[ACT 1]
✦ ✦ ✦
YUKARI FOLLOWED SATSUKI ASAHIKAWA down a nondescript corridor. Long hair spilled down her back, and she wore an ultrashort miniskirt and white lab coat with an unlikely pair of red high heels—a somewhat more provocative ensemble than your average physician might wear.
This so-called doctor had spent the last day examining Yukari from head to toe, using every implement imaginable to test the limits of Yukari’s body. Satsuki told her she wouldn’t be eligible for the job if she didn’t pass the tests, so Yukari endured in silence. Throughout the exam, Satsuki’s lips remained frozen in a ruby smile. When Yukari asked the results of a given test, she only scribbled notes on a clipboard and said, “Later.”
The last test ended at eight o’clock that night.
“Come with me,” Satsuki said.
Later was finally here.
✦ ✦ ✦
Yukari and Satsuki stood inside Director Nasuda’s office. A large steel desk piled high with books and papers sat at the center of the room. Nasuda peered at them from behind the bulwark. “How’d it go?”
Satsuki gave a thumbs-up.
“Fit for duty then! Good.” Nasuda rose to his feet and walked over to Yukari. “Congratulations,” he said, clapping her on the shoulder and giving her a hearty shake. “I knew you had it in you!”
Yukari didn’t know what to say. She felt a knot growing in her stomach. The director seemed a little too enthusiastic over a part-time job.
“What a day,” he continued. “The world’s youngest astronaut is born!”
Yukari cocked her head. “Huh?”
Satsuki ignored her. “The perfect payload. High performance, compact, and lightweight.”
“All the best Japanese products are,” said Nasuda with a nod.
“Um…” Yukari chewed her lip. “Could you say that again?”
“The part about Japanese products?”
“Before that.”
“High performance, compact, and lightweight?”
“Before that.”
“World’s youngest astronaut?”
“That’s the one.” She swallowed. “You didn’t mean…me, did you?”
“Of course! Who else?”
Yukari’s jaw hit the floor. “I’m an astronaut?”
“The Solomon Space Association’s very own.”
Yukari frowned. “I thought all I had to do was sit in front of a machine pushing buttons and answering calls. You said even a monkey could do it.”
“They can. They have.” Director Nasuda spread his hands. “When you boil it down, what else does an astronaut do, really?”
Only the finest candidates were chosen to be astronauts—the best of the best, national heroes, the stuff of kids’ dreams. The recruiting process didn’t take place in a makeshift hotel room on the second floor of a Chinese restaurant. Or at least it wasn’t supposed to.
“The Americans, the Russians—they treat their astronauts like heroes, but don’t let that fool you. It’s all for show, a way to con taxpayers out of their hard-earned dollars,” Nasuda added reassuringly. “The computers fly the spacecraft. All the astronaut has to do is sit back and look out the window.”
“So why me?
Satsuki smiled. “You’re compact and lightweight.”
“Exactly. You see, a rocket is a lot like a pyramid. Every kilogram of astronaut we add at the top takes a whopping seventy kilograms to support at the base.” Nasuda gestured at Yukari. “At a mere thirty-seven kilograms, you’re not only light, you’re small— and that means we can get by with a smaller capsule too. Compared to Yasukawa, the sky’s the limit with you.”
“Yasukawa—he was an astronaut?”
“Was. The thought of losing a little weight scared him. He wanted out.”
“What’s so scary about going on a diet?”
“You know,” Nasuda dismissed her question with a wave. “But we have him to thank for finding you, the SSA’s newest—”
“Not so fast,” interrupted Yukari.
“Still on the fence? It’s perfectly safe, I assure you. Oh, the Americans have lost a shuttle or two, but what do you expect? They can’t even make a car that doesn’t break down.”
“So, this astronaut thing. Will it be over in a month?”
“I figure this first stint should take about half a year.”
“But school starts in September.”
“You can study here.”
“I don’t think that will show up on my transcript.”
“Hrm. We’ll just have to give your mother a call then.”
“First things first. If I agree to this, you’ll help me, right?”
“Help you what?”
“Find my dad!”
“Oh that. Of course. Not to worry. We’ll throw everything we’ve got at it.” Nasuda reached for the phone on his desk. “What’s your mother’s number?”
Director Nasuda dialed as Yukari rattled off the digits. The Solomon Islands were two hours ahead of Japan; her mother should just be getting home from work.
As the phone rang, the director put it on speaker.
“Hello,” Yukari’s mother answered.
“Hello, Ms. Morita? My name is Isao Nasuda. I’m the director of the Solomon Space Center.”
“The Solomon Space Center? I’m afraid I don’t—”
“You have a daughter by the name of Yukari?”
“That’s right.”
“Our mission here is to put a person into orbit, and as it happens, we’re looking for astronauts.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with us.”
“We had the good fortune of meeting your daughter. She’s perfect.”
“You want Yukari to become an astronaut?”
“We do. Of course she’d need to work here with us for the next six months or so. What do you say?”
“I’m not sure.”
“She’ll have room and board, naturally. And we’ll take care of all her visa paperwork.”
“Is Yukari there now?”
“She’s right in front of me.” The director gestured at the phone. “Go ahead, Yukari. The speaker will pick you up.”
“Um, hi, Mom.”
“An astronaut? I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I think that’s worth postponing your search for your father, don’t you?”
“They said they’d help me look for Dad if I worked for them.”
“Even better.”
“You really think it’s a good idea?”
“Are you kidding? It’s not every day you get the chance to be an astronaut. There’s nothing a daughter of mine can’t do.”
Yukari sighed. That was her mom, all right. “But what about school? You know they won’t let us have part-time jobs.”
“We’ll pull you out for a semester. I’ll tell them you’re studying abroad.”
“So you’re totally okay with this?”
“You bet I am. I’m going to be the mother of an astronaut. I like the sound of that.”
“Uh, but, the thing of it is—”
“No changing your mind once you start. I won’t have any quitters living under my roof.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll stick with it.”
“You sound a little sad. Don’t tell me you’re homesick already.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“I’ll come visit as soon as this project settles down, I promise.”
“You’re not listening to me!”
“Oh, sorry. Just do your best, all right? Say goodbye to the director for me.” The phone clicked.
There was a glint in Director Nasuda’s eye. “She has a way with words, your mother.”
“She’s half crazy if you ask me.”
“She knows you have the right stuff—why should she stand in your way? So, do we have a deal?”
“I guess.”
“Done! We’ll make the announcement to the team tomorrow. They’ll need to get working on a training schedule for you right away. Things are going to get busy.”
“You’ll let me know how the search is going?”
“The search?”
“For my dad!”
“Of course, of course. I’ll take care of everything.”
Yukari took the picture of her parents from her pocket. “His name is Hiroshi Morita. This was taken sixteen years ago—he’d be forty-seven now. He was a computer sales engineer.”
Director Nasuda glanced at the photo. “We’ll need to make copies for the search team. I’ll hang on to this.”
“Thank you.”