Kojiro was a nice fellow, Akira decided. He wasn't tall, but he was burly, his arms and shoulders strong and well-developed from hauling fishing gear since he was a boy. He wasn't quite as wide as he was tall, but it was close, Akira thought with a smile. Akira was stocky himself, that being the nature of Sea Eagles, but he hadn't had the years of work that would serve to modify even his skeleton to suit his job.

"The factory's doing well," Kojiro told Minoru. The two men effortlessly ...