Tailspin, page 46
It was another hour before Shay’s HUD pinged, and he was on his second cup of coffee.
Anada’s address came up, and he praised the gods.
An inside call came from an unknown number. Should he answer it?
He hesitated momentarily, then answered it with a weak “Hey.”
“Only me,” Anada said. “My house is a good walk from Natty’s. Let me know when you get closer. The streets are guarded by some proper idiots that work for Tellier. I don’t need them getting their hands on you.”
“I will do,” Shay said, trepidation in his mind. He was putting trust in someone he hardly knew. His gut, though…said he could. “Thanks, Anada.”
“Thank me when you see the tasks set ahead of you,” she said.
“I was always going to move on,” Shay replied. “No kid is ever safe here for long.”
Silence.
“You could get the 71X shuttle,” Anada said. “Or the train?”
Shay thought about their trains. Some were sophisticated and expensive, yet others ran on old fuels, gas or coal, depending on who owned them. Their city was split, so split.
“No, walking is fine. I’ll keep my funds for now. Thank you. We’ll see you in about four hours.”
“Okay, I’ll be here waiting.” A click and Anada was gone.
“We have somewhere new to go, a fresh start,” Shay said to Pim as he picked up his coffee and food and started the long walk to Anada’s.
55
I wasn’t nearly as thorough as Malaki was; she was picking everything to pieces. In the end, I stood back with Walter and Ren and just watched her. She was literal fire, blasting every tiny detail, hole, making notes.
“Remind me never to get on the bad side of her,” I said to Ren.
Ren ran her fingers through her hair, her face scrunched. “And that’s why I trust her with my life.”
“You’re not wrong at all.”
“Not helping her?” Niko asked as he approached cautiously. The fear of Malaki turning on him was written across his face as his eyes darted to her and then to us.
“You’re kidding me.” I crossed my arms and stared at them. “I gave up. I was only getting in the way. As much as I adore her, I ain’t taking that kinda shit.”
We all laughed as Malaki stood toe to toe with the lead engineer, and none of us had to move in closer to hear her words she was screaming, “—ot you aren’t just putting my life at risk. You’re putting our squad’s lives at risk. That…is unacceptable. You do not make that decision. I do.”
“Ma’am, please.” He tried, his hands up trying his best to deflect, to placate her. “You don—”
“I don’t what? I don’t understand how much pressure you’re under?”
He lowered his head, staring back at the ground, his face bright red.
“No. You don’t know what pressure is,” she barked, her fists clenching angrily. This time there was such a hard edge to her words. I’d never heard her so dark. “Pressure is taking your fireteam out onto the line, knowing you’ll be fighting deadly creatures that you might not come back from. Pressure is being unable to hold that line as those creatures burst through to the farms you are supposed to protect. Pressure is watching everything, the thousands and thousands of people and man-hours behind you crumble because you couldn’t do your fucking job. Because something failed. Something in the line of communication. In the line…” She sucked in a breath and pointed at him. “That line stops with you. If I can’t do my job because you failed—”
I could only presume the head engineer was feeling like shit. His head lowered even more; his face flushed even redder. He couldn’t look at her at all, and when I stepped in closer, he couldn’t look at me. I put my hands up in front of her redirecting her attention. “Hey, hey. Easy girl.”
“Hey easy, nothing.” She whirled on me then. “That fucking rust bucket hasn’t moved for several weeks, and they just expect us to get in and fly. No. No fucking way.” She pointed to Declan and Ren who instantly shrank backward. “Tools out,” she shouted. “Fine-toothed comb. For anything wrong, we take our time and we fix it. We’re taking an EC day to get her up to scratch. Tomorrow as well, if we have to. But that helo is not flying. Not today.”
Declan and Ren were on it in seconds. Even the others from Justin’s crew came over with him in tow. “Looks rough,” Justin said. “I agree. I’m not taking mine up until we’ve cleared them in full.”
Their exchange was subtle, but as lead pilots, they knew they held the cards.
“We’ll work together on yours,” Justin’s engineer Henath said and glanced at Declan. “Strip it back to basics if we have to and rebuild. Then on ours?”
“Deal,” Declan said, and they shook hands.
I rolled my sleeves up, but when I went in, Niko shook his head and stepped in front of me. “No, there’s a nice tree over there. You can go rest.”
“Seriously?” I asked, frustrated.
“Yes, seriously. Go.” He waved me off like a child.
I feigned a pout, but he was having none of it and really chased me off.
I moved to the tree and sat with my backpack, defeated. Sucks.
They’re watching out for you, Apex said.
They think I’m not trustworthy. I sighed.
You are. You do, however, need rest.
The tree wasn’t very comfortable, and my back hurt after an hour, not to mention watching them arguing from over here was tough. I wanted to help, any way I could.
I can probably offer something, if you get me in closer.
I’ll try. I pushed up, left my bag, and walked over.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, approaching Niko and Silao.
Silao turned to me, his face pale, worry lines creasing his forehead. “They’re in worse shape than we ever imagined. They shouldn’t be even thinking of flying them.”
“At all?”
“At all.” Malaki came in from the other side of the helo, her face flushed, shoulders slumped. I’d never seen her look so defeated. Justin was close to her side, data pad in hand and he looked the same, even if he was frantically tapping away at his data pad.
“What are you saying?” I asked her.
“I don’t think we can fix all of this, not today, not tomorrow. They need full rebuilds. Some components they haven’t got, maybe couldn’t get in time?”
“There’s gotta be some answers here,” I said, tapping the side of my head.
“Not a chance. If the best minds here can’t help us, I doubt you could,” Malaki said and gave Justin a nod. I think I visibly deflated, and Justin’s lips curled into the slightest smile at her words, and it was high praise indeed from her. Green-eyed monster, go away.
“Give,” I said, and I held out my hand for Justin’s data pad.
He refused, wouldn’t hand it over. Instead, he pointed at my head with a frown. “Much easier.”
Incoming files, Apex said. Give me a few minutes. Let me see what’s going on.
“Give me a minute or ten,” I said to him.
I moved toward the helo, hopping into the cockpit and DP seat. This had slots for nodes. It was also the first one I’d seen this close. I ran a finger down the spine and one of the branches. It felt slick.
Do you like it? Apex asked.
Yeah, I…we really need this.
The head engineer moved to my side. He sighed and brought up several images for me to look over, as well. We had to get her to Malaki’s tight standards, or she’d never take us up. The slightest crack or not-oiled part might mean the difference between engine failure or not. We couldn’t risk it. Any of it.
I studied everything for a while myself.
I really need this as soon as possible, I said to Apex.
We do. These node stations, however, are how we can fix this helo.
Seriously?
Yes. Within another minute of sitting in the cockpit, Apex had a whole plan laid out for me, for us.
I called Malaki and Justin over. “This is what we do,” I said. “We pull the DP chair. There are parts in here we can use for now.”
“But we’d be wrecking the helo.” Justin moaned.
“Yes, we will, but that’s the only way this bird is ever going back in the air.”
Malaki turned to the others, pointing at the lead engineer. “We need access to your forge and your electronics printing labs.”
“Of course, whatever you need.”
This could take all night.
I put my hand up to Malaki. “We need to let them do this.”
“What?” She whirred over on me in an instant. “There’s no wa—”
“Mal, trust me. This really will take all night, and we need to sleep.”
“Sleep,” she echoed and then yawned.
I jumped out of the cockpit so the engineers could get in and put my arm on hers. “If we need to fly out tomorrow, we need sleep. I need to sleep. So do Justin and Kadar. You’ve been at this all afternoon. Food, shower, and sleep. That’s an order.”
She was about to protest once more, and I side-eyed her. “No.”
“But—”
“No,” I said again. I was serious.
“Rus…I can’t just…what if—”
“Mal.” I leaned into her. “They can do this. We’ve shown them the error of their ways. We have to trust they can do their jobs now and that tomorrow, we’ll go out with the squad and do ours. They need us for that. Sleep.”
Malaki gave Justin one last pleading look, but he nodded at me slowly. “Ruslan’s right. I’m exhausted. If I must be on my best game tomorrow, I need food, hydration, and rest.”
With a sigh, Malaki almost crumpled into me. “I’m sorry,” she said, yawning again. “I—”
“You don’t need to say anything else. Come on. Let’s go. I’m actually starving, too.”
She patted my stomach lightly, of course.
A little while later, my bag was on my bunk. I was showered off, and we were queuing with the others for food.
“Are you okay?” I asked Malaki as she stared ahead.
“I guess,” she said, her shoulders sagging.
“Talk to me,” I poked gently. “Even if it hurts, remember.”
She picked up a tray and a plate, handing it over when it was her turn, but not talking, not saying anything. Yet.
We found a space away from the others, and she sat. I sat in front of her, our knees almost touching. “Talk to me.” I prodded again.
“Beck told me whose helo it was.”
“And?”
“The pilot, Cleo Ryser, and her DP Tom Lunar, they were…” She choked and couldn’t tell me any more. Tears streamed down her face.
“You knew them?”
When she sobbed, I moved around the table to her side and wrapped her in my arms. There were stares around the canteen, but it didn’t last long. Justin and Declan were about to head over to us, but I shook my head and watched them move to the other side of the room.
I’d only ever seen my mom cry three times. Once at some silly argument she and my father had and then at his funeral. Mom made a point of standing firm for me even if it hurt her. When she met Tsomak, and they fell in love, I thought it was too soon. I was young. I hated him at first, till he told me stories about my father, and I grew to see him through my father’s eyes. The last time she cried was when Tsomak had been hurt at work, in the hospital. I’d held her and let her cry against my shoulder, just like this.
I missed my father. I missed my mom, and to my surprise, I missed Tsomak. I missed them a lot.
Gently, I smoothed Malaki’s hair and let her cry. I whispered, “There’s more to this than losing your friends.”
She looked up at me and nodded. “I can’t, not yet. I’m sorry.”
I picked up her fork and stabbed some food for her. “Eat.”
“If you do, I will.”
Reaching over the table, I pulled my lukewarm dinner to me, and I ate. It wasn’t so bad. Fuel for the body, that was all it was at this point.
Talk between us soon turned to the helo, to what I’d given the engineers as a solution.
“That wasn’t the X1 or an AI, was it?” she asked. I couldn’t answer her with a mouthful of food and didn’t try. Just nodded. “I didn’t know they were so smart on their own.”
I swallowed the food, almost gagging. “It’s brilliant. It wants to learn, and it wants me to learn with it. I want to do everything I can to make life better for all of us as a squad.”
“You do.” Malaki smiled. “I know you do.”
We took the empty plates and bowls back, walking around the lot. The helo pad was alive, with helos coming in and going out moments later. Shots were firing in the distance.
“It’s rough out there.”
“Yes, it is,” I said. “I have no idea what I’m going to be facing.”
“Are you ready for it, with me, with the squad?”
“I wouldn’t be here with anyone else,” I said. “But yes, I’m ready. They’re ready. Whatever comes our way, we’ll deal with it.”
The bunks were quiet. I slipped into my designated one and slept like I would on my own.
***
The noise woke me. My mind was foggy, but I bolted upright.
Loud whump-whumps overhead. Helos were coming into land, a fair few of them.
Malaki and the others were throwing their blankets off, and I did the same, the sudden cold of the air chilling me to the bone.
“We’re up,” she said. “Let’s get these out on some test flights, see what we’re dealing with, then we can join the real patrols and actually do something good out there.”
I smiled at her. “Ready?”
We still had to queue for food, and the drifting smells of cooking fake meats and eggs and seeing the fluffy pancakes and waffles I loved…ugh, killed me. We didn’t get a cooked breakfast, just protein bars and shakes, and we were at our helo pads, checking them over before Malaki would even sign off on our shakedown flight above the area.
“All good,” she said, smiling at the lead engineer, who rubbed tired eyes. “You did really well.”
“Because of you and Ruslan.” He nodded my way. “You showed us what to do when we put our minds together. Thank you for the much-needed education. We learned a lot of what we were capable of with a brain, and team.”
“Don’t ever do this again,” Malaki scolded them. “I don’t care how much you don’t have or can’t get. You have the tools to keep your helo in the air or come crashing down. Use those brains. There was nothing here that didn’t just take time and a team of capable people. If you ever let one of these out like that around me, you’ll never work again. Understood?” Malaki rotated her right hand and pointed in the air. “Now you can show us the ropes,” she said. “Get us airborne and located. I want a few passes over where we’re settling before nightfall.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Never again. I promise.”
Malaki’s eyes gleamed, and she turned to everyone else. “Ready?” she asked everyone.
“Hell yeah!” came their chorus.
56
With the commotion of the others getting on board the 99, I moved to copilot. Malaki shook her head and pointed. “Not this time. I’ve flown enough like her to get anything in the sky. You’re up.”
I swallowed. “I—”
Malaki’s lips tightened into a thin line. She meant business. “Go.” She jabbed her finger toward the helo.
I trudged around the other side but grinned when I hauled my ass into the seat. I was more than a little overwhelmed. There really were a thousand buttons compared to the Bumble.
“Don’t let it confuse you. There are still only several basics you need above everything else. It’s a lot of bells and whistles…right?”
I nodded, looked to the dash, and concentrated on what I needed most to fly.
“Ice71 to FC, reading?” I asked.
“Flight Control is reading you all clear, Ice71. You are clear for pre-checks.”
Run through them, Apex said.
So I did.
Safety was paramount.
Even if we had a medic, we had to have everything in good order. Especially after chastising the engineers on their performance, Malaki wouldn’t except anything but perfect here. That also meant checking fire extinguishers and first aid packs. I checked them off mentally as I noted them with my own eyes. I looked over at Malaki, who wasn’t belted in.
“Belt,” I ordered.
Malaki rolled her eyes and secured herself in while I tested the cyclic. She felt good, too. Free and easy. I hoped she responded like that in the air.
You’re about to find out.
Pedals had good movement, too, and I nodded to myself, then checked the collective up and down. Nothing caught. At the idle release, the throttle slid around just as free and stopped where I needed it to.
I checked that the altimeter was set and free air temp, then ran through all the other switches. What didn’t need to be on was off, and what I wanted on was on, and our rotor break all the way up.
Battery—on. There was the telltale squeal that made my insides flutter, so I muted it, checking all warning lights were good. Everything lit and went out.
Turbine outlet temp—check.
Avionics is now on.
Fuel on—guard closed. Left and right fuel boost—perfect.
Fuel quantity—also perfect.
I watched it for a moment longer than usual.
“Good?” Malaki asked her face turning pale.
“Yeah, just—”
“Over cautious.”
I glanced at her and nodded. “After last night…I ain’t trusting anyone again, either. At least not for a long while.”
“Good,” she said. “Painful lesson, but well learned.”
