A Modern Nemo 31

"Saya," said the mother as Chidori handed the baby over to her, "we decided to give that name if it was a girl."

"Saya-chan," said the mother ash she cradled the baby with her right arm. The father sat down beside her and held the baby as well.

"What was that song?" asked an awed Shoji.

"Suo Gan," replied Chidori, "I learned it in England."

"And she is our first citizen!" proclaimed Konstantiniadis with a raised thumb. He put his hands on Chidori 's and Shoji's shoulders. "I'd like to thank you all!" he continued, "for now, let's celebrate!"

A cheer went up.

The next day a man in white entered a bookstore after breakfast. Ruyichi Hayashi wanted to see some of the books for sale and a shelf caught his attention.

He had been reading for several minutes when he heard a familiar voice behind him speak in Japanese with a playful tone, "It's been a while, Ryuichi-kun. I didn't think you'd be here in Heraklion."

Hayashi responded in an equally playful tone, "I didn't expect you to show up either, Taro-kun. Are you on vacation?"

Both men  had their backs to each other, each one minding the books of the shelf he was facing.

"No, I'm not on vacation, Ryuichi-kun. I have a job."

"Let me guess, Taro-kun. You're working for Konstantiniadis this time?"

"Of course, Ryuichi-kun. And you're on official business as well, aren't you?"

"Surprised?"

"Initially. When those amateurs put the pair of  scissors on my boss' desk, I knew my good friend Ryuichi Hayashi was in town."

"And what is my good friend Taro Mori going to do? Turn me in?"

"Oh no, no, Ryuichi-kun," replied Mori. "You know I'm not like that."

"Knowing you, you haven't told your boss everything when you applied, haven't you?"

"Quite correct, Ryuich-kun," replied Mori. "To him, I go by the name of Carlos Bosque."

"That is so like you, Taro-kun: Carlos Bosque, Karel Bos, Karl Wald, Sen Tailang, Woody Charleston, Charles Laforet , Sup Tae-rang-"

"Whatever. I just wanted to catch up with my good friend Ryuichi-kun."

"You're quite the mercenary. Is there anything else?"

"Onodera-senpai  is here as well, yes? It would be excellent if the three of us got together again."

"And how are you going to do that, the usual way?"

"I'll extend an invitation, Ryuichi-kun. I hope you'll come," replied Mori. He set the book down and headed for the door, Hayashi following him.

Onodera approached the bookstore entrance when out came another Asian man around Hayashi's height and dresssed completely in black: fedora, v-necked t-shirt, blazer with rolled-up sleeves and slacks. His hands were in his pockets. This man tipped his hat while passing by Onodera. "Nice to see you again, Onodera-senpai," he said.

Onodera didn't move but followed the man from the corner of his eye. Hayashi came out from behind and stopped next to him.

"So he's here as well, isn't he?" remarked Onodera.

"He is," replied Hayashi, "and he's working for them."

"If he's here, then that means he is here as well," said Onodera, turning and looking at Mori.

As Mori continued walking, he lifted a hand and waved at them without turning around. Then he pointed to the tower of a nearby church. Onodera and Hayashi could see someone at the tower's balcony looking straight at them.

"That Dutch zombie," Onodera concluded.

Suo Gan

Lorenzo: The title of the song Chidori sang is "Suo Gan." It's a traditional Welsh lullaby. Here's a version of it being sung in church. King's College, I believe. And here's another one with the lyrics and translation:

Anselmo: I like the second version, but I don't understand why the y's and u's pronunciations got mixed up.

Lorenzo: It's another language; do the math.

A Modern Nemo 30

The four agents hadn't returned with their respective quarries, making Mancini, who was sitting at his desk, somewhat on edge.

Tom Mancini was Konstantiniadis' head of security. He was a former FBI officer and fully committed to the latter's cause, being frustrated with corruption in law enforcement that he left his job. He had succeeded in loading weapons onto the company's ships, creating hidden armories for each vessel. Konstantiniadis had a new job for him -that, we will take up later!

It started when Kim Nam-ha returned to the port after he had gotten lost but was saved by a stranger. the young north Korean had excitedly spoken about his rescuer in a way that made Mancini suspicious. It was part of his job to make sure that none of the people the business tycoon had taken under his wing spill any of the secrets. He knew the north Korean was honest. So there must have been something else that was afoot. People were already wondering what happened when many youngsters were joining Green Oceans and Mancini was not above using threats and intimidation to keep nosy figures at bay; there were even some who ended up sleeping with the fish.

Presently, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," said Mancini.

In came four other security men with disturbed looks. These were the men he had sent out to find the others who had trailed the north Korean's rescuer and his mysterious acquaintance.

"What happened?" Mancini asked.

"We found them sir," said one of them unnervedly. "But they're all dead."

Dead. So someone powerful was taking active notice. Back in the United States, Mancini had bribed operatives of the federal government into not conducting investigations. This time, it obviously wasn't someone from back home.

"Did you find out anything else?"

"Hauser and Romano were killed by these scissors," said the leader of the group, producing the scissors in a ziploc bag. "Reynolds and Cartman were strangled to death."

"No," said another man. "More like their necks were broken."

There was another man in the room an Asian; he was seated on a sofa next to the door with his legs crossed, arms folded, head lowered and eyes deep in thought. Upon mention of the word "scissors," he opened his eyes as the scissors were placed on Mancini's desk. Mancini noticed this.

"Clean up everything," said Mancini, looking at the scissors, "and make sure the the local police don't ask any questions."

"Yes sir," said the men.

After the door was closed, Mancini turned to the man sitting right next to it. "You know anything about this?" he asked him.

"I already have suspicions," came the reply.

"Look into it."

The Asian man stood up, bowed to Mancini and walked out the door.

The baby was delivered before the doctor arrived. It was a girl. She was crying a lot; even when placed next to her mother, she didn't calm down. While everybody was overjoyed, they were also wondering how to calm her down. When given to her father, she didn't stop crying. When given to Konstantiniadis, she didn't stop crying. When given to Shoji, she, well, didn't stop crying.

Finally, Chidori took her, rocked her gently and sang a song in a language that was neither english nor japanese:

Huna blentyn ar fy mynwes

Clyd a chynnes ydyw hon;

Breichiau mam sy'n dynn amdanat,

Cariad mam sy dan fy mron;

Ni chaiff dim amharu'th gyntun,

Ni wna undyn â thi gam;

Huna'n dawel, annwyl blentyn,

Huna'n fwyn ar fron dy fam.

Huna'n dawel, heno, huna,

Huna'n fwyn, y tlws ei lun;

Pam yr wyt yn awr yn gwenu,

Gwenu'n dirion yn dy hun?

Ai angylion fry sy'n gwenu,

Arnat ti yn gwenu'n llon,

Tithau'n gwenu'n ôl dan huno,

Huno'n dawel ar fy mron?

Paid ag ofni, dim ond deilen

Gura, gura ar y ddôr;

Paid ag ofni, ton fach unig

Sua, sua ar lan y môr;

Huna blentyn, nid oes yma

Ddim i roddi iti fraw;

Gwena'n dawel yn fy mynwes

Ar yr engyl gwynion draw.

When she finished singing the child went into a deep, peaceful sleep.