Ivan Cat - The Burning Heart of Night

Karr quickly realized that it would never be possible to get the lifter cockpit back to its original condition.

The best he could hope for was a workable jury-rig system that would allow him to fly at low altitudes and speeds, and that's what he set out to make.

After an uneasy period of alien shadowing human, Karr and Arrou arrived at an unspoken truce. Karr was careful to show the Khafra exactly what he was doing with the crawler parts and Arrou assisted?

which was mostly helpful? by holding the units and replacement lengths of microfiber in position as Karr swapped good modules for bad. Karr even drew on the alien's knowledge of the crawler when confronted by components he did not recognize. The new control system began to take shape, all in accordance with a blueprint in Karr's head. And, as a small bonus, the activity kept Karr from thinking about his ship.

Jenette did her best to bail water out of the leaky craft. It was tedious, but she attacked the problem with single-minded fury, as if every drip of water in the hull was a personal affront. She tried several stratagems, including scooping with her hands and bailing with small receptacles.

"That's not necessary," Karr said at one point.

"Those are my crawler parts going into your lifter," Jenette replied. "I've got an investment in keeping this thing afloat."

Karr shrugged. At least it gave her something to do with her abundant energy. Already Karr saw that Jenette had the determination of humans twice her size. She eventually settled on using a wide chunk of fiberplast to set up sloshing patterns and sweep waves of fluid over the lifter's shallow sidewalls.

By the time a setting sun pressed onto the horizon, the lifter had not yet sunk and its control systems had been completely reworked.

"Making progress?" Jenette asked.

Karr nodded, double-checking his circuitry.

Enthusiastic paisley patterns course down Arrou's limbs. "Arrou fly now?"

"First we test," Karr cautioned. "Then you fly."

Arrou's spirits dampened, but not by much. "What wait for?"

Satisfied that they had done the best job possible under the circumstances, Karr climbed into the cockpit and sat on a pile of cases that Arrou had put there to replace the missing ejector couch. The dash was a jumble of dead instruments and bolted-on crawler components. Karr flipped them on, tensing as they glowed to life. Each thruster purred in turn. One, two, three, four.

"Excellent," Karr said to Arrou. "We did it."

Yellow stars sparkled on the alien's head, a pattern Karr hoped indicated happy agreement. He looked at Jenette. There was no place to strap her in. "Hold on to the back of the cockpit," he advised.

"I'll take it slow."

Feeling fluttery in her stomach? this would be the first flight of a New Ascension native in two decades, and her first flight ever? Jenette knelt and grasped an exposed strut. Arrou crouched beside her, claws gripping metal and ceramite.

Karr took hold of the new collective-throttle lever, which had been the crawler's power range selector, and pulled. It was much easier than trying to move four broken-off sliders at the same time. The engines ramped up smoothly. Silver water frothed under the cowlings.

"Three, two, one, liftoff!"

Water vaporized and strands of bladder weed sprayed out as the reborn lifter rose into the air. Karr hovered at ten feet, letting cataracts of water drain from a thousand tiny fissures. The hull creaked, but did not break apart. Karr eased the lifter upward. Soon they were floating higher than the tallest trees, with a stunning view of the emerald ring-island below. The ocean stretched in all directions, its silvery waves burnished copper near the setting sun. Shadows stretched long from islands scattered around the horizon.

"Howoooo!" cheered Arrou.

Jenette's knuckles tightened on the cockpit strut.

"Now we'll attempt forward flight," Karr said.

Arrou's head bobbed in agreement. "Five hundred knots!"

Karr pushed the yoke forward. The heavy lifter nosed down as invisible thrust vectored aft and he pulled up on the collective throttle to keep from losing altitude. The lifter transitioned to forward flight.

"Five hundred knots, five hundred knots!" Arrou chanted.

Karr kept the airspeed well below that, but the wind still whipped at them with exhilarating force.

"Free, freeee!" crowed the alien.

Karr looked back at Jenette. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," she said, feeling the heady rush like Arrou, but also keenly aware of how exposed they were on the flying slab.

"High good," Arrou observed. "See lots."

Jenette looked below. Arrou was correct. The view was superb. They were over open ocean and heading away from Feral Island 716? which distracted her from her misgivings about altitude and speed.

"How about a closer look at that island?" she asked Karr.

Karr obligingly turned the yoke toward it. The lifter banked around. Soon they were humming above golden cotton-ball tree-tops. The landscape reminded Karr of whimsical children's book illustrations.

Jenette caught a glimmer of light in a clearing and tapped Karr's shoulder. "Over there," she pointed.

Seconds later, the lifter buzzed over a group of very surprised creatures.

"Ferals!" Jenette exclaimed.

It was a settlement of some sort, with several dozen startled inhabitants looking up at the flying machine. Jenette was overjoyed. Gone was the chaos of rampant jungle. Fast-growing plants had been tended into leafy, humpbacked shelters and there were stockpiles of dried sharkworms and tubers.

Stands of meat-fruit trees grew in rows with hedge barricades to keep out wild animals. It was exactly what Jenette was looking for. Settlement meant social structure, social structure meant organized leadership, and organized leadership meant an authority that she could approach.

The Ferals quickly recovered their wits, kicking on their camouflage and blending into dusky shadows.

"Veering off," Karr announced.

"No, go back," said Jenette. "Circle around."

"I don't like it," said Karr, with a nervous glance at Arrou. "Those things are smart. Who knows what kind of projectile weaponry they've developed."

"None as far as I know," Jenette argued. "Besides, we're a hundred feet up!"

"Another reason to be cautious," said Karr. "We should set down and give all systems a once over."

"Please," Jenette pleaded. "I need to get a fix on that location. It's important."

"Very well," Karr said reluctantly.

Of course Jenette didn't tell Karr that she intended to contact those Ferals as soon as they set down.

"Arrou, remember that spot."

"Okay," Arrou said as they swung around.

The clearing was empty on the second pass, but Jenette was pleased to see Arrou look for landmarks and choose a distinct square pattern of sailtrees, which poked above the jungle canopy nearby.

Karr was not so pleased. Aside from his distrust of Ferals, the lifter was not responding to his liking.

Karr tapped the left rubber pedal, which should have activated a thrust correction and brought the tail around, but instead there was a strange vibration.

"Aborting," Karr declared, using the control yoke to bank for the ocean. No more than two seconds had elapsed when there was a loud crack and a shower of blue-white sparks erupted from the left front thruster.

The lifter pitched down at that corner.

Jenette yelped and lost her grip. She tumbled through the sparks and slammed into the thruster cowling along with an avalanche of Karr's salvage. The crawler shifted in its restraining cables, further unbalancing the load. The deck pitched steeper. Arrou's claws skittered on the hull and he fell onto Jenette.

"Get off!" Jenette yelled, unable to move.