We chose a place for the biplane to land. It was a playground on a riverbed near a small foothill. It looked like a glider airfield. Two small gliders were at the side of the runway, with each airframe being tilted laterally. But there was no airplane in sight.
Before we landed, I saw a car running on an embankment. A man in the driver’s seat was waving toward us. He was the doctor I had met in the hospital. She, in the front seat of our airplane, waved toward him.
After turning and circling, we approached the airfield and landed without any trouble. Once I stopped the engine, she got on the main wing, came to me, and held out both hands.
“You are terrific. It is amazing!” She brought her face close to me and kissed on my cheek. “I knew that you remember how to pilot it.”
Why not? I was going to say so, but I kept my mouth shut.
I looked up at the sky. I did not see anything flying.
Three men appeared out of nowhere, walked up toward us, and bowed. After we got off, the two of them lifted the rear part of the biplane, and moved it to somewhere.
The two men pulled the plane into the nearby bushes, and cast a broad net over it. The other man climbed up a tree beside them. He opened a bag that was on a branch and dropped a large number of fallen leaves onto the net. Several large bags had already been placed on the branches. One of the men climbed another tree on the other side across the net-covered airplane, and dropped leaves from that side. Immediately the plane was out of sight, hidden in leaves.
The man, who did not climb a tree, led Sagara and me into the bushes. When I looked back, I could no longer see the plane.
There was a circular tunnel about two meters in diameter, and the opening was on the slope of the bank. It was something like a drainage ditch. Its lower half was buried in the ground. Nets were folded and placed next to the entrance. A few bags of fallen leaves were also lined up. The man lowered his head and walked into the tunnel. After she and I entered, the net was spread over the entrance. The place also seemed to be camouflaged, too.
Maybe due to the fatigue from having piloted the airplane, I was feeling a little sleepy. I felt that my body was getting fluffy. I felt that the very sensation of my feet touching the ground was unreliable. This, however, is always the case. Everyone gets airsick after a flight.
It was getting dark, and light bulbs were turned on here and there. I saw a door, and we went through it. To my surprise, the interior was as spacious as a garage. One small desk was placed near the center. A bearded man was sitting at the desk, and was reading what looked like a letter. He just raised his eyes, and looked at us.
The man, who had led us into the room, bowed, and went back the way we came.
She and I remained in the room. The only person except us was the bearded man. He stood up, walked around the desk, and stopped in front of me. I bowed to him slightly. Of course, I was not wearing sunglasses anymore. But I still had the scarf around my neck, and half of my face was still covered.
The man held out his hand.
He seemed to want me to shake hands, and I accepted the offer.
I noticed that there was a staircase in the back on the right.
I was surprised to notice that Suito Kusanagi was sitting on it.
Kusanagi was wearing a uniform, and staring fixedly at me.
I held my breath, and could not move.
She will shoot me, I thought.
But, Kusanagi was not moving.
“What’s wrong?” Sagara touched my arm from the side.
I turned away from Kusanagi and looked at Sagara for a moment. However, since I was holding my breath, the words did not come out of my mouth.
Then, once again, I looked at Kusanagi.
There was no one on the stairs anymore.