Danielle kept her thoughts to herself as she’d done since that first night in the hangar.
Finished with the Engine Startup Checklist, she buzzed through the Engine Ground Operation, Before Taxi, and Taxiing Check checklists.
She taxied forward from the hangar and out beneath the Nevada sky sparkling with the first stars and the last hint of gold at the desert horizon.
Despite the warm Nevada evening, she felt a shiver run up her spine; so strong it almost drove tears from her eyes—except she’d learned long ago to never show the tears. Never let them see you were afraid or hurt, never let her mother see how much every failure wounded. Cover it with a laugh—only inside her head, but still a laugh.
She’d been planning to ask for a transfer the next time she saw Colonel McDermott. Despite
