Trini led the way up the main staircase. It wound up into the stone of the mesa before widening up into a huge landing. An enormous opening had been cut into the rock; the view was spectacular, but the room was meant to be a hangar, not an observation deck. This was where the strange flying machine Tommy had seen a few moments ago had disappeared to.
It was now silent and still, its pilot nowhere to be seen, but it was no less bizarre close up than it had been when seen from a distance. He was intensely curious about the strange machine and would have liked a chance to take it for a spin himself, to see how it worked, but one look from Trini quashed that idea before he could even voice it.
So instead, he contented himself with merely asking, "What is this thing?"
Her expression shifted from imposing glare to mild confusion. "It's a glider," she explained, as if he should already know that. "One of our airborne patrol vehicles."
And she left it at that for the moment, heading toward the far end of the room. He realized now there was a doorway there, covered by a curtain. Halfway there, Trini paused and looked over her shoulder at him. "Don't touch it."
Tommy pretended he had not been about to do just that and nodded obediently.
Satisfied with his answer, she only glared at him for a couple more seconds before turning back to her goal. "Everything all right in there?"
There was a muffled response, and then the curtain was yanked open. Behind it stood the missing pilot, now quite obviously a woman, still wearing flying gear. Or at least most of it. He couldn't help but ogle a little. She had some very fine curves, and the tight leather pants and that half-buttoned flying jacket with the flimsy, almost sheer shirt underneath weren't doing her any disservices.
As he watched, practically spellbound, she shed her gloves and pushed her goggles up onto her forehead. Then, after sharing an amused glance with Trini, she turned to Tommy, tugged the flying mask down off her face, and asked a question. A question he never heard, because it felt like his heart had stopped beating.
Underneath all that flying gear was Kimberly Hart.