E-Book, Englisch, 320 Seiten
Cadigan Ultraman - Ultraseven
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-80336-302-8
Verlag: Titan Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
E-Book, Englisch, 320 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-80336-302-8
Verlag: Titan Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
Pat Cadigan is a science fiction, fantasy and horror writer, three-time winner of the Locus Award, twice winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and one-time winner of the Hugo Award. She wrote the novelization of Alita: Battle Angel, and a prequel novel to the highly anticipated film, Iron City. She also wrote ,Lost in Space: Promised Land, novelizations of two episodes of The Twilight Zone, the Cellular novelization, and the novelization and sequel to Jason X.
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CHAPTER
People were disappearing.
In a crowded world where people passed in and out of each other’s lives as a matter of course, it wasn’t always taken as anything more than normal, or at least expected, human movement. But in the area to the south of Tokyo, along the coast and several kilometers inward, the increasing number of disappearances acquired a new twist. Reports came in from witnesses claiming to have seen someone vanish right in front of them, like a magic trick or a special effect in a movie.
At first, the police dismissed the first few calls. But calls kept coming in, the authorities finally realized that something was going on and it was definitely out of the ordinary. The police set up checkpoints in areas where disappearances seemed to be more frequent. There were a few complaints from drivers who didn’t like having their commute or roadtrip interrupted, but most people took it in stride. Hey, that was life—if it wasn’t one thing, it was another, and next week it would probably be something else, so what the hell.
Then everything changed.
* * *
Officer Hiroshi Saijo had been a traffic cop for five years and he was bored; he’d been bored for some time now. Before his shift, he had another talk with his supervisor about making a change. His supervisor had said it looked like there’d be an opportunity for a transfer very soon, which was encouraging enough to make tonight’s checkpoint duty seem less tedious.
Working a checkpoint wasn’t difficult. Officers took it in teams so they could back each other up if drivers and/or passengers were difficult, belligerent, or under the influence. And if nothing happened at all, which was usually the case, they could take turns checking their email or playing the latest hot game, or just hang out and talk. Of course, some cops were better company than others.
The guys Officer Saijo was working with tonight were all dependable, stand-up guys, but their conversation did leave something to be desired. Not one of them had any good gossip or rumors. But then, Saijo thought as he watched another pair of headlights approach, he hadn’t heard any good ones lately, either. Except for the unexplained disappearances, it seemed like nothing much was happening in Greater Tokyo, or possibly anywhere on Honshu Island.
Two officers waved the car into the breakdown lane where Saijo and his partner for the evening, a slightly older guy named Ken Hachisuka, were waiting. Saijo aimed his flashlight carefully so he could see the driver’s face without blinding him.
The driver was obviously familiar with the routine—she already had her license out for inspection. Saijo looked it over, intending to hand it back to the woman and send her on her way, when some impulse made him ask for the car registration. The driver didn’t get huffy or complain; she simply leaned over to get it out of the glovebox while Hachisuka watched for any concealed weapons or suspicious-looking packages.
The driver held out the registration politely, but when Saijo touched it, he saw the woman suddenly stiffen. Before Saijo could ask if she was all right, the car was suffused with a blinding white light. Then it was gone, and so was the driver.
Saijo let out a shocked cry that brought the other two officers rushing to his side. ‘The driver—she just disappeared! Like, flash of light and bang! Car’s empty!’ He backed away, letting the other three search it for a trap door or a hidden panel. Despite his training and his record as a conscientious officer, Saijo couldn’t bring himself to get within a meter of the vehicle.
It wasn’t simply the woman disappearing—it was the way it had felt when the registration had vanished while he’d been touching it. The certificate hadn’t been yanked or snatched away, he had felt it dematerialize. As Saijo told everyone later, he had never felt anything more disturbing, more… unnatural.
* * *
Several kilometers away and a few hundred meters underground in the Terrestrial Defense Force, Captain Kaoru Kiriyama of the Ultra Guard took one more look at the latest incident reports before heading over to Overwatch, where the TDF Joint Commanders were waiting for him. Six of them were on the premises today, including Commander Edwin Bogarde from North America, which was highly unusual.
The main headquarters of the TDF was in Paris; besides Tokyo, there were branches in Washington, DC, London, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Cairo, Johannesburg, and the Arctic, as well as a host of other major cities. In Kiriyama’s sixteen years of service, he had seen the original organization expand not only globally but beyond, to Lagrange point space stations and the moon.
Kiriyama was a bit on edge as he walked through the base, nodding at various TDF personnel. He still knew a lot of them by name, although new faces popped up all the time. The TDF numbered some three hundred souls, many more than when Kiriyama had been a shiny new recruit. Back then, he hadn’t decided how long he was going to stay in. He’d never imagined he’d end up in command of an elite squad within the TDF, but here he was.
Minister Yamaoka had chosen him for his extensive experience with alien encounters. The four people under his command weren’t as experienced but Yamaoka had chosen them as having exceptional potential. At first, Kiriyama had been dubious—he’d have preferred to choose his own personnel. But he had to admit that Yamaoka had a good eye and a talent for finding the right combination of people.
Two of them Kiriyama had already been acquainted with; the other two were new. One of the former had seven years of service, the others only two or three. According to Commander Manabe, this meant they had fewer bad habits to unlearn. They had gelled quickly as a team, to Kiriyama’s great relief, and now he couldn’t imagine swapping any of them out for someone else. Although he did wonder if Yamaoka planned to add to their number; five seemed to be a small group for something called the Ultra Guard, no matter how elite they were. But when Kiriyama had broached the subject with him, Yamaoka had dismissed it and Kiriyama decided not to push it. He’d made Yamaoka aware of his feelings. Now he simply had to wait and see if anything came of it.
The TDF guard outside Overwatch announced him via the intercom before opening the door. As Kiriyama went in, he saw the commanders gathered at a wall monitor displaying a topographical map of an area not far from the base.
‘Glad you’re here, Captain,’ Yamaoka said. He turned to Kiriyama with a tense, uncertain expression. ‘You’re aware we’ve had another disappearance?’
‘I am.’ Kiriyama nodded to the other Joint Chiefs, some of whom he’d only seen onscreen until now.
‘We have a difficult job for the Ultra Guard,’ Yamaoka went on. ‘Commander Takenaka can fill you in.’
Takenaka stepped forward holding a file folder. He was one of the old-school types who had to have hardcopy printouts.
‘In the past week, we’ve had people vanish from parks, hotels, shops, restaurants, sports arenas, universities—anywhere and everywhere. And as far as we can tell, there’s no pattern. Students, office workers, manual laborers, engineers—anyone can disappear from any place at any time and we still don’t know why it’s happening, let alone how.’
‘And there’s nothing left behind?’ Kiriyama asked, although he knew the answer. ‘No dust or residue?’
‘Witnesses have reported a blinding white light, followed by nothing. Whoever’s doing this has technology far beyond our own.’ He looked around at the other commanders. ‘After careful analysis and much discussion, we feel the phenomenon is… not of this Earth.’
Kiriyama nodded; he’d had come to the same conclusion, albeit very reluctantly. But if any country or organized group on Earth had developed the ability to pop people out of existence, it seemed highly improbable they’d have kept it so completely secret. Humans loved to show off, take credit, or worst of all, threaten.
‘Witnesses have all described people just—’ Yamaoka snapped his fingers. ‘And you know what Sir Arthur C. Clarke said: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’
But only if the observers believe in magic, Kiriyama added silently.
‘We’d like the Ultra Guard to take point and investigate this more…’ he hesitated, ‘…aggressively. You yourself have more experience with aliens than most of the people in the TDF—certainly more than any of us.’
‘I’ll assemble my team.’ Kiriyama activated his wristcomm as he left.
* * *
Soga was at the target range, showing off his sharpshooting skills by way of demonstrating the latest model of the Ultra Gun for a new class of TDF recruits. The training officer was sorry to see him go—she’d already won a bundle from newbies who didn’t know better than to bet Soga wouldn’t miss even one target, and she’d been hoping to clean up with the next group of trainees.
Soga met up with Shigeru Furuhashi, fresh from a flexibility workout on the trampoline. At twenty-nine, Furuhashi was the most senior member on the team after Kiriyama, with seven years in. As the strongest member of the team, he had to make an effort to keep himself limber.
The third member of the team was poring over data in Planning and Scheduling when Kiriyama’s summons reached him. Amagi was in his early twenties: tall, skinny, and...
