I’m worried that the iron bridge might be destroyed, but it is still there and we can cross it safely. Bombs do not seem to have been dropped near the bridge. If the bridge were shattered, I would not be able to locate where a backup bridge might be in the upper reaches of the river. I might not be able to come back to the base without swimming or finding a ship or something. Almost all the supplies to the base are brought with ships. So, the port must be the prime target of the bombing. But no matter how old and miserable-looking the bridge is, it is the lifeline for humans. It seems that the enemy side has not gathered enough information, for they have not targeted this bridge. But, I admit that I feel relieved, because I do not want to swim.
While getting down from the upper part of the bank, I see the smoke from the airbase rising.
-4-
There is almost no wind. But judging from the figures of the clouds I am looking up at, gales are blowing in the sky. In short, the calculation of the trajectory for dropping bombs had to be difficult. Unless it had the opportunity to calibrate the bombsight, errors by several hundred meters should occur. At a glance, I am relieved that buildings are not burning down. But, streaks of smoke are rising here and there. The black smoke rising from the forest over the runway seems to be the most furious. It is close to the area where I took a walk during the day. Although I threw a cigarette away without permission, it is now hardly possible for anyone to find that out.
I reach the front of the gate with the scooter. Kusumi and Fuko are standing there.
“You are late and late, Kannami?” Fuko says. She is wearing everyday clothes such as a sweater and jeans, which make her look several times more attractive than she was on the previous day.
“Hey, do you think we are allowed to enter the premises?” Kusumi is wearing a jacket and a denim skirt. Her hair is tied back.
No one else seems to be around here. Have they evacuated to some other places? I see what is beyond the road before us. At about 10 meters away from the gate, their sedan has run onto the pavement and is leaning painfully.
The three of us are entering the premises. I am walking while pushing the scooter. The office seems to be empty. We turn to the direction for the runway and see several people moving with fire extinguishers. In front of the hangar, Sasakura in a jumpsuit is standing.
An engine sound is approaching. Then, an aircraft is executing a low pass over the runway. Of course, it is Sanka Mark B. I cannot recognize whose aircraft it is, because it is quickly heading for the forest and I can only see the silhouette of the backlit figure.
“Naofumi. It’s Naofumi.” Kusumi raises her hands and is waving them.
“Hey, how can you tell that?” Fuko asks.
I too want to know that, so I wait for Kusumi’s response. But she does not answer.
Sasakura notices me and runs toward us.
“Are you all right?” I ask him. “Have they all managed to take off safely?”
“Yeah, we barely made it.” Sasakura answers.
“As for me, you know, I have ended up evacuating your scooter.”
“Kannami’s aircraft is the hardest one to handle. It is now flying without the cowling. We didn’t have time to fill up the tank. It may run out of gas by now.”
“I heard Ms. Kusanagi would be on the aircraft. Is that right?”
“Yes.” Sasakura nods, and sees the girls behind me. “I advise you have them get out of here soon. Ms. Kusanagi will be angry after coming back.”
“Whom will she be angry at?”
“The one who has them come in.”
I look back and see the two who are wearing the serious expressions.
“Certainly, me.” I say, while seeing Sasakura.
“He says, ‘Certainly, me.’” Fuko whispers behind me. “Hey, what kingdom have you been the prince of?”
“Stop talking to him like that.” It is Kusumi’s voice. “Now, we should go back. We already know they are safe. By the way, Kannami.”
I look back.
“Tell Tokino that we have come here.”
“Okay.”
“Bye-bye.” Fuko smiles.
“Oh, I am just reminded of something.” I remember something, and look at Kusumi.
“What?” She leans her head sideways.
“My flight suit.”
“Uh, oh, ah ..., yeah, right.” Kusumi smiles. “I will bring it next time. Maybe.”
“He says, ‘Certainly, mee.’ ...” Fuko says so again.
“Later.” Kusumi opens her palm.
Then, they are going back. Fuko looks back at me in the middle and waves her hand. Since it is a white and delicate arm, it might snap on a poor runway, I imagine such a strange thing. Sanka’s only shortcoming is its vulnerability of the landing gear. It is a type of aircraft that suits particular kinds of runways.
“Kannami, I have something to show you.” Sasakura says.
He is entering the hangar, followed by me without words. There is a stairway beside a giant toolbox by a wall. I wonder if it is a stairway that leads down to a pit. But it is deeper than expected. Probably the concrete of the hangar floor must be made thicker than usual in order to shelter the pit from bombardment. For that reason, the stairway going downward is longer than usual for the depth of one floor. There seem to be several storage rooms in the basement. Steel doors are lined up on both sides of the dark corridor. After passing them by, we reach a rather spacious area lit by florescent lights. A bed is placed at a corner surrounded by cold concrete walls. Three sturdy wooden desks are lined up in the form of the letter “L”. It is obvious that Sasakura lives here.
“Here.” Sasakura points at a thing on the desk.
I do not know what it is. Small parts are attached to a cylinder-shaped object that is as small as a pineapple can. Some pipes are protruding from it to different directions and are converging into the upper part. I also see electric cords. Sasakura is gingerly lifting the object with both of his hands to show its bottom side to me. It looks to be a structure to transfer the rotation to outside with its flexible joint. Or, conversely speaking, it might be a structure to receive the torque. I understand it is an engine-related or compressor-related something.
“What is this?” I utter the statement that comes out naturally.
“This part receives the torque of the camshaft, and this gives the pressure to the carburetor.” Sasakura explains.
“Air intake charger?”
“Doing it by a motor has the limitation. It works well at the starting time. But, at the end, the more and the faster the motor rotates, the weaker the motor gets.”
“If you were to make efforts like this, wouldn’t it be better for you to bore cylinders to increase the internal diameters? Even though the bores getting larger is not welcome, you can still resort to increasing the number of cylinders ...”
“I don’t want to make it more powerful.” Sasakura grins. “The whole point of this idea completely differs in that sense.”
“How does it differ?”
“It makes you fly higher than before.”
“It can’t be.” As I am saying so, I am rendered slightly shocked.
To gain the altitude, the system that allows to accept thin air is indispensable. Humans would not complain, as long as they are supported with oxygen masks. Pilots would be provided with heaters because it is a little cold up there. That is enough for luxury. As for the case of engines, the fuel mixture ratio needs to be changed. Or, the time of ignition needs to be changed. If I want to go to the extreme, I can make it apply more pressure on the intake air. It means, tricking the engine by telling it, “You are on the ground. Do not think you are flying.” Such a trick can work for a large aircraft like a bomber. The bomber crew would include a flight mechanic along with the pilot, and it has the luxury of slowly ascending to the higher altitude while taking time. But, fighter aircrafts do not get to fly in such a leisurely way. It has to rapidly gain the altitude by 1,000 meters within tens of seconds. And, just as fast going down. Overcoming the rapid change of atmospheric pressure in such situations is the most important theme regarding aircraft engines. In order for fighter aircrafts to reach the altitude of bombers in operation, it needs to take off after adjusting the engine to the atmospheric pressure of the high altitude in advance. In this case of the high-altitude adjustment, its engine power is drastically lessened. In the extreme case of things going bad, we can only expect 60 percent of its usual performance. Also, if the engine is not tuned for the higher altitude, and the enemy aircrafts appear suddenly, the fighter aircraft cannot just gain the altitude and approach the targets. The engine would stall easily. To put it another way, if the altitude of operation exceeds a certain level, propellers and wings have to be all replaced. That is the accepted convention. This is based on a logic that is similar to the reason why the general figures of submarines for the purpose of operation under the water and the typical shapes of airplanes that are designed for flying in the sky are different.