“It’s perfect!” Lyndsey exclaimed, looking at the Razith series fighter in front of her.
Her mother looked at it with the critical eye of an expert ship’s mechanic. “Hmmm … old model. It’d need a newer hyperdrive and shields at the very least. And I’d want to do some body work before I’d trust it to be spaceworthy.” She paused, mentally calculating. “Call it a korva’s work. Maybe two.”
The younger women shrugged, her sapphire eyes sparkling. “So it’ll be ready when I finish training.”
*****
“Daddy! You’ve got to see my ship!” Lyndsey said as soon as Viktor came into the house that evening.
He looked at Renata. “I thought you two were just going to look today? You weren’t going to make any hasty decisions?”
His wife shrugged. “She fell in love with one and it was a good deal, so we bought it.”
Viktor shook his head, having expected no less from the two impetuous women. “What kind of ship is it?”
“That’s a surprise. C’mon, Daddy. You’ll love it.” He somewhat reluctantly followed his daughter to the speeder.
*****
Viktor’s eyes widened in shock when he saw the ship Lyndsey so eagerly and enthusiastically showed him.
“A Razith?” he managed to say after staring at it for several seconds.
“Yep,” Lyndsey said proudly.
Her father closed his eyes and counted to ten before speaking again. “Lyndsey, Razith’s were already antiques when I flew one in the War. In fact, the last ones in the Defense Force were decommissioned about six months into the War.”
She shrugged in perfect (if accidental) imitation of her mother earlier. “Your point is?”
Viktor didn’t answer, his attention now fixated on a small hole in the cockpit’s canopy. “This thing isn’t even spaceworthy!”
“Mom can fix that.”
“That’s not the point. Lyndsey, for just once in your life will you listen to me? It’s bad enough that you’re becoming a Dagger – that makes me worry about you enough, without adding to it worry that you’re fighting in a museum piece. What’s wrong with a Kirid? Or even better – Ren should know where you can get a good deal on one – a Talzy? They’ve got the best maneuver drives you’ll find on a Galfarran fighter.”
“Nothing’s wrong with them. It’s just … this is my ship, Daddy. This one. She just needs a little love.”
Viktor sighed and hugged his daughter. “You’re entirely too much like your mother sometimes.” Lyndsey grinned as she thanked him.