Chapter 13

13

SARAH

T he moment Ryker told me to ride shotgun, I felt like he'd just pulled the rug out from under me. Seriously, what a joke! All I've been dreaming about for weeks is finally getting up in the air, and now he's taking that chance away from me? What's his deal, anyway? Is he trying to mess with me? He's an asshole.

He wanted to humiliate me in front of the others. He was enjoying this. This was him pulling rank and throwing his weight around. He was still pissed about the other night. Yes, I had a problem with authority, but I could usually disguise it a little better. There was just something about him that pissed me off to no end. He made me want to scream in frustration. I didn't understand why he was constantly around. It was obnoxious.

As he guided the plane out to the runway, I listened to his instructions over the comms, doing my best to keep my annoyance in check. Safety first, I reminded myself, even if it meant swallowing my pride. I sat quietly while he got the clearance for takeoff.

Once we had clearance, I felt the familiar rumble under me as he sped down the runway. My heart pounded in my chest, my excitement drowning out everything else. This was what I wanted, to feel the freedom of flight and the rush of adrenaline as the ground fell away beneath us. I would have preferred to be in the pilot seat, but whatever.

We lifted off and he was smooth, his maneuvers perfect. The plane responded to him like it was an extension of his body. I had to begrudgingly admit he was a damn good pilot. But would he be a good instructor? Would he be able to put aside his ego long enough to teach me? I wasn't so sure.

We climbed at a rapid pace, going up three thousand feet in a minute. Exhilaration coursed through me. The rush of the wind against the plane, the pull of the G-forces—I loved all of it.

Suddenly, he began a series of high-speed maneuvers, the T6 twisting and turning on his command. I clutched at the sides of my seat. Despite myself, a grin spread across my face. The plane dove toward the ground and then pulled up at the last minute, and I could hear my own ecstatic laughter over our comms.

Then, without warning, he leveled off the plane and looked back at me, his eyes gleaming through the slits of his helmet. His voice crackled over the comms. "Enjoying the ride, Thomas?"

I didn't want to tell him yes, but I had a feeling my laughter gave me away. "It's the best."

"Okay, what do we do next?"

I told him what I would do while he did what I said. We were on a steady flight path, cruising through the air.

And then he turned off the engine.

Panic surged through me. What the hell was he doing? I gripped the edge of my seat, my heart pounding in my chest for an entirely different reason as we started to fall.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded.

Ryker remained cool as a cucumber. "What would you do in a situation like this?" he asked. "If your engine stalled or if your plane was damaged, what would your strategy be to stay alive?"

My mind raced as I searched for an answer. "Eject?" I offered.

Ryker shook his head. "No. We have time to correct before we bail out."

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to focus, to remember the steps I had been taught. Closing my eyes, I tried to block out the rush of wind and the sound of the plummeting plane. I ran through the checklist in my mind, trying to push aside the fear and uncertainty. I could do this, I told myself. I had to do this.

Slowly, steadily, I guided Ryker through the necessary maneuvers. My hands shook with adrenaline as I spoke. The plane leveled out and we regained control. I let out a shaky breath, relief flooding through me.

In that moment, I realized just how much I'd learned from Ryker. "That was dramatic," I said.

"Do you think it's dramatic to bail out of a jet you fucked up? You made a mistake and that's what has led your jet to lose power. Unless you've lost an engine for something completely out of your control, it's your fault. What happens to the ninety-million-dollar jet? Do you think it evaporates?"

"No," I replied, swallowing hard. His harsh words were warranted. The gravity of my decision-making during a crisis was more significant than I had ever imagined.

"Exactly," he said, his voice softened a little. "It crashes. It burns. Lives can be lost, not just yours but the ones on the ground too. An out-of-control jet is nothing more than a missile with a human inside."

A sense of dread washed over me. I clutched tighter onto my seat. This wasn't just about me learning to fly—it was also about being responsible for the potential damage I could cause.

Ryker turned back toward the controls and silently began to reset the systems. The sudden quiet was a stark contrast to the heart-pounding chaos of moments before. I could hear my own breathing that was just a little too fast, the hiss and hum of the airplane's restored systems, and something else—Ryker's calm, steady exhale as he worked.

He slowly maneuvered the plane back onto our original flight path, his movements precise and calculated. After a few minutes, the plane tilted slightly as he started a controlled descent, heading back toward the runway we'd taken off from just a half hour before.

His little test was the equivalent of being thrown into the deep end with the dude doing the throwing standing on the edge of the pool and waiting to see what happened. I wasn't sure I approved of his training methods. This was why the dude had the reputation he did. He was a fucking maniac.

The plane touched down on the runway. Relief flooded through me like a tidal wave. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my trembling hands. I'd never been scared in a plane before, but that? That scared the hell out of me.

The feeling of plummeting through the air with no control nearly made me sick. If I was in the pilot's seat, I could have handled it better. I didn't like not being in control.

And he did it all on purpose.

Ryker didn't even spare me a glance as he exited the plane, leaving me to struggle with my shaky knees and queasy stomach. I fumbled with my seatbelt, feeling weak and drained as I finally manage to stand. With unsteady steps, I made my way toward the rest of the class. They were watching me with wide eyes, obviously aware of what just happened up there.

"Who's next?" Dean's voice cut through the tense silence as he looked down the line of pilots.

Nobody volunteered.

Dean's chuckle sent a shiver down my spine. He was getting a kick out of this. He knew I was the best pilot in the class, and he figured if he could scare me, that would teach the others a lesson.

"If nobody volunteers, I'll have to pick someone, and I'd much prefer someone with guts," Dean said, taunting me and the others. "Don't make me draw straws." His eyes scanned the line of pilots, one by one, each of them attempting to hold his gaze and failing miserably. I knew what he was trying to achieve, it was a test of nerve, a show of force designed to weed out the weak and uncommitted.

I watched Ryker, arms crossed over his chest as he regarded us with an unreadable expression. For a fleeting moment, I saw something close to respect in his eyes before it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

I watched as a young man stepped out of line.

Dean looked him up and down. "Let's go," he said.

Dean got behind the male pilot and let him take control of the plane. Anger boiled up inside me. What a jerk! I couldn't believe he'd put me through something like that, just to see how I would react. It was reckless and irresponsible, and it was downright cruel.

I clung to my stomach, trying desperately not to vomit. They taxied back out to the runway. Once I was confident Dean couldn't see me, I let out the breath I had been holding in because I was afraid to show Dean any emotion. I wasn't going to let him see what he had done to me.

Kylee walked over with a look of concern. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You're white as a ghost."

"I'm fine," I said.

"What happened up there?" she asked.

"I confronted a nightmare," I admitted, forcing a laugh that sounded more like a croak. "I thought I could handle it but it was like being on the edge of a cliff with nothing to hold on to."

Kylee gave me an understanding nod, her face softened with empathy. "I can't imagine. What did he do?"

"He cut the engine," I said. "He turned it off and asked me what he should do. I wasn't the one flying. He wanted me to tell him what to do. If I was in control, I could have just done it, but no, he wanted me to go through it step by step."

"Maybe he wanted to see if you could remember," she said. "I guess it's a training style."

"It was reckless!" I hissed, my hands balling into fists at my sides.

Kylee just shrugged. "Yes, it was. But maybe he wanted to see how you would react under pressure. And from what I can tell, you did just fine."

I scoffed at her words, feeling the knot in my stomach tighten. "You call nearly passing out ‘doing fine'?"

Kylee patted my shoulder sympathetically. "It's a tough gig," she said. "Everyone knows Dean's methods are unconventional."

I sighed and rubbed my temples as I watched the airplane ascend into the sky again. All I wanted was to be in control of that plane and not on the ground, watching the horror unfold for another pilot. The look on his face before he boarded mirrored my dread.

"He was testing me," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "He was testing all of us. He wanted to see if I would tap out. If I tapped out, maybe some of you would follow me out. It was a way of culling the herd."

"All that for a power trip?" Kylee's voice was incredulous.

"This is survival of the fittest—except it's not about the strongest or the smartest. It's about who can hold their nerve even when they're scared out of their minds. I think he actually thought I was going to panic and he was going to have to save the day. Then he would tell my dad I failed, and I have no doubt in my mind my dad would do what he does, and I would be pulled from the program."

"But you passed, right?" She smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "I swear, if I get the chance to be in that cockpit with him in the back, I will show him what it's like to be at someone else's mercy."

Kylee chuckled, patting my back. "Scare him out of his wits."

I shook my head. "No, not scare him. I want to make sure he knows that I can handle any situation calmly and competently. He won't have anything to hold over me."

Kylee gave me a thoughtful nod, her gaze drifting up to the now distant plane etching a line in the clear blue sky. "That's the best payback there is."