Kazuko stood in her locked room, alone.
A narrow shelf sank into the wall beside a plain bed. She lay down and tucked her jacket and harmonica into the shelf.
Kazuko didn't sleep well. When Kaoru came in several hours later, all Kazuko had to show for her attempts were mussed hair and wrinkled clothes.
"Should I come back later?" Kaoru said as she eyed Kazuko's weary face.
"No. I'm fine." She dragged out of her bunk.
"Okay…" Kaoru pursed her lips and pushed up her glasses. "I have a few questions."
"Yeah, me too." Kazuko crossed her arms and stood straight.
"And what might they be?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow.
"First, what will happen to me?"
Kaoru let the question hang in the air for five long seconds before she said, "Didn't you understand?"
Kazuko's heart beat a little harder as suspicion curled around her stomach. "I'm not sure."
"You're a Yamato crew member now. You'll return to Earth with us, and you can make a normal life for yourself."
That's generous—perhaps too generous. Kazuko bit her lip. "And that'll work out for me?"
Kaoru glanced at her interlocutor. "What do you want me to say? Why wouldn't it?"
Kazuko shifted and kept her eyes on Kaoru's hands. "My mother… my biological mother… She wasn't from Earth—she wasn't even human." She fingered the delicate necklace hidden beneath her shirt. "I never knew my biological father, but he was human—like you."
"What race was your mother?" Kaoru said.
Kazuko managed a bitter smile. Tadashi's death… it was an accident. Maybe Ayano's was too, but not Mom's—not Aunt Ilana's, or that other woman's… War is awful. It mustn't begin early—It can't! She took a deep breath and met Kaoru's gaze. "Nobody here would recognize their name, so I won't tell it to you. I can't answer questions about the future. It'll be better that way. You shouldn't pollute the timeline."
With a frustrated frown, Kaoru nodded. "I understand.
"Can you tell me about this ship?" Kazuko changed the subject.
"Yamato? Are you familiar with it?" Kaoru asked.
"A little. I had a friend who loved historic ships." Kazuko relaxed a little.
"What about the planet Iscandar?"
Iscandar…? Kazuko rifled through her memory. "No, I don't recognize that name."
"Then let me tell you about it," Kaoru said.
For over two hours Kaoru related a struggle of war, planet bombs, radiation, extinction, and famine. And a menacing enemy—the Gamilons. She finished her tale by recounting Yamato's mission and left Kazuko with a warning. "Earth will be far from beautiful when you see it again."
Earth… Kazuko remembered: infertile, dusty ground, a veiled sky. Anything would be an improvement over that… She unfolded her arms and clasped her hands. "You… still think everything will work out? Earth history… I know so little about it—this era, anyway."
"You'll learn." Kaoru offered a hesitant smile. "We'll see about the rest when we get back to Earth." Then she whispered, so low Kazuko almost missed it, "I hope it'll do."
"Yeah," Kazuko replied. "I guess."
"Just a few more questions," Kaoru said.
Over the next twenty minutes, Kazuko answered several queries. She listed her skills and told Kaoru what she wanted to do while she was onboard.
A tide of uncertainty rolled over her. What will happen to me? Why can't life ever be easy?