HE DREAMED OF a pure white desert. He opened his eyes. The whiteness remained.
He felt something wiping his face. A white towel. He brushed the towel aside. The air was cold.
“Are you awake now?” asked a female voice in a crisp, businesslike tone. A nurse. That was Rei’s first thought upon seeing her white face. Her skin was so pale it almost looked blue.
An air conditioner hummed faintly. The room was small and white. Spartan. A hospital, maybe? But this wasn’t the air force hospital at Faery Base. It seemed more like a clinic. Rei felt like a castaway who’d washed up on a lonely South Seas island. There were no windows, but he could imagine there’d be jungle outside, and maybe an old-fashioned electric fan slowly turning on the room’s ceiling.
His thoughts were drifting, fragmented. This sickroom was like something out of a dream, somehow not entirely real. He lay motionless on the hard bed and shut his eyes again, waiting for his body to recover sensation. He was still wearing his boots and flight suit. He could tell that his pockets still contained his map, flashlight, knife, beacon, portable rations, and service pistol. That meant that it hadn’t been long since he’d been rescued. But nonetheless something seemed strange. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He was too tired to think clearly.
He took a deep breath and relished the oxygen filling his lungs. The fog in his head gradually cleared. He opened his mouth, the words emerging from his parched throat in a croak.
“Where... Yukikaze...”
“Yukikaze? Oh, your plane. We’re servicing it, Lieutenant.”
“What about... Lieutenant Burgadish?”
“He was badly wounded, I’m afraid...”
“Where are we? A frontline base? Who are you?”
“My name is Marnie. Just wait here a minute. I’ll go get Major Yazawa for you.”
The nurse walked out, to be replaced a few minutes later by a burly, narrow-eyed man wearing a major’s insignia.
“So you’re awake now, are you, Lieutenant?” the man asked, his voice as flat as Marnie’s had been. Rei tried to raise himself up, but the major stopped him. The uniform he wore was definitely that of the FAF’s Tactical Air Force, but the color and the details seemed off. The overall effect gave Rei the uncomfortable impression that he was seeing a vague, hazy image through frosted glass.
Noticing the way that Rei was staring at him, Major Yazawa chuckled. “Were you hit on the head, Lieutenant?”
“Maybe I was,” Rei replied, his tension not at all dissipated by this attempt at humor. He glanced around and saw that his helmet had been placed on a side table near the bed.
“Where am I?”
“TAB-14.”
“TAB-14? Impossible. It was destroyed by the JAM. I saw it happen.”
“The surface facilities are gone, but as you can see, one of the underground sections survived. You guys back at the main base don’t know what it’s been like for us out here.”
“Hm... Is Yukikaze all right?”
“It ran out of fuel and landed at this base.”
“Refuel her. I’m heading back.”
“You can’t. Not in your condition.”
“Can you make contact with Faery Base?”
“No. We still haven’t gotten comm back up and running. They still think we’ve been completely wiped out.”
“That can’t be right. At the least, you could reach one of the nearby tactical bases, couldn’t you? You must have a helicopter or something to get me there.”
“There’s no need. We can take care of this ourselves. We want to service your plane, Lieutenant, and get you on your way, but it won’t let us touch it. It has very ingenious safeguards. If we tamper with them, it will self- destruct.”
Rei touched the gun in his chest pocket. What was this major playing at? Was he trying to cut loose from Central’s command? Was this a mutiny?
“Keep your hands off Yukikaze. That’s my plane.”
“Lieutenant, I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in right now.”
“I shouldn’t have to say this,
“May I remind you that I am a superior officer?”
“You’re not my direct superior. I take orders from Major Booker. His orders were for me to make it back alive, no matter what. Until he rescinds that order, it’s still in effect. I’m sure you’re aware of military regulations.”
“Of course. However, while you are here you will obey me, Lieutenant.”
“And why should I do that?”
“Because otherwise you won’t make it back. If you intend to follow Major Booker’s orders, you’ll obey mine first. Tell me how to deactivate Yukikaze’s safeguards.”
“I refuse.”
“Then you’ll stay here.”
“Is that a threat?”
“All I’m saying is that you should consider your own wellbeing. If you don’t let us service Yukikaze, I don’t think you’re ever going to recover from your injuries, Lieutenant.”
With that, the major left the room. Rei felt like he was still dreaming. He slowly raised himself up and sat on the edge of the bed. After a few minutes, he stood up. He took an unsteady step forward. His balance was shot. The feeling of unreality clung to him. He staggered, then fell to his knees. Marnie reentered the room and, saying it was too soon for him to be up and about, helped him back into bed.
“You people...” Rei said, lying back down. “What are you trying to do? I have to get back.”
Marnie smiled. “We’re just trying to help you, Lieutenant. You should rest for a bit longer.”
Before he could reply, she stabbed a hypodermic syringe into his arm. Just as he was registering the shock of the needle, she quickly withdrew it and looked down at him, her face expressionless. “Good night,” she said. His eyelids grew heavy.
He sank into a world of white.
YUKIKAZE HAD NOT returned. In the SAF control room, Major Booker stared at the wide tactical display screens in disbelief. It had been over three hours since the symbol marking Yukikaze’s position had vanished from them.
“Rei...” he muttered. “What’s going on?”
“It seems he completed his mission,” said General Cooley, standing behind him. “It’s possible that he engaged the JAM and was shot down.”
“Requesting the deployment of a search and rescue team.”
“Denied. We don’t have the resources for it right now. Major, I want you to submit your plan for the combat flight test of the FRX00 prototype that was delivered to our squadron.”
“Yukikaze may have set down on a frontline base. Please authorize me to send the FRX out to look for him.”
General Cooley fixed her cold eyes on Booker for a long moment before speaking. “I’ll leave the selection of the flight test course to you.”
She turned to leave. As the click of her heels receded behind him, her voice floated back. “But I doubt you’ll find him. We’ve received no contact from the other bases.”
After she exited the control room, Booker rubbed at his eyes wearily and returned to monitoring the displays.
“I was going to give you the first plane in the new squadron... Rei, what happened out there?”
He gazed pensively at the screens, as though the act of his looking at them would summon Yukikaze’s RTB sign and bring her home. But she didn’t return.
