Rainfall

answer.

    “I knew it,” he said, blushing.

    “I should have known I couldn’t put one over on you.”

    He shook his head. “Is this why you don’t want to let her help me with the lattice?”

    “Am I that transparent?”

    “Not usually.”

    “All right, I’ll ask her,” I said, not seeing an alternative.

    “I could use her help.”

    “I know. Don’t worry. I didn’t really expect you to be able to decrypt something as complex as this without help.”

    For a half second his mouth started to drop in indignation. Then he saw my smile.

    “Had you there,” I told him.

17

    HARRY RENTED ME a van from a place in Roppongi, using alias ID just in case, while I waited at his apartment to keep my exposure down. His apartment is a strange place, crammed with arcane electronic equipment, but nothing to make his life more comfortable. He’d told me a few years earlier that he’d read how the police had caught some indoor marijuana farmers by monitoring their electric bills — seems that hydroponic equipment sucks down a lot more electricity than average — and now Harry thinks his electronic signature might lead the police to him. So he doesn’t use any electrical appliances that aren’t absolutely necessary: a category that, in Harry’s world, doesn’t include a refrigerator, heat, or air-conditioning.

    When he came back, we loaded the equipment into the back of the van. It’s sophisticated stuff. The laser reads the vibrations on windows that are caused by conversation inside, then feeds the resulting data into a computer, which breaks down the patterns into words. And the infrared can read minutely different temperatures on glass — the kind caused by body heat in an otherwise cool room.

    When we were done, I parked the van and made my way back to Shibuya, of course conducting a solid SDR en route.

    I got to the hotel at a little past one o’clock. I had picked up some sandwiches at a stand I found on one of the nameless streets that snake off Dogenzaka, and Midori and I ate them sitting on the floor while I filled her in on what was going on. I gave her the package I had brought, told her that she should wear the scarf and sunglasses when she went out. I gave her Harry’s address, told her to put her things together and meet me there in two hours.

    When I arrived at Harry’s, he was already running Kawamura’s disk. A half hour later the buzzer rang; Harry walked over to the intercom, pressed a button, and said, “
Hai
.”

    “Watashi desu”
came the response. It’s me. I nodded, getting up to check the window, and Harry pressed the button to open the front entrance. Then he walked over to his door, opened it, and peered out. Better to see who’s coming before they get to your position, while you still have time to react.

    A minute later he opened the door wide and motioned Midori to come inside.

    I said to her in Japanese, “This is Harry, the friend I told you about. He’s a little shy around people because he spends all his time with computers. Just be nice to him and he’ll open up after a while.”

    “Hajimemashite,”
Midori said, turning to Harry and bowing. Nice to meet you.

    “It’s nice to meet you,” Harry responded in Japanese. He was blinking rapidly, and I could see that he was nervous. “Please don’t listen to my friend. The government used him to test experimental drugs during the war, and it’s led to premature senility.”

    Harry?
I thought, impressed with his sudden gumption.

    Midori made a face of perfect innocence and said, “It was caused by drugs?”

    She had a light touch with him, I was glad to see. Harry looked at me with a radiant smile, feeling he’d finally gotten the better of me, and maybe had found an ally, too.

    “Okay, I can see you’re both going to get along,” I said, cutting them off before Harry used his newfound courage to escalate to who knows what. “We don’t have much time. This is the plan.” I explained to Midori what I was going to do.

    “I don’t like it,” she said, when I was done. “They could see you. It could be dangerous.”

    “No one’s going to see me.”

    “You should give Harry and me some time with the musical code.”

    “I’ve already been over this with Harry. You both do your jobs; I’ll do mine. It’s more efficient. I’ll be fine.”

    I DROVE THE van to the Conviction facility in Shibakoen, just south of the government district in Kasumigaseki. Conviction occupied part