Rocket Girls: The Last Planet Read Online Free PDF Page A

“We have to keep their water the right temperature. You know what the temperature was on your ship?”
    “Erm…” Yukari scratched her head.
    “I’m pretty sure this variety prefers 23°C, but if they were trying to breed them, they might’ve made it warmer.”
    “I don’t think there was any breeding going on. Yeah, 23°C sounds about right.”
    “Good.” Akane briefly stopped the pump and inserted a small heater and thermostat inside the chamber. “It will take a little time to warm up, but thankfully it’s pretty close to the right temperature this time of year already.”
    “So that’s it?”
    “I think so.”
    “Whew!” Yukari gave a long sigh of relief. The goldfish had visibly improved. She looked up and smiled. “Sorry, I’m Yukari Morita. Thank you.”
    “Oh, uh, I’m Akane Miura.”
    Yukari offered to shake hands and Akane blushed.
    “I remember your name,” Yukari said. “You got top grades first semester, right?”
    “And you were in Class B first year, right?”
    “I’m surprised you remember me.”
    “You were really good in track, even though you’re small like me. And then you, uh—”
    “Dropped out because I got a job.”
    “Oh, I didn’t mean to say—”
    Just then, the door to the lab opened and a teacher appeared. “Yukari Morita! Just who is responsible for that rocket ship out there?”
    “It’s not a rocket ship, actually. It’s an orbiter. And I’m the captain.”
    “Then come to the principal’s office right this minute, ‘Captain’!”
    “Okay…” Yukari said, dazed. She turned back to Akane. “Watch the goldfish for me?”
    “No problem,” Akane said, a look of concern on her face as she watched the other girl leave.

[ACT 5]
     
    THICK CARPETING COVERED the floor of the principal’s office. Rows of golden figurines and plaques—trophies from various sporting events—lined the walls. Some calligraphy in a frame read NEVER GIVE UP . A large, heavy double-winged desk made out of some dark mahogany-like wood dominated the middle of the room.
    “Um, you wanted to see me?” Yukari announced herself as she stepped gingerly into the room, her muddy space suit boots leaving tracks behind her.
    Across the desk from her sat a man in silver-rimmed glasses, sparse hair combed in neat lines across the dome of his head. Blue veins were clearly visible across his brow, and the tension in his face sent ripples through the air. He spoke.
    “Come to pay a visit to your old school?”
    “Well, er, actually—”
    “Oh, we have some miscreants at our school who think they can drive up in their sports cars or motorbikes, but this is the first time we’ve had someone in a spaceship!”
    “Um, I’d sure hope—”
    “And in that attire! Miss Morita, have you no shame?”
    Yukari sighed. It wasn’t like she was wearing a skintight space suit on purpose.
    “You think you’re above the rules, is that it? Or is this just another part of your vendetta against me?”
    “Excuse me? Vendetta? Sir, I—”
    “Yes, I was the one who expelled you. But I only did what any educator in my position would have done! This school strictly forbids our students from holding part-time jobs, and you did so, and quite publicly , I might add. How was I to set an example for the other students if I didn’t punish you? That’s how I explained my position to the regional school board—a position they approved, I’ll have you know.”
    It was true, to a point. When she had first joined the Solomon Space Association program, they’d taken her on as a part-time employee. She had gone through the proper channels and applied for a semester off with the intention of returning in the third quarter—except that her unexpected expulsion hit before the paperwork was approved.
    Now, if she had been expelled because she wasn’t taking her classes seriously, she could understand that. But to be expelled for working a part-time job just because it was against the rules? That really ticked