20. The Island in the Sea
The Island in the Sea
Cosmer produces the large, slightly rusty key from around his neck. He slots it into the machine and turns it, then yanks up the wide door and jumps in.
I step up and make a move to sit beside him, but he grabs me by the waist and pulls me onto his lap.
With one arm wrapped around me, he points to a thick valve in the pipework above our heads.
“Osimidite. It’s lighter than air. It helps ships lift off, but you really don’t need much of it to stay airborne.
” He taps the valve. “Feed it in or bleed it out depending on what you need. It gets released outside the ship, so you don’t need to worry about breathing it in. ”
Why I would need to worry about breathing it in, I don’t know, but he’s already moving on, placing one of my hands on a prong of the large wooden wheel.
“Obviously, your helm. Same principle as on a sea ship. Controls your rudders.”
Then he takes my other hand and guides it along the control table. Leaves it to rest on a curved lever with a rubber base.
“But you need this to manoeuvre your ship too. Ships run on—”
“Lartosi laser light.”
“Right. When you pull this up, you’re opening what’s known as the emission channel.
” Using my hand, he demonstrates. “Thrust from the way the beams expel is what actually moves you – well, that and airflow around your wings, but I won’t bore you with a physics lesson.
” He slots the lever back down again until it clicks.
“Put the lever back down to cut the thrust. Slowly, though, or you’ll get a sore neck or worse, if you end up getting destabilised. ”
My hand lingers a moment longer on the lever.
“You speak as if I’m going to be piloting one of these one day.”
He grins – and I go weak. I love the broad, crooked way he smiles so much. The way it scatters his freckles and makes his cheekbones even more prominent.
“Why not? When you FI, you’ll be in Intelligence, but so’s Riss, and she has a ship. They send her out on reconnaissance.”
“Cosmer. I didn’t really want to Integrate. Be a Hevallan soldier—”
“I know. And I wish there was another way. But it’s not really something you can stop. And at least it would mean we could be together, properly. There’s nothing against being with someone who’s not your direct officer.”
I’m aware, then, of his hand travelling along the side of my leg, and the bulge now nudging me through his breeches.
Of its own accord, my back arches, and I push back into him, enjoying the rush of friction doing that brings on underneath me.
In a fluid movement, he gathers the strands that had fallen loose from my ponytail over my shoulder and fixes them into my ribbon. Slowly, he kisses my now completely bare neck, leaving the skin there tingling.
I sink back into him even more, shivers running through me, as his fingers creep into my waistband.
In my ear, he says, “And then we’d have two ships we could do this in.”
It’s like seconds and minutes pass by at twice the speed in Cosmer’s ship.
He ends up bending me right over the control table.
I cling to it as he works his fingers into me, pounding fast and deep while still rubbing the place I crave most. Involuntary moans leave my lips, and he uses his free hand to cover my mouth, his fingers slipping in.
They taste faintly of metal and oil, and somehow that arouses me even more.
I clench up tighter, each ebb of pleasure rising through me as unbelievable as the last. I’m struggling to stay upright.
After release comes for me, I turn to him and sort of straddle him, using the table behind me for balance. I reach for him – and this time, he lets me.
For all the confidence I feel, my heart is racing. He’s big.
He seems to notice my hesitation and takes my hand. He guides it up and down himself to show me how he wants it, before he lets go. I take over.
And I enjoy it.
It brings me pleasure to see him like this. Unleashed. Panting. I do what he does, responding to what he seems to like and doing more of it. I press myself right against him so I can feel every breath he makes.
He calls my name as he finishes, leaving me wet, and it’s like music to me.
We pull our breeches up, just in case, and I curl up onto his lap while he strokes my hair.
He says, in a soft, sly way, “We still have a few hours. Want to take Bumble for a flight?”
I gawk at him. Being alone in the sky together sounds incredible. But…
“Is that allowed?”
“I think it would be considered Unapproved Use of Osimidite. But,” he says, with a kiss on my neck, “Since there are already way worse rules we’re breaking, I don’t really care right now. Plus, if I’m your keeper now, we can just say we did it as part of your Integration.”
I smile, wide. This is the Cosmer I knew, who had a rebellious side, a mischievous spark about him, and did things other people might have thought were crazy – like training the stray dogs, and climbing Temple to get a better look at the cacti in the rooftop garden – but I thought were wonderful.
I knew he was still in there, under the new strict officer frontage.
“Where are you going to take us?”
“I think the question is, where are you going to take us?”
My mouth drops. “I’m going to pilot?”
“You can make the bed, can’t you? You can do anything.”
He shows me how to prepare the ship for take-off. It’s a lot to remember. And there are so many gauges for different things I have to keep an eye on.
“How long did it take you to learn how to fly?”
“Not long at all. Once you know what you’re doing and where you’re looking, it all clicks.” He adds, “Takes months to learn all the formations and manoeuvres we do, though.”
He helps me pull up the heavy curved lever, which makes the ship jolt and start whirring. Then he gets me to twist open the osimidite valve, which gets us lifted. He’d put the hatch on a timer, and it opens as we approach it.
“That’s it. Keep your hands steady on the wheel. It’s like your handlebars. You’ve ridden a bike, haven’t you?”
I actually haven’t, but I decide not to tell him that for fear it will crush the ambitious optimism he has for me.
And then I scold myself for talking to myself like that. If he believes I can do it, I can do it.
“More thrust here,” he orders. “And keep checking the gauge so you can see how much laser light you’re using.
” He taps the compass built into the control table.
“We’re going to keep going east, at a slight 20 degree angle – this is your inclinometer.
” He taps another gauge, marked with tiny numbers up to 360.
I’m learning. I pull up the lever slightly, without hesitation. Instantly, there’s a shudder like a pressure is releasing outwards from the ship, and it picks up speed as it floats towards the hatch.
We go through it, and instantly we’re among the endless sky. It’s been dabbed with clouds that look like little puffs of unpicked cotton.
The sun seems so big from up here. Its rays stretch out like fingers, which make the day look hazy. Unreal.
One of the cotton balls is right in front of us.
“Cosmer,” I say, high-pitched.
“Don’t worry about the cloud. We’ll go right through it.”
It seems pretty solid to me.
“Are you sure?”
“I promise. You won’t even feel it. Just stay focused, keep the ship straight, and get us through it.”
I do as he says. Keep gripping the wheel tightly. Force my eyes to stay open, even though all I want to do is wince and close them.
Just as he promised, we sail right through the cloud, as if it’s nothing but more sky.
For a moment, the world is pure white. I fight the urge to panic. Keep going straight.
Then we’re out on the other side.
I start laughing.
“I always thought they would have a consistency,” I say, my voice like a gasp. “Feel like flour, or cream.”
“I did, too.” He wraps his arms around my waist. “You’re doing amazing, Ara.”
“This is unlike anything I’ve ever known.”
Cosmer rests his chin on my shoulder.
“When I’m up here, I can think so clearly. And things seem so insignificant. Even the war. It’s crazy something so terrible could be happening in a world where the sky exists… Maybe that’s what we need, to stop wars happening in the first place. Get people to look up more.”
I say, slowly, thoughtfully, “Do you know anything about the weapon Rhavna has, Cosmer? Because Drake said it might end the war.” I add, with hope, “We could all be going home soon.”
Cosmer’s arms loosen slightly.
“Rhavna doesn’t have the weapon. We do – now.”
I look round at him. “What?”
“It was on The Dragoness. Just like the intelligence that we got said.”
“Drake told me it wasn’t found.”
“We thought it wasn’t. But then after the mission Dezeeves said we did. They gave everyone an extra slice of bread on Lower Pilot Deck.”
I focus on the sky again.
I don’t like the sound of this at all.
I’d felt relaxed – as relaxed as I could be up here – knowing that at least Rhavna could end the war that had been forced upon them at any moment.
If Hevalla has it now…
How will it use it?
What will happen to my country?
“What is the weapon?”
“I wouldn’t know. Probably only Ephraine and Dezeeves would. But it’s powerful. They think we can win the war even if they only use it once. So, yes. Drake might be right – about that, at least.”
I let his words roll over me a moment like slow but forceful waves. The kind that might drag you under, if you’re not careful.
And then I think of something else.
“Cosmer. Where am I actually flying to?”
“Good question. Let’s start getting ourselves lower. It’s not much further ahead.”
“What is?”
“Wait and see,” he says, seasoning kisses on my cheek.
As the ship loses height, a perfect view opens up of the sea below us and steals my breath. I’d never known how many colours make up a sea. White ripples of waves. Swirls of deep blue. Shards of midnight black. The sun is catching the water and it’s as if every inch of it is sparkling.
“There is where we’re going,” Cosmer says.