Page 196 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Kase now very much wished Hallie had come with him. Despite their argument and its consequences, she was his strength.
He ran a hand through his hair and stepped up to the younger man. He could deal with his emotions later. “Good to see you, Trainee Pilot Hixon.”
He held out his hand, and while the greenie still leaned heavily on his cane, he took Kase’s. “Pilot Shackley.”
He couldn’t tell if the boy was being hostile or just nervous. Last time the greenie had done anything remotely like this, he’d ended up on the brink of death.
Kase would’ve been scared out of his wits, yet Laurence Hixon stood—actuallystood—before him, ready to fly again. Though with the braces factored in, he wasn’t sure how he was going to get the man into the hover.
But he had to give credit where credit was due. The greenie had more guts than the others.
Kase let the boy’s hand drop and nodded toward the hangar doors. “Hopefully this patrol will be uneventful, but it should get you used to the general sense of the hover in case we’re able to…er,whenwe’re able to get the others operational.”
The other pilot gave him a quick nod. “Of course. I assume the functions and capabilities are similar to the standard military grade hovers?”
Hadn’t lost a bit of that priggish nature, but Kase said, “Similar might be too strong a word, but it’s all we’ve got.”
Kase saluted the soldiers and moved past them as they wrenched the heavy metal doors open—yet another task made more difficult without the use of electricity.
They passed two hovers similar to theEudoraand three standard ones before they reached the Cerl machine. The others looked on like ghosts.
“Those hovers were the only ones?” Trainee Pilot Hixon asked; he was several steps behind Kase.
Kase slowed. “Those were here in the hangar and have never been flown. Once we’re able to get them up in the air, one of them might be yours.”
If Hallie attained some sort of mastery over her power before she rid herself of it, anyway.
Stars blast it.
Laurence followed him around slowly as Kase did his pre-flight checks. The metal was cool to the touch but warmed once it recognized him. He tried not to think too much about why. The ship hummed a little as he closed one of the panels.
The other pilot startled. Kase caught him before he could fall flat on his face. Laurence looked at Kase, then the hover. “I wasn’t aware that…they told me the electricity hadn’t been restored quite yet. I thought this was merely a demonstration on the use of the standard hovers.”
Kase let go of the other pilot once he was sure he wouldn’t fall over. He then ducked under the wing and checked the last panel. “This one is Cerl-made and doesn’t need electricity to run. We’ll be doing a short patrol in it today.”
“Oh, I wasn’t…I guess that’s okay.”
Kase shut the panel and searched for a ladder or anything that could help him into the cockpit. He wasn’t sure if the other pilot would be able to climb up the wing. It depended on how much control Hixon had over his legs. If Kase could just get him onto the wing…well, then it would depend on the boy’s upper arm strength. What if Kase got him onto the wing and then climbed up the other side before helping the greenie into the cockpit?
The ladder might be easiest.
Laurence seemed to understand his line of thinking. He gave Kase a rueful smile. “Truthfully, I cannot fly myself just yet. The feeling in my legs is only slowly returning, and while that is progress, I’m unable to press the pedals to move the craft at the speed required for it to be effective in an aerial engagement.”
That was an awful lot of words just to say he couldn’t operate the hover. Kase rubbed a hand over his chin. He still hadn’t shaved, and it was no longer stubble. He spotted an equipment closet just off the side of one of the smaller sections with the nearest standard hover.
Dust blustered out as he opened the door. He coughed as his nose burned, but inside, he found a ladder with hooks at one end. He sneezed. Blasted dust. Grabbing the ladder, he carried it over to his hover and hooked it on the side of the airship. Tugging the rungs, it unfolded into a longer one. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but the ladder was longer than needed, which made the incline less steep. That would make it a little easier for the man to make it up into the cockpit. Maybe.
“Well, Trainee Pilot Hixon,” Kase said, standing back. “The good news is this hover is rather special.” It beeped in response. Kase smiled a little. Despite its origins tangling with Kase’s own, he couldn’t help but like the ship. “I can’t really go into the explanation right now, but I think you might enjoy this flight. And when the time comes, I’ll need a weapons specialist, so the job is yours…if you want it.”
Pilot Hixon nodded eagerly. “Thank you. I would be happy to join you in your quest to fight the Cerulene air force.”
Kase was going to have to figure out a way to get the man to say what he needed in much fewer words. For now, he held out a hand to help the greenie up the ladder. The boy’s hand was slick with sweat, but Kase held it tightly. One step at a time. The braces on the greenie’s knees creaked, the movement straining them, but they held.
Laurence nearly fell twice, but with Kase’s help, he made it into the cockpit.
After replacing the ladder, he went over to the hangar doors. Without electricity, he was forced to tug them open himself. He grunted and yanked bit by bit. The whining squeaks of the electrical components protesting the movement echoed throughout the mostly empty hangar. For some reason, opening them hadn’t gotten any easier—his fingers burned as he pulled. The engineers building them relied too heavily on electricity,clearly, and hadn’t thought they’d need to open it manually often enough to concern themselves with.
Blast them.
