The Bering Sea, aboard Yonaga . . .
A knock echoed at the door. "C'mon in, cool dudes. It's your ship."
A snickered laugh echoed from outside before the door was unlocked to reveal a diminutive and nearly bald figure – he still possessed a moustache and a stringy long goatee falling from his chin – in the green combat uniform that was worn by all aboard the Yonaga, his collar marked with the broad gold stand patch with the two silver chrysanthemum flower insignia of his rank in the Imperial Japanese Navy. "Good afternoon, Sergeant . . . " Fujita began before he stopped as his dark eyes fixed on the topless body of one Sergeant Jude Lizowski. And the black hexagram insignia tattooed on both his shoulders. Noting they were both the same, the admiral then hummed. "Why the Twenty-seventh Hexagram of the Yì Jīng, Sergeant?" he then asked as he walked inside.
Jude blinked, and then took a look at his deltoids. "Because one of the meanings of this particular hexagram is 'security.' In effect, that's my job." He then got up – from a meditative pose, Fujita was quick to notice – and then walked over to his bunk, where his backpack and other equipment was located. Not to mention his jumpsuit, the admiral noticed; the sergeant was now dressed in a pair of royal blue cloth pants with the insignia of his home regiment stitched in gold over one hip. "I assume something's happened that made you to come see me right away. Chief Horiguchi said he would insist I not be disturbed until the first dog watch." A quick glance to the clock mounted on one bulkhead, which indicated the time to be 1:14 PM; he knew the ship had been running on what the Russians called Magadan Time since they were imprisoned in Sano-wan; the seaman third-class who had escorted him to this cabin had told him that so he could re-adjust his watch. "Has something happened?"
A sigh. "Somewhat. I must confess your actions this morning concerning Ensign Doihara – not to mention the revelations you made to all of us when you came aboard – have made me realise that the situation is not what I was prepared to expect when we finally got free of Sano-wan and headed out from Arakamčečen Island." He took a deep breath as he felt a slight twinge of discomfort flood his heart as he suddenly realised that a question a part of him had wondered about had to now be asked.
"We lost the war, didn't we?"
Jude blinked, and then he sighed as he walked over to slide a chair out from under the work desk between the two bunk beds posted here. Waving Fujita over to sit down, the sergeant then moved to took his own seat on his bed. He then waved for Hironaka Kenji to come inside and sit down to the right and behind his superior on the bed on the forward bulkhead. Once that was done, the seaman guard at the doorway moved to close the door to grant them privacy. At that moment, a look of profound sympathy crossed the young sergeant's face. "Admiral Fujita, sixty-six years ago, the late and most honourable Heavenly Sovereign of Shōwa did – on realising that the military situation between his country and the nations fighting him, especially the United States of America and the United Kingdom and her Commonwealth partners, had deteriorated to the point where sustaining a state of war against them was eventually going to lead the nation to total ruin – accepted the request for surrender made to his government at Potsdam, outside Berlin, on 26 July 1945." He ignored the wide eyes on both Fujita's and Hironaka's faces as they took in how the Canadian had addressed the Shōwa Emperor. "As the late Heavenly Sovereign announced in his Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War on 15 August of that year, he was finally convinced that pressing the war in the light of the use of nuclear weapons on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – coinciding with the entry of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics into the Pacific War the day before the Nagasaki attack – and the possibility that a joint Soviet-American invasion of the Home Islands would end up ripping the nation apart . . . was not to the advantage of the Japanese people at all. In return, the Allied powers guaranteed that the Heavenly Sovereign would still be allowed to remain as the head-of-state of Japan . . . with the necessary legal modifications to the Constitution to ensure that such an august person as he would remain above the clouds and no longer be forced to intervene directly in the affairs of normal men. As his predecessors had always been seen as." Jude shrugged as his voice turned back to the normal lanky tones he used. "I'm not a history buff, so I won't try to theorise or speculate on what actually happened back then. I wasn't born back then. Hell, my parents weren't born back then. What can I say or do to judge what happened in 1945? I've no right to do that, so I won't."
"Amazing."
An eyebrow arched. "What about?"
"How your language changes," Fujita stated. "When you spoke of the late Shōwa Emperor, you spoke with reverence and respect, virtually the same as what any of us would do when we would speak of him." A sigh. "Yet once you were off that topic, you seemed ready to go back to that rather butchered version of English you normally seem to use. Do you know where the word 'dude' actually comes from? It's American English, a slang term that first appeared in the 1870s that was used to apply to ill-bred and ignorant city men! Why is it so commonly used these days? And in Canada no less?"
Jude laughed. "Dude, let me tell you something: When you're a country of just over thirty-three million people living next door to the Big Hollywood Movie Machine, the way the Yanks speak the language tends to flood over the Forty-ninth Parallel all the time!" He shrugged. "I'm so used to saying it that not even the RSM of the Saskatchewans where I work now bothers me about it." A smirk. "Then again, the flyboys know that if something happens and their plane cracks up, it's people like me that have to go after them. I'm a SAR tech. You don't get people like me angry."
Fujita chuckled as Hironaka – who had got out a notebook to write down things – tried not to snicker. "A wise point. Why become a search and rescue technician?"
"Did your sigs officer ever tell you of extreme sports?"
The admiral hummed. "They're sometimes called 'action sports' or 'adventure sports.' Activities that are quite challenging physically. Also providing an inherent level of danger above and beyond what would be seen as acceptable in normal sports." He sat back in his chair. "We had such things back in our day, but we never called it that. Barnstorming with airplanes – they were not as advanced as the Dynajet your friend Pilot Sergeant Wong flies – under bridges and through the open forward and aft doorways of large barns without striking the ground or the deckhead of the doorways." A smile crossed his face. "Then again, before even my time, there were people who gladly risked their lives crossing the Niagara River gorge balancing themselves on a tightrope . . . with only a balance beam to help they stay steady. Charles Blondin, for example. Not to mention board a watertight barrel to ride over the Horseshoe Falls, like a school teacher named Annie Taylor did back in 1901; I remember reading about it when I studied at the University of Southern California in 1920."
"That would be something," the sergeant acknowledged with a nod. "Wouldn't be allowed today, though; the Niagara Parks Commission in Ontario wouldn't want to take the responsibility in case something happens and the stunt performer dies. Or you had cases like Roger Woodward; he was the kid who survived going over the Falls with just a lifejacket on him back in 1960." As Fujita gaped at him, Jude smirked. "Wouldn't wait to do it with just a lifejacket. I've learned how to be much safer."
"Than jumping onto the top of an A6M with only a safety wire saving you from falling into the ocean?" Hironaka then demanded.
Jude sighed. "I had Nikki keep the plane steady over the ensign dude's aircraft and I had a parachute on my back in case I slipped off. The safety line was a bungee cord, which is a long bit of elastic cloth that retracts after it's reached its maximum stretching point. Atop that, we were only going about 140 klicks an hour; that's just a little faster than maximum safe speed allowed on the 401 outside Toronto. The wind wasn't too bad; I'm used to things like that. But saving the ensign dude after his heart decided to take a break was the priority. You dudes have been separated from your families for way too long. Not fair for the ensign dude to check out to Fiddler's Green just before you got the chance to finally head home." He crossed his arms. "I became a SAR tech initially because of the rush of being able to jump out of a Buffalo or Hercules at low level to parachute into the woods. Or dive off a Cormorant helicopter into the ocean. But as time went on and I helped pulled people out of danger – sunken boats in the ocean, wrecked planes in the woods, some rock climber or rappeller who got stuck on his wires on a mountain cliff – well, there was another rush I began to discover." As Fujita looked at him, the sergeant smiled. "It's our motto, Admiral: 'That others may live.' There's no war between the State of Japan and her former enemies, including the Dominion of Canada. As to how you'll be given the chance to return home with your honour intact, I can't say, but I can speculate on it. My concern this morning was this: Ensign Doihara most likely has relatives back home, as do the remainder of you. They deserve to have him – and you – come home alive, don't they?"
Fujita nodded. "They do . . . " He then sighed. "Even if the Japan I have seen in my dream-conversations with my great-great-granddaughter is so different than the Japan I left behind in 1941. So many things have changed . . . and I truly wonder if it's for the better. What you just said about the Shōwa Emperor, for example . . . " A shake of the head. "In my eyes, the Heavenly Sovereign is divine. He will always be divine. That was what I was raised from birth to acknowledge. Yet now . . . "
His voice trailed off. "I can't speak about that. And I won't try to inflict my opinions on you concerning that since I'm not properly informed on the situation . . . and because of that, I can't judge," Jude confessed. "Why are you here now?"
Another sigh, and then the admiral straightened himself. "What exactly are the orders of the 10th Saskatchewan Cavalry Regiment concerning Yonaga?" he asked.
"To observe the movements of the Yonaga as she proceeds on her current voyage," Jude stated. "To ensure none of the ship's crew or the ship herself comes to harm. And to stop those who might, for whatever reason, bring harm to Yonaga or her crew."
"Who could harm us?" Hironaka demanded.
"A lot of people," the Canadian replied. "You've heard of al-Qā'idah?"
"The Muslim religious fanatics who destroyed two skyscrapers in New York City in 2001, not to mention damaged the headquarters building of the American Defence Department in Washington," Fujita stated. "The American President Bush launched a war in Afghanistan and Iraq to eliminate these bandits. Their leader, 'Usāmah bin Lādin, was killed by members of the American Naval special strike force, SEAL Team Six, in May this year."
"Why would they attack us?" Hironaka wondered.
Jude sighed. "I think it's because of this . . . "
With that, he reached over to draw out his dataPADD – it looked like a perfectly-cut slate of very thin black quartz mineral the size of a large book to Fujita – from his parachute pack and placed it on his lap. He then tapped one part of the tablet, creating a glowing image – like the picture from a movie projector – on the centre of the tablet. What appeared to be the keypad of a typewriter then appeared on the side of the tablet closest to his chest, thus allowing him to tap out a request. A thin rectangular bar of white appeared, that being filled by Roman letters in a phrase. A moment later, a shower of light then burst from the tablet to create an image right over it, one that made both Imperial Japanese Naval officers gape.
"Your country's new space carrier, dudes," Jude then proudly declared . . .
Tōkyō, the Imperial Palace, that moment (local time: before breakfast) . . .
"My gods . . . "
"It has stunned us all, Your Majesty."
Emperor Akihito took a deep breath. "I can clearly see that, Hiromi-kun," the Heavenly Sovereign of Japan then stated as he gazed on the image of the Yonaga now being projected from the PADD handed to him by the reborn emperor of the Latter Hàn Dynasty of old China. "This is a Yamato-class conversion. Like Shinano was."
"Hai," Hiromi stated with a nod. "But this was a more heavily-modified vessel than Shinano, Your Majesty. In the case of Shinano, all they did was cut everything down to the weather deck, remove the main turret barbettes and gunhouses, then built the necessary facilities to act as a support carrier atop the weather deck. She was never meant to act as a forward strike vessel like the older fleet carriers then in service at the time were. In Yonaga's case, she was not only built with an extra hull section that extended her overall length from 265.7 metres from bowsprit to fantail to 320 metres, she was given extra armour in places that would have made sinking her quite difficult. AND she possesses a fully-functional flight deck system that could allow her to launch and recover the equivalent of two Canadian air cavalry regiments' full compliment of attack squadrons . . . and do so without next to any major fleet support for many months at a time." She reached over for the cup of tea that had been prepared for her to take a sip from the soothing liquid. "That they've survived for nearly SEVENTY YEARS speaks quite well of the level of preparation that went into this vessel's construction. And the training of her crew."
The Emperor nodded. He then gazed on Masatada Hinano. "Why has your group kept silent about your relatives all these years, Hinano-san? It would have done your relatives much good to reveal the existence of this vessel. Was it the Cold War?"
A nod. "Hai, Your Majesty," Hinano said as she bowed respectfully to her nation's head-of-state. "When the precursor group to the Yonaga no Tenshi was first formed by my great-grandmother Fujita Seiko in 1951, there were profound fears that Yonaga's association with Unit 731 would see my great-great-grandfather and other members of the ship's company tried for war crimes. After all, those of Unit 731 that weren't captured by the Soviets had literally been given a chance to walk away scot-free since the Americans were desperate to get their hands on the research done by Ishii-sensei and his subordinates to prepare themselves for a possible confrontation against the 'godless hordes of red communists' soon to pour through Germany's Fulda Gap." As the Emperor laughed at the would-be lawyer's sarcastic tone, Hinano then added, "Over the years, we tried to contact various former members of Unit 731 to learn what happened to Yonaga. But those who were alive at the time either didn't know what happened to the ship or – as in the case of Colonel Miura Daisuke – were incapable of telling us what we needed to know. And given that the Yonaga strictly adhered to total radio silence when she went to Arakamčečen Island – and the fact that our parents and other relatives were scared to reveal the ship's existence, which would have brought the Soviets out in droves to try to find her – it eventually became more acceptable to just keep quiet about it. Never forget, of course, but say nothing . . . "
"Until your generation," Hiromi stated.
A nod. "Hai. I first found out about Yonaga from my mother, who took me to Ōsu Kannon in Nagoya when I was in middle school. That was where Hiijii-chan's older brother Hachirō – he died in 1905 at the Battle of Mukden near Shěnyáng; he was an Imperial Army officer – was buried. Seiko-hiibāsan – this was just before she died – told me about her husband, mother-in-law and brother-in-law . . . and then told me about the father-in-law she never knew. Part of her believed Hiijii-chan was still alive, but since there had been no attempts to try to find Yonaga since she went missing, she feared he might have died . . . " Hinano then sniffed. "Hiibā-san was so sad, too. Okā-san was effectively the last of the Fujita Clan of Segikahara; Hiibā-san was afraid that with Okā-san taking the Masatada name when she married Otō-san, everything about Hiijii-chan would be forgotten. So I persuaded her to give me the names of the other relatives of the Yonaga crew and where I could contact them. Eventually, about a hundred of us around my age decided it was only right to find some way to honour the ship and what service they had done for the country . . . and from there . . . "
"The Yonaga no Tenshi were born," the Emperor finished.
A bow of the head. "Hai."
"What inspired you to form a motorcycle group?" he then asked.
Hinano blushed. "Believe it or not, the Kōshi Kasshi did," she said as she waved to Hiromi, who tried not to laugh out loud on hearing that. "Most bōsōzoku only care about making their machines loud and drive them recklessly down city streets to get their thrills. That wasn't what my great-great-grandfather was prepared to die for, Your Majesty. If I became like that, he would have wanted nothing to do with me!" A sigh. "The people in the Kōshi Kasshi were different. Yes, they broke the law on occasion . . . but every time they did that, they did it usually to save someone's life from car accidents, burning buildings, a pregnant woman about to give birth . . . " She smiled. "They were the type of people I came to believe that my great-great-grandfather would have fought and died for. People who obeyed the laws . . . but understood times do come when the law gets in the way of more vital things. I wanted the Angels of the Yonaga to be the very same way. We all wanted it. And . . . " She shrugged. "We did it."
"Indeed you did," the Emperor said, nodding in agreement. "And when you saved those poor ladies in that house fire last year and they repaid you by giving you all the chance to become Avalonians . . . " He smiled. "Your faith was proven."
A sniff. "Hai . . . "
Hiromi reached over to gently squeeze the older woman's shoulder, flashing her am empathic burst to allow Hinano to keep control over her emotions. At that moment, a discrete knock echoed at one of the doors. A servant bowed politely to the Emperor, and then stepped out of the room. He returned a minute later. "Your Majesty, the Lady Negako and the Lady Kaga are here right now with the Lady Lieutenant Tōgō Aoi and one other person, a colonel in the Ground Self-Defence Forces I do not recognise."
"Send them in," the Emperor bade.
"Hai!"
The servant stepped out. A moment later, a familiar woman in the black gi she normally wore came into the room, followed by her lover . . . who was also dressed in a black gi and black belt, though Kaga's belt didn't have the 地 kanji in gold thread that Negako had on her belt. They were followed by a taller woman in the dress black uniform of a lieutenant in the Maritime Self-Defence Forces . . . and, much to Hiromi's surprise, a very beautiful woman in her mid-twenties, now wearing the uniform of a full colonel in the Ground Self-Defence Forces. "Who . . .?" she began before hearing Hinano gasp as the older woman's body suddenly stiffened. "Hinano-san?" she gasped.
The Emperor looked himself . . . to see the colour slowly drain from Hinano's face as she stared wide-eyed at the colonel. "Oh, dear . . . " he breathed out.
Immediately, Negako was at the university student's side, kneeling down as she gently pressed several shiatsu points on Hinano's back and the back of her head, causing the younger woman to gasp before she blinked several times. She then took a deep breath before giving the ninjutsu grandmaster an appreciative nod. "Arigatō, Negako-sama," she breathed out before turning to gaze at the colonel as she sat down.
Said colonel was trying not to blush too much; she could sense the younger girl mentally undressing her at this time. "Hinano-chan, I don't think your great-great-grandfather would approve of your interest in me," she advised as she gazed on the other woman with warm brown eyes. She had raven black hair that was streaked with bright silver strips. She also had an ornate daishō hooked to the left side of her dress belt around her waist. A single strip of ribbons was on her jacket over her left breast, all of them appearing to indicate medals awarded during the Second World War. Her nametag was on the right breast. Seeing the name there, Hinano then gaped.
"Miura-taisa . . .?"
The newcomer sighed. "I neither claim the rank nor seek the position," she stated. "As you can sense, I am an Avalonian. The mei'na of Colonel Miura Daisuke, formerly of the Imperial Japanese Army, was shifted into the body you now see before you early this morning with the assistance of his former nurses at the Juntendō University Hospital under the supervision of Moroboshi Negako-sama, Shichinohe Kaga-sama and Tōgō Aoi-taii." No one bothered to correct the improper rank title used with Aoi's name. "Of course, to prepare that spirit to exist comfortably in a woman's body – and an Avalonian's body at that – certain augmentations were made to it so that that spirit . . . " She then smiled. "Me, in other words . . . " She breathed out. " . . . could live as a woman and as one of the Daughters of Avalon within Japan."
"She has yet to choose a given name for herself, Hinano," Negako then stated. "Perhaps – as she would be seen as having the right to become part of the Yonaga no Tenshi due to her previous self's affiliation with Unit 731 – you can assist her, Hinano."
Hinano blinked, and then she smiled as she reached into her jacket pocket to pull out a small pin. The others were quick to see that said pin was a miniature of the group flag of the Yonaga no Tenshi: A gold-trimmed black banner with the kanji for the ship's name surrounding the basic seaman rank insignia of the Imperial Japanese Navy (a chrysanthemum flower over an anchor). With that, she moved to affix the insignia onto the left collar of the newly-born colonel's jacket. She then hummed as she sat back to consider what Negako had stated before she sighed. "Your father's name was written with the kanji for 'great light of the Sun,' correct?" she asked.
"Hai," the colonel stated.
"Then you are Miura Masako," Hinano stated. "'Child of the light of the Sun.'"
The others in the room nodded; the name the newly-born Terran-form Avalonian-Japanese woman had been given – written a different way – was the given name of the Emperor's very own daughter-in-law, the mother of his granddaughter Crown Princess Ako. "So I will be," the newly-named Masako stated before she turned and prostrated herself before the Emperor. "Your Majesty, my father was part of a group that served Your Majesty's Revered Father in a way that – as He was never briefed on the actual mission of Unit 731 – brought eternal shame and dishonour unto Him. I offer my life to find ways to redeem my father and his comrades in Unit 731 in the eyes of Your Majesty and Your Majesty's most loyal subjects whom You protect with love and devotion, as all Your Majesty's most Revered Ancestors from the days of the Jimmu Emperor have done unto this land the Great Kami bestowed onto us. Command me and I will obey unto my death."
The Emperor tried not to sigh. He had never really experienced this sort of slavish behaviour from the soldiers that had once fought for his late father seventy years before; he was only a boy of twelve when that horrid war came to a final end and peace fell upon a shattered land. While he was bound by very ancient conventions to never speak publicly of what had driven his late father's decisions during that time period – as the Son of Heaven, he was allowed full access to the secret Imperial Archives that recorded the truth about what had happened in the reign of his late father during the time of the Greater East Asia War – he could speak of it in private as long as the others held their own silence. Moroboshi Negako and her sister were two such people. This woman – whose very christening he had just been privileged to witness – clearly was another, as was Masatada Hinano. And her once-missing great-grandfather.
"Lady Masako of the Miura of Tōtōmi-no-Kuni . . . " he began, which made Masako nearly choke on hearing him refer to her by such a classical title, " . . . We accept your vow of service, but demand only one thing in return." As she stared in confusion at him, the Emperor then smiled as he held up a finger to emphasise his point. "That you obey and LIVE, Masako-chan! The samurai of old were prepared to die should Fate have demanded such things. But I feel that there has been too much death at the business end of weapons for far too long in this land. While I know you are prepared to give up your life if required, always find some way to survive if the chance makes itself apparent. And help others survive, too! That, I hope, will assuage the spirits of those poor unfortunates who fell at the hands of your father and his co-workers all those years ago!" He then relaxed himself. "They have always said that the way of the warrior leads to death. I think it's time for people to realise the way of the warrior should lead to life as well. For the warrior . . . and those he or she protects."
Silence.
"Your Majesty, you are too kind to me . . . " Masako whispered, her voice nearly choking as the tenderness of the Emperor's words seared right into her heart.
"Rest yourself, Masako-chan," he stated.
Immediately, Hinano was at the other woman's side as she helped Masako sit up. Aoi quickly produced a handkerchief to give to the newly-born woman so she could wipe her face down and compose herself. Once that was done, the Emperor took a deep breath. "Since without a doubt, the officers and men of the Yonaga will refuse to obey any orders passed onto them by the Diet of the Defence Ministry, I will have to act on their behalf to order them back home." He gazed on Hiromi. "Lady Hiromi, We will compose a Rescript to be taken at once to Our Warship Yonaga and read to Our Loyal Sailors so they will understand and accept what happened sixty-six years ago in the Reign of Our Beloved Father and that no harm is to be brought onto the loyal and peaceful citizens of the United States of America or any other nation by them."
A deep bow. "My Emperor, Your Wish is my command."
The Son of Heaven then paused as he considered something before he then asked, "Do you believe that Our Presence aboard Our Warship Yonaga may be required?"
Masako gasped. "Your Majesty, NO!" she cried out.
The Emperor looked over. "They may not accept a mere letter, Masako-chan."
"Respectfully, Your Majesty, I would advise you to remain within the walls of the Palace," Aoi then stated. "Just before we came here, I received a report relayed from Her Majesty's Canadian Starship Yukon stating that an innocent fishing vessel, the Northern Venture out of the city of Unalaska in the American state of Alaska, was torpedoed by an unknown attacker. We know that no aircraft from the Yonaga was involved in this; the only planes that have flown from the ship have been Mitsubishi A6M fighters on combat air patrols. Logic therefore dictates . . . "
"A submarine, no doubt," Negako finished for the former Steel Angel.
Silence.
"From where?" the Emperor demanded.
"That will have to be investigated," the ninjutsu grandmaster stated. "Still, Masako's objection towards you actually travelling to the Yonaga is prudent, Your Majesty. I would recommend that Masako herself – as she, when she lived as Daisuke, was part of the unit that was the administrative organisation in charge of Yonaga – be the bearer of your letter, with Hinano and her friends in the Yonaga no Tenshi riding escort with her."
Hinano blinked. "How?"
Negako slightly smiled. "Do you know of Shigaten Kamen?"
The leader of the Tenshi nodded. "The Fukunokami-form Avalonian whose soul switched bodies with that of her template, Shigaten Benten. Benten-san was a friend of Ataru-kun's would-be wife, Redet Lum of Uru. She currently lives in Japan under the name 'Fujikaze Nobuko.' She attends the Kyoshō Academy in Kanagawa now. She's a senior and dating Hari Haruka, a sophomore at the school; he's Chōryō Bun'en."
"What did she ride when she visited Earth?"
Hinano blinked, and then her eyes widened. "Airbikes?"
Negako smirked. "You have yet to see the Sagussan version of one, Hinano; they are properly addressed as 'hovercycles' and have much greater capabilities than what Kamen once used. I believe there are enough aboard the bioroid factory to allow all the members of your group to ride out to the Yonaga all the way from here in Japan."
"They have that type of range?" Masako asked.
"While not capable of space flight without modifications, they can fly around the world at supersonic speeds. You can be over the Yonaga in hours."
The others in the room were finding themselves nodding in agreement. "I'll have to come with you, then," Aoi then stated. "Fujita-chūjō and the others will recognise me right away." She gazed on Masako. "Just like your father recognised Kaga when she came to the hospital with Negako-san, Masako-san." As the reborn Imperial Army colonel nodded, she then gazed on the Emperor. "Your Majesty, I can arrange for the crew of the new Yonaga to monitor things from orbit. With the Yukon close by, we can find whoever or whatever it was that struck at the Northern Venture and make sure that they don't try to sink any other ships. With the old Yonaga in the Bering Sea right now, there is the chance that whoever torpedoed the Venture might know of Yonaga and are trying . . . "
"To provoke an incident between Japan and America," Hiromi finished.
"Hai."
"Who would do that?" the Emperor demanded.
"Several groups, Your Majesty," Negako stated. "The chief amongst them might be those who would covet the power of the new Yonaga . . . but ignore what all the nations of Earth agreed to in the Treaty of Tomobiki when it comes to the use of Earth Defence Force vessels or other equipment in matters of a terrestrial nature."
"Does that explain the lady you brought to the house last night, Onē-sama?"
Negako gazed on Hiromi. "It does. The Asāsiyyin – like the Yonaga no Tenshi – are all Avalonians themselves; they were allowed to become such a month after our adopted race arrived on Earth en masse last year. Because of that – and in following the dictates of Hasan-e Sabbāh, who was once the student of Hosan Hirosuke after Hasan converted the residents of Alamūt to his faith in 1088 – Jawna and her sisters have gone forth to make sure that those who would pervert the teachings of Muḥammad for their own selfish purposes would not do things that would cause retaliation against the Ummah as a whole, thus provoking a very improper 'holy war' that would simply allow more hatred and anger between those of the Ummah and those of other faiths to gestate."
"The Assassins?" Hinano asked. "Aren't they supposed to be bad people?"
A shake of the head. "No, Hinano. You are mistaking the Asāsiyyin with those who SAY they are followers of Hasan's teachings. Chief of which are what are known commonly as the 'Sabbāh' to outsiders and the Ḥashshāshīn amongst themselves."
"What is the difference?" Hiromi wondered, clearly surprised at what her sister had just revealed about the pretty Libyan woman who had come to the Moroboshi home the previous evening. "I have not heard of either organisation to be exact."
"You would not as there has been an oath of secrecy between the Asāsiyyin and myself, Hiromi," Negako answered. "The Asāsiyyin – the word means 'Faithful to the Foundation' – see themselves as special protectors of those who take up Islam as their faith. They act in the very same manner that our family has – on occasion – served to protect the Imperial House of Japan." She waved to the Emperor in emphasis. "And like us to the people of Japan, the Asāsiyyin are raised from birth to NEVER discriminate between those who follow the teachings of Muḥammad. There is no difference between Sunni or Shī'ah in the eyes of people like Jawna and her sisters. Even more so, they were strictly raised to believe that others who follow in the Abrahamic traditions – Jews and Christians – are their 'brothers in faith,' to be protected as well if they lived in the lands then controlled by rulers who are Muslims. Over the years, that belief also extended to those of other faiths they encountered as well. After all, Muslims once ruled most of modern-day India, whose residents practiced quite ancient faiths that some Muslims would denounce as 'pagan.' As they would the residents of Japan given that the ways of Shintō would also seem 'pagan' to a Muslim." A sigh. "And given that Hasan was Hirosuke's student, those who adhere to schools that were created from Hirosuke's teachings – such as our own – the Asāsiyyin as a whole view us as spiritual cousins." She tried not to roll her eyes. "The way she greeted me last night . . . "
"Oh? What did she call you?" Kaga teased.
A sigh. "The usual."
Laughter filled the room, though Masako looked confused as she didn't really know Moroboshi Negako and understood her outlook on life. "So what's the difference between the Asāsiyyin and the Ḥashshāshīn, Negako-sama?" Hinano then asked.
"The Ḥashshāshīn – the word is often translated as 'soldiers' – was actually derived from an insulting term used to those who followed Hasan's ways," Negako stated. "Ḥashshāshīn comes from the term ḥashishīn, meaning 'hashish users.' While people like Jawna would never DREAM of using that form of cannabis – or other psychotropic herbs – to enhance their physical performance while performing a mission, those who later came to claim they were also 'followers' of Hasan's ways made use of such psychotropic herbs before they carried out missions they were requested to perform."
"Thus becoming 'assassins' in the modern sense of the term," Hiromi finished.
"Indeed. Currently, elements of the Ḥashshāshīn are assisting governments throughout the Middle East in maintaining power in the wake of the so-called 'Arab spring' that began to arise in Tunisia at the time the accident with the Staff of Gihan occurred and Haida was propelled into the universe of the United Federation of Planets in the year 2371." As the people in the room nodded – the "discovery" of the Star Trek universe had caused a massive worldwide furor when such was "officially" revealed a month after that event – Negako then added, "Jawna told me that elements of the Ḥashshāshīn are working for the government founded by Mu'ammar al-Qaḏḏāfī in Libya."
Hiromi then sighed. "Oh, delightful . . . "
"What is the problem?" the Emperor asked.
A sigh. "When the final distribution of the Type Two and Type Three ships was announced in November, Libya was assigned one Type Two destroyer and one Type Three frigate – the Khalīj Surt and the Bikku Bitti respectively – given the size of the population of the nation. At the time, Your Majesty, the Libyan government was more than pleased to accept what role was given to their armed forces in the Earth Defence Force in the future as their armed forces were, at the time, quite small and could not possibly support more ships, much less larger vessels. But when the people who are currently trying to overthrow the government in Tripoli launched their armed rebellion in the east of the country back in February, representatives of the so-called 'Brother Leader' began bombarding me with ever-increasing requests to have more ships given to the control of their government for use in suppressing the rebellion." A shrug. "Which, of course, I had no choice but to refuse given what was agreed to in the Tomobiki Treaty."
The others nodded. The "Treaty of Tomobiki" – so called because the actual signing of the documents was done at the Moroboshi Dōjō in Tomobiki by the heads-of-state of every nation on Earth – was the colloquial name for the Worldwide Convention on the Administration and Operation of the United Nations Earth Defence Forces. This binding agreement was first proposed in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1935 as passed in the wake of the mission to Yaminokuni the previous summer and officially was seen as having gone into force on 15 August 2010, the sixty-fifth anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Article Four of the Convention specifically declared that under NO circumstances would any ship of the Earth Defence Force or any equipment permanently assigned to the Earth Defence Force be used to quell a domestic disturbance up to and including an open rebellion against the national or sub-national government of any nation who signed the Convention . . . UNLESS it was CONFIRMED that such disturbances were caused by extra-planetary sources such as an alien government or agency of same.
In following the tenets of the Convention, Moroboshi Hiromi – as the Director of the Earth Defence Force – requested independent verification that what was now rocking Libya was somehow being provoked by alien agents provocateurs. Once that went out, the leaders of the National Transitional Council of Libya in Binġāzī gladly submitted themselves to full mind-melds by Avalonian-Libyans who actually lived in the western part of the country – the region which was the traditional support base for the government of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamāhīriyyah – to reveal that under no circumstances were any aliens of ANY of the known races in the local galactic cluster. With further confirmation given by the Special Committee on Alien Activities in New York City stating that none of the "secret alien residents" of Earth had anything to do with provoking the NTC's move to oust Qaḏḏāfī, Hiromi had the proof she required . . . and she sent a reply to both Tripoli and Binġāzī declaring that she could not agree to such a request and that – until such time as peace and order had been restored in the country – the Libyan Starships Khalīj Surt and Bikku Bitti would be held in cislunar orbit, totally unmanned save for the small crew of Avalonians created for each vessel and cut off from any contact from anywhere in Libya.
The leaders of the NTC accepted that decision, thanked Hiromi for her service to Earth, and then went back to fighting the "Brother Leader" and his minions.
The response from the leadership of the Jamāhīriyyah had been properly polite . . .
. . . but people could tell they weren't pleased by that answer.
Thinking on that, Hiromi's eyes then widened. "Onē-sama, you don't think . . .?" she began as she turned to stare wide-eyed at Negako.
"That possibility cannot be ignored," Negako stated. "Last night when I first encountered Jawna, she had taken note of a person who met up with one of your guests from the Democratic Youth League of Japan. I do not know her real name, but Jawna states she now lives under the alias 'Suzuki Kathryn.' She met up with Miura Motokata and walked him to the Tomobiki-chūō train station." She ignored the shocked gasp of breath from Masako on hearing that name. "Yes, Masako, this is your previous-self's great-great-grandson. He does not seem to care one bit at all towards Japan rearming under ANY circumstances." She took a deep breath. "I have no idea where Kathryn is at this time; I am having Jinseiko and the others try to trace her down as we speak."
"I will ask the Public Security Intelligence Agency to assist you, Negako-kun," the Emperor then stated. "But do you believe your family is under threat?"
"That is a possibility," the grandmaster calmly replied, surprising both Masako and Hinano with her total lack of reaction to such a threat from her family. "But there are ways and means to make sure that if such an attempt to force Hiromi to defy the tenets of the Convention is made, it will be too costly to pursue."
"The Lady Jawna, you mean?" Hiromi asked.
A nod. "And her adopted sisters."
"Negako-kun, you have to tell me who they are," the Emperor noted.
"When the time comes, I will present Jawna to you, Your Majesty."
"Fair enough," he replied, and then he took a deep breath. "Have my personal writing materials brought here now," he then bade the servant at the doorway leading into this private meeting room. "I will compose the letter to Admiral Fujita for you to take to him, Hinano-chan," he then stated. "You'll need to go out quickly."
"Hai!" the leader of the Yonaga no Tenshi said as she bowed her head . . .
Utsunomiya, the Ebisu Dōjō, that moment . . .
"Alright, Akane! That's enough!"
Hearing that, Miyamoto Akane stopped before she took several deep breaths, and then she moved to relax herself, stretching her arms and legs to get the kinks out of them before she proceded to cool herself down. Kneeling at the head of the dōjō by the kamidana, where the dōjō-kun and the kanban were posted, was her lover and bond-mate – not to mention her sensei in the Edo Oniwabanshū Ebisu-ryū – Ebisu Kyoko. Both girls were currently in plain black gi with black belts around their waists. As her beloved moved to cool down, the reborn Hú Chē'ér of the Latter Hàn could only smile at how much Akane had come since the previous summer when she had transferred out of Fūrinkan High School in Nerima and became a student at the Yoshū Academy here in Utsunomiya. While Kyoko was a senior and now preparing to write the Centre Test in the upcoming winter term, Akane was a sophomore and – thanks to her NOT being a tōshi – had to prepare herself for whatever challenge her schoolmates might make once she was effectively "free" of the protection of the woman known to all her peers as Koshaji of Yoshū.
"It's easier now," Akane noted.
Kyoko nodded as she stood up. "That's good. In a short while, you might be able to fight your former fiancé on a roughly even footing."
Hearing those words made the younger daughter of the disgraced Tendō Sōun blush as she leaned down to stretch herself, Kyoko moving in to help push her upper body forward. Striving to be just as good as Hayashi Ranma had been a goal of Akane's since they were effectively forced to break up the previous summer thanks to he being paralysed by the Nǚjiézú warrior-maiden Shampoo . . . which brought him to the attention of the Moroboshi family and set him on the road to renounce any bonds with his birth-father, Sōun's former training partner Saotome Genma, to affirm relations with his parental grandmother Hayashi Chiaki and his maternal great-grandfather, Professor Henry "Indiana" Jones.
It had been quite the steep climb for Akane since she began living full-time with Kyoko at her family home near the Ōya-ji temple to the west of the downtown section of the capital city of Tochigi Prefecture. Unlike her – who had lived the life of a normal city girl back in Nerima – Ranma had been training in the martial arts since he was old enough to walk . . . which had ultimately hindered the proper development of the "engagement" between him and Akane when his father had brought him to the Tendō dōjō late the previous spring to meet Sōun's three daughters and be promised to one of them. With Ranma having recovered from the wound Shampoo – now his own sister-in-law by the rules of her tribe – had given him thanks to the intervention of Avalonian technology provided by the Moroboshi Clan, he got back into hard training while he also went forth to catch up on the years of schooling he had missed thanks to the decade on the road with Genma. Helped by a wide gamut of people including Shampoo's great-grandmother Cologne, Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū Grandmaster Happōsai and Ranma's current fiancée Sebone Mimōko, he was now almost on the verge of being able to challenge Moroboshi Negako herself in a duel with hopes of success. Akane – who had learned thanks to Kyoko how much she had fallen behind her ex-fiancé in pursuing her own martial arts studies – couldn't let such an obvious challenge get away from her, so she plunged into her own studies with relish.
Of course, when your sensei is also your wife-in-all-but-name . . .!
«I love you . . . »
«My love for you is eternal, Akane-vayae . . . » Kyoko returned telepathically as she leaned down to tenderly kiss the younger woman under her left ear.
«Do you sense her?»
A smirk. «You're getting there.»
«Is she a threat?»
«No, I don't believe so. What can you tell about her?»
A hum. «Avalonian. Terran-turned. Originally from England, but descent from Iran. Incredibly trained; I would swear that she was one of the Kuromoroboshi or one of Shampoo's friends.» She gazed in amusement at Kyoko. «Or you, Kyoko-vayae . . . »
«Not bad,» Kyoko purred as she kissed her lover's neck again, and then she looked over. "C'mon in!" she called out. "There's no need to hide anymore!"
A moment later, a lovely woman with the olive-shaded skin of a native of old Persia walked up to the entrance of the dōjō. Clapping her hands to alert the kami of the training hall that she had come in peace, the crimson-haired, brown-eyed woman who was somewhat conservatively dressed – she bore a shawl over her hair, though it didn't hide her exceptionally well-sculptured face; she also wore rather plain clothes that discretely hid her figure but still allowed full freedom of movement for an expert martial artist – then gazed fondly at them. "May the Most Loving give His Blessings upon this noble hall of training and onto both your families, good sisters," she then declared with a strong East Midlands English accent as her eyes sparkled with delight and amusement. "Forgive my disturbing your time in training and further building your relationship, but I fear that those who profess to be warriors of the Ummah have very dark designs towards the family of she who was once the Xiàolíng Emperor of Hàn." Her eyes then narrowed as she gazed on the ninja-trained-tōshi. "Kyoko bint-Chē'ér."
Kyoko tensed, surprised that this newcomer had addressed her as the "Daughter of Chē'ér" in Arabic, and then her heart nearly froze as the woman's words struck home. "The Emperor . . .?" she hissed out before her pale brown eyes suddenly widened in recognition. "You're one the Asāsiyyin, aren't you?" she asked.
The newcomer smiled. "Indeed, sister. I am Birrah bint-Hasan 'Amawadūd min-Alamūt Walgett, formerly of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, England." She then sighed. "I need to speak privately to the leaders of the Seven Battle Schools of Kantō who are the Great Lady Hiromi's closest spiritual advisors. And it must be done discretely."
Kyoko nodded. "That can be done, Lady Birrah." She stood up. "Akane, prepare some lāpǔshān xiǎozhǒng tea for our guest. I'll be sending out some text messages."
"Hai!" Akane said, nodding automatically.
As the older martial artist left the room, Akane sighed as she got to her feet, and then brushed off her gi. "This way, Birrah-san," she said as she waved the Iranian-descent Englishwoman out of the dōjō to the traditional home where Kyoko, her parents and her sister Akako lived. "Akako-san! We have a guest!" she called out as she and Birrah stepped into the genkan to remove their shoes before walking inside.
The visitor clapped her hands. "Allāh's blessings upon this home."
Hearing that, the elder Ebisu daughter – known to tōshi peers as "Kosekiji" – looked over. Akako was a first-year university student at Bunkyō Women's College in the ward of the same name in Tōkyō; she was a former graduate of Rakuyō Senior High School and a good friend of the school's former leader, Suguta Tadasu. A hidden background participant in the Yaminokuni mission and the mission to the universe of the United Federation of Planets, Akako – who physically was a near-twin of Kyoko's save for her having chestnut-shaded hair and no tattoo on her cheek; the tattoo was used to mark the primary heir of the Ebisu-ryū – was pursuing a degree in business management; she planned to work on the civilian staff of the United Nations Earth Defence Force when it was finally formally established as part of the resource management team under the overall control of Akane's elder sister Nabiki. "Welcome to our home," she said as her eyes locked on Birrah . . . and then she blinked as the visitor's quite exceptional looks seemed to sear past all her emotional guards to piece her heart. "Oh, my . . .!"
Sensing that, Birrah blinked before her cheeks quickly reddened as her own heart seemed to thump even faster inside her chest. "A pleasure, Lady Akako . . .!"
As both women started to giggle and fluster in embarrassment, Akane could only grin as she headed into the kitchen to prepare the requested tea.
Being an Avalonian was so much fun at times . . .!
To be continued . . .
WRITER'S NOTES:
1) The Yì Jīng (known more popularly by the Wade-Guiles transliteration, I Ching) is the Book of Changes, one of the oldest of the classical Chinese texts. A book that introduced a sixty-four hexagram system for divination, the Book of Changes is one of the most well-known and popular works to come out of old China. The hexagrams that are tattooed on Jude's shoulders would be written 頤 in Chinese characters (read as "Yí" in Mandarin and "I" in both Korean and Japanese). Other meanings of this term include "swallowing," "providing nourishment" and "jaws." The hexagram in question combines the trigrams (three-part symbol) of "thunder" at the bottom (inner trigram) and "mountain" atop it (outer trigram). Fans of G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero will remember that the character of Snake Eyes bears the Sixty-Third Hexagram (written as 既濟 in Chinese characters, read as "Jìjì" in Mandarin, "Kije" in Korean and "Kisai" in Japanese) on his shoulders, which combine the trigrams of "fire" as the inner symbol and "water" as the outer symbol. The 63rd Hexagram represents the concepts of "already fording" (crossing a river), "after completion" or "already done."
2) The Forty-ninth Parallel (which is the accepted location of the International Boundary between the Lake of the Woods between Manitoba, Ontario and Minnesota to the east and the Strait of Georgia between British Columbia and Washington in the west), which infers the 49th Parallel of Latitude North of the Equator, is a common euphemism for the border between the Dominion of Canada and the United States of America.
3) Translations: RSM – Regimental Sergeant-Major, the senior non-commissioned member of a battalion-sized unit in the Canadian Army; Sigs – short for "Signals," which is the Army way of addressing someone working in communications; Klicks – shorthand for "kilometre;" Daishō – literally "Large and small," the name given to the pair of swords (katana and wakisashi) traditionally worn by a samurai; Agents Provocateurs – Inciting agents; Kamidana – literally "altar of the Kami," this is the miniature Shintō shrine used in houses and other buildings outside a proper temple; Dōjō-kun – literally "Rules of the Dōjō," the wall plaque that lists what behaviour is allowed and not allowed in a dōjō; Kanban – literally "Billboard," it is the plaque that displays the legal authorisation for a dōjō to exist; -vayae – Sagussan suffix honorific meaning "my darling" or "my dearest," which serves as the standard term for endearment between bond-mates; 'Amawadūd – Servant of the Most Loving; Lāpǔshān Xiǎozhǒng – the proper Mandarin way of saying "Lapsang Souchong," a type of black tea from the Wǔyí Mountains of Fújiàn Province on China's eastern coast which is traditionally smoked over a fire of pinewood, thus giving it a smoky taste.
4) Charles Blondin (born as Jean François Gravelet-Blondin) (1824-97) was the most famous of the Niagara tightrope walkers that crossed the Niagara Gorge below the Falls between Niagara Falls (Ontario) and Niagara Falls (New York). He performed seventeen such crossings between 1859-61, varying his stunts between walking by himself, carrying his manager across the Gorge piggy-back and even actually moving a portable stove out midway across the river to cook breakfast! In comparison to Blondin, Annie Edson Taylor (1838-1921), a failed dance teacher who became the first person to go over the Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls in a sealed barrel on her sixty-third birthday (24 October 1901) and survive, faded into obscurity after her stunt and eventually died in an infirmary in Niagara Falls (New York) almost forgotten. Beyond all the stuntmen who have braved the dangers in Niagara, Roger Woodward (born in 1953) earned fame by actually surviving a plunge over Niagara Falls on 9 July 1960 protected only by a lifejacket. These days, he lives in obscurity, though he did return to relay his story on a Canadian television special in 1994.
5) Ontario King's Highway 401 (known from end to end as the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway and partway along its length from Toronto to Trenton as the Highway of Heroes) is Canada's busiest superhighway. It connects Windsor (and Detroit in Michigan beyond) with London, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, Guelph, Metropolitan Toronto and its western and eastern suburbs, Belleville, Kingston and Cornwall to eventually link up to Québec Autoroute 20 and Montréal beyond. Standard highway speed on the 401 (pronounced "four-oh-one") is 100 kilometres per hour (about 60 miles per hour).
6) Aircraft notes: The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo (Canadian military designation CC-115, known in the United States Army as the CV-7A) is a STOL-capable turboprop aircraft used for light cargo duties and seach and rescue support; it's either from this aircraft or the Lockheed Model 82 Hercules (military designation CC-130 in Canada, C-130 in the United States) tactical transport aircraft that SAR techs like Jude parachute from when they're deployed on a mission. The Agusta-Westland AW101 (known in the Canadian Forces as the CH-148 Cormorant; a variant of this aircraft was built for the American President by Lockheed-Martin as the VH-71 Kestrel) is a search and rescue helicopter which flies out to assist SAR techs in pulling out injured civilians or soldiers from the field or from aboard a ship.
7) SEAL Team Six (today known as the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group [DEVGRU for short]) is one of America's top military counter-terrorist groups. Founded in 1980 under the command of the infamous "Rogue Warrior," Commander (retired) Richard Marcinko (born in 1940), SEAL Six/DEVGRU have participated in almost every mission that required Naval specialised warfare personnel. Their most famous action, of course, was Operation: Neptune Spear, when elements of DEVGRU travelled to Abbottabad in Pakistan to kill 'Usāmah bin Lādin on 2 May 2011.
8) Lieutenant General Ishii Shirō (1892-1959) was the microbiologist who was the commanding general of Unit 731. Like Miura Daisuke, he was able to get free of war crimes accusations by cooperating with the Americans and being granted immunity from prosecution (the Soviets really wanted to get their hands on this man). He was said to have worked at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick in Frederick (Maryland) after the war, but that has not been confirmed.
9) Ōsu Kannon (properly called Kitanosan Shinpuku-ji Hōshō-in) is the Shingon Buddhist temple located in the Ōsu district of Naka Ward in Nagoya. As the Seventh Carrier series tended to be very unclear when it came to actual locations – for instance, Segikahara (the scene of the famous battle in 1600 that saw the Tokugawa Clan finally unite all of Japan under their rule) was said in Return of the Seventh Carrier to be a suburb of Nagoya (the capital of Aichi Prefecture) while in reality, it is in Gifu Prefecture north of Aichi – and place names, I have to guess at some things (as it was firmly established that Fujita Hiroshi is a Nagoya native). Again, as I stated before, Mr. Albano's editors had to be asleep at the wheel at times!
10) Tōtōmi-no-Kuni (Tōtōmi Province) was located in what is today the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture in the Chūbu Region on Honshū (in the area of the modern-day city of Iwata around Lake Hamana on the shore of the Pacific Ocean).
11) The true United Nations Security Council Resolution 1935, which was adopted on 30 July 2010, was meant to extend the mandate of the African Union - United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) for 12 more months. Darfur, as is known, is the western region of Sudan that has been subjected to an oppressive war starting in 2003 waged by the government in al-Ḫarṭūm (Khartoum) against the non-Arab natives of the region. In the reality of this story, the above-mentioned resolution would have been numbered 1936.
12) Kosekiji (Ebisu Akako) is named in tribute to Hú Chì'ér, a general who served under Niú Fǔ (known in Japanese as Gyōho), who was one of Dǒng Zhuó's trusted lieutenants. She did not appear in Ikkitōsen but given that it is believed that Hú Chì'ér and Hú Chē'ér (note the similarity of the names) are said to be blood-related in some historical sources, it made sense to give Kyoko a sister. As stated above, Akako is one year older than Kyoko and she was a senior at Rakuyō at the time of Phoenix From the Ashes. Since Kyoko (as Koshaji) is better known to Ikkitōsen fans, I made her the true heir of the Ebisu-ryū.
