by Karen Baney
“You’re drifting!”
If Brad said anything else, it was cut off by the sound of metal blades breaking against the slide of the cliff. The weight of the helicopter plummeted to the ground, meeting its destiny with loud abandon.
Kyle took a shaky breath and opened his eyes. It wasn’t real. Brad wasn’t here. The team wasn’t here. Only Kyle.
The guilt of being the sole survivor pressed in on him. He clamped down his jaw to hold the tears back. He had to get past this. Lord, please help me.
Niki’s voice sounded from somewhere behind him followed by the sound of several pairs of feet clanking up the metal stairs.
“Ready?” Her voice came over the loud speaker.
No.
He swallowed hard. “Sure.”
“We’re all set up. Whenever you want to start, go ahead.”
He let out a quiet sigh. Then he flipped on the recorder. Speaking through the microphone on his headset, he recorded voice commands explaining what he was doing to help them narrow down any problems quicker.
“Hawk-oh-niner taking off,” he said into the radio. Heat rushed to his face. The team in the booth must think he was silly using a call sign for a simulation.
He stated his speed and direction of motion. As he climbed altitude, he read off that as well.
“Banking right.”
He stiffened. Something was wrong. He was trying to bank right, but the instruments didn’t look right. For two seconds he allowed doubt to creep in. Maybe it wasn’t the instruments. Maybe it was him.
“Everything okay?” Niki asked through the speaker.
“This doesn’t feel right.”
“What’s not right?”
Kyle returned the helicopter to a hovering position then he repeated the maneuver. “My instruments don’t make sense. It’s almost as if they are reading a left bank instead of a right bank.”
“Okay, we’ll log it and take a look.”
When Kyle banked left, he reported a similar problem, like the instruments were reading a right bank instead. Then when he dropped the simulated zip line and held a steady hover, he reported the instruments showing slight forward movement—almost identical to what he experienced before the crash.
He shook his head, as if it would help shake off his anxiety. It didn’t.
He reported all of his findings and repeated the maneuvers a second time as the copilot. When he finished, he said, “I’ll still need to review the video to double check the angles, velocity, altitude, etc.”
“When do you think you’ll have that ready?” Niki asked.
“Probably not until after our run through for Todd. I want to record that session, too.”
He took off his headphones and set them on the simulator. He waited until Niki’s team left before resting his head in his hands. This was much harder than he thought it would be.
Niki smiled as they left the simulator room. None of the issues reported were too severe. Even though it was five in the afternoon, she and the team went to work on them—just to make sure. She took a few of the minor issues and divided the biggies among the team, two engineers per issue.
By eight o’ clock, they made good progress towards resolving the issues. She sent the guys home then she gathered her things. As she neared the entrance to leave, she saw Kyle’s truck still in the parking lot. Turning around, she walked down the hall to the simulator room.
“Now who’s working late?” she teased as she pushed the door open.
Kyle grunted.
“It’s eight. Go home.”
“Funny you should be concerned.”
She dropped her stuff in a pile on the floor and sat down in the copilot’s seat. He quickly looked away.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned by his odd behavior.
He let out a stuttered breath, but remained silent. He stared at the controls then closed his eyes.
“Kyle?”
He cleared his throat. “It’s the first time I’ve been in the cockpit since…”
“Since?”
He put his head in his hands. His voice was barely audible when he spoke. “Since the accident. Since I lost my entire crew… When the helicopter I was piloting went down.”
Tears rose to Niki’s eyes but she blinked them away, suddenly filled with compassion for him. How hard this must be, even in a simulator, to face this again. She slipped out of the copilot seat and knelt next to him.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she gently pulled his hands from his face. The pain she saw reflected in his eyes broke her heart. She didn’t know anything about the circumstances of the accident, other than what he just shared, but it was clear he blamed himself.
Haunted eyes stared back at her. “I don’t think I can do this. What if… What if it’s not the code? What if it’s me? What if I’m wrong?”
Her heart fluttered at his unexpected openness. This was a side of him she had never seen before—and she couldn’t believe he was admitting his fear to her.
“And, what if you’re right? You’ve logged how many thousands of hours in training, and then in flight, and then in combat? If Helitronics didn’t have faith in you, they would not have hired you. I know you can do this.”
He looked at her, searching her face, as if he was weighing the sincerity of her words.
“Don’t quit on me now. I need you. I trust you.” She sucked in a sharp breath, surprised by her own words.
A hint of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. “So when did you start trusting me? Sometime after one this afternoon when you decided you weren’t waiting for me to pick you up?”
Niki stood and play punched him in the arm. “I’m sure it was something like that.” She laughed nervously.
As she picked up her things, she asked, “Ready? I think it’s time to go home.”
Kyle stood and picked up his things from a corner of the room. “Can I trust that you’ll actually go home? Or should I come chaperone you?”
She pushed the door open then let it fall back in his face. “I don’t think I trust you that much.”
The next morning, the simulator run through for Todd felt like a disaster. He picked apart every little thing, accusing Niki of overstating their progress. By the end of test, she felt like she’d been run over. As she walked back to her cube, Doug and Kyle followed her.
“What is with that guy?” Doug asked. “Doesn’t he pay attention to anything we tell him?”
She shrugged her shoulders. Couldn’t it be Saturday already?
“He was way off base in his expectations,” Kyle said. “I’m going to talk to my boss about it. This has got to stop.”
She was tempted to argue with Kyle about it. But, in reality, she needed someone from Helitronics on her side. She was pretty sure Todd was feeding the higher ups a bunch of hooey about deliverables and timelines, despite how diligent she had been in her communication.
“Just goes to show,” Doug said, “That some men are still threatened by an intelligent woman.”
“Could be.” Niki smiled.
Leave it to Doug to try to cheer her up. Todd never liked her from day one. When he looked down his nose at her, she assumed it was because of her age, not her gender—especially when he seemed intent on drilling her about her experience. Regardless, if he had a problem with her age or her gender, she could do nothing about either of those things. She could only do her best work and hope that in the end it would speak for itself.
Despite Todd being a jerk, the next day and half went rather smoothly. Early Friday afternoon, they loaded several updates to the simulator. She thought they were in good shape and hoped Kyle wouldn’t find any huge issues with the features they promised for Monday’s big meeting.
Niki paced back and forth in the observation room, trying to work out her nervousness.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Doug said. “Sit down.”
She couldn’t sit. This was too big. But, she did stop pacing.
Kyle’s voice c
ame over the sound system, announcing his take off. This time when he banked left he said everything looked good. The bank right also looked good. He ran through several simulated rescues, reporting all was well. Then he ran through the same tests as copilot.
After the final test, he said, “Well, Niki, guys, it looks like we’re in business. Great job.”
The guys congratulated her and filed out of the observation room. She stayed for a few minutes, watching Kyle as he started double checking the settings from the recording. She just needed that last bit of confirmation to ease her mind.
“I can hear you, Niki,” Kyle’s voice came across the speaker. “Unless that’s someone else’s heels clicking on the tile.”
She tried to fake a deep voice, “It’s Doug.”
“Nice try. Why don’t you come on down here if you’re going to look over my shoulder.”
She flipped off the speaker switch and the rest of the observation room equipment. Then she took the stairs down to the simulator room. As she opened the door, Kyle did not look up from his work. Instead, he pointed to the copilot seat.
She sat. Then she fidgeted with her fingernails. Then she tapped her foot. Then she shifted in the seat. How long was this going to take?
“Almost done.” Glancing up, from the clipboard in his hand, he said, “Stop fidgeting. You’re making me nervous.”
“Sorry.”
Ten minutes later, he set the clipboard aside. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”
Her stomach plummeted to the floor. What did he mean bad news? She was really hoping she could go home tonight.
Chapter 18
Niki swallowed hard, wringing her hands. “What’s the bad news?”
Kyle smiled, a very odd reaction to bad news. “You can’t go home yet.”
“Why not? What’s wrong?” she asked as her heart started to race. What had they missed?
“The good news,” he said, ignoring her question, “is that everything checks out.”
“Oh. Tell me again, why I can’t go home then.”
“Because, you haven’t had your third lesson yet.” He grinned this time, his blue eyes lighting up.
“What are you talking about? What third lesson?”
“You’re third lesson in fun.” He pointed at the flight controls. “See how I’m holding the controls? Your turn.”
She placed her hand on the control stick and looked over. Something was off. He stood and moved behind her. Her heart skipped a beat or two when he placed his hand over hers to show her how to hold it. When she took a deep breath she caught the delicious smell of his cologne.
Breathe, Niki. It’s just Kyle. If that was so, then why was she acting like she just met the hunky cover model for some magazine?
Heat rushed to her cheeks.
“It’s all yours, pilot,” he smiled, standing next to her.
She widened her eyes and looked up at him. “I don’t have any idea what I’m doing.”
He leaned behind her and put his hand over hers again. A charge of electricity bolted up her arm as he gently pulled back on the controls. What was happening to her?
Kyle whispered in her ear, “That’s it. You’re a natural.”
She laughed nervously. “Only cause you’re showing me.”
“See this,” he pointed to the instrument panel. “That’s what you’ve been working on.”
He helped her make several of the maneuvers he used in testing, explaining how important their work was. Then, he let her try it on her own. She squealed when she nearly crashed the thing and he talked her through how to get back on track. By the time she was done, she felt out of breath.
“Okay, that was fun!”
Kyle turned off the simulator then he followed her as she stood and headed back to her cube to pick up her things. She thought he’d continue on to his own cube, but he stopped when she did.
“Let’s go to dinner,” he suggested, “before you head for home.”
“Kyle, I don’t date—”
“It’s not a date. It’s two friends celebrating a major milestone at work.”
She hesitated. She looked at the clock on her phone. Seven. She was tired from the insane two weeks and was eager to get home. But, she could also use some food and a chance to unwind.
Letting out a long breath, she asked, “Where do you want to meet?”
“I can drive.”
“I’m heading home straight from there.”
They agreed on a place just up the street. Kyle grabbed his things before walking her to her car. When she pulled into the restaurant parking lot, he pulled next to her and jumped out before she had the engine shut off. He opened the door for her and flashed that brilliant smile, sending her heart upside down. Sure seemed like a date, the way he was acting.
As they walked towards the front of the restaurant, a couple stood by one of the parked cars kissing a bit too much for public display.
“They should get a room,” Kyle remarked.
She stopped and looked at them again. “Trevor?” The name dropped from her lips before it fully registered in her brain.
Suddenly the couple broke apart. A slightly terrified looking Trevor stood next to some young thing in a skirt that left little to the imagination.
“Niki?” he choked out.
That rat. Trevor was obviously seeing someone else, despite his call earlier this week asking her to call him when her schedule freed up.
“What are you doing here?” Trevor asked.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I thought I made it clear, all I wanted was a good time. No strings attached.”
That was not exactly how he made it sound at the BBQ. Her blood boiled. She felt used. And to think, she came pretty close to sleeping with the creep.
“Besides,” Trevor said, looking Kyle up and down, “it looks like you moved on. I don’t see why you’re so upset.”
“Kyle is a friend. This is not a date.”
“Sure looks like a date. If you get bored, give me a call.”
“I wouldn’t call you if you were the last man on earth,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Come on, Niki,” Kyle said, urging her forward.
Trevor’s laughter echoed across the parking lot, fueling her fire. What a jerk!
As they entered the dimly lit restaurant, she fumed. She had never felt so humiliated. Well, maybe a few times in high school. But, it stung to see the guy who ranked as one of her best dates in the last four years, making out with someone else in the parking lot. True, she only went out with him once, but it still hurt.
When the hostess asked how many, Kyle said, “Two. It should be under Kyle.”
Niki shot him a look. This was not supposed to be a date, but he had reservations?
“Call ahead,” he said placing his hand in the small of her back as they followed the hostess to their seats.
As soon as the hostess left, he started, “Niki, I—”
“Save it. I don’t need a ‘told you so’ right now. I’ve been humiliated enough for one day.”
“I was just going to say, I’m sorry,” he said softly.
“Oh.” Now she felt twice as bad.
Embarrassed, she studied the menu, even though she already knew what she was going to order. Some would find that strange, given the Cheesecake Factory’s enormous menu, but she was a creature of habit. When she found something she liked, she stuck with it.
Her phone beeped, indicating there was a text message. It was Marcy.
When r u coming back? M.
Niki typed back: tonight, after dinner.
K. U seen Kyle? Not answering phone.
“Call your sister,” she said, looking up from her phone as their server came to take their drink orders.
“You always on that thing?”
“Not always. It was Marcy. She’s getting worried that I’ve been MIA for so long.”
He nodded, returning his attention to the menu.
; This meal was rapidly starting to look like any number of her failed dates. But it wasn’t a date. It was just Kyle. Why all of the sudden after working side by side for the last two months, did she feel like she had nothing to say? Why was her pulse racing? She even thought it was sweet that he apologized for Trevor’s behavior.
Who was this sensitive, kind, and thoughtful man? He had changed. And it was confusing her. So was her reaction to him.
She glanced over the top of the menu. He looked up at the same time and smiled at her. She quickly held the menu up to hide the red creeping into her cheeks.
Their server arrived with their drinks. Niki gave her order then sipped on her diet soda. She watched Kyle as he asked a few questions about the menu before settling on one of the chicken dishes. When the server took the menus away, she kept the soda straw to her lips so she would feel less awkward about her sudden lack of conversational skills.
“Thirsty?” Kyle teased.
She slammed down the cup.
“See, this is why I suck at dating.” The lack of sleep must be getting to her. She felt like confessing all her failures—a rare occurrence indeed. “If I’m not judging the guy across from me, I’m planning my escape if things go bad. I don’t know how to just sit across from someone and talk.”
Face it, Niki, the reason you suck at dating is that you’re afraid of getting hurt.
“Are you judging me now?” he asked with a glint in his eyes. He was enjoying her discomfort.
“No.”
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
That you look incredibly stunning and that blue shirt makes your eyes glow. She felt heat rise to her cheeks at the thought. She quickly looked away. Where was that salad?
“That bad, huh?”
He let her squirm for a few more minutes. When their food arrived, he reached for her hand. She started to pull it away but stopped when he bowed his head. What was he doing?
“Lord, I thank you for this dinner and the chance to celebrate with Niki. Thank you for helping us pull this thing together at work and for blessing Niki with a good mind. Bless this food to our bodies, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”