10 Minute Tales

Jun 16 - The Seventh Try

Naema sat nervously in the charterer's office. Her feet swung back and forth, ticking pendulums beneath the chair's seat, as she waited for her exam. This time, she nodded. This time, she would get it perfect. No engine failures. No balloon punctures. No weirdly timed flocks of unusually suicidal birds divebombing her engines. She would get this. She got to her feet and paced a little, eager to begin and dreading the moment. The door opened and she looked over in eagerness. It was her tester, a gruff man with a bushy beard and a long trenchcoat. His hobnailed boots clunked against the planks on the floor, the echo familiar and still shaking.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his gruff voice booming slightly in the small room.

"Yes, sir." she nodded, a little fidgety.

"I trust it will not be problematic today."

"It won't, sir, I promise." she nodded enthusiastically. "I brought my lucky pendant today." she brought it out from beneath her shirt. A simple piece of iron wrought in the design of a feather caught the light from the lantern. He nodded gently.

"Very well. Come along." and off he walked, back through the door he came from. Naema walked out behind him, tucking the pendant back into her shirt as they went.

-----

They were stood in a large hanger. A window stood on the south wall, the light within showing two more examiners waiting in a room. The testing airship waited before Naema and the bearded examiner. It was a small craft, just about enough for four people, with the hull painted white with two black stripes. Typical colours for a test airship. She practically ran aboard, hopping behind the wheel. The examiner walked on at a controlled pace, staring at Naema. She went through the typical routine, flicking the switches and pouring a little energy into the heart of the airship. She would get this right! All she had to do was this, that, this...

"Okay, sir!" she beamed down to him as the engine thrummed to life. Already got past the first test, then. "Ready to depart!"

"Very good." he nodded, turning to the window and waving. The examiners in the other room moved to a control panel and started tapping away at it. The walls rumbled and one drifted open, showing the sky beyond. There were a few large rings suspended in the air. She knew the drill; flying through the rings showed agility in the sky while doing so elegantly showed she could control the airship without breaking any of the engine's components. "Are you ready, Naema?"

"Born ready, sir!" she grinned, fingers drumming a pattern on the clutch. One tug of this simple lever and the airship would surge to life.

"Depart." He commanded. She threw the clutch into place; the engines roared into life as she brought it away. She was in the air again! This is what she lived for. She smiled and shook her head, flicking her hair to drift into the flowing winds. She was free. She would earn her license this time!