NONE OF THE REVIEWS CAN BE IDENTICAL, AND DON'T BE A SMART-ALECK ABOUT THIS!
CHAPTER 5 -
O N E M O N T H A G O . . .
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PLANET B1-M2 III (Kagome's home-world)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA
San Francisco is a major port city on the West Coast of the United States. Ships arrive here from all over the eastern hemisphere to deliver everything from automobiles to industrial equipment. The cargo ship from Japan had arrived two hours late, but with the weather patterns on the Pacific as they are, two hours late is never a biggy. Two harbor tugs guided the container ship into the terminal, where a berth was waiting. The crane unloaded the containers, setting them down where another truck hauled the cargo to another place where it would be sorted, and then placed on a freight train or an 18-wheeler and hauled away to wherever it was supposed to go. Once the serial number on the container was checked, it was placed in a pile of similar containers. One of the inspectors on the dock noticed that the doors on this particular container didn't look right, and he radioed the truck driver to stop while the container was checked for defects. The inspector found the problem on the locking mechanism, and after someone else arrived, the lock was repaired. No one bothered to check on the cargo to determine whether its quality was affected, simply because it wasn't their job. If there was a problem with the product, then the quality-control person at the cargo's destination was supposed to send the damaged parts back to the factory for replacement.
As it was, this red container with the gas tanks would be loaded onto a Santa Fe freight train, and shipped out to some railroad yard elsewhere in the state. There, Western Pacific would hook up three engines to a train over half-a-mile long. This train would go all the way to Kansas, where the train would be put under Union Pacific's control. This freight train would go to St. Louis, where CSX would take over, and finish the journey, finally arriving at an automobile factory in Kentucky. There was a fairly large railroad yard at the factory, where traincars of all different sizes were arranged on sidings, until the factory got around to using the various cargoes. Sheets of glass would be cut and shaped to make windows. Various industrial-grade fluids would be used for binding parts together, or separating excess material from the product. Boxcars and "Piggy-Back" cars held smaller, pre-made components such as the car batteries, air-filters, and lights, not to mention all of the electronic gadgetry, most of which came from Japan or Silicon Valley.
The premier car on the US-Japanese markets was the Cresta C99. With a four-cylinder, sixteen-valve engine, front-wheel drive, and space for four passengers plus the driver, all shoved into a sporty frame, this car had already made MOTOR TREND's "Car of the Year," and it had saved a Japanese manufacturing company that had been declining for three straight years.
This factory near Lexington, Kentucky was a single building that covered 100-acres! The army of employees received decent wages, even without actually being members of the United Auto-Workers labor union. As with most other factories, raw-materials entered on one end, and finished products rolled out the other, where they would be loaded onto another freight train, or car-carrying 18-wheeler and shipped out to some dealership.
T W O W E E K S L A T E R . . .
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PLANET B1-M2 III (Kagome's home-world)
SOMEWHERE IN JAPAN...
"It has been a troublesome time, that is true," one of the guests conceded, "But not the worst we have experienced. And we are having our way again, aren't we?"
"We made them back-off on the computer chips," another guest pointed out.
They just didn't see, Raizo Yamata told himself. The needs of Japan coincided exactly with a new opportunity. There was a new world, and despite America's repeated pronouncements of a new order for that new world, only disorder had replaced three generations of- if not stability, then at least predictability. "These are small things, my friends," Yamata said as he refilled the cups.
"Please explain, Raizo-chan," said one of his more-friendlier peers.
"So long as we lack direct access to resources, so long as we cannot control that access, so long as we remain the shopkeeper for other nations, we remain vulnerable," Raizo Yamata explained.
"Ah!" said the man sitting across the table, "I disagree. We are strong in the things that matter."
"And what are those things?"
"First and foremost, our diligence, and the skills of our designers..." the man went on while everyone else politely listened.
"And how long will those things matter if we no longer have resources to use? No oil to burn?"
"1941 all over again?"
"No," Yamata replied. "Not exactly. Then, they could cut off our oil because most of our oil came from them. Today, it is more subtle. Back then, they froze our assets so we could not use them, yes? Today, they devalue the dollar against the yen, and our assets are trapped here, are they not?" he challenged. "Today, they trick us into investing our money over there, they complain when we don't, they cheat us at every turn, and they steal back from us what we bought!" That was a real head-turner. In that instant, Yamata knew he had everyone's attention. People nodded, remembering the experience. "They are trying to cripple us, and they are succeeding," Yamata said quietly.
He smiled as he observed the results of his words.
NOW (TWO DAYS AFTER THE END OF CHAPTER 4.
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PLANET B1-M2 III TOKYO, JAPAN
Chet Nomuri was riding the commuter train, as he so often did, at the end of the work day to return to his apartment in Tokyo. It made him uncomfortable to be regarded by the rest of the local population as a "gaijin" (outsider), despite the fact that his family's roots were purely Japanese; he had actually grown up in the United States. Now, he was in Japan operating for the CIA. The pay was acceptable, and he was learning new things every single day, and he especially liked traveling, though the United States was his preferred place to live, given the existance of fewer restrictions on the citizens. Another perk to living in the United States was that overcrowding was not so much of a problem there. The overcrowding problem in Tokyo was argueably worse than even New York City!
A businessman sitting near him was reading a manga. From where he was standing, Nomuri could see that this one was called "Rin-tin-tin", but there was a notable difference between the dog in the comic and the one in the similarly-named 1950s American TV show: the dog in the manga had a female mistress in whom to confide, and... eeeww! Nomuri decided that he SERIOUSLY disagreed with the sexual tastes of whoever decided to make this cartoon. There was a woman standing right next to the man, staring out of the window. If she had seen the man's reading material, she was very polite about it. The battle of the sexes was fought very differently in Japan.
Then the transfer was made, but Nomuri never saw it. All he knew was that his pocket suddenly felt a little bit heavier than it did a moment earlier. It was tempting to read the note, but he had long-since adapted to this temptation. He would find out his new instructions when he got home. Brush-passes were very easy to make in Tokyo, since it was impossible NOT to bump into somebody.
ELSEWHERE IN TOKYO...
School had just let out, and Ayumi and Houjo met in the hallway. "Aren't you going to visit Kagome after school, Houjo?"
"Nah. Too much homework. Here," he said, setting down his backpack to retrieve something. "Can you drop off this copy of my notes at her house? Arigatou, Ayumi."
"No problem, Houjo," she said with a twinkle in her eye that Houjo didn't catch. They walked out of the school, and went their separate ways.
PLANET B1-M2 IV SLOANE...
By now, they had helped finish rebuilding about one-fourth of the village. The temple had once been the most elaborate structure in the village, so its restoration took the longest. It still wasn't finished, but at least its frame was reset, and it more-closely resembled a shrine than it had during the past few weeks. The villagers' morale was terrific, and with the Starfleeter's expertise in architecture, the buildings went up that much more efficiently. Whether it was against the Prime Directive to provide help in this fashion to a less-advanced culture had never been clarified, and politicians did not need to know everything, anyway, so Sloane decided that it would be okay if she saved her conscious from some unnecessary questions. The Starfleeters worked tirelessly, helping raise wooden beams to support the structures, and making pegs to fit into holes in the columns so the structures would be more sturdy. The adults and adolescents were divided into four 6-hour shifts, and the kids (Shippo included) that were capable of participating in the reconstruction effort were divided into six 4-hour shifts and eight 3-hour shifts, depending on age, that were organized by Sloane. The villagers who were unable to work for one reason or another (disabilities, age, etc.) prepared snacks and meals for the workers. Now THIS was Marxism in action, because everyone was working for the common good. Unfortunately, the Chinese and Soviets never could get this to happen on the national scale since they all felt that someone had to be in charge, and therefore exempt from working. Well, too many cooks can screw the stew. In this case, however, Sloane and the rest of her crewmen were setting the example, rather than simply bossing everyone around. Since the Starfleet personnel had superior equipment and physical training, they had been mainly helping with organizing the building materials, gathering additional supplies, and replacing broken materials on the first day. Now, it was the third day, and all of the needed building materials had been organized, repaired, or replaced. There had already been the occasional splinter or beehive, but those were easily dealt with: fingernails for removing the splinter; a phaser blast for destroying the hive. There was still no cure for Hepatitis, so anyone handling a bloody injury still had to be careful.
In the meantime, Sloane had been keeping a progress log, recording what was completed each day. The good news was that everything was coming along smoothely, but the bad news was that quite a few structures would not be finished before the weekend. Oh well.
No one had noticed that Naraku had been tracking them this whole time! At the edge of the woods, a single saimyoushou (one of Naraku's Hell Bees) observed the reconstruction effort. As the third night fell, it flew away to return to Naraku on Mount Hakurei.
MEANWHILE, IN THE ALPHA QUADRANT STARBASE 325...
The last ships of the recovery fleet had finally arrived, and all would be ready to depart within the hour. Admiral Nolotai had just adjourned the debriefing with the ships' captains, and they were ready to depart. The Klingon captains were ordered to assist with the recovery operation, since their Birds-of-Prey were the closest thing to a vehicle that could fly in a planet's atmosphere, and then they could conduct their own Cardassian-hunting operation. The SAGITTARIUS would lead the Federation's hunt for stray Cardassians. The starships SUGIHARA and GEARY, dispatched by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, would construct an observation outpost inside the moon that orbits B1-M2 IV, and then build a subspace-communications relay platform just outside that solar system to speed up communications with Starfleet. Admiral Nolotai requested that the captain of the USS PHILADELPHIA remain behind after the meeting, however, because the admiral would have a special assignment for him.
When everyone else had gone, the admiral spoke again. "Captain, as we both know, your fine ship and crew played an important role in gathering intelligence behind enemy lines during the Dominion War. Now, I have another assignment that should be easier for you, but the consequences for letting your guard are not to be taken any less seriously."
The PHILI's captain received his ship's assignment: examine the function of the wormhole that COLUMBIA reported existed in that sector. Determine its purposes and establish a list of its users. Then compile descriptions of each user.
The USS PHILADELPHIA and her sister ship USS INTREPID (Excelsior-class) were both contracted to Starfleet Intelligence in the year 2352. Both ships were equipped with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, and both ships possessed spotless service records. The INTREPID had been decommissioned, replaced by the new prototype back in 2370, but USS PHILADELPHIA lived on to see action in the Dominion War. Now she had returned to her mission of exploration.
Five hours later, the last ship flashed into subspace as its warp-drive came online. Every ship in this fleet would be busy for the next year or so, and none would return to Earth before then, except for the SUGIHARA.
The USS SAGITTARIUS led the massive fleet across Federation space. They would arrive at the Federation border within nine days, and then one day later, they would arrive at the planet where COLUMBIA crashed.
Author's Note
DUE TO SOME... PARENTAL INTERFERENCE... SOME OF THE STUFF IN THIS "AUTHOR'S NOTE" MAY REFER TO MATERIAL IN OTHER CHAPTERS OF THIS FANFIC. PLEASE EXCUSE ANY CONFUSION THIS MAY CAUSE.
The information in the brief reference to the USS INTREPID is inferred based on its role in the Star Trek fan fiction "UNFORGIVEN", and the known existence of the prototype USS INTREPID that is seen (and/or referred to) in an episode Star Trek: Voyager. I have not actually seen that episode, but I have read about the prototype in its entry in the expanded edition of the STAR TREK: ENCYCLOPEDIA (written by Michael and Denise Okuda).
The USS SUGIHARA is a starship that is mentioned fairly often in the published book series "Starfleet Corps of Engineers". It is named for the Japanese ambassador to Lithuania who tirelessly signed countless visas to allow European Jews entry into the Soviet Union to escape Hitler's genocidal campaign during World War II.
The space in our solar system exists at around 4 degrees Kelvin, which is about -269.15 degrees Celsius. Because of this frigid coldness, the demons' bones were effectively freeze-dried when they were exposed to the dryness of the vacuum of outer space after falling through the well that the INCURSION approached.
The largest asteroids tend to be large enough to punch continent-sized craters in a planet's surfaces, even after burning off a layer or two of itself from atmospheric friction. Just visit Meteor Crater in Arizona, USA if you don't believe that asteroids can be big.
rpt "repeat", as in "the emphasis is especially on..." or "the keyword is..."
I don't think Aloram Vas needs to invoke "main characters' right to survival", if only because I cannot think of a reason for her computer interface to explode. Could the reader please, at the very least, comment on whether you can think of a reason for a SCIENCE computer to explode when the ship appears suddenly in the troposphere of a planet?
I will be posting a glossary on the USS COLUMBIA's homepage for the convenience of those of you who do not understand the Star Trek techno-babble that appears in every-other chapter of my Fanfics. The USS COLUMBIA's homepage will be: http: website will also include a roster of the COLUMBIA's crew members, brief descriptions of the various starships mentioned in my FanFics, and anything else I think is relevant.
Did you know that the fire-retardant effects seen in the Star Trek shows is actually liquid nitrogen? It's cost-effective, and it looks like whatever fire-retardant might look like in the future.
Since there are only 3 decks on the USS INCURSION, I have no idea why the game screen says "TRANSPORTER ROOM 4 STANDING BY" while I am choosing the people that I want in my away team. All I know is that's what it says, so I'll stick with it for now.
THE INFORMATION FOR THIS LAYOUT WAS GLEANED FROM THE 6TH MISSION OF "STAR TREK: AWAY TEAM" and the opening movie of "STAR TREK: ARMADA II"
Deck 1 is the bridge, and the captain's ready-room, plus the surprisingly roomy observation lounge.
Deck 2 has the top of engineering, and lots of extra cargo space.
Deck 3 has sickbay, the transporter room, the crew's quarters, and the bottom level of Engineering, not to mention the small shuttlebay.
I know there are only three decks because on "Away Team"'s Autoplay menu, it says that the USS INCURSION is a variant of the Defiant-class. I know that the DEFIANT has only 3 decks, because I looked it up in the Star Trek Encyclopedia (written by Michael and Denise Okuda).
The USS NIGHTHAWK is named for the United States Air Force's F-117A "Nighthawk" stealth-fighter aircraft.
Anaphylactic shock is what happens in a worst-case allergic reaction to someone who is allergic to bees, pollen, poison ivy, and (in the words of my world-history teacher) all that good stuff.
Vin calls Spike "boy" on occasion because 'Spike' would be a name for a male pet. However, as Doctor McCoy pointed out to Captain Kirk in "The Trouble With Tribbles": "they're born pregnant"! Apparently, tribbles are female.
Obviously, Spike is taking 'the pill' on a regular basis, but eating will speed up a tribble's metabolism, and you can't keep up with that, no matter how many pills you feed that poor tribble. The more it eats, the more little tribbles will running around the ship, which we cannot permit, lest another incident like that in which Deep Space Station K-7's grain supply for the Federation colony on Sherman's Planet was devoured by tribbles in 2268 CE. All of the tribbles died, however, because the grain had been poisoned by the Klingon infiltrator Arne Darvin, aka 'Barry Waddle'. The smuggler Cyrano Jones' pending 20-year imprisonment sentence for illegally selling the tribbles was lifted by Captain Kirk, under the condition that he take every last tribble off of the space station. Spock calculated that the task would take him 17.9 years. Wow, Mr. Jones! It looks like the good captain here decided to knock 2.1 years off of your jail time, as long as you're willing to do a little community service...
Tribbles are like the interstellar equivalent of a Terran guppy.
Raizo Yamata's conversation is copied almost directly out of Tom Clancy's "DEBT OF HONOR". If anybody feels like stealing my story, you'll have to answer to somebody who has a lawyer, since I'm not actually profiting off of this monetarily. I am deliberately editing my quotations so that the reader only has access to a "demo" of Mr. Clancy's story.