The Fourth World Read online

  She was crying too.

  It was a few moments before any of them could talk again.

  For once Zack was serious. “There’s more here than meets the eye, clearly. I won’t claim to understand it, but, I’m your friend. Both of you. Whatever it is, we’ll get to the bottom of it. Together.”

  “Together,” said Ayako.

  Nizhoni nodded and Fintan agreed too.

  “Together,” they all repeated.

  *

  Fintan’s condition improved rapidly and within a couple of days he was out of hospital. He got a heroes greeting back at Red Squadron HQ, and a belated ceremony was arranged for his medal reception. He hadn’t realized the winners of the friendly game got such an award.

  Simon even pinned the medal on Fintan’s chest. Up close his black eye was bad. Nizhoni must have hit him hard.

  “Good thing you got out in time for Friday,” said Zack at breakfast. “Today we’re getting our science projects in advanced physics. Mister Singh is going to pair us up. I’m glad you’re back, because if we weren’t here I might get paired up with, well, you know.”

  “What?” said Fintan.

  “Oh it’s nothing, it doesn’t matter now,” said Zack.

  “Spit it out,” said Fintan

  “Ok. You see. I was just thinking it would be such a nightmare if I got paired up with,” he paused, and gulped for effect. “A girl.”

  Ayako screamed and threw a bread roll at him. He ducked and the bread roll hit the person who had been sitting behind Zack.

  Of course it was Simon.

  Fintan sighed and shook his head. He couldn’t help but smile. Things were getting back to normal.

  *

  Ayako was the star of Mister Singh’s class, so naturally everybody wanted to get her in the science project. They waited in class with baited breath as he doled out the assignments.

  Using a projection device much like the one Ayako used in the hospital room he showed a brief vid of each assignment before naming those who would be performing it. Tension was building in the room.

  Fintan could hear Zack, who was head down on his desk whispering “Please Ayako, Please Ayako, Please let me get Ayako.”

  He shook his head and rolled his eyes. Ayako was sitting several desks in front, so thankfully couldn’t hear him.

  “I can’t stand Singh’s class,” Zack had told him on more than one occasion. “Once we start getting into the math of how everything works, something just goes to sleep inside me. I know I’m going to flunk the project, and then flunk the class, but I need this class if I’m going to continue doing flight.”

  “And why do you want to continue flight, other than seeing Iara?” Fintan had asked on each occasion.

  “Errm. Let me get back to you,” was the usual reply.

  Singh was blathering on about the next project. It was to mend a crashed saucer. The participants would have to use all of their ingenuity to get it working and flight-ready again. They’d role play being lost in a hostile environment where a repaired ship would be their only means of escape.

  “That’s perfect!” whispered Zack. “Her brains and my brawn. This has to be set up for me.”

  “The first project member I pick because she has the academic competence to figure out most of what needs to be done. Ayako Katsuragai, it’s your project.”

  “Yes!” said Zack. “Woo hoo, my prayers are answered.”

  “She’ll be joined by someone who complements her perfectly,” said Singh.

  Zack pointed at his chest and whispered “Me.”

  “He’s a hard worker, and one who can see beyond just the academics.” said Singh

  Zack whispered. “Still me.”

  “And of course, he has great ability in flying, something that will be needed for a ship with ramshackle repairs.”

  Zack raised his eyebrows. “Cool. He thinks I can fly!” he whispered to Fintan. “Iara must have said nice things about me!”

  Singh stopped, and looked at their desk. Zack started to stand up until Singh said “Fintan Reilly, you’ll partner Miss Katsuragi.”

  Zack slumped, his smile frozen on his face.

  *

  “This sucks,” said Zack. “I wanted to work with Ayako. It would be nice to get to know her better.”

  “You really like her, don’t you?” said Fintan.

  “Well, you and Nizhoni have something going on. It’s nice.” said Zack

  “It’s not like that. There is a bond. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not what you think.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Fintan thought about it a moment. “No,” he smiled. “I’m not”

  Zack threw a pillow at him.

  “I bet you’d like a little bit more alone time with Nizhoni, working on the project together, but she’s stuck with me. Ironic isn’t it?” said Zack

  “Hmm,” said Fintan. “I guess.”

  “She doesn’t like me that much either,” said Zack. “But I’m thick-skinned. It’s ok.”

  “She likes you just fine,” said Fintan. “It’s just her way, she doesn’t suffer fools gladly.”

  “Hey” said Zack, “watch who you’re calling a fool!”

  “You know I don’t mean it like that,” said Fintan.

  “Ha! Gotcha!” said Zack. “You’re too easy sometimes.”

  “You think there’s something in all this?” said Zack. “In your reaction to Trichallik, in the way that Nizhoni and you seem to know each other from somewhere else?”

  “I don’t know,” said Fintan, “and I don’t believe in reincarnation. I just hope that we’ll learn it in time.”

  “Reincarnation?” said Zack. “Ha. Wouldn’t that be funny. Maybe you were husband and wife in a previous life. But of course, she’s the tough one, so I guess she was the husband!”

  It was Fintan’s turn to throw a pillow at Zack.

  “You guys will be good together,” said Fintan. “I think you’ll have a great project.”

  “If we don’t kill each other first.”

  “Kill each other?” said Fintan. “She’s half your size, and she’ll still kick your butt.”

  “No way,” said Zack.

  “You sure about that?” said Fintan. “Maybe you should have a chat with Simon.”

  Zack paused. “Really?”

  Fintan winked, but said nothing.

  Chapter 15: Science Project

  So you split them up.

  Yes. Healthier that way. They’re too young to be so in love.

  In Love? I don’t think so. Or did you learn something about them that you’re not sharing.

  It’s an adolescent male and a female. Sometimes hormones can be distracting.

  So you split them up.

  Yes. There isn’t a hidden conspiracy in everything I do

  Yes there is, and sometimes there are several.

  “I’m happy we’re working together, Fintan,” said Ayako. They were on a shuttle train heading to one of the outlying areas where some land had been reserved to simulate a saucer crashed in the wilderness.

  “So am I,” said Fintan, “though I think someone else isn’t too happy about it.”

  “Oh Nizhoni is fine,” said Ayako “I know she’s missing you, but she’s practical, and to her it’s only a science project.”

  “I was talking about Zack,” smiled Fintan, and Ayako blushed.

  “You know she really likes you,” said Ayako, changing the subject.

  “You know he really likes you,” said Fintan, changing it back.

  “I know,” conceded Ayako “but I don’t think I could ever. With an American,” she sighed. “It’s a long story.”

  “We will have plenty of time together,” said Fintan “but if you are not comfortable, we can always talk about Nizhoni,” he said, smiling.

  She smiled back, but didn’t elaborate.

  *

  They reached their station and followed the directions out to a field a short way.

&nb
sp; “It’s always a beautiful day in the dome, isn’t it?” said Fintan, looking around to take in the scene. “It looks like it never rains here.”

  “Yes” said Ayako. “Doesn’t need to be so inefficient, the water is in the ground anyway, so they can just pump it up from the ground to feed the crops.”

  “It’s interesting that we use a space like this, which must be expensive, to grow crops. While we don’t need to be self-sufficient, it’s interesting that we are.”

  “I guess if things went bad in the world outside,” she said, “the project wouldn’t stop. This place was built during the cold war after all.”

  They reached their destination, a force field dome covering a section of the field. Ayako keyed a code into her bracelet, and pointed it at the field. It disappeared, revealing a crashed flying saucer.

  “Time to go to work,” she said.

  *

  At that moment, Zack and Nizhoni were on a trail, headed in the opposite direction, towards the city center to meet with their science project coordinator.

  “Any idea where we are going?” said Zack.

  She shook her head.

  “Well, with all your insider knowledge, I thought you might have some idea?”

  “None,” she said, flatly.

  Zack realized that it was time to change the subject.

  “I wanted to say ‘Thank you’”

  She looked at him, curious and surprised.

  “For Fintan,” he said. “He’s my roommate, and I love the guy. His time with you has really helped him. It’s only been a few weeks, but he’s come out of his shell.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” said Zack. “I think he had a hard time at home. When he got here he was always having nightmares and he was terrified of everything. That all changed the night he tried to help you against that fake monster.”

  “That was very kind.”

  “More than just kind, right? Brave, too. Remember, he was timid, and I believe he had been bullied a lot at home. You really helped break him out of that. “

  She smiled. “That’s good”

  They reached their destination and got out. The conversation had broken the ice between them and they chatted happily as they traced their way through the city looking for the building. They found it and worked their way to the office number that they’d been instructed to seek out.

  They entered, and behind a desk sat Trichallik.

  *

  “What a mess,” said Fintan, looking at the wreckage of the ship.

  Ayako laughed. “Well we do have a couple of weeks to figure it out.”

  “You think that’s enough time?”

  “Well, I can always rig up a time machine that would slow the Universe down so we can spend a couple of years at it if you like?” she said.

  “Nah” said Fintan. “Do you want to spend that much time at it?”

  “Well, I would be spending it with you, wouldn’t I?”

  He laughed. “Good point, and pleasant as the offer sounds, maybe we can just get it done in a couple of weeks.”

  They worked on sorting out the junk for a couple of hours, trying theory after theory about what they can do to fix it. They stopped, exhausted, to break for lunch. It was a short walk back to the train station, where they were able to use a small conference room to sit and eat, as well as break for the bathroom.

  “They should put bathrooms on the saucers, shouldn’t they?” said Fintan. She laughed.

  Ayako had prepared her own lunch instead of taking the packed lunch provided by the dorm.

  “Sushi,” she said. “Would you like to try some?”

  “That’s raw fish, right?” said Fintan. “Not sure if that’s what I want”

  “Try it,” she said, “you might like it.”

  He did, and bit down into its soft and sweet texture. It was good.

  “Wow,” he said. “Not what I expected”

  He looked back at his sandwich. “Better than this cardboard”

  “I’m glad you like it,” said Ayako. “That’s something that’s good about you, you’re always willing to adapt to, and try to understand other cultures. That’s why Nizhoni likes you so much too.”

  He laughed. “Likes me as a friend, right?”

  She smiled, with fake innocence. “Well of course, what else would I be talking about?”

  He smiled too.

  She grew serious for a moment. “I guess I should explain more about what I was talking about earlier.”

  “I was curious about that” said Fintan.

  “My family name is Katsuragi,” she said. “And in the past, it was a noble clan. Most people with my name don’t care about that, but my family does.”

  She continued. “My family is a military family. Just about everyone has served, and most of them are still loyal to the Emperor. Yes, since World War 2, the country has changed, and we’re a democracy now, but we still have an Emperor, and my family, and my father in particular still love him and would die for him, even if he is little more than a figurehead.”

  Fintan asked “And they don’t like Americans as a result?”

  “No,” she said. “It goes much deeper than that. My grandfather’s brother was in Hiroshima when the Americans dropped the bomb. He was burned from head to toe and died a few days later.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Radiation sickness became a great problem in my family. My grandmother was there too, but wasn’t burned. However she did show some signs of sickness, and it became difficult for her to marry. There is just so much bitterness when we think about what happened. We’ve learned to forgive, but we don’t forget.” A tinge of sadness entered her voice.

  “And you?”

  “It’s all so long before I was born,” she said, “So I just hear what my family say about it. My father is an Admiral in the Japanese navy, so of course he is upset when he thinks about it.”

  “An admiral,” said Fintan “that’s impressive.”

  “He’s a good man,” she said “and I miss him greatly. If he knew that I was in the USA, working with the American military, I think he’d have a heart attack.”

  Fintan nodded, and smiled to encourage her.

  “But you asked what I think,” she said “and I always come back to this. Why did the Americans drop the bombs on us?”

  “To end the war,” said Fintan. “Japan would never surrender, and an invasion would be costly on both sides, right?”

  “That’s what everyone says, but that’s not my question,” she said.

  “My grandmother told me that when they dropped the first bomb, on Hiroshima, we were devastated, but defiant, figuring that it was a desperation move by the Americans, and that they only could do it once. When they dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki, three days later, we realized that they had more than one, and surrender was our only choice. Hundreds of thousands had died instantly and hundreds of thousands more would die slowly, later.”

  Tears were running down her face now. “What I don’t understand,” she said, “is why they had to bomb our cities. Surely if surrender was what they wanted, they could have dropped the bombs in the sea where the military and the Emperor could see the force that they were up against. They could threaten to use them on our cities, and give us a chance to surrender. But they didn’t. They chose, instead, to kill so many people, horrifically, to end the war. How can we trust someone that would do that?”

  Fintan was quiet. She had a point. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She wiped the tears away.

  “Sorry” she said. “But I’ve been bottling it up since I got here. Thanks for listening. I feel better now.”

  *

  Trichallik bade Nizhoni and Zack to sit down.

  She handed two pieces of plastic across her desk. One to each.

  “These are passes that will allow you to leave the city,” she said.

  “Report to the main hangar, and take two saucers. You’ll fly them out of the
city and report to this location.”

  She pointed out a location on a map that was hovering in the air above her desk.

  “That’s the Nellis bombing range,” said Zack.

  “That’s right,” said Trichallik. “Except we don’t use it for bombing. I need you too to become quickly adept at flying small one-person saucers. The terrain here offers enough privacy to allow you to do so.”

  “Wow” said Zack.

  “This is to be kept absolutely confidential,” said Trichallik. She glanced at Nizhoni when she said it.

  Nizhoni nodded and agreed.

  “What’s all this for?” said Zack

  “All will be revealed in time. For now, you just have to worry about getting some experience flying a real ship, and not a simulator.”

  She tossed a couple of data crystals across the desk. “These have the exercises that you should master. When you’ve mastered them, I’ll be in touch.”

  They were clearly dismissed. They gave their goodbyes, stood and left Trichallik’s office.

  “Now I know why you got me and not Fintan,” said Zack.

  Nizhoni looked at him, not understanding.

  “He’d pass out again once he got close to Trichallik,” he said, a smile curling his lips.

  “That’s not fair,” she said, “and it’s not a nice thing to say about your friend.”

  “I was just kidding,” said Zack as she sped up her walk a little to leave him behind. He trotted to catch up with her. “You know, trying to lighten the mood.”

  She didn’t reply, and just kept walking.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I always seem to say the wrong thing, don’t I?”

  “There’s a cure for that, you know,” she said.

  “What is it?” said Zack. “Anything, please tell me!”

  “Shut up and don’t say anything,” she replied.

  He stopped. She walked ahead a few paces. She then stopped and turned back to him. Her face was impassive as always. And then she stuck her tongue out, laughed and started running.

  *

  It was a thrill to go into the hanger and show the credentials that Trichallik had given them. A military officer inspected them, and gruffly nodded. He led Zack and Nizhoni into a hangar where two saucers were parked.

  “You’re cleared to exit at Gate 1,” he said. “Just follow the beacons on your heads-up display and you’ll be fine.”

  They boarded their ships and took off. Zack was a little tentative at first. “It’s odd doing this without Iara looking over my shoulder.”