A dozen people faced me, tablets out, eyes wide. Including Fallon. My insides warmed. I had a ringer with him. He could already do the work of any of them.
Drake stepped forward. “I’ll take the cloak problem on myself, sir.”
“I’ll assign the projects,” I replied.
Drake nodded, mouth a straight line. Clea had her eyebrows in her usual perpetual frown that had been haunting her for the past week. Her fingers were bloodless as she clutched her tablettoo hard. Fallon was the only one who looked more eager than scared.
“I’m not mad at any of you,” I reassured them all. “You all know test flights never go at a hundred percent. That’s why we call them tests.”
They all nodded. The wind whipped scarf ends and locks of hair not quite covered by knit caps.
“Quickly, before we go in. Can anyone tell me any ideas that struck them as we tested the cloak.”
“Maybe weather interference. A strong storm is coming,” Clea said.
I nodded. “Who else?”
People threw out ideas, some simple, some complex. Fallon’s turn came. He swallowed and spoke.
“Light refraction interference. The reason it didn’t happen before is because you adjusted the force field only this year. That’s a program with a lot of new augments.”
“That’s the one I was thinking of, too.” Finally. Someone who thought like me. “The radar saw light and movement. More than a bird. Less than a plane. The cloak couldn’t compensate. Fallon, do you have ideas for that.”
“Off the top of my head, a lot, sir. It will require new equations.”
“Are you up for that?”
His eyes lit up. “Yes. I’m sure of it.”
“You’ll be in charge of the cloak system until the next flight test.”
I dismissed the team. As they walked through the cold and back to work, my eye was on Fallon. He hung back, which disconcerted me, but there was some bounce to his step. He was excited for this challenge. I knew he wouldn’t let me down.
7
FALLON
Clea wouldn’t look at me. I had to run my equations and edits by her since Drake was off for the afternoon on a family matter.
It had been a week since the flight test. Keir was sending memos for daily updates. Asking us to work faster. He wasn’t a bossy boss; he used humor to de-stress tense situations. But I could tell he was under a lot of stress himself.
I had some clue as to why Clea hated me. Keir gave me a lot of attention. I couldn’t help but flush when he was around. He affected me in a number of ways. His authority made me a little intimidated. I was still getting used to working for Santa’s Sleigh. Also, his energy inspired me. His looks attracted me.
I couldn’t allow any of that to interfere with the job.
He’d just been by to go over the cloak math with me. Pages and pages of it. I had worked long hours to perfect it and he even sat beside me to read every line and double-check.
The heat of him made me feel like I was rushing headlong into something wonderful.
When Keir got up, he said, “We’ll finish in my office over lunch. I’m very impressed.”
I smiled up at him, my eyes warming. Enthusiasm shook my entire body.
A minute after he left, I heard footsteps walk behind me. “Suck up.” It was Clea.
I turned. “No, I?—”
“You what?” Her mouth turned down. “I’ll tell you what. You work too fast. Slow down. You’re a greenhorn. No one expects you to turn in assignments at lightspeed.” She tossed her long brown hair. “When you do that, the rest of us get nervous. You won’t like working with nervous people.”
