THAT AFTERNOON YUKARI started survival training with Toshiyuki Kurosu, the chief of security. Kurosu took one look at her in T-shirt and shorts and thrust a pair of fatigues at her.
“Change into this.”
A short ride in a Humvee brought them to a firing range at the foot of the Shiriba Mountains. Dense tropical jungle surrounded them on all sides. There were sandbags everywhere, and the ground was crisscrossed with trenches just wide enough for one person. The entire range was fenced with barbed wire.
Kurosu spoke to Yukari across the hood of the Humvee. “This is the SSC firing range. I intend to spend the next week teaching you how to survive in any environment the tropics can throw at you.” Kurosu squinted at her. “Tell me. What’s the key to survival?”
“Hmm…”
“Shoot before you are shot!” Kurosu shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Wha—?”
“That is the only way you will survive! The enemy is everywhere. You must kill the enemy without hesitation. If you do not kill the enemy without hesitation, the enemy will kill you!”
Yukari stared blankly at Kurosu. Another freak.
He took a large pistol out of a duffel bag. “Forty-five caliber, Colt Government M1911A1. Your new best friend.” He held the gun out to Yukari. “Take it.”
It felt heavy in her hands, a lifeless mass of metal.
His hand reached into the duffel bag for more loot. “This is your gun belt. Wrap it around your waist. This is a magazine—seven rounds each. Always remember how many rounds you have left. Cleaning kit and tools—you gotta be able to strip and clean your weapon with your eyes closed in the middle of a firefight.”
“Question.”
“Proceed.”
“I thought survival training would be more about pitching tents and scavenging for food.”
“Can you kill the enemy with a tent?” Kurosu bellowed. “First order of business is survival. If you can kill a man, you can hunt an animal. Then we’ll worry about tents.”
“I don’t believe this.”
“Hmph. If your brain won’t get it, your body will. Follow me.” Kurosu led Yukari to a corner of the range and showed her how to handle the gun he’d given her. Slap a fresh magazine in the bottom, pull back the slide, release the safety.
“Squeeze the trigger, kill the enemy. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Show me.”
Kurosu pressed a button on a nearby control panel, and a man-shaped target popped up in front of them.
“Aim for the heart. Keep your feet apart, bend your back. Hold the grip with both hands.”
Yukari followed each instruction precisely.
“Fire!”
Bang!
A massive jolt ran through Yukari’s arms and into her shoulders, shaking her from head to toe. She staggered backward.
“Wrong! Do not close your eyes when discharging your weapon!”
“Do you have anything…smaller?”
“Your weapon must strike fear in the heart of the enemy. One more time. Like you mean it.”
Bang!
The recoil knocked her back again. The bullet hadn’t even grazed the target.
“Hold the grip good and tight. Squeeze the trigger, real light. Now fire.”
Bang!
A hole appeared in the target’s stomach.
“I hit it!”
“Empty these.” Kurosu set six more magazines on the table. She fired all forty-nine rounds. When she finished, she couldn’t feel anything below her shoulder. But Kurosu was just getting started. He made her change her stance and fire off another forty-two before taking her to an obstacle course covered with track-and-field equipment.
“You will scale that wall, crawl under that barbed wire, and dive into that trench.”
Yukari sighed. It sounded like the first level of a video game.
“You will also crouch the entire time because I will be standing here firing at you with a machine gun.” Kuroso hefted an M-60. “I will be firing live rounds. If you stand higher than you should, you will be in a world of hurt.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Scared? You should be. It costs a lot of money to train an astronaut,” he said. “I’m here to weed out the undesirables. Now suck it up and move!”
“But that’s not fair.”
“Not fair?”
“You’ve got a machine gun, and all I have is this pistol. I won’t stand a chance.”
“Well, well, well.” His face split into a grin. “You want to shoot back? Keep me honest?”
“You said shoot or be shot. I want a machine gun too. Something small and light I can run with. One that shoots lots of bullets.”
“Aren’t you full of surprises. I’ve got just the thing.” Kurosu reached back into his duffel bag and produced a small, angular machine gun. “This is an Ingram MAC-11. She’s compact and lightweight, but she still packs a punch.”
“Perfect.”
“She’ll dance when you fire her, so hold on good and tight to the silencer with your left hand.”
“No problem. Now all I need are some bullets.”
“Help yourself.”
Their war games lasted the rest of the day. With bullets whizzing by overhead, Yukari realized it was a lot harder to be an astronaut than she had imagined. But she wasn’t going to give up yet.