Page 4 of Colvin
None of your business, he told himself firmly as he gave his thumbprint to the room service order and stood aside to let the robo arrange the dishes on their table. Ivy emerged as the door closed behind the robo and she looked a bit sad around the eyes but once she joined him at the table and they began uncovering dishes and sharing the generous portions, her mood lightened.
“I’m going to be too full to swim,” she said at length, pushing away a plate with three strips of bacon and a half a stack of pancakes.
Colvin speared the bacon and one pancake and added it to his plate. He hadn’t been kidding about the Ardannan requirement to eat big meals. “We’re going antigrav sailing today, remember?”
“I think maybe the feelgood was doing the talking last night,” she said, eyes wide. “I can sit on the beach and read while you swim and body surf or whatever you’d like to do. Maybe I’ll splash in the waves a bit in an hour or two.”
“You said you’d always wanted to soar above it all like a bird,” he reminded her. “I’ve already made reservations for the equipment I want us to use so I’m not letting you back out now.”
“Is that how you talk to recruits?” she asked with a smile.
“Maybe a little,” he admitted sheepishly. “But you’ve set my mind to us flying today and I’m looking forward to teaching you how to do it. I’ll go easy on you, I promise, and if you don’t like it, we’ll find a different activity to try. Maybe scuba diving.”
“I suppose you’ve done antigrav hundreds of times?”
“Thousands more likely, usually in much worse conditions than a pretty, peaceful beach. This will be a nice change.”
They gathered their things, which Colvin insisted on carrying, and made their way to the beach. After staking a claim to two of the big lounge chairs, each with their own red-yellow-and-white striped umbrella, Colvin took her hand and led her to the antigrav kiosk.
“We’re going to start with the simplest antigrav sled,” he told her, checking over the equipment with a practiced eye. “Take a few runs over the waves close to shore, get a feel for it. If you fall off there, no harm done other than getting wet.”
“You reserved the big tandem antigrav flyer,” the staff person reminded him. “No need to work up to it—just take the one you wanted and go fly.”
Colvin fixed him with the stare that intimidated Special Forces operators in full body armor. “You just uttered the worst advice I ever heard. I hope you don’t tell all your guests to be so rash. The lady hasn’t flown before and I’m going to make sure she feels in control before we go aloft”
“I think you have another customer waiting,” Ivy said tactfully to the staffer. “We’ll be fine. My date is extremely experienced with antigrav.”
Colvin liked the way she’d claimed him, even if it was merely for the benefit of a fool of a staff person.
He led her to a quiet section of the beach, showed her the basics, got her to practice balancing on the sand and then supervised her first flight, which was over the waves at about the three foot mark. Ivy had an appealing lack of self consciousness as she toppled into the water more than once and forgot how to manipulate the controls, keep her momentum and balance at the same time. She maintained her cheerful disposition and poked a little fun at herself over her clumsiness. ”I can walk on sky high heels even when I’ve had a few feelgoods so why can’t I do this?”
Colvin had infinite patience for his self appointed task and he was enjoying her cheerful attitude. They laughed and joked and eventually she was able to do a run out and back without falling off.
“Now we can go check out the flyer and take a real bird’s eye view,” Colvin announced.
“But we’ll use the tandem rig, right? I’m much better on the antigrav than I was at first but I’d be too scared to fly by myself,” she said.
“I’d never let you go off by yourself,” he said firmly. “Tandem it is.”
“I’ve made a note to suggest better training for the kiosk operators,” she said. “Other guests might not know as much about antigrav as you do and a careless suggestion could result in someone getting hurt.”
“Even though I’m sorry to hear your job intruded on our morning, I can’t argue it’s an important safety point,” he admitted.
“I’m sorry—it’s hard to switch off the IDA managerial part of my mind.” Her apology was matter of fact. “My boss did say he’d want my input on anything I noted as a guest which we should improve.”
“I understand,” he said. And he did. It was second nature to him to assess any new situation, figure out lines of attack and defense, exfiltration routes, weaknesses and strategies. Lives often depended on his ability to do so. “But we aren’t making it our first priority, right? Like I won’t be pinpointing the best places to attack the resort from the air.”
Ivy opened her eyes wide, a bit startled and nodded. “It’s a deal. Although my boss might want to hear the summary too. Not that the resort would ever be under attack, not here in the mid Sectors.”
“Sorry, I went a little too deep there,” he said.
They arrived at the kiosk and traded in the simple platforms for the big tandem rig, which resembled an old fashioned parasail, big and colorful, with a twin harness hanging under the wing. Colvin helped Ivy buckle herself in, enjoying the opportunity to be closer to her. There was a definite spark between them, an awareness of each other. He had to remind himself forcibly how much older than Ivy he was and how this week wouldn’t become anything more than a fun memory. She’d set her ground rules. He couldn’t deny he desired her though and was glad his bathing trunks hid his definite sign of interest in moving beyond mere platonic beachside fun.
Once they were ready Colvin activated the mechanism and took them into the sky, ascending slowly so Ivy could get used to the sensations. When he reached the height he wanted, he flew them along the coast. “Do you like it?” he asked.
“It’s even better than I ever dreamt it could be,” she responded. Pointing at the ocean below, she said, “A pod of dolphins!”
Delighted in her happiness, Colvin circled them over the marine mammals, which were this world’s version of dolphins, and for a while the animals obligingly put on a show, leaping from the waves, doing somersaults and racing a boat. Then Colvin angled them away while Ivy waved to the people on the boat below and this time took them inland, over the resort. He did a big loop over the shops and restaurants, bypassed the hotels, made a fast pass over lines of bungalows and headed inland. He was puzzled by an extensive network of roads below, most of which led nowhere and ended abruptly. Future expansion plans, he decided.
