“Beyond that, we knew… precious little about the man, the real man.” –Hisao Nakai,
Hisao and Kenji: Master Detectives!
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Chapter Two: The Founder’s Tale
I didn’t train on weekends, but I did swim –though not as many laps as I normally would- so it was a bit weird getting up, eating, and heading to the airport without having gotten in some laps. It wasn’t helping my anxiety, either, as my mind had far more energy to wander than I preferred. At least we had gotten up when I normally would, not that that helped one way or the other. Fortunately I had plenty to focus my mind on as we made our way to the airport, as Miya and Kenji went over the itinerary and Hisato chirped on about how much fun the trip would be.
Kenji spent most of the trip going over the paper version of the itinerary, when he wasn’t exchanging brief phone calls with Mr. Nakai or speaking with Miya. Mostly it sounded like dealing with the travel arrangements, which was being handled via third party, or something. Other than the fact we weren’t going on a normal flight, I didn’t know much.
We reached the airport without incident, and after parking the car I took as many of the bags as I could while Kenji took the rest and Miya led us to meet the Nakai’s.
“We’ll be meeting them near the hangar,” Miya told me, “Since we managed to get a private flight for the trip.”
“Private flight?” I asked.
“Friend of the family,” Kenji replied, “He owed me and my partner a favor, and Hanako doesn’t like big planes and it cuts the flight time in about half, so when he offered us a lift, we went for it.”
I nodded and shifted the weight on my shoulders slightly. I had weighed myself down a bit with the bags, but it was the closest thing I was going to get to a workout, and I wanted to make sure I helped as much as possible.
The airport terminal was mostly comprised of two stories of white concrete and metal with tinted glass, with a slanting metal roof, though a portion was a multi-story gray concrete block. Overall the airport seemed small to me, but I had looked it up and since it was only a regional airport, the size made sense.
Despite the small size, the airport was relatively busy. Cars were loading and unloading people bogged down with bags and suitcases, while herds of people filed off or onto buses, and taxi’s wormed their way through it all to get to their riders.
It was also really noisy, and the hairs on my neck stood up as some of the random clanks and clunks threatened to trigger emotions I’d really rather not experience. I gritted my teeth and focused on my breathing to block out the sounds, which kept me from seeing Things.
Instead of walking into the terminal itself, Kenji and Miya led us to a smaller attached building to the right of the main building, which looked identical to the larger concrete one on the other end of the structure. Instead of wide open glass doors, the entrance was a simple double-door made of metal and marked as for authorized personnel only.
Instead of herds of people, men and women in jumpsuits and flight attendants moved in and out alone or in small clutches, occasionally escorting a small group of passengers into or out of the airport. Besides the random taxi meandering its way over, there was almost no vehicle traffic there, either. Most of the departing passengers who left that way headed to the buses near the main terminal or the passenger parking lot.
“You see her?” Kenji asked Miya.
Miya nodded and called out in English, “
Hey, Malik!”
A young woman in a black and gold pilot uniform waved, but didn’t call back. She was standing off to the side of the smaller gate, out of the way of the small trickle of foot traffic.
“That’s our pilot,” Kenji stated, “Faridah Malik,” looking down at Hisato as he clung to his arm, he smirked and added, “You probably don’t remember her.”
Hisato shook his head as he watched the woman.
“You’ve flown with her before?” I asked.
Kenji nodded, “Four times so far. Last time was a little over a year ago. Miya got a commission in the States and the friend owed us back then, too –different favor.”
I nodded and watched as Miya picked up her pace to reach the pilot. As we got closer I noticed she had dark brown hair –almost black, really- that was a bit longer than mine. She had a small beauty mark above her upper lip on the right side of her face. The jacket of her uniform had the patch of a company logo I didn’t recognize, along with several identification and clearance tags clipped onto various pockets. The pilot waited until we had all approached before speaking.
“
Hey,” she said in English,“
Been a while, hasn’t it?”
Kenji grinned and nodded, “
You might not remember our son, Hisato.”
Hisato bowed to the pilot and introduced himself in Japanese, which Kenji translated.
The pilot smiled down at Hisato, “
Hello, Mr. Setou. Nice to see you again; you’re a lot bigger than the last time I saw you.”
Hisato beamed when that was translated.
Kenji glanced behind him at me and opened his mouth, but before he could speak Miya stepped aside so the pilot could see me better and said, “This is our Little Lamb, Kim Soon-hee.”
I bowed to the pilot, “
Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”
The pilot seemed surprised I knew English, but returned the bow and replied, “
Nice to meet you, too. As you’ve no doubt figured out, I’m Faridah Malik, your pilot for the flight to Manila. You can call me Malik though –everybody does.”
“
Hisao and the gang are already here, right?” Kenji asked.
Malik nodded, “
They got here a few minutes ago; they came early so Hanako could make sure they loaded her baby properly.”
Kenji chuckled, “
Wonder which one she brought this time.”
“
Some custom job she’s been tinkering with,” Miya replied, “
We went on a test spin last week. But we should probably head through, right?”
Malik nodded, “
We’re scheduled to leave soon, so I’ll take you through and to the plane,” perhaps worried I was overloaded, she added, “
I can also grab any bags if you need me too.”
“
I’m fine,” I stated, “
but thank you for offering.”
Malik smiled and nodded before gesturing to the double-doors, “
This way, please.”
Malik led us through the smaller gate and into the building. The inside looked like a smaller version of what my research indicated an airport terminal would look like, only much more utilitarian and drab. After going through a quick but thorough check-in and scan, we continued outside onto the tarmac. Before we got there I made sure to focus on the sound of Kenji’s footsteps, hoping it would help block out the other noise.
The noise on the other side of the terminal was incessant, everywhere, and loud. Really loud; planes taking off, taxiing, or landing, their engines rumbling and whining the entire time. Trucks, cars, and carts roaming around, their engines adding to the din while employees barked and shouted to be heard. It seemed to echo everywhere and reverberate in my skull, and it hurt. I kept my composure and focused on the footsteps, which helped dull the other noises a bit.
The bigger planes had hangars on the right side of the airport, while on the left there were much smaller hangars and a couple of helicopter pads. We were walking toward the nearest hangar, which looked to have some activity as people in jumpsuits bustled in and out. As we got closer I was eventually able to see the plane; a relatively small, sleek jet painted black and gold with big, blocky gold letters along the side that read SARIF INDUSTRIES.
“Sarif Industries?” I read aloud, “The augmetics company?”
“That’s right,” Kenji replied.
I thought about asking how someone from Sarif knew Kenji and Mr. Nakai, but I decided it wasn’t my place. When we got into the hangar the outside noise dimmed down quite a bit, and I sighed in relief.
“
Hey Hisao!” Malik called, “
They’re here!”
Something was happening on the other side of the plane, as a group of airport ground crewmen were using a forklift to try and fit a very large wooden crate into the plane’s cargo compartment. From behind them came a group of people; Mrs. Nakai was the first and only one I recognized, her long sleek hair done up in a ponytail. She seemed completely focused on the operation going on near the plane, and once she was fully in view she stopped walking towards us and turned toward the loading of the crate.
Accompanying the Director was a man that looked about her age with brown hair. Based on what pictures I had seen at the Setou’s, I figured he was Mr. Nakai. A pace behind him was a young man who looked like a younger version of him, and trotting along with him were two young girls, one with hair the same color as Mrs. Nakai’s, the other with brown hair like her father. Mr. Nakai turned and said something to his wife, who said something back, and he continued walking over to us.
“Hey, man!” Mr. Nakai said to Kenji, “
Hey, Malik.”
“
Hey,” Malik said, “
They still haven’t loaded it yet?”
Mr. Nakai sighed and shook his head, “
Smaller plane, tighter fit.”
“
They better hurry,” Malik said, “
We’re scheduled to leave in twenty. Hey, careful with that!”
Malik bolted over to the crew as they struggled to work the crate, while the Director started barking at them, clearly irritated about something. I had no idea she could get so riled up, but then again I had only met her twice; once at the hospital and again during a campus tour.
Kenji chuckled at the scene, “Emperor help them if something happens to her baby.”
Mr. Nakai nodded and glanced behind him, “If they don’t get it in on time Hana’s gonna flip.”
Miya leaned sideways and tilted her head slightly, “I think they got it.”
“I hope so. Anyway,” he turned to me and stuck out his left hand for me, “Hisao Nakai, Hanako’s husband and Kenji’s partner. You must be Miss Kim Soon-hee.”
I lowered one of the bags I was holding so I could shake Mr. Nakai’s hand, “Pleasure to meet you, Sir. Um, you can just call me Soon-hee.”
Mr. Nakai smiled and nodded. Gesturing at the three children, he added, “These are our kids, obviously. My son, Akio.”
Mr. Nakai’s son jumped and coughed into his hand before bowing lightly, “Nice to meet you, Miss Kim.”
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