Trading in Danger Read Online Free PDF Page A

headset and heard traffic control give them clearance for takeoff after the little yellow plane. They paused as the yellow plane swung into position; she could see it shudder and then begin its takeoff roll. She checked the boards. This plane had every avionics gadget, and an AI autopilot perfectly capable of handling almost every contingency, but Gaspard preferred to take off and land on manual, to keep his skills current. “And because it’s just plain fun,” he said now, as he usually did. “There’s something atavistic about shoving the throttles forward myself.”
    She felt the same way, as they turned into position and the power of the engines fought the brakes for a moment before Gaspard released them. She loved it all, from the acceleration down the runway to the moment when they left the ground to the steep climb out over the factory district.
    Once they were a half hour offshore, at cruising altitude, Gaspard relaxed and pulled out his hotpak of coffee. “Well, girl, I’m not sure what anthill you kicked—or kicked you—but your father and uncle were certainly upset. Want to tell me about it?”
    “I… can’t. Can’t fly and talk about it, anyway.”
    “Fine. Let me finish this and I’ll take it back.” He swallowed quickly and relieved Ky at the controls. “Not that I’m pushing you, you understand, but.” But he wanted to know. Of course.
    “I had to resign from the Academy,” Ky said.
    He whistled. “Didn’t you keep your antifertility implant up to date?”
    “Not that! I wouldn’t…!” She stole a glance at him.
    “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just—what else could make you do it? Your family’s not yanking you out for some business reason…?”
    “No,” Ky said. “I… did something stupid. It caused a stink. Such a big stink they wanted me gone.”
    “You? I can’t imagine what big stink you could cause. Now if you were a bonehead like that kid who told a Miznarii priest that he was being treated unfairly and prevented from practicing his religion, and that the service was hostile to Miznarii and had a policy of putting them—how did he say it? first in danger, last in promotion—that is what I’d call a big stink.”
    Ky’s heart sank. “That… was my fault.”
    “Your fault? How? You aren’t even… oh shit, Ky, you were just helping someone again, weren’t you? What’d you do, get him in contact with this Miznarii?”
    “Yes.” She could hear that her voice was choked with tears.
    “Um. I can understand they might be peeved with you—it’s headlined in the news—but it’s not bad enough to make you resign.”
    “They think it is.”
    “They’ll wish they hadn’t,” Gaspard said. “Though it may take them a while. So… you’re in disgrace, is that it?”
    All the misery broke through, and she felt tears burning in her eyes. She couldn’t speak.
    “Thing is, Ky, disgrace doesn’t last forever.” She caught the quick movement of his head as he turned to look at her and looked away, out the window, where a blanket of cloud lay between them and the East Shallows.
    “It can,” Ky said.
    “Usually doesn’t,” Gaspard said. “Whatever stupid things you do, you can do smart ones later.”
    “Somehow I don’t think so,” Ky said. “When I try my hardest, that’s when I do stupid things.”
    He looked at her. “It’s not my place…” he began.
    “Oh, go on, everyone else will lecture me, too.”
    “I’m not going to lecture you.” He looked out the side window, sighed, and engaged the autopilot. “Logged: all boards clear, no traffic reported or scanned. Estimated flight time three hours fifteen minutes.”
    “We’ll be home in time for supper,” Ky said. Her throat closed again. It had all happened too fast. She’d awakened as a senior cadet, in the honor squad; she’d eaten breakfast at the head of a table of cadets, in charge of that table, reminding the lowly cads to sit straight on the edge of their chairs and take no sugar