Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Career Track ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Night time at the SSA's base didn't slow down the company. In fact, the place was jumping, since they had a launch in less than eight hours. In the dorms, Matsuri was just laying down when someone knocked on her door. “Come in!” called the Tariho girl, sitting back up in bed.

The door opened, and Natsuko entered her room. “Um…” the girl began, fidgeting a little.

“Is something wrong?” asked Matsuri.

“I…can't sleep,” the girl admitted. Matsuri stared at her.

“Why not?” wondered the tribal girl.

“I'm too nervous about the flight,” admitted the new astronaut. Matsuri blinked. “How can you be so calm about it?” demanded Natsuko. Matsuri hummed, thinking about it.

“Because its nothing to be worried about,” she said a moment later.

“What if something goes wrong? What if I mess up? What if…?” the girl babbled, nervously playing with her hands.

“Then we will deal with it as it happens,” shrugged Matsuri, her breasts jiggling. As usual, she was sleeping naked - something that Yukari had tried to break her of, only to find that she had begun to adopt Matsuri's habits. “It isn't anything to worry about. Just do it like you did in the simulations,” assured Matsuri.

Natsuko and Chinami had both been trained for the job, but Natsuko had managed a slightly better simulation run than Chinami, and had been tapped to be the mission specialist. To Matsuri's surprise, she had been told she would be mission commander, with Chinami observing from mission control. Matsuri had expected to have Nasuda send both rookies up, but was happy to go up again. Now, with bare hours to go, she was looking at a very nervous rookie. “It's ok, Natsuko,” Matsuri assured her, slipping out of bed and moving over to the girl. Natsuko was in a tee shirt and panties, her usual sleeping attire. “I'll be there, and I promise you, I will bring us back safe, ok?”

“You…promise?” blinked Natsuko, seeing Matsuri give her a wide, easy, confident smile.

“Promise!” chirped Matsuri. Natsuko slowly nodded.

“Ok, Matsuri,” she said softly. “I'll…get some sleep,” she said, turning for the door. Matsuri studied the girl for a moment.

“Why not just sleep here?” suggested Matsuri, tossing her head toward Yukari's bunk. “You can sleep in Yukari's bed, since she's in America right now,” offered the girl. “It will give you good luck,” she added, grinning.

“I…I can?” Natsuko asked, wide-eyed. Matsuri nodded. “Thank you!” breathed Natsuko, rolling into Yukari's bed. Matsuri giggled softly as she hopped back into her own bed. Checking that her alarm was set, she snuggled down and was asleep in moments. Below her, in Yukari's bed, Natsuko took longer to fall asleep, but in less than a half hour, she, too, was asleep, the promises from Matsuri allowing her to finally rest before her first mission to space.

“You two are up early,” said lieutenant commander Cindy Morgan as the two SSA astronauts emerged from their shared room. Both girls were yawning behind their hands, but were dressed in shorts, shoes and shirts.

“Habit,” said Yukari.

“Hungry for breakfast?” asked the older woman. Yukari shook her head.

“No, morning exercise,” she explained. The commander glanced at her watch. Yukari caught the glance. “We're used to Solomon Island time,” explained the girl. They were out of synch with the local time by nearly twelve hours.

“I see,” replied the woman. “What do you do for your exercise?” she asked. Yukari stretched her arms over her head.

“We usually do an eight kilometer run for cardiovascular conditioning, followed by a cycle in the weight room for strength,” the girl supplied the answer. “Where can we run?”

“If you don't mind running with others, you can tag along with the Marines stationed here,” Cindy answered. “Give me ten minutes to change into my exercise clothes, and I will show you where the track is.”

“Thanks,” Yukari said. “But you don't have to run with us if you don't want to,” added the girl.

“It's no problem,” Cindy replied, “I need to stay in shape as well.” Yukari eyed the older woman's figure, but didn't comment. Following the commander, the two found themselves on a long, well-maintained track fifteen minutes later. As they arrived, they could see groups of men already running on the track, dressed in olive drab shirts and dark blue running shorts.

“This track is one mile long per lap,” Cindy explained, stopping to stretch as Yukari and Akane did the same. “Four laps should do it for you.” Yukari nodded, stretching carefully beside Akane. As they were finishing up their warm-up, a group of the men running along the track approached.

Since it was barely three am, the stars were out, and the track was lighted by a few light poles and some spilled light from other buildings. Even so, several groups of five to twenty men were running along the track. The group approaching the three women was about ten strong, all of them muscular guys with close-cropped hair. Spotting Cindy and the other two, wolf whistles filled the air, along with indecent suggestions and offers.

“Stow the chatter, marines!” barked Cindy. She pulled a cap out of her pocket, a bit of metal on the front flashing in the lights. Surprised curses filled the air before the group saluted Cindy.

“Sir, sorry, sir!” they yelled, not breaking stride.

“Carry on,” Morgan called back evenly. Turning to the two girls, she smiled. “Marines,” she said, shrugging.

“Don't mind us,” Yukari said, moving on to the track. Side by side, the two began to jog, Cindy swiftly catching up to them and falling into pace. After two minutes or so, the two astronauts picked up the pace into their normal comfortable run. As they approached the first lap, they closed with the group that had whistled at them. The marines noticed them coming, and fell into a double line, giving the girls a passing space. Yukari and Akane began to pass them, maintaining their pace and slowly edging around the group.

As they reached the front of the group well into their second lap, the lead marine looked over at the two. “Sorry if we offended you,” he panted. Clearly, he had been running for a while, his shirt soaked with sweat. “No disrespect intended,” he said.

“Didn't even notice,” puffed Yukari.

“You're those rocket girls, aren't you? The ones that fly capsules and repair satellites, right?”

“Yeah,” confirmed Yukari.

“Make a mistake somewhere?” wondered the Marine. “I mean, you're a hell of a ways off target, aren't you?”

“You want extra duty, marine?” barked Cindy.

“It's ok,” Yukari huffed. “Had a little emergency; that's all,” she said. Glancing at Akane, she gave her head a small toss, the smaller girl nodding. Sucking in a deeper breath, the two picked up the pace. Used to running part of their laps in the sand of the cove, the two found that they had a good energy reserve running on a track. And they weren't feeling the heat as much, thanks to being used to the equatorial weather at their base. Steadily, they drew away from the soldiers.

“Pick it up, guys,” the lead marine called to his men. “Don't want to hear the other squads telling the base we got beat by a couple of girls,” he motivated his men. The marines picked up the pace. Yukari set her jaw and held her speed.

Akane was beginning to falter by the time Yukari decided she had had enough. They had run seven laps, and the Marines had stopped on the sixth lap, sprawled out on the grass near the edge of the track as the girls made a final lap. Slowing to a walk for the last half-lap, she swept her gaze over the group of marines, not saying anything. Cindy - breathing hard herself and holding her side - led them to a weight room near the barracks when Yukari prodded her to do so.

In the room, they found several more men, all working hard on the massive weight piles and machines in the space. Akane stared at the sheer mass of steel plates on the benches and racked along the walls. Cindy guided them to the other end of the room from the half-dozen or so men already pumping iron. After mentally adjusting their cycle from kilograms to pounds, the two girls and their liaison had settled in for their cycle.

It was clear the men were watching them; and that they didn't think much of the paltry amount of steel the two girls were working with. While Satsuki had set up their strength training to help them maintain toned muscles and strong bodies, it was a far cry from the raw power the young marines and navy men were looking for. Low-voiced remarks and jokes could be overheard, but Yukari ignored it. She worked in space, while they were stuck being cannon fodder, after all - why would she care what they thought of her?

Akane - who had a lighter load than her - was blushing a little at some of the snide commentary from the men. “Ignore those muscle-brained idiots, Akane-chan,” Yukari said in Japanese. “They wouldn't last five seconds in Satsuki's circle of hell,” she smirked. The centrifuge had taken on that unofficial name during the training of Natsuko and Chinami.

“Idiots?” one of the men said, surprising Yukari. “Did you just call us idiots?” he asked, eyeing the two.

“Speak Japanese?” Yukari asked - still speaking her native tongue.

“Enough,” the man said back, in poorly-accented Japanese.

“Learned it from anime, did you?” smiled Yukari, her tone vaguely patronizing. Beside the two girls, Cindy straightened up from her bench, straightened her cap, and stared right at the men; coldly. Seeing the rank insignia on her cap, the men fell silent. The two girls finished up their rotations and the three departed the weight room as more men were coming in.

After a shower and some fresh clothes, the three went for some breakfast. Cindy had kept the two out of the mess hall, citing that the food was bland and probably not to their tastes, being military-grade cooking. The evening before, she had taken them to a small restaurant just off base, and the girls had tried some Italian. This morning, she told them that they had been invited to the house of the base CO for breakfast. Yukari's attempt at begging off had failed, and now, they were standing at the door to a surprisingly-modest-looking house on the outskirts of the base.

A few moments after ringing the doorbell, the door opened, revealing a man about Wayne's age, who introduced himself and invited them in. The two had bowed and entered, habitually kicking off their shoes. Following the captain into the house, the two visiting astronauts had found themselves in the kitchen, where they were introduced to the captain's wife and the couple's youngest daughter, who was their age.

Yukari and Akane were a little uncomfortable at first, but soon relaxed, as they found that this man - Alex Keiver - had similar traits to Wayne Burkheimer, their NASA friend. Alex told them several stories of the time the two had spent flying planes off a carrier, which helped break the ice. As the food was being served up, they were telling the base CO about their work.

It was clear to the two girls that the daughter was bored, since she stared out the windows of the dining room, her expression somewhere between bored and pouting. Her eyes kept moving to the clock, and her hands kept touching her pocket. Unsure of what might be causing this, Yukari carefully avoided confronting the blonde girl. When the food was served, Yukari thanked the wife, and ate the food, though she was careful about how much she ate.

“That's all you are eating?” asked the commander of the base, seeing Yukari set her fork down and pick up her orange juice. “Don't be shy - plenty of food to be had,” he smiled.

“It's not that,” Yukari said, “it's that we have to watch our mass carefully,” explained the girl. “A change of only a kilogram can cause trouble; not to mention the spacesuits are…close fitting, and would have to be re-made if we don't keep our biometric data within a small margin.”

“Yes, I recall hearing something about mass limitations on your delivery system,” Alex nodded.

“Any thinner and they'd be invisible,” muttered the blonde girl.

“Sharon,” warned Alex, looking at her. She sighed, playing with the last of her food on her plate. Yukari waved it off.

“Just be glad you don't have to work with Satsuki,” she said. “That woman is crazy sometimes,” she added, shaking her head.

Somewhere in the house, a clock chimed. Sharon jumped up. “Gotta go!” she called out, running from the room. Alex sighed.

“I'm sorry about that,” he apologized. Yukari and Akane both waved it off.

“It's nothing,” they assured him. The girl reappeared for a moment, a pack on her shoulder.

“Dad, I'm going to be home late tonight - I'm going to a movie with my friends,” the girls said, the door closing on any attempted reply her parents might have had.

“You wouldn't happen to have any interest in a maid at the SSA, would you?” asked Alex, looking at the two, “I'll pay you nicely to take her with you when you go back,” he grinned. Yukari grinned.

“I doubt she would find our program to be to her liking,” declined Yukari. And she's too tall, too heavy and probably too stupid to be in flight. Somehow, I doubt that she could do any job we might have, judged Yukari without any hatred. It was just how it was.

“Chinami and Natsuko probably think the same thing,” smiled Akane. She had been nearly mute the whole time, letting Yukari do the talking. Yukari snickered.

“Only every night,” she agreed. Glancing at the calendar, she blinked. “Akane! The retrieval job is today!” she recalled. Akane looked at the calendar as well, then at the clock.

“With the time zones, it would be…” she mumbled, counting the time lag. “Oh! We should be launching right now!” hissed the girl, blushing.

“If I had my cell phone…!” Yukari said anxiously.

“Nasuda will be mad if we have to delay the job, or maybe cancel it,” Akane observed.

“Can't help it, I guess,” Yukari said. “They have Matsuri, but no specialist, so they will have to delay,” she nodded to herself.

“He wouldn't send up one of the rookies, right?” Akane said aloud.

“No, he wouldn't send…” Yukari stopped, frowning. “Damn him, he would! I need to find a phone…!”

“Use mine, if you want,” offered Morgan, handing the two her cell phone.

“I'd be calling overseas,” Yukari began.

“It's fine,” Morgan smiled. Yukari swiftly punched in the number, starting with country code. When she was done, she waited, one finger tapping the table top. After seven rings, the line picked up.

“It's Yukari. Give me Nasuda right now,” she said tightly. A moment later she scowled. “I'll just bet!” she bit out. “Who did they send up? What do you mean, you don't know?! You only have three choices, and if Matsuri isn't mission commander, I will personally deal with you when I get back!”

“Yukari!” Akane protested.

Her mission commander waved a hand, still focused on the call. “You've already launched?! Who went up?! Matsuri. Yeah, I figured that! Who is mission specialist? Natsuko?” Yukari pursed her lips. “How did the shot go?” she asked after a moment, her voice lower, softer. “Well, that's good anyway. You're using the Papaya, aren't you? Did Mukai get the arm working? Yeah, I hope so too. Oh! Did anyone tell my nutcase of a dad not to cast a curse? Matsuri did? Then it got done. Yeah, we'll be back as soon as possible.”

“Is Wayne handy, by chance?” Alex asked calmly.

“Yeah, listen, I want to know if Wayne is handy - someone here wants to speak to him,” Yukari said, switching to English. “Ok, I'll give him the phone.” Yukari handed the base commander the phone. “They're getting him now,” she reported, turning to Akane. “Matsuri and Natsuko went up in the second capsule ten minutes ago. The launch was good, the orbiter is ok, and the mission is proceeding,” she relayed. “I just hope nothing happens,” worried the girl. “If something happens to them like happened to us…!”

“Then Matsuri will deal with it,” Akane sought to reassure her friend. “She won't let anything happen to Natsuko,” soothed the girl.

“Matsuri will do her best, I know, but she's not as experienced as we are,” Yukari sighed.

“Maybe not, but she's lucky,” Akane smiled. Giving her mission specialist a strange look, Yukari began to chuckle as Akane's words seeped into her mind. Before long, she was laughing.

“Yes, I guess she is,” agreed the girl, getting herself under control. Touching Akane's arm, she smiled at her friend and former school-mate. “I want to get back as soon as I can,” she admitted.

“Well, we'll see how fast we can get you back,” Morgan said. “If you are feeling up to it, we can get that incident report done this morning, and then we'd like to ask you a few questions about some of your recent missions,” the lieutenant commander said, standing.

“Sure,” agreed Yukari, though her tone lacked enthusiasm. The base commander finished up with his talk with his old friend, and handed the woman's phone back to her.

“Sir,” she saluted him.

“Come by my office when you have a moment, commander,” the man said, returning her salute. The three departed, leaving the CO and his wife alone. When they had been gone for nearly a minute, he stood up, sighing.

“Something wrong, dear?” asked his wife.

“No, not really,” he said. “Those two girls are the same age as Sharon, but they are flying space missions, while she's cutting class, hanging out at the mall, and talking on her cell phone. Where did we go wrong?” he asked his wife.

“Engaging retro-burn now,” Matsuri said, deftly moving the control stick, finger tapping the control button for the OMS system. The capsule slowed, dropping from orbit.

“OMS nozzle retracted,” reported Natsuko. “Cover shows green,” added the girl a moment later.

“'Kay!” replied Matsuri, scanning her instrumentation. “Re-entry in thirty one seconds,” she warned her specialist. Checking her watch, she smiled. “We'll be home in time for supper,” smiled the tribal rocket jock girl.

“That's good,” replied Natsuko, “I'm getting hungry, and want to get out of this suit.”

“Something wrong?” asked Matsuri. “These suits are pretty comfortable,” she added, looking down at her own suit.

“Yes, but…” Natsuko paused, wondering how to say what she was thinking. “They are a little…itchy,” she said at last. “You know - down there.”

“Down where?” wondered Matsuri.

“You know! Between our legs?” hinted the blushing girl.

“Your pussy itches?” Matsuri asked. Natsuko wanted to die. Matsuri had a very odd vocabulary at times. Usually it wasn't noticeable, but it jumped up at the oddest times and surprised people. This was one of those times.

“Well, not…exactly,” Natsuko squeaked out. “It's…my adult hair,” she once more retreated to euphemisms.

“So why not just shave it off, then?” Matsuri asked casually. Natsuko blinked.

“Does Yukari do that?” she wondered. “I mean, she doesn't look like she has any, but I never thought she was shaving it off,” the girl mused.

“We all shave ours off,” shared the cheerful girl easily. “Because the suits are so thin, if you leave it all bushy, it shows through the suit, and if you trim it short, it can itch after several hours in space, so we all shave.”

“Even Akane?” Natsuko wondered.

“Yeah, but she doesn't have as much to shave as sis and I do,” Matsuri replied. “Didn't we tell you to shave it off?” wondered the girl.

“Um, well, we thought you meant trim it,” Natsuko admitted.

“Nope! Cut it all off, smooth and soft!” Matsuri sang back. “Oh! We're glowing now!” squealed the girl, the portholes showing the orange/red plasma glow as the capsule skidded into the atmosphere, friction super-heating the tiles that protected the delicate craft from the heat of re-entry. “Pretty colors,” sighed Matsuri happily. Natsuko had to agree.

Just over two hours later, the two girls were back at the SSA base, showered and eating supper with Chinami. As they ate, Matsuri's cell phone rang, the girl picking it up. After a short message, she closed the phone and set it back on the table. Yukari had insisted that Matsuri have a cell phone, and had taught her sister how to use the phone. It made finding the girl much easier.

“Well, who was it?” asked Natsuko.

“Nasuda,” replied Matsuri. “Yukari called shortly after we launched; and again just as we were decelerating for re-entry,” the girl shared. “She's worried about how the job went, but he told her everything was fine,” shrugged the girl.

“When are they coming back?” wondered Chinami. Matsuri shrugged.

“Don't know,” she said. “Probably before too long,” she added, squeezing mayonnaise onto her noodles with a smile.

“Is there some point to all these interviews and questions and reports, Cindy?” asked Yukari, taking a long pull from her orange juice.

“Sorry, but we have to fill out a ton of official documents for the government and we need to make sure that we have the information to put in them. Please try to be patient just a little longer,” the Navy officer apologized.

Yukari grunted. The four of them - herself, Akane, Cindy and the driver of the grey sedan that ferried them around - were currently off the base, having made a town trip so Akane and Yukari could look around and see if they could find any trinkets to bring back with them for the other girls. Yukari had found a tee shirt that she was determined to make Nasuda wear - just for her own personal amusement. She had also found a few things to show her appreciation to Satsuki.

Akane had found a couple of small things that she thought would be good gifts for the other girls and some of the staff. The two had also expanded their wardrobe a bit, since the military-issue clothes they had were not to their liking. Now, wearing civilian clothes, they felt much more comfortable. The two had also bought some better-fitting underwear, too. It had been somewhat annoying to realize that all the teenager and adult underwear sizes were too large on them, and they had to settle for print panties.

At the moment, the group was having a short break at a small eatery that the driver had known about. It served some great fish and potato slices, the fish breaded and the potato slices covered in a spicy dipping mix. The two had also tried some coleslaw and corn bread. The iced tea - Southern Style, the Lieutenant Commander had called it - was not quite what they were used to, and after they had finished their glasses, both had switched to orange juice. Yukari wondered why they didn't drink their tea hot.

“How soon until we can head back to the SSA?” asked Yukari, draining her glass and waving off the offered refill.

“Soon,” promised Cindy. “We have already contacted your embassy in Washington, and they are preparing special passports for you, so you can fly back,” the woman shared. “They should be arriving here any time now.”

“I'd have brought my passport with me if I had know this would happen,” sighed Yukari. Her passport was sitting in her top drawer back at the SSA base.

“Yes, I'm sure you would have,” nodded the older woman. “But, that is why they are putting together a temporary passport for each of you: that way, you can go through customs and legally enter countries on the way back to the Solomons.”

“I can't wait to get back,” Akane said softly, swirling the last of her orange juice in her glass.

“Me, either,” Yukari said, giving her mission specialist a smile. The chirping of a cell phone interrupted the moment, Cindy pulling out her cell phone. After a short exchange, she handed the phone to Yukari. “Yukari speaking,” the girl said into the phone.

“It's Nasuda,” came the voice of her boss. “Just thought you would like to know that everything went fine with the job, and Matsuri and Natsuko made it back safe and sound. Also,” he added, “the United States has promised me that you two will be returning shortly.”

“That's great news,” Yukari replied.

“Yes,” Nasuda said. “Oh, and be sure to remind the military personnel that the oxidant lines in the capsule's OMS might still contain fuel, and should be handled carefully,” he reminded her.

“They're keeping the capsule?” she asked, frowning.

“Well, it is damaged beyond repair, so there is no point in bringing it back,” Nasuda said calmly. “And they paid us the build cost value, too, so it's theirs now.”

“Whatever,” Yukari dismissed the issue. “Is the data logger part of that deal, too?” she asked.

“Glad you reminded me of that,” the man said. “We have agreed to give them the logger in exchange for copies of the data, incident report, and consideration when our services might be useful to them.”

“Sold out again, eh?” grunted Yukari. She didn't really care, but it sort of miffed her when things like that happened.

“This is a business, Yukari,” the man said, ending the call.

“Yeah, I guess so,” murmured Yukari, handing the phone back to the older woman. “Well, if we're done, let's head back and see if those passports have arrived yet,” she said, standing. Nodding, the two Americans had dropped some currency on the table and they had driven back to the base.

As they entered, the guard informed them that they had a visitor waiting for them. The driver had taken them to a building not far from the gate, and inside the building - where the main visitor information desk sat - they found a Japanese man, dressed in a suit, patiently waiting for them.

He had risen and bowed to the group, introducing himself as Nakamura from the embassy. His briefcase had contained two official Japanese passports, complete with seals and stamps, for Yukari and Akane. After carefully comparing the girls to the passports, he had handed them over to the girls, along with two cards with the embassy's contact information on it. Yukari had flipped through the passport, seeing the stamp from the United States already in the passport.

The diplomat had given them the normal brief reminder about being in a foreign country and to remember that things were different, then told them to contact the embassy if any issues arose. Bowing to the two again, he smiled at them. “We are proud to have you representing our nation,” he said. “Might I have your signatures on this photo? We would like to frame it and mount it in the embassy's lobby,” he explained, pulling out a carefully-rolled publicity photo of the two, a LS5A in the background.

“Of course,” Yukari had said, accepting a Sharpie from him and swiftly - but neatly - signing her name on the photo, Akane doing the same. Handing the marker back to him, the two couldn't help but feel proud that their work was being recognized. Cindy was murmuring into her cell phone in the background.

“Excuse me, Nakamura-san,” Cindy respectfully cut in, “I was wondering if you might happen to have a spare copy of that photo?”

“I do, in fact, have a spare,” Nakamura nodded.

“Would it be possible for us - NAS Pensacola - to arrange a swap for it? Your idea of displaying the photo is a good one, and we would very much like to do the same in our command building,” Cindy explained. “We would be happy to swap you, say, a photo of the capsule as it was being lifted out of the sea, or maybe a photo of the capsule with Yukari and Akane in the foreground? A little something to balance out the publicity photo?”

“I believe that we can come to some agreement on such a topic,” smiled the man. Seeing the looks on Yukari's and Akane's face, Cindy smiled at them.

“You got your souvenirs, didn't you?” she said innocently. Yukari sighed.

“I can't wait to get back to base,” she murmured to Akane. Because once we're back, we can go up again!

Matsuri hummed as she led the two new girls in their morning run. With Akane and Yukari still out, she had fallen into the role of `leader' in place of her sister. For her, the physical stuff was easy. The technical side of things was overseen by Kinoshita and by the two NASA men. Glancing at the ocean as she ran through the sand in the cove, she idly considered a swim, but forced herself to lead the other two back to the base for a shower before breakfast.

Natsuko and Chinami - both in far better shape than when they had arrived - were breathing hard as the group stopped in front of the dorm. Trooping inside, the girls had swiftly stripped off their sweaty exercise clothes, grabbed their towels, and made for the shower block. Entering the showering area, the three were talking about the day's schedule as they cranked up their preferred nozzles and ducked under them.

With their attention on the day ahead of them, it wasn't until they were scrubbing the sweat off their bodies that they realized that they were not alone in the showers. Matsuri noticed this first. “Good morning, Norman, Wayne,” greeted the tanned native girl, smiling at the two men, who were at the far set of nozzles on the other wall from the girls. Matsuri made no move to cover herself or to stop scrubbing herself clean. “What are you two doing here this time of morning?” wondered Matsuri casually.

Natsuko and Chinami had covered themselves for a moment, but seeing as the two were busy shampooing their hair and not ogling the girls, they had resumed their wash, though they kept peeking at the two every so often, as if they expected the men to be drooling and playing with themselves. Wayne and Norman, though, didn't seem to even notice the girls were there in that regard.

“We're running a little late this morning,” Wayne said as soon as he had washed the shampoo out of his graying hair. “Are you three ready for the test problem in orbital calculation this morning?” he asked the three of them. Chinami and Natsuko blinked.

“Oh, no,” complained Natsuko, “I knew I was forgetting something!”

“It's ok,” Chinami said, smiling at her friend. The two had not been friends when they arrived, though they had been `yeah, I think I've seen you at school' kind of familiar with each other. After the training, and the time, and the experiences they had been through, they could finish each other's sentences. “We practiced that last night, right?”

“Yeah, but it's still hard,” whined Natsuko. “I don't know why we can't just use the orbital sheets to configure our mission profiles,” pouted the girl.

“Because if something happens to you like happened to Yukari and Akane, you won't be able to use the sheets, since your obit will be constantly shifting. It is for that reason that you have to know how to think your way out of the problem,” lectured Wayne. That thought sobered the two up.

“Um, they are going to be back soon, aren't they?” asked Chinami.

“My old buddy at NAS Pen said that they should be on their way today,” Wayne replied. “Figure you could see them tomorrow about supper time, depending on flights and such,” he added. The two seemed relieved to hear that.

“What happened to them, Wayne?” asked Natsuko. “I mean, that trace…” she began.

“We don't know yet,” Norman interjected smoothly, lathering up his chest with his bar of soap. “Intersection is low-odds, but it has happened a time or two. When they get back, we might learn more,” deferred the mission specialist.

“So, you going to tell her when she gets back?” asked Matsuri, grinning at the American as she washed her own hair. Chinami and Natsuko perked up.

“Tell her what?” asked Chinami.

“And which `her'?” Natsuko wanted to know. Matsuri opened her mouth.

“Mind your own business, Matsuri,” called out Norman, throwing his washcloth at her. Matsuri, laughing, dodged away easily.

“It is my business,” countered the tanned girl. “Yukari is my sister, after all - and the crown princess of the Tariho tribe,” added the grinning girl.

“Oh, my god! You mean Norman and Yukari…!” squealed Chinami.

“No!” denied Norman firmly - and loudly. A chuckle from beside him got Wayne a nasty look.

“She already knows, you know,” Matsuri said, rinsing her hair.

“Yeah, I know,” sighed Norman. “But if I don't talk with her about it, things won't change,” he said sagely. Matsuri hummed, but said nothing.

“So?” demanded Chinami. Matsuri looked at her curiously. “What's going on with Norman and Yukari?” the girl impatiently repeated herself.

“I told you, Chinami,” came Norman's voice, “it isn't Yukari,” he repeated himself. Matsuri giggled. “And you! Silence!” decreed Norman, pointing a finger at the insolent girl. Matsuri stuck her tongue out at him. Natsuko was silent, drawing Matsuri's attention.

“What's wrong, Natsuko?” asked Matsuri, seeing the girl's face was red and her eyes fixed. Tracing Natsuko's gaze, she found that the girl was staring at Norman's groin. Smiling, Matsuri finished up her shower. “We're falling behind schedule,” said the native girl. Both her charges jerked at the reminder, and hurried to catch up. Matsuri was toweling off when Wayne stepped beside her, also toweling off.

“Matsuri,” murmured the senior of the two NASA men, “I need to speak with you for a minute - privately,” he added, glancing at the other two momentarily. Norman stepped past the two, towel over his blonde hair, muttering under his breath. “And try to be a bit nicer to Norman,” chuckled Wayne, getting another nasty look from his fellow astronaut.

“'Kay!” Matsuri chirped. Both men had come to know her well, and her perpetually sunny, upbeat, unworried attitude was greatly appreciated by the two. “Come on,” said Matsuri, tossing her black mane of hair toward her room. “We can talk in my room,” she added, draping her towel over her shoulders. Wayne nodded, following the naked girl to her room.

Yukari and Akane groaned as they nearly staggered down the boarding tube. They had been on jet liners for nearly twenty hours straight. Now, they were in Narita, with a three hour lay-over. The two wanted to sleep, but knew they couldn't afford the time right then. They had grabbed some rest on the flight from Florida to California, and managed a little on the flight from California to Japan, but the ride had been a little bumpy over the Pacific. It hadn't helped any that they had ended up on a flight with a stop at Hawaii. The two wouldn't have minded if they had had a day or two to enjoy the islands, but instead, it was just a lay-over of only ninety minutes, so they had stuck close to the ramps.

When they had boarded the flight for Tokyo, Yukari had been recognized, and the two had almost missed boarding call because of the throng of curious strangers and autograph-seekers. When they had finally gotten aboard, the two had settled into their business-class seats and tried to catch some sleep, but kept being engaged in conversations by fellow passengers and the flight attendants. Both bore up more or less gracefully under the interest, but when Yukari was invited to the cockpit to talk with the flight crew, she had taken the chance to politely ask the captain of the liner to pass word to the flight attendants that she and Akane really wanted to rest after a rough mission.

They had managed an hour and a half of sleep, but then - once more - there had been some high-altitude turbulence, and while it was not rough, by any means, it was just enough to keep them from sleeping. To the two, it felt like someone gently shaking their shoulders just as they were drifting off to sleep. Neither girl got much sleep. Now, they were in Tokyo, with another layover to deal with. Both hoped that the flight south would let them sleep.

“Want to get some coffee and something to eat?” asked Yukari, glancing at Akane. Her mission specialist nodded. Neither girl had much in the way of luggage. Their friendly Lieutenant Commander in the American Navy had gotten them some very functional shoulder bags for their stuff, and as she saw them off at the boarding ramp, she had wished them continued success in their profession. She had also handed each a sealed envelope, winked at the two, and told them to open the envelopes when they were airborne.

The envelopes had contained a modest stack of cash, one of the Commander's business cards, a folded letter, and a burned DVD, which - according to the letter - was a copy of the report the Navy would be filing, a copy of the data from their logger, and some `assorted documentation' for them. The two girls were glad to have the money, since it made lay-overs easier for them, and the DVD would probably make their bosses happy back at Solomon. Now, Yukari fished up some of the cash. Fortunately, the small shops in Narita's concourse were set up to handle mixed currency. If I had my cell phone, I could call mom, and have her come by, thought Yukari. Her phone - like everything else - was in her room at Solomon.

The two checked their watches (another thing they had gotten as gifts from the Americans) against the airport clocks and decided that coffee and some pastries would have to do for their snack. After getting their drinks and treats, the two wandered aimlessly around the concourse, stretching their legs after so long in airplanes. “If we were in our capsule, we could have covered the distance from Pensacola to Solomon in less than an hour,” observed Akane, sipping her coffee.

“Yeah,” nodded Yukari, “makes jets seem slow, doesn't it?” grinned the mission commander. The two shared a laugh. “Another half-day or so and we will be home, Akane,” murmured Yukari. Her mission specialist nodded.

“I can't wait,” she said. When the pastries were done, the two wandered into one of the cramped bookstores near the gates, burning time until their boarding call. Browsing the periodicals, Yukari spotted one with a familiar picture on it. Grabbing it, she swiftly leafed through it. Akane spotted another magazine that had a cover blurb that caught her attention, and she picked it up. Hearing the boarding announcement for their flights, the two girls glanced at each other, then their new watches.

“We should get some stuff for the new girls,” Yukari said, swiftly, scanning the shop. Spotting a rack of manga, she grinned evilly. Akane, discerning her intent, shook her head.

“We've become evil since working with Satsuki-san, you know that?” Akane observed, helping her mission commander grab titles.

“Yeah,” shrugged Yukari. Swiftly piling their selections on the register counter, the two dropped more than enough money, told the clerk to keep the change, and scurried off to board their flight. Since they were business class, they boarded after the first class passengers, and after they were airborne once more, the two flipped open their reading material.

It was past sunset when the two arrived at the gates of the SSA. Both were dragging, nearly stumbling, and all they could think about was hitting the sack. The guard waved them through, and Yasukawa carried the two girl's packs into the dorm for them. Entering her room, Yukari found Matsuri sleeping peacefully in her bed. Smiling, Yukari set her pack down, struggled out of her traveling clothes, and wearily sat on the edge of her bed, looking at her little sister's expression. Gently brushing Matsuri's cheek with her fingers, Yukari lay down close to her sister, and was asleep before she even fully settled.

When Yukari awoke, she was alone in her bed, the sheets tucked neatly around her. Matsuri was long gone. Sitting up, she yawned, glancing at her alarm clock. Blinking, she found that it was much later than she had thought. She also found that she was hungry and needed to hit the bathroom. Getting out of bed, she grabbed her towel and bath basket, heading for the bathroom. Pausing, she knocked on Akane's door, her mission specialist answering from inside after a moment. When the door opened a minute later, Akane had her towel and bath basket as well.

Smiling at each other, the two made their way to the bathroom. After tending to the pressing needs of their bladders, the two stepped into the shower block, quickly washing off. Chatting between themselves, the girls finished up in less than twenty minutes, drying off and returning to their rooms to dress for the day. It was almost a relief to slip into their familiar base wear of a bikini and shorts. Meeting up outside the door, the two made their way to the cafeteria for some food.

Entering the cafeteria, the two were surprised to be greeted with a yelled cheer. Looking around, they found that the staff had kept breakfast ready for them. Seems Matsuri had told them that the primary flight crew had returned in the night. Greeting the staff, the two had eaten their normal sparse breakfast before heading for operations. Finding Kinoshita there, the girls had given him one of the DVDs, telling him that they would be giving the other to Nasuda at the staff meeting, but that he and Mukai would probably want to start in on the data logger information.

From operations, the two had headed for Nasuda's office. When they got there, they found the head of their outfit in a meeting with two men in suits, and the phone on his desk was in speakerphone mode. Seeing him twitch his head, Yukari and Akane withdrew silently, unnoticed by the men he was talking to. “What was that all about?” wondered Akane. Yukari shrugged.

“More business, I guess,” she said. “Let's go see where the new girls are,” suggested Yukari. Akane nodded, the two of them moving toward the medical and training building. Reaching it, they found Matsuri supervising the two new girls in a critical error recovery procedure. “Morning, Matsuri,” Yukari said, touching Matsuri's shoulder.

“Morning, sis!” smiled the girl, turning in her seat to give Yukari a hug; Yukari returned the hug warmly. “Akane,” smiled Matsuri, hugging Akane as well.

“Good to see you again, Matsuri,” Akane replied.

“New procedure?” asked Yukari, scanning the notes next to the control station for the simulation capsule. Matsuri nodded.

“Yep! Since your intersection issue, Wayne and Norman came up with a training program to help train new flight teams,” she shared.

“Speaking of them,” Yukari said, “shouldn't they be supervising this?” she asked. Matsuri blinked.

“Oh! No one told you?” she asked. Yukari frowned.

“Tell me what?” she asked suspiciously.

“Wayne and Norman were recalled to NASA day before yesterday,” Matsuri said. Yukari's frown deepened.

“I see,” she said. Matsuri turned to the control panel.

“Chinami, Natsuko, we're aborting the exercise,” she said, stopping the machine. “Take a fifteen minute break, then we will try again,” she said.

“Is something wrong?” asked Chinami. “We were getting the tumble stabilized, and…”

“You were doing fine,” Matsuri assured her, “but we're taking a break, and will try it again in fifteen minutes, ok?” she said. Looking out of the simple Plexiglas windows of the control booth, Yukari and Akane saw the mock capsule's door open, and Chinami popped up, wearing her spacesuit. Yukari gave her a wave as she nimbly hopped out, Natsuko appearing a moment later.

“They told us the day before yesterday,” Matsuri said, turning her chair to face the two squarely. “Something came up, and they were recalled. They showed me how to do the simulation that morning, and by afternoon, they were flying out,” she said. Yukari wasn't sure how she felt about that.

“Well, it was nearly the time they would have been recalled anyway,” she said. Chinami and Natsuko hurried into the booth.

“Welcome back, Yukari-sempai, Akane-sempai,” the two greeted them. Yukari smiled at her two junior astronauts.

“It's good to be back,” she replied.

“Tell us about the mission! And what it was like visiting America!” the two eagerly demanded. Yukari smiled. Well, a little break shouldn't hurt, she thought. When Nasuda came looking for them, the five were still talking about what had happened and the subsequent events.

Evening found the flight crews in a meeting with the top bosses of the SSA. After a short warm-up speech by Nasuda - that basically boiled down to `welcome back now get to work' - he reviewed the schedule for the month. With twenty one days left in the calendar month, they had five jobs. Two of those five were time sensitive.

“With that in mind, I am looking at the feasibility of simultaneous missions,” he continued.

“Whoa, hold it right there, old man!” cut in Yukari. “Let's talk about these time-sensitive missions. Akane and I are back now, and if necessary, we can fly back-to-back missions again,” she said.

“Yukari, we have spent the time and money training Natsuko and Chinami for just this reason,” fired back Nasuda. “We will need two - hopefully more! - flight-status crews to handle the upcoming mission load. It's time to start recovering on our investment in those two,” he argued.

“Not a chance, old man,” Yukari said firmly. “They aren't ready,” stated the senior astronaut. “If you want to use them, they will need to be paired up with me, one mission at a time, until they are comfortable with missions.”

“Yukari-sempai,” interjected Chinami, “we're ready for independent missions,” the girl said earnestly. “We have logged more hours in the simulator than you have, and have been training fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, for months! We're ready!”

“I'm not saying you aren't ready to work in vacuum,” Yukari replied, “but as a flight team, you are green. That could kill both of you,” she said. “All I am saying is that you need some live missions with either myself or Akane in the capsule with you. And remember: simulation work is not the same as space. You can die up there for the tiniest mistake.”

“We know that, Yukari-sempai,” Chinami joined the fight, “but the only way to get experience is to do it, right? And it isn't like Nasuda is sending us to do complicated things right now,” said the girl. “We're being given the `milk runs', as Wayne called them,” she pointed out. Yukari shook her head.

“There are no `milk runs' in this job, girls,” she said. “And even if you are crazy enough to send up two capsules at once,” she shifted the topic back Nasuda, “you don't have two flight control teams,” pointed out Yukari. “What do you think you are going to do about that?” she asked.

“Matsuri can handle both flights concurrently,” Nasuda said.

“Oh really?” snorted Yukari. “What happens if both flights get in trouble? Are there two Mukai's? Two Satsukis? Two Kinoshitas?”

“The chances of that happening are remote,” Nasuda began, “and in any event, the last two emergencies have been handled by the flight crew,” he said. Yukari grunted.

“My point exactly,” she insisted. “We need to get them some experience before sending them up solo.”

“Is there anything more for you to teach them?” asked Nasuda. “As far as the techniques and processes of the job?”

Yukari frowned. “Not as such,” she said slowly. “Still…”

“Then there is nothing left but experience,” summarized her boss. “And before you repeat yourself, there are two jobs - both for NASA - that can't be done by anyone but you and Akane,” he said. “That being so, our only remaining flight team is Chinami and Natsuko. They are flying, Yukari,” he stated firmly. Yukari leveled a stare on him he had never seen from her before.

“Fine,” said the girl flatly, “but if something happens, you get to tell their families why they aren't there any more,” she said quietly. “You told me I was in charge of training them. As their training officer, I oppose this decision.” Nasuda nodded.

“So noted,” he said, turning a page in his planner. “Now, about the development of the LS7 system,” the head of the SSA began to change topics.

“Hold on,” Yukari said. “Does anyone know why Wayne and Norman were recalled?” she asked. Nasuda glanced at Kinoshita, who glanced at Mukai, who glanced at Satsuki, who looked away.

“NASA said they had to train for a critical mission on the Atlantis,” Nasuda said. “I think something was said about a short-notice haul to the ISS. Why?”

“Just curious,” Yukari said. “Second: have you gone over the data from the logger?” asked the mission commander.

“We've looked at it,” said Nasuda. “It will take a little while to sort it all out in detail, of course. Why? Did you have a question? Or noticed something that isn't in the data?” he asked her.

“Our perspective was very different from yours,” Yukari replied dryly. “How about the report from the US Navy?” she asked.

“Haven't read it in detail yet,” shrugged Nasuda. Yukari pulled free the second DVD.

“Put that on the screen,” she said, sliding the cased DVD to Mukai, who was closest to the large TV that the group used when they needed it. After a glance at Nasuda, Mukai did as asked, loading the DVD into the laptop that was hooked up to the large display.

After a moment, the group was looking at a basic word processor file that contained the fifty six page `official' report. Yukari scanned through it quickly, but didn't seem to find what she was looking for. “Thought so,” murmured the girl.

“What were you looking for?” asked Nasuda.

“Who they think shot at us,” Yukari replied. Nasuda almost blinked.

“Shot at you?” he asked. Yukari pulled out a folded magazine, throwing it down the table toward her boss.

“You know, old man,” she began, “I speak and read English more than well enough to listen to people talk, and to read reports. Also, I wasn't hired because I am stupid, right?” she said, her lips twisting a little. “I didn't really think about it until we were back in the atmosphere, but that intersection was odd. The other track corrected its approach to intersect us,” pointed out Yukari. “And then there was all the interest the Americans showed in our little mishap. I didn't think much about it at first, but I saw that article on the way here, and since I read it, I have been thinking about what happened.”

Nasuda looked at the article, but said nothing. “It should have made me curious why the US risked a heavy-lift helicopter to retrieve our capsule, when Mangosteen was destroyed and worth less new than the chopper. If I hadn't been so glad to have survived, I think I would have wondered why we were given to the Navy. I had to look it up, but a lieutenant commander is nearly flag-rank, and we warranted one with us twenty four seven. Another thing I discovered was that she was flown to the base about the same time that we were coming down - she wasn't stationed there.” Yukari stared at her boss.

Nasuda was watching, his face as bland and passive as ever; or when tuning out her outbursts. Yukari wondered fleetingly if she should grab the nearest thing and chuck it at his head to make sure she had his attention. “And that is to say nothing of your more or less giving the data logger to the military,” concluded the girl. “So, why aren't they saying anything, old man?”

“I don't know,” he replied calmly. “Maybe they haven't figured it out themselves,” he suggested.

“Could be,” allowed Yukari. “In the end, the important question is `what are we going to do about it?'”

“Do?” asked Nasuda. “What would you suggest we do, Yukari?” he asked. For a moment, she stared at him. Then, exhaling, she slumped in her seat a little.

“I don't know,” she said, rubbing her face. “But I do know that if someone is shooting at us, we need to come up with a plan.”

“It probably wasn't you two they were shooting at,” Mukai interjected. “There was a satellite in a higher, faster orbit that was probably what that missile was after,” he postulated. Yukari reviewed the mission mentally.

“Nothing was in the briefing, or on the charts,” the girl challenged.

“We didn't know about it until recently,” Nasuda said. “In fact, that is one of the two missions that you are going to be doing,” he added. “Component swap on the satellite.”

“Hopefully not for that scumbag `Smith',” groused Yukari. Nasuda shook his head.

“No, but the satellite is a military one,” he said blandly. Yukari grunted.

“Surprised they want us to do it, since we're not military and aren't even American citizens,” she muttered.

“We are the only ones who can do it,” shrugged Nasuda. “It was a referral job from NASA, in fact.” Yukari gave a half-shrug.

“Ok, so what is going on with the LS7 vehicle?” asked the girl. The meeting turned to other areas. When she reached her room that night, Yukari dug through her shallow desk drawer for a moment before pulling up the business card. Considering it, she thoughtfully tapped it with a finger before tucking it back into her drawer. Stripping down, she climbed into her bed, Matsuri already in her bunk above her.

“You worried, sis?” asked Matsuri as Yukari plunged the room into darkness.

“Yeah,” admitted Yukari. She heard the sound of Matsuri shifting, and a moment later, she saw her little sister's head and shoulders appear over the edge of the bunk beds. Matsuri was hanging upside down over the edge.

“Don't worry; I had daddy make some charms for Natsuko and Chinami,” explained the tribal girl. “Now, nothing bad will happen to them,” she finished happily. Shaking her head, Yukari chuckled softly at that. Reaching out, she caressed Matsuri's cheek for a moment before tousling the dark-skinned girl's hair.

“Thanks, Matsuri,” she said, feeling better. “Let's get some sleep; tomorrow it's back to work!”

Yukari clipped her line to the tether ring of the capsule, double-checking the latch before nudging herself toward the end of the arm, where the clamp was secured to the satellite. “Akane, I'm behind you and to the lower left,” she warned her partner.

“Got it,” Akane radioed back. Her mission specialist was floating a third of the way around the body of the satellite, one hand carefully grasping the open access hatch of the bird, in the middle of replacing a set of circuit boards. “You starting on the high-gain antenna?” asked Akane.

“Yeah,” Yukari replied, falling slowly down to the bottom of the bird, where a tight-focus high-gain antenna was tucked neatly to the side of the bird, half-hidden behind the instrument package. Carefully orienting herself, she slowly pulled the special T-wrench from her tool pack. The tool pack was something that she and Mukai had come up with. It was a simple material pack, with re-configurable strapping that the flight crews could Velcro to their thighs, bellies, packs or arms as needed, and hold the tools that were necessary to complete their missions. Yukari's pack was firmly secured to her left upper thigh. Akane had her pack strapped to the bottom of her module.

With the wrench in hand, Yukari deliberately, carefully, began to remove the bracket bolts that secured the antenna. In the capsule was the newer, smaller, lighter, more powerful replacement. As each bolt came free, she carefully tucked them into her pouch, making sure not to lose any of them. When the antenna was free, she eased it away from the bird, tracing the data cord to the socket and ever so carefully unplugging it. “Old antenna removed,” she reported.

“Ok,” Akane answered. “I have the main circuit bus open, so go ahead and replace the antenna,” her partner added. A flicker of light dropping below the satellite caught her attention. It was a circuit card falling out of orbit.

“Tell me that was the old card, Akane,” Yukari said dryly as she moved toward their capsule.

“It was,” confirmed Akane, her tone amused. “You know I'm more careful than that,” she added. Reaching the capsule, Yukari made sure she was in a good position before lazily tossing the antenna into the gravity well. The parts would re-enter the atmosphere and burn up, leaving nothing but fine ash. Once she was sure that the antenna was safely on its one-way trip, Yukari brought out the replacement antenna and maneuvered back to the mounting bracket.

“Beginning installation of the new antenna,” she radioed her partner.

“I'm working on the second card now,” came the reply. “Let me know when you are ready for the continuity check.”

“Give me about fifteen minutes,” Yukari said, quickly reviewing the basic schematic card that was attached to the new antenna, detailing the necessary installations data. Once she was sure she was ready, she began the installation process. Eighteen minutes later, she tightened the last bolt and withdrew her T-wrench. “Akane, I'm all done here,” she said. “Ready for that check?”

“Roger,” replied Akane. Yukari moved back slightly - just in case. “Ok, closing the circuit bus,” Akane said. A moment later, the new antenna flicked open. “I have a green light on the main board,” Akane began her check. “Ok, the green light is lit on the secondary communication board,” she added a moment later. “The yellow LED is still lit on the priority command board, though,” sighed Akane.

“Solomon, do you read?” radioed Yukari, selecting the second channel on her radio.

“We read you,” came back her sister's voice.

“We show a yellow on two, repeat, yellow on two. Confirm?”

“One sec,” came her answer. Nearly a minute later, Matsuri came back.

“They say that the board isn't seated properly,” Matsuri said.

“It is fully seated,” Akane cut in. “And the clip for the board is closed, too,” added her mission specialist.

“Ok,” Matsuri said, Solomon going silent again. Seconds ticked by. “Akane, Yukari, they are going to try a restart,” reported Matsuri.

“Roger,” Yukari said, moving up and over to where Akane floated, about one meter from the open access hatch. Yukari hugged herself to Akane's side, the two absently stabilizing themselves, both watching the small LEDs on the circuit boards in the bird.

“You think the kids' mission is going any better?” asked Yukari on the crew frequency.

“Probably,” Akane replied softly. “They just had to replace the power line from a solar array and re-fasten a shield blanket on a communication satellite. Doesn't get any easier than that, right?” she giggled softly. “Chinami looked solid in the simulation, and Natsuko got the docking sim perfect five times in a row,” she soothed her mission commander.

“Simulation is not the real thing,” sighed Yukari. “Hey! The lights went out!” she noted. Akane pulled up a small flashlight, activating it and shining it into the bird's guts.

“Main bus and redundant have both cycled,” she said a moment later. “Must be the re-set,” guessed the girl. Yukari hummed.

“We'll give them a couple more minutes, then decide on a next step,” she said firmly. She habitually brought up her air readout. Still got a little more than half a tank of air, so we have time, thought the girl. She also checked her battery readout. Green there, too, she noted.

“Solomon to Papaya,” Matsuri's voice interrupted her routine checks.

“Papaya here, Solomon. What's the word?” Yukari responded.

“The client wants us to verify that the bird is cold,” Matsuri relayed.

“Roger that,” Yukari answered. “Bird is cold, Solomon.”

“Stand by,” Matsuri said, the radio going silent again. Seconds passed.

“Solomon, this is Guava,” came the voice of Natsuko over the radio. With two capsules up for the first time, the two had to share a common ground channel. It was one of the things that Yukari was working on. She wanted separate channels for each capsule, but at the same time, she demanded that the capsules be able to monitor each other's ground communications, just in case. For the time being, they shared a single channel.

“Go ahead, Guava,” Matsuri said.

“Power feed replaced, shield secured. Instructions?” Natsuko requested.

“Come on home, Guava,” Matsuri said a moment later.

“Solomon, we could assist Papaya,” volunteered Chisame.

“Negative, Guava,” Yukari cut in firmly. “Return to base. And be sure to double-check your re-entry profile,” she reminded them.

“Roger,” sighed Natsuko.

“And one more thing,” Yukari barked over the radio. Akane smiled as she heard the two newbies eek! “Well done,” her partner said warmly. “See you back at base. Papaya out,” she signed off.

“Roger that,” Natsuko replied. Far off and in the southern hemisphere, they saw a brief flicker of light, which was the OMS firing to drop their sister capsule out of orbit.

“Let's hope they get it right,” sighed Yukari.

“You worry too much,” Akane said. “Oh! The lights are back on!” she exclaimed, seeing LEDs light up in the dark interior of the bird.

“Check list,” Yukari said, using her free hand to pull the small card out of her partner's pack. Akane glanced at it as she checked each item off.

“Main bus green, check. Backup bus green, check. OMS control board green, check. data link bus green, check. Downlink board green, check. Signal board green, check,” listed off Akane. “Board one green, check. Board two green check. Solomon, all boards show green. Confirm by telemetry, please.” she radioed Solomon.

“Verifying,” Matsuri said. “Client confirms mission complete,” she came back. “Come home, Papaya,” chirped Matsuri.

“On our way,” Yukari said, Akane securing the hatch. In short order the two were in their capsule, the arm was released and stowed, and they were moving into their re-entry path. “Can't wait to get back to base,” Yukari said, stifling a yawn.

“Yes, we have to celebrate their first successful solo mission,” Akane agreed. “De-orbit burn in two minutes, seven seconds,” she added.

“Got it,” Yukari nodded. She didn't bother to tell Akane to secure her straps; her partner was a veteran.

“You know, the names of our capsules still sounds strange to me,” Akane shared as they waited for their burn. “I keep thinking Mangosteen, and have to correct myself to say Papaya,” she laughed.

“She - Mangosteen - did good by us,” Yukari said. Their new capsule was identical to their old one, structurally. “I wouldn't have minded naming the new one Mangosteen as well, but with two up, it was different names or add numbers to our call signs,” sighed Yukari.

“Why does Matsuri get to pick the names of the capsules?” asked Akane. Yukari laughed softly.

“It's a long story, Akane,” she said. “Basically, it is because of what happened right at the beginning of the program. Guess it could have been worse, though,” she suggested.

“How so?”

“Nasuda or one of the others could have been naming them,” snickered Yukari. Akane shared her mirth.

“I guess having your sister name them for foods is the lesser of two evils,” Akane giggled. “But why foods?” she wondered. Yukari shrugged in her belts.

“Matsuri is a tribal girl, and food is important to the survival of the tribe,” she postulated.

“Speaking of that, Matsuri was saying something about that the other day at lunch,” Akane recalled. “What was that about?” she wondered.

“Just something she and I have been talking about,” Yukari dismissed it. Akane was curious, but not overly so.

“Hey, Yukari?”

“Yeah?”

“Matsuri said you are a princess of the tribe since your father is chief. Is that true?” asked Akane.

“Guess so,” Yukari said.

“Do…do you think that I might be able to join the tribe?” asked Akane. Yukari considered that.

“Do you want to join the tribe, Akane?” asked Yukari, curious.

“I think so,” admitted the girl. “It's not that I don't sometimes miss Tokyo, but the village seems to be carefree and easy going; like Matsuri. I like that,” Akane noted.

“I'll ask Matsuri, ok?” Yukari said.

“Ok,” Akane replied. “Burn in ten,” she warned. Yukari pushed her thoughts aside, dedicating her attention to the re-entry.

“Senior Mission Commander Morita, you are needed at the main gate. Repeat, Senior Mission Commander Morita, you are needed at the main gate.” Yukari blinked, looking up from her mission briefing technical papers at the PA announcement. Stretching, she tucked the page she had been on back into the folder, leaving it on the small table in their `study area' in the main admin building. Akane looked up from her own technical pages for their next mission.

“Think I should come with you?” she asked. Yukari considered that.

“Nah,” she decided. “It doesn't sound like an emergency, and you probably will want as much time as you can get to familiarize yourself with the tasks. If I need you, I'll call you,” she added, moving out of the room. Exiting the building, the heat and humidity of the base hit her like a tidal wave. Fortunately, she had acclimated to the environment and other than slipping on her sunglasses, it meant little to her. Bikini top and shorts helped keep her cool, as did the light sandals she wore. She smiled as she recalled how dark her tan was getting.

“Yukari,” came the perpetually-upbeat voice of her roommate and little sister Matsuri. The Tariho tribe princess fell into step with her as they headed for the main gate. Matsuri had come from the direction of the fuel farm.

“So, how'd it go?” Yukari asked.

“It burned,” Matsuri replied easily. Yukari shook her head, a small smile on her lips.

“Well, that's what rocket fuel is supposed to do,” she came back, “But I wanted to know if it exploded,” she reminded her sister.

“No fireworks this time,” Matsuri sounded vaguely disappointed at that.

“Matsuri!” chided Yukari. “I'm going to be riding a rocket packed with that stuff, you know! You could at least pretend to care more about my survival than about fireworks,” she teased her sister.

“You won't turn into fireworks, sister,” Matsuri replied with extreme confidence. “Daddy and I won't let that happen to you,” she promised.

“Funny, dad seems to be the biggest threat to my survival, the way he casts firework curses so eagerly…” muttered Yukari. Her relationship with her father - the link between her and Matsuri - was still strained, to say the least. “Anyway, you have any idea what this is about?” she asked, indicating the gate they were walking toward.

“No,” Matsuri said. “I was looking for you when I heard the announcement,” supplied her kid sister. The two reached the gate a few minutes later, seeing Kurosu standing by the guard shack. The guard was in his little hut, so Yukari wondered why the head of security was there.

“What's up?” she asked the man who was in charge of security for the base. Kurosu hiked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating a small group of people outside the gate. Looking at the group, Yukari frowned. “Can I help you all?” she asked the group.

“Um, we're here to join the program,” spoke up one of the half-dozen or so people outside the gate. Yukari eyed the group. They were mostly girls, though two guys were in the group. Most were about Yukari's age, and roughly built like her.

“Which program?” she asked absently, eyeing the group.

“The pilot program,” the same girl supplied. “We - I, anyway - saw your presentation, and got one of your pamphlets,” she added, digging in a large backpack before pulling out one of the thrown-together pamphlets the three had put together for their `speaking tour' months before. Yukari saw lots of nods from the group.

“What do you want to do?” Kurosu asked quietly. Yukari sighed.

“Well, I don't have the time to do much right now, with the mission coming up,” she murmured back. “Still, we need to take a look at them,” mused the girl. Nodding to herself, she pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number. When it connected a few rings later, she spoke to her party before ending the call. “Ok, listen up!” she called out, getting the attention of the group.

“Have all of you read that pamphlet?” she asked. Nods all the way around were her answer. “And all of you have let your families know where you are, right?” she warned them. Once more, nods. “Ok, we're going to get you some visitor passes, and set you up for the first round of assessment testing. This is Kurosu, head of security,” she introduced the grim, intimidating man. “Listen to what he tells you - and do what he tells you! This is Matsuri, she's in the flight program and control program. She will get your information from you and arrange your physicals.”

“What are you going to do, sister?” Matsuri wondered.

“Talk to the old man about this,” Yukari said. Matsuri nodded.

“'Kay!” she chirped. Yukari glanced at Kurosu.

“Figure out some way to keep them out of our hair until we find out if any of them will actually be joining,” she said softly. “You know the flight schedule, and where the dangerous parts of this base are, so that's why I dragged you into this. I'll talk to Nasuda about this, maybe see about finding a few more guards for this mad house.”

“Understood,” Kurosu said. Yukari ran her fingers through her hair.

“Why can't he ever think things through?” she complained as she moved off. Behind her back, Kurosu smiled to himself.

“Why should he when he can make you do it for him?” he asked softly of no one in particular. Seeing Satsuki approaching, a clipboard in hand and eager smile on her face, he turned back to the group, signaling the guard in the shack to open the gate enough for the group to enter. “Ok! Single-file line by the guard shack, packs at your feet!” he yelled. The group scurried to obey.

Meanwhile, Yukari was talking with Nasuda about the problem. “We need to do something about the application process,” she told her boss. “This whole `show up at the gate' thing isn't going to work.”

“So, what did you have in mind?” Nasuda asked, eating another chip with his chopsticks. Yukari scowled at him.

“You are incredibly lazy, you know that?” she accused him. His expression didn't change. “We should probably look at some sort of electronic application process,” thought the girl out loud. “Hey, does this place have a website?” she wondered.

“Not yet,” Nasuda shrugged. Yukari frowned to herself.

“We would need to somehow filter the applicants right from the start, cut out those who have no chance here, as well as dividing the flight program from any other programs. The technology base already in place should be sufficient, and having a web site should help keep the walk-ups down to a minimum, too,” she nodded slowly to herself. Patting her shorts, she saw Nasuda holding out a pen to her, a legal pad on the desk in front of her. Yukari began to make notes.

“I hate to interrupt,” Nasuda's voice jolted her out of her focus on the problem, “but have you finished your mission prep?” he asked. Yukari blinked, looking at the clock on the wall of her boss's office.

“It's that late?!” she gasped, grabbing the pad, dropping the pen and dashing for the door. Nasuda picked up the phone, dialing a number. When the other party picked up, he told them that his best person had been assigned to the task and that it should be dealt with soon.

With one problem delegated, he returned his attention to a much larger problem. Sometimes, he wished fate had allowed him to be in Yukari's position, instead of being a businessman in the business of selling space work. Running a business was something he was good at, but not what he wanted to do. As a child, he had wanted to be an astronaut ever since he watched the moon landing as a child, but his heart murmur wouldn't let him. Until Yukari had shown up that day, he had been almost ready to admit defeat. But no longer.

“If I can't fly myself, I can at least let Yukari and the others fly,” he muttered, considering options and contingencies for the threat looming on the horizon. With gains came risks, after all.

“Yukari-san, you got a minute?” came a voice from behind the senior mission commander. Turning, she spotted the blue-jumpsuit sporting `intern' in the assembly section.

“Ibari-kun,” she recalled his name after a split-second of effort. Tossing her head, she turned away from the cafeteria line. “Join us?” she offered, indicating the table where Matsuri, Akane, Chinami and Natsuko were just sitting down.

“Sure,” he agreed, a little nervously. Yukari looked at his well-provisioned tray, sighing to herself as she considered her own sparse meal. For getting to go to space, I guess it's pretty cheap, she told herself.

“Ibari-kun,” smiled Akane, making the boy blush a little. Matsuri was spreading mayo all over her food. Chinami and Natsuko gave him a nod.

“So, what's up?” asked Yukari.

“Um, I was told you were heading up the web site project,” he began. Yukari grimaced briefly, but said nothing. “And I, um, well, would you mind some help?” he asked. Yukari looked at him.

“What are you offering, exactly?” she asked.

“Well, I was in the computer club back at my school,” he began, “and I've built several websites, so I could help you with the back-end of the site; if you need help, of course!” he added hastily.

“You're hired,” Yukari nearly snapped. “I've got the old man running down a laptop with the right programs loaded, and…”

“Um, I have my laptop,” Ibari admitted, “and it's got all the programs on it we should need. We just need a host and maybe a remote server.”

“You do? Great!” smiled Yukari. “I'll give you the parameters and notes and ideas I have after we eat. When Akane and I get back, show me what you have and we'll go from there,” she directed.

“Ok!” he nearly yelled.

“Do you have the time to do that and work in the assembly building?” Akane wondered.

“Speaking of that, how is the prototyping for the new orbiter coming along?” Yukari cut in. “Motoko said she would have the LS7B fuel ready by next month, and with the materials and engineering that Norman did with Mukai and the NASA labs, all we have left before trials is the orbiter.”

“It is almost done,” came the voice of Toumo, the head of the assembly team. He was the master fabricator who led the assembly team, and worked directly under Mukai. His own tray was heavily loaded down with food, his coveralls rumpled. “We'll be done on time,” he assured Yukari. She nodded.

“I'm sure you will be,” she agreed. “Is it ok if I add to Ibari-kun's workload?” she asked belatedly. The old man grinned evilly at the young intern.

“Sure! Pile it on him until he screams, then give him more!” chortled the man.

“Toumo-sempai!” Ibari nearly wailed.

“Shut it!” snapped the old man. “Hardship builds character and will make a man out of you!” he lectured. “Hurry up and eat, kid, we have a meeting with Mukai in a half hour,” he reminded his intern. Ibari moaned, but began to shovel his food into his mouth. “Oh, and Yukari-san, your ship's ready, all green,” smiled the old man.

“Why is she `-san' and I'm `-kun'?” muttered Ibari.

“Because she's an astronaut, and you're an intern,” replied the old man, taking a table near the group, his three main workers joining him. Yukari swiftly finished her own meal, glancing at the clock.

“Akane, we've got time for a final review of the mission and a full system check on our suits before pre-flight,” she said. “Ibari, come by my room after you finish so I can give you those notes.” The young man nodded.

“Ok,” Akane agreed. Chinami and Natsuko were finishing off their own food.

“As for you two, you're on baby-sitting detail,” Yukari added, rising from her seat, tray in hand.

“Baby-sitting detail?” Chinami blinked.

“We've got half a dozen new flight program applicants being tortured by Satsuki right now,” Yukari shared. “Since Akane and I have a mission, it's up to you two to supervise them. Think of this as your next step in training,” smiled Yukari.

“But, we're not sure what we're supposed to do,” Chinami noted. Yukari turned toward the counter, where the drop-off for the trays was located.

“Just remember how it was when you were new here,” she said. “Do the same thing, only from my side,” suggested the senior-most of the group. Chinami and Natsuko looked at each other, slowly beginning to smile. Akane stood up as well, following her partner.

“Try not to be too hard on them,” Matsuri said, finishing off her own food.

“What?!” came a surprised and somewhat anguished voice from the serving line. “This is all we get?”

“That's what Satsuki-san said you were allowed,” the head of food services said firmly. The tired-looking hopeful recruits spotted Matsuri.

“Matsuri-sama!” they called out almost in unison. Matsuri smiled at them.

“Let me introduce you to your acting supervisors,” Matsuri said, crooking her finger at the junior flight crew. Both rose, their own trays empty. “This is Chinami-chan and Natsuko-chan. They're the other flight team. Follow their directions, `kay?” and with a wave, Matsuri was gone.

“Not much food, is it?” smiled Chinami.

“No, and I'm really hungry,” the potential recruit replied.

“Well, get used to it; the mass limit is strictly enforced,” Natsuko contributed.

“Where are Yukari-san and Matsuri-san going?” wondered one of the boys.

“They have a mission this evening,” Chinami said. Instantly, the meager food was forgotten by the hopeful astronauts.

“You mean, they're flying to space?!” breathed the unofficial head of the group. Natsuko nodded.

“Standard mission profile,” she said. “Should be a two hour duration, LEO synch docking with a bird to determine the cause of an intermitted signal loss.”

“You mean you all diagnose satellite problems, too?” wondered another of the group.

“Not exactly,” Chinami shook her head. “The client thinks that the problem is from a debris or micro-meteor hit to either the solar panel or the primary antenna, so they are going to take a look at it to find out.”

“And if they find that it is, then the client will make the appropriate replacement parts and have us install them,” finished Natsuko.

“Hurry up and eat, and you can watch the launch before taking your first math exam,” Chinami added.

“Math test?” whispered another of the girls.

“You read the brochure, right? Math is a required skill, and while we will teach you how to do orbit calculations and intersect point calculations, you need to have a good grasp of the general principals first,” nodded Natsuko. “It took me a lot of studying to get it all down.”

The group moaned and groaned, but did as the pair ordered. Chinami and Natsuko found a perverse delight in trading horror stories of their own training. They especially loved to reminisce about the jungle survival training, the firearms instruction, and the daily centrifuge drills. By the time the group was done with their meal, they were half decided that they had made a huge mistake coming to the SSA, and half determined to make flight crew status.

Yukari and Akane were studying the mission papers one more time in Yukari's room before heading over to suit up and begin pre-flight. Matsuri was already in mission control, in the pre-flight briefing by Kinoshita. There were new elements in the command side, and Matsuri needed to know about them. Both girls had already taken a shower in preparation for their mission, and were sitting at the tiny desk in their panties, pouring over the technical papers on the satellite.

Hearing a knock on the door, Yukari answered on auto-pilot. “Come,” she called out, turning a page. Glancing up, she spotted Ibari standing in her doorway, staring at her, mouth open, eyes wide, and beet red. “Oh! Ibari,” she recalled, standing and moving to her book shelf, where she pulled out a large multi-binder. Opening it, she flipped through it until she found the pages she wanted. Swiftly, she scanned the notes there.

Nodding to herself, she stepped over to Ibari, holding out the notes. “The circled stuff I'm certain about, the things with stars by them I think we should have, and the stuff with heavy boxes around it are just ideas - I don't know if we need them or even if they can be done. So, for now, just pull something together with the circled stuff and whatever starred stuff you can fit in,” directed the young girl. “I'll check in with you tomorrow morning. Thanks for volunteering,” Yukari said, turning back toward the table. Not getting an answer, she turned and frowned at him. “Something wrong, Ibari-kun?” she wondered.

“N…nothing!” he managed, nearly stumbling out of her room. Shaking her head, Yukari closed her door, returning to the table.

“Wonder what was wrong with him?” she wondered aloud. Akane blinked, looking up from her own copy of the mission briefing.

“I don't know,” she said. “Maybe he was tired?” she suggested. Yukari shrugged, glancing at the clock.

“Maybe,” she dismissed the topic. “You ready?” she asked. Akane smiled, nodding.

“Sure,” chirped the girl.

“Then let's go,” Yukari said, handing Akane her bikini top and shorts as she wiggled into her own top. Stepping into her shorts, she glanced at her partner before heading toward the medical station to suit up for the flight.

Ninety minutes later, they were strapped into their seats in Papaya, double-checking their pre-launch checklist. Under them, their trusty LS5A vehicle seemed almost eager to leap into the heavens. When Matsuri announced countdown to launch, Yukari and Akane closed their helmets and armed the emergency circuits.

“Make this a nice one, girls,” Kinoshita came over the radio. “You've got an audience, after all,” he smiled thinly.

“What do you mean?” asked Yukari. A moment later, her primary screen showed her a camera feed. Chinami and Natsuko were standing just outside the safety line, lecturing the hopefuls about something. The hopefuls were staring slack-jawed at the gleaming rocket. Unwillingly, Yukari smirked. “Looks like they are having fun,” she said of her junior flight crew.

“Yeah, they're enjoying themselves,” Kinoshita agreed.

“Countdown starting,” Matsuri interjected.

“Roger, capsule go for flight,” Yukari was suddenly all business. “Commence countdown when ready.”

“Ten,” Matsuri began. Nine seconds later, Yukari and Akane roared off Pad 2 of the SSA, their rocket an artificial star in the last rays of sunset. Below them, Chinami and Natsuko grinned at each other as they watched the hopefuls stare after the rising rocket in awe-struck amazement.

“Ok, old man,” sighed Yukari, dropping into a chair in Nasuda's office, covering a yawn with her hand as she did so, “what is so important that it couldn't wait until morning?”

“Yukari-chan,” began Nasuda, ignoring the frosty look he got for calling her that, “are you familiar with our business structure here at the SSA?”

“Business structure?” wondered Yukari. “We sell space work, don't we?” she wondered, not very familiar with business-speak. Nasuda hummed, which Yukari knew was a good indicator that she had gotten it wrong. “Why not just tell me instead of beating around the bush?” his senior mission commander suggested.

“This business was formed by an alliance between private investors and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for the Solomon Islands,” began Nasuda. “Therefore, our business model is a non-public company with a government partnership.”

“Ok,” said Yukari slowly, “so that means…?” she hinted. Nasuda shook a cigarette out of his pack, reaching for his rocket lighter (which Yukari always noticed was a miniature of the LS7 platform) as he tucked the cigarette into the corner of his mouth. “Would you mind not poisoning me with second-hand smoke, old man?” Yukari said, having waited for him to get to the point where he was about to light up before saying anything. It was just how their relationship worked. “Satsuki has been talking about oxygen absorption rates and lung capacity lately, you know. Second hand smoke is detrimental to our health.”

Nasuda gave her a flat look before putting the lighter away and spitting the unlit cigarette into his trashcan. “It means, Yukari,” he continued his thought, “that we have a problem. My - our - vision is to monopolize manned space flight for the purpose of maintaining orbiting satellites. As a private company, we can do that. But, if our partner - METI - starts thinking about the potential represented in this work, they could conceivably nationalize the program, or go public with their shares, or even create a competing business model. There isn't enough of this kind of work for competing companies, Yukari.” He waited, seeing the signs that his most seasoned worker was thinking her way through that.

“Well, I guess that's true,” Yukari said softly. “NASA is a government program, and the ESA is pretty much the same thing, only with several government programs under a single banner. Same for the Russian program. Come to think about it, we're unique in being a private company,” mused the girl, staring at the ceiling. “And it's pretty clear that governments aren't exactly happy about that, either,” she recalled their earlier skirmish with the UN.

“Precisely,” Nasuda nodded. “To be blunt, governments are little more than pirates when it comes to this kind of thing. Having METI involved in our program makes us vulnerable on many different levels. So, we need to jettison them.”

“Ok,” shrugged Yukari, “but what does that have to do with me?” Nasuda gave her a long, serious look.

“I'm going to ask you for a greater sacrifice,” he said quietly. Yukari's eyes narrowed.

“What kind of sacrifice are you talking about, old man?” she asked suspiciously.

“When we formed the alliance, I made sure that there were `escape clauses' for us,” Nasuda said. “At the time, METI insisted that they had to have escape clauses, so I just played on that to slip my own escape clauses in. We - that is to say the SSA - can sever ourselves from METI by repaying the investment plus appreciation once our contractual terms are met. We have not, as of yet, met our contractual terms, but we will - soon. Very soon, in fact,” he added.

“Contractual terms?” wondered Yukari. Nasuda nodded.

“I had to promise METI a dedicated current-generation communication satellite for them, as well as bonding the costs of the base for three years. Before you came, Yukari, it looked like we would lose everything. But now, we have a chance. And METI is beginning to understand that fact. I have heard rumblings about `renegotiating' our contracts, and `improving the partnership'. That is business jargon for seizing control.”

“I don't know,” Yukari said, eyeing her boss, “maybe that might not be such a bad thing,” she suggested. He smiled thinly at her.

“You would lose your job, Yukari,” he warned her. “There is no way that a government could get away with sending teenage girls into space - you know that. That means you, Akane, Chinami, Natsuko and the rest will lose space; probably for good.” Yukari frowned. “Now, as a private business, we can do nearly anything we want, since we're not under the same obligations as a government.”

“That's dirty, old man,” Yukari complained. “But what is this sacrifice you want me to make?”

“I need you and the others to work for free for a while, as well as signing over the stocks you have in the company to a holding committee I am forming quietly. If you can talk your mother into contributing, it would help a lot as well. The holding committee will be the proxy by which I leverage out METI. Once they are bought out - or forced out - then we can divide up the stocks again and began expanding.”

“Just how much have those stocks grown, old man?” Yukari wondered, smelling a rat.

“Significantly, but not quite enough,” he dodged. Yukari grunted, her mind working.

“Why not go public?” she asked, thinking that looked like a good option.

“Because going public with our stock would be the end of us,” Nasuda said bluntly. “We are a little fish in a big ocean of hungry sharks, Yukari. NASA, the ESA, China or any of a couple of hundred governments or companies would buy out our stocks and take us over before we could blink just to rid themselves of competition or to grab our systems and technology at a bargain price. No, this has to remain a private company or we're screwed,” repeated Nasuda.

Yukari considered that. Even if there were millions of shares at astronomical price per share, she didn't think for an instant that it would be enough to keep government projects or multi-national corporations off them. And I would lose space, she thought, scowling.

“Ok, I'll do it,” Yukari said. Nasuda exhaled in relief.

“Excellent!” he enthused. “Now all you have to do is convince the others,” he added.

“Ugh,” groaned Yukari, “I knew it would be something like that!” she accused her boss, standing. “You are a nasty old man, you know,” she sniped, leaving his office. Nasuda didn't seem to have heard her. Making her way toward the dorm, she pulled up her cell phone, quickly composing a text message and sending it to a group of contacts in her list. With that done, she made her way toward the cove, pressing the auto-dial button for her mom as she went. Tired or not, she had things to do.

Yukari was meeting with Satsuki, Nasuda and Kinoshita. Beside her, Akane and Matsuri were silently listening to the meeting. The topic of this meeting was a situation they had not faced before. “I don't think continuing with the training program is appropriate in this case,” Satsuki said.

“I have to agree,” Kinoshita said. “There has been no improvement, and I don't think it is because the material is too much to handle. I recommend dropping them from the program,” seconded the flight director.

Nasuda looked at Yukari and Akane, who were the primary instructors for the potential flight crew recruits. “Any thoughts?” he asked.

“I…um,” Akane hesitated.

“In one case,” Yukari stepped in, “I think it is that he just doesn't want it enough. In the other…”

“She's lazy,” Matsuri said bluntly.

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” sighed Yukari.

“Lazy?” questioned Nasuda. Yukari nodded.

“She can do the math, she can do the physical, she can handle the stress, but she doesn't try - she just insists that there be `accommodation',” his senior mission commander elaborated. “Like she thinks this is a TV show or idol gig,” muttered Yukari.

“Very well,” Nasuda said a moment later, “we will drop them from the program. Now, who is going to tell them?” he asked. The three `adults' glanced at each other. Sighing, Yukari stood.

“Fine,” she said, “I'll do it. I'm the instructor, after all,” she added, moving toward the door. “I'd hate to have any of you `adults',” her derision was clearly heard, “have to take any sort of responsibility or anything. Just back me up when they come running to you to protest,” added the girl, exiting the room.

“Well, now that that has been address,” began Nasuda standing.

“Wait,” Akane said, blushing a little.

“Did you have something to discuss, Akane-chan?” asked Satsuki.

“Yes,” Akane said, meeting their gaze. She was clearly uncomfortable doing so, but she did it anyway. “You need to stop shoving off everything on Yukari,” she said firmly.

“What do you mean?” Kinoshita wondered.

“It should be one of you who tells those two they are being dropped from the program,” Akane began. “It should have been one of the staff who created the web page. It should have been one of you who handled the creation of the evaluation and testing protocol, not Yukari. She has missions to lead and that should be her priority - not taking care of your oversights.”

“Yeah, you all are making it hard for her to sleep at night,” Matsuri agreed. “Yukari has been tired from all this work.”

“It's not like that,” Nasuda began.

“I'm taking sister to the village for a couple of days,” Matsuri said, standing. “Chinami and Natsuko can deal with the trainees for a couple of days. Akane, you're coming too,” directed the Tariho woman.

“But, the launch…!” began Kinoshita.

“I will come back long enough to cover the mission, but Chinami and Natsuko are flying it, not Yukari and Akane,” Matsuri said.

“Matsuri-chan,” began Satsuki. The island girl locked gazes with the doctor.

“As the doctor, you should be more focused on sister's well-being,” said the girl quietly. “Don't make me have to ask daddy to curse you,” she added ominously. None of the group felt very comfortable with that possibility. Not that any of them believed in curses, of course, it was just very strange how the chief of the Tariho village seemed to be able to focus bad luck and coincidence with his `curses'.

“Actually, Matsuri,” Nasuda said quietly, “it's her well-being we are thinking about.”

“What?” wondered Akane.

“You must have noticed that Yukari has a very rare gift; the gift of being adaptable and capable. We're giving her as much experience as we can, so later in life, she won't be in a position where she has to worry about supporting herself. After all, she can't be an astronaut forever.” Akane blinked.

“I'm still taking her to the village for a couple of days,” Matsuri was not impressed. “Nice try, though, old man!” giggled the tanned sister, grabbing Akane's hand and pulling her out of the room.

“Worth a try anyway,” shrugged Nasuda.

Yukari floated calmly in the cove, staring up at the stars that glittered overhead. She had just put the remaining four trainees down for the night, and had felt the urge to take a swim before bed. Just the day before, she had gotten back from Matsuri's village, where she and Akane had spent two days. It had actually been sort of fun, learning more about the Tariho tribe, working with the women and forgetting space for however short a time.

“I do feel better,” she murmured, turning her head to keep an eye on the shore to make sure she didn't drift out of the cove on the changing tide.

“That's good,” came Matsuri's voice, making her jerk. Of course, when she jerked, her head slipped under water, and so Yukari had a coughing fit for a few moments as she stood in chest-deep sea water. Matsuri hugged her as she spit out a bit of sea water in her mouth.

“Matsuri, don't sneak up on me like that,” complained Yukari. Matsuri smiled at her.

“I called your name twice, but you didn't react, so I swam out to see if you were alive,” explained her kid sister. Yukari just sighed.

“Thanks, sis,” she said. Matsuri grinned at her. “Come on,” Yukari said, rolling onto her stomach and leisurely swimming for shore, “let's call it a night.”

“'Kay!” chirped her sister, swimming easily along side. When they felt sand under their toes, they stood, slowly walking out of the low surf. Yukari glanced at her sister, not surprised to find her naked. It did surprise her to remember that she herself was naked. She hadn't intended on going swimming, but the water looked so inviting, and when she was wading in the cove it felt so good, she had decided that it would be worth the risk to take a dip.

Glancing around, she and Matsuri waited as their skin dried a little before redressing. Kurosu's patrols weren't due in this area for a bit, and the others should be asleep. And even if they come across us, it's not that big of a deal, Yukari dismissed the risk. Smiling, she shook her head. “What are you thinking about, sis?” Matsuri asked.

“Just marveling at the changes one goes through,” replied Yukari cryptically. As much as I have influenced her, Matsuri has influenced me, thought the mission commander. “Hey, Matsuri,” she added softly.

“Yeah?”

“I've decided to volunteer to pilot the first LS7B vehicle launch,” Yukari said.

“I thought you didn't want to,” Matsuri replied.

“Well, yes and no,” her big sister replied. “I'm still a little concerned about the platform, after all, but at the same time, if we can't get the larger payload delivery system operational, we will be in trouble. You have noticed that several of the latest jobs have taxed the LS5A to its limits, haven't you?” she asked. Matsuri nodded.

“I talked with Mukai, and he's agreed to design the new capsule system so that it can be configured with modular mass assignments, based on mission. From one to three seats,” Yukari said.

“Why?” asked Matsuri, curious. “Wasn't the purpose of the LS7B to increase payload? If you put more seats in it, you lose payload mass.”

“Yeah, but not all jobs will require the full mass of the capsule, while a few jobs will be much safer and easier with three pilots in orbit,” pointed out Yukari. “And if these upgrade missions start to stack up, we will need to be able to field up to four vehicles. If the newbies work out, we could conceivably have all four pads in operation.”

“You're thinking a long ways ahead,” Matsuri noted. Yukari nodded.

“I suppose I am,” she agreed. “But,” she smiled, standing and stretching before reaching for her panties, “we've made the commitment, so we should be doing what we can to make it a success, don't you think?”

“Sure!” agreed Matsuri, already dressed in her skimpy clothes by the time Yukari was reaching for her midriff spaghetti-strap tank top. “So what do you think about giving me that guy in the new group?”

Yukari blinked. “W…what do you mean, `give him' to you?!” blushed the girl. She could all too clearly recall the festival in Matsuri's village, and the three young tribal men who had come on to the girls.

“I think I could make him a ground controller,” shrugged Matsuri.

“Oh!” breathed Yukari, relieved.

“What did you think I meant?” wondered her sister.

“Nothing!” Yukari replied immediately - and forcefully. “Anyway, I don't want to do any tasking until we see if they even have a chance of working out. Besides, the reason you're so good is that you were - are - flight crew, Matsuri. I wouldn't be able to trust a controller who doesn't have flight time and missions under their belt,” admitted the girl.

“But I don't have a lot of flight under my belt,” Matsuri noted.

“Well, you have enough; for me, anyway” Yukari said, the two moving along the sand and limestone walk toward the dorm. “Besides, I can trust my sister,” smiled Yukari.

“Papaya calling Solomon control, Papaya calling Solomon control! Do you copy, Solomon?!” Yukari demanded, her voice steady but tense. “Come in Solomon! We have a flight emergency! Matsuri, where the hell are you?!”

“It's ok, Yukari,” Akane replied.

“No, it's not!” snapped back Yukari. “Keep your hand on that patch - it won't hold for long. I'm taking us in as steep as I can to catch this orbit, so it's going to get a little rough,” warned her mission commander, fingers dancing over the calculator keys as her other hand wrote the numbers on her pad.

“Yukari, I have a fuse indicator on main bus B,” Akane said a moment later. “Looks like there was a power surge, and the fuse is out.”

“Spare?” Yukari asked, slapping her release for her belts. As she turned, she secured the calculator, orbital charts and pad. Her eyes touched the spirit charm floating tethered next to the instrument panel. Come on, spirit charm, she thought, you've always gotten us down safe before, don't fail us now! Akane had the emergency compartment open, one hand held tight to her side, where a band of grey duct tape wound around her waist.

“Um, yes!” Akane answered, producing the emergency fuse. Yukari nearly snatched it from her, folding herself to get access to the bus circuitry. Muttering darkly under her breath, she found the fuse housing, removed the old fuse, and verified it was blown, tucked it into her mission pouch and then inserted the new fuse.

“Cross your fingers, Akane-chan,” Yukari said, closing the housing.

“…ya, respond. This is Solomon Control. Come in, Papaya,” the radio crackled to life.

“Solomon control, this is Papaya, declaring a flight emergency,” Yukari cut into the transmission.

“What is the nature of your emergency?” Matsuri asked.

“Yukari, I am getting anomalous readings from Akane,” Satsuki cut in.

“She's alive, but we're coming in fast and hot,” Yukari said, securing herself. Tapping the mute, she turned to Akane, verifying her partner's helmet was sealed and she was strapped in tight. “Heading home, Akane,” she said, getting a smile and a thumbs-up answer. Yukari released the mute. “Satsuki, you meet us on the recovery boat - bring your kit. We're in re-entry profile in twenty one seconds, mark! Papaya out.” Yukari grabbed the stick, her thumb swiping the safety off even as her fingers triggered the OMS motors in sequence.

“Confirm orbital loss, we're in the glide path. Retract main OMS nozzle, close forward and lateral vents, confirm recovery busses,” she called out.

“Main OMS retracted, cover closed, circuit check green. Forward and lateral vents closed, recovery system green,” Akane replied.

“Good,” Yukari said. “How you holding up, Akane-chan?” she asked.

“It's not too bad,” Akane repeated. “In fact, it doesn't even really hurt,” the girl shared. “It's all just kind of numb.”

“Well, at least it doesn't hurt,” Yukari offered as lightly as she could. Nerve damage? Shock? she worried. She felt the G-load begin to climb. “Here come the Gs, Akane,” warned the mission commander.

“Ok,” her mission specialist confirmed.

“Papaya, this ISS on your frequency, please respond,” a voice crackled over the radio. Yukari frowned.

“ISS, this is Papaya, mission commander Morita speaking, over.”

“Papaya, we copied your emergency call, anything we can do to assist?” the voice asked. I've heard that voice before, thought Yukari.

“Negative, ISS, you are too far away and too fast to assist, but thanks anyway, over.”

“Louis-san? Is that you? Over,” Akane joined the conversation.

“Yes, guilty as charged, Akane,” the voice laughed. “I'm dropping off equipment for the ISS, and when I heard the call, I thought it might be you. What happened? Over.”

“Something hit the bird we were working on, and shrapnel got Akane,” Yukari reported tersely. “Sliced through her suit. I got her back into the capsule and used the roll of duct tape to seal the damage as best as I could to get us back to Solomon. Can't do a damn thing for her up here,” snarled the girl. “Uh oh, we're going to lose radio any second. Later, Louis. Papaya out!” In her headset, she heard the familiar hiss and echo. They were now in radio blackout as re-entry blanketed the radio frequencies. It was three and a half minutes before the radio came back.

“Solomon to Papaya, how do you read? Over,” Matsuri's voice was soothing to Yukari's ears.

“Five by, Matsuri,” Yukari confirmed radio contact. “Is the recovery boat launched? And is Satsuki standing by? Over.”

“Yes, we're ready for you, over,” Matsuri confirmed.

“Splash-down in seven minutes or so,” Yukari replied. “Akane, you holding up ok?” she asked.

“Yeah, I'm doing ok,” Akane replied.

“Papaya, this is ISS,” came Louis's voice. “That was good, fast thinking with the duct tape, Yukari,” he said. “Once you are below ten thousand feet, remove the tape and see if the wound is bleeding. If it is bleeding, let it bleed for twenty second or so before putting direct pressure on it again. If it isn't see if there is discoloration spreading outward from the point of impact. Over,” he radioed.

“Roger, ISS. Over,” Yukari answered.

“Papaya, this is Recovery One, we have you visually,” the voice of the captain of their recovery ship radioed. “Sea conditions are within parameters for retrieval, over.”

“Affirmative, Recovery One, Papaya out.” Yukari turned her attention back to Akane and the instruments. She decided to check the wound at three and a half kilometers. Swiftly unbuckling, she twisted around, looking at Akane critically before working on the tape. When she finally had the wound uncovered, she saw that there was very little - hardly any - blood.

“You still doing ok, Akane?” she asked.

“Yeah, though it's beginning to burn a little,” Akane said. Yukari did her best to secure the tape back over the wound and the tear in the suit. Glancing at the altitude indicator, she hurriedly strapped back in.

“We'll have Satsuki taking care of that in a few minutes, Akane-chan, just hold on,” she said. Barely twenty seconds later, their capsule hit the water. Eleven minutes later, Satsuki had cut Akane's suit open and was checking the wound.

“Cauterized, through-and-through,” sighed Satsuki, relaxing a little. “Distal Transverse Abdominis group, no contact with ribs or major organs. A superficial wound at best,” dismissed the doctor, preparing a medicated bandage. “When we get back, we'll check for any secondary injuries or fragments, but I doubt you will have any.”

“Why is that?!” snapped Yukari.

“Because whatever hit you was going in excess of four klicks a second. It was just too fast,” explained Satsuki.

“Yukari, radio for you,” called the captain. Yukari touched Akane's shoulder before moving to the bridge.

“Morita,” she said after taking the mic.

“Yukari, it's Kinoshita. How are you two?” asked the flight director.

“We're alive, at least,” Yukari said. “Satsuki says it's a flesh wound. Any idea what hit us?” she asked.

“Micro meteors or debris, one,” Kinoshita said. “Given your orbital track and path, I'd say probably debris. There are some known bits of it up there, from early space flights, satellites that have been damaged, and the occasional lost tool or part from the ISS. Hopefully it was debris,” added the man.

“Why hopefully?” Yukari asked.

“Because if it was a micro-meteor, there could be possible contamination from unknown pathogens,” Kinoshita replied blandly. Yukari didn't like that suggestion at all.

“Well, find out what the hell hit us, then!” snapped the girl.

“We're working on that right now,” Kinoshita replied. “Was there any damage to the orbiter?” he asked.

“Not that I noticed,” Yukari replied.

“Excellent,” the man answered. “We'll have Chinami and Natsuko take over the next couple of missions in the Guava, and you can train the recruits.”

“Gee, I'm touched by your concern about my specialist,” gritted out Yukari. “I want to talk to Motoko the minute we get in, so go pull her out of her lab,” Yukari added darkly.

“It wasn't Motoko's fault, Yukari,” cautioned Kinoshita.

“Did I say it was?” was the reasonable reply from Yukari. “But she makes these suits, and I want her to make an emergency patch kit for them so that if this ever happens again, we'll be ready!”

“Wrong,” sighed Yukari, stopping the simulation. “I have told you before, you must follow the procedure exactly. Skipping steps is a good way to kill yourself and your partner.”

“Sorry!” her trainee nearly cried. Yukari bit back what she was about to say.

“Take fifteen,” she said, putting the simulator system into standby. “Get some water, calm down, and we'll try it again.”

“Yes, sempai,” the trainee agreed, climbing out of the simulator. Yukari stood up from the chair and moved over to the door to the booth. Stepping out into the hallway, she surveyed the hopefuls. They were wearing `training suits' - space suits like hers and the other flight crews, but without the ID chevrons, names or functional pack connectors. Their packs were weighted with cement to proper weight and balance, but were only plastic housings instead of functional packs. Another of the cost-saving ideas from Nasuda.

“Ok, Juri, you're up,” Yukari said. “You read the manual for tumble recovery, right?” she asked.

“Yes, but I'm not entirely clear on how to determine which axis is the prime axis,” the girl said. Yukari turned to stare at the girl for a long, uncomfortable moment.

“Never mind, then,” Yukari said. “Kotomi, you're up,” she said.

“Yes!” the girl said, hurrying to the simulator. Yukari glanced at the lone male in the group.

“Something wrong, Kenta?” she asked.

“N…no, nothing, sempai,” he said, squirming.

“Doesn't look like nothing,” Yukari challenged.

“It's um…this suit,” he said, hands folded over his lap. “Um, well…”

“He's got a boner and is embarrassed,” giggled Juri.

“It's your fault, Juri!” accused Kenta, shooting the girl a nasty look. “Sitting like that and saying those things…!”

“Both of you shut the hell up!” snapped Yukari. Instant silence. “If you two aren't serious, quit now,” she said. “I don't mind you having fun, but this isn't a game. Keep treating it like summer camp and I'll drop you from the program so fast you'll never know what happened! We clear on this?” she barked.

“Hai, sensei!” the two chorused.

“Yukari, old man wants to see you,” Matsuri said, rounding the corner.

“Ok,” Yukari nodded. “They're doing tumble recovery drills. Kotomi is up right now. Juri didn't retain what she learned the other day in astronautics, so she fails for today. Kenta is having…personal trouble, as well.”

“'Kay!” Matsuri smiled. Once Yukari was gone, Kenta dared to raise his hand.

“Matsuri-sempai?” he asked.

“What?” the tanned native girl asked, poking her head out the door to the simulator.

“Um, why is Yukari-sensei so….” he groped for the right word.

“Pre-menstrual,” Juri huffed.

“You heard that Akane was injured, didn't you?” Matsuri frowned. The group nodded.

“Well, yeah, but…” began Kenta. Matsuri sighed.

“Until you have been in her place, you just won't understand,” Matsuri said quietly.

“What's up, old man?” Yukari said, entering his office and going straight to the small refrigerator for a bottle of cold water.

“Well, I thought you would be interested to know what happened to you and Akane,” Nasuda said blandly, waving a piece of paper. Taking a long pull from the water bottle, Yukari plucked the paper from his hand, sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk as she read it.

“So, the best information we have is that a titanium bolt that was lost from the ISS two months ago drifted into the orbit of the satellite?” Yukari asked, finishing the page.

“Yes,” Nasuda said. “Whatever it was that impacted the satellite was too small for radar to pick up from the ground stations, and the report on the incident places the bolt in a probable-intercept path. The bolt was moving pretty slowly, relatively speaking - about two klicks a second - but the satellite you were working on was moving at twelve klicks a second at an intersecting angle. It was sort of like a car crash, but at much higher speed.”

“Satsuki didn't find any traces of metal in Akane's wound,” noted Yukari, “nor any signs of silicone or other foreign matter in the wound track. Given the relative speeds, that's not surprising, I suppose.”

Nasuda waited. He knew her well enough to know she was not done yet. “I'm going to go on the belief that this could happen again; or something worse, even,” she said firmly, dropping the sheet of paper on his desk before taking another swallow of water. “To that ends, I'm going to be talking with Satsuki, Motoko and Wayne about putting together some sort of emergency medical training for myself and the flight crews, as well as figuring out a way to patch any cuts or tears in our suits.”

Nasuda was silent. No point arguing with her when she was in this kind of mood, after all. “And since I'm here,” Yukari said, standing, “I'm flying the first manned launch of the LS7B platform,” she informed her boss. “And I'm flying it solo,” added the senior pilot.

“That's not very cost-effective, Yukari,” Nasuda said. Yukari stared at him.

“Pick a job and I'll do it while we evaluate the new platform. Before launch, I want an LS5A with a Mangosteen-class orbiter on ready-launch stand-by, just in case. Oh, and have Natsuko ready in the changing room while I'm up. Things go sideways, we can do the Coconut maneuver.”

“You want Natsuko piloting the emergency capsule?” Nasuda was a little surprised. “I had thought you would insist that Matsuri fly it,” he added.

“Matsuri is good, but Natsuko is a little better; besides, Matsuri needs to stay down here in case something else goes wrong and to more accurately assess the performance of the LS7B. Besides, I trust her the most,” Yukari added, finishing off her water and turning for the door.

“Before you go, Yukari,” Nasuda called after her, “do you want to talk about our other project right now?” Yukari frowned a little.

“Actually, I'd rather wait until this thing is fixed, if it's all the same,” she said, glancing at him. He nodded. “Thanks, boss,” she said, exiting his office, bound for the lair of Motoko the oxidation freak and master chemist.

“Matsuri, how's it going?” asked Akane, entering the control room for the simulator. The girl was wearing one of her bikini tops and small shorts, sandals on her feet, and a small bandage on her side. Outside the Plexiglas, the training capsule was tumbling on all three axis rings.

“It's going fine,” Matsuri said. “Kotomi is trying her hand at stabilizing the capsule like you and Yukari did when you landed in America,” grinned the girl.

“I don't know if one person can do it,” Akane murmured.

“Well, because she's alone in there, we allowed her to use all the OMS thrusters,” Matsuri allowed. “And the electrical system is not shorted out, either,” added the girl.

“Milk run, then,” smiled Akane. Matsuri hummed. Reaching out, she touched the bandage on Akane's side.

“Does it hurt?” she asked. Akane shook her head.

“Not at all. Sort of throbs every now and then, but doesn't hurt at all. Satsuki-san pulled my flight status until it heals, though,” she sighed. Matsuri gave the mission specialist a sympathetic look.

“How long?” wondered the native.

“Two weeks, or so,” Akane sighed again. “Could have been worse, I guess,” she said. A beep from the monitoring console interrupted their talk. “Kotomi-chan is better than I thought,” Akane murmured, seeing that the wild tumble was down to a basic two-axis tumble. And even as she watched, it settled to a single-axis spin, and then stabilized.

“Or luckier,” Matsuri said, touching the mic stud. “Well done, Kotomi,” Matsuri said.

“Thank you, sensei!” the girl nearly squealed. “I knew I could do it,” she said to herself, perhaps not realizing her comms were live.

“Feeling pretty full of yourself, aren't you?” Akane said, leaning closer to the mic.

“Akane-sensei?” gulped the girl.

“Yes,” Akane said, tapping controls on the keyboard. “And since you are so confident in your skills, let's see how skilled you really are,” she said, the simulator beginning to tumble again. “This is what Yukari and I faced. I know you don't have a partner, so I have left main bus B active, which will make up for not having a second set of hands. Everything else is like it was for us. Good luck,” Akane said, starting the timer.

“You're mean, Akane,” smiled Matsuri. Akane shrugged.

“Maybe,” she allowed. “But then, maybe I just want to make sure she has every chance of surviving an emergency,” suggested the second-most experienced flight member. “Um, have you seen Yukari recently?” she asked Matsuri.

“This is it?” wondered Yukari, looking at the piece of suit material Motoko had handed her. Motoko nodded.

“Yes,” said the chemist, “I have found a way to catalyze the silica-base the suits are made from, so these patches will fuse to the suit, sealing any tears; provided they aren't too big, too many or in a hard-seal location,” stipulated the mad scientist.

“How does it work? Has it been tested in vacuum? What if blood or material gets between the patch and the suit?” Yukari began asking questions.

“It works like this,” answered Motoko, adjusting her glasses slightly before indicating a tab sticking out from the edge of the circular patch. “First, you pull this, which activates the agent,” Motoko did so, Yukari seeing the color of the patch change. “Then, you press it to the suit, over the breech, and hold it there for a few seconds,” continued the chemist, demonstrating on a larger piece of suit material. “It takes about four seconds for the patch to fuse to the suit material.”

“Is heat generated while it fuses?” the mission commander asked intently. Motoko nodded.

“Yes,” she said, “since it has to molecularly bond to the strata layers, it generates temperatures of about fifty degrees or so. It shouldn't burn you, but if it does, it will be minor at best,” assured the woman.

“Geez,” sighed Yukari. Better than the alternative, I guess, she thought. “Can't you make it cooler?” she wondered.

“Well, I tried a different - cooler - method, but Satsuki worried about agent entering a wound, and since some of the materials can be poisonous if introduced into the bloodstream…” she shrugged.

Yukari digested that. “Good point,” she decided. “Vacuum test? Foreign matter fouling?” she prompted.

“Vacuum chamber test worked fine, and the material will encapsulate any material that prevents bonding of the patch to the suit. It is important to be sure that you have a safety margin in the size of the patch for that reason.”

“Makes sense,” Yukari allowed. “Any ideas on hard-seal breeches?” she asked. Motoko shook her head.

“Not yet, but I have a couple of theories I am playing with.” The older woman paused. “You do realize, don't you, that if you are hit in the head hard enough to pierce your helmet that it will probably kill you?” Yukari grimaced. “Just checking,” shrugged Motoko.

“You could at least sound worried about it,” muttered Yukari. Recalling something, she changed topics. “Since I'm here anyway, how is the caking compound looking for the LS7B project?”

“Be quiet and pay attention, please,” Satsuki said. The small group of flight teams and trainees fell silent. “I will be teaching you some emergency first aid, and I expect you all to get it right,” began the doctor. “Yukari, you're my assistant,” added the doctor. Yukari rose, sighing under her breath.

“First, how many of you have CPR qualification?” asked the doctor. Half the group raised their hands.

“What's CPR?” wondered Matsuri. She had come to the new class because Yukari asked her to.

For the next two hours, Satsuki mercilessly drilled them in the fundamental skills of first aid. CPR, the ABC drills, bleeding control, dealing with broken bones and assessing the condition of the injured. She then tested each and every one of them. Noting less than a perfect run was accepted by her.

“Good. We'll re-certify you all every six months,” Satsuki said, making some notes.

“Ok, you all have twenty minutes to eat before evening astronautics,” Yukari said, glancing at the clock. “Get moving,” she ordered, remaining behind as the trainees hurried out with the flight crews. Akane, realizing that Yukari wasn't with them, doubled back to find her partner. She found Yukari talking quietly with Satsuki. Moving closer, she wondered if it was a private conversation or not.

“I can't honesty say for sure, Yukari,” Satsuki was saying, “but it is possible, I suppose.”

“Can you find out for sure? Maybe contact someone at NASA or something?” suggested Yukari.

“I can try, I guess,” Satsuki asked.

“Fair enough,” Yukari nodded, turning for the door. “Oh, hey, Akane,” smiled the senior flight commander, “ready to eat?”

“Sure,” agreed her partner, the two exiting the medical lab. “Um…is anything wrong?” worried the shorter girl. Yukari gave her shoulder a squeeze.

“No, just trying to get a better grip on safety issues,” Yukari said. “We're kind of a by-the-seat-of-our-pants company right now,” she said wryly. Akane had to agree with that.

After watching the two enter the cafeteria, Satsuki made her way to the office of the head of the program. Poking her head inside the office of Nasuda, she saw him motion her in. She entered, taking a seat. “So, what's up?” he asked her.

“Yukari is quite the capable mission commander,” smiled Satsuki. Nasuda nodded.

“We wouldn't have made it without her, I'm certain,” he agreed. “She, Matsuri and Akane made it possible for us.”

“And they are going to make it possible for us to continue, too,” Satsuki said. Swiftly, she briefed him on what his lead flight member was up to. Nasuda was impressed.

“What is this place?” wondered Kotomi.

“It's my village,” Matsuri answered. She and the rest of the flight crews had headed off to visit the village before first light, and had actually made it half-way there before they realized that Kotomi was following them. Yukari had decided to just bring her along.

Kotomi looked around, seeing the Tariho natives going about their business. Well, all except the chief, who was already half-drunk. “So, what are we doing?” Kotomi asked.

“We're going to sacrifice you to their gods for a safe launch,” Chinami smiled. Kotomi gulped nervously.

“Be nice,” sighed Yukari. Kotomi sighed in relief. “But, she's not entirely wrong,” added Yukari, Kotomi giving her a stricken look. “Hey! Dad!” she called out, scampering up the bamboo ladder to the hut of the chief.

“Oh! Yukari-chan! Matsuri-chan!” called out their father, waving grandly. “Come have a drink with me!” he invited them. Yukari scowled at him.

“Sober up sometime, will you?” she muttered. “Did you finish the charms?” she asked, squatting in front of him and grabbing the bottle of native booze out of his hand.

“Charms?” wondered her father, scratching his head. Yukari once more made a mental note to bring her .45 next time she came to see her father.

“Spirit charms for our ships, daddy!” Matsuri reminded him.

“Oh! Yes, I have them right here,” he said, standing and wobbling back into the hut.

“I can't believe him, drunk already and the sun's barely up!” huffed Yukari.

“It helps him communicate with the spirits better,” Matsuri sort-of defended their father's irresponsible lifestyle.

“I think the spirits talk to him too much,” came the sardonic reply from Yukari, who set the bottle aside.

“Um, did you call him `dad'?” wondered Kotomi. Yukari sighed.

“We don't talk about it, but he's our father,” she admitted. “Mine and Matsuri's, that is,” clarified the older sibling.

“But, you and Matsuri-sensei don't…”

“Oh, we have different mommas,” Matsuri said casually. “Daddy has many wives, but Yukari was his first-born, then me, then…”

“More than one wife?” wondered Kotomi.

“He left mom on their honeymoon and shacked up with a half-dozen or so Tariho women,” Yukari cut off the topic. “I came here to find him and drag him back, but…well, anyway,” she dismissed the past.

The long-haired man reappeared, three small dolls in his hands. Peering at the hand-made dolls, he handed one to Chinami. “Here's yours,” he intoned, handing another to Natsuko, “and your charm,” he continued, the last one being given to Akane. Each of the girls eagerly took the charms.

“Those look like the one you have, Yukari-sensei,” noted Kotomi. Yukari nodded.

“This thing has saved my ass more times than I can count,” said the girl, absently stroking her own charm, where it hung from her cell phone.

“Isn't Matsuri-sensei getting one?” wondered the girl. Matsuri smiled.

“I have one already,” she said, “mine is tattooed onto me,” added the tribal girl. Kotomi's eyes widened.

“Y…you have a tattoo?” she breathed. Matsuri nodded.

“Sure,” she agreed. “Tattoos are important.”

“My sister is a native girl, remember?” smiled Yukari.

“I still think you should get tattooed,” Matsuri brought up the subject again. Yukari shrugged.

“I don't know,” was all she said. Before, she had been against it. Now, she wasn't so sure. It would be easier than making sure the charm is with me, and it isn't like I would be getting tattooed all over my body… she shook those thoughts aside.

“Can I get one of those?” Kotomi asked.

“Tattoos?” Matsuri asked. “Sure,” agreed the girl.

“No!” Kotomi said, raising her hands, “the charm,” clarified the trainee.

“Not until and unless you make flight status,” Yukari cut in. “And even then, it takes time,” she added.

“And you have to make an offering, too,” Chinami chimed in.

“Offering?” wondered Kotomi, sounding a little apprehensive.

“We had to offer the spirits some of our hair to get these,” Natsuko explained.

“It was that, some blood, or the severed head of an enemy,” Matsuri elaborated. Seeing the expression on Kotomi's face, Yukari smiled widely, patting the girl's shoulder.

“Welcome to the wild, wonderful South Pacific, Kotomi-chan, where you can fly rockets by day and fight off head-hunters by night!”

“Konichiwa, Yukari-chan!”

“Norman, your accent still sucks,” grinned Yukari, laying back down on her bed. “And it's `-san', not `-chan',” corrected the young woman. “What's the occasion?” asked the girl, looking at her clock. “Do you have the slightest idea what time it is here?”

“By my best calculation, it should be just past three thirty in the morning over there,” Norman replied. “Catch you sleeping?”

“Actually, yes,” Yukari said. “So unless there is a point to you calling me up other than practicing your poor Japanese skills, I'm hanging up.”

“Would I call you just to listen to you disparage my Japanese, Yukari?” asked the blonde NASA mission specialist.

“Knowing you, probably,” smiled Yukari.

“Got me there,” Norman said. “Actually, though,” he got to the point, “I heard about Akane, and thought I would see how she's coming along.”

“Good,” Yukari said, plumping her pillow, “she's going up with me again next week for a job. First flight in sixteen days,” Yukari added.

“You fly without her?” asked Norman.

“No,” Yukari said softly. “Don't have to fly without my partner with Chinami and Natsuko flying missions; besides,” she expanded on the thought, “I've been kind of busy with other things. Training up some new potentials, working with Motoko to develop a patch for our suits and getting some real first-aid training from Satsuki so if that ever happens again…” Yukari sighed.

“Louis said you did real good, Yukari,” Norman confided. “He even turned in a separate report to NASA about what he knew of the incident, your choices and actions, and how it worked out.”

“Report? Why? What for?” asked Yukari, her tone suspicious and a little defensive.

“Relax, Yukari,” Normal soothed her. “The ISS policy is to report every incident that occurs near by or in relation to the station as a safety and protocol development deal. Reports on that have been filed with ESA, NASA, the Russian program and even to JAXA. Louis made sure that a separate, more detailed report was filed with NASA, which will give you and the SSA a much stronger stand if anything comes of this.”

“Come of this?” sighed Yukari. “More of those idiots raising a stink is the last thing I need,” she groused.

“Yes, this is why there is a separate, official, signed report on file with NASA about the incident.” Norman was quiet for a moment. “You two impressed us, Yukari,” he said seriously. “And not just on the Orpheus mission, either. As far as we're concerned, you are colleagues; equals.”

Yukari wasn't sure what to say to that. “T…thanks, Norman,” she managed.

“You're welcome; it's only the truth, after all,” he demurred. “But since we're on the subject,” the American slid smoothly on to a new topic, “who is the SSA sending as their representative to the conference?” he asked.

“Conference?” wondered Yukari. What conference? she wondered.

“The Space Development Conference,” Norman answered her. “Five days of sheer boredom, where all the countries with space programs get together, discuss projects, make plans, argue with each other, coordinate against unfriendly legislation, formulate policy and generally get nerdy about space; or otaku, if you prefer,” he chuckled.

“Eew,” Yukari grimaced. Her peripheral vision caught movement, and a moment later, Matsuri's face was looking at her, upside down as her sister leaned over the rail of her bunk. Yukari smiled at her, patting her head. “Sounds tedious,” she added. “It also sounds like a job for old man Nasuda.”

“Yes and no,” Norman corrected her. “The politics of space development is…complicated, and there isn't much you can or should do about it, considering. But the important thing is that your group - company - get familiar with the other agencies and peers. Networking among others in our rare field is important. It lets you call in favors and bypass red tape when necessary. Also, it can help you learn what to be on the lookout for; good place to catch gossip and speculation.”

“I don't know,” Yukari frowned, “we're a small, totally private company here, and we run on a shoe-string budget,” noted the senior astronaut. “We can't really afford to be attending conferences and networking with government agencies. And we have stuff here that needs constant attention, as well.” Yukari made room on her bed as Matsuri flipped down and into her bed with the agility and ease of a monkey.

“I know,” Norman agreed, “but then, you can't really afford not to.” Yukari sighed.

“I'll talk to the old man about it, see what comes of it,” decided Yukari. “When and where is this conference being held?”

“Next month, from the fifth to the tenth. This year, NASA is hosting, so it will be held in America. The one you want is going to be at headquarters - Washington, D.C.”

“Got it,” Yukari said, plucking the small pad and pencil she kept handy and jotting down notes.

“Tell Nasuda that what you - by which I mean a flight program representative or two - should be looking for is the Exploration Systems Summit, held the seventh and eighth of next month. I think you should also bring that manic Motoko with you for the meeting. Could prove valuable for your company,” Norman suggested. Yukari made some notes.

“So, any of you going to be there? Or will it be a bunch of strangers?” Yukari wondered.

“Wayne is a scheduled speaker, as is Gordon. Louis might drop by, if his schedule allows for it. Also, you will run into a couple of familiar faces from NASA,” enticed Norman.

“You won't be there?” wondered Yukari.

“Well, you'll just have to come to find out the answer to that question,” he laughed. “And Wayne and I already reserved seats for the SSA, so don't worry about getting in.”

“Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you?” Yukari scoffed. “We might not be able to attend, you know,” warned the girl.

“I have faith in you,” Norman replied expansively. “Also got twenty bucks riding on you, so don't let me down.”

“Baka,” snickered Yukari, ending the call.

“I can't believe those arrogant pricks!” snarled Yukari tightly. “Where the hell do they get off acting like that?!”

“Calm down, Yukari,” Akane tried to calm her partner, who was royally pissed. “It's probably just…”

“Just what?” Yukari asked hotly, scowling blackly. “Just that we're a private company? That we're teenagers? Or maybe, teenage girls?! We've got more launches and more flight time than their entire oh-so-great program!” bit out the girl.

“It's probably all of those and more,” a voice intruded on the angry monolog. Blinking, Yukari turned to see the speaker just entering the women's restroom at NASA's headquarters. “Hello again,” smiled the woman. It took Yukari a moment to recognize the woman.

“Commander Morgan,” she placed the face. “I didn't expect to see you here,” the girl added.

“I'm off duty,” Cindy smiled. “I heard a rumor that you might show up here, and since I was nearby anyway, I swung by, and there you two were. How have things been going with you all lately?” she asked.

“Busy,” shrugged Yukari. Cindy nodded, the three of them slowly exiting the bathroom.

“I also heard that you were injured recently, Akane,” Cindy shared. Akane nodded.

“Just a little, though,” she said self-consciously. “Yukari saved me.” Yukari rolled her eyes.

“Not much of a save,” denied her partner. “I just did what I could with what I had; you'd have done the same thing, Akane-chan,” assured Yukari. “Since you're here,” the SSA senior astronaut turned to look up at Cindy, “I wanted to ask you something about our last incident.”

“Well, I'll be happy to answer your questions - if I can,” stipulated the Navy officer. Glancing to the side, Yukari frowned.

“Not here,” she said. Cindy glanced in the direction Yukari had looked.

“Ah,” was all she said.

“Hey, girls!” Wayne waved at them. He looked somewhat odd in a suit, Yukari thought. She herself was wearing a simple dress, Akane sporting a skirt and blouse. Close behind Wayne came Gordon and Norman. Stopping before the three, he was introduced to Lieutenant Commander Cindy Morgan. “So, where are you three going?” wondered the mission commander from NASA.

“To get some fresh air,” Yukari said evenly. “It's a bit thick in here,” she added darkly.

“So, the rumor was true,” Norman smiled.

“What rumor?” Yukari asked, her tone sour.

“That there was a little heat between the Chinese representatives and the SSA,” smiled the blonde astronaut. Yukari snorted.

“Whatever,” she dismissed it.

“You know, you handled yourself very well, Yukari,” Gordon offered. “You might not know it, but you did a lot to raise the reputation of the SSA by handling it as cool as you did. The ESA and the Russians are already talking about you two and how professional you were.”

“Really?” came the dry remark from the girl. “I'm surprised,” she added. “Since not one of our `colleagues' said or did jack to help us. Nice bunch of `comrades' we have,” she finished sarcastically. “To hell with them,” she muttered.

“China's space program is an outgrowth of their military - as are their attitudes,” Cindy offered. The group exited the doors to the hall where the meetings were being held, and before long, they had found a quiet spot to speak.

“Cindy,” Yukari said quietly, “do you have any idea who shot at us that time?”

“Shot at you? What do…” Cindy stopped, seeing Yukari's look.

“It was China, wasn't it?” Yukari stated more than asked.

“I have no proof,” Cindy said slowly, “but you are not the only one to reach such a hypothesis.” Yukari's eyes slid over to the NASA men.

“You three don't look surprised,” noted the girl. Wayne glanced at the other American space men.

“We drew much the same conclusion, Yukari,” admitted the man. “But,” he cautioned her, “no proof.”

“Why? I can see some short-term gains for them, but…” Yukari trailed off, shrugging.

“China's growing economic strength is fueling an expansion of their global political standing,” Cindy shared. “Even so, they are the `new kids on the block' as it were in terms of space tech. Like with their nuclear program and industrial agenda, they have been stealing, borrowing and strong-arming as much as they can to catch up to - and then surpass - the other space agencies. They have the economic might, the industrial infrastructure and the population base to become the power in space, but so far, they lack the experience and the know-how to take the lead.”

“So, that's where they are going with this,” Yukari murmured.

“You can be sure they are not amused that a private company has done what they have had so much trouble doing,” Norman agreed.

“Their manned space program is practically non-existent, and they are being upstaged by a private company run on a fraction of what they spend on their program,” Cindy nodded.

“Honestly, we were pretty sure they would be jerks to you,” Wayne admitted.

“So why didn't you warn us?” Akane asked.

“Because the best way to defend yourself against them is to show that you - the SSA - is the more professional of the two. And you certainly did that,” Norman explained. Yukari was staring off into space, a slight frown on her face.

“Yukari?” Akane asked softly.

“Just thinking about something,” Yukari said, pulling up her cell phone. Swiftly pressing buttons, she sent a text message before dialing a number. When her party picked up, she got right to the point.

“So, you had a good time, then?” Nasuda asked, selecting another potato chip with his chopsticks. Yukari nodded along with Akane. The two were meeting with the core management personnel of the SSA. They had arrived back at home base late the day before, and were just now able to sit down and talk about the meeting they had attended.

“It was ok,” Yukari said. “The seminars and lectures were actually pretty interesting, and I got a few ideas from them,” the girl admitted. “But the rest of it was just…unpleasant,” she selected her word. “Where were you when I called you, anyway?” she asked. “It sounded like a party,” frowned the girl.

“Meeting some clients,” Nasuda said. “Motoko, you said you were approached by a French business man,” Nasuda turned the topic aside, reading from the screen on his laptop.

“Yes,” the woman agreed. “He claimed to be a business partner of the ESA. He wanted to hire me away from you,” the woman smiled. Yukari's eyes turned toward the mad chemist. “But I turned him down,” concluded the woman.

“Why?” wondered Satsuki. Motoko thoughtfully hummed.

“Because they have too many restrictions about what I can do and can't do,” she admitted. “All the money I want is worthless if I can't conduct my research without interference from idiots. You said no to that offer from those research people, didn't you? For much the same reason, too, I think,” added Motoko.

“What research people?” Yukari wondered.

“And what offer?” Nasuda asked.

“Oh, some medical research company asked me to sign on with them a while back,” Satsuki waved a hand. “But when they started talking about committees and oversight and the like, I lost interest.”

“Of course,” Yukari grunted softly. Not being free to treat your subjects sadistically must have been a major turn-off for you, thought the mission commander.

“What did you mean by the meeting being `unpleasant', Yukari?” wondered Mukai.

“Some of the other groups were less than friendly,” Yukari replied. “Speaking of that, how are we doing on that project, old man?” asked the senior astronaut.

“Actually, we should have the funds gathered by the end of the month, assuming no major set-backs occur,” Nasuda replied. Yukari nodded to herself.

“Any extra jobs we can pick up? The sooner we're entirely private, the better I'll feel,” she murmured.

“Yukari, what's been on your mind so much lately?” asked Akane, touching her sempai's hand. “Ever since we talked with Morgan-san outside the conference hall, you've been kind of distracted.”

“It occurred to me that so long as we have a partnership with a government, we are risking rival companies or programs buying a controlling interest in our company and taking over our secrets. Remember what Wayne was saying about China's economic growth and expanding influence? It hit me while talking to them that that is just what the Chinese have done, if not necessarily in that exact pattern. If I were in their shoes, I'd probably try that, too.” Yukari said.

“Wouldn't do them much good,” Nasuda observed calmly. Yukari blinked.

“What?”

“I said it wouldn't do them much good; buying a controlling interest, I mean,” clarified the head of the outfit.

“Why not?” wondered Yukari, suspicious.

“Because the techniques that we use - most critically the caking compound Motoko developed and the orbiter design - are not company property. They are patented and copyrighted to the individuals who developed them. Buying a controlling share of the company would not give them access to what they would be after.”

“Why would that stuff be privately patented and registered?” Akane wondered.

“It was part of the negotiations,” shrugged the man, using his chopsticks to eat another potato chip. “All they would get if they did try a hostile take-over was controlling interest in this base - which won't get them any closer to space than what they have now.”

“Stupid old man,” muttered Yukari, smacking the table with her fist. “Why didn't you say anything when I called you, then?!” Nasuda shrugged.

“You were on a roll, and I didn't want to break your stride,” he replied indifferently. Yukari muttered angrily under her breath. Beside her, Akane blushed as she caught a little of what her sempai was saying.

“Stupid old man,” Yukari finished her outburst in a more audible voice. “Anyway, I want to check in on the training and catch up, so anything else I should know?” she asked him directly.

“Nothing comes to mind,” Nasuda replied.

“Never does,” grunted Yukari.

“Oh, what ideas did you get from the seminars?” asked the old man. Yukari smirked.

“When I have thought them through a bit more, I'll type up a brief for you, old man,” she gave him back a little of what he gave her all the time.

“Be sure to send copies to all department heads,” was all her boss said in turn.

“Yukari, be sure to check the medical bulletin board for your scheduled exams,” Satsuki reminded her.

“Check,” Yukari confirmed. I was planning to do that anyway, she left unsaid.

“If you go by the assembly building, we have a rough mock-up of the modular capsule ready; see what you think,” Mukai shared.

“Ok, we'll give it an initial eval - see what is good, what needs more work and what is waste,” Yukari nodded.

“My cake for the LS7B will be ready soon,” Motoko interjected.

“Good,” Yukari replied, pausing at the door. “As soon as it has been tested and verified stable, I'll take it up for a test-run. Anything else?” The adults shook their head. Moments later, the two were gone.

“You didn't tell her that you were the one who insisted that any innovations or inventions would be the property of the inventor or innovator,” noted Motoko. Nasuda shrugged.

“I told her the truth,” he defended himself. “It was, you will recall, part of the negotiations when I hired you away from that pharmaceutical company.”

Yukari stretched her arms as she and Matsuri exited their room. Akane exited her room even as they closed their door, and before they made it to the end of the hall, the rest of the flight crews and most of the trainees were with them. Yukari scanned the faces in the low light of the hall. “We're short two,” she said.

“Juri and Kenta,” supplied Natsuko.

“Want me to…?” began Akane. Yukari shook her head.

“I got it,” Yukari replied, marching to the door to Juri's room. Pounding her fist on the door twice - hard - she invited the trainee to join them on their morning run. “Get your rear in gear, Juri!” snapped Yukari, “if you aren't ready for PT in three minutes, you're gone from the program!”

Without waiting for an answer, Yukari moved down the hall five doors to the room where Kenta was. Once more, she smacked the door hard twice, and repeated the warning. From inside, she heard some sounds. Frowning, she listened closer. “O…ok!” Kenta called out from inside, “we…I'm coming!” he assured her. Yukari frowned.

“What's wrong?” Matsuri asked her sister.

“Nothing,” Yukari said. “You have two minutes forty one seconds to be at the front gate, ready to run!” she barked at the door, glancing briefly at her watch.

“We…I'll be there!” Kenta's voice came through the door. Yukari spun on her heel and nearly jogged down the hall, down the steps and out the dorm doors into the warm, humid pre-dawn air of the Solomon Islands. Acting on automatic, she began her stretch routine, the other girls following her lead. Prepared, she glanced at her watch as the group moved toward the gate.

Reaching the gate, Yukari waved to the guard on duty. He waved back, stepping outside the guard shack to greet the primary flight team members. He also made it a point to speak to each of the trainees. Yukari glanced at her watch. “Yukari,” murmured Akane, touching her partner's arm.

Yukari shook her head, pulling her cell phone from her exercise shorts pocket. Dialing a number, she put the phone to her ear. Matsuri glanced at Natsuko and Chinami. Neither said a thing. “Wait! We're here!” came a voice from the direction of the dorm. In the yellowish-tinted light of the low-pressure sodium security lights along the perimeter and buildings, she saw two form running toward the group.

A moment later, Juri and Kenta nearly skidded to a stop. Yukari didn't even look at them, her attention on her phone. “You are late,” Kotomi said casually, her voice disinterested. Juri scowled at the smaller girl.

“Fall asleep?” murmured Chinami.

“Um, we were studying,” Kenta began, only to have Juri elbow him in the side.

“Sure you were,” Natsuko dismissed it.

Yukari finally heard the party she was calling pick up. “It's Yukari,” she got right to the point. “Kenta and Juri have failed out of Flight team selection. If you are thinking of them for any other slots, I'll send them to your office first thing. Otherwise, I'm sending them to town to wait for the ferry.”

“Yukari-sensei!” Juri almost whined. “Give us a chance!”

“Yeah! We were only a few seconds late,” Kenta added.

“Kotomi,” Yukari said, covering her cell phone's microphone with her free hand. “Assuming standard approach profile, how far off target would a Mangosteen-class orbiter be with a firing delay of eighteen seconds?”

Kotomi cocked her head to the side for a moment, working the problem in her head. “Assuming standards, eighteen seconds late firing would place the orbiter nearly ninety four hundred kilometers off target,” she replied as soon as she had done the rough math. “Without more precise data, I can't be more specific than that,” added the girl.

“Middle of the south Indian Ocean,” Akane interjected. “Assuming a base orbit and not a pole shift.”

“No recovery assets in that area. It could be days before the capsule - and crew - are recovered,” Chinami contributed.

“And if the capsule was damaged, it might sink in minutes, leaving you bobbing around in the emergency flotation raft, with the survival kit clipped to your suit locks. Not very fun,” Natsuko thought aloud.

“Yukari and I have had to use those emergency flotation devices,” Akane picked up the thought, “it wasn't any fun. You worry about sharks, there is no real protection from the sun and even in relatively calm seas it's unpleasant. I can only imagine what it would be like when the packs give out, and that is to say nothing about being in the sea for days…” she shook her head.

“But it's not a landing - it's just PT!” protested Juri.

“True,” Yukari agreed. “But did you ever think about why we do PT?”

“To stay fit and maintain our weight,” Juri replied. No one said anything. “Well, I'm right, aren't I?” she almost demanded.

“Partially,” Yukari said. “But what is just as - perhaps more - important is self-discipline. You have been failing astronautics for days now, but haven't asked for help or joined in group study sessions. You are not learning from mistakes in the simulator, even when your instructor tells you what you are doing wrong and how to correct it. I have been informed that you are exceeding your calorie allotment and bumming candy bars off the staff of other sections. And your physical conditioning is not improving. Same goes for Kenta. I told you right at the beginning that this isn't summer camp. You are both out of the program.”

“But…!” Juri began.

“No buts,” Yukari cut her off. “You might as well go back to the dorm and pack, but if you want one final run before your trip home, we're leaving now,” she added, turning and jogging off. The others fell into place almost automatically, leaving the two staring at the group. Juri turned to Kenta.

“Come on,” she said, scowling.

“Where…?”

“To talk to the director, of course!” Juri said. She can't just cut me from the program because I was a few seconds late for PT, or because I'm having a hard time in that stupid astronautics course!

“Hold on,” the guard said, “you've been cut from the program, which means your temporary passes are now cancelled. Access to the facilities is restricted. I will escort you to the dorm, where you will pack. Then, Yasukawa will take you to Sanchago. From there, it's up to you what you want to do,” the man informed the two.

“You can't tell us what to do,” denied Juri.

“Actually,” a hard, deep voice came from behind the two, “he can.” Flinching, the two found themselves looking at Kurosu. The head of security at the SSA was wearing his sunglasses, even though the sun wasn't up, his arms folded across his powerful chest. As always, his beloved 1911 rode on his hip. His uniform shirt and shorts were neatly pressed - like always - and his jungle combat boots were shined; like always. “Unless Nasuda states otherwise, you two are out,” he warned. “Hand over your passes.”

Extending his hand, he stared at the two, who slowly pulled their temporary passes out of their pockets and handed them over. Without those passes, there was almost nowhere on the base they could go, since nearly every door had a reader on it. “Let's go,” growled the man, glancing at the passes before tucking them into his uniform shirt pocket.

Unhappily, the two marched back to the dorm, Kurosu close behind. At the door, he used his card to open it, escorting the two to their rooms. Using their cards, he let them into their assigned rooms, but stood in the hallway, watching both doors. He also frequently checked on their progress, reminding them that they didn't want to miss the morning ferry to the larger island, where they could get an inter-island flight to the international airport, or they would be stranded in town for at least a day with nothing to do.

When they were packed, Kurosu herded them back to the main gate. Outside the gate, they saw the only taxi on the island arriving. “So,” Juri said sweetly, “can we at least say good-bye to Director Nasuda?”

Kurosu glanced at her, clearly not buying her attempt at subtlety. “The Director has been informed of your release,” he said. “If he had anything to say on the matter, he would have called by now.”

“Well, would you at least call him?” Juri insisted. Kurosu considered that. Between them and the gate, the flight crews and the remaining trainees jogged by. Juri noticed that none of them looked at the two, eyes fixed on the path ahead of them. She knew that there were at least two more laps before they would be done and retire to the weight room. Certainly won't miss that, thought the girl.

At the guard shack, Kurosu called the director on the phone. After a short discussion, he nodded, hanging up the phone. “Director Nasuda has other business to attend to,” Kurosu said. “He did say, however, that since Yukari is your training officer, her word is final on this matter.”

Juri pouted, plotting revenge, but couldn't think of any way to get back at the astronaut. The taxi arrived, and Kurosu checked the car through the gate, giving the taxi driver a hard time over every tiny detail. Juri wondered why the taxi driver was so smart-mouthed to the head of security. I'd be afraid that psycho would shoot me, but Yasukawa is fearless, noted the girl.

Seeing a woman exit the cab, Juri wondered what she could be doing at the base. She seemed to know Kurosu, and he greeted her politely, removing two medium suitcases from the trunk of the taxi as they chatted briefly. “Ok, load up,” Kurosu instructed the two. They silently did so. The taxi swiftly turned around, exiting the gate and headed for town.

In the back seat, the two sat silent, heads down. “Didn't make it, huh?” the driver commiserated. “Sucks, I know, but you're probably lucky,” he went on, casually steering one-handed along the rutted, primitive road. “That lunatic Satsuki can't use you for a guinea pig any more, and you can eat what you want. Honestly, I'm glad Yukari took my place.”

Both teens blinked, they attention captured. “You…said Yukari took your place?” wondered Kenta. “How did that happen?”

“Long story, kids,” he said. Looking at the clock, he glanced in the rear-view mirror. “If you want to hear about it, how about we grab some breakfast at Chang's? My treat,” he enticed the two. “I'll tell you about the luckiest day in my life,” smiled the man.

Back at the base, the final lap was just wrapping up. Yukari puffed evenly as she led the run to the main gate, where they would take a couple minutes to catch their breath before heading to the weight room to work on their muscle tone now that the cardio was taken care of for the day. Slowing to a walk as they approached the gate, the group began to catch their breaths. The sun was two-thirds risen, the security lights turning off as their sensors detected daylight.

“So, these are the new trainees?” asked a voice. Yukari looked over to the guard shack, seeing a visitor just exiting the enclosed shack.

“Mom?!” breathed Yukari, feeling her mother wrap her up in a hug. “What are you doing here?” wondered the girl.

“Momma Hiroko!” laughed Matsuri, hugging Yukari's mother as soon as the woman released her daughter.

“You're looking good, Matsuri-chan,” smiled the woman. Yukari and the others were covered in a fine sheen of sweat, but the dark-skinned native girl wasn't even breathing hard. Before she knew it, Yukari had introduced the trainees and the two newest flight team members to her mother. In very short order, Nasuda had appeared and the two had moved to the administration building. Yukari was in the weight room, leading her group through their daily exercise program before it occurred to her that her mother had never answered her question.

“I'm not happy with this checklist,” Yukari said, dropping the rough draft of the LS7B procedure manual back onto the table.

“What don't you like?” asked Mukai.

“The biggest problem I see is that both the rocket and the orbiter are new. We have had ongoing troubles with the LS7 vehicle, so it seems risky to put an experimental orbiter on top of a prototype vehicle. Each should be individually checked and developed to standardized level, instead of going for broke and doing both at once,” argued Yukari.

“But the LS5A can't lift the new orbiter,” pointed out Kinoshita. “The mass margin is just too thin.”

“I know,” agreed Yukari, “but the LS7B can easily lift a Mangosteen-class orbiter, so it should be easy enough to get the vehicle worked out before beginning on the new orbiter. Right? We know the current orbiters are sound,” she reminded the group.

“I appreciate your point, Yukari,” Nasuda said, “but we just don't have the budget for separate development programs. The development costs of the caking for the LS7B, as well as the costs of manufacturing the tanks, nozzles and booster packs have been made with the idea that they will be able to turn a profit within six months of successful launch. Especially now, we need to squeeze every last yen until it can't be squeezed any more.”

“I'm fine with squeezing yen,” Yukari said, “but don't think for a minute that you pay me enough to die for you,” warned the girl. Nasuda opened his mouth. Yukari - having been waiting for him to do so - jumped him before he could even speak. “And there is no way in hell that anyone but me is flying this thing until we know it works!”

The adults in the room looked at each other, but didn't say anything. “For now,” Nasuda said, turning a page in his planner, “let's conduct the level four control tests of the new orbiter in the engineering building. Test and document every last single circuit in the orbiter, document the parameters and begin assembling the primary draft of the operations manual for it. Also, go ahead and begin construction of a simulator module for the new orbiter. I assume you want to practice on the operation of the new model before trying to fly it?” he asked Yukari innocently.

“Of course,” she replied, “and I'm not going up in one until we know the vehicle works, either.”

“Where are we going to have the space for the new simulator?” wondered Mukai. “Unless we're removing the current one?”

“That one stays - it's too useful to be out of operations for any length of time,” Yukari shot that suggestion down.

“We should have expanded facilities soon,” Nasuda shared. “For the moment, however, build the simulator shell in the corner of the lab. Also, begin final pre-flight build on the prototype. When it is ready, start constructing a second orbiter when you have any free time.”

“Right,” sighed Mukai.

“How is Ibari doing?” Yukari asked her head of engineering. Mukai smiled.

“He's turning into a hell of an abstract engineer,” the man said. “His grasp of the complexities of what we face is amazing! He's always asking questions and wanting to learn more about how we design, build and maintain the vehicles and orbiters.” Mukai paused, looking at Yukari. “Why do you ask?” he asked her suspiciously. The group had heard that Yukari had cut two more trainees that morning.

“I think,” Yukari said slowly, “that it's time to send him back to school.”

“Back to school?” wondered Mukai. Yukari nodded.

“If he is to be an engineer, he's going to need more than a high school education, don't you think?” Mukai eyed Yukari's expression.

“You have something on your mind, Yukari?” asked Satsuki.

“I think we - the SSA - should be giving thought to investing in our futures. To that ends, sponsoring Ibari's degree in engineering in exchange for a few years of working for us seems a good idea; to me, at least,” smiled their lead astronaut. Nasuda was the first to untangle her meaning. A warm smile spread across his lips.

“Why, yes, I couldn't agree more!” he beamed. “You are thinking like a leader, Yukari,” he praised her. Yukari gave him a small smile.

“I'm thinking mostly of my crews, old man,” she said simply.

“Speaking of you,” Satsuki cut in smoothly, “do you want to go back to school? If for nothing more than your high school diploma?” Yukari leaned back in her seat.

“No,” she answered casually. “I've got my hands full here; and besides, not one school offers astronautics,” shrugged the girl.

“Astronautics is based on physics, trigonometry and calculus,” Kinoshita noted. “All courses offered in high school.”

“Heh!” snorted Yukari. “Not the way we use them, they aren't!” grinned the girl. Kinoshita shrugged, but said nothing. He recalled Yukari's very first lesson in astronautics and her comment on the calculator not having an equal key. She certainly has a death-grip on those equations now, he reflected proudly.

“But you want to complete your education, don't you?” pressed Satsuki. Yukari - without looking - grabbed her water bottle, sipping from it while staring at the ceiling.

“You know, Satsuki,” Yukari answered her, “I never had any real goal while I was attending school. Other than general things like `fun, well-paying job' kind of stuff anyway,” she laughed softly. “This job doesn't pay worth anything, but the office view is something else,” murmured the girl. Leaning back forward, she looked at the others in the room. “This job is what I want to do,” said the girl firmly. “Besides, I've gambled everything on it already,” she reminded them.

“And we're glad you have, Yukari,” Kinoshita said simply.

“So, you're here on a project?” Akane asked. Yukari sat down next to her partner, who she had found sitting at a table with her mother. In short order, Natsuko and Chinami joined them, then Matsuri and Kotomi showed up.

“Yes,” Hiroko nodded, working on her tropical salad, breaded fish fillets and bread rolls. The flight crews were eating their carefully-measured meals, some of them peeking longingly at the full tray Hiroko Morita was working on. “The SSA solicited for an architecture firm to work with them on their base revision and expansion, and I couldn't let anyone else work on such a project but myself,” she smiled at her daughter. Yukari smiled back.

“Thanks, mom,” Yukari said softly. Hiroko nodded slightly.

“They tell me you are going to pilot the first LS7B launch,” Hiroko observed. Yukari nodded.

“Yeah, I am going up solo; make sure the new system works,” confirmed Yukari.

“I still think I should go with you,” Akane insisted.

“Can't risk it,” Yukari summarily dismissed the request. “Something goes wrong and you will be the one heading up the flight and training programs, Akane.”

“Don't say things like that, Yukari!” Akane chided her sempai. “And Matsuri is senior to me, anyway,” pointed out the girl. Yukari took a bite of her food.

“Matsuri is the reserve pilot, Akane,” Yukari riposted. “You have more flight time than she does now. While I'm sure she can still fly, her place is mission control now.”

“'Specially since Natsuko and Chinami are flying now,” chimed in Matsuri. Yukari inclined her head, chewing her food.

“Nasuda said that your have pushed for the development of a three-seat orbiter,” Hiroko turned the topic of conversation.

“Actually, we've got the prototype set up for reconfigurable work area,” Yukari shared almost eagerly. “Some jobs are going to be bigger, and we can put in a third seat, while others will require more payload space. Also, Mukai had a novel idea about making the orbiter's center of balance almost controllable by means of a modular support design.”

“I take it that this will make your job easier?” Hiroko asked.

“Yeah, a lot easier!” nodded Yukari. “With a balanced orbiter, landings are more precise, control is easier, and calculating the orbits are much easier. It should also be more efficient, in terms of propellant usage and energy control, too.”

“Well, that's good,” her mother agreed.

“So, um, what is old man Nasuda doing with the base?” Yukari asked.

“He's expanding some areas, and re-designing others,” Hiroko answered. For the rest of the meal, the group chatted easily. It wasn't until the trainees were in evening astronautics class that Yukari had a chance to speak with her mom privately. The two made their way to the cove for a little dip in the crystal-clear South Pacific waters.

After enjoying the water for nearly twenty minutes, the two made their way onto the beach, sitting down and enjoying the brilliant night sky. Yukari noticed that her mother was wearing that old bikini again. She herself was in her newer bikini - one that was much smaller than her older ones. It didn't escape her notice that she was significantly darker now than her mother, though not nearly so much as Matsuri.

“You know, Norman got called back to NASA,” Yukari said, breaking the silence.

“Oh?” her mother replied casually. “Well, I'm sure that he's busy with whatever they do over there.”

“You don't…miss him?” Yukari asked.

“Not especially, no,” Hiroko replied. Yukari looked away from her mother.

“I…know about you and him, mom,” she said softly.

“And?” wondered her mother.

“Well…so, um…” Yukari groped for a way to open the conversation. “Are you…thinking of re-marrying?”

“No, I'm not,” replied her mother.

“You aren't?” Yukari wondered, looking at her mother.

“No, not at all,” confirmed Hiroko. “Did you worry you might have to call Norman `father'?”

“Well, no, not really…” Yukari began.

“Or is it that you had your eye on him?” prodded the mother. Yukari sputtered.

“No! As if!” she denied hotly. “He's not a jerk, I guess, but…!”

A soft laugh from her mom made her break off. “It's just what, dear?” prodded her mom.

“It's…nothing,” Yukari chickened out. “Just forget it,” she said, laying back on the sand. Hiroko lay down beside her daughter.

“So, are we finally ready to talk about boys, Yukari?”

“What's this?” asked Yukari, frowning at the stack of letters Nasuda had just tossed to her.

“What does it look like?” the man asked rhetorically. “It's mail.”

“I can see that,” replied Yukari, her tone acidic.

“They why did you ask what it was?” rejoined Nasuda, opening letters from his own stack. Yukari's lips curled slightly.

“I meant, `why are you giving them to me', old man,” she corrected herself.

“Because they are addressed to you,” shrugged Nasuda. “Well, some of them are addressed to Akane, but I'll let you take care of those as well,” he allowed graciously.

“Thanks,” sighed Yukari. “Now that you've had your fun, we need to talk about Kotomi.”

“What about her? She's your star student, isn't she? Is there some sort of problem?” Nasuda asked, not even looking up.

“I want to send her up for a live mission,” Yukari said. Nasuda still refused to look up at her.

“Ok, she can take Akane's spot on the next job,” he replied carelessly.

“No,” Yukari said quietly, glancing at the door, “I want her to go up with Akane.”

“With Akane?” Nasuda did look up at her at last. Yukari nodded.

“Akane will be mission commander, Kotomi will be assisting mission specialist,” Yukari said. “I want a simple, single-task, secure-orbit job. Preferably on a non-military bird on a prime orbit over the recovery area,” added the girl. Nasuda looked at her.

“Akane still occasionally blacks out in heavy G loads,” Nasuda observed. Yukari nodded.

“I know,” she said. “Kotomi has good G tolerance, though.” Nasuda stared at her for a long moment.

“You are the senior flight program lead,” he said, a quick note being jotted down. “I'll accept your recommendation.” Yukari nodded. “I have to say, though,” he continued, looking her in the eyes, “this is a major change from your previous stand on this sort of thing.” Yukari looked away.

“Nothing stays the same, old man,” she said, absently hefting the mail.

“You aren't planning to leave, are you?” he asked her, a trace of worry in his tone. Yukari's lips twitched into a smile briefly.

“Who knows?” she said, turning for the door. “Later, old man,” she called back as the door to his office closed behind him. Yukari stopped, listening carefully. From inside the office, she heard the sounds of papers falling, then the distinct sound of buttons being furiously punched on his phone. Baring her teeth in a smug smile, Yukari moved silently down the hall of the administration wing, hearing a panicked Nasuda ask whoever he had dialed if there was something wrong with Yukari.

Sometimes, it feels good to jerk his chain, she thought, turning her attention to the stack of letters. Now, what is all this about? wondered the girl. Flipping through the envelopes, she saw that most of them were addressed to her. Postmarks revealed that while the bulk of them were from her native country, there were more than a few from all over the world.

Glancing at her watch, she made her way toward the VAB, figuring that she had just enough time to check in with Mukai and the fabrication team before catching back up to her section at lunch. Quickly sorting the air-mail envelopes, she found that nearly a quarter were addressed to Akane. Using her finger as a divider, she got a comfortable grip on the stack of envelopes as she entered the VAB.

“Yukari,” the man in the glass box who served as the secretary, guard, greeter and coordinator nodded to her. “Mukai said to tell you he's in his office. And that he has something to talk to you about.”

“Got it,” nodded Yukari, pushing her sunglasses up onto her hair.

“Akane is already in his office,” the man called after her. Yukari waved.

“Ok.”

Indeed, her partner was already hunched over Mukai's desk, looking at whatever the engineer was eagerly drawing on a large pad, animatedly talking about his newest idea. Yukari gently squeezed Akane's shoulder as she leaned over to look at the pad over Akane's shoulder. The two would have missed lunch if not for Yukari's cell phone ringing.

As the two hurried to the cafeteria, Yukari handed Akane her part of the stack. “What's this?” asked Akane, blinking at the envelopes. Grinning, Yukari told her it was mail.

“I know it's mail, but why are you giving it to me?” Akane wondered, stepping through the door to the cafeteria as Yukari held it for her. Waving to the lunch lady, Yukari answered her.

“Because it's addressed to you, Akane-chan,” she smiled, grabbing two trays while Akane grabbed them utensils and napkins. By the time that they reached the woman who headed up the cafeteria staff that fed the six hundred or so SSA employees, their minimal meals were ready. A large glass of water completed their meals, and they moved over to their normal table.

Settling in, the two put their letters on their trays while they ate. The others spotted the letters. “What is with all the letters, Yukari?” asked Chinami.

“Got me,” shrugged Yukari.

“Ooh! Fan mail!” giggled Natsuko. “What do they say? Marriage proposals? Endorsement offers? Speaking tour requests?” suggested the girl.

“You can have the marriage proposals, Nat-chan,” Yukari replied blandly. “If there are any,” she mused. “Haven't read them.”

“You should,” Chinami said. “It could be important, right?”

Yukari grabbed the stack and handed them to her. “Knock yourself out, kid,” she offered, going back to eating. After a look at Yukari to make sure she wasn't kidding, and a glance at Natsuko to see if her partner had her back, Chinami tore into the first one.

“Aw, I can't read this one,” pouted Chinami.

“Look at the postal mark, then, and choose the ones in Japanese or English,” suggested Yukari. Hell if I know how I'm going to read some of those, but most of them should be in Japanese or English, she mused, chewing her steamed brown rice with vegetables.

“Good idea,” Chinami murmured, tucking the first one back into the envelope and tearing into one from Japan. “Well, I know this is Japanese, but their handwriting is atrocious,” the girl said, frowning at the hand-written letter.

“Gimme,” Natsuko demanded, snatching the letter from her partner. Perusing the letter, she nodded to herself. “Ok, this is a guy,” she determined, “he's in junior high somewhere west of Kyoto,” she stared a little closer at the letter. “And he's a pervert,” proclaimed the girl, wadding up the letter and making to throw it into the trash.

“Shred it, Natsuko,” Yukari said. Don't need that kind of groupie mail finding its way around the base, she thought.

“Good idea,” Natsuko nodded.

“Add this one to that one,” Akane said, offering a letter to Natsuko. Grinning, Natsuko scanned the letter Akane had condemned to shredding.

“Now that's just creepy,” she said, making a face. Chinami leaned over, scanning the letter.

“Eew! Nasty!” she agreed. “What kind of creepy old guy would write that to a teenage girl?! Let alone an astronaut,” she wondered.

“What does it say?” wondered Kotomi.

“Never mind, Kotomi-chan,” Natsuko cut her off. “It's nothing you need to see; it's nasty, filthy stuff.”

“Hey, this one is from a girl,” Natsuko said, having opened another letter from Yukari's stack. “Oh, she wants to be your agent, Yukari.”

“Shred,” Yukari sighed.

“Looks like you girls are having fun,” observed Yukari's mother, sitting down.

“Fan mail,” grimaced Yukari. Hiroko considered that for a minute.

“That should be a good sign,” opinioned the woman. “To have fans means that you have achieved recognition for your job.”

“But most of them are creepy stalker-type letters or hentai crap,” protested Yukari.

“Did you think everyone would look at you with stars in their eyes?” asked her mother in turn. Yukari blinked.

“Well, no,” she said.

“Nothing is ever all good or all bad, Yukari,” Hiroko observed, “the secret is to keep the good and leave the bad.”

“Miura?” frowned the guard, looking at the young man who had just emerged from Yasukawa's taxi outside the gate to the SSA. “You wouldn't happen to be…”

“Hideto Miura, Akane-nee's younger brother,” nodded the young man. “Call her; she can verify who I am,” smiled the young man. The guard stepped back into the guard shack, swiftly dialing a number on his phone. After a few moments, he stepped back out.

“Sorry, but Akane's in pre-flight. Yukari is coming, though,” he said.

“Yukari-san knows me,” he said cockily. When the head of the flight program reached the gate, she smiled.

“Hideto, wasn't it?” she asked him. Glancing at the guard, she nodded. “He's Akane's brother,” she said. “Give him a limited-access pass for now. I'll keep him with me for now.” The guard nodded, disappearing into the shack for a minute before handing the young man a laminated, holo-sealed pass sporting a high-visibility safety orange `V' on it. Yukari took the badge, the guard opening the small gate.

Hideto stepped inside, stopping before Yukari. Over his shoulder was a single backpack. Yukari gave him a smile, clipping the pass to the collar of his shirt. “Welcome to our base, kid,” she said. “Keep this pass on at all times, and make sure it's visible,” instructed the astronaut. “For now, you stay with me - no wandering off by yourself, ok?”

“Got it, Yukari-san,” he nodded.

“Akane is in pre-flight, which means she's getting suited up, preparing for the mission and doing a final briefing with Kotomi and Kinoshita, so she can't see you right now,” Yukari explained.

“Aren't you flying with her, Yukari-san?” wondered the younger brother.

“Not this time,” Yukari said. “She is mission commander for this flight. It will be her first time commanding a mission. We're also breaking Kotomi's space cherry, too,” Yukari said, approaching a building set on a slight rise between the main base and the more-distant launch pads. Hideto saw Yukari swipe her own pass through a reader, the door clicking open.

In short order, he was being directed to a seat in a small room overlooking a room not much bigger than the one he was in, huge monitors on the wall in front of several stations, each of which had several smaller monitors in front of the seats. “Mission control,” Yukari said, glancing at her watch. “We're coming up on launch, so you might as well watch it here. Mission time should be less than three hours this time; simple R&R job on a solar panel grid and then back to base.”

“So this is mission control,” breathed the young man. Yukari smiled slightly.

“Yeah,” she said. “Look, I have some things to do before launch,” she said. “Do you need to use the bathroom? I'm going to have to lock you in here while I take care of those details, so…”

“I'm fine, Yukari-san,” he assured her. Yukari nodded. Pointing to the phone that was near the door, she gave him one more tip.

“If you need something, pick up the phone and dial four zero four one and tell the other party who you are, that you are in the observation lounge in Mission Control, and what you need. I should be back before launch, and I will check in with you, but you'll be watching from here alone, ok?”

“I got it,” he assured her. Yukari swiped her card through the reader and exited the room, the door clicking as it closed.

With that done, Yukari hurried to the pre-flight room, finding Akane to be finishing up her briefing with Kotomi, the young space virgin looking both nervous and eager. “Yukari-sensei,” the girl greeted her.

“Kotomi,” nodded Yukari, “you ready?” she asked directly.

“Yes, sensei!” the girl replied fervently. Yukari stopped in front of the smaller girl, fixing her eyes on Kotomi's eyes.

“Understand this very clearly, Kotomi,” Yukari said quietly, “this is not practice, and any mistakes you make could easily cost you your life. Worse still, mistakes could cost Akane her life. Listen to what Akane says, do what she says, and remember your training. You have the skills, but not the experience, so always think before you act. Do that, and you should be fine,” assured Yukari.

“Hai, sensei,” the girl agreed. Yukari nodded, smiled at Kotomi, and patted her hair.

“You're mission commander this time, Akane,” Yukari said.

“I will do my best, Yukari,” Akane murmured. Yukari grinned at her partner, patting her cheek.

“If I didn't think you would, I wouldn't have given you this mission, Akane-chan,” replied Yukari. Hearing a beep from the clock, she picked up Akane's helmet, handing it to her before doing the same for Kotomi. “Go show them how we do things, Akane-chan, Kotomi-chan,” cheered Yukari. “I'll be in Mission Control, with Matsuri, and we have the Guava ready to launch just in case.”

“Who is piloting the emergency rocket?” wondered Kotomi.

“Natsuko,” supplied Yukari. Kotomi nodded.

Yukari escorted the two to the elevator that would let them board their ship, the Papaya. She rode up with them, made sure they were properly settled, double-checked Kotomi, and personally made sure that Akane's spirit charm was secured to the instrument panel. Stroking the strange little doll, Yukari murmured to the doll before wiggling back out and personally securing the hatch. With the two normal tenders, she did a final visual check, then the three retreated beyond the blast exclusion zone.

Yukari ran back to Mission Control, checked on Hideto, and then hurried to Matsuri's station. Her sister smiled at her. “Calm down, Yukari,” Matsuri whispered.

“I'll be calm when they land safely,” replied Yukari, sotto voice. Matsuri shook her head, beginning her pre-launch checklist. Yukari stood close behind her, one hand absently resting on her kid sister's bare shoulder. Above them, Hideto watched, fascinated, as his sister clocked in to work.

“That was amazing, Akane-nee!” enthused Hideto. Akane - just done with her post-mission debriefing and changed back into her base clothes - self-consciously waved off her sibling's enthusiasm.

“Just another day at work, Hideto,” she said. “Why didn't you call and tell me you were coming to visit?” she asked. “I could have traded off with someone.”

“And miss seeing you launch? No way, Akane-nee!” scoffed the young man.

“Speaking of that,” Yukari cut in, “it ok if he shares your room while he's here?” Akane shrugged.

“Sure,” she said. Turning to her kid brother, she leered at him. “My room, my rules, Hi-kun,” she warned him. Hideto gulped.

“Ok, nee-chan,” he agreed. Yukari found herself wondering what it would have been like to grow up with Matsuri, like Akane and Hideto had. Ultimately, she decided it was better to have grown up as an only child and gained Matsuri when they were both teenagers than to have grown up under the same roof. But still, it must be nice… she thought.

“How long are you here for?” Matsuri asked him.

“Only a few days, then it's back to school for me,” sighed the young man.

“I'll get with the old man, get you some extra free time,” Yukari said to Akane.

“Thanks, Yukari,” Akane said.

“You should take him to the village, Akane,” Matsuri suggested. “It's almost time for the fishing festival, you know,” reminded the tribal girl.

“Uh, he's a bit young for that,” Akane managed to be circumspect.

“Young for what?” wondered Hideto.

“Nothing!” Akane cut him off sharply.

“I'm third year junior high, Nee-chan,” he reminded her. Akane grabbed his shoulder turning him to face her.

“I don't care if you're the principal, Hideto,” she warned him sternly, “I will always be your big sister, and that means my word is law to you!” she declared. Hideto managed a weak smile.

“Ok, ok, nee-chan!” Akane gave him a final look, then released him. He straightened his shirt. “You've changed, nee-chan,” he noted. Akane frowned.

“What do you mean?” she asked. Hideto glanced at Yukari and Matsuri.

“You act a lot like Yukari-san and Matsuri-san now, instead of being quiet and shy like you used to be,” he noted. Akane blushed, peeking at Yukari and Matsuri who were both smiling, amused at the remark. “I think I like you more like this, nee-chan.”

“All stations go flight,” Kinoshita said into his microphone.

“Roger, capsule go flight,” Yukari came back. Kinoshita glanced at Matsuri, nodding once.

“Ten,” Matsuri began the countdown. Yukari's eyes flickered over the instruments once more, checking the readings against her mental checklist. Beneath her capsule, a LS7B rocket came to life. “One. Launch,” Matsuri said, feeling the familiar rumble through the floor and walls of the Launch Control Facility.

Behind her, Akane watched as her partner rose toward their workplace on a tower of flame. Above and behind the workstations, Hideto watched with the junior flight crew and the trainees in the observation lounge. “How's it going, Yukari?” asked Matsuri.

“Within limits so far,” came back the reply, Yukari's voice sounding a little strained. “Vibrations are a bit stronger, and the G-load is higher, but so far, so good.”

“Coming up on max-Q,” warned Mukai.

“Jettisoning emergency rocket,” Yukari said.

“Max-Q exceeded,” Mukai sighed in relief.

“Emergency rocket jettisoned, rolling for orbital insertion,” Yukari reported. “Main engine burned out, separating orbiter.”

“We copy rocket separation,” confirmed Mukai.

“Orbit confirmed,” Matsuri announced, watching her screens. “You are coming up on translation point in six minutes eighteen seconds. You have the burn data?”

“Roger,” Yukari confirmed. “Anything on radar?” she asked.

“Negative,” Kinoshita reported. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“Just checking,” Yukari replied. One minute and thirty two seconds before the translation burn, she radioed that there was a yellow light on her redundant life support system.

“Got it here, too,” Mukai confirmed. “Looks like a sensor alarm on the CO2 scrubber. Try toggling the switch between main and redundant support,” suggested the man. Yukari did so.

“No go,” reported the girl. “Yellow is still on. Eighteen seconds to translation,” added Yukari.

“You are flying the mission?” Kinoshita asked.

“Yes,” Yukari replied decisively. “Primary life support is all green, my pack is green, and the mission time is less than three hours. I can complete the mission with only one of those functioning. Commencing burn,” the girl concluded, manipulating the control stick.

Yukari gained the proper orbit for the job, oriented herself for interception, and waited. It was nearly forty minutes before she latched onto the bird. Checking her gauges and indicators, she announced she was going outside, and shortly thereafter, she depressurized the capsule, clipped her line to the safety lock on the hatch rim, and went to work.

It took almost ninety minutes for her to inspect the solar array, swap out three circuit cards, reposition a solar shield and secure a brand-new locator box to the root of the solar panel array. With that done, she took an extra three minutes to check the exterior of her capsule before climbing back inside and releasing the bird. Twenty six minutes later, her parachute deployed and she landed in the warm waters fifteen miles off the coast of the base.

Two hours later, she was surrounded by her excited co-workers, all of them eager to fly an LS7B into orbit. Yukari had privately spoken with Nasuda. The power of the LS7B was something else. The data Mukai had gotten would be used to tweak and adjust the launch vehicle, but initial reports looked good. The senior mission commander of the SSA made a mental note to thank Norman for his work on the LS7B.

After a celebratory meal and a visit to the cove, the flight crews returned to the dorm. After a shower, Yukari had made a call, thanking Norman for his work in her normal back-handed manner. She also called Wayne's number, leaving a message on the NASA man's voicemail. As her sister bedded down for the night, Yukari slipped out into the hallway to make a third call.

When she hung up, she thoughtfully considered her situation before moving down to Akane's room. Knocking briefly, she swiped her card and entered her partner's room. “Akane?” she asked, closing the door.

“Yes?” answered Akane, toweling her hair off. Yukari moved to the small table, sitting down.

“I think we need to prioritize shake-down of the new orbiter, if we plan to capitalize on the LS7B,” she said without preamble. Akane took the second chair.

“Yes, I think that is a good idea,” she agreed. “We have the first-draft of the manual, so we can begin to work on the exacts with simulation, but do you think we should risk a live mission before we have a first edition of the manual?”

“You eager to try it?” smiled Yukari.

“I…yes,” Akane smiled back. “It should give us a lot more flexibility as well as mass to orbit,” reasoned the girl.

“Akane-nee,” Hideto's voice interrupted, “I'm going to bed now.”

“Ok,” Akane said, waving a hand. Her little brother had been tricked/bullied into astronaut boot by the flight crews and Kotomi. His sister had more or less ordered him to try out the astronaut program, while Kotomi - smaller than him - had voiced doubts about his manliness. So, he had started following his sister's and her co-worker's routine. The physical training regime had nearly broken him, though Kotomi's smirk had forced him to tough it out, no matter how much the running hurt or the weight pile reps made his muscles burn.

He had taken to turning in much earlier than he had in a long time. Akane barely noticed, being very busy with her normal work at the SSA. It wasn't until the two had agreed on their rough goals for the development of the new orbiter and Yukari had stood in preparation to go to her room to catch some sleep that she realized that Akane and her were barely dressed. Mentally shrugging, she moved back to her room, peeled off her thin, small top and hit the sack.

“Get the fire extinguisher!” yelled Ibari, running toward the simulator. Behind him, the other members of the assembly team were competing with members of the engineering section and maintenance sections.

“Akane! Yukari!” screamed Matsuri, racing forward with Natsuko and Chinami, dodging and sometimes shoving aside anyone between them and the prototype simulation capsule for the new obiter. Matsuri reached the door to the capsule first, grabbing the over-sized dog and twisting it hard. The door swung outward, a thick cloud of smoke belching out of the capsule.

Natsuko thrust her hands into the capsule, groping for her sempais. She almost screamed when a pair of hands grabbed her hands, but she nevertheless seized the hands, pulling hard. When the mass didn't move, the junior flight crew member worked back and forth, and before she was ready, she fell back on her ass as the coughing, retching body of Akane nearly flew out of the capsule frame.

“Yukari!” yelled Matsuri, coughing on the harsh, thick smoke. “Yukari!” No answer came, but an arm shot out of the hatch frame, hitting Matsuri in the face. The native girl didn't even blink. “I've got you, sis!” she yelled, snatching the arm and pulling. A moment later, Yukari was coughing against Matsuri's chest, eyes watering and mucus covering her nose and mouth.

“Satsuki's on her way,” Chinami reported, cell phone to her ear. “She says to get them away from the smoke and on oxygen,” added the girl.

“Right,” Natsuko nodded, scooping up Akane's body as Matsuri easily lifted her sister. Around them, their co-workers rushed the smoldering simulator, fire extinguishers at the ready. The flight crews laid the two still-coughing girls down just outside the door, Chinami swiftly positioning oxygen masks over their noses and mouths, the tank valve already opened.

Gradually, the two stopped coughing. By the time that Satsuki arrived, a large pack on her shoulder, the two were only coughing softly every so often. Natsuko and Matsuri had gotten some shop towels from inside the building, soaked them in water, and were cleaning the two's faces off. Squatting down, the doctor got to work.

By the time that Satsuki ordered the two moved to the infirmary, the flight trainees, some base security people and the management team were there. Fighting off the girls trying to carry her, Yukari pushed the oxygen mask off her face, clearing her throat before spitting a few times. “Give me some water, Matsuri,” she croaked, coughing again before spitting. Her sister handed her a partial bottle of water.

“Yukari, you…” began Satsuki. Yukari didn't listen, taking a mouthful of water, swishing it around for a minute, gargling, then spitting it out as she made her way toward the medical wing.

“That stuff tastes vile,” complained the girl. “Akane, you ok?” she asked her mission specialist. Still breathing oxygen, Akane nodded.

“What happened, Yukari?” asked Nasuda.

“Something shorted, then the capsule was filled with smoke,” Yukari replied.

“Bus B,” came Akane's weak, scratchy voice. The girl had pulled the mask away from her mouth. “It was just after we hot-switched from emergency buses to mains,” she coughed again, Satsuki firmly pushing the mask back over her face.

“This is going to have wait,” the doctor ordered. “They'll likely live, but I need to check them for other injuries and see how much damage was done to their lungs,” the doctor warned her boss. “Until I know, they're grounded.”

“That capsule is grounded, too,” Yukari added darkly. “No one goes in it again until I'm satisfied that the problem has been fixed. Tell Mukai that's his priority and he doesn't stop until he finds the problem and fixes it.”

“Get that mask back on, Yukari,” Satsuki demanded, using her hand to force the mask back over Yukari's face. It sounded like Yukari might have had some comments on Satsuki's personal life or family tree, but whatever she said was too muffled for the others to hear. Within ten minutes, the two had been cut out of their space suits, inspected from crown to the bottoms of their feet for injuries and placed in two of the beds in the infirmary. Satsuki had threatened that if they didn't lie there peacefully, she would have Kurosu chain them to the bed and put armed guards on them.

About the time that the primary flight crew was falling asleep, Nasuda was meeting with the department heads about what had happened. Matsuri and the junior flight crew had almost forced their way into the meeting. Mukai's blue jumpsuit was soot-stained, showing small tears and wrinkles. “What do you know so far, Mukai?” Nasuda asked his head of engineering.

“Like Akane and Yukari said, there was a catastrophic failure in the electrical wiring of the main bus circuits. It was not, I believe, main bus B, as Akane thought, but rather a result of the switching regulators when changing from emergency to main.”

“Because it so rarely goes from emergency to main?” Kinoshita suggested.

“It shouldn't matter,” Mukai said. “A switch regulator's only function is to prevent surges, spikes and uneven loading of a circuit. I don't know how it could short out the electrical system,” he sighed.

“A bad regulator, then,” Kinoshita mused.

“You want to be the one to try and sell Yukari on that?” Nasuda asked.

“Did you change suppliers recently?” wondered Motoko.

“Um, I don't think so,” Mukai frowned. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I have had to change suppliers for some of my materials because of quality control issues,” the chemist answered.

“Check on that,” Nasuda directed.

“Also check all the regulators before installing any in Mangosteen-class orbiters. Full check, too - confirm the specifications by load testing in all modes,” Kinoshita admonished the engineer.

“In the middle of doing that right now,” Mukai reported. Nasuda turned to look at Matsuri.

“Matsuri, you are in charge of training and supervision until Yukari is fit for duty again. Natsuko, Chinami, you are our flight crew. I want you to start training for the job next week - just in case.”

“'Kay,” Matsuri agreed.

“Yes, sir,” the junior team chorused.

“You report to Matsuri, she reports to me,” Nasuda continued. “And I don't want the trainees hearing about what happened. That means no visiting Yukari and Akane unless Satsuki approves it.”

“Kotomi already knows what happened,” noted Matsuri.

“How did she find out?” wondered Kinoshita. “She and the others arrived after they were outside the building, and none of them saw what happened. Did they?”

“They aren't stupid, you know,” Natsuko noted calmly. “Kotomi figured it out from seeing the two. I don't know about the others, but Kotomi put it all together for sure.”

“She'll make a good astronaut,” approved Nasuda. “How are the others coming along?”

From there, the meeting moved to less dire concerns. Among them was Nasuda's announcement that Hiroko was about ready to present her first draft of the base expansion for them. Even as they talked about the daily business of the company, all of the people in the room were unable to forget how close they had once more come to losing someone.

Yukari puffed into the tube as she jogged on the treadmill. Satsuki was monitoring the readings from the Christmas-tree of wires attached to her. Waiting her turn was her mission specialist, Akane. Yukari watched the clock, her mind on other matters as she did the test. Aside from her panties - which Matsuri had brought to her the evening before - Yukari was naked, her skin faintly shiny with sweat.

“Ok, that's good, Yukari,” Satsuki interrupted her. Slowing, Yukari pulled the tube from her mouth, unclipped her nose and stepped off the treadmill. Reaching for the sensor leads attached all over her chest, neck, head, arms and legs, she stopped, seeing Satsuki shake her head. “Leave those for the moment,” the doctor directed, her eyes on a display. Breathing deeply, Yukari waited, her heart-rate slowing back to rest. Satsuki jotted down a couple notes, checked her watch, looked at the clock on her wall, made another note and then turned to Yukari. “You can remove the leads now,” she sighed, almost sullenly.

“Thank you,” murmured Yukari carefully pulling the leads off the sensor pads before beginning the somewhat painful process of removing the pads from her skin.

“Akane, your turn,” Satsuki said, almost smiling.

“Ok,” sighed Akane, moving to the treadmill. Satsuki stopped by her, taking the leads and connecting them to the pads she had already stuck to Akane's equally-naked body when she had decorated Yukari with the pads. Yukari noticed Satsuki didn't seem to be looking at the wires as she connected the leads to Akane's pads.

“Can I have some water now?” Yukari asked the doctor, handing Akane the tube and nose clip.

“Sure,” Satsuki replied indifferently, her attention on Akane. As usual, when she can't torment us any more, she is indifferent to us, thought the senior astronaut. Surprisingly, she was somewhat reassured by that thought. “Might as well,” the woman added, “since I still need a urine sample.”

“Great,” Yukari grunted, taking a bottle of cold water and sipping it as Akane started her run on the treadmill. Settling in the spot Akane had occupied, Yukari steadily drained the bottle of water. Akane puffed along on the treadmill. “So, we back on flight status?” she asked the doctor.

“Hmm?” Satsuki hummed, distracted. “Oh, right. Yes, your lung capacity seems unaffected and there are no signs of toxification from the smoke you two inhaled. Pending my final tests, I think I can clear you for flight within a couple of days,” the woman said. Yukari scowled.

“A couple of days?” she asked tightly. “Why the delay?”

“Just making sure you are ok,” Satsuki answered innocently. Yukari studied her suspiciously.

“Really,” she grunted. “Sounds more likely that you and old man Nasuda are up to your usual antics.”

“Just doing my job, same as you,” Satsuki denied blandly.

“A likely story,” Yukari parried.

“By the way,” Satsuki said, still watching the monitor as Akane jogged on the treadmill, “have you noticed anything wrong with Hazuzi lately?”

“Hazuzi? No, not really,” Yukari said. “She's been looking a little pale in the mornings lately, but she's doing well otherwise. Why?”

“She came to see me this morning, just before the morning jog,” Satsuki shared, sparing a swift glance at Yukari. Seeing that the girl was listening, the doctor continued. “She said that she had been having intermitted dizzy spells and intense - but brief - migraine headaches for the last couple of weeks.”

“What's wrong?” Yukari got right to the point.

“I'm not entirely sure yet,” Satsuki said, pausing to jot some notes down on Akane's chart, “but I gave her a pretty wide-ranging test group. Until the results are back, we won't know; and even then, it might still be up for debate. I would almost say that she's suffering from heat exhaustion compounding a lack of sufficient hydration, but I've seen you watching them carefully and making sure they drink water every time the others do, so I don't think that it is dehydration. It could be something more…exotic.”

“So, I need to go easy on her?” Yukari asked dubiously. Satsuki shrugged.

“That is your call,” the doctor said. “I'm not about to tell you how to do your job.”

“Is there a chance she could be permanently injured if I don't go easy on her?” Yukari asked directly. Satsuki made another note before answering the astronaut's question.

“I doubt it would be much worse than her suddenly collapsing,” Satsuki began, “but there is a possibility that she could have a major medical emergency.” Yukari considered that.

“Any thing else we can do? Supplements, change in diet, something like that?” asked Yukari.

“I have already given the cafeteria staff the revision to her diet,” Satsuki said. “Also, I have given her a bottle of pills to see if we can get a handle on the dizziness and migraines. They are a mix of pain killers and natural medicines. She needs to take them before breakfast and after supper. Make sure she takes them, hmm? Also, her food is going to be changing from what the rest of you eat. Don't let her or the others get worked up about it, ok?”

“So you want me to do your job,” sighed Yukari.

“If you don't want to…” began Satsuki indifferently.

“We'll try it,” Yukari cut off the woman. “But if these conditions continue, I'll have to cut her from the program,” warned Yukari.

“She won't like that,” warned the doctor.

“Too bad,” grunted Yukari, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. “I'd rather have her hate me for the rest of her life than have her death on my hands,” murmured Yukari. Satsuki shrugged.

“That isn't any of my concern,” the older woman observed. “But have you ever wondered if you will be able to keep your hands clean and still pursue your dream?”

“What's that supposed to mean, Satsuki?”

“Nothing; just a stray thought,” Satsuki brushed it aside. “Akane, you can stop now.”

“What are you working on, Yukari?”

Blinking, Yukari looked up to see Akane and Kotomi watching her. Glancing at the clock, she realized she was almost five minutes late for the meeting she had called. Saving her current document, she closed the laptop and stood. “Just an idea,” she dismissed what she had been doing. “Sorry, Akane,” she apologized, “got a little engrossed in it.”

“It's fine,” Akane assured her. The three of them hurried out of the dorm and toward the administration building, where Yukari had strong-armed a small meeting room for the Flight Team. Entering the room, she found Matsuri talking with Natsuko and Chinami. Also present were the other three trainees.

“What's the big occasion, sis?” Matsuri wondered. Yukari sat down, the others joining her at the table. For a moment, Yukari gathered her thoughts before speaking.

“Our current workload is about as heavy as it will get,” began the girl, “at least, so long as all we do is minor repairs and upgrading. Two primary flight teams have been fielding the workload pretty well, though it leaves us vulnerable to being short on flight crew if an accident or injury occurs.”

Seeing the others watching her closely, she continued. “There are two choices before us, as I see things. First, do we keep our focus on just the work we have been doing, or do we seek to expand our services portfolio? Right now, when we complete a job, we lose that customer for years - barring some mishap or random problem - so we are really killing off our business the more we work. However, to expand out services, we are looking at a significant overhead in training and development program. Since we're such a narrow-focus company, it could bankrupt us if we misjudge the demand for more…exotic services.”

Yukari paused, meeting the gaze of each astronaut and trainee. When no one said anything, she moved ahead. “The first issue also has significant bearing on the second issue: recruitment. There are only so many jobs, and so much resource we can use. To that ends, I think that unless and until we decide to expand our offered services, we will not be accepting any new trainees unless there is an accident or loss in the ranks. The problem with that,” sighed Yukari, “is that it would leave us with a gap while a new trainee was being trained and broken in. And that isn't going to work.”

“Yukari-sensei,” interrupted Kotomi, “do you mean…?”

“Easy, Kotomi,” smiled Yukari. “I mean that for the moment, no new trainees will be accepted. You three are already in process, so this won't apply to you. Not that you should slack off,” she ominously warned them. “I will not hesitate to cut you from the program if you start making mistakes.”

“Hai, sensei,” the three chorused.

“Ok,” Akane said, “I can see what you are getting at, Yukari, but what do you mean by `expanding our services, exactly?”

“Well, I haven't quite worked that part out - exactly! - yet, but I have been mulling over some ideas. For instance, I think we can provide limited zero-G testing of small-scale experiments for clients. Sort of like that fish experiment we were doing when Matsuri and I crashed the Coconut into the school,” grinned Yukari. Akane smiled.

“Ah, yes. I think we can do that sort of thing without much trouble,” the girl agreed.

“I have looked at the potential some, and I think we can get a little extra business from universities, private companies and the like. The overhead would be in making sure that we have the right skills in our skill pool to cover the administration of such experiments. Also, we might need to re-tool the Tanpopo-class orbiter for a special-mission platform.”

“Would it still be a single-seater?” asked Akane. Yukari nodded.

“Yes, and it would be re-configured for room for the experiment. Essentially, it would be a workspace that orbits. I am thinking that a mission of that type would involve a couple of hours in zero G, then back to base, maybe a little EVA work, but probably not much more than initiating the experiment.”

“What else?” wondered Natsuko. Yukari smiled at the junior astronaut.

“I have been thinking about the possibilities of being a `rescue' service for the ISS ever since the time Matsuri came to rescue me. I was hung out to dry, and no other space agency could get a launch in time. We can launch faster and into more orbits than anyone else - including NASA! Also, our capsules are much more controllable than the Shuttle or Russian orbiters. The biggest hurdles would be finding a way to fit an astronaut into the capsule and finding the astronaut in orbit. Now,” she checked her sheet of notes, “NASA has been working on a sort of second-generation GPS that would automatically triangulate the orbital path of debris, an astronaut in trouble, or anything that might drift out of its assigned orbit, but right now, it isn't quite ready. Essentially, if they can give us the orbit, we can intercept it. It's the same as any other docking profile.”

“And the issue of getting the drifting astronaut into the capsule?” wondered Chinami.

“Once testing is complete on the LS7B, and we get that damned wiring issue fixed in the new orbiter and finish final testing in orbit, I think we should be able to install a single seat in it so that we have a rescue space behind the pilot seat. A larger hatch can be installed, thanks the added lift of the LS7B. I don't have the details I need to test this idea yet, but if the astronaut uses a NASA-type space suit, we should be able to squeeze them in behind the seat and return to base.”

“But, what about the decel and re-entry G load?” Kotomi asked.

Yukari smiled at her. “I think a foam pack and strapping should take care of that,” smiled the girl. “After all, Matsuri took my mass on an eight G re-entry with nothing but her belts, so a foam pack mat should work for a suited-up astronaut, right? The foam will create a perfectly-fitted pad for them, and the strapping will lock them to the floor of the capsule until we land. Not very high-tech, I know, but it should work; in theory, anyway. And it beats the alternative,” Yukari finished.

For several minutes, the room was abuzz with cross-talk from the girls. Then, the key question occurred to the other girls. “So, why did you call a meeting about this, Yukari?”

“Because I want you all to think carefully about what it is you want to do with the rest of your lives.”

When she was sure that her message had sunk in from the silence, Yukari moved on to a less popular topic. “Oh, and I need you all to fill out this paperwork,” she said, pulling out several sheets of paper and handing the stack to Akane. “Take one and pass the rest to the person next to you,” she said. “I finally cornered old man Nasuda and made him be more responsible for our well-being,” she said, her tone touched with sardonic disdain.

Akane looked at the paper in her hands. “Insurance?” she asked, glancing at Yukari.

Her partner nodded. “Life insurance, actually, Akane-chan.”