The autopilot alarm sounded on the nav console alerting that the Aurora was approaching its destination of Terra III, waking Eva up from her daydream with a start. Being only 14 years old, she had to unfasten her pilot restraints for a moment to switch off the alarm before it woke up her mother, Jessica, who was sleeping in the bunk further back in the little starship.

 

Eva had been accompanying her mother on trading and exploration runs during weekends and school breaks since she turned twelve and her mother had taken the time to teach Eva how to pilot the little ship so that they could share time at the controls. It had worked well over the past couple of years, allowing them to complete trading runs more efficiently, and at times Eva's youthfully sharp vision had picked up things that Jessica would have missed resulting in some lucrative salvage.

 

Although it was highly illegal to let a child pilot a starship, the two got away with it by using a few tricks. As Eva approached orbit proximity to the planet she flipped on hailing frequencies and then pressed a button on her MobiGlas, the personal electronic device that practically everyone had, which was wired into the ship's comms, to activate a voice modulation program. When she spoke, her voice came through the hailing channel with more maturity, the program hiding the still maturing tones of her voice.

 

"Terra Three control, this is Valkyrie Aurora returning from exploration run, requesting permission for atmo entry and landing planet-side. I am declaring two humans on board, and sadly no cargo".

 

A few moments later, the digitised voice from the UEE orbital station came back, "Scanning your vessel, Valkyrie. Please stand by.................. confirmed Valkyrie. Proceed on entry vector to planet surface. Welcome home."

 

Eva leant forwards, closed the hailing channel and then switched off the autopilot before settling back and fastening herself back into the restraints. Eva tied her long red hair back behind her head into a ponytail to keep it out of the way and scanned the consoles with her light green eyes, checking sensors and readouts for anything out of the ordinary. Taking the controls, the young girl turned the ship, flattening out the approach angle to that sweet spot between bouncing off the atmosphere and suffering a horrific fiery inferno of a death.

 

Atmospheric proximity alarms sounded on nav console but Eva ignored them, aiming the ship towards an empty space of air in the planet's upper atmosphere. As the ship hull brushed against the planet's atmosphere edge a subtle vibration shimmied through the hull of the ship and a few whisps of fire licked around the cockpit's windows. Eva kept one eye on the console monitors to ensure her vector stays within safe angles as she pushed the craft deeper into the atmosphere. In no time there was so much re-entry fire flowing over the Aurora that Eva was forced to focus only on the monitors as it was impossible to see anything outside.

 

A faint murmur came from further back in the ship as Jessica was awakened by the re-entry vibrations shaking the little ship and a few moments later Eva was aware that her mother was standing behind the pilot chair, one hand gripping the headrest of the chair, the other pressed hard against the bulkhead. The older woman said nothing, watching in silent pride as her daughter performed a textbook perfect re-entry.

 

When the flames died down outside and the vibrations were replaced by the familiar wash of air rushing over the hull, Jessica leant down and whispered, "Nice work Evangeline", and placed a kiss to the top of Eva's head. Eva scowled inwardly at the use of her full name. She'd always hated being called by it, but she forced a smile and looked up.

 

"Welcome home Ma", she said before turning her attention back to the task at hand, turning the Aurora in a slow lazy arc and smoothly merging into an air traffic lane headed for the Terra Prime hangar complex.

 

 

NEXT ENTRY: Eva's Last Goodbye