“Aaaanyway...” Kaname said, her back to the blackboard. It was afternoon homeroom. “Time to get off our butts and pick duty assignments for the field trip, okay? It’s only four or five days away, now.” She looked around the classroom. Some students were chatting with their neighbors, some were napping, some were reading the day’s manga release... “Hey, are you guys listening?”
There were a few scattered responses.
“We’re listening.”
“Figure it out so we can go already.”
Kaname sighed. “You guys... I never should’ve agreed to do the class rep thing... But I figured this would happen, so I made a list in advance. All I need you guys to do is approve it.”
“You rock, Chidori!” one of the boys cried.
Kaname flashed a smug V-sign. “No problem. Okay, here they are.” She pulled out her notebook and started writing names and roles up on the blackboard. Clack, clack, clack—the white chalk rang out through the room. “Food duty: Onda-kun and Sanematsu-san. Luggage duty: Aiyama-kun and Omura-san. Communications duty: Kazama-kun and Fujii-san. Event duty: Onodera-kun and Suzuki-san. And trash duty... since there were no volunteers: Sagara-kun.”
Sousuke, seated in the back and half-listening, suddenly sat up, startled.
“What’s wrong, Sagara-kun?” Kaname asked.
“I don’t recall consenting to that,” he frowned.
“Oh, it’s a rule at this school: all transfer students are required to perform trash duty.”
A stifled laugh rippled through the class, but Sousuke didn’t understand what it meant. “I see. Very well.”
“We appreciate your understanding,” Kaname told him brightly. “I’ll explain your duties later. Now, let’s vote!”
And so, in a unanimous vote, elite Mithril mercenary, Sagara Sousuke, was appointed to trash duty.
✦ ✦ ✦
Teletha Testarossa sat in the captain’s chair of the dimly lit control room. “A... field trip?” She tilted her head.
Major Kalinin, who had come by to file his regular report, opened his folder and handed her a document and a pen.
“Yes, it starts next week. We need you to approve a new secure channel so that we can maintain contact while he travels.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Tessa signed the document. “It’s a strange school, taking a field trip at this time of year... Where are they going?”
“Okinawa.”
“I see.” Tessa turned her eyes to the military data map at the center of the screen ahead of her. Then, her eyes falling on Okinawa in the corner, she said, “Did I ever tell you that I lived there for a while?”
“No, ma’am,” the major answered.
“My father wanted me to go to a Japanese elementary school. But the children there kept me at arm’s length, so I was eventually moved to a school on the base.” The nearby executive officer of the de Danaan, Commander Mardukas, cleared his throat. Tessa broke from her trance and looked back at the document. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up here...”
“Not at all...” the fussy-looking XO Mardukas said. But apparently disinclined to weigh in further, he just went back to his work.
Kalinin politely ignored the exchange and resumed his report. “I also have new information regarding the broader issue,” he said, bringing things back to the original subject.
“The Whispered?” Tessa clarified.
“Yes. They’re doing the research at the Khabarovsk facility. Look at this.” He handed her a bundle of documents. It was a long list of chemical substances, some circled in red here and there. “That’s a list of rare drugs circulating in the USSR. According to the intelligence department’s analysis...” Kalinin continued his explanation, handing her one new document after another. Tessa took it all in, quickly scanning through each page she received.
“Is the Khabarovsk facility the only one involved?” she asked.
“That’s what the intelligence department reports.”
“That seems unlikely. Tell them to continue their investigation.”
“Yes, ma’am.” In fact, Kalinin had already given them that order, but he opted not to say it.
“Now, can the Khabarovsk facility’s computer be hacked?” Tessa inquired. It would make things easier if it could be—they could just access it using their computer here. The computer system of the Tuatha de Danaan could perform functions far beyond a standard warship’s control system. Its complexity was on par with a large mammal’s central nervous system, and its processing power put even the communication systems of the US Armed Forces to shame. It would be a trivial matter for a system like theirs to infiltrate a Soviet computer.
But Kalinin rejected that possibility. “The laboratory’s computer doesn’t have an outside line. We’ll need to stomp out their research through physical means.”
“I see... A cruise missile, then?” They didn’t need ASes to take out their target wholesale.
“Yes. A G-type Tomahawk should be enough. One strike from an FAE warhead should devastate the facility.”
“You have my permission,” Tessa told him, “but try to do it late at night on a weekend.” She hoped that would reduce the possibility of casualties; the researchers’ lodging houses were about a kilometer away from the lab itself. “Use Sting to collect the latest pictures,” she continued, referring to their observation satellite. “Find out as much as you can about who goes there, when, where, and in what numbers.”
“Understood. Now, regarding the Arbalest...” Kalinin handed her another document. Just then, the mountain of papers Tessa had cradled in her arms spilled out onto the floor.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m sorry...” She quickly moved to pick them up. Kalinin and the XO helped. “I’m sorry to drag you into this, Mardukas-san...”
“Not at all.” XO Mardukas handed the collected documents to Kalinin and said with annoyance, “Major Kalinin... Would you kindly switch away from paper already?”
“I’ll try, sir.”
Rubbing his temples, the XO went back to work.
“So, is this the document?” Tessa asked. “The... ah, ‘The seven oaths of trash duty’?”
“...No, ma’am.” Kalinin said, and gently lifted away the report that Sousuke had sent.