"Good riddance," Alanna grumbled as she returned the banged up, half broken rental car.
"<What did you do to it?>" the man in charge of the car rental lot demanded.
"<Drove it,>" she replied sharply, walking away.
"<Fucking Americans,>" he said to her back.
Alanna rolled her eyes and kept walking; the train station wasn't far off.
"I have no idea what you two just said," Sachiko observed, "but it sure didn't sound very friendly."
"It wasn't," Alanna said dryly. She didn't say anything for a few moments, then cursed. "Dammit, I should've said 'That's what it looks like after repairs.' That would've been a lot more clever."
"I never think of any kind of clever response until right afterwards, either," Sachiko said, sympathetic.
"It wasn't really that clever anyway," Alanna admitted. "L'espirit de l'escalier, right?"
"Huh?" Sachiko asked, a bit confused.
"That's what they call thinking of the right thing to say afterwards in France, right? Spirit of the stairs," Alanna said, surprised at Sachiko's reaction.
"Oh, I guess," Sachiko nodded. "Nobody really uses the term much any more."
The street wasn't quite as bustling as the area near the Warsaw airport had been, but the sidewalk was at least full of enough people that it seemed a whole lot more normal by both their standards.
"Is... that a church?" Sachiko asked as they passed by a large, old building. Alanna stopped to look.
"Nope. At least, not anymore," she said. "I can't really read the sign well, but it looks like some sort of Party office."
"Ouch," Sachiko commented, as Alanna started to walk again. "So I guess what the propaganda says about the Communists being god-hating monsters is true, then," she said, with an amused tone to her voice.
"Hush, someone's going to take you seriously," Alanna said. Sachiko wasn't sure if she was joking or not. She continued, quietly, "But, yeah. A century and a half of Soviet religious intolerance has had its toll, even on a country like Poland. It's hard to find an actual church anywhere, and it's certainly not going to be in an old cathedral. The Party makes sure of that."
"Just churches?"
"Well, they're the only ones they should worry about," Alanna said.
Sachiko got the feeling that Alanna's answer meant more than she was letting on, but she didn't offer anything helpful when she asked for her to elaborate. She wondered what it could possibly be.
They arrived at the train station shortly. Alanna asked Sachiko for a photo of Alexander-- which she quickly gave her-- and she went about on her own, asking around. Sachiko waited just inside the entrance to the train station, sitting on a bench; as per Alanna's suggestion, since she wouldn't be asking many questions in English. She sat there for a while, thinking to herself about Alex.
"Hey, you there!" A male voice called out, in English. "Jap girl!"
Sachiko looked up, to see a large, burly looking European man, wearing a long overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat. Her first impression was that he was an asshole. Her second was that he was an awfully dangerous looking asshole.
"Um," she said, intimidated as he approached her.
"I'm looking for someone... a Jap named Yazawa. You wouldn't happen to know him, wouldn't you?" he demanded, smirking.
"N-no," she stammered. She didn't know what the man's problem was, other than he was incredibly offensive and seemed like trouble; she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
"Really," he said, "because your friend seems to. From what I overhear, he's your brother."
Sachiko looked away, not saying anything. The man leaned in close; if he was trying to frighten her, he was doing a good job. She could smell his breath he was so close, and as his jacket opened slightly, she noticed that he was carrying a gun in a holster.
"Okay, let me lay this out for you: I'm looking for him, and you're going to help me find him, got that? It's not a choice, and I don't want any of this coy shit. You're not fooling me, so stop pretending--" he started to growl, grabbing her by the chin. That was as far as he got.
"Excuse me," interrupted a thick Texas drawl, with an incredibly angry tone in her voice. "You're going to unhand her right fuckin' now."
He stepped away, but his smirk didn't disappear. "Ah, hello, you're the young Yazawa's friend, I see. You can help me too. I was just explaining that she was going to help me locate Alexander Yazawa-- you can have her back when I'm done, of course."
Alanna gave him an extraordinarily dirty look. Then, after a good few seconds of glaring at him, she said a few venomous words in Russian, slowly and furiously. She then walked right past him, and offered Sachiko her hand.
"Let's go," Alanna said, fuming; Sachiko happily took her hand. The man didn't seem to react as they both quickly left together.
Sensing she was still scared, Alanna put her arm around Sachiko's shoulder; she shivered a bit. They walked away quickly.
"Thank you," Sachiko stammered, barely louder than a whisper. Alanna stroked Sachiko's hair a bit, comforting her.
"What a piece of shit," Alanna said, still looking angry as Sachiko looked up at her. "Don't worry, hon... I'm here to protect you."
"You're amazing," she murmured, still staring at her. She didn't know what would've happened if Alanna hadn't gotten there in time to dash her away, but she was certain it couldn't have been good.
Alanna held her close, and they walked on in silence, with Alanna glancing behind her back every so often; Sachiko assumed that it was so she was sure that they weren't being followed. They had walked a good few city blocks before either had mostly calmed down.
"So," Sachiko finally brought herself to say, "I guess you really did manage to think of something clever on the spot, after all."
Alanna looked down at her, first letting out a chuckle, then laughing.
"Yeah," she said with a smile, "I guess so."
They spent the rest of the day wandering about town near the train
station, checking out hotels, bars, restaurants-- anywhere they could find
anyone who spoke English to ask (while Alanna could ask in Russian, it
seemed pointless, since Alexander probably hadn't spent very long talking to
anyone who didn't speak English).
They'd gotten little help, unfortunately; it seemed that Alexander was keeping a low profile. They eventually decided to pack it in for the evening, or at the very least, stop and get dinner.
"How about that touristy place near the train station?" Alanna suggested. "It seemed pretty respectable."
"Sure, sounds good to me," Sachiko said, without particularly caring; so long as it was better than lunch in the last town. Neither felt like walking the distance, so they took a cab down, arriving there promptly; Alanna gave the driver a nice tip.
They walked into the bar; it was fairly crowded, and more than fairly noisy. They started to scan for open seats, when something caught Alanna's eye; she pointed, and Sachiko's gaze quickly followed.
At the end of the bar, was a tall Japanese man, wearing a leather jacket and carrying a large duffel bag. A baseball cap a hundred years of style was pulled down over his head, and he adjusted it as he headed towards the back.
"Hey, isn't that..."
"Alexander? It's me, Sachiko!" Sachiko cried out, running towards him. He seemed surprised and stopped right in his tracks; she leapt at him, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Alexander, I was so worried about you!"
"Sachiko?" he said, dropping his bag on the ground, hesitantly hugging her back. "What are you doing here?"
"I wasn't just going to leave my older brother missing in action and potentially in danger, not after those letters you sent to Mom," she said, squeezing him close.
"Oh," he said, lost for words. "You're the best, Sachiko."
Eventually she let go of him, smiling happily at him. She turned, waving to Alanna, who'd approached while they were embracing.
"Alexander... this is Alanna," she said.
"Nice to meet you," Alexander said. Alanna offered her hand; it took him a few moments for him to react and shake it. "You're Sachiko's girlfriend?" he asked.
"No! She's just a friend, Alexander, nothing like that!" Sachiko said loudly; loud enough for several of the bar's patrons to notice and look at her. She blushed.
"Oh," he said, looking awkward. "Sorry."
Alanna suggested that they go sit down, and they did; finding an isolated booth in the back, well away from the centre of attention, a bit late.
"So," Alanna said, "Did you know there's a bounty hunter after you?"
"Christ, I've been trying to shake him for the past week," he grumbled. "He scares the shit out of me."
"He scares the shit out of me, too," Alanna admitted. "Most do." She was about to say something else, when Sachiko cut in.
"But you saved me from him anyway!" she chimed in with a huge grin.
"Yeah, yeah," Alanna shrugged. "Anyway, I was going to say... why's he even after you? Given when Sachiko said you skipped out, I assumed you would've not only been here by now, but a Polish citizen by now."
"No, it's ridiculous," he said. "Getting out of Turkey and through Europe not only took much longer than I expected it to, but the actual application is ridiculous. All of the sattelites have weeks long delays."
"What? I refuse to believe that they've suddenly got an influx of people trying to immigrate in." Alanna looked thoughtful, crossing her arms.
"I doubt it. No way that's happening now," he agreed. "What I heard was there's been a big beaurocratic shuffle, leaving immigration woefully understaffed here. Why, I don't know-- I don't really hear much, given the language thing."
"Why haven't you gone straight to Soviet Union, then?" Sachiko asked, puzzled.
"It's the most fucking retarded thing you'll ever hear," he said. "It's because I don't speak Russian."
"But... surely they'd want you in anyway," Alanna said, confused. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Yes, I'm sure they would. But I can't tell them why because I don't speak Russian," he said. "It's insane. I'd try from another airport, but... it's only because I know my way around the city that I'm able to avoid this bounty hunter asshole. So I'm better off waiting than risking getting caught by him in a new, unfamiliar city."
"Ah," Alanna said. "I think I've got a better idea," she said, after a moment of thinking about it.
"What?"
"Well, you might not speak Russian, but I do," she explained. "I can translate for you."
"Oh, wow. That would be great."
"See, Alexander, isn't she amazing?" Sachiko said happily, leaning against Alanna.
"And... you're sure you're not...?" Alexander started to say, trailing off.
"Alexander!" Sachiko scolded, irritatedly. She really wished he would stop saying that; it was embarassing.
"Sorry, sis," he said, weakly.
"So, what's your plan for the evening?" Alanna asked, seeming amused. "We've been on the road for a while, and could use a meal first..."
Alexander was about to respond, when his expression suddenly turned alarmed, staring behind Alanna. "Panic," he said.
"That's not a very good plan at all--" Alanna started to say, then looked over her shoulder to see what he was looking at. Sachiko turned too; suddenly terrified at the sight of the bounty hunter from the train station.
"So nice to see you two lovely ladies again," he announced loudly, in a half-sarcastic tone, standing in front of their table.
"Fuck you," Sachiko managed to bring herself to say.
"And it's even nicer to see you, Alexander. It's actually just you I'm interested in; how about you come along now, and nobody gets hurt?" he said with a smirk.
"The intimidation's getting tired," Alanna snapped. "So're the cliches. Piss off."
Alexander stood up, glaring at the the huge man. He was terrified, but he tried his best not to show it.
"I've had enough of you," he said, clenching his fists.
"That's very cute," the bounty hunter laughed. "Now come along now." He grabbed Alexander by the shoulder, staring at him fiercely.
"Let go of him," Alanna growled.
"Or what?" He said, still smirking, turning to look at her. The smirk briefly left his face when he realized that she was holding Lukasz's gun pointed straight at him. At this point, the whole bar was in silence, staring at the four of them. Several people took the opportunity to leave, quickly. "Oh, an antique. Adorable."
Alanna stood up, glaring harshly at him, the gun pointed at him the whole time. "It works," was all she said.
After a moment, he relented, letting go of Alexander. Alexander immediately backed away.
"You're going to step back," Alanna told him; holding her arm to brace for recoil from the gun, "and then you're going to put your hands on your head."
"NOW," she shouted when he did nothing. Slowly, and still smirking, he followed her instructions, taking a single step backwards and putting his hands in the air.
"Come on," Alanna said. "We're going. And he's not following."
Alexander picked up his bag, staring at the bounty hunter the whole time, moving beside Alanna for safety. Sachiko was trembling as she stood up, and Alanna moved slightly, letting her pass. That was all the opportunity the bounty hunter needed.
While she was moving out of Sachiko's way, he kicked Alanna square in the knee; hard. She screamed in pain and doubled over instantly; by the time she'd figured what had happened, he'd pulled out his own gun and a bright light shot from it at Alexander. He ducked just in time, the blast going over his shoulder; several bottles at the bar behind him exploded violently.
Around them, panic ensued. They were all, however, far too busy to notice.
Alexander swung his heavy bag from the side, knocking something over behind him before it hit the bounty hunter in the side of the face, knocking him to the side. He fell off balance, and crashed into the table.
"Back door!" the bartender shouted, with a thick accent, pointing to the other door nearby, beside the end of the bar.
Alanna, still recovering, grabbed Sachiko by the wrist, and pulled her with her, rushing towards the door as quickly as she could while limping.
They stumbled out into an alleyway behind the bar. Alexander ran out behind the two, and, clearly much more familiar with where he was than they were, motioned for them to follow as he ran. They stumbled along the alleyway, turning a corner.
"Alanna, when he catches up, I'm going to need you to cover us," Alexander said anxiously, as they ran; he was heading towards a nearby fire escape.
"Okay!" she said; and, noticing the bounty hunter starting to turn the corner, she fired down the alley in the direction that they'd came. He jumped back out of sight. Alexander was scrambling up a nearby fire escape, reaching down to help Sachiko up.
"Is that wise?" she asked, backing up to the fire escape.
"It's how I've managed to keep losing him so far," Alexander answered. Alanna fired another shot in the direction of the bounty hunter, who'd tried turning the corner once more, then quickly turned to climb up the ladder as quickly as she could. The other two were already on the fifth and fourth storey of the building.
She ran, and the bounty hunter finally made it around the corner; he fired a shot at the fire escape, blasting a hole through the ladder at the bottom with a bright flash. Alanna cursed; the zat gun might be able to shoot through the metal fire escape, but her old, gunpowder firing pistol sure couldn't.
"Alanna, please tell me your car is nearby," Alexander called down back at her.
"It broke down," she said, scrambling up for her life as another zat shot when dangerously close over her head. "God, a car, a car. My kingdom for a car."
"You don't have a kingdom," Alexander said, disappearing onto the rooftop, Sachiko following close behind. The bounty hunter was starting to climb up the ladder after them; thankfully, not shooting. Alanna could only assume it was because he was gunning for Alexander, not her. She was thankful either way.
"I don't need one, I want a car," she grumbled, shortly reaching the rooftop. "Where now?" she asked, running onto the flat rooftop. It wasn't very large, and it didn't seem like there was anywhere to hide.
"This way," he shouted, rushing to the edge of the building. He stood at the edge, backing up a bit, then leapt off, stumbling forward onto the adjacent rooftop.
"Are you insane?" Alanna demanded, backing up and firing again the moment the bounty hunter's head started to creep over the edge. This time she actually hit; and blew his hat clean off. Behind her, Alexander had already coaxed Sachiko into following after him; how, Alanna had no idea. She wasn't really paying much attention. She glanced back at him; he absolutely was insane, but she didn't have a whole lot of choice.
She fired another shot across the top of the fire escape, then turned and ran, dashing at the edge of the roof as fast as he could, leaping forward at the last second.
Amazingly, she landed safely.
"Come on, this way!" Alexander called, motioning behind a large doorway sticking out of the roof, presumably leading downstairs; it was big enough to provide cover, at least, and he dragged Sachiko along behind it.
Sachiko followed, frightened but still fast on her feet. She got behind the corner, but peeked back, watching as the bounty hunter ran across the nearby rooftop, coming after them. Alanna was backing towards them, but not fast enough; she wondered why she didn't hurry up, worried.
Alexander pulled on her arm again, and she was pulled completely behind the stairwell opening, but not too soon to see what Alanna was doing. Just as the bounty hunter got to the edge of the rooftop, holding his gun to the side as he readied his step to jump, Alanna fired; aiming low, hitting the ground beneath the bounty hunter.
The bounty hunter started to laugh, and Alanna darted around the corner; Sachiko watching as the brick he was standing on exploded, then crumbled under his weight. The bounty hunter fell forward, falling between the two buildings chest down; he tried to reach out to grab the closest ledge, but failed. Sachiko didn't see anything after that, but she sure heard the loud crash.
"Wow," she said, staring at Alanna. "That was amazing!"
"He's down," Alanna said cooly.
"Beautiful," Alexander said, leading them to a nearby fire escape. "Let's get the hell out of here."
They walked down the fire escape, this time taking it slowly; nobody could've survived a fall from that height, Sachiko thought. They got to the bottom, ending up in another alleyway; a few garbage cans lay ahead of them, and it was rather filthy. They kept walking.
Suddenly, Sachiko heard footsteps from behind. All three turned to look at once; it was the bounty hunter, turning the corner and entering the alleyway behind.
"Holy--!" Sachiko exclaimed, shocked to see him alive.
"Fuck you, bitch!" he growled angrily as he approached. Alanna glared at him, and shot again; it missed entirely, but this time, he didn't dodge and he didn't back up. Suddenly not looking so confident as he raised his own gun, she fired again. Her gun went click; out of ammo. She started to run as fast as she could.
Looking back, Alexander grabbed a nearby garbage can, hurling it back at the approaching bounty hunter. He shot it in midair, and the superheated garbage exploded in the middle of the alleyway, but he was otherwise unharmed; up until half a second later, when he promptly got hit in the face by another garbage can. It knocked the bounty hunter back a good couple of metres.
The three of them kept running as fast as they could, making the first turn they possibly could, winding up on a major street; thankfully, there was enough of a crowd, Sachiko thought there might be a chance of losing him in it. At the very least, she figured that he wasn't going to shoot while surrounded by people.
However, there was another problem.
"Alexander," Alanna said, the gun concealed after hitting the main street, "I don't know about Sachiko, but I can't keep running much longer. Exhausted." It showed; she was panting heavily, and the two women were starting to lag behind Alexander.
"I'm gonna... pass out... any second now...," Sachiko groaned, clearly even more winded.
"Shit," Alexander said, noticing the bounty hunter turning the corner behind them. "I think we're--"
"Taxi!" Alanna interrupted, waving madly at the road. A cab that was passing by came to a stop in front of them, and Alanna quickly threw the door open, all three of them piling into the car.
The taxi driver started to ask something in Polish, seeming quite startled.
"<Airport,>" Alanna said frantically, praying that he spoke Russian. "<And step on it. Now!>"
Sachiko stared out the back window, seeing the bounty hunter right behind them, looking furious; not a moment too soon, the car lurched forward and flew off.
"We lost him!" she said, excitedly.
"Barely," Alexander sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Insane," Sachiko said as she breathed heavily, still winded. "This is absolutely crazy."
Alanna looked down at Sachiko, calming herself by forcing herself to breath more slowly. "Sachiko?" she asked.
"Yes?" Sachiko replied, a look of amazement still on her face.
"That's my arm you're clinging to," Alanna said in perfect deadpan.
"Ah!" Sachiko immediately let go, moving backwards, colliding into Alexander in the process. She looked at Alanna funny as she giggled a bit.
The driver seemed bewildered, but he said nothing. They kept driving on, mostly in silence, all three too relieved to still be alive to complain, and dodged too many shots to make light of the situation. So they all stayed quiet, especially Sachiko; who was torn between being amazed at how Alanna had kept her cool, and the realization that this was far from the first time Alexander had been shot at and escaped death narrowly. It really brought her down to Earth.
They were silent for a good ten minutes of getting through the Wroclaw traffic until Alanna broke it.
"Aw fuck," she exclaimed in a loud drawl, staring out her window. "You have got to be kidding!"
"What?" Sachiko asked anxiously, expecting the worst. Alanna waved out the window, and confirmed; it was the worst. Right beside their taxi was a large van, with the bounty hunter driving. When he saw her face look up, he waved, smirking in his way that Sachiko found positively evil.
"Uh... can we lose him? He's going to catch us when we stop!" Sachiko stammered, suddenly frightened again.
"<That guy beside us, in the van, is following us. Can you lose him?>" Alanna asked the driver.
He turned around, giving her a look.
"<What, are you crazy? This is not action movie! I can do nothing, I just drive; if I drive unsafely, I lose license,>" he said, shaking his head at the very idea. Sachiko could tell just by his tone of voice that it wasn't good.
"What did he say?" she asked worriedly.
"He won't 'drive unsafely,'" Alanna said, her voice full of venom. "We're in trouble."
"Ask him again! It's life or death!"
Alanna said something stern to the driver in Russian, which was followed by another shake of his head; she didn't need to know what he was saying to know that he'd just summarily rejected Alanna's plea without any second thought. The exchange continued, culminating with Alanna waving her hands at him, shaking her head.
"<No, no! Just keep driving,>" Alanna said, angrily. She turned to Sachiko, "I tried. Nothing will convince him, I just-- I just kept getting the same load of shit. We'll have to think of something else... quickly."
Sachiko's mind was racing, trying to stay calm and figure out what they could possibly do. Things weren't looking good for them, and it was as much a she could to try to think straight. And then she realized exactly what to do.
"Alanna!" she said frantically, "Give me your cell phone."
Alanna immediately handed the red phone over to her, looking surprised by Sachiko's sudden display of initiative. "What do you have in mind?"
Sachiko took the phone and pulled out her notebook, flipping through the pages until she found the page where she listed phone numbers. She started to dial the number, spinning the rotary part of the cell phone.
"I know someone who owes me a favour... in Russia, not Poland, but hopefully she'll be able to make some calls...," Sachiko explained frantically, as the phone dialed. "Hello, is this-- yes, no, yes. Look, it's urgent, I need to talk to Ms. Chekhov; tell her it's Yazawa," she stammered.
"Marya? Oh, thank god you're there... I need you to save my life," Sachiko said quite honestly into the phone.
Sachiko took a deep breath as she and Alexander got out of the taxi,
forcing herself to be calm. Alanna was paying the driver, and got out
shortly, slamming the door shut.
"Let me tell you, he did not get a tip," she said, shaking her head incredulously, as they all walked into the busy airport terminal. She looked up at the sign-- she'd made sure the driver had gotten it right, but she confirmed once again, they were definitely at the platform they needed to be at. The airport was nightmarishly constructed, and she didn't want to get lost.
"So," Alexander said, "We're finally almost there. You think they'll just let me in?"
"Oh yes," Alanna said. "Despite what--" she started, getting interrupted by a voice from behind them.
"Okay, stop there," he ordered. All three instantly recognized him; it was the bounty hunter. "It's been a fun chase, but I have you now, it is over. Turn around slowly, hands in air."
They all turned about slowly, their hands raised; and then he saw, Alanna was grinning as she faced him. In the background, there was a loud commotion, as people backed away from the huge man with a gun.
"You think you're clever," he sneered. "But it's over, little girls. Come here, Alexander, don't make me shoot."
Alexander smiled, crossing his hands behind his head as if he was relaxing. "Was that a threat?" he asked nonchalantly.
"I will do it," the man growled.
Suddenly, from behind him, there was a shuffling of footsteps and a loud shout in Russian. Sachiko didn't know what it meant, but the bounty hunter seemed bewildered; in an instant, he was surrounded by men in red uniforms, holding rifles up to him.
"<Drop your gun immediately!>" one of the officers barked. The bounty hunter looked around, as he realized he was completely surrounded, shocked.
"<What is the meaning of...?>" he started to ask.
"<Drop it! Now!>" the same officer shouted, with a terrifying authority to his voice. Even the bounty hunter seemed taken aback, and he slowly put his gun on the ground.
As soon as the gun was on the ground, the officer waved, and two of the men with rifles slammed the bounty hunter to the ground, pulling his arms behind his back and handcuffing him.
"<What the hell are you-->" he started to demand, snarling, cut off again. Meanwhile, Sachiko looked up at Alanna, asking, "What're they saying?"
"'You... asshole,'" Alanna started to translate, "'You are under arrest on the charge of obstructing justice, obstructing the defection of a person of national interest, and treason. You have the right to stay silent in absense of counsel, and doing so may not be held against you in a court of law. Now get the fuck up, and start'... well, you get the idea.
"Gosh, that's foul language," Alanna added. Sachiko laughed.
The officer who'd done all the talking walked over to the trio, his men taking away the furious bounty hunter, shouting curses all the way; all around, a crowd of travellers was watching the spectacle. He smiled at the three, seeming quite proud.
"I'll have to ask you two ladies some questions, of course, official type stuff. But you should all be safe now," he told them with a slight nod. "Mr. Yazawa, I won't delay you any longer-- we called in for an interpretter specially for you, he should be down any time now."
"Thank you," Alexander said, looking quite relieved.
"Just doing my job, sir. And, just between us... I'd do anything to bump one of those bounty hunters down a peg," he said casually, looking pleased with himself. "It's not every day we get the chance."
"Couldn't have gotten a nicer fella," Alanna responded.
After two hours in the airport terminal, everything was sorted out with absolutely no further incident. Sachiko was thrilled-- she'd managed to get her brother out safely after all, thanks to a little help. After the arrest, things absolutely could not have gone any more perfectly. They had quite a peaceful flight as they flew off into the USSR.