Page 46 of Aviatrix

I got distracted from all the dark, sad things I was searching for because life was good for a while. The first two years with Lark were... easy. Until he lost his best friend.

James.

I never made the connection. Why didn’t I make the connection?

Things started unraveling after that mission. Lark became distant. Cold. He proposed. Maybe to try and fix things. Then, I found a text thread on his phone from an unknown number. I wasn’t snooping. He was in the shower, and his phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. So, I picked it up.

Up until that point, I trusted him. Implicitly.

He made my life hell that first year at Langdon. He knew how I felt. He was hot and cold, laughing with me on the runway one day, pushing me twice as hard in training the next.

Maybe he was trying to figure out his feelings.

I don’t know. I didn’t ask. It’s too late now.

But that text thread—from months ago—I can remember it almost perfectly.

I know what you did.

You can’t keep running from your sins.

Sooner or later, someone is going to find out the truth.

You’re a terrible person.

I hope you rot in hell.

What if it was Rourke who found out? Or Gina? Would they blackmail him?

All these questions and no answers.

“Preparing to disengage,” VAL hums through the cockpit, grounding me.

“Thank you, VAL,” I say. Or maybe just think.

“You’re welcome, Captain Kinley Quay.”

I hesitate. How in the world do I shut this thing down? No instruction manual. No helpful checklist on the console.

“Powering down engine in 3… 2… 1…” VAL answers before I can ask.

Uh… So, maybe she isn’t just synced. Maybe she's aware.

Silence.

The cockpit hatch hisses open. I climb out, the ocean breeze tugging at my flight suit. The East Coast is all secrets and salt air, but the West Coast? It’s steel and shifting sunshine.

“Captain!” a crew member calls, jogging toward me as I descend the ladder.

I nod in greeting, heart still pounding from the flight and the fact that my aircraft talks back.

I take a moment to look over VAL one last time. Black. Sleek. Dangerous. There's something almost predatory about her. I wonder who built her. Who programmed her. Why she prefers female pilots. How it all works.

Some type of cognitive synchronization?

I’m not entirely sure what that is, but VAL responded to my thoughts. That's not normal.

Before it was leveled, Langdon always had top-secret aircraft in the works. But a ship that thinks with you? I’ve never heard of anything like that.