Recompense

Chapter 1:

Evasive Maneuvers

~an excerpt

“That was insane!” Gator panicked as I entered the room. “What made you go pull a stunt like that?”

“How did you even maneuver like that?” Falcon peppered as I walked past them to my locker and fished the key out of my pocket. “After seven weeks of hard-core training, I still can’t fly in a straight line…on any axis!”

“Emma, those rocks cause magnetic distortions like there’s no tomorrow!” Gator started again. “Visual navigation only. If you’d lost your focus for even a moment…”

“…which, frankly, you should have, with seventeen dudes firing energy cannons at you,” Falcon interjected.

“…you could have lost control of your Valkyrie!” Gator continued, growing in intensity. “You could have smashed into the side of one of those islands, Em. You could have…”

“Died, I know.” I finished, shoving my helmet onto the top shelf. “But hey, when hasn’t that been the story of my life?” I wrangled with my gloves. Though great fitting, the amount of sweat generated from twenty minutes of lying in wait and ten minutes of action made it close to impossible to take them off. Impatient, I tugged hard at each finger. With one final yank, the glove came off. Now, for the right one.

“Listen…what we mean is…” Falcon stammered, “I mean, that was awesome! You’re really skilled at this, and we’re impressed by that. We just…we’re your friends, Emmaline. We don’t want to see you get hurt is all, if the danger is unnecessary.” Gator nodded. “Yeah,” he said, pointing at Falcon, “what he said.”

“Well,” I replied with a long breath, “thank you for your concern. I’m truly grateful for it. However,” I accented by shoving my gloves into my helmet, “Captain Foley and Professor Tricort have asked me to test my limits–or rather, what I believe to be my limits. The captain thinks I’m too prone to hesitation, not acting fast enough when the situation calls for it.”

“And the professor?” Gator prompted, struggling to keep pace with me and Falcon down the hall to the elevator. I pressed the “up” button. “Too gentle,” I answered. “He wants me to hit harder. That’s their ‘magic bullet’, two sides of the same coin. They say a true Flamerider must be both.” I stared up at the elevator light, avoiding eye contact with either of the boys.

“And…do you reckon you’re a ‘true Flamerider’ now?” Falcon ventured. The bell dinged. The doors opened. I stepped in and turned to face them.

“I reckon I have to be. Don’t have much choice, now, do I?” I smiled wanly at them. “Good luck, guys,” I added as the doors began to close. “Watch out for boulders.”

They both smirked.

The doors closed.

The fake smile melted off my face.

I was alone for the thirty-second trip up out of the hangar.