Conflagration

The Art of Estrellan Cooking

The next couple hours passed in companionable conversation as Erin continued to fly the departure procedure away from Gonaways station. Once they were aligned on their transtach vector, Erin switched the engines' output ducts over so that now the engines were charging the TFG capacitor, rather than providing forward thrust. It took a lot of energy to generate a transtachyonic field and it would have to be released all at once. The capacitor would store the energy output of all three engines for the next half hour or so as the plane continued to coast through space at about 1% the speed of light.

Until they got to their destination where she would have to work her ass off to repair the downed spaceplane, Lyssa was basically just a passenger. She watched as Gonaways passed behind them, craning her neck to watch it go. Though there were more comfortable seats back in the galley or her bunk, Lyssa preferred to ride in the cockpit. Trapped in that container three years ago, she'd had no idea where they were going, how long the flight would last, or what was happening outside the container. Lyssa still hated flying, but at least up here in the cockpit she could constantly reassure herself that all was well.

She was starting to like Erin. She wasn't as bad as everybody said, but Lyssa had to remind herself of what she'd seen back at the gate. In that brief flash of intense anger, Lyssa had seen a woman who could burn a plane. But had she? Lyssa wanted to ask her about it, but that felt too dangerous a subject to broach as of yet. Now that they were getting along, she didn't want to screw up the harmony.

She liked watching Erin work. Even now, more than two hours into the flight, Erin was still hand-flying the plane. Her left forearm rested on her thigh as she held the stick lightly with just her thumb and first two fingers. She flew with her fingers. Her inputs on the flight controls were so small that the stick barely seemed to move at all. Meanwhile, her right arm seemed a busy thing. It frequently flew up to the overhead panel, entered new data into the flight computer, adjusted engine controls, switched frequencies on the radios, and engaged in a thousand other tasks. Erin's short-sleeved pilot's shirt left her toned arms exposed.

It was clear to Lyssa that Erin worked out. Lyssa could see the muscles moving in the pilot's forearms. Erin's arms were possibly her best feature and Lyssa would lay her paycheck down that most men never even noticed them. They looked firm and strong, but not like a man's arms. They long, delicate and feminine. Occasionally, when Erin would reach up to the overhead panel, Lyssa would be treated to a glimpse of her bra right up her sleeve. At least once, Lyssa was sure that Erin caught her looking but pretended not to have noticed. Lyssa really liked watching Erin work.

"Gonaways departure, Seven-Eight-Eight-November-Charlie. Request transtach, current heading," Erin said into the radio. She shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. Lyssa had noticed that Erin shifted in her seat like that every few minutes, but she still hadn't decided if it was because of nerves or her gangly frame. Possibly both.

Lyssa glanced at the TFG status display. It showed that the TFG capacitor was at 87% of its maximum charge. Lyssa knew that anything over 85% was safe. The company forbade pilots from charging past 90%, as doing so shortened the life span of the capacitor. I'll bet that's what happened to the plane we're going to fix, Lyssa thought. Overcharged his capacitor.

"Seven-Eight-Eight-November-Charlie, cleared for transtach. Caution the exclusion zone. Frequency change approved. Good day," came the response from STC.

"Cleared for transtach. Seven-Eight-Eight-November-Charlie. Good day," Erin read back the clearance.

Lyssa watched as Erin went through one final check that everything was ready and then reached up to the protected button on the overhead panel. Erin pushed back the spring-loaded safety cover over the TFG ACTV. button, hesitated for only a second, and then pushed the button. As the TFG activated, a shuddering rumble passed momentarily through the plane's structure as it slipped out of normal space. Then, there was an oddly reassuring lurch as the transtachyonic field stabilized around them.