

sipped the whiskey.
    â€œDo you think it’s possible that a faction, shall we say, in the Japanese government might have had a hand in the emperor’s assassination?”
    â€œI had dinner this evening with an officer in the Japanese Self-Defense Force, the air arm, and he said the officers are with Abe almost to a man. They think he’s going to save the nation.”
    â€œThe killers were soldiers, I believe.”
    â€œThat’s what the government is telling the press. I suppose some high official might have enlisted some zealots to undertake a suicide mission. There is historical precedence, as I recall.”
    â€œThere is precedent by the page,” the ambassador admitted. He concentrated on savoring the golden liquid.
    â€œThe assassination is going down pretty hard with the guy on the street,” the colonel said. “I rode the train back to Tokyo. The people in the subways and trains seem pretty upset.”
    â€œMurder is a filthy business,” the ambassador muttered.
    â€œThis officer I had dinner with tonight…he told me some thingsthat he shouldn’t have. Perhaps the news of the assassination made him feel that…Oh, I don’t know!”
    Cassidy brushed the thought away, unwilling to try to analyze his friend or make polite excuses for him. Jiro did what Jiro felt he had to do. “The Japanese have developed, manufactured, and put in service about one hundred new, highly capable fighter planes.” The colonel weighed his words. “They are more capable than anything in our inventory, according to my source.”
    â€œHow good is your source?”
    â€œBeyond reproach. One hundred percent credible.”
    The ambassador poured himself another drink, offered more to the colonel, who refused. Cassidy could see his and the ambassador’s reflections in the window glass. Beyond the reflections were the lights of Tokyo.
    â€œThe thing my source confided in me that I believe you should know, sir, is this: His squadron is packing for deployment in the near future.”
    â€œDeployment where?”
    â€œRussia, he thought.”
    â€œThe appeal for Japanese help by the native minorities—there was a television broadcast about them last night. According to the government, they are the racial cousins of the Japanese.” The ambassador channel-surfed with his television remote. He had picked up more than a smattering of the language.
    â€œPerhaps they will just move your source’s squadron to another base here in Japan,” Stanley P. suggested to Cassidy.
    â€œThat is possible, sir. My source didn’t think so, though. He thinks the squadron is going a lot farther than that.”

Chapter Three
    When Masataka Okada returned to his office after lunch everyone in the department was watching television—a day after Emperor Naruhito’s assassination, the television types were still microan-alyzing the implications. Okada’s office was fairly large by Japanese standards, about ten feet by ten feet, but all the walls above waist level were glass. Apparently the architect believed that the best way to keep spies in line was to let them watch one another.
    Okada had spent the morning decoding the message from an agent with the code name of Ten, or Ju in Japanese. Alas, it was forbidden to input messages this highly classified into the computer, so the work had to be done by hand.
    He had completed the decoding, a tedious task, then did the translation and typed the result before lunch. Now he removed the file from his personal safe and read the translation again.
    The message was important, no question.
    Very important. In fact, Masataka Okada suspected that the future of both Japan and Russia hinged on the contents of this two-page message from Agent Ju. Of course, Okada had no idea who Ju actually was, but he obviously had access to the very top leadership in the Russian army. He also had access to the contents of