Page 64 of The Garnet Daughter
It isn’t a bad notion, yet I am sad about how he reached this decision. “I don’t think I need my own ship.”
“Can you at least try it before you decide?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Fine.”
He beams. “Alright, come here.” He waves his hand and turns his chair back around. “Stand here.”
“Here?” I ask, looking at the small space I am meant to stand, between his spread legs and the command station in front of me.
“Well, I’ll be doing the majority of the controls. It’s a crash course. Pilots don’t see a ship for months on Viathan, and even then it’s a simulator.” He scoots back as far as he can go in his seat.
“Can anyone learn? How do you become a pilot if you are not a Viathan?”
He turns my shoulders to face out the front windows. “First, we run through the takeoff protocols. And yes, but I enlisted as a contract pilot. Being a commander never suited me. I like taking jobs when I feel like it.”
“Can we leave if the drones are still out there?” I look back at him over my shoulder.
“We aren’t going anywhere, just straight up and down. Now relax. What does that screen there say?” He points.
“100 xc.”
“Perfect, and that one?”
“Same.”
“That is the landing gear. The feet the ship sits on when it’s rested on the ground. Make sure the buttons on the row in front of you are all green.”
“All but one.” I run my hand down the line of buttons with symbols I am not familiar with.
He presses a few controls on the arm of his chair. “Now?”
“All green.”
“If we left the ship again, there would be other things to check, but I’ve kept it flight ready in case we need to quickly depart.” He leans forward, double-checking what I haveconfirmed. The inside of his knee brushing against my leg makes me very aware of the position we are in for the sake of learning.
“Perfect, ready?”
“For what?”
He laughs. “Lift that bar very slowly. I will do the rest.”
“I thought I was doing this,” I tease.
“Oh, you are.”
I place my fingers under the cold metal bar and evenly lift upward. “Like that?”
“Just like that, Calliape.” I can hear him tapping away on the controls on the other end, making sure I don’t fling us upward into the space between. “Nice and slow.”
I hate that I’m smiling, but the sensation of lifting off the ground because I am commanding it is like nothing I have experienced before. It’s a control I could become addicted to.
“Alright, with your other hand, press the buttons under the landing gear screens.”
I freeze. I know he just told me where those were, but every button is a blur of flashing lights now. All I can focus on is keeping my finger steady on the bar that is lifting us off the ground.
His warm fingertips brush down my arm until they gently wrap around my palm and guide my hand to the location of the next step.
“Right here,” he says calmly.
