I heard the bell go and scooped up my books, throwing them into my bag carelessly. I raced to get out of the school corridors before the crush of people arrived.
In my haste, I almost ran into a teacher, but dodged them, saying sorry and continuing on my way before she could call me back and give me a detention.
I reached the gates, shouted goodbye to my friends, and spotted the long black Mercedes that belonged to my father. I grinned, and jumped in.
"Dad!" I couldn't stop smiling. Daddy was taking me on the jet. Even though he had promised that he would take me this week, he sometimes had last minute arrangements and had to cancel.
Correction - he usually had last minute arrangements. But he was here now, so we must be going on the jet.
"Hello honey." he twisted round in his seat. He was grinning as much as I was. "You were quick. Jeremy has told me that he usually has to wait for hours..."
I gave him a look and he shook his head, putting his foot on the accelerator.
"Fine, fine. We're moving. Will you speak to me now." I could hear the smile in his voice, even though his eyes were on the road.
"Yep. And I don't take hours... But I have friends..."
"And where were those friends today?"
"Busy." He shook his head. I looked out of the window, the landing strip just coming into view.
***
I adjusted the headphones and moved the microphone down the my lips. I looked to dad, who gave me the nod. I flicked a few of the switches above my head, turning on both the engines and enabling radar. I pushed the lever forward and felt the jet rumble underneath me as it sped along the runway. I loved the feeling of freedom, and control that flying gave me. I felt like I could rule the world, I could do anything.
We were nearing the lights that signalled the 1000m from the end of the runway, so I locked the speed in place and lifted a second lever, pulling the jet up off the runway just in time. I smiled and turned the plane towards the east, making it take a sharp left. I pulled the wing up and looked downwards at the small houses below me. I could see the traditional onion shaped domes now. I watched the altimeter out of the corner of my eye as we rose higher into the air. My dad's voice jolted me back to what I was doing.
"Good. Now see if you can make this beauty go a bit faster." I grinned, very happy to unlock the speed and push the lever forward.
Dad always called machines 'beauty'. He loved his cars, boats and jets almost as much as he loved mum and I, and I was starting to learn why.
Dad and I had been doing this for almost a year, flying maybe once or twice a month. He also paid for me to learn sailing, power-boating and jet-skiing. Sometimes he even took me driving - dad owned quite a few cars, my favourite being the Aston Martin Vanquish, but I loved all of them except for his Ford Cobra Jet- it was a powerhouse of a car, but was not as fast as the R8 or as beautiful as the vanquish. To be fair, the cobra was downright ugly.
And none of the cars, not even the Vanquish, compared to the speed of the jet hurtling down the runway or the beauty of looking down on the fields of western Russia from this high up.
I flicked my eyes back to the control panel, the radar picking up a very large plane, probably an 747 or some other airbus, heading towards the airport.
Nothing else was in the airspace, so I decided to go for it.
"Hold on to your lunch, dad." I gave. Him my usual warning that we were about to do a 360.
"God help-" I cut him off by pushing on the joystick in front of me and watched the sky and the ground swap places for a few moments as we spun.
"urgh... I hate it when you do that."
"awww... Can't daddy hand the G-force?"
"No not really. The panel says that was almost 4G. Most people pass out at 5."
"I know the stats dad. Autopilot is on standby anyway."
I heard him mutter "it's not that that I'm worried about. It's more being sick. And sick flying around a cockpit while we are upside-down."
"Dad! Ewwww... That's nasty. Don't you dare be sick on me!" I squirmed in my seat. Luckily for me, he didn't go on.
The sun was about to set, so I turned the plane around and set the navigation to take us back to the airport.
***
"had fun?" my dad grinned at me
I smiled at him. "What sort of a question is that?" I waited for a moment before I sidled up to him. "piggyback?"
He shook his head, chuckling. "go on then."
YOU ARE READING
A Drop of Black
Acción"I hadn't meant to fall asleep - last night had taught me that sleep was dangerous. It made you vulnerable, and that was something I couldn't afford to be, if I wanted to win, and at the moment I did want to win. I wanted to beat them, prove them wr...
