B20C6-9 - Flight Skill

His room was brightly lit, which helped us see, and I easily spotted the blue cube on his desk.

<Okay, I'm going in!> Rachel said.

<Uh-uh, I don't think so,> Tobias said. <You're too big in that bulky eagle morph. You can't fly through that window. Me and Marco had better go.>

<Oh, man!> Rachel complained. But even she could see Tobias was right.

<Give us a warning if David gets out of the pool,> Tobias said. Then he spilled air from his wings and stabilized on a glide path, straight for the bright rectangle of the window.

But I managed to get out ahead of him. <Hah!> I said.

<Marco! Careful if you're going first. You'll need to flare as soon as you pass the windowsill. I mean instantly, or you'll smack the far wall.>

<Hey, I'm not as experienced as you are, Tobias, but I'm not a complete idiot.>

<No, you're an incomplete idiot!> Rachel called down helpfully.

I zoomed, down, down through the night, aimed straight for that window. It was cool. Like what it must be like to land a jet on an aircraft carrier at night. Just a little, glowing target in the darkness.

<Make sure you stay clear of that stick,> Tobias said. He was just six feet behind me.

<What stick?> I asked, and then the window was suddenly right in front of me! It was a trick of the light! It had seemed farther away.

I tried to slow down, ready to flare once I was in. And then I saw the stick. The stick that was propping the window open.

Thwack! My left wing hit the stick.

<Wha!> I yelled.

(...)

I turned toward the distant line of forest. It wouldn't be easy finding Ax. He kept out of sight during the day. We were worried some deer hunter would spot him and try to shoot. Or worse, that some Controller might spot him and know what he was.

Now I began to realize that the breeze was blowing against me. Which meant slow going. But Tobias had taught us that sometimes altitude makes up for ground speed. See, if you get high enough, you can use gravity to let you swoop long distances, even against the wind. It's like climbing to the top of a really tall slide. Even if the wind is against you, you can slide to the bottom.

I rode a thermal up and up, as high as I've ever flown. I don't know how far. But far enough that I spotted a small private plane at my same altitude.

I took aim on the forest and went into a long, gentle glide that eventually brought me to my target.