* * * *
Lucy found Jay in the hangar deck with his fighter. He was sitting on a short set of step ladders with his back to her. Another set of ladders beside him had several open pots of paint on the top platform, together with a murky jar of fluid and a garish multicoloured rag he periodically used to clean his brush. She stood silently beside him and admired his handiwork. A bird with its wings outspread, a vivid mix of electric blue, white and black. He was just putting the finishing touches to the ornate lettering that flower underneath it, 'Jay Bird'.
She waited till he finished a brush stroke and lifted the brush away from the nose cone of the fighter, reading out the text underneath the image. “Jay Bird eh, you’re quite an artist.”
“It’s an old earth tradition, pilots used to paint mascots on their ships for good luck.” he replied quietly swirling his brush in the murky fluid and drying it off leaving fresh streaks of black on the rag.
“And what would you know about old earth traditions then?”
“My grandfather, fifteen or was it sixteen times removed, mom never was sure, flew the last great colony ship out of the Sol system.”
“Do you think it’s true what they say about earth?”
“Who knows, no one’s been back to the Sol system in over 400 years.”
“Or left it.” she added thoughtfully. “Anyway Ford, the captain, asked me to give you this.” She tossed him the spare headset she had clipped to her belt.
“What is it?”
“A neural interfaced or something like that, links you to the ships AI, if that’s what floats your boat or if you prefer you can fly the old fashion way with these.” she waved her hands in the air. “I’m sure Alastor I’ll fill you in when you put it on.”
“Alastor?”
“It’s the name of the ships AI, he’s quite a looker actually, when he chooses to put in an appearance.” she added mischievously as she turned away and bent down to examine the fighters scorched underbelly. “You know you really ought to put some paint on that as well.”
She pulled herself back up and turned to face him. Suddenly and without warning she grabbed him firmly by the collar, yanking him off the steps, and pulled his body against hers. Pressing her lips against his, forcefully entangling her tongue with his, for what seemed like an eternity, before pushing him away again. He stumbled backwards onto the wing of the fighter.
“What..the...what...was that for?” he stuttered in mixture of shock, pleasure and confusion.
“Captains orders.” she said grinning at him and, seeing the puzzled expression on his face as she turned and swaggered away, swinging her hips provocatively, she added. “Besides, after that crazy stunt you pulled back there, I thought it might help focus your mind on staying alive, if you figured you had something to come back for next time you try something like that.”
Exiles Page 19