[ACT 6]
✦ ✦ ✦
“DON’T EVEN THINK about it,” said Yukari.
Matsuri stopped with her hand on the curtains. “Why?”
“Because they have telephoto lenses pointed at our window, that’s why.”
“Oh, right.”
The journalists swarming across the base were doing anything and everything they could to catch a glimpse of Yukari’s and Matsuri’s personal lives. They were prohibited from entering any of the facilities on the base without authorization, including the barracks, but since the journalists themselves were housed on the base, there was nothing to prevent them lurking just outside.
“I’m sure they’re making reports right now,” said Yukari. “The lights in their room just came on. They must be back from training. To them it’s all freedom of the press. They couldn’t care less about our privacy.”
Matsuri picked up her hairbrush and held it like a microphone. “The people have a right to know.”
“Yeah,” she scoffed. “Who gave them the right?”
“Don’t ask me.”
“Do you have any homework tonight, Matsuri?”
“Nope.”
“What do you say we turn in early?”
“Good idea.”
Yukari and Matsuri changed into their pajamas. As they were about to go to bed, their door flew open with a bang and a female reporter with a brilliant halogen halo sprang into the room. A cameraman and lightning technician stood behind her.
“Fujimi Television’s guerrilla reporter Keiko Momoi, here. You weren’t already asleep, were you? No, of course you weren’t.” Keiko Momoi’s voice dripped with condescension.
“Who said you could be in here?” demanded Yukari.
“Oh, you know.”
“Enlighten me.”
“We’re not here to talk about me. Your public wants to know about you.”
The guerrilla interview had begun.
Yukari appealed to the cameraman. “You wouldn’t film us like this, would you?”
Momoi answered before the cameraman had a chance. “I think those pajamas are darling. Did you pick them out yourself?”
Yukari felt drained. The media was only interested in fluff, trivia. Did they really expect her to take these interviews seriously?
On the other hand, if she snapped at her interviewers, she would be playing into their hands, and on camera no less. They could twist Yukari’s words to fit whatever portrait of her they wanted to present to the entire world. However vapid this reporter seemed, she was a professional who no doubt had an arsenal of tricks up her sleeve to fool Yukari into saying what she wanted to hear.
Resigning herself to the situation, Yukari decided to answer each question as briefly as possible. “The supply department provided them.”
“Oh, you poor thing. They don’t even let you pick your own pajamas? You astronauts are on a shorter leash than I thought.”
“If you think so.”
“You know, there’s a rumor going around the base that the capsule can only carry a petite passenger like yourself. Any truth to that?”
“I haven’t heard any rumors.”
“The rumor isn’t what’s important. Surely the astronaut piloting the rocket must know the truth behind the rumor.”
“The rocket’s specifications haven’t been made public yet, so I can’t make any comment.”
“We’ve also heard that because the capsule can only carry the weight of a young girl, you were essentially impressed into service. Can you comment on that?”
“Actually…” Yukari bit her lip. Time for another lie. “Actually, I’m here by choice.”
“Then it’s just coincidence that Matsuri happens to have the same build as you?”
“Matsuri wants to be here too. Isn’t that right, Matsuri?”
“Sure is.” Matsuri didn’t miss a beat.
“And the stories we’ve heard about a male astronaut who quit the program?”
How much did they know?
“I don’t know anything about that,” said Yukari.
“It’s been suggested that he ran away because the rocket was too dangerous.”
“I really don’t know.”
“I’ve reviewed the launch records—it’s been one failure after another lately. Aren’t you worried?”
“The failures were with a different type of rocket.”
“And why do you suppose they changed to a smaller, older model at the last minute?”
“I don’t know!” bellowed Yukari.
“There’s no reason to get upset, dear.”
“We’re trying to get some sleep, and you come barging into our room trying to dig up dirt and you don’t think there’s any reason to be upset? Get out, all of you! Now!”
✦ ✦ ✦
[ACT 7]
✦ ✦ ✦
THE CALL FROM Yukari’s mother came while she was in the multi-axis trainer. Satsuki stopped the machine and waived Yukari over. Yukari took the call at one of the phones on the control panel.
“Hey, Mom.”
“How’s my little teen idol doing?”
One sentence and her mother had already set Yukari off. “What do you mean, ‘teen idol’?”
“You’re a hero back here. The brave teenager who’s going to face the rigors of space alone. There’s a news van outside the house right now. I’m going to be on Good Afternoon, Japan.”
“Don’t let them talk you into saying anything you shouldn’t.”
“Director Nasuda briefed me on everything that’s out-of-bounds. Our stories should match up just fine.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. I don’t want to turn on the TV and hear you talking about how I wet my bed when I was five.”
“When have I ever said anything that would embarrass you? I’ll just be talking about how you’re an excellent student who was accepted to a good high school, that you were runner-up at the Shinagawa Track Meet—things like that.”
“No! That’s exactly what I’m talking about!”
“I don’t see what harm it could do. I’m proud of you.”
“Just promise me you won’t say anything, okay?”
“Well, I’ve already been on a number of programs—”
“Then don’t say anything starting today!”
“Don’t be so Japanese, Yukari. Show a little pride in your accomplishments. You’re an astronaut now—you have to think globally.”
“What do I have to be proud of?”
“As stubborn as ever. Fine. That’s not why I called. The producer of the show I’m about to be on wants some footage of us talking on the phone. They’re ready to record right now.”
“Absolutely not!”
“It’ll only take a minute. I play the worried mother, you just have to follow my lead.”
Bang!
Yukari slammed the phone into its cradle. Seeing that the phone was still in one piece, she picked up a folding chair and brought it down on top of the phone. The base of the phone flipped over, and the cord snapped, sending the receiver skittering to the far side of the room.
Satsuki stood up. “It’s okay, Yukari.”
“I’m gonna smash this phone to bits.”
“Just calm down.”
“I hate it.”
“I said calm down!”
“I! Hate! This! Phone!”
Yukari bashed the phone with the chair again and again.
Satsuki grabbed Yukari from behind and locked her in a half nelson. She reached into her lab coat, pulled out a case containing a syringe, and jabbed Yukari in the right arm in the blink of an eye.
The ketamine went to work at once, and Yukari grew quiet. Satsuki laid her down on a couch and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“You’re only human,” said Satsuki. She returned her syringe to its case. “Better keep this handy until the launch.”
Five more days—and it wasn’t just the astronauts who were feeling the pressure. The entire base was stressed to the breaking point.
✦ ✦ ✦
[ACT 8]