It's 6:58am, November 21 2013.


Endeavor sits at the bridge of the Hikari Maru II. Her reasons of being out of sight of land is to test out the ship's systems one more time. She works on seeing how hard the mental work will be controlling the ship's systems, and tests out every corner of her computer core. All the while keeping an eye on the ship's heading, and being conscious enough to actually look outside through the foreword window of the main bridge.


The sun is barely rising on the horizon and Sakurako has been awake for an hour now. The ship's clock chimes 7 o'clock and she seems to yawn in unison. She's not used to being up at the crack of dawn. She is usually in dreamland until noon on days off. The only thing on her mind other than her ship is the fact that most novas think her sort of behavior is unusual. Novas don't sleep but she does.


She starts clearing that thought out of her head, and dives back into her ship's system. The navigation system is dead on, and the engineering computers are humming away. The matter and anti-matter reactor hums at top efficiency. The deuterium levels are good as well as the anti-deuterium. The secondary micro-fusion reactors providing adequate power to create the anti-deuterium.


As she bounces from system to system, the communications system chirps with a warning claxon. Sakurako opens the line to see what is hitting her com-system with such urgency. It's a distress call.


As she patches into the frequency, there is a GPS transponder alerting her of the location of the distress call, and the type of distress call. It's from a life raft, and it's 100 kilometers from the Hikari Maru II. A second call patches into her com-system. A familiar voice is heard over it. Over her personal frequency. The voice is unmistakable.


"Sakurako?"


"Yeah?"


"Oh good, you're here. I need your help."


"Anything Miss Sakamoto. I owe Mayumi a favor."


"Actually, Hino-san, It's about her."


"Really? What is going on?"


"Mayumi had earned a school trip with some of the top of her class. The trip was on a oceanic research ship. I had just got a call that the ship went down and..."


Sakurako herd her voice crack. Then her heart sank through the bulkhead. That distress signal was most likely from one of the downed ship's life rafts. But who survived?


"Miss Sakamoto, I'm near by the site, and I'm checking out a distress signal. Don't worry, Mayumi is a strong girl."


"But, she don't know how to swim."


"Oh great." Sakurako thinks to herself.


"I'm on my way, Miss Sakamoto."


Sakurako closes the channel and leaves the ship's system in "park". She dashes down the hallways to the main hangar, where her pride and joy, the Hokuto. A large white with pink trim VTOL capable jet, equipped for sub-orbital and atmospheric flight. A large pink 1 is emblazoned on the jet's main stabilizer fins. It also has an adequate cargo space to serve as back-up passenger storage. Perfect for a rescue.


After Sakurako gets into a tight-fitting flight-suit, and equips some extra safety equipment for the mission. She quickly checks the hangar clock. It reads 9:00 in the morning. Looks like no early breakfast. She warms up the engines and opens the main hangar roof hatch and hovers up via the VTOL engines. She then throttles up the main engines and zips toward the location of the distress signal.


She arrives at the location of the signal no more than 1 minute later. Sakurako sets the jet back to hover and scans the area visually. She spots the international orange and red raft, floating no more than 100 meters away. She maneuvers the jet to the right location and deploys pontoons before almost ungracefully belly-flopping within a few meters of the raft. She opens the cargo room and jumps out into the ocean.


She swims up to the raft, and peers in, her gloved hands squeak on the rubber of the inflated raft. Mayumi is alone and looks quite cold. Her life vest over a soaked shirt, and a pair of shorts is all she's wearing.


"Sa... Sa... Sakurako?"


"Mayumi? Are you alright?"


"Ye... Yes..."


Sakurako takes a line from her belt that she had taken from the cargo bay, and attaches it to a tow line on the rafts exterior. She then hits a button on her wrist and reels the raft into the cargo bay. She immediately helps Mayumi out of the raft, and places a thick and large towel over Mayumi's shoulders, while she looks for a spare flight suit. Mayumi can't wear those soaked clothes for much longer.


Sakurako closes the cargo bay and starts rummaging.


"Mayumi, what happened?"


"There... There was an explosion...There were bodies everywhere."


"My god", Sakurako thinks to herself.


"Sakurako... I was lucky to have found this life vest before the ship sank. I had barely got it inflated before the ship went under. Then... I had found this life raft had popped out of the ship triggered by the water... I'm... Lucky to be alive..."


"Yes you are, Mayumi."


Sakurako tosses a spare flight suit over to Mayumi.
"It's too big."


"It will adjust to your body."


"Oh, it's that hinopolymer stuff?"


"Yeppers."


"Uh..."


"What, Mayumi?"


"Can I get some... uh..."


"Oh." Sakurako's look of surprise could be viewed from orbit. She turns around and covers her eyes with her hand.


The sound of wet clothing is heard hitting the floor, and some wiping with a towel. The sound of another suit being donned is heard soon after, then the sound of it adjusting. By the time Sakurako turns around, Mayumi has already put back on her life vest, and is sitting on the outside of the raft. She holds herself seemingly to keep warm, yet the suit has built in warming arrays. Sakurako walks over to her, and places her hand on her shoulder.


Mayumi's face describes it all. The mental trauma. As Sakurako looks closer, there is even caked blood in some small spots in her hair. Not from her, but from the blood of the bodies. Sakurako is floored and falls to her knees.


"How long were you... in the water before you found the raft?"


"10 minutes."


Sakurako can't recompose herself. The scene must have been... Inhuman.


Sakurako staggers back to the cockpit and starts flying back to the Hikari Maru II. Mayumi sits next to her, a 1000 yard stare is all she has on her face.


"I'll have some breakfast for you when we get back."


"I don't want to be on another ship. I just want to go home."


Sakurako sighs, but she knows the layout of the area near the house. She can land nearby. She notifies the Japanese Self Defense Force she has a survivor of the ship onboard and is delivering her uninjured back home. But, she knows she's not uninjured mentally.


When she lands near Mayumi's home, she lets Mayumi run out of the rear cargo hold into her mother's arms. Sakurako almost feels like crying herself. But decides to fly back to the Hikari Maru II. Before she leaves, she looks back at Mayumi and her mother. She then flies off back to the HMII.


When she gets back, a JSDF helicopter is sitting on the Helipad on the stern of the ship. A couple of high-ranking officers are standing waiting. She lands the jet on a secondary pad, and walks out.


"Miss Hino?"


"Yes?"


"Captain Akio Muramasa. JSDF rescue division. This is my number one, Commander Saki Gendo."


He holds out a hand for a handshake. Unusual for someone from Japan to offer first. Instead of taking the hand, she bows.


"You haven't forgot where you come from, kiddo. Your dad was proud of you. And I can see why."


He bows.


"I came here to see if there were any other survivors. We had flew over the sinking site and found no one."


"Unfortunately, all other hands were lost, Captain."


"Yes, it is indeed unfortunate. And we found out why."


This soon? Sakurako thinks to herself. Then she realizes this long morning is about to become a long day. It's noon before she gets done being debriefed by the Captain's assistant. They're sitting in the main conference hall of the HMII and conversing. The noonday sun shining down through skylights.


"Miss Hino. Did you detect any novas in the area of the sinking?"


"No. Not at all."


"What about any ships on sonar or aircraft on radar?"


"I had been watching things all morning. No blips."


"Commander Gendo, tell her what you picked up."


Sakurako is surprised, until she feels the Commander turn on her node.


"Miss Hino, at 0530 hours, a nova destroyed that ship. I was over the area and picked up on post cognitive residue. As well as residual quantum."


Sakurako was shocked.


"I have reason to believe that a aquatically capable Nova is out there destroying ships."


Sakurako slumps down in her seat. Captain Muramasa chimes in.


"We have sent Nippontai to investigate the area and see if they can find the terrorist. You should not worry too much I'm sure the criminal will be found soon."


"It's... not what I'm worried about. All those... people."


"45 people, Miss Hino." The Commander mentions. "Their psychic signatures were unmistakable." The commander's cold tone bristles her temper.


"WHAT DOES IT MATTER? Life is life..."


The two are surprised.


"Miss Hino, I'm sorry that we have disturbed you. In fact we are grateful for your effort."


Sakurako walks away from the table. "Do you wish to have breakfast?"


"I'm sorry, but I'm not able to accept, I must be leaving."


"Very well, Captain. I advise you then to leave now. I have to spend some time alone."


The two officers leave for the helicopter pad, and walk into their helicopter and fly off to the site. Sakurako climbs back into her jet and taxi's it to the elevator back to the main hangar. After dragging the raft out of the jet storage, she then takes Mayumi's clothes, and sets them somewhere safe. She'll clean them and give them back Tomorrow.


It's 2pm after all is said and done. She finally manages to make Breakfast, and combines lunch with it. It takes her an hour to finish things off. Sakurako returns to the bridge around 4 after a long prayer session in the conference room. She slowly dives back into the computer systems of the ship and clears her thoughts. She then starts making her way back to Endeavor Point.


By 5pm, she docks the ship, and returns home. She hadn't even taken off her flight suit yet. Mayumi's clothes are in a duffle bag. She sits down in the front living room, and turns on the OPNet terminal. She then switches the media browser to the news feed.


As she tosses Mayumi's clothes in the wash, as well as some of her own, the news switches to a breaking story. Nippontai indeed found the nova and had a battle. The Nova responsible for the ships destruction was captured and brought into the authorities. She looks at a clock. It's 6 in the evening.


Sakurako then decides to make Dinner. As she does so, there is a ringing of her doorbell. She dashes over to the door to answer. Hoping it was a surprise visit from Ronin or some other old friend. Instead it's Mayumi and her Mother at the door.


"Well, it's a surprise to see you here."


"Yes Miss Hino, we decided to stop by to see how you have been doing."


"I'm well. Care to stay for dinner?"


"I'd be honored to be your guest."


As Sakurako starts preparing dinner, she notices Mayumi is dressed in black. It's reasonable considering what she had been through. As she starts the oven and sets the heat monitors, she walks over to Mayumi.


"So how you're holding out?"


"I'm... Fine."


Sakurako knows what is going on. And it will take time.


Dinner is ready by 7:30pm, and all involved sit down to eat. Mayumi picks slightly at her food before eating it. Sakurako and Mayumi's mother understand her trauma, and don't take offense.


"Mayumi, you'd be glad to know I'm washing your clothes."


"I don't want them."


Mayumi's mother chimes in. "But it was your favorite outfit."


"I DON'T WANT IT."


Mayumi's mother gets angry, but Sakurako calms her down.


"I know why. Just let this work itself out."


Mayumi storms out of the house, her mother soon after. Sakurako doesn't follow. It's their issue to resolve. By 8:30 Sakurako herself has slipped into a minor depression herself. She walks over where her Late sister's stuffed animal sits. Looking over her work desk. She picks it up and holds it. Crying.


About an hour later, she manages to cry herself to sleep.


It was a long day.