Behind me, the team shouted and began to applaud. I turned to see the sleigh come out of its huge hangar. Four reindeer pulled it. Driving it, with his hands firmly on the reins, was Keir.
The site stunned me. It wasn't that I hadn't seen Santa's sleigh before, it was that now I was a part of making it function. This was important, more than a symbol for Christmas, but something astonishing. Even magical. And now I was one of the people who got to see its inner workings.
My cheeks were cold and hurting but I couldn't stop smiling.
Keir made a circle around his team. The reindeer pranced happily. Everyone was in a great mood.
He drove the sleigh away from the crowd and ordered the reindeer to run. He moved fast down the icy runway, then steered the reindeer into a series of complicated turns and figure eights. His golden hair flew in waves behind him. The huge sleigh was graceful and sleek. It followed where it needed to go. Once, it tipped, but then immediately righted itself.
The reins went slack. The reindeer slowed. I heard Keir call out. “Dancer, Vixen, Cupid, Blitzen. Slow. Slow.”
They stopped running. Keir leaned over the dashboard and rapidly began touching the screen. He was mumbling to himself as he steered toward us. Making corrections, perhaps. Double checking readouts.
The sleigh angled very close to us and some of the team backed up. That was strange.
He looked up at his team. “Steering's a little off.”
Drake pulled out a tablet and began to make notes. “We'll check that out.”
“Also, I'm not liking the way it’s compensating for the wind shear. Something's off. It's not a lot but it's enough to be noticeable.”
“Got it,” Drake called out.
My mind moved at lightning speed over the details of the programs I’d gone over in the last day and a half. I remembered wind shear quite well because I’d just read that part of the program. Something clicked in my brain.
I stepped forward. “Can you access the wind shear program from that screen?”
Keir glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “I can.”
“Bring it up. I think I know how to adjust it.”
“You have a fix?” he asked.
“I think so.”
I heard Clea whisper. “The new kid’s making us look bad.”
I jerked my head toward her. That hurt. I wasn't sure if she was serious or being sarcastic, but for a second the cold air stuck in my lungs.
“Get over here.” Keir waved me toward the sleigh.
My knees shook as I approached. When I reached the side of the sleigh, Keir waved at me again.
“Climb aboard.”
“What?”
“Go on. Step up and sit beside me. Show me.”
I wasn't used to the limelight being on me at all. My mind went blank.
“Fallon?”
“You mean board Santa's sleigh?”
“That's exactly what I mean.”
My throat went dry. What Clea had said was still bouncing and echoing around my mind. Slowly, I put my foot up on the bright chrome running board and stepped up into the sleigh.
