Chapter 8 Moon Walk, Moon Talk
Moon Walk, Moon Talk
“Okay, Dad, now just goose the throttle a bit. Yeah! Yeah! You got it!” Jace enthused as he stood behind his father who sat in the pilot seat of the Storm Spike.
Earth was already far behind them and the moon was ahead, growing ever larger. His father was smiling so big and brightly that Jace was certain his face must hurt. His father was in heaven and he couldn’t blame him. It was hard not to want to take the controls back himself.
“At least there’s nothing out here to hit,” his father said with a grin. “So if I make a mistake we’re okay.”
“True! Going to stretch her wings a little?” Jace grinned back.
“Maybe you should be strapped in if I do that,” his father replied dryly.
“All right. All right. You’re not fun. Safety first.”
Without having to think about it, Jace interfaced with the ship and another seat opened to the right and back of his father. The harness unspooled and clicked around him.
“Now, if you want to–whoa! Go, Dad!” Jace laughed as his father almost expertly had the Storm Spike perform a barrel roll.
His father leveled the ship off and the moon was once again front and center on the screen. He then sent them spinning the opposite way. Jace laughed.
“We’re going to have to do some dogfighting at some point to train as well,” Jace said.
“We can do that? In simulators, I suppose?” His father asked.
“Actually, we’ll be in real world conditions, but the weaponry we’ll be using won’t cause damage,” Jace said as the Osiris showed him how the spaceships would only register the damage, but not actually be damaged.
“I’m looking forward to that!” His father was doing that face-splitting grin again.
“It’s like a videogame except it’s real,” Jace said.
“Do you remember when we spent all those days playing as fighter pilots. Oh, God, I forgot the name of the game, but you wouldn’t go to bed,” his father said.
“I think you were the one who wouldn’t go to bed,” Jace chuckled.
His father had the Storm Spike perform three loops in a row before finishing with a barrel roll.
“God, this ship moves smooth as silk. I have no idea how fast we’re going–”
“You don’t want to know. We’re going to be at the Moon in like fifteen minutes,” Jace told him as he brought up those indicators for his father on the holographic display.
“You work this ship like she’s been yours for years,” his father said with a faint shake of his head.
“I know, right?” Jace agreed with him. “Everything feels familiar. I think I could close my eyes and find anything I needed on the ship without tripping and killing myself.”
Another shake of his head. “Amazing. You were flying in your sleep all these years.”
“So it seems,” Jace said. “If you want to set the autopilot–”
“No, not yet. Let me just have my hands on the controls here for a while,” his father requested. “Can we go down to the surface of the Moon?”
Both of them had on synthskin suits. Jace had his hard suit’s chip in his pocket and there were several others on the Storm Spike that could be sized for his father.
“Do you mean fly over the surface like in Star Wars?” Jace asked, referring to the many iconic scenes where one of the fighters skimmed over some alien world’s surface.
“I do!”
“We could also land and get out, if you like,” Jace told him.
His father went silent. Jace caught sight of his reflection on the screen for a moment. There was utter shock followed by utter joy.
“Are you serious? We could walk on the Moon?” his father asked.
“I’m more than serious. We can do that,” Jace told him.
“How about we go to the Tycho crater?” Jace asked, naming one of the more famous Moon craters that he knew of.
“Y-yeah. Sounds fantastic,” his father answered.
Jace reached up and lightly touched the holographic controls so that their destination was set.
“You’ll see a flight path once we get nearer. We might want the Osiris to take care of the landing,” Jace told him.
His father nodded. “For sure.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll let you try to land us in the Osiris’ hangar bay,” Jace told him.
“Not worried. Going into space is deadly business though it doesn’t seem that way with you. Blowing yourself out of a Hive? Using your jets to maneuver to a craft? That’s insane, Jace,” his father said with a shake of his head.
Jace had told him about what had happened in the Hive as they had lifted off and passed by the Thaf’ell fleet.
Speaking of those…
Jace brought up a screen to show him if any ship was following them from the fleet. There was one. He grimaced.
What do they think? I’m going to fly away without the Osiris and Khoth? Not happening!
They were likely there in case there was an accident.
He was the Pilot, after all. This should have made him happier, or perhaps less annoyed would have been a better description, but it grated.
He wanted this time with his father. Just the two of them.
He could have had the Osiris cause the ship to return to the fleet, but he resisted the urge.
They will not be harmed, the Osiris murmured speculatively. You do not need them for assistance. I am here.
Yeah, but I couldn’t reach you for a while in the Hive, Jace pointed out.
That was different.
It was amazing to him how the Osiris could be so precise and then be so incredibly vague.
Why he couldn’t reach it, if that was intentional, or if, in fact, they had been blocked by Khul technology still wasn’t clear to Jace.
He faintly remembered the pain he’d felt when he entered the Khul needle ship. A slight shiver went through him.
That is damage caused by you being taken from me, the Osiris muttered. It will heal in time.
Taken from you… oh, you mean when I was a baby and you tried to cut my mom open? Jace asked dryly.
The Osiris was silent.
Jace looked once more at the Paladin-class ship that was keeping its distance. He wished Khoth were in it, but he knew he was not even before–like Gehenna–the Osiris sent him the name, rank, medical and military history of the pilot.
Commander Khoth Voor is with High Councillor Nova Voor in her quarters on the Ashaton, the Osiris informed him. There was a pause and then it asked, Do you wish to see and hear them?
Jace blinked. Hear and–how?
I have access to all vessels, the Osiris almost sounded peevish that Jace hadn’t known that.
Oh, so you can eavesdrop on everyone, can you?
I monitor all communications, yes, the Osiris rephrased to make it sound less like spying. You may wish to review this conversation between them–
No.
Why not? It concerns you, the Osiris stated. You should be aware of what the opposing faction is doing.
Khoth is not an opposing faction, Jace said with surprising certainty.
He’d only met the Thaf’ell Commander that day, but Khoth had consistently done what was right and honorable towards him. He trusted the Thaf’ell with his life.
But High Councillor Nova Voor is, the Osiris stated almost softly.
Jace felt a spike of apprehension. Nova was Khoth’s mom, not to mention his superior.
More than just a superior but the superior of all of the Alliance.
She could put a lot of pressure on Khoth.
But that pressure had been there when Khoth had chosen to save him rather than try to put another Pilot–a person loyal to the Alliance–in his place.
That would have earned Khoth accolades galore.
Breaking the rules to end his sister’s suffering would have been completely forgotten if he’d done that. But Khoth had chosen to save Jace.
I have faith in Khoth, Jace said firmly.
But if you know what is being said–
It would be a breach of his trust and privacy, Osiris, Jace interrupted. He’ll tell me if I need to know.
You are the Pilot. You should know all the data–
People don’t work that way, Osiris. You can know everything and make all the wrong moves, Jace told the AI. I have to trust Khoth.
Until he proves he is not trustworthy? The AI countered.
He won’t. But I guess if–like you–he does something wrong, I’ll reassess, Jace replied.
“Jace? Anything up? Your eyes have gone all spooky there,” his father asked with a glance towards him.
“Oh, sorry, Dad, just talking to the Osiris about trust,” Jace said as he closed the holographic screen of the following ship.
“The Osiris… are you still mad at it?” his father asked.
“As mad as a hornet,” Jace replied with a grin.
His father chuckled. “But you’re giving it a second chance, I bet.”
“Ah, yeah, you’re right. Pretty clever,” Jace said as he stretched out his legs.
His father shot him another look. “I know you pretty well. Such as I’m going to take a guess at what you’re going to do tomorrow after the meeting.”
Jace lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t even know what I’m going to do tomorrow!”
“Oh, yes, you do.”
Jace shook his head. “Okay, Dad, predict the future.”
“Easy. You’re going to let everyone have their say,” his father answered as he touched the holographic screen like a pro to find out the distance to their target.
“And everyone is going to think that they’ve gotten you on their side because you’re easy going and young and, therefore, must be pliant, if not stupid. ”
Jace’s both eyebrows rose. “Okay. You’re suggesting I’m not pliant or stupid, which is good!”
“You certainly aren’t, because after they tell you why they’re right and the other guy is wrong and what they want and why they should have it, you’re going to tell them to all go to hell,” his father said with a grin.
Jace blinked. “Well, I’m…”
“Because you are the goddamned Pilot of that incredible ship and you’re going to do what you think is right,” his father finished.
Jace blinked some more. “That may have crossed my mind. But Mom would be really angry with me over that, wouldn’t she?”