Chapter 1

I knew it wasn't my fault that the ship had crashed. Despite that, my mind kept replaying all the events of the last few hours again and again while I tried to figure out where things had gone wrong. Could I have done something to prevent the crash? I had carried out all the usual pre-flight checks and then some. I am only 21 years old but everyone working for the Bennet Flight School knew that I was the best pilot and instructor on this moon. It was just bad luck that the new RS-567 that we had bought turned out to have some problem with its software. Its operating software was supposed to be the most advanced released to date – the AI almost sentient. I'd been so excited when Dad had finally finished his checks and deemed the new ship ready for a test flight. Dad had wanted to take it up himself but had given in to my pleading and let me take the first flight with Kel co-piloting.

The first 5 minutes after we soared into the air had been exhilarating. I'd never flown anything that took to the skies so smoothly. We had planned to fly around the Kahphor mountains and over the Rule Valley before returning. Looking at the mountains looming ahead, I'd just told Kel that we would take it faster when I felt a jolt. Then things went crazy really fast. The controls wouldn't respond and the ship started plummeting downwards. The AI had taken over and I couldn't get the manual over-ride to function. I'd been in similar situations before and I'd always gone manual and managed to land the ship safely. But this new AI figured it knew things better than a human pilot and was all set to plonk us on top of a mountain. I tried everything I could to get back in control of the ship – I had a lot of experience hacking into these kinds of programs. However, the operating system for the RS-567 was programmed in an innovative manner courtesy two child prodigies. After trying without success for a few minutes, I realised that Kel was right and we had to eject before we were too close to the mountain for the escape pod to take us clear.

As we shot off in the escape pod, I thought of all the trouble Dad and gone through to buy the RS-567. All the palms he had to grease before permissions were given. All the bank managers he had to beg before loans were approved.

Dad and Anelle were the ones who found our pod and took us back to the biosphere. Kel and I were too shook up to say anything for a while. Dad never blamed me for the crash. Just listened to our account of what happened and said that it must have been a software glitch.

We informed all the authorities immediately so that the crash site could be cordoned off. Kel and I were questioned for an hour by the Biosphere 3 police. Since nothing besides the ship was damaged and no one had been hurt, the police didn't kick up much fuss. They said that their specialists would complete their inspection of the site and then they would forward their report to the insurance company. They assured us that the process on their side would be completed in a couple of days.

Dad and I sat down to work on the insurance claim forms immediately. Dad was used to dealing with the insurance company but he'd never before put in such a large claim – the RS-567 was a very expensive ship and she had been badly damaged. We had to prove beyond doubt that the accident was not caused by any action or omission on our part. We sent the preliminary communication of the claim to the Pemberley Insurers local office on Titan and then went to work on the claim forms.

Before we could get started, we were interrupted by my mother. She came in crying. "Where is my daughter? Why did no one tell me her plane crashed?" She was rather taken aback to see me sitting calmly next to Dad. After a quick inspection reassured her that I was intact and functioning, she started complaining about how Dad hadn't told her as soon as it happened and that she had to find out from Kel's mother. Dad and I glanced at each other and remained silent while she continued ranting. She soon started on my choice of career and how shocking it was to have a woman descended from a distinguished Earth family in such a lowly profession.

I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. Our family may have come from Earth unlike the majority of the first settlers who had moved here from one of the other moons of Saturn or from Ganymede, but we were far from being distinguished. Dad's family had always been pilots and Great-Grandad had jumped at the opportunity to start a flight school on Titan. Mom's family, well, she said that they were involved in government back on Earth but her grandfather had been a farmer when they first came to Titan. Being one of the few Earth families here, they quickly created the social hierarchy and thus ensured that they were on the top.

Mom got tired of talking to us after some time and recollected that she had been attending a 'viewing' and that Lydia was waiting for her. With a final admonishment to me to think about where I was headed, she left. Dad and I were used to her so we got back to work as if she had never come. Mom didn't realize that this crash could mean the end of our flight school if the insurance company denied our claim.

We always kept our documentation updated so getting copies of all the pre-sale and post-sale reports was easy. The communications between our ships and the control tower was always recorded and saved to our documentation library so we didn't have any issue getting those either and soon we had our report of the events leading up to the crash completed. We wouldn't be given access to the ship's records – only the insurance company representative would look into those.

However, the most important report would be the one showing that I was an experienced pilot. I had got my professional pilot's license at 18 which was the earliest that I could test for it. Dad hadn't wanted any cries of nepotism so I didn't give the test at our flight school but went to Earth to give it at the main test center. I'd aced the test and received the highest scores since Dad had given his own test three decades ago. Afterwards, I'd proceeded to clock in the maximum flight hours humanly possible. Since the minimum age for getting the Commander certificate was 21, I had gone to Ganymede for the test after my birthday a couple of months ago. The insurance company could argue that I'd only just received my Commander certification and was not competent to handle a ship like the RS-567.

We couldn't put my actual flight hours in the report – Dad would probably be arrested. I'd first sneaked into the simulator room when I was three. By the age of five, I performed better than the students on the training machines. Dad started letting me come with him on short flights when I was eight, and by ten he'd let me be co-pilot. I'd been flying solo two years before getting my private pilot's license at sixteen legalized it. Of course, everyone who worked at the flight school knew. Dad had initially been worried and tried to keep it a secret but he realized that the staff were loyal and not going to rat us out. No one even told Mom – as far as she was aware I'd only started solo flights after I got my license.

Dad sighed and put his head in his hands. "Beth, you have to impress the insurance assessor who comes. The assessor is going to come thinking that a reckless kid crashed the ship. You have to show him that you are an experienced and mature pilot." I opened my mouth to reply but he raised his hand and continued. "We all know how capable you are but we also know how you like to play practical tricks and your propensity to make sarcastic comments. Please don't do either around the assessor." I scowled and was going to make a rejoinder when I suddenly thought of how much pressure Dad was under – if the claim was denied I didn't see how he would be able to manage. We would have to sell the school. I kept quiet and went back to working on the reports.

Mom and Lydia were chattering away during dinner as usual. I was glad that they were too self-absorbed to notice that Dad was looking old and grey. I felt responsible; if Dad had been flying the ship instead of me, we wouldn't have to worry about the insurance claim being rejected.

Dad's wrist communicator gave a beep. He looked at the id and left the table immediately. As Mom grumbled about Dad's lack of table manners, I wondered whether it was the insurance company. I looked at the time and did a quick calculation. It would be the beginning of the work-day on the western side of Earth.

Dad came back into the room and asked Mom to excuse both of us for a few minutes. I anxiously followed Dad into the study.

"That was George Alkhally from the Pemberley Insurers Head Office in North America. I've dealt with him many times so he wanted to call me personally to let me know what is happening."

"What did he say?" I asked.

"Zack McNeely from their Ganymede office will be coming – as you know, Zach is their airship specialist. He is familiar with the RS-567 and the best person to investigate what happened to the ship. But they are also sending another investigator due the size of the claim. This person will be investigating the pilot." Dad paused and looked at me.

"They're sending a person to investigate me!"

"Yes. That is not unusual, with a large claim they can be expected to send a team of specialists. What is surprising is the person that they are sending – Will Darcy."

I had never heard of him. "Should I know the name?" I asked.

"Well, I'm sure your mother would have heard of him – his family own Pemberley Insurers among other companies. George tells me that Will has been working with Pemberley Insurers for two years now and that he specializes in airship claims. In fact, he has a professional pilot license. I guess it's a good thing that he is coming – he can't be much older than you so he shouldn't be prejudiced against you just because of your age."

I wasn't sure – from my experience, young male pilots were prejudiced against young female pilots. I didn't say anything to Dad. He was already under enough stress.

"I expect to hear from Darcy tomorrow – if he is traveling on the light shuttle we can expect him here in three days", Dad said.

After dinner, I went up to my room quickly. I wanted to find out as much as I could about Will Darcy from the public net. I was rather surprised at what I read about him. He had graduated in business management from one of the top-ranked universities in North America and initially started working with the Rosings Group which was the financial investment company of Pemberley Holdings. He had joined Pemberley Insurers a couple of years ago like Dad had mentioned. I was over-whelmed by what I learned about the size of Pemberley Holdings and not particularly amazed to find that he was rated one of the most eligible bachelors on Earth. With a family like that and his looks (there were many pictures of him attending various events) it was only to be expected. I supposed that Lydia would be all over him. Would that play in our favor? Or should I keep her away from him ...

I hoped that he would come quickly and that the whole issue could be resolved soon. I just wanted to get everything over with. I was sure that Zach would find data on the ship records that confirmed my account of the cause of the crash. And once I proved to Darcy that I was a good pilot, there would be nothing stopping them from approving the claim.