Chapter 44 : Interrogation

A silent scream erupted inside his head, ordering his body to move.

RUN! RUN! RUN! shrieked Jack's mind.

But it was already too late.

As Jack turned to face his foe, Dragon Eye had struck with the

swiftness of a scorpion. His fingers, like barbs, had pinpointed nerve

centres on Jack's body, paralysing him in five quick successive stabs. Jack

was rendered defenceless and completely immobile.

'What… have… you done to me?' stuttered Jack, hyperventilating as a

burning sensation spread through his body and down his arms and legs.

'Be quiet or I'll paralyse your mouth too,' ordered the ninja in a harsh

whisper.

Dragon Eye bunched his fingers into the shape of a snakehead and

pressed the tips against the skin above Jack's heart.

'One final strike to your heart will kill you.' He dropped the words

into Jack's ear with sadistic pleasure while allowing his fingers to linger

over their intended target. 'The samurai know and fear this as the Death

Touch.'

Jack closed his eyes, half mumbling the Lord's Prayer as Dragon Eye

drew back his hand to strike.

'But it can be a far more subtle technique than mere death,' continued

Dragon Eye who, instead of killing him, sought out a pressure point beneath

Jack's collarbone with his thumb. 'It can also be used to inflict intolerable

pain.'

Jack's eyes flew open and he shrieked into the night as the ninja

applied pressure with the tip of his thumb. The agony was so intense, Jack

felt as if a swarm of wasps had been released inside his chest. He almost

passed out, but then Dragon Eye stopped and the pain receded until it was

no more than a tingling sensation, like stinging nettles under his skin.

Dragon Eye studied him a moment, watching the pain fade from his

victim's eyes. Jack swore that behind that black hood his nemesis was

smiling at his suffering.

'Where's the rutter?' hissed Dragon Eye.

'It's been stolen,' wheezed Jack, dizzy from the aftershock of the

torture.

'That was a decoy! Don't dice with your own death.'

The ninja took hold of Jack's right arm this time and pressed into the

middle of his bicep. An unbelievable pressure immediately built up in

Jack's right hand, his fingernails became sharp splinters under his skin and

he thought his fingers were about to pop. A wave of nausea hit him. But

once again Dragon Eye stopped at the threshold of his consciousness.

'I've tortured people before. I can make you suffer beyond anything

imaginable – and yet never kill you.'

He took Jack's lolling head in one hand and stared at him with his one

eye. Jack couldn't see a single shred of mercy in the ninja's soul.

'It's in Nijo Castle, isn't it?' said Dragon Eye dispassionately.

Jack's eyes flared in alarm. How could he have known that? Had one

of his friends betrayed him?

'No need to answer, gaijin. Your eyes tell me all I need to know. But

where exactly?'

Gripping Jack's head tighter, Dragon Eye placed one finger just below

Jack's eye and another on his jawline. The ninja drew closer, his malevolent

green eye raking over Jack's face.

'You are going to tell me,' he said with ominous finality.

An instant later, Jack thought a molten iron spike had been driven

through his eye and out of the back of his skull. The pain was greater than a

thousand fires burning, too great for him to even emit a scream. The torture

sapped all strength out of him and only a low moan escaped his lips.

Then the pain was gone.

'That is nothing compared to the days of unthinkable agony you will

suffer if I let you live. Can you feel that burning sensation in your body?'

Jack nodded weakly, tortured tears rolling down his cheeks.

'That's the pain that I've inflicted upon you so far. It will continue to

grow like a furnace until you go mad with suffering. Only I can end it. I ask

you one last time. Where is the rutter?'

The ninja repositioned his fingers on Jack's face.

'No, please…' begged Jack.

Jack felt his resistance break like a tree in a storm. His only remaining

hope was that daimyo Takatomi's castle was ninja-proof. Even if he died

tonight, there was a chance that his tormentor would be caught in the act

and ultimately punished for his crimes.

'Behind… the wall hanging of the white crane… in Takatomi's

reception room,' said Jack, gathering what little strength he had left.

'Good. Now tell me what the rutter is?'

Jack blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly.

'My father's navigational logbook,' he replied, too stunned to question

why Dragon Eye didn't know what he was actually stealing.

'I know that much. My employer insists this rutter is more effective

than an assassination in gaining power. Tell me why.'

Jack didn't reply.

Dragon Eye gave a sharp stab with his fingers to remind Jack of the

pain he could inflict. Jack winced and felt his resistance crumble once

more.

'It's the key to the oceans of the known world. The country that

possesses this rutter can command the trade routes and rule the seas. The

fortune of the world is in their hands.'

As Jack explained, he began to understand Dragon Eye's increasing

interest in the power of the rutter. The ninja may be a hired hand, but he

was no fool. Now aware of the importance of such an object, Dragon Eye

was perhaps considering the rutter's value for his own purposes.

'You've been more than helpful,' said Dragon Eye. 'But you're now

worthless to me. I keep my promises, though, so will release you from your

torment. The Death Touch is excruciating but swift. You may not even feel

your heart explode.'

Jack's pulse thumped through his body, his heart clamouring to escape,

as Dragon Eye formed a snakehead out of his hand and aimed it at Jack's

chest.

This was it, Jack realized. This was the face of Death, a featureless

black mask with a single green eye. He was staring into it and all he felt

was fear. Then, in the last dying moments, a thin smile broke across his

bloodless lips.

'What have you got to smile about, gaijin?' asked the ninja, astounded

at his victim's bravado.

But Jack's smile only broadened as he realized Dragon Eye's efforts

were ultimately futile. The key information in the rutter was protected by

the cipher his father had devised. Only Jack could decode it. Without the

key to unlock it, the rutter was virtually useless. A jigsaw with a vital piece

missing.

Like a lifeline for a drowning sailor, Jack realized the rutter could save

him.

'Kill me and the rutter's knowledge dies with me,' stated Jack,

emboldened by his belief.

'Encrypted, is it?' replied Dragon Eye, unfazed. 'It's of no

consequence. I know a Chinese cryptologist who can decode anything.'

With that, Dragon Eye struck and Jack's last hope died in his chest.