Zero Sum Game Read Free Page B

survival. Members of a species will do almost anything to continue their race's existence."
    "You think you know somebody." He was glad Dolim took that as a rhetorical comment. He knew Dolim had not made a mistake. He thought out loud, more to get Dolim's insights than anything else. "But Colonel Dolok, I mean Fujiya, isn't a planner. He might be going along with this scheme, but he certainly didn't come up with it. He must be helping someone else."
    He stood and looked in the mirror. He would have to recheck everyone at AHI. "Is there any chance Fujiya's suit recognized you?" he asked Dolim.
    "Unlikely," came the quick response.
    Ichihara straightened and tugged on his robes. "Change back into business mode," he ordered.
    He watched his clothes flow and swirl like syrup on a hot afternoon. The brown faded, now replaced by gray. A white shirt and red tie emerged from the coalescing mass. He held the hat in his hands, it turned into a viscous liquid and slid across his hands to join the material forming on his arms. Ichihara felt the suit moving over his flesh and armor plates like velvety water sliding over every square centimeter of him. In a few moments, he was in his business suit again. Any trace of the monk was gone. He was Hiroshi Ichihara.
    He exited the bathroom. The clerk gawked at him and Ichihara chuckled as he passed by. If the clothes make the man, he thought, I am the man of a thousand faces.
     
    — — —
     
    Amano Heavy Industries' company offices took up the entire second floor of the building.Yusuke Shimizu exited the elevator and walked straight through the open-air workspace to the office of Takeshi Amano, the founder and CEO. Fujiya followed a few steps behind.
    Shimizu had been to AHI enough times (and had orders issued by Amano himself) that he and Fujiya didn't need to check-in with the receptionist or be bothered by security. Shimizu had free access to Amano and the company, and everyone knew it. No one stopped them and few greeted them as they walked by. He intimidated them, even scared them, and that suited him fine. Little beings , he thought. The humans had an expression, what was it again? Ah, yes. Little fish in a big pond. That's what humans were: little fish mindlessly sailing through the big pond of the galaxy.
    Shimizu was well-built, with a fit physique. He had small eyes that seemed to almost shine, heavy arched eyebrows, and a cornered square jawline. Where his partner was round and curved, Shimizu was tight and angular. Fujiya had the aura of a thug, intimidating but of the mindless variety. Shimizu, on the other hand, seemed intimidating, but of the ruthless kind. If someone were to cross them, Fujiya would beat them up. Shimizu would make sure they paid in blood, along with their friends and family.
    Shimizu knocked on the windowless door to Amano's office and waited until he heard the CEO say, "Enter." Inside the darkened room, Amano stood up from behind his desk like a junior exec meeting the head boss, a file folder labeled "Project T" laying in front of him. He sat in front of the desk while Fujiya ambled his way around the back of the office. Amano looked back and forth between the two of them before settling in his chair. He was of average height and build, his face rough from stress with a pronounced chin and wide eyebrows. He wore thin-framed glasses.
    Shimizu tossed his briefcase into the empty chair beside him and sat.
    There were no windows in the office. Shimizu knew Amano didn't like windows or openness when it came to himself and his surroundings. He liked walls and closure. Shimizu had overheard Amano's employees refer to the office as "The Box." Unlike the open, neutral colors of the work area, dark browns, maroons, and greens suffocated the office. Heavy wooden furniture squatted in their places, and the walls were bare except for three prints: one depicting a World War II tank, one of the interior of Akiyoshidai Cavern—the largest limestone cavern in east Asia,