Rocket Girls Page 5

“Woo-hoo!” Yukari’s face lit up with joy.

  “Come on, we need to get to the landing field.”

  “Landing field?”

  “You heard me.” Satsuki smiled.

  [ACT 2]

  THE HSS-2 HELICOPTER climbed straight into the sky. The sliding door on its side was open, providing Yukari a breathtaking view of the distant island of Malaita and the coral reef that ringed Maltide. The reef glimmered like jade beneath the tropical sun.

  Yukari was strapped snugly into a parachute harness, and she wore a gun secured to one shoulder over her new space suit. Kurosu sat beside her.

  “Your chute will open on its own. You can guide your descent with the cables on either arm, but you’ll probably just make things worse. If you’re headed into a tree, tuck in your legs and cover your face with your hands.”

  “What about my chest? A hit there hurts like hell.”

  “Your choice then, face or chest. Once you’re on the ground, check your weapon first, then examine your surroundings. If you get lost, stay out of the rivers. Try to follow a ridge. Remember your training and you’ll do fine.”

  “The only thing you trained me to do was shoot.”

  “That’s all you need to know. The rest is details.”

  Yukari had suddenly found herself the sole participant in a survival training mission. She was about to parachute into a jungle, alone, with no radio and only a day’s worth of rations.

  She followed the orders without a word of protest. Either the team’s plan to wear her down with a week of grueling training had succeeded in numbing her to fear, or she had more courage than they had given her credit for.

  The helicopter climbed to an altitude of 1,200 meters. The lines of the base, looking uncannily like the geoglyphs at Nazca, receded into the distance. Dense jungle rolled beneath them.

  “We’re at the drop zone. Get ready.”

  Yukari unfastened her seat belt and stood at the edge of the door. The wind was ice-cold. A small cloud passed beneath them.

  “Now jump!”

  Yukari leapt into the air. For a brief moment, she was in free fall—weightless. A hard jolt shook her as the parachute unfurled overhead. It was a paraglider, giving her some lift and forward motion.

  The helicopter didn’t linger to see that she landed safely.

  The ground rose slowly beneath Yukari’s dangling feet. Or what seemed slow, at first. Her shadow moved across the canopy of the trees at a brisk pace of better than thirty-five kilometers per hour.

  As she drew closer to the ground, the paraglider began to shudder and lurch. Banking sharply to one side, it changed course, descending into a deep valley that lay in shadow.

  “Uh-oh…” The side of the valley rose in a steep, green slope. It was coming at her fast.

  “Not good.”

  Yukari fought with the controls, but she couldn’t remember how to steer.

  “C’mon! Not that way!”

  Yukari crashed into the jungle canopy. From a distance, lush green foliage looks soft and welcoming.

  It isn’t.

  [ACT 3]

  “JUMPED RIGHT OUT, did she?”

  Kurosu had been briefing Director Nasuda on the drop. He liked what he was hearing.

  “We dropped her over Taliho territory, but there’s no guaranteeing that’s where she put down,” said Kurosu. “Good chance she broke a leg coming in, but these things happen.”

  “Can’t be helped, I suppose.”

  “She makes it through this, it’s smooth sailing from here on out. The kid’s a natural. Squeezes a trigger gentle as you please.”

  “You don’t say?”

  “Could be her feminine disposition helps her keep a cool head.”

  “Could be.” Nasuda folded his arms. “I admit, she’s come further in a week than I would have guessed. I’m starting to think we should bring her aboard permanently.”

  “Why not? Put one of our boys on, you lose another hundred kilograms of payload. You’d be a fool to send them up if Yukari pans out.”

  “If. And then there’s the problem of not having a backup. I’d rest a lot easier knowing we had at least one more—another girl about the same size.”

  Nasuda knew the odds of stumbling across another candidate were slim to none. He could always find someone by actively recruiting, but the press would have a field day, and then he would end up defending his decision to an outraged public.

  “Good work, Kurosu. Dismissed.”

  “Sir.” Kurosu turned and left the room.

  Nasuda sat lost in thought. His eyes came to rest on a photograph on his desk that had collected a thin layer of dust—the photograph of Yukari’s father.

  “Who goes missing on their honeymoon?”

  Nasuda lifted the photograph and examined it.

  “Where have I seen him before?” The color left his face. “I don’t believe it!”

  He had to act quickly. If Yukari found her father, she would have no reason to stay and become an astronaut. Nasuda picked up the phone and started to dial.

  [ACT 4]

  YUKARI GROANED AND opened her eyes.

  She had come to rest on a thick branch. Her entire body throbbed with pain. She tested her arms and legs one by one— nothing seemed to be broken. She was surrounded by trees, trees, and more trees.

  Yukari reached for a small branch to pull herself up. Squish. Her fingers closed around the body of a snake.

  “Aiiieee!” She leapt from the branch without a second thought and came crashing down. Finally on the ground, Yukari nursed a fresh bruise. “I hate the jungle!”

  After a short rest, she rose to her feet. She removed the parachute harness and hefted the pack containing her rations and survival kit onto her back. A quick inspection of the handgun holstered on her shoulder revealed no problems. Her space suit had survived in one piece, and although the air was brutally hot, it was nothing Yukari couldn’t handle.

  She checked her compass to get her bearings. “Looks like I came down on the north side of the ridge.” The map showed two or three valleys that seemed similar to the one in which she had landed. If she followed the valley downhill, she should reach the coast. She remembered Kurosu’s advice about climbing to the top of a ridge if she got lost.

  “I’m not lost yet.”

  By the time she had decided on a path down the valley, Yukari was already feeling better. This was the most freedom she had had in a while. There wasn’t anyone to torture or berate her here.

  Yukari drew a deep breath. “Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!”

  Her surroundings pressed in around her. Inseparable layers of trees, moss, flowers, and vines. Curtains of milk-white sunlight. Birds and butterflies drifting on the wind. The forest brimmed with life, and yet it seemed to sleep.

  “I’m in the middle of the jungle…”

  Swallowing her fear, she set out.

  [ACT 5]

  IT WAS ALMOST noon. Yukari was about to sit down for a delicious MRE lunch when she heard a sound from the bushes on her right. She froze, not even breathing, and listened. Kurosu’s words raced through her head. Shoot or be shot.

  She took her Colt Government from its holster and held it with both hands. She released the safety.

  “Wh-who’s there?” The words came out in a whisper.

  There was no answer.

  Yukari stood motionless, muscles taut. She heard the sound again. It was coming from about thirty meters away. Closer than before. Whoever it was might try to flank her, so she had to find out who it was. Gun drawn, she pressed forward.

  The bushes in front of her rustled. Yukari nearly jumped out of her skin and her skinsuit.

  “Who’s there? Don’t move!” And then, in her best English, “Freeze!”

  “My name is Matsuri.”

  “Wha—?”

  The answer came in Japanese. Or were Yukari’s ears playing tricks on her?

  The bush rustled once more, and a girl about the same height as Yukari stepped out of the jungle. Sh
e had smooth, bronze skin, and her hair was long and straight. She wore nothing but a grass skirt and woven bikini top. What she lacked in clothing the girl made up for in accessories. Animal fangs, seashells, and a bounty of colorful fetishes graced her arms, legs, and neck. Some looked as though they might even be magical talismans.

  A long hunting spear rested on the girl’s shoulder like a fishing rod, the day’s catch hanging from its tip.

  “Um, hello?”

  “Hi.” Matsuri smiled warmly. “I haven’t seen you before.” Her Japanese had a strange accent, but it was definitely Japanese. She peered at Yukari with wide, black eyes.

  “My name’s Yukari.”

  “There are many poisonous snakes this way, Yukari.”

  This was useful information. “I didn’t know.” Regaining her composure, Yukari returned her gun to its holster. “You know your way around here?”

  “Oh yes.” There was pride in her voice.

  “I’m trying to get back to the Solomon Space Center. You know where it is?”

  “Hoi. The fireworks place. It’s not far, but you need to go back that way.”

  “Oh…”

  “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  Matsuri started off into the jungle. She moved like a cat, her long legs knowing instinctively where to step. Yukari kept up as best she could.

  “Slow down.”

  “Ah, you are not used to this place.”

  “You noticed.”

  “This place can be unforgiving to outsiders. Sometimes the anthropologists come. It is very hard on them.”

  “Anthropologists?”

  “I think that’s the word. My Japanese isn’t very good. Do you speak English?”

  “Yeah, but I’d rather stick with Japanese.”

  “Yukari is wantok.” Matsuri grinned. “Our chief says all Japanese are wantok.”

  “What’s wantok?”

  “One talk. Wantok. It’s pidgin for someone who speaks only one language.”

  This barefoot girl in the middle of the jungle was bilingual?

  “So, Matsuri…”

  “Hoi?”

  “Where did you learn Japanese?”

  “Our chief taught me.”

  “Your chief sounds pretty smart.”

  “Oh, he is. He knows everything. You want to meet him? It’s not far.”

  “Sure, why not?” If the chief was some sort of Nipponophile, Yukari thought there might be a chance he knew something about her father. As best she could judge from Matsuri, they didn’t seem to be headhunters, and if she got in trouble, she still had her gun. “Let’s get going.”

  “Woo!” Matsuri jumped with joy. “Follow me!”

  “Hey, wait up!”

  Yukari struggled to keep up with Matsuri as she raced through the jungle. They ran for half an hour before emerging in a large clearing. A handful of huts stood on stilts, and there was one tall watchtower. A bonfire crackled happily in the plaza at the center of the village. There was a large talking drum that had been carved out of a tree.

  “Wow.” Yukari knew they weren’t advanced, but she hadn’t expected this. It was something out of a fairy tale.

  Matsuri cut across the plaza and climbed up into one of the huts. “Dad, I brought somebody to visit.”

  A voice drifted down. “Speaking Japanese today, are we, Matsuri? And what’s this about a visitor?” His Japanese was fluent, almost native.

  “Come on up, Yukari.” Matsuri waved down from a crude balcony.

  “Coming.” She clambered up a log ladder and into the hut. There was no door, only a curtain of banana leaves. Inside it was pitch black.

  As Yukari’s eyes adjusted, the details of the room came into focus. A rug of woven palm fiber and baskets of the same material. Clay pottery. A large, round stone. Decorations made from seashells.

  Matsuri sat cross-legged on the floor. Behind her sat a muscular man with a disheveled beard. This was how Yukari imagined cults got started.

  “Um, hello. I met Matsuri in the jungle. My name’s Yukari Morita.”

  “That’s quite a coincidence.” The chief spoke in a soft voice.

  “Oh?”

  “My name is Morita too. Hiroshi Morita.”

  Yukari’s heart stopped. That was her father’s name.

  [ACT 6]

  YUKARI STARED INTO the man’s face. The sun had darkened his skin, and his hair and beard had grown unchecked, but there was no question about it. A shiver ran through her.

  “Could I ask you something?”

  “Yes?”

  “What’s your wife’s name?”

  “Let’s see, there’s Toto, Onikay, Papayto, Lungia, Cavay.” The chief counted off the names on his fingers. “Lebi, Tsupua, Manaen, Walikay, Tongua, Kaua, Faula, Lenikay, Kevanamua, Koina, Lakiki. There are another ten or so, but I can’t place their names right now.”

  “Uh, okay. What about Japan? Did you ever get married there?”

  “Japan? Yes, actually. Hiroko, I think her name was.”

  Whatever doubt had lingered in Yukari’s mind, it was gone now. The man in front of her was her father.

  “I’m Hiroko Morita’s daughter.”

  “I never knew she remarried.”

  “She didn’t. That first night on the honeymoon? Mission accomplished.”

  “How about that? Nice of you to come visit your old man.”

  “Nice of me to come visit?” That was the last straw. “Is that the best you can do after walking out on your wife and your daughter? What are you even doing out here in the middle of a jungle?”

  “I’m the chief.”

  “And?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “So what happened that night in Guadalcanal?”

  “I remember it like it was yesterday.” The chief stared into the distance. “I was in the hotel with Hiroko—it was our first night there—and I happened to look out the window. The moon was coming up, and it looked so lovely I decided to go for a walk.”

  “By yourself?”

  “Hiroko said she was sleepy. So I went down to the beach alone.”

  “Then what?”

  “The moon was high and bright. The waves shone white in the moonlight. It was like I was walking in a dream world.”

  “Spare me the poetry.”

  “I noticed a single canoe on the water, heading straight for where I stood. When it reached me, I got in. We rowed for two days before reaching Maltide.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. Why did you get in the canoe in the first place?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Not the answer I was looking for.”

  “The men from the canoe brought me here, to the village. The chief came out and told me they had been waiting for me. He said their shaman had called me to them with the help of the spirits.”

  “As in magic?”

  “A small tribe like the Taliho will die out if they only marry within the tribe. They turn to outsiders like me to bring in new blood.”

  “So what’s with the mumbo jumbo then?”

  “I can’t really say. That’s more of Toto’s specialty. Toto is Matsuri’s mother—she probably knows more about it than I do.”

  “Ask away,” said Matsuri, smiling.

  “How does this magic work?”

  “We burn grass in the plaza, and the shaman chants the sacred words. Everyone gathers around to drink and dance the whole night. It’s lots of fun.”

  “That’s it.” Yukari stood. “Start packing—we’re going back to Japan.”

  “We?” asked the chief.

  “Yes, we. You can’t just leave your family and run off to party on some tropical island.”

  “I wouldn’t call it partying. I’m the chief here. I negotiate with other tribes. I even wage war, when it comes to it.”

  “What about making up for your past? I grew up without a father because of you! And you wouldn’t believe what I’ve been through on this island looking for you.”

  �
��I was wondering about the clothes. It says you’re an astronaut with the Solomon Space Association.”

  “Long story. Basically, I took this part-time job as an astronaut to try and find you.”

  “Good work, if you can get it.”

  “Hardly. The last week of my life has been a living hell. But that’s over now. We’re going home to Japan, and you’re going to apologize to Mom.”

  “You can’t do that.” The warmth in his voice was gone now.

  “Do what?”

  “Quit your job. People are counting on you. It would be irresponsible.”

  “Irresponsible? You left your wife on your honeymoon!”

  “That has nothing to do with you.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “I was a computer sales engineer. I know the impact it can have on a team when someone pulls out. Take that space suit, for example—obviously custom-made. It probably cost millions of yen. And the rocket is in another league entirely.”

  “You’re not talking your way out of this.” Yukari drew her Colt. “If you don’t come back to Japan with me, I’ll shoot you.”

  “Easy, Yukari.” The chief motioned for her to be calm. “Think about what you’re doing here.”

  “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

  “I don’t think you do.” A smile flashed across the chief’s face. “You want me to come home with you, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You want a normal, happy family, right?”

  “That’s the idea.”

  “And you expect that to happen at gunpoint?”

  “Well, uh…”

  “I’ll make you a deal. If you see this astronaut job through, I’ll come back with you to face the music in Japan. I’ll throw myself at Hiroko’s feet and beg forgiveness.” There was still doubt in Yukari’s eyes. “Look, there are over three hundred Taliho here, and I’m responsible for them. I can’t just get up and leave. While you’re finishing your job, it will give me time to make arrangements for someone to replace me.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “And what about your mother? Does she even want me to come back?”

  “I think so.”