Cyber Witch

Chapter 13 - More than Friends with Benefits

[Zach]

The Freebird mastered deep space, but not the tropical storms of Panchaia.

The tempest threw the ship around like an angry sea-god's toy. Strobing lightning bolts revealed roiling clouds within the deep darkness, giving them a frightening surreal quality. Violent motions, in any direction by whims of the storm, churned my stomach. Gritting teeth, I manipulated the joystick controls back and forth, struggling to keep some semblance of level flight. The ship AI was not trained for turbulent atmospheric flight, so it was not much help, but Avia was. Utilizing her advanced cybernetics, she strategically fired the maneuvering thrusters, buffering the worst turbulence. As I glanced at her, sitting in the engineer's seat beside me, her lips turned up and she winked, projecting a quiet confidence that calmed my anxieties and firmed my resolve.

"Is that shuttle still following us?" I asked.

"Can't tell," Avia answered. "Too much electrical interference."

"Good. Then they can't track us either."

Abruptly changing course westward, I hoped that the shuttle, if it was still out there, would believe we continued south. After a gut-wrenching hour, we emerged from the cyclonic beast, leaving its fury thankfully behind. Then angling up, I broke through the atmosphere and reached for the stars. Once far enough away from the planet's gravity-well, I engaged the star-drive and the characteristic starlight tunnel appeared as we fled away at hyper-light relative velocity.

Throwing off my seat restraints, I leaned back with eyes closed, blowing out a long breath. I turned as Flint's large, rough hand appeared on my shoulder.

"Impressive flying, son," he said with a half-grin.

My mouth formed a grin semblance, and I nodded. But within, a satisfying calm settled into my core. Perhaps I had won over Avia's intimidating father figure.

"I'm hungry," Avia announced as she stood, smiling broadly. "Let's get something to eat."

As we stepped past the bridge hatch, Avia turned toward Flint with a grin. "So, what's up between you and Amber? That was some goodbye kiss she gave you."

"Just — how do you say it? Friends with benefits?"

Avia's eyes widened. "Does she know that? It seemed to mean more to her."

"I guess so?" Flint answered with a shrug. "Sometimes, it's hard to tell." Then, Flint shifted into overly-protective-father mode, and his steel-blue shot a penetrating glare at me, tingling my gut, but asked Avia, "What about between you and Zach?"

Gulping, I silently wished for a cloak of invisibility.

Avia winked back at me as she grasped my arm. "More than friends with benefits."

Entering the galley brought dismay, but also a welcomed distraction from any awkward follow-up questions. Anything not fastened down — utensils, condiments, food, or whatever — was strewn about the small room in chaotic disarray, unintended consequences of our previous atmospheric barrel roll. While fortunately unopened, the transparent doors on the chiller and storage cabinets revealed jumbled messes inside. No doubt our cabin was in a similar mess.

"Oh, no," I sighed, dropping my shoulders.

Avia giggled as she tilted her head. "Come on, I'll help you clean up."

*****

That night, Avia appeared beside our bed wearing my favorite outfit, which was nothing at all. While leaning up on elbows, my eyes feasted on her willowy form. By the stars, was she irresistibly sexy, and had grown more so with every passing day.