3
“Wintery day,
On my horse
A frozen shadow.”
― Matsuo Bashō
Yukon Station, Alaska Prefecture
Captain Hirako Atsumi sat in the train station watching wind driven snow stream sideways past the windows in the gray morning. The flying flakes mesmerized her, pulling her back to her days at Rikugun Yonen Gakko, the military preparatory school in Tokyo. As one of the first ten women admitted to the school, the severe discipline had been even more pronounced due to the misogynistic attitude of the Imperial Army and the Japanese culture as a whole. All ten women were expected to fail.
Hirako not only persevered, she excelled. Two of the women in her class quit during the first month. Before the rest graduated three had taken their own lives, and another three had been cut from the program. Only Moriko Satsumi and Hirako graduated and were permitted to attend the Nakano Intelligence School.
More women had followed their footsteps, of course. In the four years they spent at the academy their determination and industriousness earned the grudging admiration of their male classmates. Her mastery of aikido had saved her from rape and resulted in the attacker being expelled from the military after he mended in the hospital.
The attacker’s resulting act of seppuku absolved him of a dishonorable life. She often wondered if his official punishment had been for the crime of assault on another cadet, or the crime of not being successful at raping a mere woman.
Thereafter Hirako did her best to disguise her feminity and obvious pulchritude. When in uniform she was strictly military and businesslike, only in private did she relax and allow herself to indulge in small vices and pleasures.
She blinked and thought about her current assignment. As honcho for civilian personnel it was her duty to vet top echelon employees. Many Americans had been hired by the military in Alaska for the same reason the military had admitted women into the ranks, the massive loss of young Japanese men during the war.
Last week Mr. Suzuki had died a violent death. In less than a half hour she would welcome his replacement. To her knowledge, Mr. Fischer would be the first Jew she had ever met. The Reich worked diligently at their extermination and had reduced their numbers to a tiny fraction of what they had been in the 1930s.
On one hand she didn’t really care what the round eyes did to each other. On the other hand she understood that Jews were highly intelligent and therefore very useful. She had never understood the German mentality, but she certainly appreciated their technology.
I just wish they would share it with us.
A heavy gust of snow-laden wind howled past the window. The wind also carried the thin wail of the morning train. A quick glance around revealed the terminal filled with people waiting to board the train back to Fairbanks and points south.
The whistle sounded again, much closer this time. She also heard the engine bell announcing entry into the Yukon Station yards. When the massive engine rolled past the window she stood and watched the platform outside as the passenger cars ground to a stop.
The conductor lowered the steps and people streamed out of the coach and hurried through the heart-stopping cold to the station doors. Hirako pulled her parka together and buttoned it as the first gust of chilled air entered along with the arrivals through the second set of doors in the arctic entry. Most of the travellers knew where they were going and in classic Asian single-mindedness proceeded to the next point of their journey.
Finally three men wandered in, looking around and frowning with bewilderment.
“Mister Fischer!” she snapped, as if addressing an underclassman.
He jerked his head around and looked at her, shifting a suitcase from one hand to the other before giving her a third degree bow. She didn’t return it.
“How did you know who I was?”
“I didn’t until you looked at me when I said your name.” She held out her hand in the American manner. “I am Captain Atsumi, your direct supervisor.”
He hesitated, then shook her hand and said, “Pleased to meet you, captain. Thank you for meeting me. I’ve never been north of Livengood before.”
“You are welcome. However I must point out that this is part of my duties. You are here to fill large shoes and it is in my official interest to help you familiarize yourself.”
Fischer glanced around the room as people moved out to board the train. Even without her training she would have perceived that he was distinctly uncomfortable, even fearful.
“Do you have any luggage?”
“Just this. By the time I returned to my cabin in Livengood on Friday all of my possessions had been packed and moved up here. I figured food prices here would be higher than down there so I bought groceries.”
“Good thrifty thinking. Are you ready to go?”
“Of course,” he said in a dubious tone.
She stifled her smirk and led the way to her staff car. The driver stood by the back door and opened it for her. She slid across the seat and beckoned for Fischer to follow.
In moments the driver was maneuvering through the blowing snow and gusting wind.
“May I see your orders?”
He pulled the papers from an inside coat pocket and handed them to her. She glanced through them, and speculated if he read or spoke Japanese.
“I looked at them,” he said, “but since I don’t read or speak Japanese they didn’t reveal very much.”
I wonder if he just read my mind.
“You said you had never before visited the Project. Do you know what is being done here?”
“Not a clue. Until Friday I didn’t have the necessary clearance and since then I’ve not had the means or opportunity to investigate. I spent the week end wondering what lay in store for me up here.”
“If you are as diligent in your labors here as you have been in Livengood, you will be rewarded with enhanced status and pay. We will further discuss the goals and scope of the Project in my office.”
As he listened to her he stared out the side window at the large buildings, the three-meter fencing, and military vehicles. The car stopped at a security point. Captain Atsumi rolled down her window and nodded at the guard. He snapped to attention and saluted as the gate opened and the car moved forward.
The driver pulled up in front of a three-story building. She opened her door and got out, motioning for Fischer to follow. They hurried up the steps and entered the structure. Once through the arctic entry the over-heated air in the building enveloped them.
“My god, but it’s hot in here!” Fischer blurted.
Captain Atsumi didn’t think it politic to point out that the most important person in this building was nearly eighty years old and he intensely disliked cold.
“This way, please.” She nodded to the security guard at the desk inside the door and walked up the steps, carefully not swaying her hips too much. She wasn’t sure why she clenched her jaw, other than it was a coin toss between military attitude and concentration.
Once on the second floor she unlocked her office door and entered.
Fischer followed her in and stopped, glancing around while exuding anxiety and sudden sweat. She noticed he still had the suitcase handle gripped tightly in his left hand.
“Please close the door and sit down, Mr. Fischer.”
He sat the suitcase down next to the closest chair and pulled the door shut.
“Do you want me to lock it?”
“No. Please take off your parka and sit.” Her coat already hung on its hook, and she settled into the chair behind her desk.
He removed his parka and laid it over the suitcase as he sat down.
“So what do they do here?”
“What do you think they do?”
“I really have no idea. My old job was to insure there were adequate laborers and supplies to keep the railroad operational between here and the border of Yukon Station. Beyond that I never asked about, or was told of, the nature of Yukon Station. I didn’t have the security clearance for that information”
She frowned and looked away for a moment.
Where to start?
“Actually it is a very long conversation and there are preparations that must take precedence. Suffice it to say that you will continue to handle personnel procurements and supervision of the entire railway from here to Fairbanks.”
“Couldn’t I have done that from Livengood, captain?”
“Of course, but General Yamashita wished to have you here for his convenience.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Did Major Miamatsu reveal your secondary role?”
“Secondary role? No, he did not mention a secondary role.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and crossed his legs.
Hirako nearly laughed.
“Mr. Suzuki was also a Kempeitai operative.”
“The secret police?” He actually moaned before he could contain himself.
“Why are you so agitated, Mr. Fischer?”
“I know nothing about police work or investigating!”
“All that is required of you is careful observation. Nothing more.”
He uncrossed his legs but held his arms firm over his chest.
“Observation, of what?”
“Everyone with whom you come into contact. Workers, soldiers, civilians, everybody.”
“What am I watching for with all this observation?”
“Aberration, unusual actions, suspicious behavior, that sort of thing.”
His obvious reticence surprised her. All of the Americans she had previously met were more than eager to accept more power and prestige, no matter what the cost to them or others.
He glanced around the room and refocused on her.
“How would I know if something was unusual or anything? I just got here.”
“I don’t expect you to discover a nest of saboteurs immediately,” she said with a smile. “We want you to be very aware of existing conditions at the beginning of your tour. That way if something odd transpires, you will notice it.”
“Are you Kempeitai?”
Let him figure that out, she thought.
“Allow me to show you your new office.” She stood and he shot to his feet, bent over and grabbed his gear. Captain Atsumi straightened her uniform dress and led him through the door and down the steps.
She thumbed back over her shoulder.
“The third floor holds the offices of Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his deputy, Major General Tsuji. To step on that level without an invitation from one of them would mean your death.”
“I understand,” he said.
She stopped in front of a door. “This is your office.” She opened the door and walked through.
A woman straightened to her feet behind the desk and snapped into a first-degree bow.
“This is your secretary, Tomiko Watanabe. She is your gatekeeper and you will find her most valuable.”
Still in a bow, the secretary said, “Welcome, Mr. Fischer.”
“Thank you,” he said and motioned for her to straighten. He glanced around. “And where am I to sit?”
Both women laughed and Watanabe hurried over and opened another door.
“This is your office, sir, much more comfortable, neh?”
“I’ll leave you to Tomiko’s care, Mr. Fischer. Please report to my office at 0900 tomorrow.”
Without waiting for a reply Captain Atsumi left the room.