“Cheetah! Cheetah! Cheetah!”
The crowd continued to scream as Austin stepped between the Tridents. Even when he made it twenty yards from the crowd, it still sounded as if the entire station had come down to congratulate Skylar. He grinned despite the lump forming in his gut. She deserved this.
“Trainee!”
Austin spun around. “Yes, sir.”
Rolling stepped forward as if he sized up a prized steed, his icy blue eyes surveying Austin. “You’ve now seen your competition. I expect you to do better.”
He tried to hide his confusion. “Yes, sir.”
He didn’t think the trainers for Rockshot cared how their pilots did, only that they finished safely.
“We need to get to preflight, but I wanted to talk with you first, see if you had any questions for me.”
Austin shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You under
