Chapter VII: Pirate
Seated at his favorite table in the café with his friends, Nathaniel waited for their orders. He had escaped the wrath of Doc Newmann but that could wait.
Aimee was looking at him intently as if she was waiting his next move. He gave her a weary smile. This was not unnoticed by Chris, Clarissa and Patty who were grinning like fools.
"Here's your orders," the waitress said as she brought the tray to their table. "Double Dutch ice cream?"
"Here," Patty said as she took her order.
"Banana Split?"
"Here," Chris smiled.
"Rocky Road,"
"Thanks," Clarissa
"And two Coffee Crumble ice creams," the trio looked at Nat and Aimee as they took their orders.
"They have the same tastes," Clarissa teased.
"Indeed," Chris smiled. "So? What now hot shot?"
"What do you mean?" Nat asked wearily. "Now I find a deep dark hole to hide in."
"Is he that terrible?" Aimee asked worriedly but Nat gave her an assuring smile.
"Not quite," he sighed and took a bite off his ice cream. "But it's wise to stay out of his way for a while."
"You fight like a warrior," Patty commented much to Nat's dismay. He never wanted to be a warrior but there was something about the sky that appealed to him.
"That was the scariest thing I have ever done so far," he admitted.
"And those wild maneuvers in the Canyons of the Pirate?" Chris sighed. "We still need to overhaul those engines."
"Where can we get operational FF-2650 engines?" he looked at him questioningly.
"Doc?" Chris suggested making Nat sigh.
"What are you guys talking about?" Aimee asked curiously. "What about this Canyon of the Pirate?"
"Oh that," Nat said uninterestingly. "It's a canyon half a day's ride from here which makes that canyon we danced in seem like a child's merry-go-around."
"Are you kidding?" Patty exclaimed.
"You shouldn't have said that," Clarissa sighed. "She gets a thrill to challenge dangerous terrain."
"Please describe it to me," Aimee smiled as she prodded him. Looking at her serene face, Nat conceded.
"The canyon is a twisting hellhole of sharp edges and strangely crystal minerals."
"Is that all?" Patty sighed.
"No," Nat became serious. "The whole canyon is covered in a thick vine that prevents sunlight through. Flying through it is like flying through the abyss. Visibility is low and sometimes I could only see only five feet in front of me."
"He's claustrophobic," Chris whispered to Clarissa who laughed.
"A fear is nothing to laugh about," Nat and Aimee said in unison making the duo stop. "What?" they asked still in unison. No one dare to point out the obvious.
"In any case," Chris turned to Clarissa and Patty. "The range on the radar and sonar are limited to about five feet from the nose cone. Visibility with the searchlight will become poor in the beginning and it will become intolerable one the lights hits the reflective crystals in the inner sanctum."
"Inner sanctum?" Clarissa asked.
"That's we call the part of the canyon filled with various crystals that intensifies any sort of light," Nat explained. "In flying the canyon, you have to rely on you other senses for your sense of sight will betray you."
"Relying on the scanners would make it worse," Chris added. "There's enough static feedback to screw up all sensors and equipment."
"Trust me, I did everything to lessen the feedback," Nat said as he took a spoonful of his ice cream and ate it.
"But the VF-1's system could only take so much and I usually fry the circuits," Nat sighed but the three lady pilots and his friend looked at him in awe.
"You have a VF-1?" Aimee asked in surprise as she looked at Nat.
"Actually it's a VT-1 super ostrich," he said. "It's in my barn but due to circuit damage I can't get it flying again."
"You never told me you have a VT-1," Chris glared at his friend obviously miffed about being left out. "And why didn't you tell me you were doing a canyon run?"
"Because I wasn't sure that I'd come out of it alive."
With his words, everyone fell silent.
"What happened? Aimee asked.
"I clipped a wing and crashed," he sullenly said and looked away. The Meltran felt that there was something more to it than a clipped wing. Instead of asking what was on her mind, Aimee chose a different subject.
"Didn't the night vision and infrared help at all?" Nat froze as he looked at his ice cream. After a while, he sighed.
"It did for a while but I flew into a blind alley and everything went berserk. I can't explain it but every sensor I had went out. It was a night... mare..." Nat watched the street in horror making everyone turn to see what was it made him nervous. However, there was nothing but the normal traffic. The ladies were confused but Chris was irked.
"He did it again," he growled and when Aimee looked back at Nat, she knew why he was irked.
Nathaniel was no longer in his seat. She could not even find his presence inside the shop. Sighing, her gaze turned to Chris who was frowning but with a sigh, looked solemn.
"He always does that when he evades a question," he explained. "I never did ask how Nat did in the canyon run. No one has ever lived to tell it or complete it. There are some who survived but somehow they found themselves by the mouth of the cave. And I think he had the same experience."
"Is it pilot pride that makes him reluctant to discuss it with us?" Patty asked.
"I don't think so," Aimee said. "I think it's something deeper."
"And what are you going to do about it?" Clarissa asked. And Aimee thought that it was a good question.
...
Nathaniel hated lying. He did finish the canyon run but at what cost. His mother's VT was trashed and he barely made it to the main cavern. For you see, the second stage of the gauntlet involved laser cannons and sonic blasters. All of them fried his sensors for the blast from both weapons interfered with the functions of his scanners. The constant barrage of blasters blinded the night vision sensors and the sonics interrupted his guidance.
He was practically flying blind.
And just as he was sure he would crash, he had entered a cavern to be beheld a wondrous sight.
And Nathaniel was determined to share that sight with a woman he held dear.