Page 34 of Sky Song
Lyle remained curiously silent. His face was turned to her, and she knew he was watching her. Under his heavy, intense regard, her giggles quieted down.
“It’s wrong, but I’m not sorry.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said quietly, his regard still on her, still heavy.
“It’s amazing. I guess some things are worth breaking a little law for.”
“Some things are worth giving your life for.” Suddenly he turned away. “Let me show you how we get back down.”
Lyle expertly maneuvered the rider down in the same spot from which they had flown, making it seem easy and like she’d done it herself. Cricket knew better than to harbor any illusions about her own piloting skill.
“You sure know your way around flying objects,” she remarked when they touched down and began driving home. “Didn’t you say you’ve flown before? Were you a pilot?”
“Yeah, I was a pilot.”
“Do you own an aircraft?”
“I used to. I don’t fly anymore.”
“Oh. You lost interest?”
He gave a barely-there sigh. “I get disoriented easily now. It isn’t safe for me to fly.” And the way he said it, it was so sad.
“I’m sorry, Lyle.” She meant it, but he only shrugged.
“It is what it is. I’ve had a good run, longer than many.” He grinned. “Now it’s your turn to take to the skies, eh?”
“I wouldn't hold my breath.”
They were almost in her neighborhood, about to pass the Serenity Forest.
“You can let me out right here,” Lyle said.
“Where would you go from here?”
He smiled slightly and picked up the broken console panel, fitting it to the slots and banging it shut with his fist. It went in crooked but stayed in place. “I tripped the permissions system. It shouldn’t retain your credentials.”
“You knew how?”
“This thing is basic.” He looked around the rider.
Cricket stopped near the Serenity Park entrance, away from the pedestrian traffic area. Lyle disengaged his restraint and released the door. Sliding out of the low-slung vehicle with grace, he melted into the park without so much as a goodbye.
She sat there, wondering where he planned to spend the night, the high of the flight slowly dying down. Maybe she should have extended the invitation to her home.
But then again, Lyle didn’t really need an invitation.
Since she already had the rider, Cricket drove it to the hospital where she let it go.
She nodded at several acquaintances on her way in and saw Yanet with her tablet receiving packages and flirting outrageously with a delivery guy.
The previous lab shift had already left - they never lingered - leaving the counters in a bit of a disarray, and Cricket straightened things up in no hurry, enjoying being alone in the lab. She hummed as she put on her protective gear, grinning at remembering Lyle’s reaction to it.
Terrance came soon after, on time but looking frazzled as if he ran and dodged traffic.
“Got summons to a hearing this morning,” he informed Cricket.
“About your plaza accident?”
