Dorna agreed, and a fresh surge of excitement waved through Kendi. He was going to learn to fly! Already he imagined himself at the helm of a starship, dipping and weaving through an asteroid field, dodging enemy fire.
Blowing up slavers.
A grim smile slid over his face as he and Dorna headed off, their feet clumping up and down more wooden walkways. The monastery was fully awake and active now. The starship daydream faded in the full sunlight, and Kendi became slowly aware of the number of Ched-Balaar around him and Dorna. He found it hard not to stare at them.
"It’s all right too look," Dorna said. Her voice was oddly soft, barely audible.
"Look?" Kendi asked, faintly embarrassed at being caught.
"At the Ched-Balaar. They don’t think staring is rude. They think humans are strange because we don’t look at other people."
Oh. So Kendi stared. There was definite grace and power among the Ched-Balaar, and they were so dissimilar from anything Kendi had ever seen. His mind kept wanting to categorize them as horses or cows or even giant dogs, but they moved so differently and made such odd sounds that they continued to attract his eye. One of them ducked its head in greeting as they passed, and Kendi barely remembered to press his fingertips to the middle of his forehead as Dorna did.
"You’ll get used to them," Dorna said, still in her soft voice. Kendi wondered if something were wrong with her. "I stared a lot when I first got here, but now seeing them and the other non-human Children is nothing strange at all."
"If you say so," Kendi replied. "Is that tooth-chattering and hooting really language?"
"Oh yes. I don’t understand it well, but I’m learning. Buck and Lucinda know it better than I do."
"Buck and Lucinda?"
"Friends of mine. Here’s the staircase. We have to go down almost to the ground for this."
The wide stairs wound downward around the talltree. As they descended, Kendi’s earlier excitement returned. He was actually going to fly. He hadn’t realized how much this actually appealed to him until the opportunity came up. After all, poor kids growing up on the streets of Sydney and mucker slaves working on a frog farm don’t think of themselves as having the chance to become pilots. But that had all changed now.
The landing strip turned out to be a fallen talltree. The stairs came down at the middle of the trunk, which was so big it formed a nearly flat surface. The bark had been sanded off and wide platforms had been added to either side. At one end, the roots of the monstrous tree made a tangle that reached two or three stories above the trunk. A small hangar had been built there. At the other end, the branches had been cut off, leaving a long, smooth expanse of trunk that made a perfect runway for small aircraft. The fallen tree left open a stripe in the canopy, one that would easily let a small aircraft slip unhindered into the sky.
One of the side platforms was occupied by a pair of ultralight aircraft. They looked to Kendi like recumbent bicycles with a giant mutated umbrella stuck to the top. One umbrella was red, the other was green. A pair of figures was bent over the engine beneath the red one. As Kendi and Dorna approached, one of the figures straightened. He wore black, not brown, and he was several centimeters shorter than Kendi. There was a slight Asian cast to his features.
"Kendi?" he said. "I’m Toshi, your flight instructor." He held out his hand. Kendi braced himself and shook it. But there was no jolt. Toshi smiled. "I’m not Silent," he said. "I just work for the monastery."
Before Kendi could reply, a newly-familiar voice said, "Hey, Kendi. Good to see you again. Did you ever finish eating that coffee?"
Kendi’s heart jumped. The other person at the ultralight was Pitr Haddis. His hazel eyes were merry with suppressed mirth. Kendi’s mouth dried up.
"Pitr," Kendi managed. "Hi. What are you doing here?"
"You know each other?" Toshi said.
"We met at breakfast this morning," Pitr said with a smile. "Kendi spilled my coffee and put enough sugar in his own to put three dentist’s kids through college."
Kendi felt his face heat up. Dorna snorted and said, "I have stuff to do, yeah? Don’t crash, guy." And she left.
"Pitr’s working on his instructor’s license," Toshi explained. "He needs practice teaching, so he’s going to be your main instructor. I’m going to watch and step in if he flounders. That all right with you?"
Kendi swallowed. "Sure," he managed. "No problem." I think I’m going to need lots of help with my homework.
Pitr slapped Kendi on the back. "Then let’s get started."
"Am I going to fly today?" Kendi asked.
"Yep."
Kendi blinked. "No book-work first? No lectures?"
"We’ll get to that," Pitr said. "But with these babies, the best way to learn to fly them is to use them. They’re fitted with grav units which we can control from the ground, so if you get into trouble, the computer-or one of us-will just take over and get you down safely. You can’t crash." He patted one of the struts.
"How will this teach me to pilot a starship?"
"You need to learn to walk before you learn to fly, so to speak," Pitr told him. "You have to know how to deal with atmosphere under your wings, and this is a good way to begin. After this we’ll do airplanes and small shuttles. Before you know it, you’ll be hitting the slipships, don’t you worry. Ready to start?"
Despite Pitr’s earlier promise, there was a fair amount of lecture on safety procedures, flight control, takeoff, landing, and engine function. Kendi hung on every word, acutely aware of Pitr’s presence, how he moved, how he spoke, his gentle manner, his strong face. The time flew by until Kendi found himself sitting in the ultralight’s cockpit. The cockpit and the engine were both open to the air, and Kendi felt a little exposed. His heart began to pound, and he couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or from the way Pitr was bending over him to check the straps and Kendi’s helmet.
"We’re good to go," said Pitr, who wore a helmet of his own.
"Don’t we need earplugs?" Kendi asked. "I’ve heard these things get pretty loud."
Pitr looked mystified. "No-they’re pretty quiet, unless something’s wrong with the engine."
"They used to be loud," Toshi said, speaking up for the first time since the lesson began. "But that was a long time ago."
Kendi flushed, feeling like a backwoods hick. I’m only nine hundred years out of date, he thought. All life-Pitr must think I’m stupid.
If that was the case, Pitr’s face didn’t show it. "I’ll go up first so you can watch me take off," he said. "I’ll also stay alongside you once you get airborne. Toshi will stay on the ground with the safety computer, okay?"
Kendi nodded. A few moments later, the engine on Pitr’s ultralight came to light with a gentle purr, not the rusty chainsaw sound Kendi had been expecting. Pitr gave Kendi a thumbs-up, and his vehicle wheeled out onto the runway. The pitch of the motor increased. Pitr’s ultralight moved forward, picked up speed, and left the runway. It disappeared into the sky, becoming a red dot against fluffy white clouds.
"Your turn," Toshi said.
Kendi carefully guided the green ultralight forward as Pitr had taught him, then swallowed and punched up the power. The ultralight sped up, and Kendi could feel it start to lift. The wheels left the runway, dropped back onto it, then left it again. He was doing it! It was really happening!
"Pull up," came Pitr’s voice over the helmet radio. "You only have so much runway."
Kendi obeyed. His stomach dropped and leaves rushed past him in a green blur as the ultralight sailed up into the air. Ecstacy swelled in Kendi’s chest as he gained altitude, felt nothing but the bright and flowing wind around him. He glanced down and had the strange sensation of seeing emerald leaves far beneath his feet. Behind, the runway made a long rectangular scar in the forest canopy. The ultralight motor was quiet as a whisper, and suddenly he knew how a falcon must feel as it glided gently on the wind.
"Doing great," Pitr said over the radio, and the red ultralight dropped d
own next Kendi’s green one. Kendi flashed Pitr a thumbs-up, then clutched at his controls as the ultralight suddenly bounced and jolted.
"You’re okay," Pitr said. "Just a little downdraft. It’ll clear. Okay, let’s try a few basic maneuvers."
Pitr had Kendi bank left and right, gain and lose altitude, and fly in a steady circle. Every moment was exhilarating. Kendi’s movements quickly gained a deft confidence and he began to feel as if the ultralight’s wings were an extension of his own body. The ultralight wasn’t holding him up-he himself was flying. And it was glorious.
All too soon, Pitr said, "Okay, it’s time to go back in. You remember what I said about landing?"
Kendi nodded, then remembered the gesture was useless over a radio. "I remember," he said aloud.
"Great. Watch me first, then I’ll coach you in."
The red ultralight, easily visible against the green foliage, coasted smoothly into the long scar that made up the runway. Kendi circled the area once, then headed around to line himself up with the tree. His was only a little nervous-the ultralight responded to his slightest wish. He was just starting his descent when the ultralight jerked sideways. A strange scream hit him like a slap. Kendi yelped and tried to regain control. Frantically he yanked hard on the control stick, trying to gain more altitude. Kendi looked around in a panic, then sucked in his breath. A big creature with leathery wings, a long beak, and wicked talons was right behind him. The beak, as thick as Kendi’s arm, opened and again the strange scream tore through the sky. Kendi’s stomach turned cold.
"Kendi!" came Pitr’s voice. "Are you all right?"
"What the hell is that?" Kendi yelled.
"Dinosaur." Pitr’s voice was full of forced calm. "Shouldn’t be here. The pheromones-hell, we have to get you down."
The thing screamed again, its long wings flapping hard. Kendi gave the throttle more power and the ultralight jerked forward, though it didn’t handle as well as it should have. A quick glance upward told Kendi one of the overhead wings had been torn. He swore. The creature flapped its wings, easily catching up and gaining altitude at the same time. Kendi could almost feel its beak and talons reaching down to rend and tear at the cloth wings. He yanked the control stick sideways and banked. The creature missed. Kendi’s heart was pounding so fast he was afraid it would shatter inside his chest. He wished with every fiber of his being that he were down on the safe, solid ground with Pitr and Toshi.
"Kendi," Toshi said, "we’re going to take control of the ultralight and bring you down. Release the controls."
Another scream followed by a shudder. The creature’s talons ripped through the wing and tore out a great chunk of cloth. The ultralight yawed sideways despite Kendi’s desperate attempts to right it. Another scream. The beak punched through the cloth and a white pain speared Kendi’s right shoulder. He looked up and saw one of the creature’s glittering black eyes peering down at him. It was gripping the ultralight canopy in its talons. The beak punched downward again. Kendi braced himself for more pain, but none came as the creature hit something behind Kendi’s seat instead. Sparks snapped and the dinosaur shrieked in pain, though it didn’t release the ultralight.
"Dammit!" Pitr said. "Kendi, that thing hit the remote receiver. I can’t control anything from down here."
Kendi’s heart leaped into his throat. He yanked the stick sideways in a desperate attempt to get the animal to let go. The ultralight shuddered and dropped several meters. Hot blood ran down Kendi’s shoulder and his back. Another shriek and the creature’s beak poked down at Kendi a third time. Acting on pure instinct, Kendi twisted sideways in his seat. The beak slashed down next to him and without stopping to think, Kendi grabbed it and held fast. The creature tried to pull back up, but before it could fully react, Kendi punched it twice straight in the eye.
The creature yanked its beak out of the ultralight. With a scream of pain, it flew unsteadily away. Kendi’s knuckles stung. The ultralight tilted downward, and Kendi realized that the animal’s wings had been helping hold the damaged ultralight aloft. He was losing altitude.
"Kendi, are you all right?" Pitr demanded. "I’m taking off right now. Hold on!"
Kendi gritted his teeth, unable to spare the energy to answer. His shoulder was afire with white pain as he smacked the control that would activate the grav unit. Nothing happened. The ultralight was perhaps thirty meters from the treetops and closing. Kendi’s mind raced. Either the entire unit was shot and he was dead, or just the controls had been shorted out. Logic said there had to be a manual activation control on the anti-grav unit itself, but where was the unit?
Behind his seat. Had to be-that was where the creature had hit when things started going wrong. The treetops were less than fifteen meters away. Kendi released his restraining harness and, ignoring the screech of agony in his shoulder, twisted around in his seat. The unit was there, a small gray box clearly labeled and clearly dented. The ultralight tilted further forward and the trees were rushing up to meet it. Kendi tried not to think about what would happen when his ultralight slammed into the branches. A big red button winked above a sign that said Emergency. Kendi slapped it. Leaves and branches crunched the front of the ultralight. Kendi shut his eyes.
Abruptly he was jolted downward. With a yelp he managed to grab the back of his seat with his good arm. His feet found purchase on the control panel. He hung there, panting. It took him a moment to understand that he was no longer falling. The ultralight, tilted at a forty-five degree angle, was hovering with its nose nestled among the uppermost leaves of a talltree.
Air brakes? Kendi thought wildly.
"Kendi, are you all right?" Pitr demanded.
Kendi started to answer but all that came out was a squeak. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes and no," he said. "I managed to activate the anti-grav, but that thing stabbed my shoulder and I’m stuck here. If the control panel can’t hold my weight, I’m in for a long drop."
"I’m almost there," Pitr said. "Just hold on."
Kendi glanced down at the branches and leaves beneath his feet. "I have a choice?"
A few minutes later, Pitr arrived and, activating his own grav unit, put his ultralight into hover mode. Mindful of his shoulder and the deadly drop below, Kendi carefully climbed out of his ultralight and into Pitr’s. The cockpit was tiny, built a single occupant.
"You’ll have to sit on my lap," Pitr said.
Oh, gosh, Kendi thought. Do I have to?
"I’ll fly us back by anti-grav," Pitr said, "since these things aren’t built to fly the regular way with more than one person."
The ride back was uneventful, if crowded. The close contact with Pitr seemed to dull the pain in Kendi’s shoulder. They didn’t speak-Pitr had to concentrate on flying. Once they landed, Kendi saw a stretcher hovering at the end of the runway. Two women in brown stood next to it. Toshi helped Kendi out of the ultralight. Blood dripped steadily down his shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"People keep asking me that," Kendi said. "I could be better. My shoulder feels like it’s on fire."
The two women turned out to be medical technicians summoned by Toshi. They got Kendi to sit onto the floating stretcher and quickly cut off his blood-soaked shirt so they could examine him. He hissed when they pulled it away from his skin. Pitr hovered nearby, worry written all over his square features.
"Looks superficial," one of the technicians said from her vantage point behind him, "but painful. I think we can treat this here, unless you really want to go to the medical center."
Kendi thought about the way Mother Ara would react if she learned he was in hospital. "No," he said. "Do it here."
One of the techs pressed a dermospray against his arm. It thumped, and Kendi’s pain almost immediately vanished. The other technician washed the wound thoroughly and pressed the ragged edges together. Then she cracked open a plastic vial and spread the contents over Kendi’s back and shoulder. It stiffened as she finished.
"Thi
s will hold the wound together and help it heal," she said. "You might have a scar, but only a faint one. I’m going to give you a dose of time-release antibiotic to keep out infection. If you get any symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea, call the medical center right away. Got it?"
"Got it," Kendi said.
The pair finished their ministrations, then piled their cases of medical equipment on a shelf beneath the stretcher and took it quickly up the stairs to the main monastery. It was only then that Kendi noticed how shaky his legs were. He started sinking to the ground. Pitr caught him before he could fall. Kendi leaned on him gratefully. Pitr’s arms were strong, and Kendi liked having them support him. He wanted to lean his head on Pitr’s chest, and wondered if Pitr would accept that.
Stupid thing to be thinking about, he thought. You almost died up there.
"It’s okay," Pitr said soothingly. "Hey, it’s all right. You’re okay. Everything’s fine."
"I’m all right," he said, still leaning. "I just …felt a little light-headed for minute."
"I can understand that," Toshi said. "I’ve got a few dozen gray hairs myself, and I wasn’t even up there." He paused. "I suppose I’ll have to talk to Mother Ara about rearranging your schedule. You won’t want to be flying again after-"
Kendi stiffened and came upright. "The hell I don’t!" he spluttered, and Pitr laughed.
"My god, Kendi, are you all right?" Mother Ara demanded.
"Yeah. Can I get a freemark or something every time someone asks that? I’ll be able to buy my own ship in an hour or so."
"Kendi," Mother Ara said, "you scared the life out of me. My god, this isn’t a good time to be flip. How do you feel?"
Kendi shrugged and winced. "Shoulder’s a little stiff, but it doesn’t hurt much, and they gave me some painkillers."
"I’ve already called the animal control board and let them have it," Mother Ara said. "The pheromone sprays are supposed to keep the dangerous dinosaurs away. I’m so sorry this happened. You must have been terrified."
"It wasn’t your fault."
"I arranged the lesson," Mother Ara countered. "Pitr says you still want to fly, though."
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