Aim for the Moon
Doing this with Kim helped me clarify something I was trying to nail down with Vikki. Thanks, Kim!—Maer
Friday, 03 Aug 2525
Brisbane, Meridian
Blue Sun (Qing Long) system
Vikki was making her rounds with all the crew. She'd seen Tian. She'd seen Poco and Nuri. She hadn't seen Rachel. The pilot had been scarce of late. Vikki put her foot on the bottom tread of Rachel's stairs and hit the comm taped to the hand rail.
"Rachel? Can I come up?"
If she wanted to be alone, given the harrowing time she'd gone through, even if the query ended in a rebuff, Vikki had to try. Success was less important than the effort. She had to reach out to the pilot, if only to let the woman know that she hadn't been forgotten.
"Sure honey. C'mon up," Rachel called from her cabin. Poking her head out, she watched until the young girl mounted the top step and waved her inside.
"I have some lukewarm tea if you want," she stated with a soft smile. Her brow furrowed, just a flash of a moment, before she reasserted the gentle smile.
Vikki saw it at once. "What's wrong? Are you okay with me visiting? Do you need anything? I can go get it if you want."
"Child, slow down. I ain't dying, I don't need nothing, and you ain't a bother. What can I do for you?"
"Two things," Vikki said, relieved. She seems … okay enough, at least, to crack jokes. "One, I wanted to see if you were doing all right. And two, I was hoping you could teach me to fly."
The old pilot studied the young woman, search for something in her eyes. With a shrug, she gave Vikki a nod. "Sure. When Delilah can get airborne, certainly."
Well, that answered my last question, Vikki thought. But not the first. "When she's airborne, certainly. But in the meanwhile, what can I do for you? It hardly seems fair to ask you for something and not give you anything in return."
Rachel looked at her, puzzlement clearly in her eyes. "Well, nothing dear. I don't know what you could give me. Just keep helping in the kitchen. Help Papa Bear get the old girl back into the air. Help Tian get around." She shrugged and gave her a motherly smile. "Just be your perky self baby."
"Okay," Vikki said, nodding. "I think I can do that." Just try and stop her. She still wondered about Rachel's looks and pauses, but decided that perhaps she should let them go...For the moment, anyway. "Do you think we could start now? On the lessons, if you have the time? Valentine really seemed set on us cross training."
Rachel bit back a grin. "I'm fine honey. Think I've never seen Reavers before?" She was vibrating, she wuz trying so hard. She jerked her head to the damaged bridge panel. "Most are broken but I can walk you through them."
"Okay," Vikki chirped one second and immediately sobered as she saw the damage done. It was really the first time she'd stepped onto the bridge since the crash and it struck her through the heart. Conscious thought disappeared as she felt every injury the bridge sustained. She sat in the chair and soaked it in, splaying her hands on the console in front of her. The jagged edges of the broken panels bit into her palms.
"Poor thing," she whispered, her heart aching as she stroked the cracks, as if touching them could heal them. "I know how you feel. It'll be all right. We'll make it right..." Suddenly aware again that she wasn't alone, Vikki looked back at Rachel and let loose something she rarely dared share. "You know, don't you?"
Her wrinkles deepened as she squinted her blue eyes at Vikki "Yeah."
"Sometimes I can't sleep from all the whimpering." Vikki cast her eyes down, embarrassed as if caught in something shameful. "All the little pieces wanting to be fixed. I know they're there and they're all crying and I—not like Nuri, not like the way she can hear things, like voices from the outside getting inside her head. It's more like ... I'm on the outside and getting into Delilah's head, see? Like being her voice, feeling her aches, listening for them. I know it must sound nuts but ... I can't deny how it feels. How she feels. It's like that with all the things I touch, really." Vikki dared look up again. "Except people. I can't seem to do that with people. Just ... things. Machines. Ships. Pieces and parts. So ...."
She sighed, hoping Rachel would still be willing to teach her to fly, wondering if she hadn't just blown it with the pilot. Aim for the moon, Vikki, her mother was fond of telling her. Even if you miss, you'll end up among the stars. "Maybe if I learn to fly Delilah, I can feel how she likes to fly best, and help her do that."
Bemused, Rachel finally gave a tiny snort. "Well I don't feel all that." She added quickly to stifle the coming look, "But maybe I just don't verbalize it in that way. You know sweetie, what I can teach you is when we're flying. You get to know those controls so when we're up, I can teach you how to feel her underneath you, as an extension of you. She's your partner in a potentially deadly dance. You ask and guide and she responds as she can or wants. Like a horse."
"I've never ridden a horse, or anything else for that matter, either," Vikki admitted, the imagery conjuring a vision that made her blush. "But I'd like to learn. Anything you can teach me, big or small, and thank you."
At least she doesn't think I'm crazy. She's willing to teach me. That's a start.
A rose colored eyebrow rose. "Reckon you need to get your legs around somethin'. Delilah will do for now I reckon. But you gotta learn the controls. Pay attention." She began to point at each display, reciting its job and how that information helped.
"Yes, Ma'am." Vikki suppressed a smile, turned around and faced the controls ... Listening to the two old women and mapping the new territory as she always did: with her heart.
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