Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 27: Hiding in Plain Sight

Shehnaaz stared at the phone for a long moment, then coughed and said in a small, uncertain voice, “…Uncle Sid, this is Sana…”

Had he gotten her mixed up with someone else again?

“Well, don’t stay up too late.” Sidharth  ended the call. He could now finally sleep in peace.

Early the next morning, Sidharth and his subordinates got up and checked out from Chiba Hotel with their
backpacks before splitting up. They each had their own objectives.

Sidharth went to the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital.
Deepak went directly to Tokyo
International Airport; he would be responsible for the logistics of the mission.
Rohit went to Shinjuku Gyo-en National Garden to monitor Oda Masao. He had to make sure Oda Masao wasn’t about to suddenly make a U-turn for his lab; that would throw a wrench into their plans.

It was Cherry Blossom Day for Tokyo. According to the weather forecast, the cherry blossoms in Shinjuku Gyo-en
would be at full bloom today. Although it was an early Monday morning, Shinjuku Gyo-en was already packed; everyone was eager to see the cherry
blossoms.

Many of the most beautiful cherry trees already had large families camped beneath them, spread out on cushions and stools.

Rohit had specially booked a spot with a tour group to Shinjuku Gyo-en.
The three military men had undergone special training, and were experts at disguising themselves when carrying out their objectives in public. For anyone who did not know better, Rohit looked just like any other tourist from the Empire, complete with sunglasses, a stooped posture, and a silly little red I’m-with-this-tour-group cap on his head.

According to their intel, Oda Masao was going to be at Shinjuku Gyo-en for the cherry blossoms today.

Oda Masao was a scholar, obsessed with biomedicine. The degree of his obsession rivaled that of Sandeep’s.
He spent most of his time in his lab, and was more reclusive than even Sandeep.

He had no family, no relatives, no friends – his only earthly possessions were his laboratory equipment, and his research.

His one and only interest, outside of work, was visiting Shinjuku Gyo-en once a year, to see the cherry blossoms.

Sidharth had gone to the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital the day before for recon; there, he had discovered that the security system for OdaMasao’s laboratory wasn’t
particularly sophisticated. Breaking in was easy enough; their biggest
problem was Oda Masao himself.

He practically lived in his lab: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

They had come up with a few different methods to break in, but all of them would tip Oda Masao off and send him into high alert.

Then they discovered, quite by
accident, that Oda Masao was going to leave his lab and go to Shinjuku
Gyo-en the next day, to see the cherry blossoms.

Luck was on their side.

They had returned to the hotel to plan, then split up the next day to make their move.

When Rohit Maan arrived at Shinjuku Gyo-en, Sidharth Shukla had also just arrived at Tokyo Imperial University
Hospital.

“Sir, I have eyes on Oda Masao. He’s with his grad students, sitting under a cherry tree.” Rohit had his headset on; he talked as he walked, but to any casual observer he looked like he was only listening to music. He was
dressed like the countless tourists around him.

Sidharth had just emerged from a small room next to Oda Masao’s laboratory.

He had on a white coat and special black-rimmed non- prescription glasses. A light blue surgical mask covered his face, and the laboratory access card Deepak Rathi had prepared for him hung around his neck.