.The alarm clock beeped, Suzume flung her hand to the side, knocking it off the bedside table, still beeping. ."Uugh, shut up" she grunted and pulled a pillow over her head, trying her best to ignore the sound. ."Suzu! Can you get that ting to shut up!?" a female voice yelled from outside the room, "besides, shouldn't you be at the academy by now? You do know I'm quite familiar at what time the theoreticals start, don't you?" .Suzume pulled the pillow off her head and lazily swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Using her toe she pressed the off button on the alarm clock as she stretched her arms out. She hated Mondays. After grabbing a hot shower and getting dressed in the academy uniform she walked into the kitchen. She was immediately handed a brown paper bag. The woman handing it to her was a few years older than herself, but judging by the looks, clearly related. ."I made you breakfast, you can eat it while I drive you to campus. I need to help out with the planning of the graduation party anyway." she said. .Suzume grabbed the bag. "Thanks, nechan" she said as she followed her sister out of the appartment.
."Good morning Kotori, and you Suzume" an old lady in the hallway said. "Off to school are we?" ."Good morning Ms Kiwagami" Kotori replied with a smile. "Yes, trying to make sure she doesn't miss class." ."You graduate the academy this year, don't you, Kotori?" the old lady continued. "I still remember when you moved in, has it really been five years?" ."Yes, Ms Kiwagami, five years. But Suzume here is on her second year and still has allot to learn, which is why I need to get her to class. Have a good day!"
.The two sisters stepped into the elevator and Kotori pressed the roof access button. ."So, have you decided if you're going back to Kyushu for summer break or if you're staying on New Tokyo?" she asked. .Suzume, swallowing a bite from a sandwich she had fished out of the bag, replied. "I'm staying. I don't want to spend another summer working for dad." ."He makes you work so you can learn, you know that right?" her older sister said with a reprimanding look. "And he overpays." she continued with a smile. .The elevator reached its destination and the doors parted to reveal a roof with a handful of landing pads with shuttles on them. The two girls walked up to a sleek, white shuttle looking as expensive as the other four put together. ."I still can't believe dad bought you this." Suzume said as she climbed in. "They cost a fortune and a half." .Kotori laughed as she jumped into the pilot seat and started quickly flipping switches, bringing the shuttle to life. ."He'll buy you one too, you know." she said as the shuttle slowly started to lift off. "But you'll need top notch grades, which you don't get from sleeping in. Now fasten your seat belt."
.Suzume barely had time to strap in before the shuttle fell over the edge of the tall building, plummeting towards the ground. With a quick jerk on the stick, Kotori rolled it around and leveled out. ."Nothing saves on gas money like letting gravity do your accelerating!" She said with a laugh. ."I'll be pulling out my coffee now, so try to fight gravity a while, will you?" Suzume said while silently trying to tell whether her heart was still beating. "How about you?" ."How about me what?" Kotori asked. ."Will you be going to work for father when you graduate?" Suzume took a zip from her coffee, feeling it sear her tongue. "Shiong mao niao!" she exclaimed. ."Hey! Language!" Kotori said sternly. ."But, hot!" Suzume whined. "And you didn't answer my question." .Kotori sighed. "I don't think I will. I do love flying, but to be stuck in a freighter transporting rice for the rest of my life?" she shook her head. "I don't think that would satisfy my urges, you know?" she said with a mischievous grin that Suzume didn't interpret fast enough. Her gut threatened to migrate through her throat as the shuttle rolled 270 degrees to the right and then banked hard left. Luckily the shuttle handled so well the g-forces kept the coffee in its mug. .Suzume glared at her sister once the shuttle leveled out again. "Can you stop that?" she asked. ."You know what?" Kotori replied. "Sometimes I can't." ."What will you do then, if you won't work for father?" Suzume continued the conversation. ."I don't know" Kotori said, biting her lip slightly. .Suzume looked over at her sister and noticed. "You're biting your lip." She said. "You always bite your lip when you're lying." she said accusingly. ."No I don't!" Kotori said and then sighed. "But you're right, I am lying. A recruiter came to talk to the graduates a couple of weeks back." ."A recruiter?" Suzume asked. "Like, for the navy?" ."Yeah, for the navy." Kotori answered. "Where else would I be able to fly the ships I want to fly? I want to swoop through an asteroid field in a Wyrm, not sit on a trade lane in a Drone." ."With your grades you'll get stuck on the bridge of a capital ship anyway" Suzume replied, taking another zip of coffee.
.The shuttle set down on a large landing space within the academy grounds. The two sisters hugged and went separate ways. As Suzume entered the main building she were immediatly set upon by two girls she only knew fleetingly. ."Hi Suzume!" one of them said. "There's going to be a party at my house this weekend and it would be, you know, soo fun if you would come!" ."Yeah!" continued the other one. "It's going to be great!" .Suzume smiled at them. She was popular. It was part personality, part looks and part money. But she was smart enough to know that, and take advantage of it if she needed to. "I'd love to come!" she said. "Why don't you send me the details over the comm-net? I really have to get to class." She was being honest, she liked parties. .As she turned the corner she was almost run into by Hiroshi, a guy from her class. ."Oh, erm" he said shyly. "Sorry." He moved around her and started running again. ."Whats the hurry!?" Suzume yelled after him. ."No theory!" he yelled back at her. "Liftoff from Delta in ten!" ."Shun sheng duh gao wahn" Suzume spit out, as she set off.
.Eleven minutes later she arrived at Delta Hangars, still fidgeting with her flight suit. She stopped, and stared open jawed. In front of her, her class was lined up in front of Itsuki, one of the flight trainers, and a man she didn't recognize. But behind them, where she was so used to see their training shuttles, sat sixteen Wyrms. ."Glad you could spare some of your valuable time and grace us with your presence, Miss Himura." Itsuki said sarcastically as she fell in line next to her classmates. He turned to address the entire class. ."Today, instead of our class on power cell waste products, we'll do some actual work." He held out his hand, indicating the man beside him. "This is Itto Kaisa Nakamura Tsubasa of the Kusari Naval Forces. I managed to convince him to let us do the quality assurance test flight of their latest acquired fighters." he paused for a while. "You will follow his order to the letter, or you will be grounded from flight for the rest of the semester." he let this sink in for a while. "Now, if you please, Itto Kaisa." .The naval officer looked at them with his hands clasped behind his back. "What you see behind me is the J7P-34 Light Fighter, also called the Wyrm." He started pacing up and down the line of young students. "With a maximum thrust speed of two hundred meters per second and a maximum cruise speed of up to four hundred meters per second it's the fastest ship in the Kusari Navy." He stopped and slowly looked at each one of them. "You will be extremely careful when you fly these ships and you will not do anything I do not tell you to do." .He waved at the ships behind him. "These ships haven't been fitted with any ordinance yet, but they are very sensitive to input and much faster than normal practice crafts." .He started reciting more of the ship's performance data. Suzume zoned out, she knew them already. She admired the crafts, she could almost feel them pulling her towards them. She was itching to fly. .After almost thirty minutes of lectures, of which she didn't listen to much, they were ordered to pick a ship and climb into the cockpit.
.Preflight checks were all green and Suzume couldn't stop grinning when the order to begin ignition cycles came over the radio. The fighter seemed to purr as it started up. One by one the ships took off from the ground and left the hangar. Their goal; the docking ring. The sixteen fighters traveled in procession out the docking ring of New Tokyo and into space. There, they all lined up, waiting for instructions. .Suzume's radio cracked and Nakamura Tsubasa's voice came through. ."Listen up. You will now be doing test flights. You will fly in pairs, you will not travel more than three thousand meters away from this location. You may use your thrusters but you will not, I repeat, NOT engage your cruise engines. Stand by for pairing." .The radio went silent and Suzume could see her classmates take off in pairs and start to fly around. ."C'mon, pair me up already so I can see what this thing can do!" she said out loud, frustrated. Her radio cracked to life. ."Himura Suzume and Yamada Hiroshi you're pair eight. Hiroshi is lead fighter, you follow his lead, Suzume." .Suzume cursed under her breath. Hiroshi was a nice guy but a very nervous pilot. She'd be stuck at top impulse speed if she was lucky. Seeing Hiroshi start to move, she took position behind and to his left.
.The test flight lasted for almost an hour and Hiroshi never engaged his thrusters once. Suzume was tempted to test it on her own but she didn't want to get grounded. When her radio cracked to life and the Itto Kaisa ordered everyone to form up for a return to the academy she opened the direct link to Hiroshi. ."Hey, Hiro. We're over two klicks away, how about we burn our thrusters on our way back?" she asked impatiantly. ."I, I don't know" Hiroshi replied. "I'm not sure I can fly that fast." ."C'mon just for a little bit, we need to test it right? That's why we're here." ."I, I guess you're right." he said. "Allright, prepare to engage thrusters." .Suzume had been prepared for an hour. What she was not prepared for however was the burst of flame coming from Hiroshi's Wyrm as his thrusters came to life, it looked strange. His ship took off and she engaged her thrusters, staying on his wing. After a couple of seconds Hiroshi's voice came over the radio. ."Suzume..." he said, with panic in his voice. "My control thrusters aren't responding to input." .The voice of the Itto Kaisa came over the radio. "All pilots stop." he said, and Suzume complied. "What were you saying, Hiroshi?" he continued. ."My, my control thrusters aren't responding to input." Hiroshi said, now clearly frightened. "I've tried to restart them but they don't respond!" ."All right, calm down Hiroshi" the naval officer said. "Cut your thruster and let her drift. We'll have a ship come tow you back. Everyone else, return here and prepare to dock with the planetary ring." .Suzume could see Hiroshi's thruster shut down and was just about to head back when her gut turned to ice. Slipping her ship to the right and up, to get precisely behind Hiroshi's Wyrm, her fears were confirmed. He was heading straight for a trade lane ring, and he was closing fast.
.Suzume didn't even think as her hands dropped down to cruise engine control and her Wyrm started to accellerate. Before her engines could charge her radio cracked. ."Himura Suzume, why is your cruise engines charging!?" the Itto Kaisa asked. "Answer me!" ."Not... now..." Suzume replied just in time for her cruise indicator to turn green and the fighter shot forward. "What the hell am I doing?" she thought to herself as she closed in on the drifting ship. .That was about as much time as she had to think. The trade lane ring was close. As she caught up to Hiroshi's Wyrm she cut her cruise engines, moved underneath him and rolled. Painfully slowly she started closing the gap, proximity warnings blinking and sounding off in the cockpit. Five meters. She couldn't do this too fast or they'd both turn to dust and she couldn't be too slow or Hiroshi would crash into the lane ring. One meter, she crept closer. As slow as she was moving the ships still collided belly to belly with a teeth rattling jar. She could hear metal grinding against metal as she pushed towards her drifting classmate, slowly altering his course. She were closing on the trade lane ring fast and it was now straight in her path. At the last second she engaged her thruster and managed to alter her course enough to just miss colliding with it. She quickly spun her ship around to see Hiroshi still drifting, now heading into clear space. She let out her breath and started panting heavily, unsure of how long she had held it. ."Himura Suzume, you will return planetside and land the craft immediately!" the naval officer said over open comms. "You have disobeyed orders and engaged cruise engines. You have risked a ship worth over a million credits..." .Suzume could see the comm indicator switching from open to direct as he continued. "And it was some damned nice flying." .Suzume didn't reply, she was too focused on flying the ship back. Her hands were shaking and she had trouble concentrating as her body vere still recovering from an adrenaline overdose.
.As she climbed out of her cockpit after landing her ship in Delta Hangar she could see the rest of the class standing around, chattering among themselves. Itsuki and Tsubasa waited below her fighter as she came down. ."What were you thinking!?" Itsuki exclaimed. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!?" His face was red with anger. "You've risked a Kusari Navy ship with your stunt. I hope you realize you'll be grounded for this?" ."Calm down, Itsuki." said Tsubasa. "She just saved the life of one of your students and saved one of my ships." he said, smiling at Suzume. "I would very much appreciate if it did not result in a grounding." ."Well, I, that's not up to me." Itsuki said. "It's up to the dean." ."I have quite a few strings to pull, let me handle the dean." Tsubasa said, turning to Itsuki. "Now, I do believe Miss Himura has earned the rest of the day off."
.It was tuesday evening on the last week of the semester. Suzume wandered through one of the shopping districts of the capital city. She needed a new dress for the evening, and a matching pair of shoes. She made her way to one of the classier stores, she had a reputation to uphold. The store she entered was the kind where you're not welcome unless you are rich. She didn't like the concept but she sure liked the clothes. ."I think you might be lost, little girl." a woman in the store said patronizing. "The arcade is pretty far from here." .Suzume gave her a cold smile and handed over her cred-chip. The woman swiped it in a little handheld reader and shortly after her demeanor changed drasticly. ."I'm terrably sorry, Miss Himura." she said, bowing slightly. "I did not know you were a regular customer. What can I do for you today?" she asked as she led Suzume into the store. .Twenty minutes later Suzume was glad to finaly step out of the store and away from the insufferable woman. And with several bags of new clothes. She started walking home. As much as she loved flying high above she also liked walking the streets of the capital city. Districts changed often and distinctly. One step you could be in a business district with large glass facades and fancy lobbys and with the next step find yourself in a food market, buzzling with people, sounds and smells.
.As she walked down a street lined with small stores selling everything from holovids to small hand crafted toys she suddenly recieved a hard bump in the back. As she stumbled to regain her balance she felt the bags slipping from her grip as someone yanked them away. A man, middle aged, unshaven and with bright white scar across his left cheek looked at her for a second before he took off with her newly aquired clothes. ."Hey! Stop!" Suzume yelled as she set of after him. .The man rounded a corner and before Suzume reached it she heard a crash. As she turned the corner she saw the man lying face down in a pile of trash. Above him, a young man stood, holding her bags. The young man turned to Suzume and smiled. Suzume couldn't help but stop and smile back. The man was very good looking and in his mid twenties. He had black, ruffled hair, a slight stubble on his shin, a wide, bright smile and deep, dark eyes. ."I belive these are yours, miss." he said and held out the bags to her. .Suzume blushed slightly and took the bags. "Thank you mister." she said, bowing slightly. ."Please, call me Masaki." he said with a wink. "May I ask for your name?" he asked. ."I'm Suzume, Himura Suzume. I want to thank you, do you want a reward?" she asked as she opened her purse, looking for cash. .The man laughed. "I don't want your money, Himura Suzume. But I would love to have a coffee with you." he looked deep in her eyes. .Suzume blushed and glanced at the ground. "I'd like that, she said." ."Great!" Masaki exclaimed. "I know the perfect little place just around the corner." . .Suzume followed the young man to a cozy little café. They sat there for a couple of hours, talking. Masaki was very interested in Suzume's time at the flight academy and explained that he himself would be leaving on a trip in a couple of weeks. A trip to travel space and see new places. Suzume thought it sounded wonderful and when he offered to take her along she could not see any better way to spend her summer vacation, so she accepted. They parted ways after exchanging contact details. Suzume went home, prepared herself and spent the rest of the evening partying with her friends.
."No, father, I've told you." Suzume said, talking into the viewscreen of her long range communicator. "I'm not coming home to work for you during summer break." .Her father had that look she hated, where he seemed to think she was still a child. "Little Suzu." he said and Suzume gritted her teeth. "It's a great opportunity to learn. When you finish school and start working for me it will be great to know how everything works." ."I've said no." she answered. "In fact, I've already decided to go on a trip. To see things, experience things." ."You mean like a cruise?" her father asked. "You can come home after the cruise." .She shook her head. "Not a cruise, father. A trip, in a ship, fly wherever we want." .Her father's face turned stern. "We?" he asked. "Who are we?" ."Me and a, a friend." Suzume said, trying to sound assertive but stumbling over the words. ."A boy?!" her father spit the words out. "You are going on a trip into space with some boy!?" .Suzume straightened up. "Yes! A boy!" she replied. "It's my life father, I can do whatever I want. and I don't want to spend another summer with your stupid rice transports!" she yelled. "I'm a grown woman!" she finished. .Her fater looked at her blankly for a while before speaking. "Very well, if you are a grown woman I'm sure you can take care of yourself and not rely on your father." his voice was cold in a way she had never heard it before. He continued, "I will give you a choice. The semester ended two days ago. I will give you another week to get back to Kyushu. If you are not here by then, I will not transfer any more money to your account." he leaned forward and she could see his finger on the disconnect button. "Your mother says hi." .The screen went black. Suzume sat there, shocked. It took her almost a minute to notice she had another incoming call. She gathered herself and hit the recieve button. It was Masaki.
."Suzume, sweetie!" he exclaimed. "I'm so glad you answered. Look, plans have changed. I have to leave tonight. Can you pack your things untill then?" .Suzume could see he was calling from within his ship, she had been there a couple of times in the past week since she met him. Suzume chewed her lip, not sure of what to say. ."What's wrong, sweetie?" Masaki said. "I don't like that look on your face, you're not coming with me." he said with a sad look. "I should have guessed I wasn't good enough for you." ."No, Masaki." she said. "That's not it at all. It's just... my father." ."He won't let you go?" Masaki asked concerned. "What's the worst that could happen, he gets mad and yells at you for a while, I'm sure that has happened before?" ."You don't understand." she replied. "He's threatening to cut me off completely if I go. I'll have no money." ."Well, you still have your own account, right?" Masaki asked. ."Yeah, but it wouldn't last me forever." she said. .Masaki smiled at her. "You're not only the prettiest girl I've met, you are also the smartest. I'm sure you can find a way." .Suzume blushed. "Yeah, maybe. I could work part time I guess." ."Exactly!" Masaki exclaimed. "Besides, once our trip is over and you return to your father I'm sure he'll forgive you. You are his daughter after all." .He was right, there was no way her father couldn't forgive her. He'd be angry, of course, but he could never resist her puppy eyes. She took a deep breath. ."Alright, I'm coming. I'll start packing right away."
A few hours later the two of them took off in Masaki's small ship. They headed for their first stop. Ames Research Station, Kepler system.
.Suzume sat behind the controls of the ship and smiled. Flying without an instructor telling you what to do was nice. Masaki was asleep in the back. Suzume cut the engines and let the ship glide through Kepler a bit, amazed by the near complete silence. She sat there, near the jumpgate to Shikoku watching a couple of ships approaching and preparing for the jump. ."Kepler sure isn't much to look at tho." she said quietly to herself. She reignited the engines and headed for the trade lane. She lined the ship up, docked with the ring and leaned back. Now they were on a straight track for the freeport of Ames Research Station.
."Tradelane disrupted." Suzume jerked upright at the announcement from the ships on board navigation computer. The ship made a rapid deceleration coming to a stop in the middle of nowhere. She was looking at three ships, one freighter and two fighters. Her communications device came to life with an incoming transmission from the freighter, the screen showing the face of a blond woman. ."Please cut your engines and stand by for a cargo scan." she said calmly with a smile. Suzume complied and watched the two fighters take up positions to either side of her. Suzume's heart was racing and her hands were shaking on he controls. ."No cargo in this one boys. Doesn't look like it's worth our time." the woman said after a while. "Pilot, you are clear to proceed." she continued. .Suzume didn't even think to reply as she shakily started heading for the next lane ring. ."Oh, and pilot." the captain of the freighter continued. "Watch out for pirates." she laughed. .The comlink cut out taking the woman's laugh with it as Suzume docked with the trade lane.
.They dropped out of the trade lane next to Ames Research station. Suzume moved the ship away from the lane slightly and then went in the back. ."Hey, Masaki. Wake up. We're here." she said, touching his shoulder. .Masaki woke up with a jerk and a bewildered look on his face for a second. He quickly calmed down and smiled at her. ."Ahh, Suzume. So soon? I take it there were no complications then?" he said as he got up and walked into the cockpit. .Suzume didn't mention the run in with what she could only assume were pirates. She didn't want to worry him. She watched Masaki punch in the code to transmit ID and papers and initiate the comlink. ."Ames Research Station, this is civilian shuttle transmitting ID and papers. Requesting to dock." he said as he sat down to take controls. ."Stand by for clearance." a male voice replied. "You are cleared to proceed to bay five. Welcome back." he said after a few seconds. Masaki started heading for the designated docking bay. ."You never told me you had been here before." Suzume said as she watched the station move across the view screen. ."What now?" Masaki replied, lining the ship up for docking. ."He said welcome back." Suzume answered. "I just didn't know you had been here before is all." ."Oh, yeah. I was here once dropping off passengers." Masaki said as the ship slid into the docking bay and landed.
.They headed down a quiet corridor leading from bay five to the rest of the station. The silence was exchanged with a buzzing of noises as the doors slid open, revealing a large hall. The hall was filled with people going about their business. A couple of fast food restaurants lined one wall, serving food to people who didn't stick around to eat it. Along one of the walls, temporary stalls were set up. There, captains or crew members of ships tried to attract fares, all of them apparently having the 'best ship in Sirius'. .Masaki handed Suzume a pass card. "Take this. I called ahead and rented rooms." he said and smiled. "You wait there, I need to go talk to someone." He walked off. .Suzume looked at the pass card reading '581B'. She walked up to a large board showing the layout of the station, figuring out how to get to the room. .She stepped out of the elevator and walked down a corridor towards her room. ."581B, here it is" she said to herself as she arrived at the door. She looked at the pass card and furrowed her brow. "Why did Masaki already have the pass card when they landed?" she asked herself. She shrugged, swiped the card and stepped inside.
.After taking a shower, Suzume waited for Masaki while flipping through an old magazine. He had been gone for quite a while and Suzume was bored. She tossed the magazine on the table and went outside. She took the elevator down from the living quarters to the docking bay lounge, her goal set on one of the fast food restaurants. She stepped out of the elevator and realized just how hungry she was when the smell of food reached her nostrils. She walked past one of the restaurants. It served synth paste foods. She didn't mind synth paste. It was cheap and tasty. But right now she wanted something else. She walked up to a small stand selling burgers. ."Hi there little miss, hungry are we?" a man said, turning some burgers over on the grill. "Best meat in the independent worlds, this." he said surely. .Suzume contemplated asking what kind of meat it was but decided it was probably not a good idea. "I'll take one." she said and handed the man some credits.
.As she strolled around the station, happily munching on her surprisingly tasty burger, she suddenly heard Masaki's laugh. She turned and looked and saw him sitting at a bar laughing with another man. She started walking up to them but before before she could reach them, the stranger spoke. ."So, you haven't manage to get access to her account yet?" the stranger turned his head slightly, revealing a bright white scar on his left cheek. Images of the scar flashed before Suzume's eyes. Him snatching her bag. Him lying in a pile of garbage with Masaki standing over him. She froze as she realized she'd been made a fool. She didn't know if she was more angry or sad, she didn't have time to think about it. The man with the scar turned his head and looked at her, widening his eyes. ."Hey, isn't that her?" she heard him say. .Masaki quickly turned around and saw her. "Umm, hey Suzume. I, umm." He stood up and started walking towards her. "Look, I can explain." he said. .Suzumi turned and ran and could hear Masaki yelling to his friend to get her. She ran down corridors and around corners. She eventually found herself back at the docking bay lounge. She slowed down and walked through the crowds, trying not to draw attention to herself. She walked up to one of the temporary stalls. ."I need passage. When are you leaving?" she said, hurried. ."Calm down miss." the man at the stall said. "We're leavin' in two days. You in a hurry?" ."You could say that." Suzume answered. "I sure can't wait two days. I need to go right now." ."Sorry, can't help you there miss. Still waitin' for a shipment, see." The man replied. "But you know what? There's a ship preppin' to leave right now. Saw they were lookin' for fares too." ."That's great!" she exclaimed. "What bay?" .The man smiled at her coldly. "Now see, you seem to be quite keen on gettin' that information. That makes that information a commodity. Don't you think? Now maybe we can come to some sort of an arrange..." the man was cut short by Suzume shoving credits in his hands. ."I don't have time for this, what docking bay?" Suzume said, looking over her shoulders. She could see Masaki standing at one of the entrances to the lounge, visually scanning the crowd. .The man's smile warmed up. "Docking bay three miss, right that way." he said, pointing. .Suzume made her way towards the docking bay, trying to stay out of sight. She slipped into the corridor and the door closed behind her. She started running towards the entrance to the hangar. She entered the hangar to see a small Rhino freighter. A middle aged man was standing below the loading ramp looking at a small tablet in his hand. A couple of remaining crates were being loaded into the ship by dock workers. Suzume walked up behind the man and cleared her throat. ."Excuse me, sir." she said as the man turned around. "I heard you were looking for fares?" .The man looked at her. "I was. I just decided to give up and take off." he said. "Can you pay? Do you know where we're headed?" he asked. ."I can pay, and I don't care much where we are heading." she answered. .The man laughed and nodded. "In a hurry are we? Is it the law or the other way around?" the man shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't even want to know." he turned to the dock workers. "Hey, can you hurry up with that? Turns out we're in a hurry to leave!" he yelled. .Suzume let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. What do I owe you?" she asked. ."That depends on whether we get followed away from here. First, get inside and out of sight. We'll be lifting off shortly." .Suzume walked up the loading ramp into the Rhino, soon to lift off and leave this place.
.Her quarters aboard the Rhino freighter were cramped and dark. Suzume sat on the bed, her face lit up by the glow of her comm-unit. She watched the message again, as she had done countless times allready. She watch her father's image as he, in a cold and formal way, denounced her due to her dishonoring actions. She looked at the face of her mother, standing behind him, looking down at the floor. There was no reaction in her mothers face. Suzume started to cry again. How could she have been so stupid?
.They had been traveling for a day and Suzume had hardly left her room. She and the captain had agreed on a fare and she had been informed that they were heading for Rochester Base in New York. Suzume didn't ask what they were shipping. Judging from the fact that she had still not heard the recognizable booms from the trade lane accelerators she assumed they were staying off the grid.
.The hours passed when the intercom finally sparked to life and the captain spoke. ."Miss Himura. We'll be arriving at Rochester within the hour. I'm going to have to ask you to immediately leave the ship and hangar as we land. My business associates don't like bystanders much." there was a pause. "And take care of yourself."
.As soon as the cargo ramp of the Rhino hit the hangar floor, Suzume were out. She passed a group of men standing outside. Some of them wore what looked like home made pieces of body armor and all of them were armed. Suzume avoided eye contact as she left the hangar. Not knowing what to do or where to go she wandered the station aimlessly. She came upon a bar and immediately knew what she wanted, a warm meal and something strong to drink.
.As she stepped into the bar, more than a few heads turned to her for a little while before they lost interest. Not everyone seemed to lose interest, however. She could see the desire in the eyes of some of the patrons as she walked up to the bar disk. She was a bit scared, almost everyone had a visible weapon of some sort and more than a few of them looked used. She tried to hide her nervousness, not wanting them to see that she was frightened. She sat down on a stool and waited for the bartender. She noticed a man walking up behind her and she could smell the mans breath before he put a hand on her shoulder and spoke. ."'Ello lass, 'aven't seen yer purty face 'round 'ere before." he said as he was swaying back an forth. " care ta 'ave a lil' drink with me?" he asked. ."You seem like you've had plenty to drink, sir." Suzume answered, keeping her head high and staring into his face. "Now I suggest you go have a seat somewhere else before I show you the door myself!" She hoped he wouldn't see through her bluff. She was afraid he'd hear her heart race. Either the man smelled her fear or he was simply too drunk, he pulled his arm back and sent it flying, trying to hit Suzume with the back of his hand. Time seemed to slow down. Suzume had been taking martial arts classes as extracurricular activity for almost ten years now. The drunken mans obvious swing was easy enough to dodge, even without getting of the bar stool. The drunken man stumbled forward from the force of the missed swing, tripped on his own feet and smashed his forehead into the bar disk. He fell to the ground unconscious.
.Suzume looked around the bar, expecting the mans friends to come storming at her. Surprisingly few even seemed to have registered the event and those who had simply nodded in surprised approval before returning to their drinks and conversations. ."That was a nice little move there, little miss." the bartender said from across the bar disk. "I wouldn't have branded you a fighter. And neither did he I reckon" he continued with a chuckle. He was an older man with grey beard and a smile that reached his eyes. He came off as very likable. ."I... I didn't even do anything." Suzume said with a slight blush. .The bartender laughed. "And that was the best part. Now, what can I get for you?" he asked as he picked up a glass and started cleaning it out with a towel. ."I'll have something to eat and something strong to drink." Suzume answered, calming down slightly.
.Suzume later rented a room on the station and stayed there for a couple of weeks while she tried to figure out what to do. She couldn't go back home and she couldn't go back to school. She spent a lot of her time in the bar, where she and the bartender became fast friends. More men tried to forcefully put their hands on her but Suzume was better than she had ever known. She'd never used her martial arts outside of the dojo before but these men were slow and clumsy and handling them was easy. The more people tried and failed, the more she seemed to gain some respect among the patrons. The bar was frequented by all sorts of people. From law abiding workers and traders to smugglers and pirates. Suzume chatted with everyone she could, fascinated by their stories. She soon learned how to act and talk to fit in.
.One night, as she was sitting at the bar disk, a woman sat down next to her. Suzume found her strangely familiar. As was her nature and because she were curious she chatted with her for several hours. Instead of hearing the woman's stories, Suzume found herself to be telling hers. She seemed very interested in Suzume's flight training and when she found out Suzume were out of a job and slowly draining her savings account, she smiled and paused for a while, seemingly thinking something through. ."Alright, lets play a little game." she said. "I have a ship that I have no pilot for. Your savings won't cover the cost of it, but I'll sell it to you if you agree to come work for me." she paused for a while. ."I don..." Suzume started. ."Wait, let me finish." the woman interrupted. "This is a one time, generous offer. You work for me, flying the ship. You get an equal share of profits to me and my other... employees." she grinned. "Now here's the fun part. I won't accept any questions. Your decision needs to be made now. I want either a yes or a no from you. Nothing else." .Suzume could see the woman's eyes shining with delight at the situation. Suzume didn't very much like the thought of accepting a deal without having any information. Her account was running thin tho, and she needed a job. Being offered one flying a ship was more than she could have hoped for. After a few minutes of silently pondering, she answered. ."Yes." she said. .The woman lit up with an even wider smile. "Excellent!" she exclaimed. "Meet me in hangar nine after lunch tomorrow." she said as she got up and walked out the door, leaving her bill with Suzume.
.The following day Suzume walked into hangar nine to lay eyes on the ship. She stood there, gaping at the fully armed fighter before her. She couldn't tell how long she'd been standing there when she suddenly heard the woman's voice from behind. ."She's a beauty, isn't she?" she said as she walked up next to Suzume. "Of course, I assume you'll need some practice flying that thing. It's not like a training shuttle." she smiled at a shocked Suzume. ."Oh yeah." she continued. "We might have to teach you how to use those guns" she laughed. .Suzume couldn't say a word, she kept looking from the fighter to the woman, wondering what she had gotten herself into. The woman simply smiled back at her. ."By the way, you can call me Kamikazee." her facial expression turned serious as she continued. "Welcome to the Pirates Committee."