The Skycruiser

                                                By Jeff Baker

            “Woah! Hey! Lookout!!” Kyle-Four jumped in his seat and alternated between pointing and covering his eyes.

            “Relax! I’ve got this!” Scott-Two said, as the skycruiser moved into the next airlane. “I’ve been driving for a while!” He steered the skycruiser into position as they soared past the tops of the downtown skyscrapers. “It’s actually pretty easy!”

            “Keep your eye on the line, dude!” Kyle-Four yelled in near-panic.

            “Hey! It’s chillib, Bro!” Scott-Two said. “Besides, the monitor does most of the flying, remember?”

            “Oh, yeah,” Kyle-Four said, settling back into his seat. “I keep forgetting.”

            The skycruiser arced above the city, following the rest in a line.

            “I got my assignment this morning,” Kyle-Four said, staring out the passenger side window.

            “Yeah?” Scott-Two said, his hands clenching the control disc. “What did they say?”

            “Girls,” Kyle-Four said still staring out the window. “I’m gonna like girls.” He turned to Scott-Two with a sad smile. “For the rest of my life.”

            “When…when’s the…” Scott-Two started to say, his mouth hanging open.

            “Acclimation?” Kyle-Four said. “Mine’s set for Frostday at 11:16 in the morning.”

            “Two days. Aw, Horus, two days.” Scott-Two said.

            “Look, I’ll always remember what we, you know, had…” Kyle-Four said.

            “But you won’t feel it anymore!” Scott-Two yelled, banging his fist on the dashboard.  The monitor didn’t even let the skycruiser jiggle.

            “But I’ll remember,” Kyle-Four said again, wondering how he really would feel then. “How about you?” Kyle-Four asked. “I mean, any word when your, you know, Acclimation is gonna be?”

            “Already happened,” Scott-Two said. “I turned twenty-two last month, remember?”

            “And?” Kyle-Four asked, his jaw dropping.

            “Same as I always was,” Scott-Two said in a flat voice. “Same as the last time we…you know. That’s why I didn’t bother telling you.”

            The two of them sat back in their seats and let the monitor do the flying. Kyle-Four slid his hand across the armrest and touched Scott-Two’s hand. They flew in silence.

            “We…have two days before I have to…you know.” Kyle-Four said.

            Scott-Two turned to Kyle-Four and grinned, squeezing Kyle-Four’s hand.

            “You know, for now I’m happy with this.” Scott-Two said.

            “It’s chillib, Bro, It’s chillib.” Kyle-Four said.

                                               —end—