War Child--Rogue One

XXVIII

On our first Rest and Relaxation period, Linami and I head to the simulator room.  Captain Antilles is assessing what appears to be a newly liberated crew, judging by their nervous glances.

I completely understand the feeling.  I've gotten better, but whenever someone drops their tray or talks too loudly I look around for stormtroopers to pop up and punish them.

"You aren't going to fly on assisted flight," Linami says, snapping my attention back to the simulator in front of us.  "You'll try to fly until you get up in the air, take a lap around the base, then land, without crashing.  I'll walk you through it from out here."  She adjusts a headset, moving the microphone in front of her mouth and nodding to me to do the same.

"Check check," I say quietly into the microphone.

"Louder," she directs, adjusting the round metal bit on the side of my headset.  "You won't be whispering while you fly."

"Check check."

"Better.  Check check.  How's mine?"

"Loud and clear."

She steps over to a panel by the simulator and turns it on.  "Get up there.  We don't have all millennia."

I step up into the simulator and the hatch closes behind me.  It's pitch dark for a few seconds, then it lights up with a view of the landing pad.

"So first you have to start the engine," Linami says.  "See the button that says 'start fuel pump'?"

"Yeah."

"Press it."

I do, and the sound of something whirring is piped in through the speakers.  Something else beeps.

"Now press the ignition."

I tap it.  Something sputters and dies and the beeping gets more intense.

"Press the reset button and try again.  Hold down the ignition until it starts.  Some X-Wings take longer than others."

I try again, and this time, the ion engine catches and whirs to life.  "I did it!"

"There's still more, doofus.  Concentrate!" Linami goes quiet for a bit, then asks, "Do you remember how to go forward?  Not yet!  Don't go yet, but do you remember?"

"Yes.  Forward to go forward, left to go left, right to go right, back to go slower."

"Good.  Take off, slow at first, until you get in the air."

"Roger."  I push the controls forward and race down the runway, taking off right before the end.   "I did it!"

"Good!  Now bank right.  Carefully."

I pull the controls right gently and feel the simulator start to tilt. Panic shoots through my stomach and I struggle to suppress it. Linami seems to sense it and tells me to straighten out again.

From there, I fly straight for a while until I decide I'm ready. "I'm going to turn around and fly back."

"Alright. I'll walk through the procedure for landing when you get closer."

"Roger that."

I fly towards the base again, and find out that I was a lot farther away than I thought I was.

She begins the landing procedure when I can just barely see the base.  "Are the wheels down?"

"How do I tell?"  My eyes scan the dashboard before I look back up out the window.

"Is the light that says 'wheels' green?"

I look again.  "Yes."

"I guess you never lifted them."

"You never told me to," I defend.

"Fair enough.  Start slowing down.  Do you remember how to do that?"

"Yes."  I pull the controls towards my chest.

"Not that fast!" Linami warns sharply as I careen towards the ground.

I pull up again.  "Sorry."

"See the landing pad?"

"Yes."

"You'll want to start descending now, make sure you land under twenty yards from the start, or else you'll crash into the base."

"Okay."

I bring the X-Wing down gently, and the wheels bounce as I hit the landing pad.

"Slow down!  Slow down!  Pull it towards you!"  Linami catches herself and whispers the commands again.

I pull backwards and the engines kick into reverse, pushing against the air to stop me.  The X-Wing and I stop about thirty meters from the base.  Two trucks come out to tow me to where I'll be out of the way and I sit back, done for now.

When the X-Wing comes to a stop, I open the hatch and blink in surprise.

I'd forgotten I was in a simulator!  The room is dimmer than inside the simulator, and my eyes struggle to adjust.  When I can see, I climb down the stairs and turn to Linami.

"How'd I do?" I ask with a smile.

She beams.  "You're not so much of a failure after all!"

"Well, thanks."

"I'm not putting you in a real X-Wing for a while yet though."  She takes off her headset and extends a hand.  I take it and shake it awkwardly.  "No, stupid.  The headset."

"Oh!  Sorry!"  I take it off and give it to her.  "When will I be ready?"

"I want you to complete, without crashing, twenty-five flights before you get in a real X-Wing and fly."  The headsets are hung up, she resets the simulator, and we start out, giving Captain Antilles a nod.

He returns the greeting.

"Ready for dinner?" I ask.

Linami nods.  "Watching you fly made me starving."

"Not starving," I correct, "Hungry."

She looks at me for a second, then says, slowly.  "Alright.  I'm hungry."

I don't apologize.  I don't know how I'd explain it.  She probably hasn't been starving.  I have.  She won't understand.

And thankfully, she doesn't question it.  Linami just changes the subject to sniping, and we chatter away through the line.