doesn’t work, we’ll need to go with plan B.”
Her reptile copilot was nice enough to remind her there was no plan B to speak of.
The Griffin Fire soared through space at a faster and faster rate of speed. Every couple of minutes she would teach him something else about how to pilot the ship. Each time she did, the vertical slits of his reptilian eyelids would focus on the control or button she was explaining.
He tried his best to pick up everything she said, but flying a ship didn’t come naturally to him the way that ripping things apart with his fangs and claws did. Whenever he needed her explain something more than once or if he felt overloaded with information or began confusing two different buttons, his tail would tap harder and harder against the cockpit deck.
Every time this happened, Vere would tell him it was okay and not to be too hard on himself, then change the subject. She asked him about his life before they met on Folliet-Bright or what he would do if he were in her place. Regardless of the question, most of his answers involved tearing other species of aliens apart with his bare hands.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked him.
Traskk turned from the copilot’s chair and glared at her, his feelings hurt that she thought he might not want to be wherever she was when her life was at risk. From his throat, he produced a soft hiss.
“I could drop you off somewhere, you know. You don’t have to do this,” she said.
In response, he gave a deeper, louder hiss.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Just figured I’d check.” And then, “You know, Morgan and the others would kill us if they knew what we were doing.”
Traskk shook his head and produced a series of guttural scratching sounds from his throat.
She still hadn’t adjusted to seeing him next to her in the cockpit. She rarely had a chance to fly these days, but the few times she did, she still expected A’la Dure—the only copilot she had ever had—to be there.
Every time she wasn’t there, Vere found herself thinking about how simple life had been back in Eastcheap. She often found herself wishing she could return to the days of sitting at a table with Occulus, A’la Dure, and the others, without a worry in the world. When she tried to envision herself back there now, it was always at the same bar and the same table, but without her two lost friends. The truth was that it wouldn’t be the same even if she did return there, which made it easier to reminisce less about the good old days and focus more on the present.
What she appreciated most about her new copilot, even more than his eagerness to learn how everything worked and his willingness to go wherever she wanted, was his discipline. He didn’t dare touch or do anything until he knew exactly what he was doing.
He towered over her. His tail could break her in half if he swung it at her with violent intentions. His claws and fangs were longer than her fingers. But he was the most considerate and agreeable copilot she could ever imagine. And that was coming from someone whose previous copilot had never said a single word—until her last breath. Instead, Traskk sat in the seat, his tail curled up behind him so as to not get in her way, with his clawed fingers politely in his lap until he was given a specific order.
“Set the comms to point three,” she said. “I want to make sure we know who’s out there. The last thing we need is to run into any other ships along the way.”
Her reptilian friend dutifully found the correct controls, then typed in the sequence with the tip of one claw. She could see him squint with concentration, making sure he was not only thinking about doing the right thing, but that his claw tapped on the correct sequence of buttons to ensure the command was executed.
After she saw him do it the way she had taught him, she returned to the sight in front of her: an open expanse of black space filled with speckled stars.
Vere said, “I hope
Her reptile copilot was nice enough to remind her there was no plan B to speak of.
The Griffin Fire soared through space at a faster and faster rate of speed. Every couple of minutes she would teach him something else about how to pilot the ship. Each time she did, the vertical slits of his reptilian eyelids would focus on the control or button she was explaining.
He tried his best to pick up everything she said, but flying a ship didn’t come naturally to him the way that ripping things apart with his fangs and claws did. Whenever he needed her explain something more than once or if he felt overloaded with information or began confusing two different buttons, his tail would tap harder and harder against the cockpit deck.
Every time this happened, Vere would tell him it was okay and not to be too hard on himself, then change the subject. She asked him about his life before they met on Folliet-Bright or what he would do if he were in her place. Regardless of the question, most of his answers involved tearing other species of aliens apart with his bare hands.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked him.
Traskk turned from the copilot’s chair and glared at her, his feelings hurt that she thought he might not want to be wherever she was when her life was at risk. From his throat, he produced a soft hiss.
“I could drop you off somewhere, you know. You don’t have to do this,” she said.
In response, he gave a deeper, louder hiss.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Just figured I’d check.” And then, “You know, Morgan and the others would kill us if they knew what we were doing.”
Traskk shook his head and produced a series of guttural scratching sounds from his throat.
She still hadn’t adjusted to seeing him next to her in the cockpit. She rarely had a chance to fly these days, but the few times she did, she still expected A’la Dure—the only copilot she had ever had—to be there.
Every time she wasn’t there, Vere found herself thinking about how simple life had been back in Eastcheap. She often found herself wishing she could return to the days of sitting at a table with Occulus, A’la Dure, and the others, without a worry in the world. When she tried to envision herself back there now, it was always at the same bar and the same table, but without her two lost friends. The truth was that it wouldn’t be the same even if she did return there, which made it easier to reminisce less about the good old days and focus more on the present.
What she appreciated most about her new copilot, even more than his eagerness to learn how everything worked and his willingness to go wherever she wanted, was his discipline. He didn’t dare touch or do anything until he knew exactly what he was doing.
He towered over her. His tail could break her in half if he swung it at her with violent intentions. His claws and fangs were longer than her fingers. But he was the most considerate and agreeable copilot she could ever imagine. And that was coming from someone whose previous copilot had never said a single word—until her last breath. Instead, Traskk sat in the seat, his tail curled up behind him so as to not get in her way, with his clawed fingers politely in his lap until he was given a specific order.
“Set the comms to point three,” she said. “I want to make sure we know who’s out there. The last thing we need is to run into any other ships along the way.”
Her reptilian friend dutifully found the correct controls, then typed in the sequence with the tip of one claw. She could see him squint with concentration, making sure he was not only thinking about doing the right thing, but that his claw tapped on the correct sequence of buttons to ensure the command was executed.
After she saw him do it the way she had taught him, she returned to the sight in front of her: an open expanse of black space filled with speckled stars.
Vere said, “I hope
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