Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Career Track ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

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

“Yukari, you have a visitor at the main gate.”

“Huh?” wondered Yukari, looking toward the gate. Her cell phone to her ear, she wondered who wanted to see her. “Who is it?” asked the teenager, pulling herself out of the simulator of the new capsule. “I'm kind of in the middle of something. Is it an emergency?”

“Uh,” came back the guard, “I don't think it's an emergency,” he said slowly. “As for who it is, there's a business woman and her subordinate.”

“What would they want with me? Are you sure they aren't looking for Old Man Nasuda?” asked Yukari, seeing Kotomi offer her a bottle of water. Nodding in thanks, Yukari took the bottle and sucked down several swallows.

“No, they asked for you,” the guard said. Inside the control room, Akane and Matsuri waved at her. Nodding, Yukari handed the bottle back to Kotomi, preparing to slide back into the capsule.

“Ok, but like I said, I'm busy. If they want to wait, they can, but it could be hours,” warned Yukari.

“So you'll talk with them?” the guard asked. Yukari sighed.

“I'll see if I have time. Ask them again if they wouldn't rather talk to Nasuda or Kinoshita or one of the others in administration, and be sure to tell them that it could be hours before I can get free - if I can get free today,” Yukari said.

“Will do,” the guard confirmed. “Should I ask if they want to wait in the lobby of the admin building?”

“No,” came back Yukari immediately, even as she strapped into the command chair in the capsule. Behind her, Natsuko and Chinami were strapped in the two rear seats. Yukari was instructing them - and herself - in the differences between the new capsule and the Mangosteen-class capsules they were used to. The differences weren't big, but they were very important. Also, the controls were laid out just a little bit differently. “If they want to wait, they can wait in the guard shack, but you must be there with them. Call Kurosu-san for further instructions, but under no circumstances are they to be allowed to roam the base or access any of the facilities.”

“Hai, Yukari-san,” the man replied. Ending the call, Yukari tucked her phone back into her pocket and checked the instruments. Seeing that they were reset, she slipped on the headset and plugged in.

“Ok, let's try that one again,” she directed her two. “Kotomi, are you and Amari watching the displays closely?” she asked.

“Yes, Yukari-sempai,” Kotomi answered.

“Good,” Yukari smiled. “Because once Chinami and Natsuko get this right, I'm going to pull you two in here and run you until you get it right, too.”

“We will be ready,” promised the girl. Yukari smiled a little at that thought. Girls, she shook her head slightly. We are all within a year of each other, age-wise, mused Yukari. I'll be eighteen next month, recalled the girl. Pushing such irrelevant thoughts aside, she began the drill.

By the time that Kotomi and Amari had managed a successful drill set in the new capsule simulator, it was a half hour past when they usually ate. Closing down the simulator, the group exited the simulator building, heading for the cafeteria. At the door to the cafeteria, a guard hurried up to the group. “Yukari-san,” he called out, waving. Blinking, Yukari recalled that she had had visitors.

“Oh, sorry!” she said, “I forgot all about that. Did they go back to town?” she guessed. The guard shook his head.

“No, they are still waiting in the guard shack,” he said. Yukari blinked. “My shift ended a half hour ago, but I looked for you all over the place,” he explained. Her stomach growled, but Yukari sighed.

“Go on ahead,” she said to her crews, I'll go see what they want then come eat. Ask Obaa-san to keep my food warm, ok, Akane?” she delegated. Akane nodded.

“I'll come with you, if you want,” offered her partner. Yukari grinned at Akane, patting her head.

“Your stomach has been growling for an hour, go eat!” she laughed. Once she was sure all her flight teams were in the cafeteria line, Yukari headed for the guard booth. Approaching it, she saw that there was a Scandinavian woman and a black man in the guard shack, talking with the guard on duty. Just outside the guard shack, she saw one of the base's light armored vehicles, the shadow of Kurosu behind the wheel. As she reached the vehicle, the door opened and the head of security stepped out.

“Yukari,” he said quietly. Yukari moved over to see what he wanted.

“Hey, Kurosu-san,” she greeted the man. “Something wrong?” asked Yukari. Kurosu shook his head, removing his sunglasses and looking at her directly.

“Just wanted to give those two the time to get the wrong idea,” he said, his back to the two, who were watching through the glass of the guard shack. Yukari frowned, glancing at the two.

“Why would they get the wrong idea?” she wondered. Kurosu grunted.

“No reason,” he said. “Just remember what Morgan-san was here for,” hinted the man. Yukari frowned a little more, studying the two in the guard shack. The guard turned and looked out, seeing Yukari talking with Kurosu. Waving his arm, he gestured for her to come talk to the two. “If you want, I have your gun with me,” the head of security said, slipping his sunglasses back on and tossing his head toward the armored vehicle.

“What would I need that for?” wondered Yukari. “But, don't go too far, ok, Kurosu?” He nodded, hand absently falling to his holstered .45.

“I'll be right here,” he promised. Yukari moved to the door to the shack, entering the air conditioned enclosure.

“Sorry for the wait,” she apologized, “I'm Yukari Morita. You wanted to see me?”

“What did you just say?” blinked Nasuda.

“I said, someone has made me a better offer, old man,” Yukari said, a small smile on her lips as she stared at her boss across the conference table.

“Who?” asked Akane, her tone curious - and a little worried. To either side of the head astronaut, her flight team members watched her, various emotions on their face. On the other side of Yukari from Akane, Matsuri watched her sister, her expression calm.

“Their business card says they are `Infinite Horizons, International',” Yukari replied. “And they are looking to get into the manned space services field.”

“In other words, they want in on our business,” grunted Kinoshita.

“Yukari, you can't just run off with some strange company,” protested Nasuda. Yukari snorted.

“I most certainly can, old man!” she replied. “They have offered me six figures, stock, benefits and complete authority to train, deploy and develop a flight program.”

“Yukari,” breathed Akane. Yukari glanced at her partner, giving her a small smile. “If you go, I am going with you,” Akane said firmly.

“So are we,” chimed in Natsuko, sharing a nod with Chinami.

“Please allow me to accompany you as well, Yukari-sempai,” Kotomi joined in. Nasuda was not looking very happy as his flight crews sided with Yukari.

“Yukari,” he said, his tone strained, “let's talk about this!”

“Can you match their offer, old man?” Yukari asked him evenly. Nasuda grimaced briefly.

“You know full well we can't, Yukari,” he gritted out. “We are out of capital and our entire operational budget is already spent on the supplies and utilities we need to continue working. We have only now finished buying out the Solomon Island's interests in our company, Yukari! We're just at the starting line and you're leaving us for a bunch of strangers! How can you do something so cruel?!” he nearly wailed.

“I never said I accepted their offer, old man,” noted Yukari blandly.

“What?” Kinoshita blurted out.

“I listened to their pitch, accepted one of their business cards, but told them I had to think about it,” Yukari said.

“Thank Kami,” sighed Nasuda. Yukari rolled her eyes.

“I might still take them up on their offer, you know,” she reminded him.

“You won't,” Matsuri smiled, watching Yukari's face. Yukari glanced at her sister. “Your tribe is here, and here is where you belong,” Matsuri said easily.

“Spirits talking to you again, sis?” Yukari asked, smiling fondly. Matsuri shook her head.

“I don't need the spirits to tell me something so obvious,” denied her younger sister.

“Why didn't you take the offer, Yukari?” asked Motoko. Yukari frowned a little.

“Well, you could say that I have my doubts about them being able to actually implement a program like ours,” began the senior rocket girl, “but more to the point, there isn't enough market right now to support two companies. We are just now being treated as equals by the big agencies, and I don't want to start over again from scratch because I would be with a new, untested agency. Not to mention that without your caking compound, I just don't see it working.”

Motoko considered that. “Makes sense, I guess,” allowed the chemist. “And the suits you are used to are proprietary, too.”

Yukari nodded. “That's also something that was on my mind,” admitted the girl. “I wanted to ask you something, though, Motoko.” Seeing the chemist was watching her, Yukari asked her question. “How likely is it that a company the size of the one that made the offer could reverse-engineer the compounding process for our suits or you caking compound?”

“Reverse engineer the processes?” Motoko considered the question. “I would say they will figure out the basics within a couple of years,” decided the woman. “It isn't so much that what I did to make the suits and the caking mix is new, so much as that the processes themselves are unorthodox in chemistry circles. Sooner or later, a lab team somewhere will see things from the same angle I did when I created the new materials, and then…” she shrugged.

“But, they are patented, aren't they?” Mukai asked. Motoko nodded.

“Patents expire, you know,” Yukari reminded the engineer. “And when government-sponsored agencies want a technology or process or whatever, even a patent doesn't protect you.”

“Very true,” Nasuda nodded, “which is why we need to stay one step ahead of other companies.”

“Stow the soapbox, old man,” Yukari said, “we're already working on that. My point in bringing this up is that I need to know where you are looking when you make decisions on jobs and business matters.”

Nasuda frowned. “I'm not sure where you are going with this, Yukari,” he said after a moment.

“I'm asking if you have our backs like we have yours, Nasuda,” Yukari said very clearly. “You've done good getting us off the deck, but now that we're flying, the game has changed. I just want to know if you are looking at the future or at the ledger.”

“What are you talking about, Yukari?” asked Satsuki. Yukari glanced at the doctor.

“We're little fish in a big pond, Satsuki. If the big fish can't drown us, they will swallow us. And some fish are parasites, too. I want - no, need - to know that you won't let greed overcome your dreams.”

The heads of the departments found themselves glancing at each other, silent as they weighed Yukari's words. Motoko and Satsuki were thinking about offers they had gotten from other companies. At the time, it had been their choice to stay with the SSA, since it seemed to be gaining ground thanks to Yukari, Akane and Matsuri joining the company. But knowing that other companies were trying to hire away the core personnel of the company made them look at the offers a little differently.

“You want me to keep my eyes on any particular organization or company?” Nasuda asked his senior mission commander.

“I just want to know that you have our backs, Isao,” Yukari said quietly, meeting his gaze. Slowly, Nasuda nodded.

“I have your backs, Yukari,” he promised. Yukari nodded in turn.

“Now that we understand each other, let's talk about how much we're getting paid,” grinned the girl.

“You want more money?” asked Nasuda, sounding insulted. Yukari offered him a thin smile.

“As it is right now, old man, I won't be able to retire on what I earn,” grinned the girl evilly. “Considering the risks, and keeping in mind the amount of work I and my flight teams have been doing, I think it is time to re-negotiate our salaries.”

“Konichiwa, Yukari-chan!”

Yukari scowled. “What have I told you about that, Norman?” she growled into the phone. Spreading her damp towel out to dry, she fished up a fresh pair of panties and stepped into them as she held her cell phone in place with her shoulder. Pulling the thin, small panties up her legs, she tugged on them to settle the panties before reaching for one of her small bikini tops. “Since you can't seem to grasp honorifics, you better just stick to English,” she sniped, a small smile on her lips.

“And forego the pleasure of jerking your chain? No way, Yukari-chan,” scoffed the blonde American astronaut.

“Now that I've had the Norman Randolph Comedy Routine,” Yukari replied dryly, using one hand to adjust her breasts comfortably in her top, “why am I wasting my time on the phone with you?”

“Can't an astronaut call a colleague just to hear her voice?” asked the NASA man, his tone vaguely hurt. Yukari snorted, though a smile tugged at her lips.

“Remind me to change my number,” she snickered. “What's up?”

“Actually, I am taking a couple of days before reporting in for my next mission, and I wanted to see how you all were doing at the SSA,” he said. Yukari pulled a clean skirt from her dresser, quickly stepping into it.

“Guess you are free to waste your time where you please,” she said, buttoning the skirt and zipping the short zipper. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she nodded, grabbing an over-shirt and slipping it on before quickly tucking her belongings into her outfit. “When are you looking to arrive?” she asked.

“Actually, your shrimp lo mien is getting cold,” Norman said. Yukari frowned.

“You are already here?” she asked, seeing Matsuri enter their room, absently drying her hair with her towel. Seeing that her sister was dressed, the native girl quickly threw on her own clothes.

“Well, since I was at Chang's anyway, I thought I'd spring for dinner for you girls - if you're interested,” he chuckled.

“I'll call Yasukawa and…” began Yukari.

“He should be arriving at the gate any minute now,” Norman said. “He was having dinner at Chang's when I arrived, so I chatted with him for a little, then suggested he might find a good fare at the base,” explained Norman. Yukari rolled her eyes.

“You two are close,” the girl insinuated.

“Fighter pilots are like that sometimes,” Norman replied carelessly. Yukari recalled that Yasukawa and Norman were both Air Force - though from different countries. “Besides, we both flew the same plane - F-15s,” bragged Norman.

“Like I care,” retorted Yukari. Guys and their stupid hobbies, she thought fleetingly. Yukari wasn't even really sure what an F-15 was, other than a military plane of some sort - likely a fighter from what he had said. She was certain she couldn't identify one unless the plane had the model painted on it somewhere.

“I stopped off on the way here at Tokyo,” Norman said, his tone serious and his voice lower than it had been before. It took Yukari a moment to realize what he was saying.

“Oh,” she said, frowning slightly. “How was Tokyo?” she asked.

“It was fun,” Norman said softly. Yukari hand-signaled Matsuri, who swiftly rounded up the flight crews. Tossing her head, Yukari led them out of the dorm and toward the gate. As she neared it, she saw Yasukawa's taxi approaching.

“We're going to Chang's for supper,” she said to the guard, covering the phone for a moment. He nodded, swiftly making a note in his log. “Call us if something comes up,” added Yukari before resuming her conversation with Norman. “Fun? Not the word I would choose,” she said, keeping her voice low as she maintained a small space between herself and the other girls.

“Yukari, I…” began Norman.

“Look, what you do is your business,” cut in the girl. “As long as she's happy, I don't care what you do.” Yukari paused. “But if you make her unhappy…” she left the rest unsaid. Yasukawa's taxi pulled up at the gate, the girls already outside the perimeter fence. “See you in a bit,” Yukari said, ending the call.

“Uh, I wasn't expecting the entire flight program,” the former fighter jock said, eyeing the girls.

“Oh, don't worry about it!” chirped Yukari, bending down a little to rest her arm on his window seal, “It's just a little surprise for Norman,” grinned Yukari.

“I'm not sure all of you will…” began Yasukawa, only to find that the flight crews were already stacking themselves into the taxi, sitting double in the back seat as Yukari slipped into the passenger seat. “No problem! Now, take us to Chang's and our free supper!” directed the girl, winking at the man. Sighing, he did as directed.

Hours later, the girls were bedded down, having enjoyed a good meal on Norman's ticket. Yukari had decided to have the NASA man buy dinner for the heads of the other departments, and Yasukawa had ended up making two trips to the base. Yukari had sent her two newest teams back first, with instructions to distribute the meals to the department heads before some additional practice in the simulator.

Staying behind with Matsuri, Akane and Norman, Yukari let the others do most of the talking, spending most of her time watching Norman. At one point, she excused herself to the bathroom, detouring on the way back to speak briefly with Han Li, who was sitting on stool near the pantry of the restaurant, taking a break since there weren't any other customers in the restaurant, and Yukari's group was finished. Once they left, she would bus the table, but until then, there wasn't anything for her to do, really.

Yukari spoke with her briefly, asking if the movie people had come back again. Han Li shook her head, saying that so far, nothing more had been heard from them. Nodding, Yukari asked if she or Chang had heard from any of their remaining family in China. Han Li shook her head once more. She had, however, gotten a letter from Australia from a cousin, who had expressed interest in coming to see her and Uncle Chang. Han Li asked if Yukari would mind talking with her cousin - maybe showing her around the base a little if it were possible, since her cousin had become quite the fan of the SSA - and Yukari in particular - since the very first news coverage of the SSA's first manned launch. Yukari shrugged, saying she would see if she could swing it.

Back at the base, she had checked her team into bed as usual, made sure Norman was secured in a spare room, then slipped off to the cove, phone in her pocket. Finding a comfortable spot on the sand, Yukari pulled out her cell phone and autodialed a number. After a couple of rings, her party picked up. “Hi, mom.”

“Yukari,” her mother replied warmly, “is everything ok?” asked her mother.

“Yeah, everything's ok,” Yukari replied. Above her head, the brilliant stars and moon shown down on her, a few high, wispy clouds scattered here and there. Low, gentle waves rolled onto the beach.

“Sounds like you are at the cove,” her mother noted. “Nice place - I miss it.”

Yukari laughed softly. “So you don't miss me?” she teased.

“Of course I miss my oldest daughter,” Hiroko came back immediately. “What's bothering you, Yu-chan?” pressed her mother.

“Norman's here right now; here at the base, not here at the cove, I mean!” she clarified. Her mother was silent. “He…made a point of telling me he stopped off at Tokyo,” Yukari said, a little uncomfortably. “I think he was…trying to be…up front, I guess,” sighed the girl.

“I see,” Hiroko said simply, waiting.

“We talked about what happened, I know,” Yukari said, flopping back on the beach, one hand behind her head, “You said that you and he weren't…continuing, didn't you? Or was I not understanding what you said?” wondered Yukari.

“I actually said that I wasn't considering getting remarried,” clarified Hiroko. “And I'm not,” added her mother. “Does this bother you, Yukari?”

“No, not really,” Yukari said. “It's just…” she sighed. “I don't know, mom!”

“Well, he is a fellow astronaut,” Hiroko thought aloud, “and given how the two of you relate to each other, I suppose that knowing that he and I are in a relationship of sorts could prove distracting,” allowed the older Morita woman.

“It's not that!” protested Yukari. “It's just that…Norman?!”

“Why not Norman?” countered her mother. Yukari groaned.

“I don't know, it's just…weird!” Yukari tried to pin down exactly what she was feeling.

“What's weird about him and me sharing a fling?” insisted her mother.

“I don't know, mom, it just is!” Yukari was frustrated at her inability to pin down what she was feeling. “You and Norman are just so different, and you said you weren't thinking about remarrying, and it's been months since you two…” she stopped, blushing.

“I suppose it is a bit of an affair of convenience,” allowed her mother, her tone thoughtful, but not sounding the least bit embarrassed. “But honestly, he and I have different careers and different goals, so it works out nicely if I do say so myself.”

“So whenever you two happen to be near each other, you'll just shack up? Is that how these kind of things work?” wondered Yukari.

“More or less,” came the calm reply from her mother. “It's been that way between men and women for longer than history has been recorded, you know,” added Hiroko.

Yukari groaned. “I guess I'm just stupid,” muttered Yukari.

“No, you're not,” answered her mom immediately. “Just a little boy-shy and unused to relationships.”

“I'm not boy shy!” denied Yukari indignantly. Her mother laughed softly over the phone.

“Oh, I beg to differ, Yu-chan,” she replied sweetly. “You have never had a father in your life until you went to the Solomons,” began her mother.

“And I'm glad that I didn't, considering how he acts,” grunted the daughter.

“During kindergarten and elementary school, you wouldn't make friends with boys unless one of your girlfriends introduced the boys into your circle of friends,” continued her mother.

“How did you know about that?” asked Yukari suspiciously.

“I'm your mother, dear,” was the non-reply from Hiroko, “It's my job to know; and the school was concerned enough to talk with me about it,” admitted her mother a moment later. “In middle school, you were even more selective, and while civil to boys, you tended to fight with them rather than make friends with them. It was that tendency that put the spirit charm in your possession, you will recall.”

“But they were bullying…!” Yukari immediately defended herself.

“In any event,” her mother rolled smoothly on, “you chose a girl only junior high and high school. The amount of male influence in your life has been virtually zero, so it's perfectly normal for you to be a bit unsure about men,” concluded the mother. “Perhaps I should have found another husband, after all. Or at the least, a steady lover, so you would have a male figure in your life.”

“We did just fine on our own, mom!” insisted Yukari. Having a man in our house would have been uncomfortable and…weird, thought the girl, swiftly reviewing her entire life up to the point where she went to the Solomon Islands and everything changed.

“I'm hoping that your sister will be able to help you with this little issue,” noted Hiroko.

“Matsuri? What do mean, her help me with this?” wondered Yukari, absently raising her head and looking around, half expecting to find her kid sister nearby; or one or more of her flight crews. That tends to be common here, she thought, unconsciously smiling. It never occurred to her that she didn't really mind her crews and her sister being so close to her so often.

“Matsuri-chan is very…comfortable with herself,” Hiroko delicately explained. Yukari frowned.

“She did say something about me being uncomfortable with myself,” recalled Yukari.

“Yu-chan,” her mother said softly, “please try to listen to what Matsuri suggests, hmm?”

“What?! Mom, do you have any idea what she's been…?!” sputtered Yukari, recalling the first festival she had gone to with her sister at her village.

“No,” her mother said casually, “what has she been suggesting?”

“Never mind!” Yukari huffed, blushing to her breasts. “I'll…think about it,” she managed several moments later. Maybe I am just being stupid about this whole thing, she thought.

“Ok, Yu-chan,” her mother said, giggling softly. “Call me any time you need me, dear. We'll talk more about this next time I visit, ok?”

“Ok, mom,” Yukari managed. “Um, mom?”

“Yes?”

“Are you happy? I mean…!” Yukari winced as she tried to backtrack.

“Yes, Yukari. I am,” her mom answered before she could clarify her question. “I am happy with my life, and I am happy when Norman and I get together. Remember, however, that I am no less happy when Norman is not around than when he is, ok dear?”

“I'm trying to get my head around that,” Yukari replied glumly. “Well, it's kind of late, mom, so…”

“Very well,” her mother replied, “but there is one more very important thing I need to tell you.”

Yukari gulped. “Y…Yeah?” Kami, is this related to her and Norman?! What if Norman got mom pregnant? Or maybe she really is thinking about remarrying!

“I love you, Yukari,” her mother said quietly. “And I couldn't be prouder of you.” Yukari blinked, her previous thoughts shattered and dispersed instantly.

“I love you too, mom,” she whispered before ending the call. For nearly ten minutes, she smiled up at the stars. She really didn't have any more of a grip on how she felt about her mom being with Norman than she did before, but strangely, it didn't bother her any more.

Eventually, she fished a card from her shirt pocket, dialing the number on it. It rang three times before the other party picked up. “Morgan.”

“Cindy, it's Yukari,” the astronaut said.

“Do you know what time it is over here?” Cindy asked, sounding more alert. Before Yukari could answer - she was doing the math to determine what time it was on the eastern seaboard of the United States - Cindy spoke again. “Something wrong, Yukari?”

“Not really,” Yukari said, “But I wanted to mention something to you - about that thing we talked about a couple of weeks ago.”

“Are you on a land line or your cell?” the American Naval officer immediately cut in.

“Cell, but calm down,” Yukari knew what Cindy was about to say. “Anything turn up about that issue yet?”

“No, nothing yet,” Cindy said slowly. “Why?”

“No reason, really. Just wondering.”

“I see,” Cindy murmured. “Catch any movies lately?” asked the American.

“No, been too busy,” Yukari replied. “My fans want to meet me, though,” added Yukari.

“The price of being famous, I guess,” Cindy came back. “Thinking of going on tour again?”

“Maybe,” Yukari replied. “But not any time too soon; got work to do,” she added. “How about you? Touring again?” asked Yukari.

“Actually, I'm going back to fleet,” Cindy said.

“Oh,” Yukari frowned. “Is that good or bad?” she wondered.

“Little of both,” Cindy replied. “When you're Navy, fleet is pretty much your main posting,” she explained. “Besides, my hitch is up next year anyway.”

“Hitch?” Yukari wondered.

“My service period,” explained the woman. “I don't know if I will be re-upping or not. Might go into the private sector.”

“Well, I wish you the best of luck,” Yukari replied. “If you're ever over in this part of the world, you know where we are,” invited the girl.

“If I'm ever over that way, I'll drop by,” Cindy assured her. Yukari glanced at the clock on her cell phone display.

“Well, it's late; over here, I mean - and I have a mission to train for, so I'm going to call it a night. Sorry to call you so early in the morning,” apologized Yukari.

“Oh, it's nothing. I would have been up in an hour anyway. Good luck!”

“Thanks,” Yukari said, ending the call. Standing, she stretched for a moment before making her way back to the dorm. Half a world and a hemisphere away, Cindy Morgan, Lieutenant Commander, US Navy stood up and stretched as well. Moving over to her desk, she sat down at the secure terminal and logged on.

By the time that her immediate boss showed up, she was just ready to leave. “Morning, Morgan,” he said.

“Sir,” she saluted him. Seeing her rumpled uniform, he frowned.

“You stay here all night again, commander?” he asked her.

“Yes, sir,” she said, feeding a small stack of papers into the double shredder by her desk. “I've finished the final version of the report on the SSA, it is on your desk, awaiting your chop before it goes to the old man. Additionally, I have arranged for a SIGINT package to be shipped to the Seventh, along with TAD papers for myself. I should have a better grasp on what is moving down there within a month, sir,” she added, her printer spitting out a pair of pages, which she took, looking over critically before offering them to her immediate boss.

“What's this?” he asked her, scanning the pages.

“My chit for operational funding, support and cover under CLIMATE TREE, sir,” Cindy Morgan replied.

“You looking to lie around in the sun for a few months, Morgan?” her boss almost accused, glancing at her as he scanned the lines. “Field work is not going to get you four stripes, you know. You should be looking for Pentagon duty and developing political pull if you want to make Flag,” he instructed her. It wasn't the first time he had told her how to milk the American military machine.

“Aye, sir,” agreed Morgan, “But I am best suited to this particular mission, since I have a rapport with the SSA program already, as well as having done initial assessment, sir.”

“Leave this to a junior field team, Commander,” urged her boss. “I have been asked to nominate a candidate for an opening in the E-Ring at the Pentagon. I could easily recommend you - if you were here, of course,” he hinted.

“I appreciate the offer, sir, but I can do more good working the field this time,” Cindy delicately declined the offer. Her boss studied her for a moment.

“You haven't let your personal feelings interfere with your professional judgment, have you?” he asked her evenly. “The reports you sent back had growing overtones of attachment to the pilots of the SSA.”

“I respect them, yes,” Cindy agreed. “But I want those nets. You yourself agreed with the analysis of what is happening with China, sir, and what it could mean to our own program. Taking out their nets will reduce their influence in the Pacific Rim, as well as stall their entry into a full space program. These are important goals to our security, aren't they, sir?”

“No talking you out of it, is there?” muttered her boss, signing the papers. “Consider yourself re-assigned, Lieutenant Commander.”

Norman had been in meetings with Nasuda and the department heads for most of the association. Yukari was a little curious about that, but her hands were full with work, training, and development programs. It came as a surprise to her when Nasuda called her into the office - and only her.

Looking around the room, she saw the heads of the core departments sitting at the conference table. Nasuda, Kinoshita, Motoko, Satsuki and Mukai watched her enter the room. Getting a funny feeling, she closed the door behind herself as she used her other hand to switch her phone to silent mode. Norman pulled out a chair for her. “This looks bad,” sighed Yukari, dropping into the chair.

“It may not be bad,” Nasuda said, “but it could end up catastrophic.”

Yukari suppressed a groan. “Just get it over with,” she said.

“A proposition has been put forth to merge all current space agencies into a unified, singular agency for the purpose of developing space technologies and beginning the colonization of other planets,” Norman said. Yukari turned to look at him.

“I heard such a proposal when I went to that meeting in America - the one where the Chinese were jerks - but there was next to no support for it. In fact, didn't the Russians and NASA more or less shut it down?” Yukari asked, trying to recall precisely what had happened at the meeting more than a year ago. Her attention had been on other things at the time.

“Seems that with the success of our little venture, the idea has suddenly gained a lot of favor from various groups, companies and nations,” Nasuda replied.

“Groups? Like industrial co-ops and defense contractors? Companies? Like Infinite Horizons? Nations? Like China, perhaps?” Yukari asked, seeing a familiar pattern to this.

“Groups more like the United Nations, actually,” corrected Norman, “but yes, several multi-national companies are supporting, and China is most assuredly in favor of the merging of all the big space players into a singular entity under the UN instead of programs under their individual nations or Unions.”

“We're a private company, though, aren't we Nasuda?” Yukari asked, glancing at her boss for confirmation.

“Yes, we are,” confirmed her boss. “But that doesn't mean we are self-reliant. If the agencies merge under the UN, what do you suppose the chances are of us getting continuing work is?”

“Pretty good, since we're the only outfit set up for what we do,” Yukari frowned.

“Only until the new agency forms a branch to do what we do,” Nasuda said. “With the funding such an agency would have, and the technology from all the other agencies at their disposal, I estimate that it would be a matter of less than a year before they were offering a competing service.”

“And they wouldn't have to worry about a long, protracted battle, either, would they?” sighed Yukari. “Even if they had to run such an operation at a loss, they wouldn't have to take more than a year or two of that before they destroyed us,” realized the girl unhappily.

“That is what it looks like to us, yes,” confirmed Kinoshita.

“What can we do to protect ourselves?” Yukari asked. I'll be damned if I lose my program now!

“It's really a matter of where the other agencies come down on this issue,” Norman said. “Right now, more than half of NASA thinks that the proposal is a bad idea, and they are not being shy about telling people that. The ESA is on the fence, though I bet that they will sign on within a year at the most. The Russians, well, it's kind of hard to say. They have a major stake in the ISS, with their Mir system running the taxi service. If they think that that can get a better deal from unifying, they will switch sides.”

“JAXA?” Yukari asked quietly.

“They have already signed on with the proposal,” Norman said quietly. Yukari just made a small sound in her throat. “I heard from a little bird that the Chinese embassies in Europe have been very free with their state dinners, economic help and election contributions. A friend of mine at another facility said that highly-placed officials are being courted by businessmen and organizations friendly to the proposal,” he paused. “Same friend said that it was that way in the White House, as well - and that the administration is increasingly favorable of the proposal.”

“Why?” asked an irritated Yukari. “NASA is the biggest agency in play, and has the most to lose from being merged into a new agency, doesn't it?” she nearly demanded.

“Yes, and no,” Norman replied. “Without going into excessive detail about politics you probably don't care about, the main attraction for the proposal is the fact that NASA would no longer be a budget item for the United States, and the government likes that. Also, while we have arguably the greatest experience in space, we also have the problem of waning support from the citizenry of our nation, who have lately been viewing space as something for someone else to develop.”

“Politics,” Yukari grunted sourly. Damn it, why the hell can't they just mind their own business?! “So, those same idiots I bumped heads with during the development meeting are going to drag NASA into this proposal and it will be us standing alone again?”

“Looks likely, as the situation sits now,” Norman shrugged. Yukari gave him a steady look.

“How long?” she asked him.

“Even if all the agencies and governments signed on today, the process of merging the agencies will take years before they are fully operational,” mused the blonde. “But the pressure will probably come on private companies within eighteen months of the proposal being ratified.”

“How are we looking for contracts, old man?” Yukari asked the head of the organization.

“For now, we're ok,” he said. “But if we don't get new contracts in place, we'll be in trouble by this time next year. We really need an on-going contract with a client that will have business for us even if the merger goes forward.”

“Military work,” murmured Yukari.

“There is another option, though I can imagine your reaction to it will be negative,” Kinoshita said. “In the event that the merger goes forward, we can seek contracts with the new agency, as sub-contractors for space work.”

“We could also explore the option of joining the world agency,” Nasuda suggested. Yukari's fist crashed against the table.

“Hell no!” she spat angrily. Seeing the others looking at her, she was struck with the realization that they had fully expected her reaction to that suggestion. “Stop smiling like that,” grunted the astronaut. “It's a simple fact that if we were part of an agency instead of a private company none of us would be flying. And if I am not flying, I have no interest in the space business.”

“So you aren't planning to jump ship after all,” Nasuda ribbed her.

“As long as I can fly, no,” Yukari retorted. “I might ask you all what your plans are if this goes sideways on us, though.” Seeing the heads of the departments staring at her, she pressed home her point. “Nasuda, you and Kinoshita were salary men, weren't you? I suspect that you would find getting a job if the SSA goes under not only difficult, but also very distasteful. What about you, Satsuki? I really can't picture you in a regular medical profession, given your tendency to treat your patients like lab rats. And Motoko, wouldn't it kill all your joy to have to go back to lab work instead of being allowed to oxidize to your heart's content? Mukai? You want to go back to designing air frames and automobile parts after building spacecraft?”

Her bosses considered her words. “I have an advantage over you all,” she said quietly, “I am young and can start over. But I don't want to,” the young woman paused. “I want to fly rockets and go into space. I like my job, I like my coworkers and I like being a private enterprise. I like being the lone wolf of space programs, and I don't think any of you are much different from me. Am I wrong?” Silence greeted her challenge.

“In that case, let's hope for the best, but plan for the worst. All in favor?” she asked, making a point of meeting the eyes of each of the department heads. Raising her hand, she waited. One by one, the older members raised their hands as well.

“Now that that is settled,” Yukari said, “I have flight teams to oversee, a mission to plan for, and a phone call to make. But first, Norman, I want a word alone with you,” she said, standing and turning to the door.

“Come on, sis!” chirped Matsuri, grabbing her sister's arm and tugging. Being as strong as Matsuri was, Yukari was pulled with her younger sister.

“Where are we going?” protested Yukari, trying to free her arm from Matsuri's grip. She had been working on her laptop in her room when Matsuri had entered, stripped off her shorts and top, wiggled into her grass skirt and tight tube top and grabbed Yukari. “I need to save that document, Matsuri!” she tried, her sister grabbing her spear as she exited the room, Yukari still firmly grasped. “At least let me get dressed!” protested the older sister. She had finished up a difficult exercise with Kotomi and Amari in the simulator not long before, and come back to the dorm to shower and work on her project, so she was wearing a bikini bottom and a thin, loose mid-riff tank top - and that was all.

“You're fine!” Matsuri said, hurrying Yukari along the hall to the stairs. “We need to hurry,” she added, smiling in anticipation. Nearly bursting through the doors to the dorm, the siblings came dangerously close to bowling over Akane.

“Yukari, Matsuri, where…?” began the mission specialist.

“Sorry, Akane,” Matsuri said, “we'll be back later! Tell old man, `kay?”

“But where…?!” Akane tried again, but Matsuri was nearly running, pulling Yukari with her. Sighing, Yukari got in synch with her sister, matching her pace as the Tariho girl nearly ran toward the fence. Behind her, Akane wondered if she could catch up to them. Giving up that idea, she headed into the dorm for a shower before supper.

She was half-way done with her shower when the other flight crews arrived. They all wondered what was going on with the sisters, who Chinami had spotted blowing off the guard as they dashed into the jungle. Akane had nothing to share, but as soon as she got back to her room, she dialed Yukari's cell phone. It wasn't until the third ring that she realized she could hear the phone in the room the two sisters shared.

Almost cringing, she hit the speed dial for Matsuri's phone, listening from the door to the room. Sure enough, she heard the ringer on Matsuri's phone from inside. Yukari was the one who drilled it into us all never to leave our rooms without out our cell phones, and now she and Matsuri have both…! Akane dismissed the thought.

“But why would they leave them?” she murmured to herself, trying to use her mind more constructively.

“Who left what?” came Natsuko's voice. Blinking, she realized that the other two flight teams had surrounded her as she stood lost in thought outside the room of the leader of the flight program.

“It's nothing,” Akane waved off the question. “Let's get some supper,” she said. It was a toss-up as to who had seniority after Yukari, but in this case, it was a moot point as Akane was clearly the senior-most of the flight program personnel on the base at that moment. The girls turned toward the stairs, Kotomi stopping when she realized that Akane wasn't with them.

“Aren't you coming, Akane-sempai?” she asked.

“Be there in a minute,” said Akane, twitching her fingers in dismissal. The girls quickly vanished from the hallway. Akane took a breath, exhaling it slowly before swiping her card through the door reader. The lock clicked open. “Sorry for the intrusion, Yukari, Matsuri,” Akane whispered, entering the room of her partner and her sister. Yukari told me that it was necessary that our cards be keyed to all the rooms in the flight program, but I never thought that I would be using it to enter her room, thought the girl.

She had been in Yukari's room many, many times; but always by invitation or order. Going into her partner's room without either - and more so when she knew that Yukari and Matsuri were not there - made her very uncomfortable. And yet, her discomfort was nothing compared to her concern for her partner. If she hadn't of left her cell phone, I wouldn't be worried, but her spirit charm is on her cell phone, Akane thought uneasily.

In the room, she spotted Yukari's cell phone on her desk, next to the girl's laptop. Glancing to the floor near the bed, she spotted Matsuri's cell phone laying in the tangle of clothes the native had carelessly shucked. Shaking her head, Akane swiftly policed up the discarded clothes, laying them out on Matsuri's bed. Yukari's taste in panties has really taken with Matsuri, thought the girl absently. She had already turned to the desk and was touching the dark `face' of Yukari's spirit charm before the significance of that thought hit her.

Yukari left her laptop on, Akane noticed. “Better save whatever she has open and turn it off before the battery dies,” decided the girl, swiftly waking the computer. Her good intentions were forgotten when she got an eye-full of what was on the open word processor. Scanning through the entire document didn't take long, but it led her to opening three more documents on the computer, reading them as well.

When her phone rang, she jerked at the sound. Glancing at her phone, she recalled that she had promised her crews that she would be there for supper. Swiftly acknowledging the text message reminder, she saved the documents, powered down the laptop, and plugged it in to charge before exiting the room. Her last act before leaving the room was to once more caress the spirit charm on Yukari's phone. “Please protect her,” murmured Akane as she touched the doll. Hurrying out of the room, she double-timed it to the cafeteria, finding that the food service director had her tray all ready for her.

Meanwhile, Yukari was struggling to keep up with Matsuri, who was waltzing through the jungle like it wasn't there. She had tried to ask her sister where they were going, but gave that up almost immediately in favor of just keeping up with her little sister. The fact that she only had her sandals didn't help any. Plant life kept catching on her top and scratching at her legs, though Matsuri didn't have any trouble with it. Every time she was about to tell Matsuri to wait, her sister grabbed her arm and helped her along.

They weren't headed for the village; that much was clear. Matsuri was leading them to the south of the village, through the thick of the rainforest. Yukari didn't realize that it was dark until Matsuri tugged her off a slope and she landed in a shallow stream she hadn't seen - even though it was right in front of her. “Matsuri, what are we doing?” she asked tiredly. “It's dark and…”

“No problem!” Matsuri assured her. “I never get lost in the forest!”

“That isn't what I am saying,” Yukari replied patiently, removing her top. “This water clean?” she asked, feeling the modest current against her calves.

“Yep! And it tastes good, too,” Matsuri said, cupping her hands and drinking from the stream. Yukari soaked her top in the water, then wiped her face and chest with her shirt before rinsing it and using it to soak her hair, face and upper body with the relatively cool water. “Come on, sis!” urged Matsuri, grabbing her hand and pulling her along in the shallow stream. “We can make better time in the stream,” explained Matsuri, the two covering ground much more swiftly.

“Once more, where are we going, Matsuri?” sighed Yukari, following as best as she could behind her sister. The bottom of the stream was mostly sandy, but the occasional limb and muddy patch were there to keep it from being too easy. Yukari didn't even realize when she lost her grip on her top.

Hearing the sound of surf, she found that the stream tumbled down a modest rock face into a thin, shallow beach. Matsuri paused, looking around as the last sliver of sun vanished into the ocean. Nodding to herself, she led her sister along the edge of the small cliff, looking around as if she was expecting something. “Ah! Got one!” squealed the girl, suddenly scampering up a tree. Hanging from the trunk by one hand, she jabbed with her spear, and a moment later, something heavy hit the ground next to Yukari.

“Careful!” protested the girl. Matsuri slid down the trunk, using her spear to crack open whatever she had gotten from the tree. With a soft grunt of effort, Matsuri broke the prize in half. “Quickly, eat it up!” urged Matsuri, offering half her treasure to Yukari.

“What is it?” Yukari asked, feeling the object. The stars weren't bright yet because it was so close to the setting of the sun, and the moon was a bare sliver in the sky, so other than a dark shape, she couldn't see what it was. Whatever it was, though, it was dripping on her hands and feet. “Fruit of some sort?” guessed the girl.

“Quickly, quickly!” urged Matsuri, slurping and swallowing. Mentally shrugging, Yukari did as her sister asked, taking a bite of the item.

“Gah!” she exclaimed. “I think something moved!”

“That's why you have to be quick,” Matsuri said.

“What is this?!” Yukari nearly screamed. Her imagination was showing her all sorts of unpleasant possibilities.

“It's a sweet orchid,” Matsuri said. “They only ripen every few years, and only at night are they sweet,” she continued.

“So what was moving?” wondered Yukari, licking her lips. It is sweet, thought the girl. Cautiously, she took another bite. Maybe it was just my imagination, she thought, not feeling anything move in the small bite she took. Chewing, she felt something crunch, like a sugar doodle on a soft-serve ice cream cone.

Matsuri said something, but it was in her native language and was mangled by whatever she was eating. Shrugging, Yukari dug into the food, periodically crunching whatever they were. Seeds, probably, decided the girl. “This isn't bad,” she said, feeling the texture change.

“It's great, isn't it?” enthused Matsuri, taking the food from Yukari's hand and tossing it away. “Don't eat the husk,” she explained. “Now, where is another one…?”

Matsuri had found three more before she led Yukari down to the beach to clean up. Washed clean, Yukari allowed Matsuri to guide her back to the tiny beach, the two lying down as they watched the stars. Yukari was feeling very good and strangely relaxed. Time became irrelevant to the two girls.

“What's this all about, Akane?” wondered Kurosu, frowning slightly as he reassembled his freshly-tended Government. Akane was in the security office, having just verified that her teams were bedded down, the training schedule was updated, nothing had turned up in any of the flight program's last round of physicals and that Yukari and Matsuri were still MIA. She had gone straight to the security office.

“Yukari and Matsuri still aren't back,” Akane said. “We need to find them.”

“Find them?” wondered Kurosu, picking up the handful of rounds sitting next to the stained towel he used when tending to his gun. Swiftly, he loaded the just-reassembled magazine before slapping it home and jerking the slide to chamber the first round. Akane heard the thumb safety click softly as he engaged it, buttoning the magazine back out and loading the last round in to the top of the magazine before re-seating it in the magazine well. Satisfied, he tucked the gun into the holster on his hip. “Any idea where they went?” he asked, standing.

“They ran into the jungle,” Akane said. “Or, more like Matsuri pulled Yukari into the jungle,” she corrected herself.

“Heading for the village?” suggested Kurosu. Akane shook her head.

“South south west,” she said. Kurosu grunted.

“Look, Akane,” he sighed, “the southern horn of the island is impossible. Just…impossible. Only Matsuri and her old man have ever been able to move through there freely. I've tried time and again, but it is just too thick, too mean and too dangerous. If they went in there, there isn't anything we can do to find them.”

“But, we have to!” protested Akane. “Yukari doesn't have her spirit charm with her, and…!”

“She doesn't need her charm with her,” Kurosu interjected calmly. “She has something far better with her.”

“Better than her spirit charm?” challenged a skeptical Akane. Kurosu gave her a rare half-smile.

“She has her sister with her, Akane-chan. Have some faith in them, hmm?”

Akane considered that for a long moment. “If they aren't back by morning,” began the girl firmly.

“Then we'll go try to find them,” Kurosu finished her thought. Nodding, Akane thanked him for his time before moving back toward the dorm. Kurosu watched her go. Once she was out of sight, he moved to the arms locker, unlocking it and removing an M16. With the efficiency of familiarity, he swiftly broke it down, checked it, reassembled it and cycled the bolt. Nodding to himself, he put the gun to rest before picking up some thirty round magazines and beginning to load them. As he stacked boat-tail hollow-point hunting rounds in the magazines, he reflected on what had just occurred.

Yukari and Matsuri aren't on base, but you wouldn't know it from how Akane just steps right up and takes control, he reflected, smacking the spine of the loaded magazine against the heel of his hand before setting it aside in favor of a fresh empty. She's made a fine team of her crews. If the SSA does end up being disbanded, I think I will see if she might consider a military stint. She has the making of a fine officer; just like Morgan said.

Hearing the phone ring in his office, he moved back to his desk, still stuffing rounds into the magazine. “Security, Kurosu,” he barked, tapping the speakerphone button.

“Kurosu, meet me in my office first thing tomorrow morning,” Nasuda said.

“Sorry, sir, I might not be able to make it first thing in the morning,” Kurosu replied.

“Problem?” wondered the head of the agency.

“I have already been put on standby by Akane for first thing in the morning,” Kurosu said, seating the rounds in the magazine as he had the ones before. Four should be enough, I suppose, he thought, glancing to the corner of the office, where his jungle belt and equipment waited. Better sharpen my machete, just in case, he thought, smiling slightly.

“Akane-chan? Where is Yukari?” wondered Nasuda.

“That would be why she put me on mission standby, sir,” Kurosu said.

Yukari blinked, feeling the warm sun on her face. Morning? Already? she wondered, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her fingers. Straightening, she realized that she had been cuddled up to Matsuri, the two of them sleeping on a small patch of greenery just above the beach. Beside her, Matsuri opened her eyes, yawning as she, too, sat up. Over the water, half the sun was already up.

“Morning, Matsuri,” smiled Yukari, standing. Matsuri easily stood, stretching.

“Morning, Yukari,” smiled Matsuri. Seeing that the tide was in and the beach was awash, the younger sister wiggled out of her grass skirt, her top discarded the night before. “Let's go for a swim,” she suggested, grabbing Yukari's hand.

“We should get back to the base,” Yukari began, only to have her younger sister pulled her off the low ridge they had slept on, landing in calf-deep water. Matsuri swiftly guided her sister out into deeper water.

The feeling of the cool ocean on her bare skin felt great, and Yukari decided that the base could wait a little. Besides, it never hurt to wash up first thing in the morning. After nearly fifteen minutes of splashing around in the sea, the two climbed back out of the water, returning to their nest. Yukari watched her sister slip back into her grass skirt and tie her top back on, a soft smile on her lips.

That smile disappeared as she realized that she didn't have a top. Her bikini bottoms were intact, but she sort of recalled using her top as a towel the night before and it disappearing shortly after. “How am I supposed to go back to base like this?” she asked herself, groaning.

“Like what?” wondered Matsuri, curious.

“I lost my top,” explained Yukari, knowing that Matsuri wouldn't think that was an issue.

“Do you want mine?” asked her sister honestly.

“But then you would be topless,” pointed out Yukari.

“So?” wondered a confused Matsuri.

“So I don't want either of us to have to show back up topless, sis,” Yukari pronounced. Even if you don't mind, I mind! “Don't happen to have a spare top on you, do you?” asked Yukari, even though she already knew the answer. Matsuri shook her head.

“I don't mind,” Matsuri said, offering her tie-on tube top to her sister. Yukari shook her head.

“But I do, so we'll just find something to make a top for me,” directed the girl. Matsuri thought for a moment, then grinned.

“I know just the thing!” squealed her sister, vanishing in to the forest with her spear. Barely five minutes later, she was back, a handful of wide-bladed leaves in one hand, and a few palm frond strands in the other. Squatting down, Matsuri swiftly separated the fronds into strips, weaving, folding and wrapping. Minutes later, she sliced the banana leaves into strips, tucking tabs back through the woven frond strips. Holding up her creation, she grinned at her sister.

Yukari wasn't sure if the top would be comfortable, but after she got used to the feel of the leaves, she found it wasn't uncomfortable. With her modesty once more protected, Yukari followed Matsuri back toward the base. As they made their way along the stream, she found she was in high spirits. “Hey, Matsuri, what was that stuff we were eating last night?” wondered Yukari.

“I told you, it is sweet orchid,” replied her sister. “This time, the crawlers were extra tasty, too!” added the girl. Yukari frowned.

“Crawlers?”

“Yes,” nodded Matsuri. “As the orchids ripen, beetles lay their young in the orchids. The young grow in the hearts of the orchids, making them sweeter and neutralizing the poisons.”

“I ate beetle larvae?” asked an incredulous Yukari. Matsuri nodded.

“Weren't they tasty?” she asked happily. Yukari tried to say something, but she found that she didn't really have anything to say. Ok, so they were beetle larvae, Yukari thought, a little stunned. And those crunchy things were probably their heads, too. I think I'm glad it was too dark to see them. Yukari's stomach growled. We ate four of them, so I guess if I was going to get sick, I would have by now. Oh, well! Guess I ate beetle larvae.

“Yeah, they were good,” Yukari said aloud. Matsuri stopped, turning to face her sister. Caught off guard, Yukari nearly collided with her younger sister. Catching Yukari by her upper arms, Matsuri stared into Yukari's eyes for a long minute. “What?” breathed Yukari.

“You spoke with them, didn't you?” asked Matsuri softly.

“With who?” blinked her sister.

“With the spirits,” Matsuri said quietly. “In our family, eating the sweet orchids opens the way to the spirits. You should have heard them, sister.”

“Um…did you?” Yukari asked slowly. Matsuri nodded. “All I had were some really weird dreams,” Yukari said. Matsuri sighed, clearly relieved.

“So you did speak with them!” she said, resuming the trip to their base. Yukari wondered what she was supposed to say to that.

“Um, so what did the spirits say to you, Matsuri?” she asked her sister. Kami knows I can't make heads or tails out of my dreams last night, she left unsaid. Matsuri smiled at her sister as she told her what the spirits had told her the night before.

“Yukari! Welcome back!” sang out Chang as the head rocket girl entered the small restaurant in the middle of Sanchago. Behind her came Matsuri and Akane.

“Hey, Chang,” Yukari greeted the Chinese chef. Han Li was already loading up tea on her small tray to the side of the kitchen pass-through shelf. “Han Li,” she added, greeting the waitress. Yukari and party settled at a table near the corner by the kitchen and Han Li had cups of tea in front of them practically before they settled into their seats.

“Yukari,” Han Li said, leaning closer to the girl, “do you remember what we talked about? About my cousin?” asked the silk-clad girl. Yukari nodded. “Would it be possible for you to speak with her? I understand if you can't take her on base, but I would owe you one if you could take the time to speak with her a little,” Han Li said.

“She's here?” wondered Yukari. Han Li shook her head.

“No, not yet, but she will be arriving shortly. She is visiting Uncle Chang and me for a few weeks,” Han Li shared.

“Sure, I'll make some time,” Yukari said, mentally reviewing her schedule. “What's her name, anyway?”

“It's Mingxia Liang,” supplied Han Li as she moved toward the counter to pick up the first of the dishes as Chang set it out. Yukari nodded, sipping her tea. She and her comrades had just seen Norman off as he returned to America, his vacation over. Yukari had chosen to spring for dinner at Chang's - rare for her, but since she had gotten the money from Norman anyway, it was really on the NASA man's dollar. The fact that she had still not actually ever seen any of her `pay' was something she kept meaning to address with Old Man Nasuda, but there were just so many other, far more important things to do that it kept being pushed back in her short-list.

As they ate, the three talked about small things for the most part. One thing that Akane was still focusing on was what had happened to Yukari and Matsuri that night a few days ago. Yukari had not been overly-forthcoming about things, but at the same time, Akane didn't want to seem like she was prying into what she thought of as Yukari's private life. If Yukari knew what to tell her partner, she would have. The problem was that she hadn't a clue what had really happened that night. Things were a bit hazy in her mind, and what Matsuri had told her the spirits had said didn't make her feel any more comfortable with the night. Strangely enough, though, she wasn't really worried about that night.

“You ok, Yukari?” asked Akane, shaking Yukari from her mental wanderings.

“Fine,” assured Yukari. Akane gave her an assessing look. “Something wrong?” pressed Yukari.

“No, I guess not,” allowed the girl. “But you were acting a little weird when you came back to base a couple of days ago. And why were you wearing that leaf top?”

“I told you, I lost my top somewhere in the jungle,” shrugged Yukari. “And I wasn't about to show up topless, either, so…” she twitched a shoulder. “Thanks for taking care of things while Matsuri and I were away,” she added. Akane blushed slightly.

“It was nothing,” she said. I didn't even realize I was doing it until Yukari and Matsuri showed back up, she thought. She had done all the things that Yukari did by habit, falling easily into the role of lead without even a conscious thought to do so. In the morning, she had woken up early so she could check on Yukari and Matsuri, and when she found them still gone, it had been second nature to start the morning routine, including leading the PT segment from the front - just like Yukari and Matsuri always did. Chinami and Natsuko had reacted much like she had, stepping up as her XOs and supporting her lead. She had planned to send out Kurosu if the sisters weren't back by the time they were done with the morning run, but as she had made her way toward the security office, she had spotted Yukari and Matsuri emerging from the heavy foliage just beyond the perimeter fence.

“No,” disagreed Yukari, “it is important that you can and will assume leadership when necessary, Akane,” lectured the girl. “There is no telling when one of us might not be here, and the team has to work just as good in those times as it does when we're here. Knowing that you can - and will - take the lead for our younger crews makes me feel a lot better, Akane,” praised Yukari. Akane blushed a little more.

“Thank you, Yukari,” she said softly. “But, would you say something to me next time?” asked the girl. Yukari blinked, realizing what was going on in her partner's head.

“I would have, but Matsuri dragged me off before I could even grab my clothes or cell phone,” she said, touching Akane's hand. Ever since the Orpheus mission and the attack that had landed them in the Gulf of Mexico, Akane had been very keen on being kept `in the loop' as it were about what Yukari was thinking and doing. “Next time, I'll invite you, ok?” she smiled. I wonder how Akane would react to eating a larvae-filled orchid? wondered the senior pilot.

“It will be a few years before the orchids blossom again,” Matsuri said, digging into her beef lo mien and rolls. “But the festival is not too far away!” grinned Matsuri. Akane blinked.

“You mean that festival?” she asked, her tone slightly apprehensive. Matsuri nodded eagerly.

“It will be the kids' first one,” Yukari murmured, thinking of Kotomi and Amari.

“This year, let's make use of the fish goddess's blessing, ok?” prompted Matsuri, grinning eagerly at Yukari.

“Um, we'll see,” managed Yukari uneasily. I don't know if I can handle that kind of thing, she thought. I mean, it would be my first time, and to be in a…group just seems… her thoughts evaporated. Matsuri was maintaining eye contact with her, her little sister's warm brown eyes meeting her own. Yukari eventually glanced away, checking on Akane. Matsuri's only four months younger than me, but sometimes, it's almost like she's the older sister! thought Yukari. At least in this area, amended the Japanese girl.

The small group's conversation was interrupted by a voice from the door. “Ni hao, Cousin Han, Uncle Chang!” Blinking, Yukari looked to the front door of the restaurant. In the door stood a short Chinese girl, wearing a pair of snug shorts and tube top, her hair pulled back in a covered bun. Over one shoulder, a full pack hung from her slim frame. Light sandals covered her feet.

“Mingxia! Welcome!” Chang called out as Han Li hurried to her cousin. “You are early,” noted the owner of the restaurant.

“Yes, Uncle,” confirmed the cousin, getting a hug from Han Li. “I managed to get an earlier flight. How are you doing?” she asked, making her way into the small eatery with her cousin. “I'm starving! Can I have some dumplings, Uncle?” grinned the new arrival.

“Yes, yes, coming right up!” chuckled Chang, turning to his work area. “You still like Hunan peppers in yours, right?” he asked without looking.

“Yes, please! And salted cabbage, too!” sang back Mingxia, taking a stool at the shallow counter. Han Li caught Yukari's eye, quirking her own in a silent question. Yukari smiled, shaking her head a holding up her forefinger for a moment. Han Li nodded, handing her cousin a cup of tea. For several minutes as the dumpling cooked, the three chatted in Chinese, obviously catching up on family news. Han Li discreetly served the SSA group and the few other customers as necessary, though she spent most of her time next to her cousin.

Yukari watched the cousin thoughtfully. She couldn't shake what Cindy had said to her about the way things were. And with what Norman had said, she found herself wondering if she was paranoid, being elitist or possibly just naïve. Why are things always so complicated? wondered Yukari.

Listening to Mingxia talk - when she spoke English - Yukari realized that the cousin had an accent. She found herself wondering about the accent, since she didn't think she had an accent to her English; well, not much of one, anyway. Akane had a little accent to her English, while Matsuri was equally as casual in whatever language she spoke. Realizing what she was thinking, Yukari grimaced behind her tea cup. I'm being paranoid, she thought sourly.

“Cousin, do you think I have time today to go see the base?” asked Mingxia, downing a dumpling almost whole. “You said there is a taxi here, right?”

“Yasukawa usually comes in here around now, yes,” Han Li said, once more glancing toward the SSA group, “but he likes to take an hour or so for his meal, so…” Mingxia had caught her cousin's glance at the table, and turned to see what her cousin had been looking at. After a moment of staring at the three, she gasped excitedly, realizing who the three were.

“Morita-laoshi!” Mingxia breathed, Han Li whipped her head around, trying to judge Yukari's expression. Yukari met her gaze for a moment, offering the waitress a small smile. It would have come to this anyway, thought Yukari as the younger cousin hurried over to the group, giving Yukari a slight bow. “I have been a huge fan of yours since your first flight, Morita-laoshi!” the girl enthused. “Had I known that you would be here, I would not have acted so casually.”

“We're pretty informal here in the Solomons,” Yukari replied calmly. “You are Mingxia, right? Han Li mentioned you would be visiting,” she said. Her phone chirped, Yukari pulling it out and glancing at the screen for a moment before tucking it away again. “It's nice to meet you, Mingxia, but we have to be heading back to the base now. Maybe we can talk some other time,” she half suggested.

“Ok,” agreed Mingxia, swallowing a sigh. “Do you think I could get a tour of the base sometime, Morita-laoshi?” she asked as Yukari dropped some money on the table for their meal.

“We'll have to see,” Yukari said, heading for the door. “But not if you keep calling me Morita-laoshi.”

“What do you want me to call you?” came back the eager reply.

“Talk to your cousin about that,” suggested Yukari. “Thanks for the food, Chang, Han Li. It was delicious!” she waved as she exited the restaurant. Seeing Yasukawa just pulling up, she grinned evilly. “Perfect timing!” she cackled, opening the door to the cab.

“Oh, no, Yukari!” protested the man, seeing who it was. “I'm on my lunch break, so…!”

“To the base, Yasukawa-kun,” ordered Yukari imperiously. “And mind the potholes,” added the girl, smirking at him. Yasukawa muttered to himself under his breath as he put the car back in gear and sped off. Yukari sent two text messages as she rode back to the base.

“Are you sure you want us to go, Yukari?” asked Kotomi, looking to her senior. Yukari nodded.

“Yes, Kotomi,” she confirmed. “If you are going to do this job, you need to know how to do all of it,” said the head of the flight program. “Besides, you're getting to visit other countries for free,” grinned the girl.

“I…ok,” Kotomi said, her expression turning resolute. “I will not embarrass the SSA or you, sempai,” she promised. Yukari fought back the urge to come back with a very obvious smart-ass remark.

“I know,” she soothed the nervous girl. “But don't spend your time obsessing over that. Chinami and Natsuko are the `official' representatives, after all. You are going to observe and learn. Understood?”

“Hai, sempai!” Kotomi barked.

“Don't worry, Yukari,” Natsuko said, ruffling Kotomi's hair, “we'll take good care of our pet Kotomi-chan.” Kotomi scowled at that.

“Do I need to remind the two of you that if you embarrass me or our company, you'll be on the street faster than you can blink?” Yukari warned the two, only partly serious.

“We'll behave,” promised Chinami. “But I can't help but ask once more why you and Akane aren't doing this. Or you and Matsuri, even, considering…” she let it go unsaid.

“What did I tell you two the very first time you died in the simulator?” Yukari answered. Chinami and Natsuko had to actually think about that for a minute.

“That practice makes perfect, but practice isn't the real thing,” recalled Natsuko. Yukari nodded.

“Correct. The simple fact is that we are going to be working with bigger, older and more established agencies, and that means that we - both the SSA and my flight teams - must learn how to work with them. If things were different, I would do this, but I won't risk crippling the program by leaving my teams inexperienced in a critical area. So, go to the conference, behave yourselves, listen to our friends, watch our enemies, and learn how to work with other agencies.” Yukari decided not to remind the three of them why she wanted all her teams at least familiar with dealing with other agencies and conferences on their rare and specialized profession. As it was now, one accident could remove that experience from the entire flight program.

So, when NASA had invited them to attend a join conference in Sydney on the space development proposal the ESA and Russians were pushing, Yukari chose to send her second-senior team and half of her junior team. She and Akane would fly the mission the day after tomorrow, with Amari and Matsuri as their respective alternates in case of emergency. Nasuda was going to be going with them, though he had other matters to discuss while they attended the three-day conference hosted by the ESA.

Yukari wasn't sure if she was surprised or not that the conference would be held in Sydney instead of somewhere in Europe. Gordon had explained to her that the ESA had partnered with the Australian government to run a test program for development of training procedures for space outposts and construction bases in the Outback, and since the conference would be about space development, it made sense to have it in Sydney, given that the key speakers were mostly already there anyway.

She had managed to extract a promise from Gordon for him to look out for her pilots while they were away from her, and had gotten teased about being a mother hen. Yukari had not found that funny. Gordon managed to placate her by assuring him that he would catch them before they got eaten by the big, bad predators in the space game. Yukari had asked him if he was sure he knew which side of that equation he was on; Gordon had laughed it off. Now, with the group waiting for Yasukawa to show up, she was fighting the urge to second-guess her choices. “You have your spirit charms?” she asked instead. All three girls dutifully showed her their dolls - securely clipped to their cell phones.

“You worry too much, Yukari-chan,” Nasuda said, approaching the group, who were standing outside the guard shack at the main gate. Small packs rested at the feet of the three delegates. Nasuda had a larger suitcase with him, and was sweating a little in the heat.

“I always thought girls packed too much,” Yukari sniped, grinning at her boss. “Your suitcase is bigger than all three of my girls' packs put together, Old Man.”

“If I wore as little as they do…” began Nasuda, perfectly willing to play with Yukari.

“Thank Kami you don't,” snorted Yukari. She saw him fumbling for a cigarette. “And don't you dare smoke near my crewmembers, Old Man!” she warned him.

“You're paranoid,” scoffed Nasuda, though he did push the cigarette back into the pack and tuck it back into his pocket. Yukari grunted, her attention back on her three. Almost ritualistically, she touched each of the spirit charms her juniors carried, willing them to protect her crew.

“If anything happens to these guys, contact me or Matsuri immediately,” ordered Yukari, recalling what had happened when her own charm had gone missing months before. Maybe having a charm tattooed on me would be easiest, she found herself thinking yet again. She kept seeing Matsuri's charm in her mind's eye. Every time she thought about it, it seemed a little more reasonable to have a tattoo like her sister had. Certainly wouldn't lose it if it's part of me, considered the senior astronaut.

Hearing the taxi approach, Yukari swiftly gave her subordinates one final visual inspection. Judging them to be ready, she leaned closer to Natsuko. “You're playing mission commander,” murmured Yukari. “Do it right.”

Natsuko nodded, but said nothing verbally. Yukari gave Chinami's shoulder a gentle squeeze, meeting the girl's eyes. Chinami gave her a small nod and a soft smile. Kotomi was last, Yukari absently patting Kotomi's head before sliding her fingertips along the girl's cheek. “See you in three days,” said Yukari, the taxi stopping outside the gate while the guard checked it before opening the gate.

To Yukari's surprise, the rear door opened and a familiar pair of women climbed out. “Han Li, Mingxia, what are you two doing here?” wondered Yukari. Han Li hefted a large delivery box.

“We brought some food for you and your co-workers,” explained the waitress. Quickly, she handed some neatly-wrapped food to the three girls who were loading their packs into the trunk. “Egg rolls,” explained Han Li, “for your trip.”

“Thanks, Han Li,” Natsuko smiled.

“Don't forget to exercise that back off,” Yukari reminded her drolly. Natsuko rolled her eyes, saying nothing. “And what brings you here, Mingxia?” she asked.

“I was hoping we could talk,” said the girl candidly. Yukari considered that for a moment.

“Sure, I can spare a little time,” she said. “But no more than an hour or so,” she warned.

“That's fine!” assured Mingxia. “Do you think I could look around the base some?” she asked. Yukari frowned slightly, glancing at Han Li. The waitress's expression said that she had tried to calm her cousin down, but it had obviously not worked.

“Why not show her three?” Nasuda suggested, pausing as he was about to climb into the front seat of the island taxi. Yukari sent him a narrow-eyed look, but nodded.

“I guess I can do that,” she said.

“Three?” wondered Mingxia eagerly.

“Pad three,” explained Yukari. “Our LS7B for the mission is being finalized there. I'm guessing you have never seen one close up before.”

“Can I really sit in one?!” begged Mingxia. Yukari studied her as she answered.

“Sorry, but no. I can let you take a closer look at the rocket, but the capsule is off limits. In fact, the capsule is sealed before it is removed from the VAB, and is only unsealed moments before we board. Contaminates are something that must be very carefully controlled,” she explained absently, waving as her crew headed out. Turning toward the launch pads, she saw that Han Li was still beside Mingxia. “You coming, too, Han Li?” wondered Yukari.

Han Li nodded. “Do you mind? Since I am already here, I thought I would take the chance to see some of the base; if you don't mind,” explained the waitress. Yukari shrugged.

“Fine with me,” she replied. Leading the two toward the launch pad, she found herself fending off nearly-endless questions from the cousin. As she explained what various things were on the rocket, she found herself hoping that she was just being paranoid; because she was finding herself liking Mingxia.

“Yukari,” Akane asked, tugging on her straps, “what's bothering you?”

“Huh?” Yukari blinked, “oh, nothing, Akane-chan,” replied the mission commander. The two had just finished installing a new high-gain antenna on a research satellite geo-synched over Antarctica, and were preparing to move to their re-entry point.

“Something is bothering you,” insisted Akane, working her controls as Yukari did the same.

“Guess I'm just pre-occupied with the kids who are at the conference,” offered Yukari.

“Don't lie to me, Yukari,” Akane said softly. “I can tell when you are lying, and it makes me nervous. So please - just tell me what is on your mind. Or is it that you don't trust me?” suggested Akane.

“If I didn't trust you, Akane-chan, I wouldn't fly with you,” said Yukari firmly.

“Then trust me to support you,” demanded Yukari's partner. “I will, you know,” added the girl.

“I know, Akane, but…” began Yukari. Akane hit her releases, pulling herself up and around until she was nose to nose with Yukari, floating in the tight confines of their capsule. Akane's hands cupped Yukari's cheeks as she stared her partner in the eyes.

“But nothing, Yukari,” murmured Akane, “if it bothers you, it bothers all of Flight. But mostly, it bothers me - your partner!” Yukari could feel Akane's nose touching her own, the girl's breath on her lips. Most striking of all, however, was the look in Akane's eyes.

“You sure you want to know, Akane?” asked Yukari, one of her arms looping around Akane's slim form.

“Most definitely,” came the emphatic reply from her partner. Yukari reached past Akane with her opposite hand, flipping the switch that killed power to their capsule radio. Not going to risk this leaving this capsule, thought Yukari. Speaking to Akane, she kept her voice soft and low, even though she could have used a bullhorn for all the difference it would make - vacuum didn't propagate sound waves and the radio was powered down. Fifteen minutes later, she fell silent, her hands cupping Akane's cheeks as Akane's hands cupped her own.

“Wow,” was the best that the stunned girl could manage in reply to her demand being met. Yukari nodded slightly, silent. Minutes passed. Yukari flipped the switch, powering the radio back up.

Nearly instantly, Matsuri was in her ear. “Papaya, do you read?”

“Papaya here, Solomon,” Yukari replied, still holding Akane's cheeks in her hands, their noses still touching, “just checking something. Nothing's wrong. Over.”

Matsuri was quiet for a long moment. “Roger, Papaya,” her sister replied. “Ready to come home?” asked the Tariho girl.

“On our way, Solomon,” Yukari answered, giving Akane the briefest nod. Akane nodded back, shifting her hands from Yukari's face to her seat so she could maneuver herself back into her own seat. When Akane paused, Yukari wondered if something was wrong.

Before she could ask, Akane dipped her head, her lips brushing Yukari's before grazing Yukari's cheek. “I've got your back,” whispered Akane. And then, her mission specialist was gone, the commander hearing the clicks of Akane's belts re-locking even as Akane was throwing switches and finishing her maneuvering checklist from memory.

Grasping the control stick, Yukari was mildly surprised to find that she was feeling better now that she had told Akane what had been on her mind for months. Smiling, she disengaged the OMS control safety and triggered the first of seven orbit shifting burns. It took them nineteen minutes to translate into their re-entry profile, but only seven to drop from space to atmosphere. A half hour later, they were back at base, visiting Satsuki for the post-flight medical check before hitting the showers and resuming their work schedule.

As the two emerged from medical, still adjusting their bikini tops, Yukari found herself looking at Kinoshita. “Got a minute?” he asked her, toying with a cigarette.

“Sure,” sighed Yukari. Akane stayed right at her partner's side.

“Got a request for a VIP tour,” Kinoshita said.

“From who?” wondered Yukari.

“Chinese embassy down in PNG through the Solomon government,” Kinoshita replied. “I just got off the phone with Honiara, in fact.”

“They pushing or pulling?” wondered Yukari.

“Pushing, unfortunately,” sighed the Launch Director. “Seems that some of the politicos are feeling insulted by our buying out their shares and going completely private.”

“Do we have to let them in?” asked Yukari. Kinoshita shrugged.

“No, of course not,” he said, his tone cynical, “but not allowing them to visit could make things very difficult in the near-future. We don't make nice, Honiara will probably make problems for us because they are stuck with a huge Chinese population and China has been pressuring them for the last year and a half about our little business.”

“Damn it,” groaned Yukari. “This is the sort of stuff that Old Man Nasuda is supposed to be dealing with!” she carped, irritated.

“Yes, the timing is a bit suspicious,” agreed Kinoshita blandly. “The day after Nasuda leaves for a conference that he wasn't thinking of attending five days ago…”

Yukari's expression had gone from irritated to determined. “I need to borrow your office, Kinoshita,” she said, marching toward the administration building. Kinoshita and Akane hurried after her.

“My office? Why?” wondered the head of the Ground program.

“Because your office has a land line,” Akane explained mystifyingly. “If we're going to be boxed in, we can at least try to choose the box, right?” she asked, an unpleasant smile on her lips. “Besides, we need to tell the Old Man about this anyway,” she mused, clearly making mental notes.

“Yukari, how are you doing?” came the voice over the phone.

“Same as always, I guess,” Yukari said. “Um, where are you right now?” wondered the astronaut.

“At the office,” replied the other party. “You on your cell again?”

“Landline,” Yukari answered. “You?”

“Don't worry about my end, Yukari,” replied her party, laughing. “What prompted this call?”

“Wish it was social,” sighed Yukari. “I kind of need a little advice, and you are probably the best qualified to give me some ideas; if you don't mind doing so,” added Yukari.

“Sure, if I can,” assured the other end of the line. Yukari quickly described what was happening.

“Interesting,” murmured the person thoughtfully. “What are you thinking of doing?” she wondered.

“We don't really have the means of forcing the issue, so I was thinking of maybe going limp on them - show them the buildings and nothing else, you know? Shut the entire company down for a holiday, maybe, so there is nothing to see but pre-fab buildings, empty offices and the like.”

“Oh! I like that idea,” laughed her friend, “but that could prove to only provoke the wrong idea. What about making yourself seem bigger than you are?”

“Bigger than we are?” wondered Yukari.

“Yes. Your company is remarkably flexible, and is built of very rare personality types. Right now, China has a very limited grasp of how you run things. They are most likely - as you suspect - looking to copy your structure, plans and business template. If you can't effectively leverage them out of your house, you can make their theft far more expensive - for them - than whatever they get is worth.”

“I like that idea,” Yukari nearly purred. “Let me put you on speaker phone and let's get this worked out,” enthused Yukari.

“Hold on,” protested the other party, “who is there with you?”

“No one who doesn't know,” Yukari assured her friend. “We're in Kinoshita's office, and it's me, Kinoshita, Akane, Kurosu, Satsuki and Motoko.”

“Akane?” the other person sounded surprised.

“She knows now,” was all Yukari said, pressing the button for speakerphone. “We're on speakerphone, Cindy,” she warned.

“Right,” the American naval officer said. “So, how about we get to it? Any idea of who they want to send to `tour' your facility?” Matsuri found the group when they didn't show for supper, and once she realized that they were worried about something, she smiled, hugged her sister, and said she would be right back. When Yukari asked where Matsuri was an hour later, the guard at the secondary gate said Matsuri had jogged past him, climbed over the fence before he could even get out of the guard hut and disappeared into the jungle. Yukari sighed, but her hunger drove her to the cafeteria; besides, it wasn't like she could catch up to her kid sister anyway.

Working with Amari in the simulator on advanced recovery procedures later that evening, Yukari was struck with how her perception of things had changed since coming to the Solomon Islands to look for her father. Strange to think that Matsuri is less than half a year younger than me, and Natsuko is actually two months older than me, but they are both `kids' to me. Maybe this is how mothers feel, she mused, watching Amari wrestle the simulator for control of the tumble. The biggest age difference between the Flight program members was between Natsuko - the oldest at eighteen now - and Amari - the youngest - was a mere fourteen months.

“What would I be doing right now if I had never come here?” mumbled Yukari.

“I didn't catch that,” Amari's voice came back immediately, making Yukari flinch. “Say again, Yukari-sempai?”

“Nothing,” Yukari said, speaking louder and clearer as her eyes flew over the screens of the control booth. Amari had managed to get complete control and was now in re-entry trim, capsule secured and ready for the heat. “Good job, Amari-chan,” she praised the other rocket girl.

“Thanks, Yukari-sempai,” Amari nearly squealed. The normal partner of Kotomi, Amari was the Akane to Kotomi's Yukari in terms of temperament and job roles. Even though Kotomi was actually better at the math and physical side of the skill sets, Amari had a knack for delicate, complicated operations in orbit much like Akane did. The IQ tests that Satsuki gave all the pilots revealed that Amari was slightly smarter than Kotomi, but the drive of the other half of their pair made her a natural for mission commander.

It was for that reason that Yukari was drilling her on piloting tasks. Not something that she usually did, the head of Flight was adamant that every girl who went up could bring herself and her partner back down no matter what happened if necessary. Every mission commander a specialist, every specialist a mission commander, I suppose, thought Yukari. Would I have been a successful professional like mom if I hadn't come down here? Probably not, she thought, a little uneasy about that realization. Her grades in school had only been adequate, after all, and she had no idea what she wanted to do aside from find her father and drag him back.

Snorting softly, she told Amari they were done for the night. Amari had pouted at first, insisting that she could do another training cycle, but when Yukari had said they were going to the cove, she had been out of the simulator capsule in a flash. Giggling softly, Yukari had powered down the simulator systems and led Amari to the cove, joining up with Akane and Matsuri, who had come back in the middle of the night, informing her sister that `everything is taken care of'. Yukari really didn't want to know what Matsuri meant by that.

Early morning found Yukari still damp from her post-exercise shower, sitting at her table naked, her towel sloppily folded under her, working on the laptop. She had had a couple of ideas the night before, and during her run and weight room cycles, she had honed and smoothed one of those ideas. She wanted to get it down while it was fresh in her mind.

“Yukari?” came a voice from outside her door.

“Come in, Akane,” called the senior pilot, hearing her door click open. Glancing at the door, she saw Matsuri's tanned form slipping through the door, her younger sister drying her hair. Walking to and from the shower naked again, thought Yukari fleetingly. Her eyes flickered over the tattoo on her sister. It doesn't look bad or anything, flickered through her mind as Matsuri used her foot to nudge the door shut. Yukari smelled the pleasant scent of Akane's preferred body wash an instant before a hand touched her shoulder.

“What is this?” asked Akane, scanning the screen of the laptop.

“Planning,” Yukari answered. Before she could explain any further, the laptop chimed, signaling an email for her. Swiftly bringing up the email, she found herself looking at a slightly-crooked snapshot of a newspaper. Seeing the cover photo, Yukari shook her head. She was just reaching for her phone when it rang. “Morita,” she said, connecting the call.

“Did I catch you at a bad time, Yukari?” asked the caller.

“Gordon, you promised me you would watch over my girls!” accused Yukari hotly.

“Oh, so you found out,” Gordon replied blandly. “I was just going to call you about that, actually. How did you find out, anyway?”

“Grr…” Yukari bared her teeth. “Believe it or not, Old Man Nasuda snapped a picture of the newspaper and emailed it to me. I just saw it two seconds before you called.”

“I knew I should have called you before breakfast,” chuckled Gordon. “But Natsuko was hungry after our run, so…”

“Damn it, Gordon!” snapped Yukari, exasperated. “Are you trying to be another Norman or something?!” accused the girl, scowling.

“You keep getting so worked up and you'll get premature wrinkles, Yukari,” Gordon suggested playfully. Yukari felt a hand squeeze her shoulder a moment before an arm slid around her waist. Matsuri grinned at her sister. Closing her eyes for a moment, Yukari exhaled.

“I suppose you tried, anyway,” she said, her tone ever-so-slightly tight. “We'll talk about this later, Gordon,” she said, starting to pull the phone away from her ear.

“Wait! If you are going to call Natsuko, I can save you the effort. She's right here,” Gordon said. Yukari's lips peeled back briefly.

“Yukari?” came her junior flight team member's voice.

“Had a little fun yesterday, did you?” purred Yukari. “You even made the front page of the paper, Natsuko! I'm so proud of you!” the venomous sarcasm dripped from her words.

“I can explain…!” began Natsuko hastily.

“Save it,” grunted Yukari. “You and your two accomplices better have your asses back on base by sunset or you're all gone. Do I make myself clear?” ordered Yukari.

“Yukari,” Akane said softly. Yukari flicked her hand, silencing her partner. Matsuri's arm tightened a little around her waist.

“No,” Natsuko cut in firmly. “If you're pissed at someone, you're just going to have to take it out on me. Leave Chinami and Kotomi out of it,” ordered Natsuko.

“Why should I?” Yukari demanded.

“Because they were under my supervision,” Natsuko came right back at her senior. “You can't blame them for my mistake, Yukari. You aren't that petty.”

“Yukari,” Gordon's voice could be heard, “look, it isn't…”

“You stay out of this, Gordon,” Yukari was having none of that. “This is company business, and you aren't an employee. Base by tonight, Natsuko.”

Yukari closed her phone, sighing. Matsuri hugged her with both arms. “Yukari, you really don't…” began Akane. She stopped, hearing a strange sound from her partner. Frowning, she leaned closer to the siblings. Is she… Akane wondered. She is!

Yukari was giggling. That giggle quickly built to a laugh. Soon, she was holding on to Matsuri to keep from falling over as she laughed nearly uncontrollably. Matsuri was holding her steady, a smile on her face. “What is going on?” wondered Akane.

“Sis is just having some fun, Akane,” Matsuri said.

“You mean…she's not really mad?” Akane asked. Yukari started to get herself under control.

“Sorry, Akane-chan,” wheezed Yukari a few minutes later. “I just wanted make sure that those three thought long and hard about their actions. No, I'm not mad; well, not with my girls, anyway. Besides, I think they learned what I sent them down there to learn - and that is all that matters,” explained her partner. “I just want them to be aware that the ground can be as dangerous as space, that's all.”

“So you aren't going to fire them?” confirmed Akane. Yukari shook her head.

“Of course not. Fire half the flight program for doing something I probably would have done in their place? I try not to be a hypocrite, you know. Besides, we need them here when the `visitors' hit.”

“What about Gordon?” asked Matsuri. Yukari gave her sister a wide, sweet smile.

“He's a different matter,” she said happily. “My girls are young and inexperienced, but he's supposed to be an adult and a professional. I'll have to punish him,” grinned Yukari.

“Welcome back, guys,” smiled the guard as three SSA astronauts climbed out of Yasukawa's cab. “How was the conference?”

“Conference was fine,” replied Natsuko, eyeing the base. “Yukari-sempai isn't lurking somewhere close by, is she?” she wondered.

“Yukari?” asked the guard rhetorically, “no, haven't seen her since I came on shift. Want me to call her?” he offered.

“No!” all three girls nearly yelled at him.

“We mean,” Natsuko explained lamely, “we would hate to drag her away from whatever she must be working on.”

“Ok, well, if you're sure,” the guard replied slowly. It was well known to the staff how Yukari felt about her crews, and more than once she had told them that they were not to hesitate even a second to call her if anything involving her crews came up - day or night.

“You think she's in the cafeteria?” Chinami murmured, shouldering her bag. Kotomi checked her watch.

“Maybe,” answered the junior-most. The three glanced at Nasuda, who was stretching his back, cigarette in his mouth. “Hey, boss,” began Natsuko.

“Not this again,” groaned the man, stooping to pick up his own suitcases. “I'm just the company president,” he reminded the three, “Yukari is your boss.” He turned away before they could see the small smile on his lips.

Just then, three cell phones chimed, the girls nearly jumping in surprise. All three looked at their screens, gulping. “Hey, boss,” Natsuko picked up first.

“You're late,” came Yukari's cold voice. “Conference room two, now!” barked the girl, ending the call. Natsuko groaned.

“She's still mad, isn't she,” stated Chinami.

“You have to ask?” Natsuko replied. Her expression changed from one of worry to a determined look. “Chinami, Kotomi, you two have no part in this. Go on to the dorm, get cleaned up and grab some supper. I'll go commit suicide for us all,” delegated the commander of the group.

“We're partners, Nat-chan,” Chinami reminded her, shouldering her own pack. “You go down, I go down.”

“I'm going, too,” Kotomi said firmly.

“You are junior-junior, Kotomi-chan,” Natsuko insisted, “nothing that happened was your fault. There is no need to take the rap for any of this.”

“I could have stopped you,” Kotomi replied. Seeing the look on the faces of her two seniors, she snickered. “Oh, yes,” insisted Kotomi, “I could have stopped you, Natsuko-sempai; Chinami-sempai, too. But I didn't.” She let that sink in a moment. “Either of you care to make a bet about whether or not Yukari will say the same thing to us?”

“That's a fool's bet, kid,” sighed Natsuko.

“We've known her longer than you have. No deal,” Chinami agreed.

“Then let's go face the music,” Kotomi said, starting for the gate. Nasuda was already half-way to the dorm as the girls turned for the administration building where an angry senior program head doubtlessly waited to chew them to pieces for what had happened the day before. Natsuko just hoped that Yukari would only punish them some and not throw them out of the program.

“That was kind of a bone-head move, now that I think about it,” Natsuko shared softly as they steadily - but surely - trudged toward the admin building.

“Yeah, it was,” agreed Chinami.

“Yes,” Kotomi concurred. “It might have an impact on our company's reputation and work, too.”

“Ugh. And Yukari made such a big deal about me being responsible for you two and representing the company to the other agencies,” sighed Natsuko. “She's gonna can me, I just know it!”

“If she does, I will quit,” promised Chinami.

“Don't,” replied Natsuko emphatically. “No matter what happens to me, you and Kotomi are not to quit. We clear on this?” she ordered.

“I don't want to quit, but if you get fired, it's at least half my fault, so it wouldn't be right to keep flying,” reasoned Chinami. “Besides, I wouldn't like flying with anyone else as much as I like flying with you.”

“If you keep letting that over-blown sense of honor make your choices for you, you will live the rest of your life bitter and resentful,” predicted Natsuko. “I wouldn't want that on me, so don't even think of playing the martyr and quitting if I get fired. You try something bone-headed like that and I will kick your ass, girl!”

“You'd try,” snickered Chinami. “Better than you have tried, dear - and failed.”

“Yeah, well, you've just never had your ass kicked by me,” countered Natsuko. “Karate club, remember?” she reminded her partner.

“Tennis club,” was Chinami's sweet reply. Before Natsuko could respond, she finished her thought. “And four big brothers - all bullies. You'd lose, Nat-chan.”

“Kendo since elementary,” Kotomi smoothly cut in. “Made San-dan two weeks before coming down here,” added Kotomi.

“Little shrimp like you?” scoffed Natsuko. “Well, I guess it might be possible, since you Kendo wimps just swing grass sticks at each other while wearing armor.”

“You want me to swing one of those `grass sticks' as you, sempai?” offered Kotomi.

“It'd be unfair to say yes,” Natsuko declined, “since I'm a Yon-dan blackbelt.”

“Big talk,” scoffed Kotomi.

“I could whip both of your butts,” announced Chinami. The other two turned to look at the former tennis player.

“How do you figure that?” wondered Natsuko.

“You two have never seen my power serve,” was the smug reply from Chinami. It took nearly ten seconds before the two suddenly understood what Chinami had meant. Both began to snicker, then chuckle, and by the time that they reached the door to the admin building, they were holding on to each other to keep from staggering as they laughed loud and hard.

Chinami slid her card through the reader, the door clicking open so the three could enter. Making their way to the conference room, the two sobered some, though they were still smiling and occasional bubbles of laughter kept escaping them. Opening the conference room door, the three stopped cold, finding themselves eye to eye with Yukari. Yukari was not smiling.

“Well, glad you three are in such high spirits,” growled Yukari. Her tone sobered them all up in a heartbeat. “Sit,” ordered Yukari gruffly, pointing to three chairs. Obediently moving to the chairs, the three noticed that the balance of the flight program was seated silently along the far side of the U-shaped table. Natsuko's eyes shifted to Chinami's and Kotomi's, seeing that they were also looking at her and each other.

Sitting as ordered, Natsuko studied Matsuri and Akane - the best indicators of what was to come. Matsuri seemed as unconcerned as always, a faint smile on her lips and a vaguely amused look in her warm eyes. Natsuko focused on Akane. As primary partner for her boss, she was closest to the senior astronaut and could read her mood better than any of the others. Not good, thought Natsuko, Akane-sempai's looking serious. This could be…unpleasant.

“What did I tell you three before you left?” Yukari interrupted their thoughts. Before they could answer, she continued. “What did I tell you, Natsuko?”

“I did exactly what you said to do, Yukari-sempai,” answered Natsuko immediately, meeting Yukari's gaze. It wasn't easy, but Natsuko did it. “I brought my team back safe, didn't I?” she challenged her boss.

“Depends on your definition of safe,” denied Yukari. “What were you thinking?!” she demanded of the team commander.

“I thought it was the right move then, and I still think it was the right thing to do,” Natsuko replied firmly. “Maybe it wasn't, but that isn't the point. Whatever you are planning to do to us, you need to do to me; the other two were following my lead.”

“If she hadn't of done it, I would have,” Chinami spoke up. “Whatever punishment Natsuko gets, I get, Yukari-sempai.”

“So you'd rather be fired with her than let her take the blame alone, Chinami?” pressed Yukari.

“If you are going to fire my sempais,” Kotomi said, looking at Amari as she said it, “then you will have to fire me, too.”

“Why you?” asked Yukari. “You were sent to observe and learn, weren't you? You did what you were told to do, didn't you?”

“I could have stopped them,” Kotomi replied, still staring at Amari. “I didn't. If they are in the wrong, then I am wrong as well. You have never shown favoritism before, Yukari-sempai, so I expect none now.”

“You'd give up space to back your sempais, Kotomi? Even after all you had to go through to get up there?” challenged Yukari. “You have to know that outside of this company, you won't be going into space, right?”

“I know,” Kotomi said quietly. She shifted her eyes to Yukari. “But that's how it is.”

“I see,” Yukari said, her tone cool. Stepping in front of Natsuko, she put a hand on her shoulder. “You did ok, Natsuko,” she said smiling a little. Natsuko blinked.

“Um…what…?” she began, confused.

“I said, you did ok,” Yukari repeated herself. “You all did,” added their boss.

“So, you aren't mad anymore?” wondered Chinami.

“I wasn't that mad to start with; not with you three, anyway,” Yukari qualified. Gordon is another matter, though, she promised herself.

“Even though we might have made the company - not to mention you - look bad?” Natsuko challenged.

“Can't help what other people think,” shrugged Yukari. “And honestly, I would probably have done the same thing myself,” admitted Yukari.

“Then, why the third degree, Yukari-sempai?” asked Kotomi. Yukari patted Kotomi's shoulder.

“I wanted to make sure that you three were aware of the results of your choices,” explained Yukari. “Also, I wanted to see if you would turn on each other or not.”

“Why would we turn on each other?” Chinami questioned, sounding vaguely insulted.

“You like flying rockets, don't you, Chinami?” asked Yukari. The junior flight crew member nodded. “What would you do if I had told you that I was going to fire two of the three of you?” pressed the head of flight program. Chinami started to speak, only to stop before speaking. “Exactly,” nodded Yukari, “but for most people, their first thought would be to turn on their friends and teammates.”

“You've drilled it into us from the very first minute we got here that we have to back our teammates or we could all die,” Kotomi thought aloud, “why would you think that we would forget all that now?”

“I didn't think you would,” Yukari answered. “But we're in a situation here that will require complete teamwork and trust in each other, and I didn't want anyone acting without thinking.”

“What situation?” Natsuko asked. Anything to get away from the previous topic was good with her. Yukari glanced at Akane and Matsuri for a moment.

“It's something related to the business side of things, but it will fall to us in flight to do the heavy lifting; just like always,” she added dryly. “We have eight days to make us look like a sprawling, poorly-integrated company with top-heavy bureaucracy saddling us,” continued the head of the flight teams. “To that ends, here is a list of the things we are going to be doing to get ready. All of this is, of course, in addition to flying our missions.”

Seeing what was on the papers they were handed, the three blinked. “What is going on, Yukari-sempai?” asked Natsuko again. “Doing things this way will make it twice as hard to get anything done, and the changes to the practice schedule alone are…!”

“Just trust me when I say this is very necessary, ok?” Yukari asked. “And starting on the seventeenth, there will be a group of visitors on base during the day. They will be here every day - and possibly at night - through the twentieth. If they ask you a question, either refer them to myself, Kinoshita or Old Man Nasuda or pretend you don't know.”

“Even if it is a question about where something is?” wondered Chinami.

“Yes,” nodded Yukari. “In fact,” added their boss, “the more air-headed you can act, the better. We're going to be eating more food and exercising more, with less time in the simulator, so be ready.”

“The simulator stuff will be very different, as well,” Akane chimed in. “It will be basic stuff you learned and mastered long ago, but during the time the guests are here, be sure to make mistakes fairly often.”

The three stared, stunned, as Yukari nodded. “Also, the things I beat out you are temporarily allowed,” Yukari expanded on the point. “You should make the best of this chance to act like prima donnas; because things are going back the way they should be once these `guests',” the other girls could hear the grimace in Yukari's voice, “leave.”

“My job on the eighteenth is still on?” Kotomi asked. Yukari nodded. “Am I to deliberately mess up there, too?” asked the girl.

“Absolutely not,” came the answer. “This is a ground show, not a work show. Matsuri and I will be handing things down here as far as that goes. You stay sharp and do it right, Kotomi.”

“Hai,” confirmed the girl, glancing at Amari.

“Ok, we're done here for now. Everyone to the cafeteria,” Yukari ordered. “We have cake waiting for us,” grinned Yukari. All the girls perked up.

“A cake? A real cake? With icing and everything?!” gushed Kotomi, excited.

“Yes, a real cake,” confirmed Yukari. We'll just run it back off in the morning, she left unsaid. “Even a can of soda for each of us, too,” she enticed - not that she needed to.

“A whole can? For each of us?” breathed Chinami reverently. Water was the vast majority of what the girls drank, with the balance being filled in by tea and an occasional fruit juice or sports drink. Some of the girls missed soda more than others, but they all were glad to have the occasional taste of the sugary drink.

“What's the occasion?” wondered Amari.

“We're celebrating Natsuko's victory in Australia,” snickered Yukari, slapping Natsuko's rear as she passed.

“Yukari, you have a call in Nasuda's office,” Kurosu said, catching Yukari by surprise. She had been running errands in preparation for the arrival of the Chinese `VIP tour group' the next day. The head of the base security had caught her as she moved from the LCF to the VAB.

“Ok,” she said, flipping a couple of papers on her clipboard. “Everything ready on your end for tomorrow?” she asked. Kurosu nodded. “Um, let me just apologize in advance for anything that we might say while they're here,” she said, gesturing an apology. “We're probably going to be pretty rude to you, but it's nothing personal.”

“I know,” he said calmly. “You do what you have to do, and we'll back you up,” he assured her. Yukari gave him a smile.

“Thanks, Kurosu-san. It makes me feel a lot better hearing you say that.” He just gave her a half-nod, a grunt and was gone. Hurrying to the Old Man's office, Yukari found him on the phone.

Nasuda gestured her to come in and close the door, which she did. “She just arrived,” he said into the receiver. “Let me put this on speaker,” he added, pressing a button and cradling the handset.

“Yukari,” came Cindy's voice, “you hearing this ok?”

“Yeah,” Yukari said, sitting in a chair in front of her boss's desk. “What's up?”

“Just wanted to tell you that some friends will be relatively close-by for a few days,” the naval officer shared obliquely. “You might see them coming or going. Just wanted you to know they are there, and they will support you if anything goes too wrong.”

“How wrong before they give us a hand?” asked Nasuda.

“Well, it's sort of a hands-off deal, so it would have to be pretty bad before they step in, but just by being there, they can help keep things calm,” replied Cindy. “Most of their attention will be on other matters, so go on as if they aren't there.”

“Right,” Yukari understood what Cindy was saying.

“Also, you will be getting a care package today. Just a little gift from me to you all at the SSA,” Cindy continued. Yukari frowned.

“What kind of care package?” wondered the girl. “Maybe it would be better to wait until after our guests have left…” she began.

“No, I wouldn't want to wait,” Cindy came back. “It's just a little something to make sure your guests don't forget anything when they head home,” hinted the American.

“How is it arriving?” Nasuda asked.

“Helicopter,” Cindy answered. “It will make it there by evening, and everything should be done and finished by bed time,” promised the girl. Yukari gave her boss a look, to which he offered only a half-shrug.

“Sounds good,” Yukari replied.

“Ok, I'll let you get back to party preparations, then,” Cindy signed off, the phone going dead. Nasuda clicked off his own phone.

“What's bothering you, Yukari?” asked the boss, fumbling for a cigarette.

“Gifts can be trouble,” sighed his head rocket girl.

“The alternative isn't any better,” Nasuda pointed out. Yukari nodded.

“I know, and I'm glad to have the help, but…!” she shook her head.

“Big fish are scary, aren't they?” suggested Nasuda, toying with his LS7-model lighter.

“Yes, they are,” agreed Yukari, standing. “Got things to do, Old Man,” she excused herself.

“Welcome to our facility,” smiled Nasuda warmly. In front of him were a rough dozen men. The group was an odd mix of men in impeccable tailored suits with easy smiles, men in cheap, ill-fitted suits with too-stiff postures and beady, cold eyes, and men who were clearly geeks from their posture to their clothes. All of them had laptops and/or briefcases. Also in the group were two women.

Both women sported business dresses and low heels. One had her hair up in a large bun at the back of her head, covered in a cloth hair cover. The other had short hair. Both wore glasses. From the security office, Yukari watched through the security camera system. “Those guys are military,” grunted Kurosu, indicating some of the guys in the cheap suits.

“You sure?” asked Yukari. “They sort of look like gangsters,” she added.

“Military,” insisted Kurosu. “You can always tell by their posture and attitude.”

“The geeks I can understand, but who are the oily real estate agents?” wondered Yukari.

“Party officials, if I had to guess. Probably assistant bureau chiefs,” guessed Kurosu. “I hate politicians,” he growled, “especially commies.”

Yukari didn't know what to say to that, so she moved on. “What do you make of the women?”

“Well, I'd guess that they have done their homework on us,” the head of security said, watching carefully. “What they want most is our pilots - you and your crews, Yukari,” he pointed out. “Probably figured that you would be more open to women than men, or something like that. Notice the age difference between them?”

“Yeah, ones about Cindy's age and the other one looks to be Nasuda's age,” Yukari noticed. She saw the one with her hair in a bun step to Nasuda's side, taking his arm in a friendly manner.

“I'll be damned,” snorted Kurosu derisively.

“What?” wondered Yukari.

“Honey trap,” answered the man. “Don't they ever come up with anything new?” he asked himself. “Anyway, you girls better be careful of that one,” he changed topics.

“That one? The one with the hair bun?” Yukari wondered. Kurosu nodded.

“She's the leader of the group you're worried about. The politicians are just along for show, but that one…watch yourself, ok?” warned the man.

“Ok,” Yukari nodded. “Should I pull all my girls back?” she wondered.

“She'd get suspicious if you did that. Just never leave her alone with any of your crews, Yukari. And for Kami's sake, don't let her get you alone anywhere either,” cautioned Kurosu. His phone rang, the man snatching it up. “Security,” he growled. A moment later, he hung up. “Trouble,” he warned Yukari, standing.

“What's wrong?” asked the girl.

“They're pushing for the two women to stay in the dorm while they're here,” Kurosu said. “Nasuda is having a hard time finding a reasonable excuse not to let them. Clever fuckers,” spat the man. Yukari found herself wondering if Kurosu had a personal issue with the Chinese. “Look, Akane rooms alone, right?” he asked her, disrupting her musing.

“Yes,” confirmed Yukari.

“Until these people are gone, bring her to your room. Don't leave any of your crews alone in a room, either,” suggested the man.

“Sure,” Yukari nodded, pulling out her cell phone. It was the work of a moment to tell Akane to grab some clothes and move to her and Matsuri's room.

“Wish that American woman was here,” Kurosu muttered, fastening his pistol belt around his waist.

“Cindy? Why?” wondered Yukari.

“You are going to need her kind of skills before this is done, Yukari,” came the somber response.

Yukari was seriously considering pulling her junior-most team off the mission and doing it herself just to get away from their `visitors'. Even so, she couldn't bring herself to do that, since she was pretty sure that her girls were even more stressed out than she was. Well, except Matsuri, of course - her sister remained perpetually upbeat and relaxed.

The two Chinese women had managed to slither into the dorms, while the rest of the Chinese party was staying on a chartered yacht that was anchored just off the main port of the small island. The prediction made by Kurosu had come true almost before he had made it. During lunch that first day, the two women had tried to split up the flight crews with friendly smiles and easy talk. Fortunately, Yukari had had a chance to warn her crews, and they might as well have been welded to each other, with all the crews sticking close.

Night time had found the two women back at it, praising the pilots' sleek, toned bodies and great skin in the shower. Once more, the flight crews had stuck to each other tightly, Yukari being as big a buffer as she could between her crews and the two women. The second day had started with an attempt to get Matsuri alone, but her kid sister had just smiled, shook her head, and run into the jungle. It was with some disappointment that Yukari saw that the two women didn't try to follow Matsuri.

It was something of a surprise to the entire flight program to find that being lazy was irritating to them. The flight program was hiding most of their exercise routine while making a big deal of eating casually, but it ground on them not to have their morning runs and weight sessions. Instead, the girls worked on their tans, bitched and moaned when Kurosu prodded them to exercise a little, made a big fuss about every little thing and acted like they were ward rats in Tokyo. During one of the brief semi-secret meetings the group had, they had found themselves eager to get back to their routine of daily physical conditioning and carefully-managed food. All of them were mystified about why, but were eager nonetheless.

Now, Yukari was leaning over her sister's shoulder as Kotomi and Amari were about to go up to do a job. As planned, the two were whining about having to work and generally being spoiled little tarts. Also as planned, Mukai and Kinoshita had made it seem like the ground controllers were doing the work, with the girls precious little more than mascots. Mukai had even come up with a way to fake some errors on the ground side control while leaving Kotomi and her partner clear to run a flawless mission.

Above and behind them, the Chinese were watching from the observation deck. The dweebs had photographed and videoed every last inch of the base they could get to from every imaginable angle while the military goons had - according to Kurosu - made a detailed and precise layout map of the facility. Nasuda had his hands full with the long-haired woman; sometimes literally. The politicians were constantly hosting dinners and drinks with the heads of the departments, which left the younger woman to work on the flight teams without interruption. Yukari did not like that, but was at a loss about how to combat it.

“Matsuri, have you or dad cursed these people yet?” she murmured to her sister.

“No,” replied Matsuri, “do you want us to?” she asked, smiling up her sister. Yukari considered that for a moment.

“Probably not until they leave,” decided Yukari. Don't want them sending another group if something happens to this one before they get what they are looking for, reasoned the girl.

“Hey, Yukari,” Matsuri said, interrupting her thoughts, “are you a lesbian?”

“What?!” sputtered Yukari, choking back the urge to scream at her sister.

“That woman was asking the others about you, wanting to know if you are a lesbian,” explained Matsuri.

“What did they tell her?” Yukari asked in a strained whisper.

“Some said yes, some said no, some said maybe, some said nothing. Why? What is a lesbian?” wondered Matsuri.

“A girl who likes girls,” replied Yukari automatically, her mind elsewhere.

“So you are, then,” nodded Matsuri to herself.

“No, I'm not!” hissed Yukari, stunned that her sister thought she was a lesbian. Don't think I am, anyway, she silently added.

“So you don't like other girls?” Matsuri frowned, trying to understand what the big fuss was about. “You like the girls in our tribe, don't you?”

“It's…!” began Yukari, only to shake her head. “Tonight, I'll explain it correctly,” promised Yukari, “but right now, we have things to take care of,” directed Yukari.

“'Kay!” chirped her sister. Yukari could almost feel the eyes of the younger Chinese woman on her. Lips thinning, she let herself lean closer to Matsuri, her younger sister glancing at her curiously as she felt Yukari's modest breasts press against her shoulder as her arm looped across the tanned skin of the native girl's shoulders. It should look like I'm all over Matsuri from the observation room, Yukari thought to herself.

Akane had been sleeping in Yukari's bed while staying in Matsuri's and her room. Yukari had found it comfortable to have Akane there, too. Matsuri had said that Akane could sleep with her if she wanted, but so far, her mission specialist had stuck to her bed. Maybe tonight I'll ask her if she doesn't want to sleep with Matsuri, Yukari mused, frowning slightly. It wasn't until she felt Matsuri giggle that she realized that she had pressed her cheek to her sister's cheek while thinking.

“This is like that time with the Tanpopo,” her sister breathed, grinning. Yukari found herself remembering the hours the two had spent, holding each other close as they waited in orbit for a rescue that never came. It worked out better that way, I think, decided Yukari.

“Except for the helmets,” she whispered to her sister.

Before Matsuri could reply, the launch began, and both were too busy to say anything more about it. Both girls were far too busy with the fake `emergencies' and making sure that the real mission was performed safety to even think of the Chinese behind them. When Kotomi and Amari dove back into the Pacific, Yukari was surprised to find that six hours had passed in the blink of an eye. If they hadn't been putting on a show, the job should only have taken three to three and a half hours.

As part of the show, the flight team had had a temper tantrum about the `emergencies', acted like little bitches, and then stormed off for ice cream and milkshakes to `calm down'. In the cafeteria, the old woman who ran the place murmured to Yukari that she had made the ice cream and shakes with soy milk, reducing the fat and calories so the girls wouldn't balloon. Yukari had given her a smile and nod, appreciating the extra work the old woman had gone through to make it look like they were pigging out while they were actually not gaining any significant weight.

Just as she had expected, the short-haired younger Chinese visitor had come to the cafeteria, all friendly and ready to commiserate the situation with the girls. Per plan, the girls had a long bitch session about every little problem - some real, but most imagined - about how the program was run. Yukari was the conductor, subtly steering the bitch-fest as the others backed up her hints.

When the management of the SSA headed out for another `dinner party', the short-haired woman stayed behind. She chatted with the flight teams and the department heads that had stayed. Yukari found that the woman was focusing on her, in particular. It sort of irritated the head of the flight program that there was little she could do about the attention without tipping her hand. The Chinese woman spoke fluent Japanese and English, so she couldn't hide behind a language barrier, and she couldn't hide in a bathroom either, since they were the same sex. If Yukari were to hide out in one of the `hidden' areas, she would be playing into the hands of the woman.

The answer hit her as she felt the woman once more caress her breast - as if by complete accident. Altering her direction, Yukari hid a smile as she headed for one of the areas the woman was unlikely to want to stay: the propellant lab, home of the mad chemist Motoko Mihara. When they had shown the Chinese around earlier, Motoko had managed to blow the place up twice. More than the unexpected detonations, Yukari was sure that Motoko's cackling glee unnerved the Chinese. Nothing like crazy to make people uncomfortable, she thought, smothering a grin. For some strange reason, she herself no longer considered Motoko strange; in fact, she was closer to comfortable around the woman than she liked to admit.

As she had hoped, the Chinese woman all over her begin to shows signs of unease as it became clear where she was heading. Yukari blew off her questions about why she was going to see the chemist, just as she blew off her suggestion that they go somewhere else - like Yukari's room in the dorm. The teenager was glad that Kurosu had made sure that the cards that the Chinese were given only worked three doors in the entire base: the main dorm door, the room of the door the women were assigned to, and the cafeteria's dining room door. No other door would open with the card, meaning that the Chinese were unable to access buildings without one of the SSA with them. Even the dining room was separated from the working area of the cafeteria by a tall, deep counter and a reader-locked door to the kitchens.

The Japanese teen had to give the younger of the Chinese women her dues: she stuck to her as she entered the secure Chemical Engineering building. She even stuck with her as she entered the lab area in the CE building. Yukari wondered if the woman's nerves would hold when she reached Motoko's private lab. As they neared the door, the hallway vibrated, the lights flickered, and a smoke alarm went off. Yukari couldn't stop a smirk from flickering across her lips as she felt the Chinese woman tremble. “Oh! I hope I didn't miss it!” gushed Yukari, grabbing the older woman's wrist and dragging her toward the door to the lab. “Motoko-san, do that again!” she yelled, fishing up her card to open the lab.

“My apologies, Yukari-chan,” the woman managed tightly, “but I think I need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, that's too bad,” Yukari sighed. “Be sure to hurry right back!” she called after the woman as she dashed for the door that would let her back out of the CE building. Yukari jerked her cell phone out of her pocket, hitting a number without looking. “Yeah, it's me. She's rabbiting. Make sure she doesn't get lost,” Yukari said, ending the call.

“Oh, Yukari-chan,” came Motoko's voice, “I thought I heard you out here.”

“How you can hear anything with that many explosions is a mystery,” Yukari sighed. “You busy right now?” she asked. Motoko adjusted her glasses - which, Yukari noticed, were cracked - before answering.

“Not really. Something wrong?” wondered Motoko. Yukari stepped into the lab, herding Motoko in front of her. With her heel, she made sure that the dented and slightly warped door closed and locked behind them.

“Just need a break from that woman,” Yukari explained, looking around.

“Oh,” Motoko replied indifferently, moving over to a white board and erasing a part of some sort of equation. Seeing her fumble for a marker, Yukari handed her one.

“What are you working on?” she wondered. It wasn't like she really cared, but she was somewhat curious.

“I think I can get another three percent per volume unit out of the cake,” Motoko said absently, jotting down a few more arcane symbols before staring thoughtfully at the board. Yukari didn't understand anything written on the board - it was apparently chemistry short-hand for some sort of chemical reaction sequence - but with nothing else to do, she looked it over. Quickly growing bored, she saw that Motoko was absently rubbing her left ring finger as she stared intently at the board.

“You were married, right, Motoko-san?” she asked the older chemist.

“What? Oh, yes, I was,” confirmed Motoko, eyes still on the board.

“Are you still…together with him?” wondered Yukari.

“He left me,” shrugged Motoko indifferently. Yukari remembered Motoko using her platinum wedding ring to ignite the first batch of what had come to be called `Super Cake' at the association.

“Do you miss him?” Yukari asked quietly.

“Him? Oh, you mean my husband,” Motoko finally turned her attention to Yukari. “Not really. Why do you ask?” she wondered.

“Sorry, I shouldn't get into your personal life,” apologized Yukari.

“I don't mind,” Motoko replied indifferently. “I think he said that he got remarried a while ago,” mused the woman, thoughtfully tapping her lip.

“You think?” Yukari wondered, unsure of how something so important could be `think'.

“He sent me a letter with some papers in it shortly after I came to work here,” Motoko explained. “I think he divorced me, but I was busy with other things, so I didn't really pay much attention.”

“Maybe why he divorced you,” muttered Yukari. Strangely enough, she completely got where Motoko was coming from on this issue. “Do you ever think about marrying again?” wondered the girl, thinking uncomfortably of how things were with her own family.

“Not really,” Motoko replied, rummaging in a drawer. Pulling out a carefully-stoppered flask, she checked the label before removing the stopper and offering it to Yukari.

“What is that?” Yukari asked suspiciously.

“Second revision of my version of the festival drink from the Tariho tribe,” answered Motoko, taking a sip herself as if to reassure Yukari that it was safe. After a moment's hesitation, Yukari took the flask and sipped. The solution tasted sharp, almost like menthol peppermint, but she found it didn't make her cough. She could feel heat spreading from her stomach outward. Motoko replaced the stopper and tucked the flask back away. “Tell me if you begin to have side-effects,” the woman asked.

“Motoko! Tell me that before you give me some!” protested Yukari. Motoko didn't seem concerned at all.

“I wouldn't mind taking a lover like Hiroko, though,” the chemist went on. Yukari twitched at the mention of her mother.

“Did everyone know but me?” she asked herself.

“Pretty much,” came the brutal answer from Motoko. Yukari sighed. “It's not that big of a deal, is it?” challenged Motoko.

“No, I guess not,” admitted Yukari, “it's just…!”

“Did you want Norman for yourself?” guessed Motoko.

“Hell no!” denied Yukari. “He'd just get in the way even more, then,” accused the girl. Motoko studied the slim girl before her thoughtfully. “Were you…happy? When you were married, I mean,” clarified the girl.

“I suppose so,” Motoko said. “I do miss the sex,” she shared candidly. Yukari felt her cheeks color some.

“Is that what you miss?” murmured Yukari, her tone introspective.

“You haven't had sex before, right?” Motoko asked, nodding to herself. “It is sort of like going up in a capsule, Yukari: you can't really understand it until you have done it.”

“Yeah, well, I'm kind of busy…” offered the girl. That sounds weak even to me! thought a part of mind.

“Are you boy-shy or a lesbian?” asked Motoko.

“What?! You, too?!” yelled Yukari, exasperated. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“You have never shown the slightest interest in men,” began Motoko, “and you are incredibly tight with your crews, too…”

“So being close with my crews and not following men around makes me a lesbian?” huffed Yukari.

“No, but you are a healthy teenage girl, and the complete lack of any interest in men indicates that you might be interested in girls instead,” reasoned Motoko. Yukari scowled. “Satsuki even had some blood samples tested, to see if there was a hormonal issue with you.”

“She did, did she?” grunted Yukari. Stupid fox woman…!

“But she said everything came back normal, so it isn't a physical issue,” Motoko went on as if nothing were wrong. “If I win, I might take a vacation,” she thought aloud.

“Win? Win what?” asked Yukari, suspicious.

“You didn't know?” blinked Motoko. Yukari bared her teeth.

“Obviously not,” she growled. “What would you win?”

“Win? Did I say win?” Motoko asked. Yukari was having none of that.

“That won't work on me, Motoko,” warned the girl. “Spill it!” she commanded harshly.

“Spill what?” Motoko asked innocently. Yukari drew breath to push the issue, but her cell phone rang. Grabbing it, she scanned the text message.

“Shit,” she muttered, spinning on her heel. “We'll continue this conversation later, Motoko,” warned the girl. Right now, I have to go pry that bitch off my flight crews!

Yukari made her way to the administration building, the short-haired Chinese woman close to her side. Just a few more hours, Yukari told herself, forcing her irritation to remain hidden. The politicos had already said their farewells, and even now, Yasukawa was ferrying the soldiers and geeks to the docks, where they were boarding their chartered yacht. The evening before, the two women had more or less strong-armed the flight teams into going to Chang's for supper.

When she had arrived at the restaurant, she found that the Chinese delegation had reserved the entire restaurant for the evening. Looking out into the bay, she saw that the yacht had been moved deeper into the harbor, a huge Chinese flag flying off the radio mast. Chang - as always - had been very circumspect, Han Li serving the SSA first, then the others. Half-way through the evening, Yukari had excused herself to the bathroom. Han Li had slipped away long enough to apologize. The younger girl had waved it off, saying that business was business, after all. Smiling and bowing, Han Li had returned to serving the others. In the bathroom, Yukari had used her cell phone to check that Kurosu was close by. Her guard was in an armored vehicle a block away. He had assured her that if necessary, he had their backs.

As much as the Chinese tried to push the girls to drink, they all steadfastly stuck to tea, soda and water. Yukari had also reminded her girls that the face that the Chinese presented were not their real faces; and to act accordingly. The girls all ate only what Han Li served them, and when they went to the bathroom, they did so in pairs, the others keeping an eye on the `guests'. As soon as they could, they had begged off, claiming to be tired. Yasukawa had arrived just in time to take the pilots back as a group before ferrying the Chinese women back to the base.

Now, it was the last day, and Yukari couldn't wait to get the interlopers out of her hair. Reaching the admin office, she swiped her card, opening the door for the short-haired woman. Moving toward Nasuda's office, Yukari wondered why the women were making such a fuss about telling everyone thanks and good bye. Reaching the door to her boss's office, Yukari knocked. “Old man, got a minute?” she called out, turning the knob.

The door opened, Yukari stepping inside. As she looked at the desk, the teenager froze. A soft giggle preceded arms circling her waist from behind. “We're not interrupting anything, are we?” asked the younger Chinese woman, nudging Yukari into the room and closing the door with a shove of her foot. Yukari's eye twitched, her hands rising to pry the arms from around her waist. She felt the older woman catch both her wrists in her hands, holding them still even as she pressed herself against Yukari's back.

In front of her, the older woman was naked, her business suit carelessly tossed to the floor. She was leaning back against Nasuda's desk, bracing herself with her elbows, as Yukari's boss thrust into her. Yukari could see the woman had her legs wrapped around Nasuda's hips. Soft cries of passion in Chinese filled the room; along with a thick, heavy scent of sex. Nasuda glanced at her, but his attention seemed to be on the Chinese woman he was fucking on his desk.

“You're busy, so I'll come back later,” Yukari said, her tone almost bored. It wasn't the first time that she had seen the woman plying what she was sure was her first profession. In fact, this was the third time. Of course, some petting and a little oral are one thing - this is something entirely else! thought Yukari, her hackles up.

“Why come later?” breathed the younger Chinese woman, “I'd be glad to help you come right now,” she suggested. A hand slid up Yukari's tight, toned belly. “You've been so nice to us while we were here, please let me show you my gratitude,” cooed the woman. Yukari's neck muscles twitched. Tensing her arm muscles, she stopped the woman's hand just short of her breasts.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Yukari declined firmly. Even as she stopped the younger Chinese from groping her breasts, she felt her other hand slip down, sliding under her small shorts with professional skill. Biting back a curse, she twisted her own hand, catching the woman's wrist with her hand, stopping her as the Chinese woman's fingertips touched her pubic arch.

“Don't you like me?” asked the woman, her tone artfully innocent and sad.

“Not like that,” Yukari said, pulling on the woman's wrists. She wasn't that surprised to find that the woman was stronger than she looked.

“You'll love it - promise!” enticed the younger of the two Chinese women. “Just ask your boss how good it is,” she suggested, her hands pressing toward Yukari's breasts and crotch. Yukari had to bite her lip to keep from screaming at the woman. That's probably what they want; for me to lose my cool or break character, a part of her warned. Even so, her temper was rising like an LS7B at lift-off. “I can be very appreciative, Yukari,” murmured the woman in her ear before gently biting her earlobe. Yukari's entire body jerked.

A shriek from the older woman announced that she had either had an orgasm or faked one. Nasuda grunted, face red and sweaty as he held her hips tightly. Yukari was feeling a very odd mix of anger and curiosity. So, is that what it looks like? part of her wondered. Soft purring sounds came from the older Chinese woman as Nasuda staggered back, landing in his high-back chair.

“Isao-kun, that was fantastic,” breathed the woman, languidly standing. “Pity we can't stay longer,” suggested the woman in a husky, bedroom voice. Nasuda was panting, fumbling for a cigarette. Helpfully, the older woman - still naked - shook one free of the pack, lit it, took a drag and then offered it to him. Yukari's attention was broken when she felt cool hands on her breasts. Blinking away her preoccupation, she discovered that while her attention had wandered, the younger of the two women had slipped her top up, her hand cupping and massaging the compact breasts even as thumb and forefinger teased a hard nipple.

“Hey,” protested Yukari, reaching for her bikini top.

“You will love it,” murmured the woman before she sucked on Yukari's neck, right where it met her shoulder. “Just relax and enjoy yourself,” suggested the woman. Yukari couldn't say it didn't feel good, but at the same time, it didn't feel like anything she wanted to feel - especially right then. Trying to get her top back down, she was a moment too late realizing that the woman had unbuttoned and unzipped her shorts and pushed them and her panties down.

“Stop that,” Yukari muttered, grabbing the woman's wrist.

“Is it because your boss is watching?” asked the older woman, leaning against Nasuda, arm over his shoulders. Yukari's eyes narrowed slightly. So that's where they're going, thought Yukari, her control on her temper slipping.

“No,” she pronounced firmly, squeezing the wrist of the woman molesting her as hard as she could, hearing the woman gasp tightly. Pulling her hand away from her bare sex, Yukari seized the other wrist, clamping down hard on that, too, before pulling it off her breast. “It's because I don't swing that way,” warned Yukari, stepping away before pulling her panties and shorts back up and her top back down.

Before either woman could say anything, there was a knock on the door to the office. “Taxi is here, sir,” came Kurosu's hard, deep voice. “Do either…” he paused two full seconds before continuing, “…lady need assistance reaching the taxi, sir?”

“They will out in a moment,” Nasuda called back. The older woman studied him for a moment before swiftly slipping back into her business clothes. Yukari noticed that she hadn't been wearing any underwear. Glancing at the younger woman, she found that the demeanor of the woman had changed.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Nasuda,” the older woman said, smiling at her boss. “Perhaps we could visit again?” she suggested.

“Perhaps,” he declined a direct answer. Turning for the door, the older woman locked gazes with Yukari for a long moment before exiting the room, the younger woman opening the door for her. Once they had been gone for a good two minutes, Nasuda sighed, stubbing out his cigarette. Silently, Yukari slumped into a chair, trembling. “You ok, Yukari?” Nasuda asked, scrubbing his face with his hands.

“I don't know,” Yukari admitted, staring at her hands as they trembled.

“I didn't expect them to be so aggressive,” Nasuda explained. Yukari snorted derisively.

“But you didn't seem to mind it,” she shot back, clenching her fists hard for a moment. When she relaxed her hands, they had stopped shaking. The head of flight sucked in slow, deep breaths.

“Um, if it makes you feel any better…” began her boss, sounding actually uncomfortable for the first time Yukari could recall, “I didn't see much.”

“Stop right there,” Yukari held up her hand. “Do me a favor, Old Man. Never say anything about what just happened ever again, ok?”

Slowly, Nasuda nodded. “Sure, Yukari,” he agreed. “I'd rather not think about it, either,” he added. Yukari frowned.

“Something wrong with how I look?” she almost accused him before she realized what she was saying. “No, never mind. I don't want to know.” The two were silent for a long ten minutes, just staring at each other uncomfortably. Finally, Nasuda broke the silence.

“Yukari,” he said slowly, “if you find you need to talk to someone about…things,” he sidestepped, “Satsuki or Motoko will listen; and they can keep secrets, too, if need be.” Yukari snorted.

“Thanks for the thought, Old Man, but I'd talk to Mom or Matsuri before I talked to either of those two,” she managed a weak grin. Even my flight teams before those two! A thought occurred to her. Maybe I should say something to Cindy? Maybe this is one of those things that we talked about, and she could make use of the information? “And Old Man? No matter what, my teams never hear about this from you. Clear?”

“Very,” he nodded emphatically. “Same for me?” he asked. Yukari laughed weakly.

“Sure,” she agreed. “At least,” she smiled sweetly, “until I need something from you.”

Yukari sighed happily as the warm waters of the cove embraced her. Close to her were the rest of the flight program members, enjoying an evening dip in their cove. With their `visitors' gone, they could get back to their routine; and they were all eager to do so. Yukari found herself thinking of the incident in Nasuda's office, but she wasn't any surer of what she should do next in that regard. I guess, for the moment, I'll just let it be, she decided.

“What's on your mind, sis?” came Matsuri's voice, along with arms wrapping around her waist. For a moment, she slipped under the surface of the water, but Yukari just relaxed, and a moment later, she broke the surface, alongside her sister, the two floating on their backs near the coral break-water, arms around each other's waists.

“Just glad to have them gone,” Yukari said softly, turning her head to see where the two were as well as checking on her crews. “They made me uncomfortable,” she admitted to her kid sister.

“Well, I cursed them as soon as they left,” Matsuri said, “since Daddy was sleeping,” added Matsuri calmly. “You should curse them, too, though, since you are more favored by night spirits than me, and your curse would be more powerful than mine during the night,” explained the Tariho princess.

“What do I know about cursing someone?” Yukari asked rhetorically. “And what is this `night spirit' stuff?”

“There are day spirits and night spirits,” began Matsuri. “Day spirits are more common, and do things related to day - like make plants grow or wither, tides rise or fall suddenly, and things like that - while night spirits are much fewer but more powerful. They do things like cause insects to devour a village, or make storms appear out of season, or hide the sun during the day so it turns to night. Most of our tribe can talk with day spirits, but you are stronger with night spirits, sis.”

“Matsuri,” sighed Yukari, “none of those things have anything to do with day or night,” she began. Matsuri just smiled at her under the bright stars and moon. “…never mind,” Yukari abandoned the attempt to explain to her sister that science didn't accept the notion of spirits for natural phenomenon as pointless and a waste of time. And it's not like I don't believe spirits exist after what I have seen here, she silently allowed.

“Since night spirits especially like you, cursing them would have much greater effect than any curse Daddy or I could cast,” Matsuri went on happily. “You should curse them, sis!”

“I don't know how to curse someone,” declined Yukari, “and anyway, how do you know night spirits are fonder of me than day spirits?”

“That night with the orchids,” Matsuri said softly, a dripping-wet hand touching Yukari's cheek, “the spirits told me that most of the spirits speaking to you were night spirits. Besides, your dreams while sleeping were all night spirit dreams,” explained her sister.

“Night spirits, hmm?” mused Yukari, gently squeezing Matsuri's strong waist. “What spirits do you and dad speak with?” she wondered.

“Day spirits like me most, and daddy can talk to either, though he gets along best with day spirits. Maybe Momma Hiroko has night spirit affinity, too, and you get your strength with the night spirits from her?” suggested Matsuri.

“Um, maybe, I guess,” Yukari replied vaguely. What am I supposed to say to that? I don't know if that is a compliment, an insult or just a suggestion. “So, if I did want to curse them, how would I do that?” she asked. A soft giggle from Matsuri was her only warning before her sister shifted them from floating on their back to treading water. Face to face with her tanned little sister, Yukari found that the light of the stars and moon reflected from Matsuri's eyes, making them seem to glow. She also realized that Matsuri had foregone a swimsuit once more.

“So you will curse them, then?” asked her sister.

“I didn't say that exactly…” began Yukari.

“You should,” repeated Matsuri. “It isn't hard, and they deserve it,” reasoned the native girl.

“Maybe, but I just wanted to know what casting a curse involves,” Yukari said. Matsuri gave her a long look.

“Follow me, sis,” she directed, ducking forward and under water. Yukari blinked before giving chase. The two easily swam through the gap in the coral breakwater and into the Pacific before turning and moving past the finger of the cove to the boulders where the two had cheated on their diets, back in the early days of the SSA. Pulling herself easily up on the rocks, Matsuri helped Yukari onto the rocks. “Now,” directed Matsuri, “close your eyes, and picture the enemies you want to curse.”

That part was not hard to do at all. Even before her sister had finished telling her what to do, Yukari was picturing the two women in Nasuda's office. Her attention focused mostly on the long-haired one, though the short-haired one shared her ire. Recalling what they had done, Yukari scowled.

“Wow, sis! You are really powerful with the night spirits!” marveled Matsuri. Blinking, Yukari opened her eyes, seeing her sister pointing to the rain forest farther inland. Not seeing anything amiss, she gave her sister a questioning look. “The bats, sis,” explained Matsuri. “Usually, they aren't on this side of the island, but when you closed your eyes and spoke with the spirits, they came pouring around the hill.” Seeing that Yukari still wasn't following her, she explained a bit more. “Bats eat insects. Usually, the insects are on the leeward side of the forest, but when the night spirits stirred because of your curse, the insects obeyed them, gathering on the windward side. The bats just followed the insects.”

“If you say so,” shrugged Yukari. “Is that all there is to this curse thing?” she returned to the topic at hand.

“Almost, but you need to tell the night spirits what you want done to the enemy,” Matsuri said. Before Yukari could ask, she continued. “Focus on them, and let your feelings direct the night spirits.” Giving her sister a glance, Yukari closed her eyes again, finding that it was easy to focus her anger on the two women. She pictured plenty of things that she would like to have happen to the two. “Just be careful not to over-do it, since the night spirits are so strong. You could accidentally kill them with a strong enough curse,” cautioned Matsuri. Yukari blinked. She had been starting to picture some very bad things.

“Warn me sooner, sis!” she protested. Matsuri gave her the usual brilliant, warm smile.

“Gomen,” she shrugged. “As strong as you are with the spirits, even a mild curse could prove dangerous to them. I hope they didn't make you mad, sis.” Yukari considered that.

“What…if they did?” breathed Yukari. Her younger sister gave her a long look.

“Then it's too bad for them,” she said, hugging Yukari close. “My tribe comes first, and my sisters before my tribe,” she breathed in Yukari's ear. Yukari hugged her sister back.

“Thanks, Matsuri,” she mumbled against her sister's shoulder. Knowing that makes me feel a lot better. After a moment, she eased back, giving her sister a smile. “We should swim back,” she said. Matsuri grinned at her.

“'Kay!” she chirped, diving into an incoming wave like a sea otter. Yukari dove right in after her, feeling a lot better about everything. Side by side, the two swam back into the cove, finding that their teams had begun to look for them. Rounding up her girls, she led them back the dorm - they had a morning run and weight pile session early in the morning.

Yukari yawned behind her hand as she stepped out of her room, Matsuri close behind her. Before she could even reach Akane's room, the door opened and her Mission Specialist stepped out, still settling her bikini top. Seeing Yukari, Akane gave her and her sister a nod. Even as Akane greeted her partner and their reserve pilot, the door to Chinami's and Natsuko's room opened, the junior flight team emerging, Natsuko tying the waist drawstring of her running shorts as Chinami wiggled into a jog top, her own running shorts tied in a neat bow.

“Morning,” Yukari greeted the two.

“Morning,” they replied, closing the door, running shoes in hand. As the five turned toward the door to the stairs that would take them to the dorm lobby, Kotomi and Amari exited their room, Amari gathering her hair behind her head, rubber band in her mouth as Kotomi tugged on her spandex short-shorts.

Minutes later, the flight team was standing in the pre-dawn light by the main gate's guard shack, stretching for their morning run. As usual, Yukari led the warm-up stretches, the group talking casually, though - also as usual - their voices were kept low. Nodding to the guard in the hut, Yukari set off, her teams close behind her; though Matsuri loped along easily beside her. Yukari privately suspected that Matsuri found the morning runs to be slow, given how fast Matsuri could move through more difficult terrain than their route. Even so, Matsuri remained with the group, always smiling.

It had been a week since the Chinese had left, and the girls were comfortably back in their routine. There was a lull in jobs, though, so the girls were almost impatient for work to pick up. With extra time on their hands, the flight program had been addressing some projects that needed doing for a while. Yukari and Akane had finished the first draft of the flight manual for the new capsule, and now Natsuko and Chinami were debugging it in preparation for the second draft. When they were done, Kotomi and Amari would try to break the manual procedures in special-circumstances simulations. After all three teams had signed off on it, the final draft of the first-release manual for the capsule would be prepared, printed, filed and published - just in case.

Also on the table - once more - was the issue of the SSA's website. Yukari had not had time to move past the initial offering that Ibari-kun had done, but now she wanted to fix some small issues with the page, as well as adding some material. To that ends, she had a `web pages for dummies' book on her desk and her laptop was charging. Akane had been asked to work with Kinoshita, Satsuki and Motoko about a request for the capsule program to assist a university in a biology experiment. It was another case of them taking up a small tank of fish, though this time, the fish had been chipped. Since Akane was the biology buff, she was tapped to help the SSA determine if they could actually meet the experiment parameters, as well as advising about the costs of any special changes to a flight mission profile.

Yukari had worked up a cross-training schedule for Kotomi and Amari, where they would spend a few hours a day working with Matsuri, learning how to do the administration end of a Ground Control Liaison position. Also on the table for Yukari and the rest of the flight program was an initiative from the Old Man. After some talks with `interested parties' - one of them being NASA - it had been decided that the girls needed to finish their high school courses at a minimum, with a great deal of prodding about college-level work as well. So, they were all looking at on-line courses. Nearly all of the flight team had been seniors in high school, so the decision had been made to have them finish up remedial courses in the college block to gain their high school diplomas.

As it had worked out, the flight teams found that they would be getting credits in courses from several universities. Mostly, the universities were in Japan and the US, but there were course offerings from schools in England, Germany, India and Australia. When she had braced Nasuda about the costs of getting course credits from these schools, he had explained that the schools had agreed to provide on-line courses to the girls for free. Not nearly as naïve as she had once been, Yukari had swiftly determined what the Old Man had done.

Their courses were `free' - with the understanding that the universities would be allowed to affiliate the pilots with their schools. Nothing like a little self-interest to motivate an educational institution, Yukari had thought cynically. Also, there was the matter of the SSA giving such universities as offered free accredited courses to the pilots online discounted service for school-related work. Like biological experiments in zero G on fish, for example. So far, Yukari and her team had course offerings from Tokyo University, Keio University, Kyoto University, Yale, Harvard and MIT to name a few. It had not escaped Yukari's notice that even though the girls had free university courses totaling nearly three hundred hours, she didn't see a single degree program fully built in all the courses. Talking to her mother one night, she had mentioned this. Hiroko had asked her what degree she wanted, which had stumped Yukari.

The things was, her mother had gone on calmly, even if the girls didn't get a course degree, the schooling was free, so why not take any and all courses that they had any interest in. If, at a later date, they needed or wanted a degree, most of the basic and intermediary courses would be done, leaving only the advanced degree program courses to take. It turned out that her mother had done much the same thing, having five semesters worth of non-degree-related credits under her belt. Looking at it in that light, Yukari had begun to see the possibilities.

Matsuri was a special case. Nasuda had told her that since she had zero formal schooling, she might not find anything useful in the online courses, and furthermore, none of the schooling would affect her life on the island or her standing in the tribe. Matsuri had summarily dismissed that suggestion, saying that she would take whatever classes her tribe took - meaning the flight program girls. What she might learn from them was a matter of debate, but she was welcomed by the other girls. Yukari hadn't liked the look on Nasuda's face, and stayed behind to remind him that Matsuri was her sister and she would look out for her family.

Nasuda had calmed her down, insisting that he wasn't up to anything; and certainly not anything that might endanger such an integral part of the company's flight program. Yukari had not believed him, of course. Under pressure from her, he had explained that some of the universities were interested in Matsuri from a sociological standpoint. At Yukari's dark scowl, he had hastily elaborated that they were interested to see how a girl from a remote tribe used online education in light of the differences between her social structure and the modern social structure. They wouldn't do anything to disrupt the company, only monitor when Matsuri was `in class' as it were and her grades, relative to Yukari's own.

Though not happy, Yukari could sort of see the point, if not the gain for the schools. Either way, though, there wasn't much reason to fight it out with the Old Man, so she had let it go - with the understanding that she was on to his games and in a choice between him and Matsuri, there was no choice. He had assured her that Matsuri was important to him as well.

Yukari was thinking this as she led the group toward the guard hut on their first lap of five. With her mind busy, she was caught off guard by a voice calling out to her. “Is this a private gym or can anyone join?” Blinking, Yukari spotted a figure by the guard hut. It took her a moment to recognize Cindy Morgan.

“Cindy,” puffed Yukari, “what are you doing here? Didn't you go back to fleet?”

“I'm on fleet duty, yes,” confirmed the American, falling into pace with the Japanese teen. “Detached duty, actually, but my papers say Seventh Fleet. As for why I am here, well, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd visit my friends in the SSA. Is that ok?” she asked.

“Sure,” Yukari puffed, maintaining her pace. “How long are you here for?”

“Couple of days or so,” shrugged Cindy. “How's work?”

“We have a break in missions right now, but we're still busy,” Yukari replied. Cindy hummed.

“One of the things I am doing here is hand-delivering a folder to your boss,” said the woman circumspectly. “You think you could handle some jobs of a sensitive nature for the American Navy?” she asked, smiling slightly.

“Depends,” Yukari replied, smiling back, “can you afford the best or not?”

“No way,” stated Yukari flatly, “I refuse!”

“Be reasonable, Yukari-chan,” sighed Nasuda.

“This isn't some variety show, Old Man!” retorted Yukari. “I don't care how popular an idol she is, this job is dangerous, we're trying to make money, and the last thing we need is a pampered idol messing everything up! No way!”

“Don't be that way, Yukari,” Kinoshita took his turn. “This is part of doing business, you know. We need to keep our names in circulation in the corporate circles to keep getting business.”

“I know that, but having some idol do a show from space is just stupid!” argued Yukari. “You said that we needed to keep our names in circulation, but I don't think that it will help to have the world associating us with some campy idol publicity stunt! We are still not receiving the professional respect we are due from any agency except NASA as astronauts, and you want to do this?! Where are your brains, Old Man?! Being a laughing stock or seeing as a gimmick company is going to hurt business, not help it!”

“More so than Natsuko-chan's little stunt in Australia?” suggested Satsuki. Natsuko blushed. Yukari slapped the table.

“Leave her out of this, Fox Woman!” Yukari cut in. “One has nothing to do with the other, and Natsuko didn't do anything wrong. Stick to the issue at hand.”

“Yukari,” Nasuda stepped in for his second round, “we have two prototype capsules ready for final testing, but no budget to test them. If we do this, we can have the client cover the costs of sending one up for testing. Isn't that what you want?” he asked. Her drive and backbone can be as big a pain in the ass as it is a lifesaver, he thought ruefully.

“You think I'd risk taking up a prototype capsule with some…idol along? Are you insane? One single mistake and we're all breathing vacuum. Have you considered what having this idol die on live TV would do for our reputation and standing? Especially if she dies from her own stupid mistakes?” countered Yukari. “My teams are too valuable to waste their lives on idiot idols!”

Kinoshita noticed that every last flight program member except Matsuri blushed at Yukari's declaration. Yukari didn't even notice, her attention focused on the department heads to the exclusion of nearly everything else. I don't know if it is good or bad, but Yukari's flight teams are just that: Yukari's flight teams. They follow her, not us, he realized. “Would it help to know that her manager has offered to send her here to train prior to the event?” he asked aloud.

“What do you mean, here to train?” asked a suspicious Yukari.

“She means, you can train her before you go up,” Satsuki took her second shot. “Just like you trained your crews,” added the doctor.

“She's not as good as my crews,” Yukari replied immediately. “Can she do the math? Is she in shape? What about her mental toughness? Has any of this been considered? And how long would I have to train her? Would it get us in trouble if she's crippled or dies during training? Is any of this clicking with you all? This is a bad idea,” insisted the head of flight.

“Actually, she should be in good shape,” Satsuki replied, opening a file. “Just last month, she ran a marathon in Kobe, where she came in fifty seventh in a field of more than two hundred. Before that, she competed in a triathlon and placed twelfth in a field of seventy one. I would, of course, give her a flight program physical before anything more is considered, but I suspect that she would be in adequate physical condition.”

“Math?” grunted Yukari, unwilling to let it go.

“She has successfully completed an astronautics fundamentals course,” Kinoshita replied, shuffling papers.

“Like anyone offers such a thing!” scoffed Yukari derisively. Silently, Kinoshita passed her a piece of heavy paper. Looking at it, Yukari found that she was looking at official JAXA letterhead, stating that the applicant had passed the math section test with a score of ninety two percent. Flipping the page, she saw the original exam sheets attached. Scanning the sheets, Yukari grimaced. “So she can use the formulas, big deal. Mass? Physical dimensions?”

“Mass is fifty point five kilograms, height is one hundred sixty eight centimeters,” Satsuki filled in. “Within tolerances of even a LS5B rocket and a Mangosteen orbiter,” added the doctor.

“With the LS7A lifting, mass is not a problem. If we use the new three-seat capsule, we can even do a job and get paid twice for a single launch,” he enthused.

“Forget it! EVA is a risk even with professional crews. To do that with an idol in the way is asking for trouble! Besides, this would be a live TV show, right? Do you want to give the Chinese free tips?” she reminded the group.

“If there isn't something more than a shot out the hatch window of the stars, no one will watch, and we won't get the fat incentive bonus,” countered Nasuda. “This is not just about us, you know - selling space to the world body is just as important to the rest of the agencies as it is to us.”

“If so, why not send her to the ISS instead? Kami knows they're a tourist trap anyway,” grunted the girl sourly. Nasuda hid a smile at how long Yukari could hold a grudge for a slight to her professional skill. “And wouldn't sending this woman up on a shuttle be better, anyway? She wouldn't need to have a custom suit made, and the shuttle airlocks to the ISS while we EVA from the capsule. Hand this off to NASA, Old Man,” directed Yukari firmly. “In fact,” grinned Yukari in a disturbing way, “When you do, tell NASA that I personally recommend Gordon for the job of supervising the idol. Yes, the SSA officially recommends Gordon Swiftbird to head up this farce.”

“What did Gordon do to piss you off?” wondered Mukai. Yukari leered at him, her eyes hooded.

“Why, not a thing, Mukai-kun,” she replied innocently - before chuckling darkly.

“NASA is not in a position to accept your recommendation, unfortunately,” Nasuda cut in. “They have a backlog of critical military payloads to lift and their timetable doesn't allow for any non-critical missions. Also, there is the fact that the Shuttle is boring to most of the world now. Our capsules - even though the technology is nearly forty years old - is new and exciting and has opened new horizons in space. So, we're the logical ones to capitalize on this chance.”

Yukari sat back in her chair, a frown on her face. “I still don't like it,” she complained. “Are you all really sure that you want to risk proprietary technology just for some publicity?”

“What do you mean, Yukari?” Nasuda wondered.

“Her spacesuit,” explained Yukari. “The compounding and construction of our suits is still confidential, isn't it? Giving her one is asking for trouble,” reasoned Yukari.

“Actually,” Motoko spoke up for the first time since the topic had come up, “I have a different compound base to make her suit. It is more of a one-time suit instead of a reuse suit like your suits. If someone does manage to get it, and analyze it, and replicate it, it won't be the same as your suits. In fact, it will be very much inferior to your suits.”

“I like what you are saying, but doing that is a risk in a different way. What if her suit fails in vacuum?” pointed out Yukari.

“Then she dies,” shrugged Motoko. “Or you save her, either way,” added the woman, seeing frowns on the faces of the department heads at her comment.

“Um, why do you have a different compounding material ready, Motoko-sempai?” wondered Akane.

“I came up with it during the development of the suits you wear,” explained Motoko. “Until recently, there wasn't any use for it, but…” she trailed off. Yukari spotted Nasuda looking at his chemist.

“All right, Old Man,” snarled Yukari angrily, “come clean and tell us what you did this time!” demanded the girl, shooting to her feet.

“I didn't do anything,” protested Nasuda. When the entire flight team snorted, he sighed. “Why does no one believe me?” he asked himself. Before Yukari could start listing the reasons, he moved on quickly. “Actually, this was your idea, Yukari-chan,” he said, stalling out the girl.

“My idea? What is that supposed to mean?” his flight program head wondered.

“You had Mukai develop the double-door prototype for rescue work, didn't you?” Nasuda asked. “Have you thought that maybe a different approach to the same idea would be even more economical and practical?”

“Such as?” asked Yukari, her interest piqued.

“Imagine that a problem occurs on the ISS,” began Kinoshita, “an oxygen fire in a link compartment. Two astronauts are trapped without space suits in a cargo pod on the far side of the fire. The fire will explode an O2 tank if the compartment is not jettisoned. But jettisoning a compartment will expose the two to hard vacuum. What would be a way to save the astronauts in the few moments they would have?” he challenged the group.

“Emergency encapsulation units,” murmured Akane. Seeing the looks from some of her junior flight sisters, she elaborated. “A rescue box or ball. It is stored in compressed form, but when triggered, will enclose and seal around an astronaut, giving them a few minutes to a few hours of life in vacuum. It has always been an idea, but until our suits, it just wouldn't work due to material shortcomings,” explained the girl.

“Exactly,” nodded Nasuda. “We're working with NASA on such a design for the ISS and Shuttle. It would be small enough to be stowed in every major capsule without using up more than minimal room, and could hold two to three astronauts for up to three hours, giving the station a chance to save them or for us to emergency-launch and rescue the ball or box. To that ends, we have been working with the alternate formula of the suit compound.”

“And you need a `live test' as it were,” Yukari stated. She knew how his mind worked.

“Yes,” he admitted casually. “We could always test it ourselves, but…”

“You just try that,” warned Yukari. After a moment of silence, she spoke up again. “How long would I have to train this idol - if I agree to this stupid plan,” stipulated Yukari.

“A maximum of five weeks,” Kinoshita replied.

“Not enough time,” Yukari shook her head.

“Um, Yukari?” Akane spoke up, looking at her partner, “we would only need to train her on what not to do, right? If we trained her to never touch anything without direct orders from the mission commander, and concentrated on practical EVA issues and G tolerance, couldn't we make it in five weeks?”

“You're in favor of this ridiculous idea, Akane-chan?” blinked Yukari.

“Well, there is something to be said for getting the testing costs of the new orbiters covered by someone else, and…!” began Akane. Yukari waved her hand.

“Ok, ok,” she said. Glancing at the rest of her crewmembers, she addressed them directly. “Anyone else have anything to add - one way or the other?” Seeing their looks, she sighed.

“I'll at least think about it,” she said to Nasuda. “Give me her file,” she added, Nasuda sliding the folder to her.

“Yukari,” came Cindy's voice. Turning, Yukari saw Cindy just entering the cafeteria. The naval officer was going to be departing the next morning for wherever, but Yukari was glad to have her around. “Got some news you might find interesting,” Cindy baited her.

“Tell me at the table,” Yukari said, picking up her tray. Cindy greeted the serving lady, taking a loaded tray to the table the girls usually sat at. Settling next to Yukari, she saw that all the girls' trays put together would barely be as much food as her tray held. Dismissing that, she shared with Yukari the news she had gotten.

“You might find it interesting to know that I have learned that those visitors you had last month had some bad luck on their way back home,” she said. While she didn't mind sharing with Yukari, she didn't necessarily want the rest of the SSA to hear her sharing. Matsuri giggled even as she spread mayonnaise over her salad.

“You don't say,” Yukari replied, her lips curling a little. “How…unfortunate for them.”

“Oddest thing, too,” Cindy continued. “Their yacht developed motor problems between islands. Apparently, there was a hole in the hull because when the motor went down, the bilge filled up with water and the ship sank in a matter of minutes. They were picked up by some good Samaritans and made it to Guadalcanal, but when they were taxing for takeoff, their plane's engines burst into flames - the whole jet burned on the runway before firefighters could put it out. Two of them were hospitalized with smoke inhalation.”

“Such bad luck,” Yukari murmured, smiling.

“The rest of them flew out on a commercial carrier without incident, but the two women were in the hospital when the valve on a nitrous oxide tank failed. They almost died laughing before the problem was found. Half the wing was giggling for hours,” Cindy shook her head. “They were released yesterday, and bought tickets to fly home on a national carrier, but the plane had a hydraulic problem and turned back. One of the women went to the bathroom, and somehow got stung by a swarm of wasps that had somehow gotten into the bathroom. She swelled up like a balloon, and for a while, they thought they would have to ship her back to the hospital, but she refused that and the other one helped her onto the replacement flight to China.”

“Wasps? In a bathroom in an airport?” wondered Chinami, giving Yukari and Matsuri - both grinning madly - a speculative look.

“On the flight to China, the plane hit a freak weather cell and lost two engines, being forced to return to Brisbane. When they landed, the airline decided to switch the passengers to another jet. When the two passed through the second security gate, the sniffer hit on the bags of the two. Security questioned them and they couldn't find their passports. The two called the Chinese embassy in Australia, and were released after several hours, but had missed their flight. They were given new seats on the next departing flight,” Cindy paused to sip her fruit juice.

“I hope nothing bad happened to them,” snickered Yukari, eyes slitted.

“Well, they were entering Chinese airspace and for some reason, the instruments of the airliner malfunctioned at some point, with the plane being off the international flight path. Two Chinese fighters intercepted it and nearly shot it down before the Chinese government jerked their chains and made them heel. When they landed, a tire blew out and the jet liner belly-skid into the taxi-way median, scattering debris all over the two major runways. The airport was shut down for hours while they frantically cleaned everything up.”

“How terrible,” grunted Yukari. She glanced at Matsuri. “I could get to like this,” she murmured. Matsuri smiled back.

“So you did curse them!” Kotomi exclaimed, looking at Matsuri. The native girl shook her head.

“Not me,” denied the girl.

“Either way,” cut in Yukari, “they got what they deserved.” Cindy studied her young friend for a long moment.

“Remind me not to get you angry,” the American asked. Not that curses are real, or anything, but a string of bad luck like that after what I've seen here…I think it's safer to be friends with these girls.

“Yukari Morita-san, right? I'm Maggie Hiraoka,” said the woman, bowing a little as she held out her hand. Automatically taking the offered hand, Yukari looked the idol over. She was taller than Yukari by a significant amount. Her hair was a dirty blonde color, tied back in twin pigtails. Yukari's eyes slid over the idol's body critically. “I hope you will take care of me,” added the woman, patiently waiting for Yukari to finish her visual inspection of her.

The idol had arrived with her manager, publicist and a two-man film crew just as Natsuko and Chinami had roared into the heavens on a support job for the Russian space program, working on repairing a hatch problem on the MIR, which had been re-tasked as a storage and spare parts parking area as the ISS came on line. Yukari had been talking with Mukai in the VAB when the call for her to go to the main gate.

“That was a spectacular launch just a bit ago,” Maggie said, “are we going up in that, too?”

“No,” said Yukari absently, sunglasses covering her eyes. The tropical sun hammered down like Amaterasu's wrath, though Yukari no longer noticed it. The idol was dressed in a tube top and capris, sandals on her feel. In her off hand, a wide-brimmed straw hat slowly fanned the hat's owner. “That was a LS5A with a Mangosteen-class on it. If,” she paused, looking up into the woman's eyes to make sure she had her attention, “if you go up, it will be on a LS7B with a Carambola-type capsule.”

“I'm sure that you'll make sure she makes it up,” the idol's manager cut in. “I'm Fusonago, her manager. Pleased to meet you,” he rattled off. “Now, I'd like to get some footage of…”

“Making it or not making it is up to your client,” Yukari cut in, locking gazes with the idol once more. “If you can't satisfy me that you won't put my crews at risk, you're not going in any capsule. We clear on this?” she said.

“I thought we had already discussed this,” began her manager once more, sounding petulant.

“Can't help what you think,” Yukari cut him off. “I'm head of Flight, and if Maggie can't cut it, she's gone. Period. This is the same for everyone who has ever wanted to go up in our ships. We don't play favorites here at the SSA.”

“That wasn't the agreement…!” began the manager once more. Yukari turned her sunglasses on him.

“Not my problem,” she repeated. “Kurosu-san will show you to Old Man Nasuda's office - take it up with him. Maggie, we're going to get you started on your physical right now. Follow me,” said the girl, moving toward medical.

“Just a minute, Morita!” demanded the manager, starting after Yukari. Kurosu blocked his way, hands folded across his wide, deep chest.

“This way, sir,” he nearly growled, using an arm to half-indicate, half push the man toward the administration building. Yukari didn't look to see if Maggie was following her or not. Honestly, she just didn't care if the idol was following her or not. As she swiped her card through the reader, she heard Maggie stop just behind her.

“So,” said the woman, following her new boss into the medical building, “is it the show you don't like, or is it personal?” asked the woman calmly.

“What makes you think that?” Yukari asked, briskly moving through the hall, nodding and waving to people she knew as she passed them. She grimaced slightly as she saw several of them gape at Maggie in adoration. Is she really that popular? wondered Yukari. “Satsuki! The idol is here for prelim physical!” called out Yukari, reaching for the door to Satsuki's office. A hand reached past her shoulder, grabbing her hand and holding it in place, the door still latched.

“I have a name, Yukari,” the idol replied. “I may play a ditzy, bubbly girl on TV, but I should tell you that you and I share some character traits. So, if this is something personal, say it to my face.”

Yukari turned to face the woman, her sunglasses pushed up on her head, revealing her eyes to the idol. “I don't know you, Maggie,” Yukari said, “I don't watch TV lately, and had never heard of you before Old Man dumped this on me, so it isn't personal. But,” she leaned closer to Maggie, “you will not endanger any of my crews. As long as you understand that, we'll be fine.”

Maggie stared at Yukari for a long moment before nodding. “I think we understand each other, Yukari,” the woman said, releasing her grip on Yukari's hand.

“Please excuse Yukari-chan,” came Satsuki's voice as the door opened, “her people skills are not what we hired her for,” said the doctor. Yukari snorted.

“Look who's talking,” she grunted.

“I'm Satsuki Asahikawa, head of the medical program. Please, come with me,” smiled Satsuki. Yukari felt herself smirking slightly. Maggie smiled back.

“I'm pleased to meet you, Satsuki-san,” chirped the idol. Yukari started to turn to leave, but Satsuki's hand dropped on her shoulder.

“Since you are here, Yukari-chan,” the Fox Woman purred, “we might as well give you a check-up as well.”

“I'm not due for another physical for two weeks,” protested Yukari. “Besides, I'm busy…!”

“Akane is taking care of that detail for you, along with Matsuri, so get in here!” ordered Satsuki, her voice soft, but dripping in the promise of sadistic torture if Yukari didn't obey her.

“Whatever,” sighed Yukari, entering the room, Satsuki closing the door behind her. Satsuki was flipping through some pages on a clipboard, her attention on Maggie.

“I received your doctor's latest physical report, Maggie. You are in excellent shape,” she praised the idol. “It won't long to fill in the spots on the Flight physical examination…”

“No shortcuts,” Yukari cut in firmly. “By the book, Satsuki,” warned Yukari.

“Very well,” the doctor smiled benignly. Yukari wanted to smack her. “Get undressed, please - both of you,” directed Satsuki. Yukari swiftly stripped, Maggie doing the same. Seeing Satsuki set out a familiar tray, Yukari silently shook her head.

“What's wrong, Yukari?” wondered Maggie, before spotting the tray. Blinking, she looked at Satsuki, then Yukari, then back to Satsuki before her eyes returned to the tray.

“Radiation issues,” Yukari grunted. “Hope you were told about the risks before you signed on,” she added.

“You mean possible sterility?” replied Maggie steadily. “Yes, that was mentioned,” she confirmed.

“Cancer, too,” Yukari went on, checking her phone. Maggie froze for just a second.

“Yukari,” scolded Satsuki, “you'll scare her if you keep talking like that.”

“No, she won't,” Maggie disagreed firmly. “And yes, they did say something about that,” added the idol.

“While I have the time,” Yukari changed topics, “I'll go ahead and orient you to your daily schedule for the next however long.”

“H…Hi, I'm Akane Miura, mission specialist and partner of Yukari Morita,” Akane nearly stammered.

“I'm glad to meet you, Akane-chan,” smiled Maggie. “I hear that you and Yukari attended school together before coming to the SSA. Is that correct?” asked the woman. Akane's eyes kept shifting toward the camera the man standing to the side of the two had focused on them. “Forget he's there, Akane-chan,” murmured Maggie, giving the somewhat shy girl a reassuring smile.

“Yes, we were both attending Nerisu Girls' High school before coming to the SSA,” confirmed Akane.

“Were you two friends while you were there?” Maggie asked.

“No, Yukari-sempai was in another class and had her own friends while we were there. We became friends after she joined the SSA,” clarified Akane, feeling less nervous talking about her sempai and partner.

“So you weren't classmates,” Maggie mused. “How did you end up coming to work with her at the SSA?”

“When she landed at the school, it just sort of sealed the decision for me,” shrugged Akane. Behind her, leaning against the wall, Yukari found herself smiling a little, recalling that time. The group was in the small common lounge area of the dorm, doing some interviews that Nasuda had told Yukari were part of the agreement.

“Was it what you expected? The SSA, I mean,” Maggie flowed forward with the interview.

“No, not at all,” Akane admitted candidly. “Training was horrible! I thought I would die before I could go into space, but Yukari and Matsuri helped me through it.”

“That's a load of crap, Akane-chan,” snorted Yukari, grinning. “You made it through on your own - never think otherwise.”

“Training is easier now, I take it?” Maggie eased back in.

“Well, I guess,” Akane shrugged. “I don't mind any more, at least. I used to not be very athletic and a little sickly, but not anymore.”

“You do have a nice healthy tan now,” smiled the idol, making Akane blush. Yukari's eyes narrowed slightly. Just you wait, Maggie, she promised herself. Tomorrow, you will find out what hell really means! “So, how was going into space? Was it everything you thought it would be?”

“Yes!” gushed Akane excitedly. “It was so much more than I had ever thought it would be, and being up there with Yukari was so incredible! The sun rising over the Earth is just…you can't describe what it looks like. When we were working on the Orpheus, there was this glow as the sun came up that seemed to race along the edge of Earth, before shooting across the curve of the atmosphere…!”

“Sounds awesome,” Maggie said, seeing that Akane was no longer focused on the interview. “Are you going to be completing your education?”

“Yes, I am,” Akane said, remembering that she was being interviewed. “All of us are taking courses to complete our education between missions,” she explained.

“Courses?” Maggie wondered.

Akane nodded. “I am taking courses from Tokyo University and Kyoto University right now. Yukari is taking a course from Keio University and another from Tokyo University. We're going to be starting a course together from Harvard next month,” she added, reviewing her classes. “The others are doing similar things, too.”

“Really? Amazing! You all got into such high-raking universities - that's just really surprising!” Maggie enthused.

“Why do you say that?” Yukari asked, her tone guarded and clipped. “Figured we were just a bunch of poster girls or something?” Yukari suggested. “Akane-chan was the valedictorian of her class until she came here. Both Natsuko and Chinami were Deans' List at Jindai High. Kotomi was on a full-ride scholarship to her school, while Amari was top scorer in her admission test and a straight A student at her high school.”

Maggie looked at Yukari for a moment. “And what about you?” she asked sweetly. To her surprise, Yukari chuckled.

“Me? Nah, nothing of the sort - just a middle-rank scorer in academics at Nerisu, average PE scores and nothing to distinguish me,” came her indifferent reply. “You better move on to the others; it's getting late and your day starts at five thirty tomorrow morning,” she suggested, offering the idol a thin smile.

“Very well,” Maggie said, Akane standing to make room for the next girl - who happened to be Natsuko - before bowing and moving to Yukari's side.

“Please introduce yourself,” Maggie said, smiling a professional smile. Natsuko grinned at her.

“Natsuko Orimi,” the girl said. “Junior Mission Commander, partnered with Chinami-chan. Hi!”

“Natsuko Orimi,” Maggie nodded to herself. “You were a student at Jindai High?”

“Yeah, me and Chinami were both at Jindai together, although - like Yukari and Akane - we were not friends or classmates. I was 2-B, while Chinami was 2-E.”

“What were you planning to be after Jindai?” Maggie asked. Natsuko offered her a lazy grin.

“Rich,” snickered the junior mission commander. Maggie laughed easily.

“So, have you made that dream a reality?” the idol asked. Natsuko shrugged.

“No, but it doesn't bother me,” she said, a strange sort of smile on her face.

“It doesn't?” challenged Maggie. Natsuko shook her head.

“Not at all,” the girl denied.

“Why is that?”

“Because the job is so interesting,” grinned the girl.

Yukari raised her hand to knock on the door to the room Maggie was staying in, but the door opened before she could, and Maggie emerged, dressed in running shorts and a jog top, her hair gathered in a high ponytail. “Am I late?” Maggie asked, seeing the flight program girls in the hallway, which was still lit dimly by the small night lights.

“Right on time,” Yukari said, leading the group to the stairs. “Every morning, we do our laps then weight room training. You will have a half-hour centrifuge period before breakfast, too, as well as the normal G-training we all take to maintain our tolerance. Satsuki has given me your work-out cycles. Each third day, you are back in med so she can see if you are responding to the training cycles or if there needs to be adjustments.”

“Ok,” Maggie agreed. Yukari glanced at her.

“Satsuki will also be checking to see if you are injured, as well. If you get hurt, tell me immediately. Clear?” she ordered.

“You'll be the first to know,” Maggie confirmed easily. Together, the group exited the dorm, the stars starting to fade over head.

“We are all going to be helping get you ready, so if any of my girls gives you a task, you should treat it like I was telling you to,” Yukari continued. “We're going to be giving you a mix of training, so your schedule will be sort of flexible. You will have to fit in this show stuff in between everything else.”

“Nothing new there,” Maggie's tone was unconcerned. As they were reaching the guard shack, Yukari heard someone jogging after them. Turning, she saw the two camera men assigned to Maggie hurrying after the group.

“What is that about?” Yukari asked, pointing.

“They're supposed to film me as I train,” shrugged Maggie.

“We're going to be on TV like this?” Chinami asked. “I should have put on a little makeup,” she murmured.

“It would just run and make you look like an emo freak,” Yukari grunted. The two men stopped next to Maggie, breathing hard.

“Maggie-chan, you should have waited for us!” protested on. Yukari's lips twitched.

“I can't spare the time to do your jobs, boys,” Maggie said, “I'm going to have my hands full with my own training. Sorry, but you are on your own this time,” she finished, beginning to stretch as the other girls did the same. “You planning on running with us?” Maggie asked. “I think you should think that over again,” she suggested.

Yukari and her crew were eyeing the two men, noting the soft bellies and shortness of breath. Maggie herself was much closer to Yukari and her girls in body tone than she was to them; or even to the women of the SSA. Guess that she got in shape for that marathon, Yukari mused, finishing up her stretching.

“We'll be fine,” the men said, one checking a camera, the other a sound system. Stepping over to Maggie, he swiftly clipped a cordless mic to her jog top. “Let's just get you wired up,” he said, checking something on his small audio deck. “Who do you want mic'd? Morita and Miura?” he asked Maggie, pulling two more mics from the bag over his shoulder.

“Yukari obviously,” mused Maggie, “but let's mic Aoisuwa and Uratori this morning,” decided the idol. “We haven't gotten to know much about them yet,” smiled Maggie.

“Right,” the man said, turning toward Yukari and reaching for her bikini top, mic in hand.

“Hey! Keep your hands to yourself!” snapped Yukari, stepping back and covering her chest with her hands.

“I'll do it,” Maggie said, plucking the mic from the soundman, swiftly attaching the mic head to Yukari's top, much like her own was attached, clipping the small repeater box to Yukari's shorts. “You should know not to do that with girls,” she said aside to her crewman.

“Whatever,” he shrugged. “I'm used to working with professionals,” he muttered. Maggie flinched ever so slightly. She could feel the ice on Yukari's shoulder at that comment.

“You'd have a much easier time here if you kept your mouth shut, Ichi-kun,” Maggie tightly stated. The man blinked.

“Oh! I mean professional TV personalities, of course!” he backtracked. Maggie wanted to smack him, but she saw that Hondo-kun was filming already. I think I understand what happened to Naru-chan that time, she reflected. Making sure that Yukari was ready, she could tell that the head of the flight program was no warmer than she had been before the back-track. “Most of the teen stars in my line of work are less shy,” Ichi-kun went on.

“Ok, that's about enough chatter,” Maggie giggled playfully, shooting her sound man a look just outside of camera angle. Ichi blinked at the look in the idol's eye. “Check the link to Yukari-chan's mic, will you?”

“Right,” he said, checking his equipment as Maggie swiftly wired up Kotomi and Amari. She had barely finished before Yukari tossed her head.

“We're wasting time,” was all the senior astronaut said, nearly sprinting off. Maggie swiftly caught up, settling on Yukari's other side, she and Matsuri bracketing the leader. Behind the three, the rest of the flight program fell into their normal positions, matching pace with their obviously-pissed boss. Behind the group, the two men struggled to keep up.

By the time the group hit the half-way point in their first lap, the two men were gone, having stopped about a third of a way into the lap, hyperventilating and looking like they wanted to puke. Yukari held the pace. Beside her, Matsuri and Maggie paced her perfectly, neither one seeming to be having problems. Behind the three, the rest of flight were steady - even Akane, who had never found the exercise necessarily easy.

When the group entered the cafeteria, Maggie was wondering if she could make it through training after all. Yukari had sat in on her first centrifuge training cycle, and when Satsuki tried to go easy on her, the girl had jumped on the doctor about it. Giving in to Yukari's argument, Satsuki had treated Maggie like she was a member of the SSA and not an idol. Maggie had lost consciousness three times in thirty minutes. What she didn't know was that Yukari was grudgingly surprised by the fact that Maggie took seven Gs before blacking out on her very first time in the centrifuge.

“Oh, Maggie-chan!” greeted the cafeteria head, seeing the idol dragging along behind the flight teams, “here's your food.” Maggie found herself looking at a tray with much less than she was used to eating for breakfast, but much more than the girls had on their plates. To her best guest, she had twice the food and probably twice the calories, as well.

“I'll eat what the rest of flight eats,” Maggie said politely.

“Don't be stupid,” Yukari cut in. “You are going to need that, and it's less than you are used to eating. Eat it.”

Maggie considered arguing the point, but decided that doing so would only anger Yukari more than the careless remarks of her crew. It wasn't her first time breaking into a close-held group, to say the least, but she had never liked being the `goat' or FNG. Consequently, she had to remind herself that she and Yukari had some common personality quirks - and unfortunately, they were the bad quirks.

At the table, the group settled down to eat. For nearly five painful minutes, no one said anything. During the run, Maggie had managed to do a little Q&A with the junior-most flight crew. Neither Kotomi nor Amari had been particularly verbose. Maggie wondered if it was unconscious reaction to Yukari's mood or if the girls were keeping their distance from her for another reason.

“Why do you want to go into space, Maggie-san?” Amari asked unexpectedly. The idol blinked.

“Why?” she echoed, “probably for the same reason you all wanted to.”

“Unlike us, though,” Chinami joined in, “you have a career already.”

“A career is just that: a career,” Maggie waved her fork in the air for emphasis. “It is just a way to make a living, not an end in itself. Besides, space is big leagues, right?”

She saw Yukari start to open her mouth, but the head of the program closed it before speaking, as if she had thought better of what she was going to say. Almost, Maggie sighed to herself. From the door to the eating area, a voice called out. “Maggie, where have you been?”

Fusonago hurried to the idol. Seeing her eating with the flight crews, he frowned. “What have you been doing this early in the morning?” he asked her.

“Running, pumping iron, and passing out in a centrifuge,” Maggie ticked off on her fingers. “After I eat, I'm going to get worked over on capsule safety by some of the girls, and - if I'm lucky - get to see the crews actually simulate a full mission.”

“What?! You can't risk getting hurt, Maggie! And why are they sticking you in a centrifuge? That wasn't the agreement!” he huffed. “We only agreed to you going up in a capsule, not to this! Our insurance won't cover a major injury or accident, either. Morita, you better make sure nothing happens to Maggie, or…!”

“Or what?” snarled Yukari, a furious glare hitting the man full-force. “I told you from the very start, it is sink or swim - no hand-outs. You don't like it? There's the door - use it!” growled Yukari, hands fisted. The man stared at the teenage girl.

“This was obviously a mistake,” he said. “We're out of here, Maggie,” he ordered.

“Have a good trip,” she calmly replied, continuing to eat her breakfast. “I'm staying,” she added, making the man freeze.

“You are not staying,” he replied. Maggie didn't seem to hear him. “Maggie Hiraoka, we are leaving! Now!” he ordered her. Maggie didn't even look at him. “We have a contract,” he said once it dawned on him that Maggie wasn't listening to him.

“Actually,” Maggie disagreed, “you have a contract with my publicist, not with me. You see, I don't have a written contract with him, either. I let him take care of things for me, since he makes a lot of money for me, but that isn't the same as some desperate young thing just starting out and needing a written contract to protect her scrawny ass. The only one who orders me around is me!” finished Maggie.

“Look, girl,” the manager huffed, “I let you do that marathon because it had a good audience result; same with that that other sporting venue. But this space thing is marginal at best. If you aren't careful, you won't be able to get any jobs in this business.”

Maggie shrugged. “Guess I'll just have to risk it,” she replied, sipping her water.

“Is there a problem?” came a gruff voice from behind the manager. Yukari spotted Kurosu standing behind the man, a stern look on his face.

“No, not yet, Kurosu-san,” Yukari said, giving him a small smile.

“Be sure to let me know if you need anything,” he replied. “By the way, I want you to meet some people after you finish eating.”

“Huh?” Yukari wondered.

“Just come to the main guard hut when you finish eating,” he gave her a small twist of the lips that was his version of a smile.

“Ok,” Yukari nodded, making a mental note. “Just me or should the others come, too?” she thought to ask.

“You at least, but the others can come if they want,” the head of security said, sitting a table or two away from the girls, his tray loaded with a large steak and a mountain of rice. Yukari peeked at the manager out of the corner of her eye. He looks like he's either going to cry or snap, she thought. She was glad that Kurosu was close by; he and his Government made her feel a lot better.

It was about then that the two crewmen came into the cafeteria, looking somewhat the worse for wear. The two had missed the entire run, and hadn't shown up in the weight room or centrifuge, so Yukari had forgotten about them. “There you are, Maggie,” called out the one Maggie had called Ichi-kun. “Where did you go?” he asked her, stepping to the serving line.

“Running, of course,” Maggie replied mildly. “You two already knew that, since you collapsed before we even made it half-way through the first lap,” she needled the two.

“Yeah, well, we have to carry some heavy equipment,” came back Hondo-kun, the cameraman.

“Speaking of that,” Yukari cut in smoothly, finishing off her food and reaching for her tea, “there isn't room for a cameraman in the capsule. You know that, right?”

“I know,” Maggie nodded. “We'll be using a small hand-held unit and a mini-cam in the capsule.”

“There isn't room for a mini-cam in the capsule without interfering with switch access,” Yukari replied, setting her empty tea cup on her tray. She watched as the other girls swiftly finished off their own meals; not that there was much to their meals. Maggie glanced at Yukari.

“We need some sort of footage or this has just been an interesting day-trip,” she pointed out. The teenager glanced at her then turned her eyes to her flight teams. They were watching in silence. “We'll talk to Mukai about that if you make it through your second week,” decided the girl, stepping toward the tray return station. “You have five minutes to hit the bathroom before Natsuko and Chinami start you on capsule rules,” the program head added, pulling out her cell phone and glancing at it as she moved out the door. “Meet them in front of the simulator building in seven minutes.”

Leaving the idol to her own devices, Yukari moved toward the guard shack, wondering who was there to meet her. As she approached the shack, she found that her entire group was with her. “What do you think about her?” she asked the group.

“We can make this work,” Natsuko grinned.

“I thought she would be in a bit worse shape, really,” Chinami admitted.

“If we stay on her, it will be fine,” Akane contributed. When she didn't hear anything from Kotomi and Amari, Yukari turned to make eye contact with them.

“Well?” she prompted the two. “Don't be shy - speak up!”

“It's just that we're junior-junior,” Kotomi said, Amari nodding. Yukari shook her head.

“No, you are professionals, and though you are junior-junior in seniority, you are just as entitled to speak your mind as Akane, Chinami and Natsuko. Never feel that you can't say what you are thinking just because you are the newest flight team,” Yukari said firmly. “We're all a team, after all.”

“Ok,” Kotomi and Amari said in unison.

“If Maggie keeps her focus, I think we can have her ready sooner than we thought,” Kotomi said. “Once we see how she handles the capsule simulator and if she can follow directions, I'll know more, but she seems ok.”

“If she is only going as a passenger, and listens to us, it should be fine,” Amari nodded. “I wouldn't want to fly with her without several months of training, but…” she shrugged.

“It's ok, sis,” Matsuri grinned. “The spirits don't mind her.”

“Well, that settles it, then,” Yukari smiled indulgently at her kid sister. Looking at the guard post, she saw three men standing outside the guard shack. As the flight program approached the hut, the guard on duty there stepped out.

“Yukari-san, everyone,” he greeted them politely, “these are new recruits in the security department. They will begin pulling shifts by the end of the week, to help us out with that issue you brought up,” the guard spoke circumspectly.

“Hi,” Yukari gave the three a small bow.

“Morita-san,” the closest of the three greeted her. “It is an honor to meet you in person.” Yukari felt herself try to blush.

“I'm flattered, but hardly worth such praise,” she denied.

“Not at all,” the man disagreed. “You and the other astronauts are world-wide celebrities, you know.”

“We're just co-workers,” Yukari shook her head. “We are all SSA employees, right? So, what did you all do before joining the company?” she asked.

“I was in the JSDF,” the man who had started the conversation spoke up, “I served with Kurosu-san during his last hitch, and when it came time to re-enlist, he offered me a better deal, and here I am.”

“Hope he warned you about the drawbacks,” Yukari shook her head slightly, smiling a little.

“No worse than the army,” the man shrugged. “And besides, the location is good, the pay is better, and I can tell women I work with the astronauts of the SSA.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Natsuko grinned.

“And you two? Military as well?” she wondered, eyeing the two.

“Former assistant inspector, Tokyo Metro Police, Boryokudan division task force leader,” the man said, bowing.

“Wow,” Breathed Amari. “Why did you come to the SSA?” she wondered. She had always thought of the anti-Yakuza task force officers as hard-boiled samurai-types, so to find one suddenly working security at a base in the Solomon Islands was puzzling to the girl.

“Your head of security - Kurosu-san - made a good case for retiring from the police and coming down here,” the retired officer replied casually. “Besides, there were some problems with my staying in the Metro.”

“Problems?” wondered Natsuko. “Like what?”

“Nothing serious, really,” he demurred. “Just getting too well-known to work the Boryokudan task force, and I had already worked narcotics, auto-theft and vice, so if I had stayed, it would be the Academy, a desk or back to traffic - and I saw no point in doing any of those. So, I came south where there is something new to do,” the man smiled.

“I hope we don't bore you too quickly,” Akane offered.

“So, a soldier and a cop,” Yukari nodded to herself. “What did you do, if you don't mind me asking?” she inquired of the last man. He glanced at the others.

“Respectfully, Morita-san, I believe that to be irrelevant to the performance of my duties here,” he side-stepped the question. Yukari raised an eyebrow slightly.

“True,” she allowed. “I won't push my nose into your business, but I will say that teamwork and trust is life here,” she said, her phone chirping. Pulling it out, she glanced at the screen. “It was nice to meet you all,” she bowed briefly to the group. “Please excuse us - we have things to do.”

“Of course. It was a pleasure meeting you ladies,” the former cop bowed in response. As the flight team departed, Kurosu approached the three.

“I see you met the entire team,” he grunted.

“They are certainly as…diverse as you claimed,” grinned the retired army man.

“You haven't seen anything yet,” the head of security snorted. “You saw the tanned native girl - Matsuri - right?” he asked. Three nods. “Even more so than Yukari-san, never piss her off,” warned the security chief.

“Why not?” wondered the ex-cop. She didn't seem that dangerous, and I can spot danger in any form!

“Matsuri and her father have some sort of power or ability that causes problems for those they don't like,” the senior security man explained. “I don't believe in curses, but whatever those two do, it does the job.”

“Interesting,” murmured the cop thoughtfully.

“Morita-san seems to be quite the leader,” the third man noted. Kurosu gave him a steady look.

“Yukari is the flight program. And your job, first and last, is to protect her and her pilots. Usually by securing this base, but sometimes by other means,” warned his new boss. “We didn't hire you all for your names; your skills are what we are paying top yen for, and I expect to see you using those skills to support the company and those girls. We clear?”

“Clear enough,” nodded the former cop. Kurosu nodded.

“Good,” he grunted, “now let's continue your orientation.”

“This doesn't look like your suits,” Maggie noted, eyeing herself critically in the mirror. Beside her, Yukari and Akane were suited up, the three ready to board their capsule once Maggie was squared away. Four weeks had flashed past, and now, it was time to see if Maggie could ace finals or not. On launch pad 1, a gleaming LS7B waited, topped with the prototype three-seat capsule.

“It's not,” shrugged Yukari. “Your suit is a different type, designed for a single use, while our suits are re-useable types,” the girl answered, she and Akane critically checking over the suit, Chinami and Natsuko assisting. “Looks solid,” she approved a few minutes later. “Any complaints, Maggie?” she asked.

“No, not really,” the idol replied.

“Not really?” challenged Yukari. “If there is any problem, now is the time to speak up,” warned the girl.

“Well, the catheter feels a little strange,” admitted Maggie. “It doesn't hurt or anything, but it feels strange.”

“Better than wearing diapers,” offered Chinami, smiling. She and the other SSA girls had long since become comfortable with the catheters to the point of not even feeling them. Maggie was still new to them, however. Also, she had never shaved herself totally bare before, adding a little more to the strangeness of the feeling of wearing a spacesuit.

“You'll get used to them,” Akane offered. “And even then, it will only be a few hours, right?”

“I'll be fine,” Maggie dismissed the topic. “Are we really going to dock with the ISS?” she asked.

“Well, you will get a tour, anyway,” grinned Yukari. Hearing the intercom ask if they were ready, she tossed her head. “Let's go,” directed the head astronaut. Leading her two crewwomen, she headed to the launch pad.

When they reached the capsule, Maggie was helped in first, taking the `passenger seat' to the rear left of the pilot station. Kotomi and Amari strapped her in and locked her down, making sure that everything was secured, stowed, locked, set and ready. With Maggie secure, Akane wiggled into the specialist seat, securing herself with the help of Kotomi and Amari. After the two had exited the capsule, Yukari slipped into the pilot seat, securing herself. Giving Amari and Kotomi a thumbs-up, she watched the two secure the hatch, confirming dog lock on her side and circuit checking the seal. Beginning their pre-flight, she waited for confirmation that the two had cleared the tower.

When Matsuri informed her that everyone was clear and they were ready, Yukari confirmed, telling her two to make sure their helmets were locked - just in case. After receiving confirmation, she told her sister to start the countdown, touching the dark face of her spirit charm as the countdown started. She knew that Akane's own spirit charm was clipped to the arm control panel. Seconds later, the engine lit and gravity slammed down on them as the rocket rose toward the heavens.

“Wee!” screamed Maggie, her voice a bit strained from the acceleration. “Awesome!”

“Yeah, it's pretty cool, isn't it?” Yukari asked, eyes busy. “Jettisoning emergency rocket,” she noted, tapping a button switch. A faint bang! was heard in the capsule. “Q max plus twelve,” she noted.

“Vacuum,” Akane answered, “all green.”

“Solomon, we are Q max plus fifteen, in vacuum and all systems green,” radioed Yukari.

“I hear you,” Matsuri replied calmly. “All systems here show good launch,” added her kid sister.

“Yukari, this is engineering,” Mukai came on, the radio, “the data logger shows an anomaly in secondary vibration damper. Can you confirm?”

Yukari grunted as she carefully twisted her body slightly to get a look at a sub-panel. After a careful look, she relaxed back into her seat. “Panel shows yellow, but holding on secondary,” she reported. Her hand grasped the stick carefully, her other hand shifting to touch the aluminum of her seat frame. “Vibrations are slightly higher than in a Mangosteen, but she's got more mass, so I think it's ok. The vibrations are not increasing or changing frequency, either.”

“Ok, got it. Keep an eye on it through mission time if you can,” Mukai replied.

“Sure, not a problem,” Yukari replied drolly. A jolt came through the orbiter. “We have main engine separation,” she reported. Akane tripped two switches on her secondary panel.

“OMS system engaged, main nozzle extruded,” she reported. “Ready for maneuvering.”

“Roger,” Yukari confirmed, eyes sweeping her instrumentation. “Track looks steady, we can catch translation in two,” she shared with her partner.

“Wow,” came a soft whisper from Maggie. Their `passenger' was looking out the smallish window in the right-hand hatch, where the blue Earth slowly rolled beneath the orbiter, curing away into seeming infinity. “It's so different from up here,” the idol breathed.

“Yes, it is,” Akane nodded. “It's not something that you can ever tell someone about; it has to be experienced.”

“Now I know why you girls do what you do with such ardor,” Maggie replied, carefully working her camera into position to film. “Um, how long are we going to orbit?” she asked Yukari.

“Translate in two,” Yukari replied in shorthand by force of habit.

“Two minutes?” Maggie asked.

“Two orbits,” corrected Yukari. “We're stable, but on a curving shift-orbit, and after two orbits, it will be a nearly straight shot to the orbit the ISS is in right now.” Checking her display, her chart and her watch, she added “You have about eleven minutes to film this before we begin our rendezvous with the ISS.”

“Ok,” Maggie said, shooting out the window with her camera. A couple of minutes later, she spoke again. “That's Japan, right?” she asked. Yukari glanced out the window.

“Yes,” confirmed the senior mission commander. “We're crossing Honshu now, almost west-east between Kyoto and Tokyo. You can probably see your apartment building from here,” she added, snickering slightly.

“Doubtlessly,” Maggie rejoined cleanly. Night was falling on the eastern seaboard of the US as they flew nearly two hundred kilometers overhead, cutting through the lower third of the country. “Ever been to New York City?” Maggie asked, still filming.

“No,” Yukari replied, “but we attended a convention in Washington, D.C. a while back.”

“You should visit New York City if you get a chance,” Maggie recommended sagely. “It is a unique experience.”

“I take it you have been to New York City?” Akane asked the idol. Maggie nodded.

“Twice,” she said. “It is the most unique city I have ever seen.”

“Give me space any day,” murmured Yukari. Maggie pursed her lips, but said nothing. I think I might be leaning toward her views, the idol thought briefly. “Translation coming up,” Yukari warned Akane.

“Hai,” confirmed the girl, “we are in position and ready.”

“Brace yourself,” Yukari suggested to Maggie, “we're going to kick this can a little.” Fingers danced over the control stick, and a moment later, the capsule jerked as the main nozzle fired for their translation. “Bringing her over, Akane,” Yukari said to her partner.

“I'm ready when you are,” Akane replied, working her panel. Maggie saw the Earth roll away from the window, stars taking its place in a deep, endless field. “We are four hundred kilometers away, closing from above at delta point six,” Akane sang out, her tone almost bored.

“I'm going to try for a delta point two elliptical zero,” Yukari replied. Akane sucked in an excited breath.

“Really?” she breathed.

“You ok with that?” grinned Yukari.

“Sure!” the girl nearly giggled.

“Good, because I want you to double me on everything,” Yukari directed. Akane snatched up the small work pad tucked tight to the side of her seat, plucked her pen from her suit pouch and began to jot down numbers even as she pulled up the calculator and started punching keys, looking up frequently to check the numbers on her display.

“We're looking good, Yukari,” she said, still busy with her work. Maggie watched in silence as the two demonstrated why they were the top flight team in the SSA. They didn't need to tell each other what to do; they didn't even need to use more than scattered words or numbers. These two are nearly telepathic with each other up here, Maggie thought, carefully filming the cramped scene she was watching. It would be far from perfect, but it could be fixed in editing.

“ISS close-hold beacon,” Yukari replied. Turning a knob on a panel near her left arm, she raised the station on the radio. “ISS, this is Carambola on approach, do you copy?”

“Roger that, Carambola,” came back a voice over the radio. “We have you fifty one klicks and closing, over.”

“Where should we park, ISS, over?” Yukari radioed back.

“Forward hatch two, just below the secondary array,” came back the answer. “Do you think you can make the latch?”

“Want to make a small wager?” snickered Yukari, caressing the stick once more.

“Don't do it! It's a sucker bet, Manuel!” a different voice called out. Clearly, someone was in the same radio compartment as the one speaking.

“Um, I'll pass on the bet,” the man - Manuel, Yukari surmised - replied. Yukari smirked in her capsule. “Ready when you are, Carambola, over.”

“Roger, coming in, ISS. Over.” Yukari made a few small adjustments. “Ok, call it, Akane,” she directed her specialist.

Akane had the mechanical arm out and positioned, having been doing that while Yukari maneuvered the capsule. “I see the latch plate,” Akane said. “Angle is good, delta is good,” she concentrated, the arm's controller in her hand. “Give me a touch more delta,” she murmured. Yukari deftly nudged the stick. “Three, two, latch,” pronounced Akane, the capsule seeming to sigh. “All zero, arm locked, we are docked,” smiled the girl.

“Excellent as always, Akane-chan,” praised her partner. “Check helmets and let's go give Maggie the tour,” she directed, flipping switches as she spoke. “Solomon, we are docked, latched and going EVA, copy?”

“'Kay! Be careful,” replied Matsuri.

“I always am, sis,” Yukari replied quietly, double-checking her suit. Akane did the same, the two of them both checking Maggie's suit.

“Depressurize us, Akane,” Yukari said, putting her hand against Maggie's chest as the cabin air was sucked out into vacuum. The short but strong turbulence rocked Maggie slightly, since she had unbelted as her pack was checked by Akane.

“Maggie-san,” Akane said, handing her two coils of lifeline.

“This isn't simulation anymore,” Yukari reminded the idol. “Make a small mistake up here, and you could die a nasty death. I will go first, then you, then Akane. Got it?”

“Got it,” Maggie confirmed. Yukari tucked an extra lifeline coil into place under her pack, Akane doing the same. Opening the first hatch, Yukari clipped a line to the arm base, tugging on it to make sure it was secure before opening the second hatch. Akane handed her a lifeline end, which Yukari secured to the arm as well.

A small tap of her toe sent her floating right to the hatch on the ISS. Her second lifeline clipped securely to the bar next to the hatch. Turning, she saw Akane clip Maggie's line to her own primary line. Then, Akane carefully helped Maggie get set before giving her a gentle push toward Yukari, who was waiting by the hatch. Maggie was slightly off target, and Yukari shook her head as Maggie tried to `swim' toward her.

“Stop moving, Maggie,” she barked over her radio. “There's no friction up here, so you can't move like you were in water, while the shifts in balance created by moving your arms and legs will push you even further off course. Hold still, and I will catch you.”

“Sorry, habit,” Maggie apologized, holding still. Yukari grabbed her arm and tugged her to the hatch rail.

“Hold on to that,” Yukari directed, Maggie dutifully holding the bar tightly. Akane floated toward them, doing a graceful half-roll and landing delicately on her feet right beside Yukari, who giggled softly as she wrapped an arm around Akane even as the mission specialist clipped her lifeline end to the bar.

“Show off,” muttered Maggie.

“The difference between pro and cherry,” Yukari replied snarkily. Working the control interface, she opened the outer airlock hatch, Akane guiding Maggie in, handing out their lifelines while Yukari watched their backs. With the two secure, Yukari slipped in, releasing her own outside lifeline and closing the hatch. After a moment, the airlock cycled, and they found themselves looking at the crew of the ISS. To a person, they had camcorders - all pointed at the three.

“Smile!” sang out the crew. Yukari barely kept herself from giving them the bird. This is going to come back to bite us, she thought sourly.

Yukari yawned as she snagged her bath basket and headed for the shower. It had turned into a nine-hour circus for her and Akane. The tour had gone pretty good, but Maggie wanted to see everything there was, and talk to every crewmember, so just covering the ISS - which wasn't that big - had taken an hour and a half. Questions were never-ending from Maggie. Yukari and Akane had found themselves being taken aside by the senior director and asked if they could check on a problem with one of the external 02 tanks, since there had been fluctuations in the pressure and the tank had gone empty weeks before it should have.

Yukari had almost turned him down, but hearing Maggie calling for her to come join in the show-and-tell, Yukari had instead asked him to write out his request on a piece of paper, sign it as the acting station commander and agree to pay for their EVA time. The man had tried to wiggle out, but Yukari held firm. She was, she reminded him, a professional, and professionals don't work for free. To help make him feel better, she said that she would talk to Nasuda and arrange for the bill to be time-only, not launch, which would reduce the cost. It was that or do it themselves - something they couldn't do because of their suits.

With the signed paper securely tucked into the back of her helmet, Yukari and Akane locked out of the nearest air lock and very carefully worked their way to the indicated oxygen tank. A check of the outside of the tank revealed nothing out of the ordinary, so Akane had slowly worked her way into the confined area of the fitting assembly. Using her LED flashlight and an integrated laser flash, Akane spotted a crimp in the tank's connection joint, just behind and below the lock-ring that allowed the tank to be switched out for a new one. It took her another four minutes to verify the crimp had been the leak, and that it looked like the crimp had been caused when the tank was fitted into the interface lock.

The job done, Yukari and Akane carefully made their way back to the airlock, locking back into the ISS; but not before Yukari radioed Solomon the mission time and made sure the bill was prepared. Back inside the station, the crew from Solomon Space Association had found that Maggie had managed to get footage of most of their work outside by rushing madly from port to port in the station, camera at the ready. Of course, they had been caught in another interview about the job they had just done. When Maggie was satisfied, she had resumed her tour and interviews with the station personnel.

Yukari had idly asked Akane if they couldn't just leave Maggie there and let her hitch a ride back with the shuttle or a dropping Soyuz capsule. In answer to her question, the station's serving engineer - Canadian with the tendency to add `eh?' to every sentence - reminded her that no drop or delivery was due for more than three weeks, and besides, Maggie didn't have a system-compatible space suit, eh? Yukari had sighed softly, Akane giggling quietly.

The trip wasn't over for the two yet, either. While the two doctors in charge of the medical tests and care for the crew of the station - an American and a British doctor - were explaining to Maggie the importance of the research projects they were heading up, Maggie has asked if they could provide a sort of visual presentation, since most of the people her show would be seen by didn't speak Latin or math as their primary language. The two had conferred for a few moments, then called Yukari and Akane.

“What now?” Yukari grumbled, easily maneuvering through the station to the medical bay. In the small medical area, they found a station crewman strapped in place, chest bare and wired up, on a stationary treadmill. Yukari recognized him from her previous visits. He was a Russian cosmonaut with two stints on the Mir before coming to the ISS.

“Yukari, would you mind helping us demonstrate the principal focus of our current experiment cycles?” the American doctor had asked her.

“Depends,” Yukari replied.

“Depends on what?” the man asked.

“If you can afford to hire us for this,” smiled Yukari. The man blinked.

“But, you're already here,” he countered.

“Time is money,” shrugged Yukari, smiling sweetly. Akane gave her a chiding look, but didn't say anything.

“The studio will pay for the time,” Maggie offered.

“Then I'll double the bill,” grunted Yukari sourly. Maggie shook her head.

“Fine,” she dismissed the issue. “Help us out here,” directed the idol.

“What am I supposed to do?” Yukari wondered.

“The experiment series is designed to help us study and assess the impact of sustained, prolonged space living on the human heart,” began the British doctor. “This will be a critical issue when we return to the moon, and later, send a team to Mars.”

“Ok, but I live on Earth,” Yukari reminded the group.

“Indeed, and therefore, you are the perfect baseline to match Gregori here, since he had spent much longer in space than anyone else currently available. So, please get on the treadmill and let's get you hooked up to the EKG. If you would open your suit up, we can right on to it,” he added, picking up some pads.

“Sorry, but my suit stays sealed,” Yukari replied. “You might get a reading through it, since it is only three millimeters thick,” she offered.

“Any interference would nullify the results,” the doctor almost complained. “Your suits are removable, aren't they?”

“Yes, but I'm not an exhibitionist,” Yukari replied sweetly. “Here's a better idea: Maggie has never been in space before today, so she would be an even better baseline. I'll film, and she can be the guinea pig.”

“You don't know how to work the camera,” Maggie said. Yukari snickered at her.

“Want to bet?” she asked. Maggie thought it over for a moment.

“Ok, Yukari,” Maggie said, locking her eyes with her pilot, “here,” she handed the camera to her. “I expect some good footage,” warned the idol, handing her helmet to Akane before carefully unsealing her suit and opening it enough to allow the doctor to put the pads on her. Yukari had a pretty good position near the `roof' of the bay, and was filming down and forward. She wondered if the nudity would be mosaic or edited out, since there were several seconds of Maggie's bare tits on the hard drive in the camera.

With everything ready, the doctor faced Yukari, giving a five minute `lay-person terminology' preface before the two started running. As expected, Gregori's heart was not as efficient under load as Maggie's was. The doctors took turns explaining the theories about why that was, and what could be done to prevent that from happening on a journey that could be years long in zero G conditions. The two also got off-topic a time or five as they talked, delving into blood issues, muscular/skeletal issues, psychological stress issues, and a few other topics that clearly interested them deeply. Yukari silently filmed it all. It was just as she had thought - a modern camera was a camera, professional or commercial, and they worked more or less the same.

After Maggie had finished up her demonstration - Yukari and Akane had each personally checked her suit's seals again - the crew had invited them to stay for supper and Maggie had accepted before Yukari and Akane could decline the offer. Biting back her comments, Yukari and Akane had been shown to a brand-new module in the station. It was an `observation and relaxation dome' that had only been pressurized and completed testing two days before.

The dome was just that: a geodesic dome of steel and high-tensile glass that allowed the crew a much better view of the heavens and Earth than any other place on the station. It wasn't large, but the entire crew and their visitors could cram in for a meal, since meals were still served in space tubes. “Just once, I want to bring a bag of potato chips up here and rip it open,” Yukari had said to Akane, grinning.

“Odds are it would explode in your capsule before you could bring it over here,” noted the Japanese astronaut on station.

“I know,” Yukari agreed, “but I still want to do it.”

“You are a nasty girl sometimes,” Maggie said, smiling.

“No, I'm not,” disagreed Yukari. “If I were a nasty girl, I'd bring a case of beer up here and throw them down the hatchways.” Akane gaped at Yukari. “You know, I just thought of a way it might work, too…” she murmured, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Please don't, Yukari,” asked the station commander. He had heard enough about the first flight team of the SSA to be cautious when dealing with them; they could be counted on to do anything at all. “You know that there is a very strict rule about alcohol on the station.”

“If you're thirsty, we have non-alcoholic beer,” grinned a Brazilian astronaut.

“What's the point in that?” remarked an American astronaut. “Besides, Yukari and Akane are underage anyway.” Yukari smirked behind her tube of steak and potatoes as the crew of the ISS broke out into a heated three-way debate about beer, space and rules. Akane - close to her partner's side - caught the smirk. Giving her sempai a minimal headshake, she wondered if Nasuda was contagious or if her partner was just getting jaded.

The dinner had turned into a two-hour long general open-forum discussion about space and individual visions of the future of space. Everyone on the station was there because they believed in the future of space, and the passion they showed for their particular vision of space was very clear. Yukari and Akane stayed out of it as much as they could, and when they were pushed, they deflected the questions as much as possible. Not because they weren't passionate about space, but because they were not interested in waxing eloquent about their visions for the future to anyone. Their futures were very much unclear at the moment, with so much going on and affecting their futures, it seemed useless to soapbox about it.

One thing that did get a response - and a fairly hot one - from the two was the issue of the proposal to merge all space programs into a single entity - the ISA or International Space Agency - and where that would leave `private' space enterprises. Yukari had nearly torn the Japanese astronaut's heart out when he campaigned in favor of merging it all, letting the Chinese play and heading for Mars.

Yukari had given a three-minute monolog in reply to the sales pitch from the JAXA representative, basically outlining why a single agency with authority over space programs was a fools' goal and giving the reasons - and there were several - why letting the Chinese take a seat in this proposed organization would either mean the Chinese taking control of space, or a war in space. She had finished by reminding them that they would be in a hell of a spot if not for a certain private enterprise that filled gaps that weren't addressable by large organizations due to the pie being cut too thin by a big group. “Better to have a group of agencies working toward a common goal than to lump it all together and give space to the highest bidder,” she had finished.

The dome had been silent for several minutes after her harsh critique of the one-agency plan. It was apparent that while not everyone shared her view on the plan, she had brought up some issues that some of them had not considered before in a rational sense. Maggie - opportunistic show idol that she was - had asked Yukari where she stood on the `space issue'. Yukari had given her a stern look and tapped her boot on the deck of the station's dome.

“Right here, Maggie-chan,” she had said. “Bus is leaving in six minutes,” added the girl. “Thank you all for having us,” she said to the crew. True to her word, the Carambola de-latched and dropped back down six minutes later. After retrieval, and debriefing, and medical, Yukari was now heading for a shower, then bed.

“Yukari,” came a voice from behind her. Yukari didn't need to look to see who was talking to her.

“Yes, Maggie?”

“You never did say what you saw as your future,” the idol noted. “It would be a great way to round out the show,” she explained.

“You're right - I never did say,” Yukari agreed, starting a shower. “And I am not going to say it now, either.”

The festival was loud, as always. Yukari and Matsuri had initiated the newest flight team into the Tariho village's festival with the yearly `blessing festival'. With greater familiarity with the way things worked, Yukari, Akane, Chinami and Natsuko had really enjoyed it, dancing and singing and enjoying themselves as they drew Kotomi and Amari into the festival. The two newest were acclimating just fine, now that they had a few cups of juice in them. Also attending the festival were Motoko and Satsuki. Yukari and Matsuri had dragged them along, and they had found themselves being plied with drinks by the father of the two senior SSA flight members.

The turtles and shark had been sacrificed a little while before, and Yukari had watched with some pride as her newest girls ate their share of the sacrificial turtle and shark meat. Kotomi and Amari looked good in native costume, too. They had danced easily with the tribal women, following her and Akane's lead in following Matsuri's lead. Now, as the fires died, Yukari found herself confronted with the finishing stage of the festival: the couple-forming ritual.

Realizing what was starting, Yukari had turned to Matsuri. “Matsuri, you know all the boys here, right?” she whispered. Matsuri nodded.

“Sure!” she agreed easily.

“Make sure that none of them that go after our girls are bad; or won't take `no' for an answer,” Yukari directed her sister. Matsuri studied her big sister for a moment in the gradually-dying light of the two bonfires.

“Are you going to send the boys away again, sister?” she asked, direct as always.

“Um, well,” Yukari began, uncomfortable, “I just don't want anything to happen with my crews that isn't their choice,” she allowed. Matsuri turned to look over the villagers who were breaking up into groups. Yukari's teams were close by her, clearly feeling relaxed and comfortable in the village.

“They asked about us again this year,” Matsuri said softly, turning to look Yukari in the eyes. “Are you going to ask me to send them away again?”

“Well, I might,” Yukari admitted.

“You shouldn't give the other girls advantages like that,” Matsuri shared, still staring into Yukari's eyes.

“What advantages?” asked Yukari, frowning. “I just don't want them to get into a situation they will regret the next morning,” she repeated herself.

“Not our girls - the village girls,” Matsuri explained. “There are at least a half-dozen who desperately want those three for their husbands. If you keep turning them down, they will choose other girls and that would be a waste, sis.”

Yukari blinked, frowning slightly. I wasn't even thinking of the village girls, but of my flight teams, she mused. “Speaking of them,” Matsuri purred, nudging Yukari. Blinking, she found that the three young men were back again this year, smiling at the girls. One of them, Yukari noticed, had a scar on his arm, while another had a tattoo on his chest.

“What happened to them?” she asked Matsuri.

“Fishing is a sometimes dangerous profession,” shrugged Matsuri. “Tapiawa got daddy to give him a charm to protect him and help him attract wives,” she added, eyeing the tattoo.

“Yukari-sempai, what are the boys saying?” asked Kotomi. Yukari blinked.

“They are asking if you want to stay with them tonight,” Matsuri jumped in. “This night is special, since we have made offerings to the gods for their blessings.”

“You mean…” Kotomi frowned, looking around the area and noticing couples forming. “Like that?”

“Yes, but you don't have to if you don't want to,” Yukari stepped in firmly as leader. “Last year, we declined their offer.”

“We? Their? They were looking at us a group?” Chinami blinked. Matsuri nodded.

“Sure. There are three of them, and we were five last year. If you want, I know some more nice boys who are strong and good fishermen. I think we can get an even number, if you want,” she offered. Yukari noticed that Natsuko was smiling at the three, Chinami eyeing them in a way she had seen before. More surprising was that when she looked at Kotomi and Amari, they were looking at the three thoughtfully as well.

“Well, whatever you decide is your business,” Yukari broke in almost brusquely, “but if you accept, you better be prepared,” she warned her group. Digging in the pocket of her shorts, she found what she had taken as a safety measure. “Any of you turn up pregnant, and you're gone. Understand?” she warned, offering the group what she had taken from the base. Blinking, her girls looked at the offered items, then at their boss, then back to the items, then at the three young men.

“Are you going to accept their offer?” Akane asked Yukari softly.

“Don't know,” murmured Yukari. Natsuko and Chinami reached out, taking some of the small pile. A heartbeat later, Kotomi and Amari did likewise. Yukari looked at Akane. After a moment, Akane shook her head slightly.

“I'm with you, so if we need them, you can give me one then,” she said softly. Yukari turned to Matsuri, offering her some of her greatly reduced supply. Matsuri looked at the packs curiously.

“What are those things?” she wondered. Yukari sighed.

“They are called `condoms', Matsuri. Satsuki told you about them, didn't she?” she asked her sister.

“Oh, those are condoms? Why would I need them?” Matsuri wondered.

“You're getting together with those boys, aren't you?” Yukari asked, swallowing nervously.

“Yes, but…?” Matsuri began, puzzled.

“It's not my business, I know, but I don't want you turning up pregnant right now,” Yukari explained. Matsuri thought about that for a few moments.

“Oh! I get it!” she grinned, though she made no move to take any of the items. “But who needs those for that? I'll be fine!” she said. “Sure you and Akane don't want to join in?” she asked. “I know two brothers who would love to spend time with you, sister,” she enticed.

“I…um…just…look out for our girls, ok, Matsuri?” she said, almost hastily shoving the remaining packs back into her pocket. Matsuri gave her a long look, but nodded.

“Ok,” Matsuri said, touching Yukari's cheek for a moment. “That is their hut, over there. The one to the side of the net racks,” Matsuri said softly. “If you change your mind, come on in.”

“Uh, ok, Matsuri,” Yukari agreed, glad that the dying light hid her deep blush. With a last look at her big sister, Matsuri turned to the three, speaking in the native tongue. The four SSA girls were already standing, and they all looked at Yukari before following the three boys toward the hut. Matsuri hurried off in a different direction, returning moments later with two boys in tow, almost running to the hut the three young bucks had led her girls into. Akane and Yukari were left alone by the dying coals of the bonfire, listening to the night sounds - animal and human both.

“Why didn't you accept their offer, Yukari?” Akane asked her partner quietly. Yukari shrugged, moving toward the water of the shallow bay the village sat on.

“Because I'm boy-shy, I guess,” she sighed. “Um, you shouldn't feel that you have to say no just because we're partners, Akane,” Yukari offered. Akane looked at Yukari, then away.

“I couldn't do something like that without you,” admitted the girl. “It's just like coming down here and joining the SSA: I could only do it because you were there. I'm…too scared to try it without you.”

Yukari waded into the water of the bay, stopping when it was up to her knees. I feel like I am forcing my choice on Akane, she thought unhappily. I don't mind if the other girls choose to…stay with the boys, but Akane is passing because I am passing, so doesn't that make it my fault she isn't make her own choice like Natsuko, Chinami, Kotomi, Amari and Matsuri? Am I - however indirectly - dictating her personal life for her? Yukari hoped that wasn't the case.

“Did you want to try?” Yukari asked Akane. Akane was standing in the water beside her, under the brilliant, clear stars and moon.

Akane glanced away from her. “Um, well, not exactly,” she said, “but…” Unable to finish, Akane shook her head, her face on fire. Yukari closed her eyes for a minute. Letting out a soft breath, she grabbed Akane's hand.

“Come on,” she said, giving her partner a soft smile as she led her out of the water and toward the hut Matsuri had indicated. “No point wondering for the rest of our lives, right?” she suggested as lightly as she could, heart pounding and face scarlet.

“Yukari! You don't need to just for me…!” sputtered Akane. Yukari noticed that Akane was not hesitating in any way; that made her feel better about her choice. Guess I got it right this time, thought the senior pilot.

“Don't worry - it's not for you,” Yukari assured her - only partly lying. “And we're only young once, right? Who knows what might happen tomorrow? I'd hate to have something happen and realize I should have tried this before it was too late, you know?”

“R…right!” Akane nodded, a little jerkily. Climbing the bamboo ladder, the two paused, hearing sounds from inside the hut. Taking a breath, Yukari resolutely brushed aside the bead and sea-shell curtain, entering the dark hut where her girls - and five boys - were already busy.

“You what?” Satsuki blinked at Yukari.

“You heard me,” Yukari replied firmly. Satsuki noticed that her lead patient was not able to meet her gaze, though. “So? Can we?” she asked again, fighting off the urge to fidget.

“Well, technically you are all over the age of consent, though…” began Satsuki. Yukari's eyes finally found her eyes; and the head of flight was not amused.

“Since when have you cared about any of that?!” hissed Yukari. “A simple answer would be a refreshing change from the normal political speechmaking,” added the girl in a growl.

“I can,” Satsuki said. Yukari let out a small breath.

“Good, then do so as soon as possible,” she said, turning for the door to Satsuki's office.

“But there isn't a reason to,” the older woman thought aloud. Yukari froze.

“Why isn't there?” she asked, turning a suspicious look on her doctor.

“Because you - and the rest - have been on it since you joined up,” the doctor said.

“What?!” snarled Yukari, rounding on the woman. “And you didn't say anything?!”

“What would I have said?” wondered Satsuki. Yukari's mind flashed through all the times this exact sort of thing had happened to her at the SSA. Standard procedure, I see! she thought sourly, her anger dying down some. “And anyway, if you thought about it, you would see that doing so was a logical step in protecting our company and you girls.”

“You should have said something,” Yukari repeated, shaking her head.

“Were you planning to tell the girls about this talk?” Satsuki asked Yukari. Yukari frowned.

“Eventually,” she said slowly. Satsuki gave her a small, smug smile, saying nothing.

“I was really surprised to see you come out of the hut the other morning,” Satsuki continued. Yukari blushed. “So, were they good?” she asked, her tone teasing and arch.

“Mind your own business,” grunted Yukari. “You and Motoko ended up in the same situation,” she added.

“Yes, we did,” Satsuki smiled lasciviously. “Say what you will, but those Tariho men know how to get the job done,” purred the woman.

“Whatever,” Yukari said, turning back toward the door. She paused, hand on the latch. “Hey, Satsuki?” she asked, her voice soft and somewhat uncertain, “do you think…no, never mind,” Yukari waved whatever she was going to say away. “Just tell me if there is anything different we need to do now that…well,” she shook her head.

“Actually,” Satsuki interjected smoothly, “that was very good planning by you to bring condoms. While I haven't seen any signs of STDs from what contact we have with the Tariho tribe, that doesn't mean there aren't any. Both Motoko and myself had meant to remind you, but I'm glad to see that you are on top of things as usual.”

“I would never risk my girls like that,” Yukari said, opening Satsuki's door and preparing to depart. “I'll have them come by during the next couple of days. Check on that for me, will you?” she said before letting the door close behind herself.

After several minutes of thought, Satsuki picked up the phone and hit a speed-dial button. When the other party picked up, Satsuki asked them to come see her before the end of the day in her office. When she was asked if it was an emergency, she assured them that it wasn't an emergency. But, she did still need to talk to them by the end of the day.

Matsuri hummed to herself as she worked on a project. The native girl was sitting in her bed, Yukari at the table, laptop open before her, pad and pen by her right hand. “Did you enjoy the festival?” Matsuri asked calmly, fingers busy with string and shells.

“Huh? Oh, um, it was…ok,” Yukari replied. Matsuri tied another small knot.

“It was only ok?” wondered the girl. “I'll have to talk to them, then,” she said, mostly to herself. “I told them that it was important that they made you happy…”

“Wait,” Yukari said, turning to look up at her little sister, “you told them to make me happy?” Matsuri nodded.

“Of course,” she confirmed. “I wanted to make sure that you enjoyed yourself.”

“Matsuri, did you do something the other night?” asked Yukari, her tone suspicious.

“What do you mean, do something?” wondered the girl, checking her handiwork.

“Did you use the spirits or something to set that up?” asked a suspicious Morita. Matsuri sighed softly, rolling off her bunk bed and landing on her feet right in front of her sister.

“Doing something like that is impossible,” she said, looking at her sister, her expression serious. “Not only are night spirits more powerful than day spirits, but even they are not strong enough to make someone act against their will.” Yukari closed her eyes for a moment.

“I didn't mean it like that, Matsuri,” she said softly. “Sorry, I'm being weird, I guess,” she apologized.

“I don't know,” shrugged Matsuri. “Here, for you,” she said, offering Yukari a strangely-made necklace of fine twine and seashells.

“It's nice, but what's the occasion?” Yukari asked, admiring the careful craftsmanship of the necklace.

“It's to commemorate your becoming a woman,” explained Matsuri. Yukari blinked. What am I supposed to say to that? she wondered. “I'm glad that you chose my husbands,” added Matsuri, smiling happily.

“Husbands?” breathed Yukari, gulping nervously. Matsuri nodded. “You are married, Matsuri?!” gaped Yukari. Matsuri nodded.

“Of course I am,” she said. “I got married a few months before you arrived. I have five husbands, since I was the oldest princess before you got here.”

“Five…the three and the two brothers?” Yukari asked, a sinking suspicion filling her. Matsuri nodded.

“Of course,” she agreed. “How else would I be sure that they would be nice to you?” she asked.

“Matsuri! All our girls were with them!” sputtered the older sister. Matsuri nodded.

“I know,” she agreed calmly. “I had worried that my tribe sisters would end up with other men, but they all liked my husbands, so it worked out fine!”

“Matsuri! I….I give up,” Yukari dropped her head forward, face in hands. Matsuri was looking at her older sister curiously. After a minute, Yukari stood up, snagging her cell phone and heading for the door. “I need to make a call, Matsuri,” she said, “keep an eye on the girls, ok?”

“'Kay!” sang out her sister. Yukari made her way out of the dorm and through the base until she reached the cove. After a moment of thought, she climbed over the ridge of stone that separated the cove from the rocky part of the island. Making her way to a secluded spot between two smooth boulders, she settled in and dialed a number on her cell phone.

“Morita residence,” her mother's voice came over the cell phone.

“Hi, mom - it's me,” she said softly.

“Yu-chan! What a pleasant surprise,” her mother replied. “What's on your mind?” asked Hiroko after a moment.

“I slept with Matsuri's husbands,” blurted out Yukari. Dead silence fell for what seemed an eternity. Minutes passed. “Mom? You still there?” Yukari asked, wondering if her mom had hung up on her.

“Yes, Yu-chan, I'm still here,” replied her mother casually.

“Um, is that all you have to say?” Yukari wondered.

“Well, I am still waiting to hear what is bothering you,” answered her mother.

“What?! Didn't you hear me, mom?! The other night - during the festival in the village - I slept with Matsuri's husbands!” repeated Yukari.

“Ok, and then what?” Hiroko prompted.

“Isn't that enough?!” gaped Yukari. Did I fall through a dimensional rift or something? wondered the girl, stunned at how casual and unconcerned her mother was after hearing that she had slept with her sister's husbands.

“I am somewhat surprised that Matsuri has more than one husband at her age, but then, the Tariho are a different social group than…” Hiroko thought aloud.

“This isn't about my sister having husbands, mom!” Yukari interrupted.

“Then what is it about?” wondered the mother. “Did you find them unsatisfactory? Were they too rough with you?” guessed the elder Morita.

“How should I know? It was my first time!” hissed Yukari.

“I see,” Hiroko sagely responded. “Well, it won't hurt as much the next time, and if you take a nice warm bath…”

“Would you be serious, mom?!” begged Yukari. “I need your help!”

“With what? You said you already slept with them, didn't you?”

“What am I supposed to tell Matsuri, mom? I slept with her husbands!” the teenager repeated yet again, unable to comprehend how her mother could not understand her problem.

“Is Matsuri upset with you? That seems strange…” Hiroko thought aloud.

“No she isn't upset! She said she was glad I had chosen her husbands!” Yukari replied. “The entire flight program slept with her husbands for Kami's sake! How can we ever work smoothly together after that?!”

“I think you will find that your teamwork is even better now that you have this shared experience,” suggested her mother.

“I don't get it!” an exasperated Yukari yelled. “Why doesn't anyone see the problem here but me?!”

“Maybe because you see a problem that doesn't exist,” suggested Hiroko.

“Huh?”

“You love Matsuri, don't you?” Hiroko asked.

“Of course I love my sister,” Yukari immediately answered. What a stupid thing to ask, do I love my sister? she silently scoffed.

“I noticed when I was last down there that you gave her one of your bikinis,” Hiroko went on.

“Yeah, so?”

“Perhaps - in her own way - Matsuri is returning your love in a similar fashion.”

Yukari blinked. “There's a big difference between a bikini and men, mom!” she insisted.

“Is there? Strange, I don't think there is that much of a difference in your particular situation,” disagreed Hiroko. “If you think about it, you would realize that the Tariho do not have the same sort of attitudes toward marriage as we do,” lectured her mother, “so to Matsuri, the difference between that bikini and her husbands probably doesn't amount to anything. Besides which, do you think that Matsuri would do something that would hurt you or your team?”

“No, she wouldn't,” murmured Yukari. Matsuri was their GCL precisely because she was trusted completely by the flight teams.

“I can't speak for her, but I think you will find that she is actually thinking of you when she does things like this,” Hiroko pointed out.

Yukari was silent for a few minutes. “You told me to trust her about…things like this,” she recalled. “But I sometimes feel like I'm in some weird place where everything is different from what it should be. We slept with her husbands, but it looks like I'm the only one who is worried about this. Does this mean that I'm the one who's weird?” she asked plaintively.

“No, I don't think so,” disagreed her mother. “I think you might have formed some very…idealized notions of male/female relationship mechanics, but you aren't weird.”

“Back to my guy problems, I see,” sighed Yukari.

“Yu-chan, part of being a woman is to understand that not everything is controllable, and to adapt to that fact,” Hiroko shared.

“I'm trying, mom, but…!” she broke off, sighing. “Anyway, thanks for listening, mom,” she said softly. “Sorry if I interrupted anything,” added Yukari.

“You didn't,” Hiroko denied. “I was just making us a little snack.”

“Us?” breathed Yukari. “You mean Norman…? No, never mind! Have a good night, mom!” she nearly yelled, ending the call. Laying back against the boulder, she stared at the sky. What am I supposed to do? she wondered.

Nearly an hour later, she sat up. Opening her phone once more, she quickly sent a text message before climbing back up and over the rocky finger before descending on the cove. In short order, the entire flight program was at the cove. “Ok, there are a few things we need to talk about,” Yukari said firmly.

“Like what?” wondered Natsuko.

“Like the fact that we all slept with Matsuri's husbands the other night, for one,” Yukari came right back at her. All the girls except Matsuri froze at her words.

“Husbands?” breathed Chinami.

“Matsuri's married?” murmured Kotomi.

“We slept with married men?” mumbled Natsuko.

“So that was why…” Amari nodded to herself.

“Matsuri-san, I didn't know…!” Akane began.

“It's fine!” insisted Matsuri. “We are all tribe sisters, so my husbands are your husbands,” she explained. “And we all asked for the gods' blessings, so it was only right to accept that blessing.”

“Aren't you glad you used condoms?” Yukari asked, feeling an odd sort of perverse pleasure at the reactions of her crews. “Well, except for Matsuri,” she recalled, frowning.

“Matsuri, you didn't use…no, I guess not,” Natsuko said, a thoughtful look on her face.

“That is another thing we need to talk about,” Yukari said, returning to the topic on her mind. “I've spoken with Satsuki about this, and she says that we have all been on birth control since signing up. Good thing, I guess, but I am going to have all of us checked out carefully - just in case. So, starting tomorrow, you all need to go see Satsuki for an exam.”

“Hai,” they all chorused.

“There is also another issue to be addressed,” Yukari continued. “I am going to assume that this is not going to be a one-time deal, considering…well, I just think it will happen again. And with that in mind, if you do visit the village, be sure to take protection, ok?”

“Even though we're on birth control?” Chinami asked.

“Satsuki said that she hadn't encountered any STDs, but I think you'd rather be safe than sorry, right?” Yukari said. Matsuri was frowning.

“What's an STD?” she wondered.

“It's a disease transmitted by sex,” Kotomi replied absently.

“My husbands aren't sick!” protested Matsuri, almost indignantly. “They are all very healthy; you should remember that from last night!”

“I'm sure they are, Matsuri,” placated Yukari, “but until we get them checked out, I'd feel better if we used condoms, ok? Besides, there might be others in the village that aren't as healthy…” she started to add.

“You think we're going to work our way through the whole village?” Natsuko asked, grinning a little. “Not likely, Yukari.”

“Besides, Matsuri's husbands were pretty good…” Chinami began, only to pause, glancing at Matsuri. Far from being upset, Matsuri was grinning smugly, as if Chinami had been complimenting her.

“Only the best men in the village can win a princess for a wife,” Matsuri said casually, “so my husbands are the best in the village.”

“I'll take your word for it, Matsuri,” Yukari said quickly. I don't think that I want to know if she can state that from trials or competitions or whatever! In short order, the girls were swimming in the cove, and afterwards, they returned to the dorm. Tomorrow was another day in the space business, after all.

“Hello, I am Kotomi Uratori, and will be speaking to you about working in space,” Kotomi said, bowing slightly to the half-seen audience. She and Amari had been given a short speaking tour because - as Yukari had put it - she and Akane had done their tour, and Chinami and Natsuko couldn't be trusted without supervision, so they would do a two-week, nine-stop speaking tour. Yukari had given her the presentation she and Akane had thrown together more than a year and a half ago, telling her to update it as necessary, fit it to her style and make sure she did it right.

Right now, Kotomi was speaking - by request of the school - with the students of Hokuei Senior High school. It was Kotomi's first trip to the school, but she found that her experience in her own high school and the time she had spent under Yukari-sempai's iron fist had given her some unexpected skills. For example, she had watched the students enter the auditorium, and as they did, she kept finding herself dismissing them as unsuitable for the program by reason of size, physical constraints, obvious lack of intelligence, poor health, lack of discipline and a laundry list of other reasons. She hadn't realized that she was scowling softly at the students until Amari had poked her in the ribs and told her to stop scaring the kids by reason of acting like their sempais.

Amari was with her, the two having worked out a switch-hitting format for the presentations. Unlike the first - infamous - speaking tour that Yukari and her two cohorts had done, there was no live demonstration of the spacesuits. This had been something Yukari had suggested - citing a lack of need and also that having a spacesuit with them when passing through customs could be trouble. Privately, she was worried about the suits ending up confiscated and then in the wrong hands, but she only shared this concern with her two senior co-workers, Nasuda and Motoko.

In place of the live spacesuit demonstration, the two had gotten some high-res photos of the suits, and some short film clips in vacuum and in atmosphere. This proved more workable and appealing to the audience, while also reducing the risks for the company. Both Amari and Kotomi were tanned and healthy, and they dressed professionally, though not in a manner that made them look like company girls. Working with Natsuko and Chinami, they had come up with three variants on what to wear when doing the actual presentation.

The first outfit was nice shorts - no cut-offs or short-shorts - a SSA-logo tee-shirt and sneakers, meant for schools like Diamon High where things could get physical. Nasuda had added a high-quality baseball cap with a stitched SSA logo on the front at the last minute. It was the most comfortable and casual of the outfits.

The second outfit - the one they were currently wearing - was a sort of generic high-school uniform tribute outfit. Pleated mid-thigh skirt, short-sleeved blouse with company logo and a jacket with another SSA logo on the breast formed the main part. Stockings or socks were coupled with dress shoes or flats for the completed look. Motoko had suggested that they go with dark skirts and white blouses since that matched fully seventy seven percent of school uniform colors within a few shades. Kotomi had chosen to wear thigh-high stockings with dress shoes that day, since it was fall in Japan, and the air was crisp to the tropics-thinned blood of the girls. Their stockings ended two centimeters below the hem of their skirts.

The final outfit - the one neither girl really wanted to wear - was reserved for places like Nerisu High, where the dress code was much stricter. Each girl had been given full business dresses by Satsuki the morning they were to head out. A check of the outfits had revealed that they were precisely tailored to their sizes. It occurred to them that that was not much of a surprise, given that the SSA had access to micro-millimeter accurate measurements of their entire bodies, and their sizes had stabilized. The skirts were knee-length, the blouses collared and the jackets waisted and fitted. Hose and flats were the finishing touches, though Matsuri had handed each of them a string of white and black pearls in a double-strand necklace.

They had arrived in Tokyo and found themselves greeted by Hiroko Morita. Since they were speaking in nine schools over a twelve-day period, they were on a tight schedule. Each girl would get a chance to stop by their homes during the tour, but their main base of operations would be Hiroko's apartment in Tokyo. Nasuda had told them that the SSA just couldn't afford hotel rooms for such a long trip, which had made Yukari snort, though their boss had not said anything. Neither minded, as so much time in such close contact with Yukari had made them like family, and they had both met Hiroko several times at their base.

After an evening talking with Yukari's mother and calling their own families, the two had turned in early, since they had a second-period presentation the next morning. From that morning on, it had been non-stop, though they occasionally got some breaks to collect themselves and catch their breath. With this presentation, they would be half-way done with the tour. Absently maintaining their pace, Kotomi found herself wondering about what Yukari was up to.

Ever since the festival and the revelation that Matsuri was married to several men and the entire flight group had slept with the men, Yukari had been a little different. It wasn't like Yukari was relaxed - if anything, she pushed her teams and herself harder - but more like she was comfortable. Kotomi and the other girls couldn't quite pin down what had changed, but something had. Matsuri had overheard one of their gossip sessions and cheerfully informed them that the change in big sister was because Yukari was becoming her true self; whatever that meant.

Kotomi took her cue, stepping aside as Amari smoothly stepped in for her turn, Kotomi sipping some water discreetly as her partner took over. The presentation had been tweaked to address more of what they did and why they did it instead of looking for applicants or explaining the skills necessary to be a SSA astronaut. The math and language skills were still addressed, but no longer in a way that dealt with formulas and usage - though for old time's sake, they had left the Hohmann Transfer formula and orbital intercept formula in the presentation as `test your brain' teasers. The two talked more about the work environment at the SSA and the reason what they did was so critical.

The new presentation could be done in fifty minutes or over the course of ninety minutes - depending on the time the school allowed. Hokuei had allowed them ninety minutes, which meant that the students would get to hear about the routine the girls maintained as well as some select `war stories' from them. There was also a question and answer period, just like the last tour. It was this period that Kotomi had come to despise.

“Now that you know more about what we do for a living, we will take a few questions,” Amari said, stepping aside as Kotomi took her turn once more. Kotomi - as mission commander in their team - followed Yukari's example and took the most unpleasant and irritating part herself, shielding Amari as best as she could. As she expected, there was the usual idiocy and harassment from the clowns in the audience, along with tacky questions about pay and work hours. Kotomi - once more following Yukari's example - ripped each disrespectful question right back at the source, leaving more than a few smart-asses feeling the burn of public humiliation.

There were, however, some good questions, and some not-so-good-but-reasonable questions mixed in. These Kotomi and Amari answered seriously in the spirit they were asked. Mostly, these were asked by girls who were interested in what was going on in the company. Their name had been in the news for a while now, and with the constant NASA tie-in being noted every time anything came up, it wasn't like it was that first tour.

Kotomi and her partner had noticed that more than a few questions always came up about Yukari. Mostly, it was either about her infamous attitude or about her personal life. When Maggie's show on the SSA had aired the month before, the bulk of the base had watched it. Yukari hadn't said a word the entire time, though those who knew her best could tell that she was conflicted about the way it came out. It was obvious that during editing and post-production tweaking, someone had decided to make Yukari the anti-hero of the show. The climax was, of course, the ISS visit and Yukari's two-minute monolog was shown almost intact.

That monolog was probably what had made Yukari such a hot topic in the Q&A period on their speaking tour. Instinctively, the two girls had closed ranks and stonewalled the vast majority of the questions. They outright refused to even address questions - sometimes in the form of accusations - about Yukari's views on nearly everything, skipping them unaddressed. If they were cornered, they would only say that only Yukari could say what her stand was on any given issue. And naturally, they had not provided any sort of contact information to follow that up.

When the last question had been addressed and the students departed the auditorium, the two girls had swiftly closed down shop and prepared to depart. After a stop by the school administration office to thank them for allowing them time to speak, the two had moved toward the exit, finding a few students lurking to ambush them with questions. Per prior agreement, they had allowed some time for such semi-private questions, provided that they were not about previously-addressed issues or banned topics. It had become apparent to the two that most of these encounters were about opportunities to join or questions about why/how they had made it into the outfit.

“I'm glad that's over,” Kotomi muttered to her partner, tossing her empty water bottle into the recycle bin by the main entrance.

“Me, too,” agreed Amari. “I see now why Yukari-sempai dumped this on us,” added the girl, stretching her arms. A crisp, cool wind blew over the two. Shivering slightly, they thought of the hot tropical sun and the crystal-clear waters of the cove as they looked at the distant Tokyo skyline.

“Kotomi-san, Amari-san!” called a voice from the gate to the school. Blinking, the two turned to see a figure waving at them. The two girls slowly moved toward the figure, frowning as they tried to recall who this person could be, and how they would recognize them. As they got closer, they saw that the person waving to them was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a sweater and had on a leather jacket. Studying the face, they suddenly realized who it was.

“Hazuzi-chan!” Kotomi exclaimed, hurrying to her former fellow-hopeful astronaut. “I didn't expect to see you here,” she said, hugging the girl. Hazuzi had not made flight for medical reasons and with so much going on at the base, the two had nearly forgotten all about her.

“Hazuzi-chan,” Amari greeted her with a hug as well. “You are looking good,” added the girl, eyeing the failed astronaut. It had not been a pretty scene when her condition had been discovered, but something had happened, and Yukari had said that everything was ok and Hazuzi would be fine, and that was the last the two had thought of the girl.

“I'm relieved you two remember me,” Hazuzi smiled at them. “I was worried you wouldn't remember me, since I didn't make flight status.”

“There are times I wish I hadn't made flight status,” Kotomi said, though privately, those times were very, very few and long ago. “What have you been doing since?” asked Kotomi, the three making their way toward the station.

“Yukari-sempai didn't tell you? Or Nasuda-san?” Hazuzi asked, blinking in surprise. The two exchanged wry smiles.

“No, they didn't,” Kotomi said, shaking her head slightly.

“I came back here, completed high school and made it into Keio. Next year, I am graduating with my communications and business management degrees. I will be returning to the SSA as a trainee in the management section. I will become your spokeswoman/publicist,” she almost bragged.

Kotomi and Amari exchanged looks. Seeing this, Hazuzi laughed. “In other words,” she continued, “you won't have to go on these speaking tours anymore; well, unless you want to or need a break from flying missions. I will be handling things like this and press statements and the like.”

“You sure you want to do that?” Amari asked, thinking of what they had faced in the Q&A periods.

“I'm qualified,” Hazuzi said quickly. “Even though I didn't make flight, Yukari-sempai told me it wasn't because I didn't have the skills. And I did complete all the training, so I actually know what I am talking about. The only thing I don't have is actual space-time,” she sighed softly, wistfully.

“If you're sure,” shrugged Kotomi. “So, how did you find us?” she asked.

“I got a call from Yukari-sempai, and I have been trying to catch up with you for the last two days. Finally got ahead of you today,” smiled Hazuzi. “How is everyone?” she asked.

As the three rode the train toward their next stop, the two caught her up on the big news. Hazuzi had watched the show Maggie did, and had some questions about Yukari. The two had hesitated for a moment before answering some of the questions. Had it not been Hazuzi, they would have maintained their silence about their sempai and boss. The two told her about missions they had flown and things they had learned, as well as a little about the new areas the SSA was getting into. Hazuzi listened carefully, clearly memorizing things.

As the two reached the school where they were giving their afternoon presentation, they found Hazuzi was still with them. “Um, don't you have school?” they asked her, curious. It wasn't a holiday that they were aware of, nor were schools out for a break.

“I'm working on my thesis for my degree, actually,” Hazuzi replied easily. “So, I have a bit of discretionary time. I thought I would check out the kind of presentations you have been giving; sort of get a feel for the style.”

Dismissing the issue, Kotomi and Amari had found their way to the faculty office to check in for their presentation. Koyomi High was a private school it turned out, with a nice campus and a spacious assembly hall. As the girls were setting up their stuff, a muted explosion came from one of the far classrooms, followed by some smoke and a modest fireball. Kotomi and Amari glanced around, curious about the lack of any sort of reaction from the student body. It was before their time, but after hearing so much from Yukari and Akane about failed caking runs and the tank farm going up in flames at the base had sort of inurned them to minor bangs.

“That's just the chemistry lab; nothing to worry about,” their appointed Student Council flunky assured them.

“Blow up your chemistry lab often?” Kotomi asked, checking the connection of their laptop to the projector.

“Every day or two; twice while clubs are running,” the young woman replied indifferently. “Kisaragi-sensei's chemistry club produces more casualties than all the other clubs put together,” shared the girl.

“So why haven't they done something about it?” wondered Amari, checking the handouts.

“Honestly? The administration is too scared of her to say anything; and I can't blame them! She's scary!” confided the student. Kotomi and Amari glanced at each other, snickering softly.

“We know a chemist who could give her a run for her money,” Hazuzi said casually. Before long, the students began to fill the assembly hall. Hazuzi situated herself unobtrusively at the edge of the stage, where she could see both the presentation (and Kotomi and Amari) as well as the student body and their reaction to the presentation.

Yukari slipped into Chang's sliding her sunglasses up onto her head as she scanned the room. Spotting her party, she made her way over to the two-seat booth and took the free stool. “So, what's up?” Yukari asked. Seeing Chang wave at her, she waved back, signaling she would have some egg rolls and dumplings. Han Li set a cup of her favorite tea down as she made her way toward another table, tray loaded with food.

Cindy was just starting on her own Lo Mein, a bottle of beer by her plate. “I thought you might like to catch up on gossip,” the woman said, giving Yukari a small smile. Yukari inclined her head.

“Sure,” she agreed. “You start.”

“My boss and your boss are talking about some sustained work,” Cindy offered. “You and Akane really pulled an ace out last time.”

“It's what we do,” Yukari said, sipping her tea.

“I also couldn't find that thing I was looking for earlier,” Cindy added.

“I see. Is that why you asked me to meet you here?” guessed Yukari. Cindy shrugged.

“The food's good, and I was near-by,” was all she said. “I did, however, find an interesting movie studio.” Yukari frowned, slowly sipping her tea. Han Li slipped past again, a fresh beer appearing beside Cindy's empty one as a small plate of appetizers settled in front of Yukari.

“Any good movies?” Yukari asked.

“Well, no, not yet,” Cindy replied, “but they are planning a blockbuster of an opening film, though.”

“I'll try to see it, then,” Yukari replied.

“I don't think it will come to any theater too close by,” Cindy came back, “but if it does, there will be a rush for tickets, so you will need a friend in the ticket line.”

“Do I have a friend in the ticket line?” wondered Yukari.

“Sure,” Cindy smiled. “But the price of a ticket could be higher if your friend gets it for you,” added the woman.

“Everything is expensive,” shrugged Yukari. “Who knows? I might have to raise my service fee to cover the added expense of a ticket if it comes to that.” Cindy eyed Yukari for a long moment.

“So, how have things been going for you lately, Yukari?” asked Cindy.

“Busy with work, same as always,” Yukari replied.

“Anything going on in your personal life?” prompted Cindy. “Maybe a man or five in your life?” suggested the woman, grinning lazily. Yukari scowled at the American woman.

“Whatever is in my personal life is personal,” was all the girl would say. “How about you? Work not keeping you busy? Or is it that your own personal life is free?”

“Meow,” purred Cindy, sipping her beer, “watch the claws, kitten. As it happens, both work and personal life are busy.”

“So that is why you flew all the way out here for lunch?” suggested Yukari. Cindy paused as Han Li set out Yukari's food before vanishing.

“I came out here because of work,” Cindy got to the point. “About two weeks from now, I will be visiting the base with a colleague. I hope to introduce you and your girls to him.”

“Oh?” Yukari asked between bites.

“He is going to be working with me on a couple of projects, and I want you to get to know him, since I might need to have him run errands for me,” Cindy replied. Yukari watched the older woman, her expression guarded.

“Cindy, I am not much of one for flunkies,” warned Yukari. “And things in my company are changing.”

“I have heard some rumors of such,” nodded Cindy. “And that is another reason for meeting my `flunky' as you called him. Having more than one way to contact friends makes it harder to lose touch, hmm?”

“Yeah, but that can be a double-edged sword,” Yukari riposted. Cindy studied Yukari for a long moment.

“For someone who once said you hated politics, you are showing remarkable skill in it lately,” noted the woman. Yukari bit an egg roll in half, maintaining eye contact.

“I have a team to protect, and my company's interests to look out for, Cindy. I can't afford to be naïve and overly trusting.” Cindy tilted her head to the side for a moment.

“Welcome to the real world, Yukari,” murmured Cindy, slipping a small flash drive to the girl as she stood, paper bills landing on the table. “Gotta run,” she said, patting Yukari's shoulder. “See you soon?”

“Yeah, sure,” Yukari replied automatically, slipping the drive into her pocket. “Thanks for the meal, by the way,” added Yukari, finishing off the wounded egg roll. Han Li came by several minutes later with a refill, collecting the bills as she did so.

“Yukari,” Han Li said softly, pausing by her side, “do you think it would be possible to allow Mingxia to visit the base again?” asked the waitress.

“Sure, I think we can come up with something,” Yukari allowed. “When is she due in?” wondered the astronaut.

“Um, well, it is nearly summer break for her school, and she has asked to spend it here, with Uncle and me. She would be here about eight weeks. Do you think that it might be possible for her to see what it is like to train with you and your crews?” Han Li asked.

“That's no way to spend a vacation,” snorted Yukari. “But, if she really wants to, I will see what I can do about that,” promised the girl. She felt a lot better now that she had confirmation that her instincts were right about Chang and Han Li. If I was right about them, then I am probably right about Mingxia, too, she thought.

“Thank you, Yukari,” the waitress gave her a brief bow. Watching Han Li slip through the tightly-packed room without a single misstep or problem, Yukari thought of something. Pursing her lips a little, she studied Han Li for a moment longer, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Three years,” murmured Yukari, floating serenely on her back, watching the stars overhead. The girls were at the cove, enjoying a swim and relaxing after a hellish week. There had been a blow-out on an LS5B engine during a routine lift to the ISS that could have killed Natsuko and Chinami if they hadn't managed to fire the escape rocket and return safely. It had been a tense rescue, as the rocket had covered a huge distance before the blow-out, and the capsule had come back down almost too far out to retrieve. The pilot of their Blackhawk recovery helicopter had taken a chance and run it anyway. He had lost the engine as he was coming down for the landing after dropping the capsule on the dolly. Thankfully, the chopper was able to land on the energy stored in the rotor, making a rough landing but not damaging anything.

Also, while Kotomi and Amari had been working with two NASA astronauts on a project on the ISS, one of the astronauts - a first-time EVA cherry - had accidentally damaged Amari's pack, causing an O2 line tear. Amari had acted without thought, locking her helmet valves and heading for the ISS airlock. Due to the distance she was at and the cycle time of the airlock, Amari had come close to asphyxiating before the lock cycled and she could pop her helmet. Naturally, Kotomi had gone off on the astronaut in a very Yukari-like way, followed by a very angry Kotomi radioing Solomon that her partner's pack was toast. Yukari had told them to dump the job and come home, but Kotomi had declined, saying she wouldn't let a bunch of clumsy apes run her off a job before it was finished. NASA - per regulations - had pulled the man's EVA privileges, but it was pretty clear that the SSA was pissed about the mistake. Kotomi had finished the job and Amari had used her suit's limited air capacity to get back to the capsule, where she could breathe cabin air during re-entry. It was a risk, of course, not having a functional pack if things went wrong, but it worked out. Yukari had ordered Mukai to find a way to stow an extra, fully-functional pack in all orbiters.

Just the day before, she and Akane had been up on a development flight for their idea of space rescue, working with NASA on ISS personnel recovery, and while they were testing their idea of how to get a fully-suited NASA astronaut into the Breadfruit - the first `rescue type' prototype capsule - one of the radical 0-2 cams on the twin hatch capsule had failed, locking a hatch open. Naturally, the capsule couldn't return with a hatch open, and for nearly four and a half hours, SSA and NASA had tried to come up with a solution. Finally -with her patience and air running low, Yukari had taken a heavy pair of cutting snips, severed the entire hatch at the hinges, had Akane hold it in place and glued the hatch shut with suit sealant and patches. They were able to lock the other hatch to the frame and return safely. Yukari had used the emergency hatch jettison circuit to remove the entire hatch frame with both sections attached; though she did secure a line to the assembly. Mukai was examining the remains and trying to figure out a fix for the problem even then.

So, the girls were taking an evening to enjoy themselves and relax. Under the brilliant stars and sliver of a moon, it was easy to let the stress and pressure of the week dissolve into the warm sea water and thick, tropical air. It had surprised Yukari to find herself thinking of the past. Three years since I came here, mused the girl. In that time, I have become an astronaut, built two flight teams and become a woman. So, what do I do next? wondered Yukari.

Of course, she knew that she wanted to keep flying missions. She also knew that she couldn't realistically do that forever. Nor could she just fly missions. To fly missions meant to protect her company's business; without business, there would be no missions. And then, there was what she had been working with NASA and the other big dogs on. “Returning to the moon and heading for Mars,” murmured Yukari.

“What?” a voice intruded on her thoughts. Blinking, she realized that her entire flight program had ended up floating on their backs next to her, the group in a loose sort of wheel formation two dozen yards off the beach or so.

“Thinking aloud,” Yukari dismissed the unintentional speech.

“Do you want to go visit the village tomorrow night?” asked Matsuri easily. Yukari almost twitched at the question.

“We'll see,” she replied. “But, if you want to see your husbands, go right ahead,” added Yukari.

“Actually, they asked about you all last time I was home,” Matsuri noted. Turning her head, Yukari studied her little sister for a long moment.

“What did you tell them?” Natsuko asked, breaking the brief silence.

“I said that we were really busy here, but that we would visit from time to time,” the tanned native girl replied, smiling.

“Um, so…” Amari groped for the words.

“So they expect us to come see them from time to time or do I not understand what you said?” Yukari asked her little sister, a faint edge in her voice.

“Don't you want to see them again?” challenged Matsuri, rolling and turning as gracefully as a sea otter, her face swinging close to her big sister's. Yukari frowned slightly.

“It isn't that I do or don't,” she said slowly, “it's that…other things take priority, and I don't want to end up in the middle of a domestic squabble.”

“Domestic squabble?” wondered Matsuri, puzzled. “What's that?”

“Doesn't matter,” sighed Yukari. “Just don't promise your husbands that we'll come see them whenever, ok?”

“I already told them that we were busy,” pointed out Matsuri. “But didn't you enjoy the festival?”

“What does that have to do this?” wondered Yukari. Faintly, she heard soft sounds of amusement coming from her underlings. “Quiet,” she growled to the others. Of course, that only caused a rash of wicked giggling.

“You don't have to wait for the festival to see them again, you know,” Matsuri observed. “I visit them regularly,” she shared. Yukari blinked, thinking of all the times that Matsuri had disappeared for a few hours or overnight or even for a day or two.

“All those times you were seeing your husbands?” she asked, not sure how she felt about that.

“Yep!” confirmed Matsuri happily. “What's the point of having husbands if you don't use them?”

Yukari opened her mouth, thought about it, and closed her mouth without saying a word. “Look,” she said a short while later, addressing her crews, “we talked about this, so I'm not going to dance around the subject. If you want to go to the village to…see the boys,” she phrased it more delicately than she had mentally, “just check the mission schedule and training schedule beforehand and plan accordingly. Oh, and make sure that Matsuri or I know that you are taking off and when you plan to be back. And keep your cell phone with you and turned on! We might need to reach you in a hurry,” added the girl.

“And we will look both ways before crossing the street, mommy Yukari-chan,” chimed in Natsuko, snickering. Yukari's lips curled into a smirk. Turning and lunging, she grabbed Natsuko's arm and shoulder, jerking her under the surface like a crocodile. Natsuko's surprised shriek was cut short by salt water. Chinami immediately dove after her partner, while Matsuri - laughing happily - seized Amari and Kotomi, dragging them under as well. Akane sucked in a breath, ducking under to join the fun.

Half an hour later, seven girls were sprawled on the sand, panting but smiling. From the pile of discarded clothing, a cell phone rang. Getting to her hands and knees, Yukari crawled over to the pile, swiftly sorting through it to find the cell phone. Pulling it up, she glanced at the screen before connecting the call. “Yukari,” she said.

“Yukari, where are you right now?”

“Cove, why?” Yukari asked, frowning. Her flight teams sat up, watching her curiously. “Something wrong?” she asked.

“No, but someone is asking for you at the main gate.”

“Who is it?” wondered Yukari.

“The business card says `Infinite Horizons, Ltd.',” replied the caller. Yukari considered that.

“Blonde woman with a tall black man?” she asked.

“No, it's a guy in a suit,” replied the guard.

“A guy in a suit?” Yukari asked, skeptical.

“He looks Japanese. Fifty thousand yen suit, Rolex on his wrist, fancy hand-made loafers - a suit,” the guard replied. She could hear his shrug. Yukari considered her choices.

“You're one of the new guards, right? The one who wasn't a cop or soldier?” Yukari asked.

“Yes,” replied the guard.

“Did you call Kurosu first?” she asked him.

“Yes, and he said to ask you if you wanted to speak with them or not. So, I am asking you if you want to speak to this person,” replied the guard.

“He there now?” Yukari asked.

“He's outside the gate, yes,” confirmed the guard. Yukari checked the time on Matsuri's phone.

“Tell him I can spare five minutes,” she said. “If he doesn't like that, he knows how to go home,” she said, standing and reaching for her clothes.

“Right,” the guard said. “Call you back if he says yes?”

“Don't call back - I will look at the main gate and if he's there, I'll talk to him, if not, I'm going to bed,” corrected Yukari.

“Ok,” the man said, the line going dead.

“That is one strange guy,” Yukari muttered, pulling her top on and settling it.

“Where we going?” asked Chinami, dressing as well.

“You all are going to the dorm, getting cleaned up and hitting the sack,” Yukari ordered. “I'm going to see someone,” she qualified, stepping into her sandals.

“I'll come with you,” Matsuri said.

“Suit yourself, sis,” Yukari said, climbing toward the rough jogging trail that circled the base. “Akane, get them settled. I'll check in with you about that meeting before I go to bed, ok?”

“I'll be in my room,” confirmed her partner, the group swiftly breaking up as they headed toward their destinations. Approaching the gate, Yukari and Matsuri saw that there was, in fact, a guy in a suit waiting by the main gate. He was standing calmly outside the perimeter, as if he would stand there however long it might take.

Seeing the guard in the hut nod to her and her sister, she nodded back. “I'm Yukari Morita,” she said, stopping a few feet from the fence. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Endorsement deals?” blinked Nasuda. Yukari nodded.

“That's what he said, anyway,” she confirmed, sipping her water. The two were heading toward the cafeteria, Yukari having just finished leading the morning exercises. Nasuda was up unusually early, and she had snagged him as he was heading for the administration building. “Didn't he say he was from Infinite Horizons, Limited? They were the ones who wanted to hire you away from us, weren't they?” he asked.

“His card matched the one from before, but he never said anything about switching companies. Just about endorsement deals for myself and my crews,” Yukari waved to various people as she moved to the serving line. Her tray was ready by the time that she got to the serving station, Nasuda picking up an empty tray. Yukari moved along the serving line, since she was talking to her boss as he loaded up his tray. “Honestly, I don't know what to make out of this move.”

“Can't say that I see where they are going with this, either,” admitted her wily boss. “Perhaps they have decided to move from a service-focus to a marketing plan,” he suggested, frowning slightly.

“What do you mean by that?” wondered Yukari.

“There is more than one way to make money in space, Yukari,” Nasuda lectured. “There is the hard way - our way - where we actually sell the service of sending you up to do work on expensive, high-overhead satellites. Infinite Horizons wanted to do that as well last time they spoke with you, but as you know, this is a tight market, with huge risk and high operational costs. Frankly, I am sometimes surprised that we have made it.”

“Yeah, me, too,” snickered Yukari.

“Be that as it may,” Nasuda continued, selecting breakfast components for his tray, “there are other ways to make money on what we do. For example, there is product marketing. Consider this: if they invest in a label for a clothing line, and market it as `the official brand of Yukari Morita, Senior Mission Commander of the SSA', how many people do you think would pay for those clothes compared the same item with a generic brand?”

Yukari shrugged. “I don't know, maybe a few?”

Nasuda shook his head. “Try a significant percentage higher. If one assumes a start-up and overhead model of eleven percent per quarter, and the cost of producing labeled items for their line is, oh, twelve hundred yen an item in a large-share market - say, athletic warm-up jackets or pull-overs - where the average price is eighteen hundred a unit, but their label gives them a premium draw of plus fifteen percent over market, how much do you suppose they are making quarterly?”

“You lost me with the business geek speak,” Yukari grunted. Nasuda hummed.

“If I were Kinoshita, I would explain it to you in launch terminology, but honestly, if you think of this in terms of a rocket, it's the same thing. In that example, they would be selling product placement in the capsule. Is that easier to understand? They aren't using much overhead, but they are still making money off our program,” explained Nasuda. “Just like if you bought licensed sports team apparel for twenty percent over non-licensed cost for the same item. They are not the team doing the playing, nor are they a producer of clothing - they make money by bringing the two together.”

“I think I get it,” Yukari considered. “Sort of like reverse sponsorship, right?” she asked, the two heading for the tables. Her flight teams were already at their normal table, waiting on her.

“Something like that, yes,” nodded her boss.

“I see,” mused Yukari. Nasuda paused.

“Are you thinking of doing it?” he asked her. Yukari considered that.

“Maybe,” she said. “Even with all this work, we're not exactly building a secure financial future for ourselves, are we?” she grinned at her boss. Nasuda sighed.

“Well, I can't say you aren't without some justification in saying that…” he began.

“I like what we do,” Yukari said, patting his shoulder. “Later, Old Man,” she added cheerfully, moving to her table.

“She what?” gaped Yukari.

“I said, Maggie applied for astronaut training at NASA,” Norman said. The blonde mission specialist looked at Yukari over the kitchen table. Yukari was in Tokyo for a week-long meeting that JAXA was hosting. Norman had shown up, fresh from a five week stay on the ISS - where he had run into Yukari more than a few times. He had been told that he was getting re-assigned, and had taken a couple of weeks of vacation. It had not really surprised Yukari to arrive at her mom's place and find Norman there.

“Why would she do that?” frowned Yukari.

“Can't answer that question,” shrugged Norman. Hiroko was in the shower, having taken a couple of days off from work to spend with her daughter; and Norman, no doubt. Yukari was mildly surprised to find that Norman being there didn't particularly bother her. Akane was visiting her family, but she would be spending most of the trip with Yukari in her room. Yukari was more focused on the fact that she had left Natsuko and Chinami in charge of the upcoming jobs with Kotomi and Amari supporting them than she was about the fact that Norman was staying in her mom's room.

“Do you think that NASA will approve her application?” Yukari asked.

“Normally, we wouldn't even have accepted it,” Norman sighed, “but she has solid aptitude marks, her physical condition is good, and there is the fact that she has already been through the SSA's boot camp and visited the ISS,” Norman said, grinning as he saw Yukari immediately scowl.

“Just for the record, she has not been through SSA flight certification,” huffed Yukari. “She only got a minimum training cycle and a ride to and from the ISS - none of which counts as flight training from me!”

“Whatever you say,” Norman replied calmly. Yukari's scowl turned thoughtful.

“Who said she had completed SSA flight training?” she asked.

“Not sure, exactly,” Norman shrugged. “Probably her agent,” he postulated. “Maggie never claimed to have completed training with you, though she did say that you had trained her for the flight to the ISS.”

“I guess NASA will take anyone,” sniped Yukari. Norman shrugged indifferently. “It should be a good learning experience for her,” Yukari murmured, an almost-sneer on her lips. “She'll learn that the SSA and NASA are very different animals.”

“Speaking of that,” Norman cut in smoothly, “how are things with JAXA and you at the meeting?”

“Same old same old,” shrugged the girl. “No different than any other conference we have attended - including the ones with you and the ESA,” added the girl pointedly. “At least the Chinese weren't invited,” grunted Yukari.

Norman frowned softly. “Actually, they were,” he said. Yukari gave him a sharp look.

“What do you mean, they were invited?” she asked - nearly demanded. “If they were invited, why didn't they show?! They usually muscle in on everything space-related, but now, they are invited but don't show? Why not?!”

“Couldn't say, Yukari,” Norman shared. “They have been a lot quieter in the last several months than ever before. Also…” he stopped himself.

“Also what?” Yukari asked.

“You know your pet peeve? The one about the agencies merging?” Norman prompted. Yukari nodded. “They haven't pushed on that issue in nearly a year. No one seems to have a clue why. And I heard from a friend that there has been a lot of `peoples' public projects' going on internally lately.”

“Government programs?” Yukari asked, confirming that she was understanding him correctly. Norman nodded. “What kind?”

Norman shook his head. “Don't know. But it has garnered the interest of the military - to the point where there have been some orbit shifts of critical birds.” Yukari was giving him an icy stare. “What?” he wondered.

“Nothing has been said to us about orbit shifts,” Yukari noted. “Given the number of launches we do, a shift in a bird's orbit could mean losing a crew to a collision. Why the hell didn't you guys at NASA warn us orbits had shifted?!”

“Yukari,” sighed Norman, “I shouldn't even be telling you about the rumors, you know? Besides, we only get the data if it interferes with a launch. There's just no way that the military would tell you guys.”

Yukari was still giving him that same icy stare. “And you guys at NASA have been flying a hell of a lot more `special' missions out to LEO plus three,” noted the girl. “What's the U.S. military doing up there?”

“Military?” Norman began. Yukari leaned closer to him, her expression fixed in stone.

“You aren't the only one who can read a plot, or who knows about things coming and going from space,” she reminded him. “More than once, I have heard talk in the ISS, over the radio and on the ground about the number of missions NASA is putting up compared to the problems of getting supplies, parts and modules for the ISS up. And a couple of months ago, when you all sent up Endeavour and Discovery at the same time, I was working on a communication bird over India. Strange thing, though - Akane spotted a shuttle climbing past the ISS orbit plane and toward LEO plus three. Discovery was delivering parts to the ISS, so that other shuttle had to be Endeavour. And there isn't anything out past LEO plus two, right? So where were you going? Kotomi and Amari said that they didn't see any new parts in the lockers when they went up for the next shift, but both shuttles were back down and empty.”

“I wasn't on either team,” Norman replied.

“I don't care about politics beyond what I have to in order to protect my crews, but you better understand one thing crystal clear, Norman: if one of our launches hits a spy bird that shifted into our flight path and you didn't warn us, you all better pray it's me in that collision and I'm killed instantly. If not, I'll see just how much damage the spirits can cause. Understand?” she almost growled. “Not that that would stop Matsuri from cursing you to hell and back, of course,” she added, straightening back into her seat and reaching for her tea. Norman swallowed. He didn't really believe in curses, of course, but still…

“I think we understand each other, Yukari,” he said, meeting her gaze.

“Good!” Yukari said, wolfing down the last of her toast. “Gotta get dressed and head over to the convention,” she said, rising and putting her dishes in the sink before heading to her room. Fifteen minutes later, she and Akane were heading out, Akane having shown up at Yukari's place a few minutes before the two departed. She had greeted Norman politely.

“Something wrong, Norman?” asked Hiroko, taking the seat that Yukari had occupied and preparing herself a cup of tea for breakfast. “Did Yukari already head out?”

“Yeah, about five minutes ago, Hiroko-chan,” the blonde confirmed. “Akane and she were talking about calling the base, though, so I think they might be late for the first conference lecture,” he added.

“I wouldn't bet on it,” smiled Hiroko. “You know, I think she has warmed up to you recently,” observed the mother.

“You think?” he wondered. Recalling her icy stare when she warned him about endangering her crews, he couldn't help but wonder which one was the real Yukari. “I think she has calmed down about us being together, since she was never really cold to me before,” he said, offering the woman a smile.

“You don't really understand my Yukari,” Hiroko smiled serenely. “She has warmed to you more than she has relaxed about our relationship.”

“I'll take your word for it, Hiroko,” chuckled Norman. “Wonder why she would be more comfortable with it now, though,” he wondered. Hiroko giggled softly.

“If she hasn't said anything to you about it, I certainly won't,” she teased her lover. But it's nice to know that Matsuri has been such a stabilizing influence on her, reflected the woman. Hiroko had not expected that her daughter would end up sleeping with her little sister's husbands, but she wasn't upset about it, either. Seeing the changes that had brought about in her daughter had reassured her that Yukari was growing into a stable woman.

“Maybe if I asked Matsuri, she would tell me what is going on with Yukari,” mused Norman, his tone thoughtful. “After all, she spends more time with Yukari than either of us, and they have always been very close…”

“Mind your own business, Norman,” admonished Hiroko. “You should just be glad that she's calmer about things now.”

“Guess you're right, Hiroko,” Norman agreed. Yukari's mother smiled.

“Of course I am,” she agreed immodestly. “Don't you need to be at the conference, too?” she asked Norman.

“I can play hooky,” he grinned at her. Hiroko smiled, standing. As she did, her robe slipped off her.

“Can't you think of a better way to spend your time than interfering in my daughter's private life?” suggested Hiroko, smiling hungrily at him. Norman licked his lips.

“I think I can figure out another way to pass the time,” he agreed.

Yukari yawned, stretching in the dark. Silently stepping out of the hut, she paused to slip back into her bikini and shorts, collecting her sandals before hopping down to the packed earth in front of the hut. Overhead, the stars were dimming as night began to surrender to day. Hearing a soft sound, she knew that her sister had jumped down from the hut as well. “You know, you can stay with your husbands longer, Matsuri,” she murmured softly.

“Nah,” Matsuri said, securing her tube top. “We are needed at the base, right?” she said, smiling at her older sister. Smiling in return, Yukari headed off toward the trail, jogging steadily. Matsuri easily kept pace with her, the two slipping into single-file as they ran through the rainforest on the narrow foot path that connected the base to the Tariho village.

“Hope the boys won't be upset to wake up alone,” Yukari puffed, following the barely-seen trail more by feel than by sight, since it was pitch black under the triple canopy overhead.

“They're used to it,” Matsuri replied indifferently. “Besides, they were too tired to go again anyway,” added her sister. Yukari shook her head silently. In the months since it had first happened, the flight crews had settled into an almost-routine of visiting the village. It was most common for a flight crew to slip off together, though it was not unheard of for the girls to go singly or in groups larger than two.

Yukari and Matsuri had slipped off the night before almost on a whim. Akane had been working on a final draft for a proposal she wanted to make, as well as having a test in one of her online courses, so she had regretfully declined to join her partner. Kotomi and Amari had spent the night before at the village, and Chinami and Natsuko were prepping for a mission, so it had been the two sisters going to the village alone.

It was not common for Yukari to visit the husbands of her sister compared to her flight teams. Matsuri hadn't told her sister, but her husbands were wondering if Yukari was upset with them for some reason, since she hardly ever came to see them. Matsuri assured them that it wasn't that - it was that Yukari was busy visiting the home of the gods. The Tariho had more or less decided that Yukari was a witch or shaman who served the gods as an intermediary for them, given how often she visited the gods in their own home. Matsuri did nothing to discourage this notion, and Hiroshi actively encouraged it.

Some careful questioning of her crews had revealed to Yukari that her girls were sticking with Matsuri's husbands when they came to the village. She wasn't sure if it was by design or chance, but she felt a little better knowing that it was `in house' as it were. It completely escaped her notice that she no longer found anything strange or wrong with the way things were working out. Yukari herself had only ever been with Matsuri's husbands, since she felt comfortable with them because of their connection to Matsuri.

After nearly a half hour of swift running along the thin, twisty trail, the two saw the glow of the base perimeter up ahead. They reached the gate just as their flight crews were finishing their own running. Walking through the open foot gate, the two waved to the guard on duty and joined the others on the way to the weight room. As Yukari passed the guard hut, she saw the guard motion to her.

Hurrying over to him, she was handed a sealed envelope, with her name written on it. Glancing at it, she asked who it was from. The guard said that just after she and Matsuri had gone out, Yasukawa had delivered the envelope, saying that some guy had asked him to run it out to the base pronto. Yukari had thanked him, opening the envelope and pulling out a single piece of paper. Reading it, she sighed before feeding it into the shredder in the guard shack. Hurrying to the weight room, she caught up with her crews, leading them in the conditioning cycles.

As soon as she was done checking her crew's schedules, she hurried back to the dorm to change clothes, calling Yasukawa on her cell phone as she finished up. He arrived shortly after, and Yukari headed into town. When she reached town, she spotted someone waving to her from the end of the commercial pier. Moving to the person, she found herself on a small fishing boat, which was quickly motoring away from the dock.

“So, what's up with the boat?” Yukari asked. From the wheel, Cindy turned to smile at her.

“Hey, I'm a sailor, remember?” she grinned. Yukari sighed.

“What was so important that you couldn't come tell me on base?” wondered the girl. Cindy shook her head, not saying anything until they were away from the bay and moving slowly along the uninhabited rocky coast between the main town and the SSA's area. Slowing the boat to barely a walking speed, Cindy turned to Yukari.

“Take a look at these,” she said, handing Yukari a tightly-closed manila envelope as she sat beside her on a worn bench after of the wheel. The astronaut quickly unfastened the envelope, finding a folder inside. The folder had a brilliant safety neon orange tab on it, along with a stamp of some sort and some numbers hand-written on it.

“What is this?” she asked, flipping the folder open. Inside were black-and-white photos, enlarged to ten by fourteen and bearing penciled-in notes.

“I was hoping you could tell me what you think it is,” Cindy said quietly. The boat was wallowing along about three klicks off shore, meandering sort of toward the SSA. Yukari glanced at the island, seeing the top of the first tower coming into view in the distance. Eyes back on the photo, she studied it for a minute.

“It sort of looks like our base,” she said. Frowning, she looked closer. “It better not be our base, Cindy,” she grunted.

“Relax,” the older American reassured her. “Do you see a cove anywhere? Or any water, for that matter?” Yukari checked all the photos.

“No,” she concluded. “But it still looks a lot like the SSA,” she insisted.

“Well, that isn't really surprising,” sighed Cindy. “That is the SSA,” she paused, waiting for Yukari to open her mouth to ask before continuing. “The Chinese knock-off of the SSA, of course,” she clarified. “It is an exact copy of the SSA, allowing for terrain and population and the communist system's peculiarities.”

“Where is this?” Yukari asked, studying the picture.

“Doesn't matter,” Cindy dismissed it. “Mainland China is all you need to know about where. Is there a chance you could tell from looking at these if this base is going operational any time soon?” asked the naval officer.

“Don't you have people who do that kind of thing?” wondered Yukari, studying the picture closely, intently.

“Yes,” nodded the American, “those are their notes on the pictures,” she explained. “But, not one of them is as familiar with this subject as you are. So, I would like to see what your thoughts on it might be - to help us calibrate things, as it were.”

“Well, the tower's aren't fitted for the stabilizing arms or for exhaust venting; at least, as far as I can tell,” Yukari noticed. “I don't see any indication of traffic from the LCF to the towers, or from the fuel farm to the VAB, so they can't have rockets ready yet. Other than that, no clue,” Yukari concluded. Cindy nodded, taking the photos and tucking them back into the orange-tabbed folder, which went back into the envelope, which was tightly closed once more. Cindy produced another folder, handing it to Yukari.

Inside this one was another folder with an orange tab, and more photos. Yukari studied the large photos carefully. “Rockets,” she said after a moment. “I'd say that they look like LS5Bs with a few changes,” she suggested.

“My people think that they are liquid-fueled versions of the LS7-class, with similar payload and ballistic profile,” Cindy shared. Yukari grunted.

“Liquid fuel is more expensive, so they're going to lose money,” she predicted. “Also, it requires more handling facilities and personnel.”

“They don't have a lot of choice, really - you are the only company with a caking compound that can produce the performance your rockets get. It is liquid or traditional compounding,” Cindy pronounced. “How about it? Flight-ready?” she asked.

“Like I have any way of telling!” scoffed Yukari, staring at the pictures. “Probably, though,” she said after a moment of intense scrutiny. “That shiny spot is probably frost from the LOX or liquid hydrogen. Probably a bipropellant setup,” she suggested. “If it is LS7-based, I'd say that it could be tested any time, since it seems to be fueled and ready. When was this picture taken?” she asked.

“Doesn't matter,” Cindy said, carefully plucking the photos from her hands and tucking them away. “Last one,” she said, switching envelopes again. Yukari glanced over toward the island. She could see three of the four towers now, along with the perimeter fence and some of the outlaying shoreline.

The third folder - once more with orange tab - held pictures of several young women and a few boys, along with sheets of notes, though there was little way for Yukari to make sense of the notes. “Let me guess,” she said to Cindy, “these are their pilot candidates?”

“We believe so, but can't confirm that as of yet,” Cindy nodded. “Notice anything about them?”

“They're all about the same size and mass as we are,” noticed Yukari immediately. “They look kind of young, though,” frowned the girl.

“Do any of them look familiar to you? Like you might have seen them a few years ago?” suggested Cindy. Yukari frowned, flipping photos slowly. Half-way through the stack, she found a color photo of one of the girls. She was wearing a Communist Red leotard with the stars and sickle of China on the breast. Chalk covered her hands and feet. It hit her like a brick.

“She was in the last Olympics!” Yukari realized. Cindy nodded.

“Correct. Gold-metal gymnast, too,” the woman confirmed. “She was injured a few weeks after the Olympics in a State demonstration ceremony. The injury ended her Olympic career. She was removed from the Olympic training facility, and only reappeared six months ago. Here, this is how she looks now,” Cindy said, selecting a photo and tapping it with her finger. Yukari studied the two side by side.

“What happened to her?” breathed the Japanese woman softly.

“She's obviously stayed in shape,” Cindy said, only to have Yukari shake her head.

“That's not what I mean,” Yukari said. “Look at her eyes. She looks happy in this one, when she was at the Olympics, but now, it's like she's a doll or something.”

“How familiar are you with the Chinese system?” Cindy asked.

“I know that they're Communist, that they have very little freedom, and the state has all the power,” Yukari shrugged.

“When she was injured and removed from the Olympic program,” Cindy said quietly, “her family was kicked out of their home in Shanghai, and moved to a rural farm in a `provisional facility',” Cindy grimaced. “Basically, a place for the government to dispose of people it can't really kill outright because the rest of the world would notice. They work hard to barely survive, and are treated as if they don't exist. Her gold medal is displayed in the Olympic program's main office, but all references to her are gone. We believe that when this thing came along, and they were looking at potential `recruits', they found a new use for her - and others like her.”

“You mean…?” Yukari frowned.

“Yes, Yukari. They were rounded up, shipped off, and told to sacrifice themselves for the people. Her family was moved off the labor farm and set up in a nice apartment in Beijing. Her father now works as an intern in the Peoples' Food Bureau. Her mother is a secretary to the People's Education Bureau. But, our sources say that both have `minders' with them constantly. We can't find any trace of communication between them and her.”

“So, she's working to save her family,” Yukari said softly.

“As well as her own neck, yes,” nodded Cindy. Yukari eyed the photos for a moment longer, then handed the entire thing back to Cindy. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked, her tone a bit harsh.

“It might be that you - or your crews - could end up bumping into them upstairs some day,” Cindy said. “I…think you should know what you would be facing if that happened.”

“What do you mean…?” Yukari started, only to stop.

“I'm just saying, you should remember where the loyalties of these Chinese astronauts will be, should you end up nose-to-nose with them, that's all,” Cindy assured her. “You know, I think your little charade worked far better than we ever thought it might,” she added. Yukari didn't like how that felt, hearing it from Cindy. Looking toward the base, she saw one of the patrol craft that Kurosu had heading toward them.

“Well, thanks for sharing,” Yukari sighed, standing and waving an arm. “But, my ride is here,” she added. “Besides, it's probably not going to happen, because the Chinese can't make any sort of profit using liquid fueled rockets.”

“Yukari,” Cindy said, quietly, “they don't need to make money - remember that.” Yukari frowned.

“Well, it probably won't happen anyway,” she insisted. “It's been fun, but…”

“Yes, I have things to do, too,” Cindy agreed, standing as well. “But one last thing,” she added.

“What now?” wondered Yukari, the patrol craft closing in on them steadily.

“Elections are coming up in a few months, in America,” Cindy said.

“So? I'm not American,” shrugged Yukari.

“True,” nodded Cindy, “but barring a miracle, the current president won't be re-elected, and the one most people believe will win, well, he's a big fan of world government,” Cindy hinted. “Especially of a unified space agency.”

“Yukari! You better see this!” yelled Natsuko, bursting into the conference room in the administration building where Yukari had been discussing some issues with the other department heads. Behind Natsuko came the rest of the flight program, along with some other department personnel.

“We're kind of in the middle of something, Natsuko,” Yukari said, her second-most senior mission commander running to the corner where the media cart was and firing up the equipment. “This better be good,” warned Yukari, though she was more curious than upset. She trusted that Natsuko wouldn't pull something like this without reason.

“It is,” Natsuko said, accessing the shared satellite TV signal through the base network. A moment later, the large LCD display was showing television feeds. Natsuko quickly changed the channel before standing aside. On the screen, there was footage of a rocket roaring through the clouds, though the quality was poor. It was, according to CNN, footage from the home camcorder of a passenger on an international flight, shot from the window of the passenger liner.

“That rocket came from inside China,” Chinami said softly. “Earlier, they said that they had confirmation of source from several different countries. Yukari frowned, recalling what Cindy had said to her on the run-down fishing boat three and a half months ago.

“Do you think that it is manned?” wondered Kotomi. Yukari sighed softly. I really don't want to think about that, she said - if only to herself.

Just then, the news channel broke in with a news update. After a moment of flickering, the screen showed a panel of three Chinese men, impeccably dressed in high-end suits, sitting a table before a huge Chinese flag. The center man meticulously arranged a single sheet of paper before him before speaking. “The People's Republic of China is honored to announce to the world the successful first manned space launch of our new space program. At nine fifty one and seventeen seconds this morning local time, cosmonaut Dao-Ming Wei piloted the Peoples' tai-fung I rocket system in a historic seven-orbit space flight. The people of China look forward to joining the other nations in the development and exploration of space. A proud day for all Chinese, which will be remembered for all time, as comrade Dao-Ming leads the way to the stars.”

The room was dead silent in the conference room of the SSA. The man to the right arranged his paper then read off a short technical propaganda piece about the rocket. Mukai absently jotted down the claimed specs. When the man was done, the last one fussily adjusted his own paper and read from it. It was a two-paragraph statement about the new Bureau of Space Development. The Chinese stated that their program was for `research' purposes and `commercial earnings'. On that note, the press release ended.

In the silent conference room, a cell phone rang. Yukari pulled her phone up, glancing at the screen. Sighing, she moved to the phone by Nasuda, picking it up and dialing a number from her cell phone's display. It was obvious that the other party was waiting. Yukari got right to the point. “How long did you know?” she nearly demanded.

“Less than a day,” came the answer. “What's your move?” wondered the other party.

“I'll get back with you about that,” Yukari said after a moment. She hung up the phone on whatever the other person was saying.

“We're all set, Atlantis,” Yukari radioed the shuttle.

“Roger, Yukari,” came back the voice of the shuttle commander, “might as well duck on in the house while we initialize and verify programming.”

“Roger that,” Yukari said, she and Akane floating to the air lock and cycling into the shuttle's living area from where they had been working on a NASA probe satellite the shuttle was launching. After removing their helmets, the two girls met the crew. Waiting for them by the inner air lock hatch was a familiar face. “Thirsty, Yukari?” asked a smiling Miriam.

“Hey, you didn't say you were on this flight,” Yukari smiled, accepting the water pack from the older astronaut. “Miriam, this is my partner, Akane. Akane, this is Miriam Meyerson; I told you about her and Tashawne Cooke,” she introduced Akane.

“Miriam-san, it's a pleasure to meet you,” Akane replied.

“I heard a lot about you, Akane-chan,” smiled the Israeli. “It's good to finally meet Yukari's minder,” smiled the older woman. Akane blushed.

“It's not like that,” began Akane. Yukari snorted, handing the water pack to Akane.

“She's just teasing me by teasing you, Akane-chan,” Yukari dismissed the remark. “So what are you doing up here? This is just a run-of-the-mill probe launch, right?” she asked.

“Fully one-third of that probe is Israeli-made,” shrugged Miriam. “Guess NASA wanted some to yell at if it fails,” she grinned.

“Nah, we're gonna blame any problems on the SSA,” came the voice of the shuttle commander. Yukari looked up the connecting tunnel to the flight deck, seeing the mission commander floating head-down as he looked at her.

“Try it,” grunted Yukari. Akane glanced at her partner, sucking the last of the water from the pouch. Miriam took the empty water pouch from her, tucking it into a recycle bin.

“Grouchy, Yukari?” Miriam asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

“Got a lot on my mind,” Yukari said.

“Chinese putting the pressure on your company, eh?” the mission commander asked.

“No,” Yukari denied. “They have a long way to go before they are any sort of competition to us,” she said. “But I'm surprised you all aren't more focused on them.”

“Well, like you said,” the man said, glancing away, “they aren't much of a threat right now.” Yukari didn't say anything, her expression cool.

“Um, John-san? What is that other thing in the cargo bay?” Akane spoke up, trying to ease the atmosphere. I wish it were Wayne-san and the others crewing this time, thought the girl. “It doesn't look like supplies for the ISS, and it's all wrapped up with shielding blankets, so…”

“Don't worry about that,” Miriam said. “It's an experiment cask we're carrying during our flight. It has some rats and some fish and some algae in there. We're supposed to leave it alone and fly the mission as if it weren't there, so the lab people back at NASA labs can do whatever they do with experimental specimens.”

“Oh,” Akane replied, interested. “Do you know what they are looking to learn? Is it more research about vascular pressure? Or maybe blood oxygenation in simple circulatory systems?”

“I think it's something about cellular resistance to space radiation,” shrugged Miriam. “We're doing a hop before we go back, taking up to MEO plus two, with the bays open and the radiator system on full before diving back in.”

“If that's the case, why the rad shield blankets?” Yukari asked. Her arm absently draped around Akane's shoulders. Miriam shrugged.

“Maybe that is the point of the experiment, to see if the shield blankets work or not,” suggested the woman.

“Whatever floats your boat,” Yukari dismissed it, checking her watch/suit interface. Nodding to herself, she checked Akane's suit readout. Akane glanced at her, a silent question in her eyes. Yukari gave her a small smile.

“We're coming up on launch of the probe in about six minutes,” a voice from the command deck called. The mission commander ducked back up the tube to the command deck. Miriam touched Yukari's arm, meeting her eyes. Miriam gave the younger girl a tiny head-shake. Yukari glanced at her, but didn't react.

“Let's go see if we can get a good seat for the probe launch,” suggested Miriam, guiding the two to the small observation windows that faced the bay and overhead area. The rest of the crew was there, so the space was kind of tight. Minutes later, the probe was launched from the end of the arm by a tiny spring, spinning slowly as it rose away from the shuttle. When it was several hundred feet from the shuttle, the single engine lit, a cone of fire filling the darkness of space as it sped off.

“Well, mission completed,” Yukari said, stretching her arms. “We'll be heading back now,” she added. Their capsule was latched to the back docking plate of the cargo bay, waiting patiently for them. As they prepared to enter the air lock, the two heard a hiss and whistle over their radios. “What was that?” Yukari demanded, checking her radio.

From the command deck, she heard the commander calling for the two engineers to get to the deck fast. Akane glanced at Yukari, who nodded. Silently, the two locked their helmets to their hard-seal collars, though they left the faceplates open for the moment. Curious, they poked their heads up to check on the command deck. The NASA crew was clustered around some panels - a couple of which were open, revealing familiar circuitry - while others were reading from checklists. There was no panic, of course, and though the crew of the shuttle was clearly working fast, they didn't seem overly concerned.

“Coming through,” said a crewman, wiggling past the girl.

“You two better stay put for the time being,” the mission commander said, spotting the two. He noticed that their helmets were on. Grinning at them, he added “don't worry - we're not breached or in emergency.”

“If you were, you would all be desperately trying to get into your suits,” Yukari replied casually. Not that they would make it in the event of a breach, collision or a catastrophic failure, she left unsaid. The NASA suits were just too bulky and involved to get into in the time such an event would allow.

“No, we'd be diving for the emergency enclosure capsules,” he said, pointing to the back corner of the deck. Turning, Yukari saw that two bright orange squares were strapped to a section of the cabin. She recognized them, of course. Her company made and sold them.

“I see NASA decided they were worth the money for more than the ISS,” Yukari smiled.

“After that demonstration last year, nearly the entire flight program signed a petition to assign shuttle space for them,” the commander shared. Yukari nodded.

“Smart move,” she approved. The SSA's own capsules were equipped with a single two-person envelope for gravest orbital emergencies.

“Checklist complete,” reported the head of the flight crew, interrupting their discussion.

“How are we?” the commander asked.

“Lost aux radio, blew some fuses in environmental non-critical electrical systems, and the low-gain is malfunctioning. Other than that, we're ok,” the man reported. “All flight systems are nominal, emergency back-ups are nominal and life support is nominal.”

“Ok, so what happened?” Yukari cut in. The mission commander glanced at his crew for a moment.

“Your radios working?” he asked the two. Yukari checked her radio. After the quick-test cycled, she got the `pass' tone in her ear.

“Self-test clears,” shrugged the girl. Akane nodded.

“Same, but there's static in the downlink,” she worried. Yukari checked her radio switch, then tapped her mic.

“Solomon, Papaya calling radio check,” she called. She got a little more whistle and growl before a garbled voice crackled and hissed. “Negative copy, Matsuri,” she called again, “repeat, negative copy, Matsuri.”

The radio hissed, popped and then squealed in her hear. “Solomon to Papaya, how copy? Repeat, Solomon to Papaya, do you read, Papaya?”

“Read you five by, Matsuri,” Yukari replied. Seeing a small light on Akane's pack, she frowned. “Matsuri, I'm showing emergency high-band channel active, can you confirm?”

“Confirmed, Yukari. Primary channel transceiver is down. How are you and Akane?” Matsuri reported calmly.

“We're in the shuttle, Matsuri. What happened? The shuttle lost a radio, too,” she noted.

“Dunno,” Yukari could practically see Matsuri shrug. Smiling faintly, she glanced at Akane, seeing the girl watching her. She was proud that Akane didn't show a single trace of any worry or concern. Patting Akane's shoulder, she smiled at her partner. “Hold on, Papaya, Old Man is on the phone.”

“Roger, Solomon. Standing by,” Yukari confirmed. Her attention turned back to the NASA crew. “So? You got anything to share?” challenged the girl.

“It's just a guess,” the pilot began, “but what happened was nearly textbook for an EMP shot. Do you know what…?”

“Electromagnetic Pulse,” Yukari said. “Usually associated with nuclear detonations, it's a pulse of electromagnetic radiation that tends to cook circuitry that isn't shielded. That what you wanted to know if I knew?”

“They're Japanese,” shrugged the mission commander, seeing the look on his pilot's face.

“Well, that's probably what happened,” the man shrugged.

“Our radios are shielded from radiation,” Yukari replied. “And I know your systems are hardened as well. What happened?”

“Theoretically, if a nuclear fusion device went off in the upper atmosphere, it could overcome most hardening on space craft,” said the copilot. Yukari felt Akane's hand squeeze her forearm. She squeezed Akane's shoulder in response. The radio in the shuttle chirped, and the mission commander picked up the headset. After nearly a minute, he pulled off the radio.

“Well,” he said to the two, “Mission Control just confirmed a nuclear explosion in the extreme upper atmosphere - probably above two hundred klicks. Estimates right now are about three to five kiloton yield fusion device.”

“Did the ISS get a piece of this as well?” asked Yukari, mentally estimating the position of the station.

“Mission Control confirmed that they were ok, but they lost more than we did. You two might want to check your capsule,” suggested the mission commander for the shuttle mission.

“One more question,” Yukari said, looking him in the eyes. “Who shot the nuke?”

“Welcome back, Mingxia,” Yukari smiled at the cousin of Han Li, the girl nearly jumping out of the taxi. Han Li more sedately exited the taxi.

“Yukari! I'm glad to be back!” chirped the Chinese girl. Yukari smiled at her enthusiasm.

“How long are you staying this time?” asked Yukari, waving the two through the small gate. The guard met them, handing them their visitor's passes.

“Actually, I'm here for good,” Mingxia said, grinning. “I graduated last week, and I have moved here full time.” Yukari blinked.

“Really? Why?” she wondered.

“Because this is where the action is,” Mingxia replied. “And I might be able to get a chance to fly under you, Yukari,” added the girl. Yukari glanced at Han Li - standing behind her cousin and gesturing an apology - before focusing back on Mingxia.

“We don't have any open slots, Mingxia,” Yukari warned her.

“That's fine - sooner or later you will need more astronauts, right?” she said. “If I can, I want to train with your crews and work on base - I can do a lot of things, and will do anything that needs doing!” enticed Mingxia. “I figure that if I am already training with you and here on base, and a spot comes open, I'll be first choice,” she smiled.

“And if that can't happen?” Yukari wondered. Mingxia shrugged.

“Well, Uncle said he could use another waitress in the restaurant,” she revealed her back-up plan.

“Mingxia, you back for more?” came Natsuko's voice. Yukari glanced to the side, seeing Natsuko and Chinami approaching the group. “Not very bright are you?” grinned the girl.

“Hey, if someone like you can fly rockets, anyone can,” snorted Mingxia. Yukari had found that Mingxia fit in very well with her crews, being well within the personalities of her current program personnel.

“I'll make you quit yet,” Natsuko said ominously. Mingxia smiled back sweetly.

“Only way you could make me quit is to kill me,” she replied easily. “Even that might not be enough,” she added.

“What are you two doing here?” Yukari asked her second-senior crew.

“We just came to see who Yasukawa dropped off,” Chinami replied. “Old Man said that a new employee was supposed to be coming today, but we can't be desperate enough to hire her,” she said, smirking at Mingxia.

“She's not who we are expecting,” Yukari said. Glancing at her watch, she glanced at her two. “But, since you two are here, take Ming to the simulator and see if she actually retained anything from her last visit,” she directed.

Chinami and Natsuko leered at Ming, who smirked back at them aggressively. “Gladly,” purred Natsuko.

“Bring it on, Natsuko,” Mingxia retorted, following the two toward the simulator building. Han Li started to follow her cousin, but Yukari touched her arm, tossing her head the other direction.

“Walk with me a minute, Han Li?” she said softly. Han Li nodded. The two moved off toward the other end of the base, past launch pad four. Yukari didn't want anyone to interrupt her while she talked to the waitress about something she had been thinking about for a while.

When Ibari arrived two hours later, the first person to greet him was Akane, who had gone looking for her partner. To his disappointment, she was no more aware of him than she had been when she had failed to notice his attempt to ask her out. Still, he was glad to be back. Entering the cafeteria with Akane, he found himself seized and dragged to the engineering team's table. The flight program girls called out greetings, but none of them seemed overly interested in his return. It wasn't until he was leaving the cafeteria - or more accurately, being dragged out by the assembly crew - that he realized that he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Yukari Morita, senior flight program head.

“Guava, this is Solomon.”

Natsuko blinked, turning to look at Chinami, who was about two meters from her, floating next to their capsule, her hands full of a large solar shield she was unfolding so she and Natsuko could wrap it around the electronics bay of the bird they were working on. “Solomon, this is Guava, read you five by, over,” Natsuko radioed back.

“Time to completion of mission?” came the clipped voice from the ground.

“Estimate twenty minutes to a half hour, boss,” Natsuko replied. “What's up, Yukari-sempai?” she asked. Yukari on the radio from mission control was never a good thing for one reason or another.

“Make it march, Natsuko,” Yukari came back. “I need you two back on base as fast as possible. And when you de-orbit, I need you to shift to a polar-drop loop. I have your burn table for you. Call when you wrap the bird. Understood?” her boss asked, her tone clipped even over the radio.

“Roger, Solomon,” Natsuko confirmed. “Is there a problem? Over.”

“Just get back to down here fast,” Yukari said. “And Natsuko,” added the senior pilot, “watch yourself on approach.”

“Yukari-sempai, you are scaring me,” Chinami joined the conversation. “What is going on?”

“Another nuke was launched, but the rocket malfunctioned,” came Kinoshita's voice. “NASA has issued emergency orders for their shuttle to cancel re-entry and get to the ISS - just in case. We need you two back as quick as possible for the same reasons.”

“China again?” Natsuko groaned. Damn it! she cursed silently even as she headed to Chinami, the two beginning to work on the shield blanket.

“We'll talk when you're back groundside,” Nasuda cut in.

“Focus on your work, do the job, and come home,” Yukari directed. “No mistakes. We clear? Natsuko? Chinami?”

“Clear, Yukari-sempai,” Natsuko confirmed.

“Clear, Yukari-sempai,” Chinami echoed.

“I'm on the radio until you come home. Solomon out,” Yukari said. After a moment, the two began to attach the first edge of the shield material. Neither said a word as they worked as quickly as possible, though both instinctively followed the safety protocol that Yukari had hammered into their heads from the very first day. Eighteen minutes later, Natsuko closed the last lock clip, quickly surveying the job as she filmed the completed mission.

“Solomon, this is Guava, mission complete,” she radioed.

“Guava, we got the footage,” confirmed Yukari. “Get back in the capsule, and call me for the burn table and orbital data soonest,” her boss ordered.

“Roger that, Solomon,” Natsuko said, Chinami already inside the capsule and throwing switches to bring the Guava out of stand-by. After a final look, Natsuko slipped in, swiftly re-coiling her lines, stowing them and locking into her seat. “Where are we, Chinami?” she called, re-pressurizing the cabin.

“Ready in ten seconds to input new burn table,” Chinami said, releasing the arm and securing it.

“Bringing her back from bird,” Natsuko reported, caressing the stick, firing minimal impulse from the forward OMS vents to bring them back from the bird. “Solomon, ready for burn table,” she radioed base.

Yukari reeled off the burn table and orbital declination, Chinami jotting it down on her pad before reading it back to Yukari for confirmation. When Yukari confirmed, Natsuko took the pad, punching in the data into the computer. Chinami, meanwhile, checked the orbit data against the orbit chart, independently checking the calculations. Once more, SOP for safety under Yukari Morita's command.

“Solomon, new burn programmed, we are go for de-orbit,” Natsuko reported to her boss.

“Do it,” was all Yukari said. Natsuko sucked in a breath, exhaled, and manipulated the stick.

“We're gone, Chinami-chan,” murmured the girl, the OMS firing rapidly under her experienced yet delicate touch. Light touch, delicate feel, Yukari's voice played in her mind from her very first time in orbit. For the rest of the orbit shift and de-cel burn, the only thing said aloud in the Guava was checklist and technical items.

Twenty seven minutes later, the capsule landed in the ocean, and Natsuko popped the hatch, she and Chinami looking around. They already knew that the recovery chopper was on its way, so they weren't overly worried. The sky was slightly overcast, and there was a bit more surf than normal, but nothing too severe. To their surprise, the first aircraft they saw was not their recovery helicopter, but a pair of fighter jets roaring by overhead. The military aircraft swung around and made another pass, much lower this time.

“What is going on?” wondered Natsuko, trying to find a marking on the fighters.

“I don't know, but I don't like it,” Chinami said, the jets making another pass, slower this time. Natsuko spotted the markings on the wings. “That's American markings,” she noted.

“American? What is the American Navy doing this close to the Solomon Islands?” wondered Chinami.

“Didn't Cindy say that the US was the only nation with a standing pacific fleet with multiple aircraft carriers?” Natsuko mused. The jets slowly circled the capsule as it bobbed in the swells.

“I wasn't paying much attention,” admitted Chinami. “Thank Kami, there's the chopper,” she added, pointing. Coming toward them was their recovery chopper. It was easy to spot since it was painted safety orange, neon rescue red and had a reflective belly in silver. There was nothing stealthy about it; but then, it was no longer a military bird. As the chopper flared about the capsule and the recovery diver slid into the water to get the girls in the recovery sling and then hook the haul line to the recovery ring on the capsule, the fighter jets made a final circle, waggled their wings, and roared off.

Reaching the base, they were greeted at the chopper pad by Yukari. She tossed her head, and her two followed her as she led them to medical. Satsuki quickly checked them over, ran the checklist at high speed, and kicked them out. Yukari helped them peel off their suits as Akane arrived with bikinis for them. “What is going on?” asked Natsuko as the two swiftly dressed in the small swimsuits.

“Just follow me,” Yukari said, moving toward the administration building. Natsuko felt Chinami nudge her, and she looked where her partner pointed. The guards were carrying slung M16s as they actively patrolled the base fence. Looking at the armored vehicle, she saw that a machinegun was mounted on it. Yukari led them into the administration building, down a hall, and into the main conference room.

The senior department heads were all there, watching the TV. To her surprise, Natsuko spotted Cindy in the corner of the room. Cindy nodded at her and Chinami. “Glad you two are back safe,” Nasuda said.

“So are we, but what is going on?” asked Natsuko, taking a seat next to Yukari at the table.

“Ballistic tracking confirms that the first nuke and the latest one came from the area around China and North Korea's border,” Cindy spoke up. “The Chinese have adamantly denied that they fired a nuke, and given the damage they took, the US is somewhat inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt,” continued the American naval officer. “However, we have advanced elements of the Seventh into the China Sea, and Japan's Maritime self-defense force is fully mobilized. We have monitored troop movement inside China; large troop movements. Inquiries have been ignored, so the Pentagon has treated this as a possible aggressive move. South Korea is braced, and troops are being gathered to rush to their aid if necessary.”

“You mean…a war could break out?” breathed Chinami.

“It's possible,” admitted Cindy. “It really comes down to exactly where those nukes came from, and what China does next,” she added.

“I didn't want you two getting mixed up in a shooting war,” Yukari said softly, touching Natsuko's arm.

“Then, the shuttle was ordered to the ISS in case…” Chinami said slowly. Akane nodded.

“If a nuke gets close enough, the station could be compromised. With the shuttle, the entire crew can be evacuated back to Earth in one shot,” confirmed the girl.

“Oh, Kami,” breathed Amari, “my family is in Tokyo,” began the girl. Kotomi squeezed her shoulder.

“Amari,” her mission commander said, her tone calm. “Stay calm; this might not be more than some sword-rattling.”

“We're half a hemisphere away,” Natsuko began, trying her best not to think about her own family and how close they were to a flash point, “why are the guards armed now?” she asked.

“A war can be a convenient time to acquire things,” Cindy said softly. “It's better not to assume anything.” Yukari said nothing. Matsuri wasn't smiling.

“You hearing anything, Matsuri?” murmured Yukari to her sister.

“The spirits are restless,” her sister replied, just as softly.

“Ok,” Yukari said firmly, standing and facing her crews. “All jobs are on hold - no exceptions. We can't do anything about the situation right now, so I'm putting us on training cycles and allowing six extra hours a day for classes. We might as well make the best of this period. Right now, I want you all to try and reach your families - especially you two, Natsuko, Chinami. Make sure that you tell them that you are safe and sound. Then, we're going to get some supper. Between then and bedtime, you can either sit here, watching TV and worrying yourself sick, or we can find something to occupy ourselves.” With that said, she made her way out of the room, her teams following her lead.

When the girls were gone, Cindy glanced at Nasuda. “You are lucky you found her first,” Cindy said, smiling.

“Don't I know it,” the man replied. On the TV, a newsflash broke. North Korea claimed that the nukes were a test of their `self defense devices'. Cindy sighed softly.

“That tears it,” she murmured, slipping out of the room, a secure phone in her hand.

The SSA had watched the war on the TV. The entire thing had taken only thirteen days. As far as actual combat went, the fighting was done in barely eighty hours. China had said it was `negotiating' with North Korea about the nuclear incident, and insisted that the rest of the world not `interfere' with the negotiations. America had shifted nearly the entire might of the Seventh fleet into close-hold positions, just east of Japanese waters, while NATO and SEATO had raised their defensive postures as well. Russia had shifted troops in response to China's shifts.

All the while, the `negotiations' continued in total silence. Twice, North Korea had begun to broadcast a speech by its leader, only to have the station mysteriously go off the air. Tensions in South Korea and Japan were extremely high. Massive numbers of people were restlessly moving within and without Japan. It was a fine time to take that trip to America or Australia or Canada or anywhere where the people felt they wouldn't be in reach of North Korea nukes or Chinese troops.

After eight days of this nerve-destroying situation, North Korea had suddenly announced that they would tolerate no foreign interference in their `state matters' and were prepared to `defend' themselves with nuclear weapons if any nation `interfered'. This was widely regarded as anyone not cowering in fear of their revealed nuclear status. The United Nations had declared them a rogue nation and passed a total embargo resolution. No food, no arms, no power, no technology, nothing at all was to go in or come out of North Korea. Of course, it was a case of too little, too late.

Claiming the embargo was a `genocidal attack' by the `corrupt capitalist West', North Korea declared it was at war with America. This meant that it was also at war with nearly the entire world. The broadcast had not even finished when those fateful eighty hours began. China had - against all expectations - warned the allies not to interfere as it threw what Cindy said was a `military sucker-punch'. Wave after wave after wave of Chinese fighters and bombers laid a carpet of bombs over practically every inch of every military installation, bridge, power generator station, switchboard center, train yard, road intersection and government building. The planes had been on relay, three flights going in, and three coming out, non-stop for a full day. Losses from anti-aircraft guns and missiles had been called `minimal' by the Chinese. Cindy said US estimates were about one hundred and fifty planes.

Even as the last wave of the air war roared into the smoke-blackened skies of North Korea, Chinese troops poured over the border, led by armored divisions and backed by air and artillery, they smashed any and all resistance flat. Amphibious landings were made on both coasts, increasing the pressure on North Korea. Journalists at the DMZ reported that orders had been given to the troops to prepare for attack, but not to cross the DMZ without explicit orders. As they reported live, the SSA personnel could hear the faint booms and thuds of ordnance going off.

The Chinese troops had seized what was left of Pyongyang nineteen hours after they crossed the border. It took the Chinese just nine hours to reach the DMZ. For a heart-stopping moment, the girls wondered if the Chinese tanks would roll right into the DMZ, but at the last moment, the tanks had stopped, barely a meter from the North Korean side of the DMZ. There, the armor and infantry had take up positions, staring at the South Korean side silently. For the last twenty eight hours of the war, the Chinese had been engaged in `pacification and inspection' maneuvers. Almost to the second, the Chinese had announced that the `situation' was over eighty hours after it started.

Of course, that just meant the invasion and occupation. The allies had demanded to be allowed to inspect the condition of North Korea, but the Chinese had refused. The official party line was that the army had suffered `moderate' losses and was collecting its dead and `assisting' the civilians. Cindy had once more shared the US estimate of losses for the Chinese army. According to the best analysis of the JCOS, the Chinese had lost over eighty main battle tanks and close to four thousand infantry troops. The North Korean side had taken higher losses. Apparently, Cindy had said softly, the Chinese were in no hurry to take prisoners. Satellite images had shown rows of dead soldiers in what is common when mass executions are done. Estimates were as high as eighty percent of North Korea soldiers were dead.

When the US gave China an ultimatum to either allow UN inspectors to survey the battle fields or face embargos from the world body, the Chinese had surprised the world again. They went limp. Without a word, the Chinese troops had withdrawn back into China with an efficiency that smelled of pre-laid plans. Most puzzling of all was that before the first group of multi-national inspectors could even land, shortwave radio transmissions from North Korea started claiming that the country was no longer a communist state, and wanted international humanitarian aid and assistance in forming a democratic government.

This move completely baffled Cindy. It made no kind of sense whatsoever. She practically gave a dissertation on why China shouldn't have withdrawn and how it was impossible for a government to form that fast under war time conditions. Everything she and the rest of the world had been expecting had been totally thrown into disarray. `It just doesn't make a damn bit of fucking sense!' was something Cindy said more than once to the SSA.

Sense or not, the inspectors didn't find anything. Other than bombed out, burned out and demolished facilities, there was no trace of the nuclear missile program the world knew North Korea had had. The inspectors had found most of the former regime's bosses dead - including the head nutcase who had mouthed off and started it all. He was found hung and shot from what was left of his government building in the capital. The new `government' had greeted the inspectors, and as far as any nation could tell, they were genuine North Korean citizens, and they honestly wanted help rebuilding and setting up elections. Unable to think of a reason not to, the UN had agreed. China - known for sharing food with North Korea - sent in train loads of food and boxcars of simple clothes, but refused to release any of the records of the short war. The entire world was left scratching their collective heads about what had just happened.