Page 202 of Aviatrix

My eyes catch on a word that stops me cold.

Aviatrix.

I skim the passage. Neural mapping. DNA.

Can a jet know its pilot? Can they be linked by more than just thought?

I inhale sharply as my gaze lands on the final few sentences. Added Kinley’s DNA to mix and there was recognition. VAL-X knew her by her neural map. This is promising.

My DNA… is in VAL?

She doesn’t just respond to me. She was built from me. My code. My blood.

Oh, Dad, what were you doing? What were you thinking?

He must have kept this secret even from Jan. Because this makes me not only VAL’s key, but kin. No wonder VAL only flies for me.

“The view is nice today,” VAL says suddenly, her console glowing a warm yellow.

I glance up, startled, and take in the world around me. Endless miles of bright blue sky. Big, fluffy clouds that stretch to the horizon. The kind of view that makes you believe anything is possible. That answers are closer than they seem.

“Let’s see how fast we can go, VAL,” I say.

Her console pulses red with excitement. “Engaging engines for maximum speed.”

“Are we aiming for Mach 3 today?”

“We are, Captain,” she responds.

I hold Dad’s journal tight to my chest as VAL accelerates, the force pressing me into the seat.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds. But right now, in the jet my father built with my DNA written into its bones, I feel invincible.

Whatever comes next, I’m ready.

“Faster, VAL,” I urge.

My dad used to call me his little Jetlet.

But I’m not little anymore.

I’m flying at Mach 3, and I’m not looking back.

Let the aliens come. Let the Legion regroup. Let the sky burn.

I have VAL. I have a team. I have Eli. And I’m done waiting for permission to rise.

FORTY-TWO

WELCOME TO THE OTHER SIDE

Eli

The San Antonio heat slams into me as the General opens the steel door. I’ve been underground for days, getting briefed on the Legion, on my purpose. To join, to infiltrate, to annihilate.

Part of the mission is non-negotiable: no contact with the outside world.

I’ve done this before. Once. Right after I graduated from the Academy. The General approached me with a top-secret assignment the very next day—to recover the supposed remains of Colonel Conrad Quay. Return them to his family, even if it was only ashes and bone.