Secret Empire

The two black-clad figures stood in a frozen pose two hundred yards from the target house. Only their eyes moved as they scanned the surrounding terrain. They were a well trained and experienced team. The leader motioned he would take the back entrance and the second man nodded his understanding. They unslung their automatic weapons fitted with long silencers and readied them in firing mode.

They wore no insignia or personal identification tags. This was a normal precaution in such a mission although the chances of anything going wrong were considered almost non existent. After all, they had fifteen successful missions in wartime against military targets and their targets this time were two civilians, one a middle aged man and the other a young woman. Nevertheless, there was that one in a million chance of discovery, hence the absence of identification. It was unacceptable that the government of Brazil should find out this assassination on their land was carried out by soldiers of the United States.

The colonel’s instructions had been explicit.

“We anticipate the only occupants of the house to be the two targets; however, eliminate anyone else in the house. Search the house thoroughly, there must be no mistake. Do not hesitate just because they are civilians. Remember they are Japanese and considered a serious threat to our country.”

The colonel did not like the idea of murdering unarmed civilians, Japanese or not, but orders had to be obeyed. He wondered who they were and who had decided to eliminate them. He did not know the names of the targets nor the threat they posed. He had been given his instructions and was told he did not need to know the details. The instructions had come from U.S. intelligence in occupied Japan. The intelligence officer in Tokyo believed the information he had obtained justified this action, although even he admitted to himself it was not complete.

Just over one year following the end of hostilities, the search for leading war figures continued in Japan. It was then that a senior advisor to the Emperor was serendipitously brought to the attention of military intelligence. He was seriously injured when the car in which he was being driven was rammed by a large US military truck at the head of a small convoy. The driver of the car was killed. The accident was the fault of the American driver of the truck, who had been thinking of his impending transfer back to the States and consequently, had temporarily forgotten he had to drive on the left in Japan. The officer in charge of the convoy thought it might somewhat atone for this error by quickly taking the injured man to the main American hospital where there were highly skilled surgeons. While under diagnosis the man began muttering in an agitated manner. An army interpreter was called and reported that the man kept repeating, “Empire must be protected, Empire must be protected.”

The Intelligence HQ was contacted. By the time the senior officer arrived the accident had been reported by the police to the palace. A message was sent from the palace to Army general headquarters informing them of the injured man’s senior status and asking that he be transferred to the palace as soon as he was able to be moved. The officer at GHQ promised to do so and immediately contacted all hospitals to find the location of the injured man. When the intelligence officer heard of this he decided to extract as much information as possible from this important Japanese before releasing him. He instructed the senior doctor to administer sodium pentothal. Then, through the interpreter, he questioned the man.

“What is Empire?”

“Must be protected,” mumbled the man.

“Who must be protected?”

The response was incoherent.

“Tell me about Empire.”

There was no reply for several seconds then the man spoke in a surprisingly strong voice.

“Our great nation will triumph because of Empire.”

Now the intelligence officer was intensely interested.

“Who is in command of Empire?”

There were more mumblings from the man.

“What did he say?” he demanded of the interpreter.