Stones (Data) (29 page)

“Bits and pieces, anecdotes handed down for more than two millennia.” The professor places a white piece on the board. “Much more than is generally known. Eventually, it led me to the location of the Holder and the real Magatama Stone.”

“Where is it?” The words jump out of Matt’s mouth before he can stop them.

Professor Yamamoto jerks up, eyeing Matt for a time. Then his body relaxes. “I suppose I can tell you. I’ve never told anyone else. Northern Honshu.”

“Can you tell me more about the Magatama Stone itself?” A sudden consuming curiosity overcomes Matt, and he tries to hide it by picking up a black piece and playing it quickly on the board.

“What would you like to know?”

“Is there more than one of the Stones?”

The professor leans forward with both elbows on the table. “Interesting that you would ask. I asked the Holder the same question, and he said it would be better for me not to know. But the old records say
yes
. In fact, they talk about using one Stone to locate another.”

“Does it ever change colors? Does it bond itself to the Holder so it can’t be taken away?” The words tumble out of Matt’s mouth. “Or discarded?”

Professor Yamamoto reaches for another game piece, but his hand stops in mid-air and moves back slowly. “Unusually perceptive. Yes to both.” His eyes narrow slightly.

“Did the Holder say anything about dreams?” Matt does his best to keep his gaze on the
goban
board.

“Yes, again. Based on my research, and what the Holder himself told me, the Stone gives its Holder a certain connection.”

“To what?”

“To other levels of reality.” The professor picks up a white piece and drops it down on the
goban
board alone, in an area away from any of Matt’s pieces.

“Other levels of reality? I don’t understand.”

Professor Yamamoto shakes his head. “Neither do I. Perhaps it is something one must experience to truly know.”

“Sensei, forgive me, but why haven’t you published any of this? You could say it’s a collection of folk myth uncovered in ancient writings discovered at Shinto shrines.” Matt fingers a black piece and puts it on the board. “I think people would find it interesting.”

“Perhaps it’s just fatigue. I’m tired of being laughed at.” Wrinkles appear above the professor’s bushy eyebrows. “But there’s another reason. Both the Holder of the Stone and my benefactor have forbidden that I publish any of my findings.”

“Your benefactor?”

“The corporation I told you about. They’re supporting my research. A few years ago, I ran into a former professor of archeology from Oxford who said he knew of my interest in the Magatama Stone. He said he left academia to work in a large company and offered to support my research. He has been most generous.” Professor Yamamoto lays down another white piece.

“So, you’ve been sending your research to him?” Matt surveys the board and places a black piece in one of the corners.

“Some of it, yes. But not all. I have started to notice that he has an unhealthy interest in learning how to exploit the powers of the Stones. It’s unsettling. If one of the Stones were to fall into the wrong hands, it would result in terrible…” Professor Yamamoto carefully places a white game piece at the end of a line of white stones on the board.

“Terrible what?”

The professor stares down at the
goban
board as if in silent contemplation. Turning to look out the window, more seconds pass in silence. “Matt, I sense I can trust you to keep my research on the Magatama Stone absolutely secret. I’ll get you started on a legitimate topic, one on which you can publish. Meanwhile, you can have a look at my research on the Magatama in your spare time. Agreed?”

“
Honto ni, arigato gozaimasu.
” Matt bows his head and feels his pulse quicken in his temples. “Thank you for indulging my selfish request.”

“Listen carefully.” Professor Yamamoto reaches for the
Complete Works of Shakespeare
and opens it up to the middle. A section of the pages is cut out, allowing space for a clear cube near the spine of the book. He picks up the memory jewel and holds it between his index finger and thumb. “This is where I keep all my research. There’s nothing on the Mesh. Too risky. You can look at it whenever you like, but don’t allow it to leave this office.”

“Understood.”

“In the meantime, how good is your classic Chinese?” Professor Yamamoto drops a white piece on the
goban
board and motions for Matt to take his turn.

“I can read well enough, but I still have trouble with place names and personal names.” Matt grabs a black piece and puts it down on the board. His hand goes into his pocket and comes out with his jax. “If I get stuck, I’ve always got this.”

“Good. There are some data files under my name at the library. They just came in from a royal burial mound discovered on the outskirts of Guilin in China. I need you to scan the files and look for this.” He hands Matt a handwritten string of Chinese characters. “Let’s hope you read Chinese better than you play
Igo
.” The professor lays down a white piece, closing a ring around three of Matt’s black pieces, all of which he picks off the board.

R
yzaard’s face goes white when he hears the news. “Are you certain?” He looks down at Jing-wei with flared nostrils and fire in his eyes.

“Yes.” Jing-wei drops the slate onto her lap. “I can assure you that I’ve checked and cross-checked the data at least ten times. There’s no mistake.” She closes her eyes for a long time and waits for Ryzaard to speak.

“How could this happen?” Ryzaard paces back and forth parallel to the window. “A boy accidently finds a Stone, has no idea what it is, flies to Japan and ends up as a research assistant for the only other Stone expert in the world.”

“Yamamoto is not the
only
other expert.”

“He understands the history and lore better than almost anyone on the planet. He was the one that led us to the other Holder in Northern Honshu.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Jing-wei stands still while Ryzaard paces back and forth.

“There’s only one thing we
can
do.” Ryzaard stops and picks up the Zeus statue from the desk. “Get the boy away from Yamamoto now. By any means possible. Before the old professor starts talking about the Stones and the kid realizes what he’s found.”

Jing-wei picks up her slate. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Shall I set up a call with Mr. Shinoda?”

“Yes, and tell him it’s extremely urgent. I want his men to move on this in a matter of minutes.”

M
att walks back to the main library lost in thought. Was the rock in his pocket one of the
Magatama
Stones
? Who was the Holder that Professor Yamamoto spoke of? What’s a corporation doing supporting the professor’s research? What could a Holder do with the Stone? He looks forward to pouring over the professor’s research. As a mass of thoughts flow through his mind, he notices his right hand has already slipped into the side pocket as if on its own. The fingers wrap around the Stone, falling into what feels like their default position.

He realizes he hasn’t sent a message to Jessica since the previous night, so he pulls out his jax.

Jess. Remember the magic rock I threw away at the airport? I found it this morning, in my hand when I woke up from that dream I told you about. Only one word for this. Creepy. Can’t seem to get rid of it.

It’s late in Colorado, but he promised Jess he will keep in touch. He jaxes off the message. The reply comes in seconds.

You’re joking, right? Nothing is ever normal with you. I saw what you wrote about the dream. Since when did you start keeping a dream journal? Take my advice. Just keep this between you and me. Don’t tell anyone else, especially not your professor. You must be under a lot of stress.

His laughs to himself and then, after walking a few more steps, realizes that she is absolutely right. Nothing is ever normal with him. His fingers instinctively move across the jax.

I’m not normal, and I’m not joking. But it’s a secret only you and I will share. If I can’t get rid of the rock, I’ll just keep it. Maybe it wants me.

A few seconds pass.

You are crazy. That much is clear. Sounds like we need to have a long conversation, but I have to sleep now. Tomorrow is a big day, an interview for a new job in New York City. It may be my lucky break.

A big grin floats across Matt’s face as he thinks of Jess floating off to sleep.

On the third floor of the library, he pours over Professor Yamamoto’s files on a slate at a table next to the wall just off the central open area. A large window behind him looks out over the entrance to the library. He has a good view of the inside and outside.

It’s an another old habit he got from his dad. When in public, avoid closed spaces. Leave yourself an escape route. Pick a location that gives you a clear view. By now, it’s become second nature to scan every space he’s in and select the spot that provides the best means of escape in case someone comes after him.

By early evening, he has poured over the files for three hours without finding the string of Chinese characters in any of the photos. Deciding it is time to take a short break, he stares out the window into the distance to give his eyes a rest. Something catches his attention. A man in a dark suit is coming toward the library from the other side of the lawn. He is cutting across the grass rather than staying on the sidewalk, something no typical Japanese would do. His clothes, his shoes, even his swaggering gait shout out a single word.

Yakuza.

Matt snorts a laugh to himself at the comical sight. A Yakuza gangster in an Italian suit stomping across the grass on a university campus. The guy probably hasn’t even completed junior high or read anything other than
manga
books. Why is he walking into the library?

And then something else catches his eye.

There’s a thin red scar running from the guy’s chin to ear. He has a black ponytail lying forward on top of his head.

Exactly like one of the gangsters that tailed him in the airport. Can it be?

Matt freezes and stares in terrified fascination as the man bounds up the library steps and disappears into the entrance on the ground level thirty meters below where Matt is sitting. The drumbeat of his own pulse snaps him back into reality. His fingers drop to the slate and close the files. Without thinking, he jumps to his feet and runs from the open area.

The next two hours are agony as he shifts among the book stacks and desks in the library, always keeping the central space in full view, expecting the Yakuza thug to charge in on a rampage, gun in hand, looking for him.

The sun dips below the horizon, and the windows slowly turn into dark mirrors.

But the Yakuza man never comes.

Just before the library closes, Matt makes his way down the stairs from the fifth floor with a random group of students. Imagining a dark shape and peeping eyes behind every corner, he exits the building from a side entrance and moves quickly across the lawn under a full moon to the edge of campus. Just outside the gate, he drops into the first subway stop without a reason or destination. For some reason, he feels a compulsion to get away from the University. As he stands alone in the shadows on the platform, the hollow whistle of a train approaches. He finds himself slipping inside the train car just as the doors shut behind him. In a few minutes, he arrives at the main station in downtown Sapporo.

Was it really the same man? The more he thinks about it, the less sure he is. Lots of Yakuza have scars and topknots on their heads. They tend to like the same Italian suits. From a distance, they all look the same. But maybe it
was
him. Maybe he’s tracking Matt, waiting for a chance to catch him alone and make him suffer.

A vague image takes shape in his imagination. His mom in the seconds before the truck transport slammed into her car. A shudder passes through his body.

Perhaps his dad was right. Maybe MX Global
has
been tracking Matt all this time. Maybe they hired some thugs to murder him now that he’s on his own. Yakuza are just the type to do the job. He imagines his dad opening a message on his jax and getting a video of Matt’s mutilated body lying on the grass. Words appear beneath it, like they did when his mother was killed.