Delphi Nation by Bob Blanton

Author:Bob Blanton [Blanton, Bob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Speculative
ISBN: 1711187178
Google: w_08zQEACAAJ
Amazon: B081Y3FT8H
Goodreads: 48926959
Published: 2019-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Know-it-All

“You ready for this?” Liz asked Catie. Catie was taking Frankie up in the Lynx; Liz was going to be her copilot, wingmate, and bodyguard.

“It’s just a test flight,” Catie said.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Liz said. “And where is that guy? For someone anxious to get a ride in a Lynx, he’s not very punctual.”

“He’s only fifteen minutes late,” Catie said.

“He should have been early,” Liz countered.

“There he is,” Catie said as Frankie turned the corner into the hangar.

“About time,” Liz said.

“Hi, Frankie,” Catie called out as she waved.

Frankie waved back as he sauntered over. “Hi,” he said as he eyed Liz.

“This is Liz, my copilot,” Catie said. “She’s also a good friend.”

“Hi,” Frankie said, looking a bit disappointed at the thought of a copilot.

“Once we’re airborne and complete the test,” Catie said, “you and Liz can swap for a while.”

“Cool,” Frankie said.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road,” Liz said as she turned and headed into the Lynx.

Frankie and Catie followed her. “You can strap in here,” Catie said. “It’ll take about forty-five minutes to finish the test. Do you have something to read?”

“Sure,” Frankie said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Hey, can you get me some specs?” he asked. He only had one of their modified phones, without the specs and earwig, since they were in short supply and allocated to critical personnel and a few close associates.

“We don’t have very many available,” Catie said, “manufacturing issues. But I’ll check. We should be solving the manufacturing problem soon, then everyone will get them.”

“Thanks,” Frankie said, clearly assuming Catie would get him a set.

Catie made her way into the cockpit as Frankie strapped in. They were in the air in minutes. “Is he okay back there?” Liz asked.

“I think so,” Catie said. “Apparently, he thought he’d be the copilot.”

“He seems to think a lot of himself,” Liz said as she looked at the display showing the main cabin. “It looks like he’s playing some kind of game on his phone,” she scoffed, clearly thinking that there were better uses of his time.

“Well, he has some time to burn,” Catie said. She agreed with Liz about better uses of time but felt she needed to defend Frankie.

“Would you switch with Frankie?” Catie asked after they had finished fifty minutes of tests.

“Sure,” Liz said as she unstrapped. She headed back to the main cabin.

“Hey,” Frankie said as he slid into the copilot’s seat.

“Hey, yourself,” Catie said. “Sorry, it took so long. We had a long list of tests to do.”

“No problem,” Frankie said. “Can I fly it?”

“Let me show you the various controls,” Catie said.

Catie walked him through the controls; she could tell that he was only half paying attention, but she persisted. Once she’d finished the list, she nodded to Frankie to indicate that he should take hold of the yoke. “You have control,” she said after she set her controls to be able to override anything that Frankie did.

Frankie just started to steer the plane, not bothering to acknowledge that he had taken control.

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