After the plane had left the ground, Tessa had tried to resonate with Kaname again, but found that she couldn’t. For some reason, it wouldn’t work if they were too far away. Perhaps there were some kind of “mind waves” that grew weaker and more distorted as they traveled through air?
“Something to drink, honey?” Apparently having finished his conversation with the pilot, Harris returned to the cabin. “I’m sorry, we’re out of champagne... but we do have ginger ale. I don’t suppose you’d toast to our departure, would you?”
“Why don’t you toast with yourself?” Tessa suggested bitterly.
“Be nice,” Harris chided her. “I’m the reason you won’t be going down with that ship. You could show a little gratitude.”
Just then, the whole plane rocked. The roaring of turbines pierced the walls, and the ceiling of the cabin trembled.
“What?” Harris cried out, clinging to his seat.
“Mithril STOVLs in pursuit!” the captain shouted over the intercom. Tessa looked out the window and saw an FAV-8 Super Harrier, one of the fighters stocked by the de Danaan, flying startlingly close.
Harris went pale. “Impossible. The girl is on board. They would never try to—”
Outside the window, she could see the red glow of a tracer round. It was a warning shot; this one also grazed the plane’s primary wing.
Harris cringed in his seat, and Tessa shot him a cold smile. “It’s only natural,” she said. “I possess a great deal of confidential Mithril information. They knew you might try to administer truth serum, so they’ve made the smart decision—to blow up the plane, and me with it.”25 December, 0020 Hours (Japan Standard Time)Flight Deck, Tuatha de Danaan
Sitting in the cockpit of the Arbalest, Sousuke adjusted his oxygen mask. Status reports from the submarine’s air traffic control officer flowed in. The large transport that took Tessa was flying at 350 knots, on course 1-9-6. Their FAV-8s’ threat had achieved the desired effect, causing it to drop altitude and speed.
“Still in range. But this is crazy, Sergeant Sagara. Just because it’s theoretically possible—”
“Not an issue,” said Sousuke, interrupting the officer. “Just support me.”
“All right. I’ll get you there safe and sound.”
“Thank you.” After having made that short response, Sousuke ran his eyes over the screen display, which was in shooting mode. He checked the rocket motors on each flight control surface. Fuel, check. Fuel pressure, check. The data link between his robot and the sub was working fine.
《Final checks complete,》 Al announced. 《Awaiting control room directives.》
The Arbalest was currently being fitted into a steam catapult on the de Danaan’s flight deck. An emergency deployment booster known as the XL-2 was strapped to its back; it was the same kind Mao and the other M9s had used during the Sunan rescue operation.
ASes were typically ground weapons, but these huge wings propelled them through the air on rockets, to send them to distant battlefields in relatively short periods of time. You were supposed to decouple before you reached your destination, so it was a one-way trip: you returned on foot, or by transport helicopter.
The roar from the booster grew louder, and pale flame began to stream from the nozzles. Superheated exhaust escaped upwards, directed by the large blast deflector behind it.
“Air traffic control room. Preparations complete.”
“Roger. Initiate final procedure. Uruz-7, you have permission to launch. Good luck.”
“Uruz-7, roger,” Sousuke responded.
《Sergeant. Final departure authorization received. Beginning countdown. Five...》 said Al’s voice, resounding through the cockpit as it shuddered with the booster’s power. 《Four. Three. Two—》
The nozzles contracted and roared with flame, and the AS began to pitch forward.
《Go.》
The locks came free. The catapult, which possessed enough power to throw a one-ton truck more than a kilometer, accelerated the Arbalest instantaneously. Powerful G-forces, ear-rending roars; Sousuke could feel his body sinking into the seat behind him as the edge of the flight deck rushed closer. The firing blocks released the Arbalest automatically, and he leaped.
The liftoff was successful. The digital altimeter’s numbers grew higher and higher. The de Danaan, seen on the Arbalest’s rear sensors, became a distant dot in the blink of an eye as he ascended to five thousand feet. In a normal firing sequence, this would be where the machine’s ascent would cease, and it would begin to cruise towards its target destination.
Yet the Arbalest’s ascent continued, higher and higher: its altitude reached seven thousand; eight thousand. The machine’s vibrating continued. The booster wings, generally meant for fine-tuning one’s course on lower altitude flights, began to feel unstable. The altimeter showed ascent, yet Sousuke felt like he was sinking. If not for the rockets running at maximum output, he would likely enter a tailspin and plummet.
Alarms and Al’s warnings blared around him.
《Boosters running abnormally hot due to prolonged max output,》 Al warned.
“Pray, then,” Sousuke said. “You knew this was a gamble.”
《I interpret that order to be a joke. But jokes are not useful at this time. What is the purpose—》
“Are you saying it’s nonsense?”
《Affirmative.》
“There’s something I’ve come to realize of late...” Sousuke whispered, nearly biting his tongue from the vibrations around him. “Jokes should only be said when they’re not useful at all.”
《A profound concept, worthy of consideration.》
“Save that for later,” Sousuke lectured sternly. “Focus on control.”
《Roger.》
Sousuke felt cold. The cockpit wasn’t pressurized for things like this. He’d done drop missions from high altitudes many times before, so he knew what his body was like in low pressure, but...
Eighteen thousand. Nineteen thousand.
Elevation: twenty thousand feet.
《Designated altitude achieved. Adjusting course based on air traffic control guidance.》 The Arbalest’s ascent stopped, and it began flying straight for its target. A few seconds later, Al announced, 《Target acquired!》
Sousuke’s night vision display showed him the exhaust heat from three aircraft: two were Mithril’s super harriers, and the other was his target. About the size of a jumbo jet, it could easily hold six M9-style ASes.
Tessa’s in there, Sousuke reminded himself. What he was about to do was exceedingly dangerous, and yet, he felt strangely confident. Not an issue, he thought again. I’ll finish this off and return straight home.
《Fuel
