Douglas coughed slightly and shifted from foot to foot in the crowded atrium. He looked around nervously for... he didn't even know what the man looked like... he pushed his glasses further up his nose and tried to stop the butterflies in his stomach.

"Ah! Are you Douglas Richardson?" The loud, confident voice startled him and he dropped the folder he was holding. Blushing beetroot red, he bent to pick it up and straightened up to look into a round, laughing face.

"Uh... yes, hi. Um... you must be Captain Rory McAdam?" he phrased the sentence with a question mark, praying that his stammer wouldn't make an appearance

"Yes, that's me! A little nervous are we? Ha, don't worry, it's like that on everyone's first day. Now, shall we get down to it? There'll be plenty of time to get to know each other once we're in the flight deck!" Douglas nodded mutely, and stooping first to pick up his flight bag, he followed his new captain out of the hall.

"So, this your first placement?" Rory asked casually as the plane settled itself into a steady path.

"Yes" Douglas nodded. "I..."

"Good good!" chuckled Rory, "well they couldn't have put you with a finer captain, though I say so myself!" Douglas nodded again and tried to press his tall frame down into the seat. Rory laughed again "There's no need to hide, I wait a few days before feasting on my prey! Well, why don't you take control, we'll see how well you handle the plane shall we?" Douglas gulped and then nodded. Rory passed him the control column and sat back in his seat. Douglas gripped the column tightly with both hands and felt a sweat break out on his forehead.

"I..."

"Go on, boy, look at your artificial horizon! Pull her up straight." Douglas jerked on the column before him and felt the plane swing too far to the right! His grip tightened and he saw his knuckles turn white. His heart beat frantically and suddenly he wasn't in control of his own thoughts and body, let alone the plane. He let go with a cry and shrank back into his seat. He was vaguely aware of Rory grabbing the control column and righting the plane, but he didn't pay much attention to that. He fought to regain control and finally calmed down enough to hear a concerned voice calling his name

"Douglas? Are you alright?"

"Yeh. Yeah. I'm fine. I'm... sorry. Sorry about that. I don't..."

"Ahh don't worry, kid. No harm done eh? Just next time. Try not to kill us all yeah?" He looked up into the laughing eyes of his captain and smiled wanly

"Yeah... yeah of course."

"That's the spirit." ATC came through the radio "Do you want to answer that?" Douglas nodded and answered the radio call

Two days later, Douglas found himself again waiting for his captain to arrive. Finally, he saw the now familiar face approaching.

"Shall we go then?" Douglas swallowed his nerves and nodded. Rory grinned and strode off in the direction of the plane. Douglas straightened his back and attempted to imitate his captain's confident stride.