70. Welcome Reception 1

With Maria and Amanda, the usual four officers under her, we boarded a private shuttle at the Captain’s Government Residence and arrived at Spaceport 1, Pier 1.

Pier 1 was, in name only, designated for the Agirakana Captain’s personal vessel—after the loss of the Fuurinka, and with the Captain’s personal vessel becoming the Krein, only the Krein was permitted to dock.

Stepping off the shuttle onto the pier, we arrived just as the Krein was completing its docking.

Immediately, the personnel airlock hatch on the Krein’s passenger shaft opened, and from it emerged Ichijō and Reika, escorted by the Krein’s Captain. Marine Corps personnel lined both sides of the pier, standing at attention, and the three of them walked through the formation, advancing down the center of the pier until they reached us.

“High-priority transport mission completed.”

The Krein’s Captain saluted as she spoke,

“Good work.”

A single phrase, a courteous reply—then the Krein’s captain turned on her heel and marched back to her own vessel, leaving Ichijō and the others behind.

“Senior, just what was that performance for? You’ve been startling me nonstop.”

“Well, isn’t it good experience? You’ll remember it.”

“Ugh, Senior. But really—you were someone important, weren’t you? I thought of you as just a regional rep of Agirakana, a sort of branch manager, until I actually stepped aboard a starship.”

A dry chuckle was all I could manage. Most of Earth’s people probably thought the same—Ichijō included. I’d been the one to make it feel distant, after all. If you’d seen me idling at the Embassy, sipping coffee and doing nothing, you’d understand.

“Representative Yamada, it’s truly an honor to be invited.”

"Representative Yamada, you’re quite welcome to speak freely—no need to be stiff about it."

"Thank you."

"The people behind me are key members of Agirakana, but introductions can wait until mealtime. In that case, let’s board the shuttle and head to the Captain's Office."

We walked in a line toward the shuttle pad, climbed aboard the waiting shuttle together, and set course for the Captain's Office.

While we Agirakana personnel remained calm and settled into our seats inside the shuttle, Ichijō was visibly unsettled, darting glances around as if searching for something. There was no window, after all—nothing to see. Given this behavior, one might reasonably worry that she’d caused quite a stir back on the shuttle that brought her here.

"The shuttle we're on is said to cover 150 kilometers from the dock we just left to my office—wherever that is—in three minutes. That’s about 3,000 kilometers per hour—Mach 2.5, roughly. Supposedly, it can go several times faster than that, so it’s pretty impressive, huh?"

"Which means it's faster than a jet fighter, then."

Hōzōin, unlike Ichijō, remained calm.

"I only heard the details secondhand, but apparently this shuttle runs through a tube that’s nearly a vacuum. That’s why it can exceed the speed of sound without issue."

As they spoke, the shuttle arrived at the Captain's Office.

They stepped out, walked a short distance, and were led into the operations conference room inside. The senior officers who had accompanied them had already dispersed, returning to their respective duties—some even heading straight to the dinner gathering.

Inviting an ordinary person into a tactical conference room might be unthinkable on Earth—but there’s nothing to hide, and even if some technology were to leak, Earth lacks the foundational know-how to replicate it, so no need to worry.

Only three people occupy the seats within the tactical conference room: me, Maria, and two invited guests.

“Then, since we’re here, let me give a brief overview of Agirakana’s history and general framework. Maria, you’ve got it.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Then I’ll begin with the origins of Agirakana’s construction.”

Maria’s account unfolded: the annihilation of Arsen by Zeno, the escape and trials endured during that time, the subsequent discovery of a drifting planet, and how Agirakana’s prototype emerged through a core swap with it—followed by the steady, unbroken progression toward becoming a spacecraft, spanning to the present.

“And more recently, upon surveying the vicinity of Agirakana, we discovered an Arsen-type species on Sol-3, Earth, and initiated contact. From among them, we recruited the current captain—leading us to the present moment.”

“About half a year ago, after a twelve-year journey, we finally reached the mother planet of the problematic Zeno. We sustained some damage, but successfully destroyed the planet. Zeno itself has not been eradicated, but it is estimated that within a few centuries, Zeno will have vanished entirely.

For active Zeno, we’ve established a survey system centered on the Sol system, allowing us to detect their arrival decades in advance. Individual Zeno groups of normal scale can be neutralized. Should a threat be deemed unneutralizable, evacuation from Earth would be required—but even then, ample time remains.”

"Um, so evacuating means we're going somewhere—some planet, right? Is there actually a place big enough to accommodate over seven billion Earthlings?"

"The first option is Agirakana here, but we have ample time to search for other habitable planets. Captain, is evacuation settled with that arrangement?"

"There's still room to tighten things up over there. Well, it'll work out somehow, won't it?"

"Then, regarding the structure of Agirakana..."

In the description of the outer ring of Agirakana, which had ten layers, Ichijō was once again astonished. It seemed Hōzōin was surprised as well this time.

With the preliminary explanation concluded, Ichijō began,

"Are you recording this visit of ours, then?"

Ah, it's being captured properly.

"Am I in the shot too, Reika-chan?"

"That’s obvious, isn’t it? Is there some problem?"

"Senpai. Me and Reika-chan are known as mysterious ladies on Earth, so we shouldn't be shown in the footage willy-nilly. I'm insisting—firmly—on editing out that part."

"Got it, got it. That sort of thing can be handled, right, Maria?"

"Editing to your specifications is possible."

"T-that's right."

"Good thing I made the request properly—"