Kira grinned as her engines shut off to conserve power as she bypassed the blimp, climbing up and up until gradually her pace slowed, and she felt gravity calling her back to land.
"You ready for this?" Jin asked.
"When have I not been?"
Jin chortled. "All right, prepare for ignition."
Kira let gravity drag her down, twisting to point the nose of her board toward the ground far below. She crouched, reaching for the handle affectionately called the "oh shit bar" by waverunners.
"Three. Two. One. Systems are go and waiting on you. Fly fast; fly far, Firebird."
"Roger that. Prepare the home fires."
Wind whipped past Kira as she let go of the handle and straightened her legs. She fell, her stomach climbing into her throat. Right about now should do it.
Head pointed toward the planet and her feet at the sky above, Kira punched it, opening the engine and accessing eighty percent of the board's power.
"Here. We. Go." Jin chanted.
"Commencing burn."
For a split second nothing happened. The world froze. Time had no meaning.
A dull trembling started in the board, shaking her bones. Anticipation filled her. This was going to be so much fun.
Dangerous fun—but that was the best kind.
There was a dull thump that Kira felt in her chest. Her board jolted forward, catapulting her toward the ground in a move that would have been suicide for anyone without Kira's experience.
"Trajectory and speed look good. A little feedback from removing the limiter but nothing outside our projections," Jin said with calm detachment.
In her interface, a blue dotted line appeared outlining the optimal flight path. All she needed to do was follow it.
Below her, the ground grew at an alarming rate. The journey up that had seemed to last forever went by in a blink of an eye on the return trip.
"All right Kira, we’re good. You should pull up now," Jin advised.
Not yet.
The wind whipped past her as she crouched a little lower, reaching for more speed.
Just a little bit more.
Almost there.
"Kira, if you break the sound barrier, they're going to know it's us," Jin warned.
There.
Kira relaxed her stance, pulling out of the dive in the next second.
"Good, I'm glad we agree on how stupid that would be," Jin grumbled.
"Personally, I think it would be fun," Odin added.
"Don't encourage her."
Kira ignored the bickering as she shot past the first three obstacles with ease, not losing any of the speed she'd picked up during her dive.
