Whyt’s Plea Read Free Page B

pilot’s position. She had added sensors to the grip plates around her waist, and as the machine touched her, it came to life.
    “Check the rotation.” Sarge’s voice came through the interior speakers.
    She slipped the headset on and nodded. She bent and twisted in the confines of the ship. The ailerons moved with her, and she sighed with relief. “Working.”
    “Good. Key up the engines and try to keep a hover.”
    Whyt inhaled and cued the engines. The ship lifted off, and she felt the rush of being airborne for the first time in her life.
    It was hard to hold the ship at a hover when she wanted to surge it into the skies and see what it could do, but she held it and took it through its paces while Sarge gave her orders through the headset.
    She asked, “Sarge, to properly give this a shakedown, I need to take it for a spin.” Whyt heard a chuckle in the headset.
    “I thought you might. Your flight buddy is standing by in the newest fighter pod. I will switch you over to his frequency, and you can meet him over by the research centre.”
    She grinned and moved up to inter-base flight height before skimming along to the research hangar. A pod rose to greet her, and she should have been more surprised to see Commander Arguat behind the controls, but she wasn’t. It seemed perfectly right that he be the one to fly next to her through the air corridor over the base.
    “Private Beiencar, are you ready to fly?”
    “Commander Arguat, I believe that I was destined for this.” She put her hands on the controls and did what her instincts were urging her to. She flew.
    They raced through canyons, kissed mountaintops and tickled the cloud layer. He followed her but did not interfere with her first flight. An hour later, her alarm pinged and she regretfully returned to the repair hangar while he set down in research.
    Whyt climbed out of the fighter pod and pushed it back into the hangar. “It is still a little sluggish on the high-speed turns but that can be fixed with a tiny adjustment.”
    Sarge was wiping his hands. “Fair enough. I will download the flight log, and we will tackle that adjustment tomorrow. The pilot can have it back by the end of the week.”
    She sighed. “What will I work on then?”
    “You will head over to research, and I will return to patching up regular old damaged ships.” He shrugged and helped her set the pod back into its normal position for repairs before he hooked the computer up to the fighter pod.
    She was done for the day. Time for dinner.
    She wiped her hands clean and headed for her quarters to take a shower before dinner. There was nothing that killed an appetite like hydraulic fluid and oil filling your nostrils.
    It was amazing how quickly she had become used to life on the research base. She nodded at a few acquaintances as she passed them but kept her focus on cleaning up.
    She was so intent on her goal that when a hand touched her arm, she jumped in surprise.
    “Easy there, Whyt. I was sent to catch up with you. There is a visitor here, and you are requested to attend the officers’ dining room for dinner.”
    Whyte blinked up at Commander Arguat. “Okay. I don’t have my formal uniform yet.”
    “It is all right. It is a private dinner.”
    “Oh. So, who wants to see me?”
    “You will find out. Now, get a move on. You are already late.” He grinned and propelled her with a hand to her spine.
    He guided her all the way to her door, and with a wink, he said, “I will be back in fifteen minutes. Be quick.”
    It was the fastest shower she had ever taken, and she quickly wrapped her damp hair into a bun at the base of her neck before she slithered into a spare clean uniform.
    The knock at the door came just as she was finishing the closures on her clean boots.
    She checked her appearance in the mirror and opened the door. She stifled a sigh at Arguat’s charming elegance in his dress uniform. “I feel underdressed.”
    “You look lovely; now, let’s go.”
    He