Consequences Unforeseen

Tokyo - June 16th 1991 - 5pm

Douglas simply returned the slap on the back and said nothing. He was asking himself what the Hell could a new toy be here at the airport? And shook his head with eyebrows raised in a quizzical way.

Yoshikawa caught the look, took it for humorous skepticism and retorted, “You’ll thank me soon Douglas san, because you’ll be in the center of Tokyo in twenty five minutes.”

He spun Douglas gently around and took his arm as he guided him back through the masses, waved off security and traversed the departure gates out onto the apron itself.

Silent during the fifteen minute walk back, Yoshikawa now continued, “Keiko and Kris have been up to some mischief while you’ve been away and they are anxious to show off to you, so they asked me to come pick you up,” and he gave Douglas a wide smile with a big wink added for good measure.

He continued, “But I wanted to come anyway. Seems like you’ve been up to some interesting shenanigans,” and he paused as if enjoying his own use of the Scottish expression, and then moved on with, “while you were away. I feel like I need to hear them from the horse’s mouth rather than the intelligence chatter floating around the US Embassy.”

Douglas thought to himself that Yoshikawa probably knew more than he did himself about the bullshit being conducted between the British Prime Minister and the American President. He also probably had the insight on how Yelstin had managed to outfox the old fox Gorbachev and have himself elected on the 12th and confirmed today, the 16th of June as the President of Russia SSR.

Douglas looked forward to hearing Yoshikawa’s take on all of it, but also couldn’t wait to see what this new toy was all about. Based on the Dragonfly experience to date, Douglas felt that he was correct to have the first tingles of excitement nibble at the base of his spine.

The evening’s progress saw the lights beginning to shimmer and the always on runway lights and guiding cones along the taxiways were starting to stand out in the mist of dense moist air that clung to the ground all over Narita. Not just the airport itself. The place was really just one big field of lush moist land. The airport was inserted, seemingly without thought or reason, just like a monopoly board might be on the carpet of a room. Ready to be played upon, but out of place.

So too was Yoshikawa’s “surprise”. It shimmered under the lights, seeming to give off a vibration that rose and fell around its surface. Yoshikawa had simply stopped as they turned the sharp right angled outcrop of the moving staircase. He let go of Bill’s arm so subtly that Bill was unaware.

Bill Douglas stood mesmerized and stunned. It was like a helicopter in that it had a central rotor with blades spinning slowly in the air. Otherwise it was low to the ground and sleek, looking more like an insect. This effect more startlingly enhanced with the darkened windows, like staring eyes and budding antenna pointing forward from the forehead of what was obviously the cabin.

It was fired up, the blades were spinning but totally silent. The ground crew more used to the aircraft of the day were also transfixed and frozen as if time had stopped. Yoshikawa told Bill later that they had begun to do that as he landed and looked like the same people were still there now.

“C’mon Bill, hayaku!  Get your backside in there and let me show you Tokyo in a different way and from a very different perspective.”