into my bedroom, kicking the door closed behind me, and she giggles with glee.
24
Lars
“Just keep going,” I say aloud to myself. “No matter what, just keep going.”
I'm jogging on a treadmill hooked up to the space agency’s many machines, measuring my heart rate, pulls, oxygen level, and of course speed. I’ve been running for almost twenty minutes now and I'm starting to feel some serious fatigue.
That really is the point of this test; what happens when I feel fatigue?
Sweat rolls down my brow, soaking my shirt. I'm aware of a tiny bit twinge in my left foot, just above the heel. But I don't let myself be distracted by it. Instead, I look straight ahead and count to myself. Someone a long time ago told me that counting to thirty would give me the purpose needed to run any length of time. And I have kept it going since then. I just count to thirty then start over again.
The clock to the right of my field of vision hits twenty minutes, blinking in bright red letters. I slow my pace on the treadmill, breathing hard. I'm used to running ten miles every day as a regular course of affairs, but I'm rarely running flat out as I am now.
I spend about half a minute slowing my pace, coming to a halt finally. I'm winded, sucking in deep long pulls of air, leaning on the treadmills arms as I press the stop button.
“Very good,” the older doctor says, stepping in front of me. He smiles at me kindly, motioning for me to get down off the treadmill. “Please, come down. We can remove all your guide wires now.”
I breathe out. “How did I do?"
The doctor smiles lightly. “You did well, I'm very sure.”
“Ja? How did I do in comparison with the other candidates?”
He gives me a cool little smile. “I'm sure you did well.”
He removes the guide wires and the bits of plastic stuck to my chest then steps back. “That's all we need right now. Have a good day, your royal highness.”
He motions toward the locker room, bowing again.
“Thanks. I pick up my water bottle and drink from it as I walk out into the locker room. It's late in the day, past six o'clock. Still light outside, but because it's the weekend there is almost no one else in this locker room.
I power through showering and changing, heading outside to the cool stone corridor of the Royal Air Force Base. The second I step outside of the locker room, I see Erik leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for me. I arch a brow.
“How did you know that I would be here??
He gives me a little smirk. “The secretary at the royal press office was feeling especially chatty today. She said that you were doing an endurance test for the space program. I figured you might want to grab a bite to eat when you got out of the test.”
I run my hand through my dark, damp hair, nodding. “Ja. As it happens, Pippa is eating dinner with Margot and Nika tonight.”
He rolls his eyes, smiling. “I know that. That's why I came to find you.”
I squint. “Oh. Maybe I need to eat more than I thought I did. It's proving hard to think right now.”
He claps me on the shoulder and turns me toward the base’s exit. “Come on, I want to go get a steak. Have some real manly food.” He will wiggles his brows, teasing
I let him drive me to a place not far from the base, of a little hole in the wall that serves steak and potatoes and cold beer. We walk into the dimly lit restaurant, looking around at the four plastic tables surrounded by a clutter of chairs. Two of the tables are occupied so we take the farthest one back. I laugh a little as Erik chooses between two small chairs, which is only funny because Erik is the only person that I know that is taller than me.
We sit down, my stomach rumbling. One waitress comes out of the back with a platter of sizzling steaks, rushing towards one of the other tables. I groan a little bit. When the waitress drops off the steaks and comes by, I make sure to order a steak and two potatoes and a giant glass of cold beer. Erik orders the same, but he adds an order of cheesy bread as well. I cock a brow at him, but he just shrugs.