Flight

by J. A. Huss

  "If you get other offers, on Earth? Just know that we love you here. We do. And if you think you might want to take one, then please call for me on your com so I can find a way to give you whatever it is you need."

  "Lucan, I'm not gonna take that job offer from that Subjack guy, OK?"

  He nods and looks away from me, like he can't look me in the face. "I never properly expressed my thanks for what you did, so before you leave I'd like for you to know how much I appreciate your sacrifice."

  "What're you talking about?"

  His small laugh makes me smile. Some things about Lucan seem so out of place and these little human-like gestures always surprise me. In a good way.

  "You saved Tier, Junco. I cannot put into words how relieved I am." His eyes close as he turns away again. "You did what I could not. I owe you." When he looks back at me his expression is very serious. "I owe you, do you understand?"

  I shake my head. "No, not really."

  "I owe you. And this gift can't even come close. Whatever you need, you will just ask. Understand?"

  "OK."

  "I'll see you off in a little bit. Make sure to pack things to keep you occupied on the trip. It takes about two and half weeks."

  I reach over and give him a hug. "Thank you for the gift. If I need you I'll use it."

  He smiles and then he is gone.

  I go back inside and repeat Lucan's announcement but the team doesn't pay much attention to me. Tier is not around and I find Isten sitting on the window seat in our dark bedroom. By the time I change into my shorts and tank top he's in bed with the covers open so I can climb in. His wings wrap me up and I lay my head on his chest and count.

  Chapter Ten

  Ryse was right to be impressed with our transportation, it's fabulous even though I don't have anything to compare it to. All four teams bunk in the same room on the ship and we are stacked four high with barely enough room to move around inside the cocoon-like berths. They are molded against the side of the bulkhead and have a little curtain that covers the open side, so at least there's that.

  I'm fascinated at everything at first. The clanking sound my boots make on the grated decks, the hum of the ventilation system, the on-ship light-G fields, the stick pads that keep my feet on the deck in the free-G areas, and of course, the portholes that let me stargaze as we move through the system towards Earth. Every time I even think the word I get butterflies, that's how excited I am.

  Tier and I settle into our new normal, which is pretty much limited to eating our meals together. Isten, Arel, and I spend a lot of time going over field scenarios, while Rikan, Mish, and Braun do the same. Ashur, of all people, spends most evenings with me looking at Esta's translations in the notebook Lucan passed to me during our final meeting. If I figured one of them would be interested that that crap, I might have picked Ryse. But Ryse almost never surfaces from the cockpit.

  I practice with the new armor. Isten has to help me put it on and take it off because the shirt and wing seams are very complicated. It really stifles my movements too. I spend the first week training pretty hard in it, making sure I can do some moves that I rely on in close combat. But the fucking gravity is so variable across the training space that this is almost pointless and finally I give it up. Whatever time I get to adjust to it in the Northern Territories before the real action begins will just have to be good enough.

  The wing protection is a light-weight, spray-on, slick silver polymer that I won't be able to check out until we're ready for jump. Once applied it helps protect the feathers from burns, like a fire-retardant, and it takes thirty days for the bonds to break and flake off. In the interest of making sure we're all equipped to the same standard on drop, they can't let me give it a try or mine will be substantially degraded by the time we're engaged.

  Two weeks into the journey Isten finds me reading Esta's translations of the Fledge church doorway in the forward observation bunk. There's barely enough room in here for one person let alone two, but he forces himself in and pushes me against the bulkhead.

  "Junco, I've been patient with you, but that's enough. Stop reading that shit." I don't even look up. We've had this conversation at least once a day since we left Amelia. He turns on his side and leans down into my face. "What can you possibly find in there that is so interesting?"

  Now I do turn, but I'm annoyed with his pestering and he knows it. "Isten, this shit is actually describing the creation of man. It's pretty important."

  He laughs and I feel it from the inside as well as hear it from the outside. "It's bullshit, Junco. None of that is true. Don't waste your time."

  "Then why is Lucan's name in here, huh?"

  He shakes his head at me. "It's not Lucan's name, Juncs. It's a derivative. He doesn't own that name, and he might be old, but he's not that fucking old."

  "How do you know? Ash says–"

  "Ash is just trying to make you notice him again and avoid that stupid Lili girl at the same time. Why they let her come along I'll never understand."

  "She's on Monk's team, what should they have done, left her on Amelia? Hey, Lili – you can be part of our team, but guess what? We're going on an important mission now and you have to stay home?"

  Isten exhales. "I would have made both of you stay home if it were up to me."

  I can't even bring myself to waste the breath it would cost to answer that, so I turn back to the notebook. "Look, here's the cuneiform image, right?" I point to a glyph that represents light and I feel Isten notice it in his head, then continue. "And this is Lucan's glyph right next to it. It says Lucan, not some derivative, Isten. It's spelled out clear as day."

  He shrugs. "So what?"

  "So he was there."

  "So what?"

  "He played a part in the creation of men and the avian too. That doesn't interest you?"

  "No, it really doesn't. Lucan is not God, Junco. He's a raging asshole most of the time, just because he likes you and treats you special doesn't make him a nice guy. Or God, for fuck's sake."

  "No, he's definitely not God. That much I know." I feel Isten's interest perk up a bit, so I stay silent and make him say what's on his mind. It takes a few minutes of silence, but in the end he does.

  "So who is he?"

  I smile in victory. "See, you do want to know!"

  "Say it, Juncs, or I'll never pretend to be interested in your hobbies again."

  I hold down my smile and look up at him. "He's the Fallen Archer, Isten. It's him. Not that girl on the post hanging in the Fledge Church."

  "Bahhhhhh – I'm out of here." And he is. He rolls over and jumps down from the bunk and walks away. I sit there laughing, feeling for his emotions as his boots clank down the deck. He's laughing too. He thinks I'm an idiot.

  I don't think you're an idiot, Junco. His thoughts come back at me like we're in the same room and I jump a little. I think you're bored.

  You can read my thoughts?

  And you can read mine. Welcome to the perfection that is twine.

  Do you always know what I'm thinking?

  Yeah, so stop fucking fantasizing about Tier's babies.

  I choke down a gasp and jump down to chase after him. I catch him just as he walks into the mess and pull him back out. "Isten, come here now."

  He smiles and shakes his head at me. "Hand over the notebook first. I'm taking it away and you're not getting it back."

  I give it over. "You don't say a word, you got it?"

  He leans down and kisses me on the cheek, then swats my head with the rolled-up notebook and walks off in the opposite direction calling back to me, "I'm gonna fling this out the airlock, Junco. Not fucking kidding."

  "What's that all about?"

  I pivot into Tier as my breath huffs out and blows hair above my eyes. "Nothing, ready for lunch?" He smiles and guides me to the machines with a hand on my back.

  I spend the rest of the day experimenting on how far away from Isten I have to be to block my thoughts from him. I locate him, then wa
lk until I run out of deck and call his name in my head.

  He answers every fucking time.

  Probably everyone on the She's All Mine is thinking there's no privacy but they might as well have their own top-floor suite in an Earth hotel compared to what I'm dealing with. I push Tier so far out of my mind I barely want to eat with him at dinner. By the time I'm ready for sleep I'm a worried mess. The last thing I need is Isten shooting his mouth off about my private thoughts.

  Chapter Eleven

  The suborbital shudders as we enter the North American airstream and I sink down into my seat as the gravity comes back. I look across the table at my dad, but he's absorbed in the day's work on the screen in front of him. I unbuckle myself, check to see if he'll stop me, and when he doesn't I get up and walk over to my bags across the ship.

  It's a private military transport but we use it when we go on our birthday week trips, just in case we have to leave on some emergency. I unzip the garment bag that hangs on the hook near the bathroom and take out my crisp cadet uniform.

  I don't know if anyone else is excited about the first day of cadet school, but I certainly am. My smile is big and when I look back over at my dad, he's smiling right along with me.

  "Do you need help?"

  I shake my head at him. "No, I got it."

  I take off my vacation clothes, stopping for a moment to check the gash that mutant left on my calf a few weeks ago, and then start assembling myself into a soldier. In training, anyway. Not that I need more training, but whatever. I'm a real RR soldier now, not a state secret.

  Everything is soft and does not feel stiff and new even though I've never worn this uniform before. They are good to me at home sometimes. Very good to me. I hate new clothes, refuse to put them on until they've been softened up in the wash. And someone at home went to the trouble to soften up my uniform and then press it flat to make it look crisp. Most of my body is still sunburned from lying on a Hawaiian beach for the past week, so this little attention to detail makes me even happier then it normally would.

  I tug on the undershirt and pull on the socks and pants before my dad speaks again. "You can give me your SEAR now, Junco. I'll keep it for you."

  There were no jobs on Hawaii. Birthday week is for vacation only, unless there's an emergency or something. But I always get to keep my SEAR when I'm away from the RR, just in case I get separated from the guards. I walk over and hand it to him and watch as he slips it into the breast pocket of his service uniform jacket.

  I go back and continue getting dressed, buttoning up and tucking in the short-sleeved shirt, then fastening the belt and pulling on the new boots that shine in the overhead ship lights. I brush my hair, grab a hair tie and then go sit on the floor in front of my dad. "Not too tight this time."

  He sighs behind me as he swivels his chair and gathers up my hair to braid it. When he gets to the end I reach back with the elastic tie in my hand and he takes it, twisting it into my hair to hold his work together.

  I get back up and grab my hat, then go to the mirror so I can put it on. I hate the hat, but it's required for services and as soon as we land in Peaks the hovercopter will take us right over to Council 1 for the welcome ceremony and check in. They'll probably be waiting for us, we were late taking off.

  I check myself in the mirror one last time then go back and sit across from my dad and look out the window. The view of Earth below is clear of clouds and I can see the mountains, so we must be close.

  "They'll wait, you know."

  I look over at him. "Yeah, I know. But I don't want them to wait. Then everyone will think I get special privileges because I'm your daughter."

  He smiles. "You do get special privileges, Junco. You cannot change who you are."

  I shrug. "I just don't want them to know that on the very first day."

  "Michael will be at the barn every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 0900. So make sure you're always there. No exceptions. If you need to cancel for some reason, you show up first, then ask for a day off. You have trials for Worlds in February and it's very important that you qualify so you can compete in the championships in Sydney next spring."

  "Yeah, OK." But I don't want to think about what will happen in Sydney next spring besides my aerialist competition.

  "Monday through Thursday you have private piano with Mrs. Strauss from 1100 to 1300. You'll meet her today."

  I nod and look out the window. The peaks of the MR mountains have snow on them already, even though it's only the second week of September.

  "I have a new power for you, Junco."

  A slight panic consumes me as I think about my last fight with that prairie lion. I lost.

  Matthew came to the house and yelled for two days, telling anyone who'd listen that I lost that fight. But my dad finally got sick of him and pulled rank. He had him removed from Council 3 and returned to Stag Camp, still complaining the whole way there I bet.

  He recognizes the look on my face. "Not that kind of power. You will not go to camp again until cadets are over. You'll come home for holidays and summers until you graduate."

  "That's a gift," I say. "Not a power."

  He ignores my statement. "Do you know why I'm sending you to cadets, Junco?"

  I shrug and look out the window again. "To do my duty. Like everyone else."

  He laughs. "Your duty was fulfilled years ago. No, that's not why."

  My eyes track back to him. "Then why?"

  "To make friends. And have fun. Have a lot of fun, Junco. But do not fall behind on your studies, sport, or piano. And do not get caught. Do you understand me?"

  My brows scrunch together as I study his face. "You want me work hard and if I do that, then I can break the rules, as long as I don't get caught. Is that what you just said?"

  He nods. "You have three behavior rules you will not break. Are you ready to hear them?"

  "Yes."

  "You will not talk about your home life or family, including HOUSE. You will not talk about camp, training or missions. You will not talk about weapons not available to you on campus."

  "Is that it?" That can't possibly be it.

  "That's it." He hesitates for a second. "Well, don't kill anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. Even if they tell you to try your best in training, don't try your best."

  Duh.

  "Only try your best in studies, sport, and piano. Unless you really need to kill someone, of course. I'll leave it up to you, just know you'll have to account for it."

  I think about this for a few seconds. "Is that my power? Kill if I have to?"

  He lets out a little laugh. "No, Junco. I just don't want to make a rule that might make you hesitate to protect yourself. That's all."

  "Then what's my power?"

  He smiles. "Smile, Junco. Smiles are powerful. That's how you make friends. You just smile."

  I look away and let my grin spread across my face even though I try to tuck it down. "I know that."

  "And when the boys start asking you for attention, you just smile at them. Boys only want one thing, and it's not a smile. So if that's all you give them and they accept it, then you'll know you found a good one."

  My face gets hot as I look out the window. "I don't want to talk about boys with you, Dad."

  He laughs and goes back to his screen.

  But I do want to think about boys in my head and my new life as Junco the cadet. Today is a really good day.

  Isten's hand on my shoulder pulls me up from the dream. He's kneeling on the floor outside my berth and he cups a hand over my mouth as I start to make noise.

  "Shh," he whispers. "Just me. You OK?"

  I swallow. "Yeah, just a dream."

  His eyes search mine and he waits.

  I wait too. But he stays silent. "It was just a dream, Isten."

  "You sure about that? It felt like a memory to me. And that means your dad–"

  "Enough. Leave me alone, get out of my head."

  He exhales. "OK. Go back to sleep then
."

  And then he's gone.

  Chapter Twelve

  The remaining days are a blur of jump preparations. I've parachuted several times over the years but I'm no expert and I'm nervous even though Isten feeds me memories of his previous jumps. All of which were executed flawlessly. Expect the worst has always been my motto and as long as I'm in the business of soldiering, that's not gonna change.

  When we're not preparing I'm looking out the porthole on the forward observation bunk, watching as the small dot of light turns into a swirling blue ball. My stomach feels flighty at the thought of Earth and I automatically swallow down the urge to hurl as I look out at it.

  You OK, Junco?

  Isten is so in my business since the telepathy kicked in, it's not even funny.

  Fine, Is. Just getting nervous.

  I hear his boots clanking down the deck and then his face appears in the bunk. "Come on, we're gonna spray wings and do a dry run for tomorrow."

  I jump down and follow him back to the gear room. "We have to wear suits and armor? I'm not even gonna be able to move. Why can't we just use those blue light thingys? Like when you guys came to my house?"

  He ignores me as we walk into the crowd of warriors in the gear room. I've asked everyone this same thing and they're tired of repeating the answer. But I figure the worst they can say is no. And maybe, you never know, but maybe they get tired of me bitching about it and change their minds? Or maybe they realize my idea is just bet–

  Holy fuck, Junco. We're not gonna change our minds. Give it up.

  Asshole, you need to respect my private thoughts. When I want to talk to you I'll–

  "Tier, Junco has been having these really strange dreams, man. You should really ask her what's up."

  I stare up at him with my mouth open. "Isten, what the fuck?"

  Tier comes over and leans down to kiss me, hands cupped around my face and full on the mouth even, in front of everyone.

  I feel Isten's anger and kiss him back before coming up for air. "Whew, thanks!"