Zero Sum Game (36 page)

She couldn't help laughing at that. She took off Voice, then removed her normal set of gym clothes. She put the battle suit version back on. It moved like water sliding across her body and her school uniform returned.

Hina gathered her gym clothes, exited the stall, and put the old clothes in her bag. She returned to her homeroom. She wanted to make sure she had everything before she left. Everyone, including the teachers, had Monday off; school wouldn't resume until the day after tomorrow. Silence occupied the school, most of the students were either gone or outside at the front gate talking with friends. Many of the teachers had left, and the few remaining were in the staff room taking advantage of the air conditioning.

One teacher awaited Hina in her homeroom. Ozaki stood on the balcony outside, watching the students gathered at the gate. Even though the two of them had seen each other all day, they had not had a chance to talk aside from a brief "Good morning."

"Ozaki-sensei?" Hina said.

He smiled when he saw her. He stepped back into the room, then stopped himself. It seemed to Hina as if he had wanted to rush up to greet her. He had too much self-restraint for that.

"You have no idea how happy I was to get that text last night. I was so worried about you."

"I need to tell you about it."

"Not here. You've had a rough two days. How about we meet at Shukkei Park again tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Let's meet at the same bench as last time, around two. That should give you time to sleep in."

Hina laughed. "All right."

Ozaki stood silent for several moments. Neither of them moved. Hina opened her mouth to break the silence, but her teacher beat her to it. "I'm glad you're okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye," she said when he walked past her.

CHAPTER 32

Hina had arrived at the park early, but Ozaki approached the bench at two o'clock.
He's punctual,
she thought. After getting the initial pleasantries and comments about the hot weather out of the way, Hina told him everything that had happened from the time she had snuck into Hiroshima Port to sneaking out of it upon her return.

Ozaki asked a few questions during her tale, he seemed worried about Ekimori having knowledge of what had transpired. He agreed with her that it couldn't be helped.

"And how is Voice doing?"

"I'm doing well. Thank you for asking," the battle suit replied. Hina passed on his comment to Ozaki, who smiled and gave a nod of respect to the school uniform.

"What about the two other battle suits and those catom things? What are you going to do with those?"

Hina and Voice had already discussed the matter. "Voice says Ichihara's spaceship is still hiding in the asteroid belt. He can call it back and we'll put the catoms and Fujiya's battle suit back in the ship, then return it to its hiding place," Hina said. "I couldn't get Shimizu's. It's on the bottom of the ocean floor. Voice said it'll probably stay down there forever. Voice basically shut down the catoms, so they can't do anything."

"You mean to say—"

"Hina," Voice said in a tone louder and more curt than he normally used.

Hina held up a hand to Ozaki and turned her gaze away. Voice continued. "I'm picking up a transmission of Noigel origin, and it is not coming from Ichihara's ship or the other craft."

Hina didn't like the sound of that. "So?"

"Other Noigel are approaching Earth. And they are demanding a meeting."

— — —

The time and place the Noigel had designated was not what Hina had expected. She thought it would be in the middle of the night at some place in the woods.
That's where most alien first contacts take place, isn't it?
she thought. She pictured blinding streams of light shining through the trees until the craft's door opened and she spotted a silhouette standing in the doorway of the over-lit craft.

A four o'clock rendezvous at a fast food restaurant wasn't what she had expected. Ozaki insisted that he come along, but Voice had convinced him that he should be absent from the actual meeting. He reassured Ozaki that it wasn't a trap. Ozaki agreed to go with Hina but not enter.

They left the park and caught a streetcar to Hondori shopping district. Hina shared a moment of concern with Ozaki, then entered the establishment. The sounds of sizzling grills struck her ears and the smell of fried food filled her nose. She gazed around the room, but no one caught her attention. She ordered a cheeseburger meal, and on Voice's suggestion, went to the second floor.

Like the first floor, it was almost full to capacity. She was about to leave and return downstairs when a woman sitting near a window raised her hand.

"May I sit down?" Hina asked.

The woman gave a slow nod, as if unsure how to answer such a request. Her eyes darted around the room and she acted nervous. Her hamburger remained untouched.

"That's an interesting form you have programmed for your flash skin," she said.

"I'm not Xilay Miir or Tyren Dolok. I'm not Volon Tru either," Hina replied.

The woman's eyes widened. "I was under the impression they were the only three on this planet. Who are you?"

"I'm Hina Takamachi. Nice to meet you." She gave a small bow.

The woman didn't return it. She waited for Hina to say more. When Hina didn't continue, she pressed on. "What's your Noigel name?"

"I don't have one. I'm a human." Hina shifted in her seat. "Do you have a name?"

"It's…" She stopped herself; Hina thought she had almost replied with her Noigel name. "You can call me Aya Fujimoto."

Aya Fujimoto?
Hina thought.
How generic could you get?
"What are you doing on Earth?"

"Can you tell me what happened to the three Noigel, and how you came to be wearing a battle suit?"

"What do you think, Voice?" Hina whispered. Fujimoto seemed confused at Hina's question but didn't ask for clarification.

"She is not wearing a battle suit, only a flash skin. She is unarmed as well. For whatever purpose she is here, it is not hostile. It would be wise to tell her everything."

In less detail than she had told Ozaki, she gave an account of how she had been given the suit by Ichihara (she used their human names) and discovered Shimizu's plans, the battles that had occurred, and the climax under the ocean. The longer she talked, the more agitated the woman became. Shimizu's death shook her.

Fujimoto shifted in her chair. "On behalf of the Noigel government, I want to apologize for the transgressions that have taken place on your planet. It was not the will of the majority of the government to enact such a heinous plan. You must understand that…Shimizu…as you called him, was a radical and operated without our consent."

Hina knew the story better than Fujimoto thought she did but remained silent. Something about the meeting felt wrong.

Fujimoto lowered her eyes to the cup in front of her. "All these deaths on your planet, for nothing." She let out a long sigh and fell quiet.

When she didn't continue right away, Hina pressed, "Fujimoto-san?" Her stomach tightened, she didn't think she would like what she was about to hear.

"I'm here to recall all of our off-world citizens and escort them to our home ark. The situation has deteriorated. Our race is dead."

Hina swallowed a lump in her throat. "What do you mean?"

"In order for our species, any species in the galaxy, to survive, there must be a certain number of members. A point, in which they could procreate and attempt to enlarge their numbers. Despite whatever romanticized science fiction literature or films may portray, you can't repopulate the planet with only two people."

Hina nodded that she understood. Fujimoto continued.

"We are below that number. Disease and social upheaval took their toll. Our population is decimated, with no chance of recovering. According to the story you told me, and I may have to correlate some dates to be sure I'm right, but it sounds like even if Shimizu had been successful, it wouldn't have mattered. New Noigel, as he called it, could have supported us, but there aren't enough of us to support the species."

Hina's mind blanked at the thought for a moment and she couldn't speak. She stared at Fujimoto, who looked away. When she found her voice, Hina asked, "You mean, even if Shimizu had succeeded and killed everybody on Earth, it wouldn't have mattered? All the Noigel would have died?"

The female alien nodded her head. "We are recalling all Noigel, so they can be with their family and friends. In less than three generations, we will be an extinct race." She leaned forward and held Hina's gaze with her own. "Which makes you extremely valuable."

Confusion crossed Hina's face, and Fujimoto continued. "Your battle suit is the only remaining Noigel legacy. I'm asking you to preserve it. We can download as much of our cultural data into it as we can, as well as into Ichihara's craft. You, as the suit's wearer, will be the last Noigel. As long as you remember us, we won't be truly extinct. Please do this."

Fujimoto's eyes, which Hina knew were only holographic projections, were filled with such emotion, such longing and sadness, that she almost began to cry. She was barely processing the news that the Noigel were dying. Now the alien in front of her was asking her, a teenage girl, only in the second year of junior high school, to carry on the memory and legacy of an entire alien race.

An alien race that tried to wipe out her own, a part of her reminded herself. That almost succeeded and had killed innocent people in cold blood.

But a Noigel battle suit had helped her. Without Voice, it would have been impossible to stop Shimizu and Fujiya. It had been Noigel technology that had helped save her planet.

She nodded at Fujimoto. "I'll do it. Do you have any objections, Voice?"

"None," he said.

Fujimoto smiled in equal parts relief and sadness. "We'll do the transfer process tomorrow night. I won't return to my superiors for approval. If there were news of successful terraforming, it might tempt them to continue Shimizu's work. Ichihara's ship, as well as any remaining Noigel technology on Earth are now yours."

"I…I don't know what to say." Hina shook her head. "I don't know what to do."

"Remember us," Fujimoto said.

— — —

Two days later Hina stood on the balcony outside of her classroom at lunch time. She watched the games of volleyball and soccer, on the field, the groups of friends chatting and laughing, at the world around her. It had almost ended. Almost.

Ami came up beside her. "You're looking better," she said. "Not so serious."

"My life has…settled down," Hina replied. While her friend still limped and had bruises, Ami became healthier every day. Ami and the school staff had been careful fielding questions about what had happened. The details remained hidden from the students; they only knew Ami had been in an accident.

Ami looked directly at Hina. "Your dad visited our shop a few days ago."

"He did?" He hadn't told Hina that.

"Hina, why didn't you tell me?" Ami looked hurt, and Hina sensed a sliver of betrayal hiding behind the lopsided glasses. "You didn't tell me your parents were divorced. Why not? We've been friends since forever."

A part of Hina was grateful Ami hadn't somehow discovered her powers or the alien suit she wore. Another part felt guilty that she had kept the family divorce from her best friend. "It…it was sudden. Just a few months ago. I'm still processing it. You've got two loving grandparents. I didn't…I was embarrassed."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Ami chided. "I don't want any more secrets between us. Got it? No more." She smiled.

"Okay," she lied to her friend's face.

Ami nodded and went inside the classroom.

From the corner of her eye she saw Ozaki step up beside her. He gazed out across the field as he spoke. "How are your Noigel studies?"

She had told him about the meeting with Aya Fujimoto and all she had asked for Hina to do. "They're…fascinating. But don't ask me to speak Noigel. I have enough difficulty with English."

Ozaki's face grew thoughtful. "They are called Noigel. Their language is Noigel. And Noigel is the name of their planet. They're not very imaginative when it comes to naming things, are they?"

Hina laughed.

Ozaki grew serious; he faced Hina, leaning on one arm against the balcony. "And you? What will you and Voice do now?"

"Help," she replied, facing her homeroom teacher. "I can't solve every crime or problem that comes along." She glanced at Ami, who sat inside the classroom, her head mere centimeters from a piece of paper as she sketched. Hina remembered how her friend had looked in the hospital the day after getting beat up by the yakuza. She pushed the image away and turned back to her teacher.

"But I can do things no one else can. It's my responsibility to do what I can."

Hina looked over the grounds of her school and wondered what the future would bring.

Afterword

This novel is my first wholly original book. Unlike my previous work,
Adventure
Hunters
:
Similitude
, which was adapted from an unproduced screenplay,
Zero Sum Game
was conceived and written as a novel from the start. In a way, I'm more proud of it than
Similitude
; that book may have been published first, but this book was my first full-length honest-to-God novel.

It was much more difficult to write than expected, but I feel I learned a lot about the writing process. When it comes to writing, they say the first million words don't count. I have a long way to go.

This novel was influenced by many things, primarily superhero movies and my experiences as a teacher in Japanese public junior high schools. The decision to make Hina fourteen years old was difficult; that age range is hard to market to older readers but since I had only taught junior high students, I felt I knew them the best and I wanted to incorporate many elements of middle school life the average reader might not know about. At the same time, I didn't want it to be a Young Adult novel. I hope I was able to strike a balance of having a younger protagonist with a more mature storyline.