Return to Earth

Chapter 10

Cora had been another dome worker from a different city, one of the many Kierst had never heard of, had done well to fit in and learn to be part of the Medjay crew. At first, her questions were more geared towards Earth, since she couldn't believe they'd gotten so close without landing, but did come to accept the truth in time. The only questions she was left asking was about which environments they'd experienced in the simulator that proved to be most difficult.

Petrovitch took longer to get used to than Cora, since he was there during every flight as their Commander, both simulated and in space. He was determined to beat Lita to Earth, since she was every bit as determined to beat him. It wasn't enough he had been the first to pierce the atmosphere; he wanted to be first to step foot on the ground. Being driven to beat her meant they were all at the receiving end of his verbal lashings whenever the slightest mistakes were made.

The space flights no longer carried the same terror it once had. Kierst had learned to control the tremors and darkness, since space brought the glory of the sun. Unlike the simulator, what he saw was the truth of his friend in a way he never dreamed possible. None complained about his preference to fly towards the sun, since fewer mistakes were made at his hands.

He and the Medjay had become one when the sun was before him. Every slight movement resulted in putting him where they needed to be as long as he could see the sun. When the sun was lost, he would fight the ship and end up off course every time. It wasn't fear that held him back, but frustration over making the same mistakes countless times.

The Medjay and Hetairoi were flying in formation with the Commanders at the helms. Jada was seated as the copilot as they neared Earth in what was supposed to be a simple trip around the planet before returning to the moon for more simulator time. A new front had pushed in over North America as they passed over, when they heard Petrovitch curse to himself.

Anger could be heard in his voice as he spoke over the shared channel. "What do you think your doing, Lita? Get back in formation."

She laughed before responding in a taunting tone. "Going to Earth, Petrovitch."

His anger grew as he snapped out at her worse than he had ever given out to any of his crew. "Don't you dare."

There was no laughter, but the taunting did increase. "Too late. I'm going."

He let a groan of displeasure. "Not without me, you're not."

Lita laughed hard into the microphone to irk him more than he already was. "You'll have to catch me, which isn't going to happen. I'm landing first. Might as well give up now."

spoke the words that spread fear and excitement into all of them, including Kierst, but he did feel more of the fear than the others. "We're going back to Earth. She's not going to beat us. If the Hetairoi lands before us, I'll be having you all running simulations for a month.

"Find me a good place to enter over that storm, Win. Not just what's above, but below as well. We want someplace with no one around."

Win was handling navigation, and she spoke with voice filled with soft confidence. "You're in luck. The storms passing over a vast desert. Let me check something.