“Of course, I sympathize with your position, Prime Minister. But you must understand that I’m not a politician. I’m a soldier. I won’t turn my back on these brave men and the sacrifices they made for our country.”

“Even if the people of Japan have to suffer the consequences of your actions?”

“I doubt any discomfort they might experience would compare to what was suffered by the men whose souls rest here, Prime Minister.”

Takahashi cut off the call and stepped from the vehicle, barely aware of the competing shouts from the protesters on either side. He walked the barricaded corridor between them, focused on the Shinto priest waiting on the other end. The holy man wore the white robe demanded by tradition, and it flowed gracefully in the breeze as the general approached.

The countries that pretended to rule the world had become weak. Europe was fractured and useless. Russia was sinking into a disastrous kleptocracy that would inevitably lead to another revolution. China’s corruption continued to grow as it destroyed everything it laid its hands on in the name of unfettered greed.

Even the United States, which had been such a force for stability in the world, had been transformed into a bickering, bankrupt shadow of its former self. It could no longer be trusted to govern itself, let alone show leadership to a rising Asia or control the Middle East as it descended into chaos.

Nature abhorred a vacuum and America was leaving one that would prove catastrophic. Only he and his closest advisers understood it yet, but a new era was dawning. This was to be Japan’s time.

Takahashi stopped and bowed respectfully to the priest, the hair standing on the back of his neck as it always did in this place. One day he too would be honored here. People would remember him as the man who changed Japan—and the world—forever.

10

10

Tokyo
Japan

Can I get you another cup of coffee?”

Kaito Yoshima—his name when he was in Japan—answered the young waitress with a smile and flawless Japanese. Even if she’d been a student of subtle accents she would have placed him in the northeastern part of the island. Certainly she would never have dreamed that he’d been born and raised outside Dingxi, China.

He admired her as she weaved through the crowded coffee shop, dodging the knots of animated conversation with practiced agility. His preferences leaned more toward the exotic, but even he had to admit that there was something special about this girl. French wasn’t one of his four languages and he strained to remember the phrase. A certain je ne sais quoi.