“Where am I?”
“TAB-14.”
“TAB-14? Impossible. It was destroyed by the JAM. I saw it happen.”
“The surface facilities are gone, but as you can see, one of the underground sections survived. You guys back at the main base don’t know what it’s been like for us out here.”
“Hm… Is Yukikaze all right?”
“It ran out of fuel and landed at this base.”
“Refuel her. I’m heading back.”
“You can’t. Not in your condition.”
“Can you make contact with Faery Base?”
“No. We still haven’t gotten comm back up and running. They still think we’ve been completely wiped out.”
“That can’t be right. At the least, you could reach one of the nearby tactical bases, couldn’t you? You must have a helicopter or something to get me there.”
“There’s no need. We can take care of this ourselves. We want to service your plane, Lieutenant, and get you on your way, but it won’t let us touch it. It has very ingenious safeguards. If we tamper with them, it will self-destruct.”
Rei touched the gun in his chest pocket. What was this major playing at? Was he trying to cut loose from Central’s command? Was this a mutiny?
“Keep your hands off Yukikaze. That’s my plane.”
“Lieutenant, I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in right now.”
“I shouldn’t have to say this, Major, but I’m attached to the SAF 5th Squadron. I don’t take orders from you.”
“May I remind you that I am a superior officer?”
“You’re not my direct superior. I take orders from Major Booker. His orders were for me to make it back alive, no matter what. Until he rescinds that order, it’s still in effect. I’m sure you’re aware of military regulations.”
“Of course. However, while you are here you will obey me, Lieutenant.”
“And why should I do that?”
“Because otherwise you won’t make it back. If you intend to follow Major Booker’s orders, you’ll obey mine first. Tell me how to deactivate Yukikaze’s safeguards.”
“I refuse.”
“Then you’ll stay here.”
“Is that a threat?”
“All I’m saying is that you should consider your own wellbeing. If you don’t let us service Yukikaze, I don’t think you’re ever going to recover from your injuries, Lieutenant.”
With that, the major left the room. Rei felt like he was still dreaming. He slowly raised himself up and sat on the edge of the bed. After a few minutes, he stood up. He took an unsteady step forward. His balance was shot. The feeling of unreality clung to him. He staggered, then fell to his knees. Marnie reentered the room and, saying it was too soon for him to be up and about, helped him back into bed.
“You people…” Rei said, lying back down. “What are you trying to do? I have to get back.”
Marnie smiled. “We’re just trying to help you, Lieutenant. You should rest for a bit longer.”
Before he could reply, she stabbed a hypodermic syringe into his arm. Just as he was registering the shock of the needle, she quickly withdrew it and looked down at him, her face expressionless. “Good night,” she said. His eyelids grew heavy.
He sank into a world of white.
YUKIKAZE HAD NOT returned. In the SAF control room, Major Booker stared at the wide tactical display screens in disbelief. It had been over three hours since the symbol marking Yukikaze’s position had vanished from them.
“Rei…” he muttered. “What’s going on?”
“It seems he completed his mission,” said General Cooley, standing behind him. “It’s possible that he engaged the JAM and was shot down.”
“Requesting the deployment of a search and rescue team.”
“Denied. We don’t have the resources for it right now. Major, I want you to submit your plan for the combat flight test of the FRX00 prototype that was delivered to our squadron.”
“Yukikaze may have set down on a frontline base. Please authorize me to send the FRX out to look for him.”
General Cooley fixed her cold eyes on Booker for a long moment before speaking. “I’ll leave the selection of the flight test course to you.”
She turned to leave. As the click of her heels receded behind him, her voice floated back. “But I doubt you’ll find him. We’ve received no contact from the other bases.”
After she exited the control room, Booker rubbed at his eyes wearily and returned to monitoring the displays.
“I was going to give you the first plane in the new squadron… Rei, what happened out there?”
He gazed pensively at the screens, as though the act of his looking at them would summon Yukikaze’s RTB sign and bring her home. But she didn’t return.
REI FLOATED BACK up out of the white haze. His body felt impossibly heavy. He knew he was awake now, but he still felt like he was in a dream state, still felt the same vague, insistent unease.
Through his body he sensed a kind of low-frequency hum that he couldn’t actually hear. He couldn’t focus his thoughts. He felt cut off from the real world, a sense of unreality enveloping him like some sort of transparent skin. It was as if his body no longer belonged to him.
Lying in bed, his eyes closed, he listened to someone talking outside the room. It seemed like a voice, but he couldn’t understand what it was saying. It was like the buzzing of bees. Maybe it’s a fairy’s voice, he thought groggily. He didn’t think it was a human’s.
He opened his eyes, rose unsteadily from the bed, and staggered over to the white door. The buzzing in his ears wouldn’t go away. He put his hand on the doorknob and pulled. It didn’t open. After a befuddled moment he realized the door opened out. He braced his shoulder against it and turned the knob. The door swung open easily. So easily that Rei lost his balance and took two or three inadvertent steps out into the corridor.
It looked like a typical hospital hallway, but it was dimly lit and deserted. The buzzing sound had disappeared. It was silent. Then he heard an echoing cry, a sound like an animal being strangled or the screech of a bird. A white form floated toward him. It was Marnie. The soles of her shoes squeaked along the highly polished floor and she swung her hips as she walked, her full breasts swaying. The very mundanity of the scene fueled Rei’s suspicions. The nurse seemed more like an animate doll than a woman. Feeling a palpable revulsion at the sight of her, he retreated back into the room.
“You need to rest,” she told him.
He sat down on the bed. She extended her arm, took hold of Rei’s wrist, and checked his pulse.
“You seem a bit tense, Lieutenant.”
“I think you know why. Tell me the truth. Where are we?”
“Beneath TAB-14.”
“I’d like to check out the surface. Where’s Yukikaze?”
“You shouldn’t exert yourself. We’re continuing to service your plane.”
“You can’t touch her central file.”
“Understood. We’re working on the ejection system, reattaching the canopy, and resetting the ejection seats.”
“Yukikaze uses type EESS-81-03 ejection seats. Do you have those here? And the canopy is a type made specifically for the Sylphid line.”
“We’re fabricating them in an underground plant. You can’t fly without a canopy, after all. And we’ll manage something for the ejection seats. It may take a little time, though.”
“Why don’t you contact Faery Base? That’d be the simplest thing to do, wouldn’t it?”
“We can’t transmit a signal. Lieutenant, can you activate Yukikaze’s comm? We just can’t figure out the systems, no matter what we try. It has safeguards everywhere.”
Rei’s anxiety increased. What were the survivors of TAB-14 up to? In his current state, he couldn’t figure it out.