my ear, and a microphone grows out of the earpiece to hover near my mouth.
He takes the seat next to mine. “I’m going to engage the manual controls.” He presses some buttons, and two joysticks emerge from the console, one for each of us. Each joystick has a rollerball on top. “This aircraft has more advanced controls, but this is how most of us learn how to fly. Once you get the basics down, we’ll move on.”
“You can’t be serious? You’re going to teach me to fly? Now?”
“Why not?”
“You just killed some people,” I reply.
“People who were going to kill us,” he corrects. He gestures to the console in front of us. “This should take your mind off of it.”
Indicating the joystick in front of me, he says, “Pull back on the stick—we rise. Push forward on the stick—we dive.” Using his thumb, he spins the rollerball on the top of the stick. “This controls direction.” He points to two buttons on the grip of the stick. “These control speed. Acceleration is the top button, deceleration is the bottom one.”
“So the bottom one is the brake?”
“Yes.”
“If I stop us in midair, will we fall?”
“No. We’ll hover, but someone will probably crash into us and then we’ll all fall in a fiery ball of death.” I frown at him and he shrugs. “It’s true. Here, I’ll start us off.”
Kyon skillfully lifts the Hallafast up from the ground with the grace of a blooming flower. Through the side window, I observe the silver wings of the ship ripple and spread out wider. We hover in the air. I look at Kyon who I find is watching me. He nods toward the stick in front of me.
“What? Now?” I ask him in panic.
“Yes. Now.”
“What if I crash?”
“Then I’ll be really angry with you.”
“You’re not going to let us crash, right?” I ask.
“I might let us crash. It’s not my Hallafast.” He’s telling the truth.
“You’re so mean,” I say as I exhale.
I grip the stick and press the top button. We jerk forward with neck-snapping force, which makes me grip the stick harder, which makes us rocket faster.
“Ease off on the acceleration,” Kyon says calmly.
I shift my finger to the bottom button and squeeze it hard. Both of our heads lurch forward and I hear loud crashes like plates shattering coming from the back of the airship. I shift my finger off the brake and gently accelerate once more. I swallow hard.
“Chandrum is going to be mad at you,” Kyon teases me.
“Good,” I reply.
We’re heading straight for traffic—it’s moving from right to left in front of us. Beyond that, there’s a very tall building. “Ease into the flow,” Kyon instructs.
“How?” I growl.
“Use your thumb, slide the rollerball left and merge in between the other ships.”
I use the pad of my thumb to roll the controller. We shift in the air, banking in the direction we need to go.
“You’re going too slow. This isn’t a spix,” he admonishes.
“You think?” I retort with a scowl.
“Speed up,” he barks.
I squeeze the top button—the ship goes faster, but my seat begins to shake. “Why is my seat rumbling?” I ask with wide eyes.
“Because you’re dangerously close to that Terraglide next to you,” he says calmly. “Don’t worry about it. They’ll move.” I look to my right and see the oval airship next to us veer away. The seat stops rumbling. “Just follow the traffic. That’s right,” Kyon says. “How are you feeling?”
“Sweaty,” I reply. He laughs.
We fly around the city. I don’t see any of it except for the tail end of the aircraft that merge in and out in front of me. After a while, I relax enough to enjoy myself. I listen to Kyon explain how to merge into traffic above us and how to descend into traffic below us.
“Have you had enough?” Kyon finally asks. I glance at him. He’s smiling.
“Do they hire people to fly here?” I ask.
“Are you looking for a job?” he chuckles.
“This wouldn’t be a bad job. You take people where they need to be and if you do it right, everyone gets home safe.”
“The job you just described would kill a person like you.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Courage is a value that you hold dear. Without danger, there is no courage. You live for danger.”
“I can’t avoid danger. There’s a difference.”
“No. You slap danger in the face and wait for it to react.”