1945

"Colonel, we need three pieces of directional information to locate a transmitter, which is, of course, why the method is called triangulation. One or two will only give us a long line, and the traitor could be broadcasting from anywhere along that line, which could conceivably stretch around the earth. Three sources is an absolute necessity, and we must have them before the spy's radio is moved. We have been able to get one, sometimes two positions, but never three because the hills and valleys block the signal. The roads are so miserable that we cannot get our trucks with the triangulation gear out into the valleys to set up for that third source.

"To be truthful, sir, triangulation works best in an urban environment, not the countryside. The spy transmits in short bursts, rarely more than a couple of minutes each time, and it takes us hours to set up, if we are able to get out into the field in the first place. By then, he is always off the air well before we can establish meaningful contact. He is cunning and never broadcasts from the same location. The best we've been able to do is identify a fifty-square-mile area in which he is operating."

Sakei took a deep breath to control himself. Even though he'd like to strangle the insolent and pompous kempei puppy, he was telling the truth. They would find the spy when he made a mistake, and not sooner. He reassured himself with the knowledge that most people in such a situation would make a mistake sooner or later. Sakei could only hope the mistake occurred before the war ended.

"Are you still able to translate his messages?"

The officer beamed, delighted to change the subject. "Indeed, sir. He is still using the very simple code he started with, and we now suspect it's the only one he has. Moreover he is rotating his frequencies on a predictable basis. Again, we think he was given only a few to work with, so we are able to anticipate him and listen to his transmissions.

"Sir, the spy continues to give the Americans information about our food resources, the medical conditions in the area, and the units and numbers of men coming through the area. We think he was a soldier because he uses a soldier's terminology and comments on their condition and weapons rather skillfully. There are those who suspect that the spy is an American from the phrases he uses, but it may be a Japanese citizen who spent some time in the United States."

Sakei agreed with that possibility, although he still wondered at the spy's place of origin. More and more he too had wondered if the spy actually was a Japanese. He recalled that many Japanese had emigrated to the United States in the years and decades past. Could one of them be the spy? he asked the kempei lieutenant.

"Yes, Colonel, it could. We believe there are a number of people of Japanese descent working for the Americans. That would tie in with the spy's comments about a submarine that was sunk. We weren't certain whether it brought him, or his supplies, or both. He seems to have picked up an accomplice as well. He informed his contacts that someone was with him by running off a string of numbers. As we now have an index of all American POWs, we were able to identify the numbers as belonging to an American officer we'd thought had been killed in the Nagasaki bombing. He must have survived and then run off into the hills in the ensuing confusion. If so, he was lucky. Mobs have caught other Americans and ripped them to pieces."

The lieutenant added that he thought that the last bit of information was both good and bad news. Bad because he now had two people on the run and two to search for. Two could help each other and stand guard over each other. But the news was also good, because at least one of the two was likely a Caucasian, a white-skinned gaijin. Those few whites who remained free in Japan were diplomats from neutral countries. They were kept near their diplomatic postings in Tokyo, unless they were taken out on a carefully guided venture to see some American atrocity. Thus, any white-skinned American would, as they themselves said, stick out like a sore thumb. The spy would have great difficulty hiding his companion.

Sakei stood and dismissed the lieutenant, who disappeared gratefully. Sakei then walked to a connecting tent where Emperor Hirohito was held.

"Well," said the emperor, "still unable to find your spy?"

"He will be caught," Sakei replied stiffly.

"And the American invasion, what further news on that?"

"It is my understanding that our defenses are holding and that counterattacks are taking place."

Hirohito smiled grimly. "In other words, the Americans have landed successfully and the Japanese army has been unable to drive them off. General Anami must be proud of what he has brought to Japan."