Rocket Girls: The Last Planet

by Housuke Nojiri

  “What’s that?”

  “That’s where everyone sings and dances, and men choose good women. The women decorate themselves and shake their hips and busts to attract the men. Oh, it’s lots of fun.”

  “Erm…I guess that sounds similar,” Yukari agreed, a vivid image rising in her mind of tribal people in a circle, beating on drums. “My point is, if we’re going to try to get another high school girl out on this island, we need a disco, at least. You saw what it was like in Yokohama, right? There are boutiques and accessory shops and fast food and all kinds of stuff like that. Here, there’s, well, this!”

  Yukari gestured across the scene in front of them.

  Palm trees. White sand. Coral reefs. The South Pacific.

  “Sure, it’s beautiful when you first get here, but the ‘ooh’ factor only lasts a couple days. No one is going to stay here long if there isn’t a real potential for sustained fun, you know what I mean?”

  “But you’re here, Yukari.”

  “I don’t have anyplace to go home to.”

  “Hoi?”

  “I got kicked out of school, remember?”

  “Oh.” Matsuri made a sort of confused half smile. She reached down and pulled something resembling a rockfish, baked whole, from beside their little campfire. “Perfectly done!” she declared.

  “Yeah.”

  Matsuri took a bite of the fish and passed it to Yukari.

  It didn’t taste bad once you got used to it, but boy did she miss the pizza back in Yokohama. Yukari checked the Omega Speedmaster on her left wrist. Lunch break would be over soon. “Guess we should be heading back.”

  Yukari slipped a light jacket on over her swimsuit and pressed the button on her transceiver. “Hi there, security? Pick up, please.”

  “Roger. We’re on our way.”

  A short while later, a Humvee appeared down the beach. Using base security as a taxi service was one of the perks of being an astronaut.

  With the entire future of the SSA resting on their shoulders, Yukari and Matsuri could get away with quite a bit. As long as they had a reasonable excuse, they could take chopper rides to the Chinatown on the other side of the island and use the private Gulfstream jet to go shopping in Australia. If they tried to pull a stunt like that as public officials in Japan, there would have been a firestorm of criticism, but here where the media rarely trod, there was no one to watch them.

  The people on base called it “Solomon sickness”: a feeling that grew with time spent on the islands that it was okay to do whatever you liked as long as you could get away with it. It was a pretty pleasant condition, as sicknesses went.

  The Humvee drove past the launch platform and onto the two-kilometer-long road that went straight from the launching pad to the vehicle assembly building.

  The white, crushed-coral pavement shimmered in the heat. Palm trees stood to either side of the road, like some ritzy boulevard in an exotic city—but here there was no one else but them.

  The CB radio on the dashboard squawked.

  “Car 5, Car 5, what’s your current position?”

  “Just passed the VAB, over.”

  “Mind stopping by the front gate? We’ve got a visitor there who won’t budge.”

  “Roger that.”

  The driver returned his radio mic back to the dashboard and said to Yukari, “Sounds like we’re going to take a little detour if that’s all right.”

  “Sure. What’s this ‘visitor who won’t budge’ all about?”

  “Probably a local taro-root salesman. They’re pretty persistent.”

  “You think?”

  Up ahead, a red-and-white striped crossing bar came into view. Off to the right of the road stood a small guard post and a stand of the broad-leaved tropical trees that grew all over the island.

  Yukari spotted two people in the shade of the trees.

  One, standing, was clearly a security guard, and the other—probably the visitor—was sitting on the ground. She wore a skirt, and her head hung slumped down between pale white shoulders. A wide-brimmed hat covered her face from view.

  The Humvee stopped and the guard walked over to them. “It’s a girl. Just arrived here by taxi. Seems like she got a little carsick—that is, the driver tells me that by the time she arrived at the port in Sanchago, she was already half-dead with motion sickness. I doubt the ride here made it any better.”

  When civilians visited the island, they had to take a rusty old ferry that left once every three days from Guadalcanal. Once they arrived, they had to take the sole taxi on the island over the mountains along twenty kilometers of dirt road. Anyone who wasn’t riding in a Humvee or other vehicle made for off-roading was in for a nightmarish trip in the “taxi,” which in this case was a makeshift collection of scrapped Datsun parts that might as well have had a bumper sticker reading AUTOMOBILE INSPECTION? WHAT’S THAT?

  The security guard jumped out of the Humvee and knelt in front of the girl. Her hat shifted and she looked up, revealing her face.

  Yukari practically leapt out of the car. “Akane! What in the name—”

  Akane Miura’s eyes swam up to Yukari. “Well,” she croaked, “I’m here.”

  “I can see you’re here! But why?”

  “I thought…I thought I might become an astronaut.”

  “For real? But what about school?”

  “I dropped out. There’s no going back,” she said, her head slumping forward again.

  [ACT 3]

  AFRAID THAT ASAHIKAWA would start endurance tests on the girl if they took her to the infirmary, Yukari decided instead to take Akane to her own room in the dormitory. Once Akane had lain down on the bed and drunk some water, the color returned to her cheeks and she seemed to recover a bit.

  “You still alive?” Yukari asked.

  “Mostly.” Akane slowly sat up.

  Yukari and Matsuri brought chairs up to the bedside and joined her. Yukari offered her some coconut milk with tapioca, but Akane didn’t seem interested.

  Her stomach’s still turning somersaults.

  “I have to admit, this is a complete surprise.”

  “I’m sorry. I thought that if I called, you might tell me not to come.”

  “No need to apologize. I’m really happy you’re here.”

  “Really?” Akane said.

  “Really. You’re the first person I actually invited, you know.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s a relief.” A smile like a spring sunbeam spread across Akane’s face.

  “You really dropped out of school?”

  “Yeah.”

  Akane began to relate the tale of how the principal and the guidance counselor had chewed her out. At first, Yukari had just sighed inwardly, but as Akane went on, she felt her anger growing.

  “They just kept repeating that it’s against the rules to leave school while class is in session. I couldn’t believe they didn’t seem to care at all about the goldfish.”

  “Man, what’s with that guy? He’s always like that!”

  “Here I was saving the goldfish and making a contribution to science, and they treated me like I was some kind of delinquent.” Akane was getting angry too. “Teachers shouldn’t do that.”

  “Yeah, he should be the one getting kicked out!”

  “So I let him have it.”

  “All right! You go girl!”

  “I told him I would leave school for a while to see what I might be able to learn in the outside world.”

  The wind dropped out of Yukari’s sails.

  “I’ve never lost my temper before then,” Akane said, still excited. “I think I even surprised myself.”

  That was an awfully rational thing for someone losing their temper to say, Yukari thought, but what she said was, “Didn’t your parents object?”

  “Oh, they were totally against it.” Akane stuck out her tongue. (Yukari: Ha! Cute!) “So I went on a hunger strike for three days in my room, and finally my father said he would ‘give me a year to figure things out.�
�� They agreed to just pretend I’d gotten sick or something.”

  “Whatever works.”

  “Well, I’m not sure what’s going to happen a year from now. I’m not sure what I’ll learn, either.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure you can get an extension,” Matsuri said, joining the conversation. “Yukari was only going to be here for half a year at first, you know.”

  “Hey!” Yukari frowned.

  “Of course,” Akane said, “I don’t know if they’ll hire me yet or not.”

  “Both of us will vouch for you!” Yukari said, grinning. “They’ll take you for sure.”

  “I’m not very tough…”

  “Leave that to us!” Yukari grabbed Akane by the hands. “We’re not going to let you fail, got it? I’m taking you to space, promise!”

  “Yukari…” Tears shone in Akane’s eyes. “Thank you.”

  “You can thank me after liftoff.”

  Akane nodded. “So, this seems kind of funny to ask now, but how do I apply to become an astronaut?”

  “There’s no real set procedure. I guess talking to the director would be the quickest route. Can you walk?”

  “I think so…” Akane stood, a little shaky, and stepped away from the bed.

  Yukari picked up an intercom and punched in the number for the director’s office. “It’s Yukari. We have an applicant here. Right…the genius girl who saved the goldfish. Okay.” She set down the receiver. “They’ll see you at once.”

  Akane nodded and gulped.

  Nasuda’s office was about as far away, décor-wise, as you could get from the principal’s office at Nellis Academy. There wasn’t a single bit of adornment in the place. It was all steel desks piled with documents, a dry-erase board, bookshelves, and an old coffee maker with some chipped cups for guests. With the exception of the large photo of a rocket hanging on the wall, it could have been an office in any small company.

  A man and a woman sat at the desk across from the door.

  The man was in his sixties, bald save for a small patch of hair at the very top of his head and intensely black eyebrows. A wild light in his eyes shone through round, silver-rimmed glasses.

  The woman was no older than thirty. She had rich black hair and wore a lab coat over a tight miniskirt. Red high heels stuck out from beneath the desk, a spot of color in the otherwise drab office.

  The aging boss and his trophy secretary, Yukari thought. As if.

  Nasuda spoke first. “Thanks for coming. I’m Nasuda, the director here. My associate is our chief medical examiner, Satsuki Asahikawa. She’s in charge of astronaut training and health maintenance.”

  “Akane Miura,” Akane introduced herself, bowing so low her hair fell down over the top of her head. “I’ve come to apply for the position of astronaut.”

  “We’ve heard about you from Yukari. Sounds like you did quite well for those goldfish.”

  “It was nothing,” she began, then hastily added, “that is, I think that if I became an astronaut, I could make myself very useful in a variety of situations.”

  “I see.” Nasuda glanced over at Satsuki.

  She leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear. “Thirty-six kilos.”

  “Measurements?”

  “Height, 153 centimeters. Her measurements are seventy-four, fifty-two, seventy-five.”

  “No complaints here, then.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions. I’m worried about her stamina.”

  “Right.”

  It was a remarkable talent of Satsuki’s that she could glance at a person and immediately gauge their weight, size, and general level of fitness.

  “Miss Miura, thank you for coming all this way,” Nasuda said, turning back to their applicant. “I’m sure you’re tired from your trip, so we’ll begin the examinations tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  “Satsuki will be taking care of you while you’re here. Our medical examination can be a little hard at times, but hang in there. We’ll put you up at the guesthouse. Don’t get excited, it’s just a room, and pretty plain at that. That okay?”

  “That will be fine.” She turned to Satsuki. “I look forward to working with you, ma’am.”

  “Likewise, Akane,” Satsuki replied, a mischievous smile on her lips.

  I guess it wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it would be, Yukari thought. For her and Matsuri getting a job had been as simple as walking in the building. Now she was starting to worry. I really hope they take her.

  [ACT 4]

  THE ASTRONAUT TRAINING center was a three-story building off to one side of the main complex.

  There Akane spent the entire following day. It was not long into her medical exam that Akane realized just how powerful Satsuki Asahikawa was—at least here, in her own domain.

  She measured Akane’s height, her weight, her chest size, her inseam, gripping power, eyesight, ability to distinguish colors, hearing, lung capacity—so far, nothing was all that different from a standard health exam, if a bit more rushed.

  Then Satsuki stripped her down to her underwear, put a respiration mask on her mouth, placed electrodes all over her body, and put her on an ergometer, which was something like an exercise bicycle. She ran out of breath after ten minutes. After thirty minutes, she felt dizzy and slumped over the handlebars.

  “What’s wrong?” Satsuki asked, a look of despair on her face. “Giving up so soon?”

  Akane swallowed. “N-no, of course not. I’m…I’m fine.”

  “Really? You’re really fine?”

  “Yes. Yes, I’m fine.”

  “You’re really really sure you’re fine?”

  “Yes, I’m perfectly fine!” Akane forced a smile.

  “That’s what I like to hear!” Satsuki narrowed her eyes. “Next up is the decompression chamber, I think.”

  Practically skipping with excitement, Satsuki led Akane into another room.

  This room was shaped like a cylindrical tube, with just enough space for a person to walk in a circle. The walls were made of thick stainless steel.

  “In here we can adjust the air pressure however we want in order to test your adaptability. I’ll have you sit down, and I’ll leave the room, but you can talk to me on the intercom there. If you feel like you can’t take it anymore, just tell me. You’ll also have a deadman’s switch—but remember, stick it out as long as you can or you won’t have much hope of becoming an astronaut.”

  The deadman’s switch was held in the right hand. She was supposed to press down the button and keep it down. Were she to lose consciousness, her thumb would lift off the switch and alert the controller, and the pressure would normalize.

  Akane went into the chamber and sat down on the lone chair.

  “You’re all set. Good luck!”

  “Thanks.”

  Behind her, the heavy steel hatch shut with a thunk. There was a small round porthole through which Akane could watch Satsuki at the controls.

  She’s enjoying this.

  Akane recollected what Yukari and Matsuri had told her about the chief medical examiner the night before.

  “Keep a close eye on Satsuki,” Yukari warned her. “She can be vicious.”

  Matsuri nodded emphatically.

  “I did a lot of training for track, and Matsuri grew up here in the jungle, so we both made it through, but it wasn’t easy.”

  “How so?” Akane asked.

  “Oh, I must have lost consciousness five or six times total.”

  Akane was confused. “Wait, but it’s a medical examination, right?”

  “In theory.”

  “What is it really then?”

  “Human experimentation. She wants to see just how much we can take.”

  Akane sighed.

  “As soon as Satsuki sees you can take whatever she’s dishing out, she escalates.”

  “What exactly are we talking about here?”

  Yukari went through the various trials in explicit, grueling detail.

  Akane
felt the blood drain from her face. “Is there like a minimum required performance on each test? A score you have to get or you fail?”

  “That’s what she won’t tell you. Not even if you ask.”

  “Then how am I supposed to prepare?” Akane was starting to panic. She had a great deal of confidence when it came to written tests, but she had never taken a test where she didn’t even know how she was being scored. Let alone a test you had to pass with your body, not your mind.

  “There is a psychological aspect to it too, right, Matsuri?”

  “That’s right. When Satsuki puts you through the rounds, it’s like she’s wearing a mask.”

  “A mask…?”

  “Nothing to worry about,” Matsuri said, unconvincingly. “Just tell the truth. She’ll know if you’re lying.”

  Akane sighed again.

  “Right,” Yukari agreed. “Better to just focus on how you’re doing and not pay attention to Satsuki at all.”

  “All right…”

  “Not much else we can do, really,” Yukari admitted.

  “Nope, there isn’t,” Matsuri said.

  “Well, I’ll try my best.”

  Akane heard a thrumming sound, like a vacuum pump whirring to life.

  Her ears had begun to hurt.

  She swallowed and felt her ears pop.

  Calm down. Calm down.

  “How do you feel?”

  “All right.”

  So far this isn’t half as bad as I thought it was going to be from the way they were talking last night, Akane thought.

  Satsuki’s face wasn’t a mask. In fact, she seemed genuinely happy for Akane’s progress. She wondered what it meant.

  “Air pressure, as you know, is inversely proportional to altitude. Just now, you went up to two thousand meters above sea level. I’m going to bring you back down to the surface, and next we’re going to go up to five thousand.”

  “All right.”

  Air pressure returned, and then the decompression started again.

  Akane kept up, though she had to pop her ears several times.

  “Some people forget to pop and their ears bleed. Just remember to keep popping them and you’ll be all right,” Yukari had warned her.

  “Question: what is the altitude of Mt. Ararat?”