Rocket Girls: The Last Planet Read Online Free PDF

her off.
    “Did you call me in here to make excuses?”
    “What excuses?” the principal snorted. “Clearly I was right about your intentions today.”
    “I’m not here on some vendetta. Our landing in the school pond was a complete coincidence.”
    “You expect me to believe that out of all the places on Earth where you could have landed, your coming down on school property—your very own school’s property—was a coincidence? Ridiculous!”
    “I was as surprised as you are, sir, but the fact is that you just can’t set an orbiter capsule down wherever you want to. Especially not when there are complications.”
    “Doesn’t the space shuttle over in America land on its own runway every time? That’s pretty pinpoint.”
    “That’s because the space shuttle has flight controls. On our ship, once you open the parachute, you’re at the mercy of the wind currents—”
    “Nice try, but you won’t pull the wool over this educator’s eyes!”
    “Well, I’m sorry, but you have no idea what you’re talking about.” Yukari stamped her foot. “And what’s the big idea expelling me just because I broke one little rule!”
    “Rules are rules, Miss Morita. And it is of the utmost importance to us that all of our girls learn the rules by which they must lead their lives before we send them out into society—”
    “But I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to come back!” There was an edge to Yukari’s voice. “I was going to come back here after my first flight. I was going to ace my classes, pass my tests, get into a topflight university, and land a glamorous job at some company somewhere. I was going to have a normal life!” She was practically raging now.
    A look of fear flashed across the principal’s face. “Oh, you’re on a vendetta, all right. You resent me.”
    “Of course I resent you! You’re ruining my life on a—on a technicality!”
    The principal waggled his finger at her. “I know what you’re up to, Morita. You’re going to use this newfound fame of yours to turn the media against me, aren’t you. You’re trying to get me fired from my job!”
    Yukari blinked. “Huh? Of course I’m not.”
    “But you could if you tried. That’s why you landed here, isn’t it? This is a thinly veiled threat. You were trying to teach me a lesson.”
    Yukari rolled her eyes. “The only lesson I want you to learn here is that you Can’t. Control. Where. An Orbiter. Splashes. Down!”
    Yukari was in mid-rant when she heard a tremendous roar, the kind of sound you can feel in the pit of your stomach. The windows rattled and the room shook. She looked out to see an SDF navy helicopter hovering right outside the window.
    “What, now the navy’s here? What’s all that racket?”
    The helicopter was a Sikorsky MH-53E, the largest helicopter operating in Japanese airspace, with three 4400 hp gas turbine engines and a main rotor twenty-four meters in diameter. The local police, coast guard, and fire department wouldn’t have a chopper that size. They must have called into the base for it when they heard what was coming down.
    The windows of the building across the courtyard filled with faces.
    Behind her, the principal was screeching. “You called the SDF in, didn’t you? Is there no end to your ambition, child?”
    “I had nothing to do with it, really.”
    “Well you better get them out of here before the media descend upon us. I won’t have you disrupting my classes any more than you already have!”
    “Will you just shut up and let me deal with this?” Yukari pulled the transceiver from its pouch at her waist and thumbed the talk button. “This is the SSA spaceship Rambutan , hailing the navy helicopter currently over Nellis Academy. Come in, please.”
    “ Rambutan , this is Big Bird with the SDF navy minesweeping division. We’re here at the request of the Solomon Space Association, over.”
    “Thanks for coming.”
    “Not a problem. We’d like to get the retrieval started. Should