Chapter 59

There was a strong breeze blowing in from the ocean, gusting past the small team gathered on the flight deck of the Fortress. It was normally crowded with VTOLs but today they had all been sent to the spacious hangar below, leaving the broad expanse open and uncluttered.

Sofia stood carefully on her right leg, arms out wide for balance, then switched over to her left leg. She barely wobbled and grinned happily to herself. The artificial leg strapped below her left knee supported her easily and gave her no discomfort.

“You look great, So-So” her best friend Fiona said admiringly. “The new flight suit fits really well”

There was a murmur of agreement from the technicians near their portable monitoring station and Sofia struck a pose for them.

“So it doesn’t make me look too fat?” she teased Jericho-Two who was standing close by, his expression intense.

“The Ceramite armour plates do add a little bulkiness to your profile” he said loudly over the breeze. “But I don’t think that detracts from your streamlining”

Sofia gave him a glare and Fiona burst out laughing when she saw the confused look on the Avatar’s face.

“Try again, dear” Sofia said icily.

“Oh, I meant no, you look really fit and healthy.The suit shows off your excellent figure!” Jericho replied in a placating tone.

Fiona came over and adjusted the life support pack and data relays on Sofia’s back, leaning in close to whisper in her friend’s ear.

“Go easy on him, So-So” she advised. “He’s having a hard time seeing his girlfriend doing this kind of testing. You have only been out of rehab for a week now”

Sofia gave the Avatar a gentle smile and nodded agreement with Fiona.

“I know, Fi-Fi. But I really want to test out my Levitation, to see if I really have gone up to Grade Four status” She paused and turned her head to meet the one artificial and one natural eye of her room mate. “Anyway, I don’t know if you could really call me his girlfriend”

“Uh-huh” Fiona answered knowingly. “And I am supposed to be the emotionally stunted one!”

“What does that mean?” Sofia demanded but at that point the technicians finished fussing over her new helmet and brought it to her.

“All ready to go, Miss Abrams” the head flight tech told her. “Just put this on and we can finalise the calibrations”

“Oh, thanks Floyd” she responded and took it from the man. It was a lightweight design that fully enclosed her head, with a pocket at the back to contain her coiled hair. The entire front section was clear Ceramiglass and the rear section moulded Ceramite. The helmet opened at the front and with Fiona’s help she locked it around her head.

Automated commands flashed up on the inside of her visor as the helmet synchronised itself to the rest of her flight suit. Air pumps pushed a cool dry breeze over her face and she twisted and tilted her neck, making sure the connection to the neck ring was secure.

“All good, So-So?” came Fiona’s voice over her earphones so she gave her a thumbs up. “Please say something so we can hear you, dummy” Fiona added with a smile.

“What? Oh yeah, can you hear me, over?” Sofia stumbled out.

“Copy that” Fiona replied and gave her a thumbs up too. The technicians added their agreement and sent her the latest updated flight plan to her visor display.

“Remember, Sofia, if you feel yourself straining just slow down and hover” Jericho spoke to her over the communications link. “There is no need to push yourself too hard today. We can do this as many times as we have to”

“I’ll be fine, Jericho” she said calmly and walked towards him, the flight suit with its armoured chest and shoulders making her like some knight about to go into battle. Sofia was taller than the clone, especially in her flight boots, yet she held her arms out to him and he moved into her embrace without hesitation.

“Stay safe and make sure you come back to me” he said quietly, his voice barely heard above the whistle of the wind across the flight deck.

“I’m just going for a flight” she replied. “There is nothing to worry about”

With that she let him go, gave him a brief smile through her clear visor, and leaped into the sky.

=====

Sofia rocketed across the sky, a bare ten meters above the white capped waves of the ocean as she flew towards the distant horizon. Cargo ships and a couple of passenger liners tooted their air horns at her as she zipped past, her speed increasing steadily.

As she moved further out over the water, the shipping became less frequent as the vessels turned north or south, depending on their final destination. Sofia kept flying due east and noted her speed was already over two hundred kilometres per hour!

“You are clear of the commercial shipping lanes, Sofia” came Jericho’s emotionless voice in her ear. “You may begin accelerating to your maximum speed”

“Copy that!” she said exultantly and began to draw more power into her Ability. Her speed was already far in excess of what defined a Grade Three, but she really wanted to see how fast she could really go!

Her onboard processor, snuggled up against her spine along with the comms array, told her the velocity was now approaching three hundred klicks. Sofia yelled happily and focussed more energy into the leading air barrier. In theory, her armoured head, shoulders and chest would protect her from any unexpected impacts, but her best defence was a well shaped air barrier in front.

The power flowed into her body easily and she pushed more and more into her speed. Her visor showed the velocity climbing steadily, passing four hundred and then reaching five hundred.

“Sofia, you hit five hundred klicks an hour!” shouted Fiona over the comms. “They tell me that confirms you are a bona fide Grade Four!”

“Thanks Fi-Fi, but you haven’t seen anything yet!”

It took no conscious effort, just a simple act of will and the power kept flowing into her. The airspeed indicator hit six hundred, then seven and then she reached eight hundred. By now she was far out from Pan City, surrounded by the long swell of the sea. Sofia felt elated and checked her stored maps with the visor display.

In about five more minutes she would breach the territorial limit for the Zone and be in international air space. She sent a message back to her waiting friends and the technicians.

“I am going to head north. I want to test how fast I can get”

“You have already exceeded the test requirements” Jericho stated flatly. “Please come back”

“Not just yet” she answered and banked into a broad curve, following the line of the Zone’s airspace as shown by her visor. “Hang onto your hats kids, I am putting my foot down!”

“What does that mean?” Fiona asked over the comms but Sofia wasn’t listening. She drew in power and channelled it into her speed.

Nine hundred kilometres per hour. One thousand, then eleven hundred kilometres per hour.

“Hey Jericho, what’s the speed of sound?” Sofia crowed into her microphone.

“It is one thousand, two hundred and thirty five kilometres per hour at sea level” he responded, yet now there was a hint of concern in his voice.

“I thought it was something like that” she answered. Her airspeed indicator crept slowly past the twelve hundred klicks mark and she felt the air vibrating around her. She opened a small window in her visor display showing the view behind her, recorded by a small camera at the back of her helmet.

Long trails of condensed water vapour, or contrails as they were called, streamed behind her. She was already flying faster than most jet aircraft on commercial flights. The airspeed climbed past twelve hundred and fifty and she saw the massive shockwave form in the air behind her.

She could not hear it, yet in her wake she left a sonic boom as she transcended the sound barrier.

“Holy crap! I did it!” she screamed into the comms link. Shouts and cheers came back to her as the technicians acknowledged what she had done.

“That was well done, Sofia” Jericho cut through the celebrations. “Now please come home”

Sofia looked up at the sky above her, clouds filling her vision.

“Hey, Jericho, how high is this flight suit rated for?” she asked him.

“Please just come back” he replied.

Sofia started to rise, leaving the water behind as she rose like a missile into the sky.

“How high?” she asked again. The technicians would already be seeing her increasing altitude as she rocketed towards the clouds.

“Sofia, the suit is only partially pressurised and has no heating coils” Jericho said earnestly. “Your air supply will be fine but you will freeze to death if you go too high!”

“Okay then, just until I see the sun” she agreed. She raced into the clouds, her visor display showing no dangers ahead. At least no objects she could run into.

Sofia burst from the cloud cover into glorious blue sunlight. She slowed and let her speed fall away until she was hovering in the sky, a sea of fluffy white clouds below her all the way to the distant horizon.

“I am an Angel at last!” she giggled to herself and held her arms straight out to the side. She hung like that, feeling the cold of the high altitude start to seep through the thin insulation of her suit.

Her eyes drifted upwards, looking into the dark blue of the heaven above her.

“Do you think I can make it into space?” she wondered aloud. She felt like she could, like her Ability could take her all the way to the moon.

“You’ll die, dummy!” Fiona’s voice cut into her musings. “Get back down here so we can finish this test. I am freezing my ass off on top of this flight deck!”

“Okay, I am coming back now” Sofia responded and started to angle herself back towards the clouds and the earth and sea beyond that. She dove like a swimmer into the sea of swirling clouds and felt a momentary pang of regret, like she might never fly this high again.

“About time” muttered Fiona on the comms and Sofia did not feel so sad anymore. Someone was waiting for her and she accelerated into her diving descent.

=====

The visor showed her the glide path to follow and she flew steadily downwards. Soon she could see the ships sailing into and out of the harbour, the massive lump of the Fortress splitting the entrance to the broad bay.

It was a beautiful view and she vowed one day she would bring Jericho up here to see it. As she flew, that thought made her think of others. The Avatar had been by her side all through her convalescence and the fitting of her replacement left leg.

He had been her rock solid support, never flinching from her outbursts of anger or her terrible depression at the loss of her leg. Her friends like Fiona and the kids from the school, they had all been there for her too.

Yet it was Jericho who had stroked her as she cried. It was his touch and his voice that soothed her, that brought a smile back onto her face.

Soon enough the flight deck grew larger and larger, until she could make out the upturned faces of the techs and dear Fiona. Standing right at the edge of the deck, scanning the skies, was the pale blonde headed face she wanted to see so much.

Sofia dropped from the sky slowly, her feet touching down gently beside the dark grey suited form of Jericho-Two. He came over to put his arms around her, as if he was worried she might collapse.

To her surprise, her legs did give way and she slumped into his arms.

“Sofia!” he shouted and hastily undid the helmet fastenings. It fell away with a clatter to the deck and his frantic face filled her vision.

She looked into his eyes and saw the depths of his humanity. She saw the empathy and the emotions that had finally appeared in this man who was half machine.

“Tell me” she demanded, feeling giddy and light headed.

He looked confusedly at her for just a moment and then understanding filled him.

“I love you, Sofia” he stated clearly.

She smiled at him and felt stronger. Her feet pushed against the deck and she stood on her own, still cradling the man before her.

“Now it’s true” she told him.