Wisdom in the Dark

Chapter 11 - Jak

Jak strode into the Pyc Village Sylph hangar clad in his full body, midnight blue pilot suit. It was a little cooler that wake period, and Jak welcomed the additional warmth the suit provided. The suit had been well kept by the Wodniki Family, a relic from long ago. Jak didn’t fully understand how the suit, and the helmet waiting for him within the Sylph’s cockpit, worked exactly. Few did. He just knew that it allowed him to connect with his machine with no perceivable lag in reaction time.

Standing within the hangar were Ctik and the three other Pyc Sylph pilots – Akos, Kont, and Jasny – and Durko, the Pyc Family militia commander. Jak had met them all at his wedding. Each seemed capable, but Jak reserved his assessment until they operated together.

Jak was surprised at the state of the Pyc pilot suits. Where Jak’s pilot suit was a uniform dark blue, the Pyc pilots’ suits were a patchwork of material, and symbols had been sewn into or painted on the chests and sleeves of their suits.

“And here’s our fearless leader,” Ctik said as Jak approached.

“That was you until Myra got married,” Jasny said with a scowl.

Jak forced down his apprehension just as it threatened to overtake him. Jak gave them a broad, toothy smile and spread his arms open in an unthreatening manner.

“I know this is a major change for you,” Jak began, “but I’m not here to force my way of doing things onto you. I’ll be learning from each of you as much as leading you. I’m going to rely on you to teach me the terrain, where to fly and where not to, and what to expect from the surrounding Families.”

That seemed to put the four Pyc Sylph pilots at ease.

Jak continued. “I want to go over standard operating procedures and maintenance schedules first. I’ll only make changes if I see something that’s not working. Otherwise, it should be business as usual.”

“Glad to hear,” Ctik said, though Jak noticed the other three pilots still frowned at him.

“It will be good to cover Sylph-infantry S-O-P’s as well,” Durko chimed in.

“You are going to need to do something about that suit, though,” Ctik continued.

“I was going to ask you about your suits,” Jak replied.

Ctik pointed to a white whorl design with what looked like branches over it in the middle of his chest. “This means creating order from chaos, and our priest painted it on my suit after a vision quest.”

Jak had heard that some of the priests of Wotuos grew and used psychedelic plants to guide them. Zdik, the Wodniki Village priest, only used them on very rare occasions.

“And how often does your priest go on these vision quests?” Jak asked. “And how often does he decorate your suits?”

Ctik shrugged. “He consults the medicine regularly. But our suits are only marked when he has a specific vision.”

“He painted this mark before we attacked the Sebrle Family for their attack on us when Vlad was killed.” Jasny cradled his helmet under his arm, unlike his companions and Jak, and he pointed to a mark on the front of the helmet. “He said it would guide my eyes and my mind in combat. I scored two kills and took no damage in the battle.”

Jak didn’t completely believe in such powers but acknowledged the psychological power of such images. He also saw an opening to build a better repour with the Pyc Village Sylph pilots.

“Well we’ll need your eyes and mind today,” Jak said. “I want you to take the lead of the formation as we scout and patrol the Holowycz Forest.”

Though Jak had approached the Sylph hangar with what seemed to be unconquerable fear, words, vocal tones, and body language learned over a lifetime in the Wodniki Village had put him, and his audience at ease. Jak even enjoyed being with the Pyc Sylph pilots.

“Now, which Sylph is mine?” Jak asked.

Kont jerked a thumb toward himself. “You’ll be using my Sylph.”

“He was my wingman,” Jasny added.

Now Jak understood the Pyc pilots’ tenseness and disregard for Jak. When Jan and the Wodniki had taken Jak’s Sylph back to Ganymede and the Wodniki Village, Myra had informed Jak he would continue to serve the Pyc as a Sylph pilot. It hadn’t struck him until just then that another man would be unseated.

Anxiety welled up once more within Jak, like bile bubbling up in his throat. I’ve already lost control, Jak thought as his heart began to race. They don’t trust me, they never will. I’m a fraud. What am I doing here?

Jak forced his feelings of insecurity deep down and took a deep breath before speaking.

“I will be using your Sylph regularly. As your new commander I have to lead from the front. I don’t think any of you would respect a leader that didn’t.”

The gathered Pyc Sylph pilot’s and Durko nodded, although Jak could tell the Sylph pilots did so begrudgingly.

“There will be times when you can still fly the Sylph and keep your skills sharp,” Jak said. “Who knows, there may be a time when I can’t fly. But for now, you will join the Pyc ground forces.”

Kont glared at Jak, but nodded his acknowledgement before he turned and stormed off. Durko saluted Jak before falling into step to Kont.

“We’ll get you a good weapon,” Durko said. “With your experience as a Sylph pilot I’ll put you in charge of a few squads. The boys and girls on the ground will be happy to have you.”

“I know it’s a big change-“ Jak began.

Ctik cut Jak off. “We’ll deal with it.”

Despite Ctik’s words of assurance, Jak could tell each of the remaining Pyc pilots weren’t happy about Kont leaving the team. You’ll just have to show them you’re worthy, Jak told himself.

“Then mount up!” Jak strode toward his Sylph, his steps confident.

The three Pyc pilots jogged towards their machines. Kont strode away with Durko, shoulders hunched. Though he felt sorry for Kont, Jak pushed such feelings aside to focus on leading his new team.

Jak realized as he approached his Sylph that he needed to change his thought process. The three other Pyc pilots, Jak told himself. I’m a Pyc Sylph pilot now, too. They are my Family and my team.

The ten-meter-tall war machine stood in its bay; a giant harness of metal scaffolding surrounded its metal form. The Sylph’s body pointed down as if waiting for Jak.

Jak didn’t understand the technology completely, only that something called “machine learning” and “artificial intelligence” helped the Sylph’s computer determine what was what, and what each what was for. In fact, even though the Sylphs deployed throughout the Jovian Moons were all almost identical, in the past Jak had seen in the moments leading up to combat his Sylph’s computer identify an enemy Sylph simply based on the way it moved. It seemed more like magic than technology to Jak.

Moments later Jak and the other three Sylph pilots had maneuvered their machines onto the runway that began within the dome. Each took their turn shifting their machine into fighter mode on the uneven runway, then blasting through the open dome doors and into the Callistan sky.

Jak’s first patrol with the three other pilots was uneventful, but two hours later Jak could tell he hadn’t won points with them. Still sore about losing Kont. Jak wished his father had left Jak’s Sylph in the Pyc Village, but Sylphs were a priceless commodity, and Jak couldn’t blame his father for keeping the Sylph for the Wodniki Village. I’ll just have to work harder to earn their trust and respect.

Once the patrol was complete, Jak vectored his Sylph back toward the Pyc Village.

“Pyc Air Traffic Control this is Jak, vectoring for landing,” Jak said out loud, knowing the microphone in his helmet would pick up his words.

There was barely a second of pause before one of the trio of air traffic controllers responded. “Jak this is Pyc Village control, you are cleared to land.”

Jak slowed the Sylph by letting up on the foot pedals and lifting the nose of the Sylph ever so slightly with the stick on his right. The Sylph seemed to slow to a crawl, then Jak hit the transformation button.

In seconds the Sylph changed from space-atmosphere fighter into a tall, mechanical walker. For a moment Jak looked up into the Callistan sky, and the next moment he looked at the dome wall ahead of his Sylph. Jak surveyed the dome before him and the runway below him as he lightly pumped the foot pedals to feather the jets and give the Sylph a soft landing.

Jak felt the Sylph shake ever so slightly as it touched the pitted, cracked concrete of the Pyc Village runway. Another successful landing in the books, Jak thought. He reached to his left and pushed a lever forward ever so slightly, and the Sylph walked slowly forward.

Once Jak’s Sylph was clear of the dome, the door rolled closed behind him. From the edge of the dome and the runway it was a short walk for the Sylph to the hangar on the outskirts of the village proper.

“Any issues?” asked the head Sylph technician, Oguz, once Jak’s Sylph had been secured in the hanger.

Oguz, Jak learned, was one of the few dedicated Sylph technicians in the Pyc Village. That was a rarity even in the Wodniki Village where everyone learned two or three jobs to keep the village running.

“No issues,” Jak replied as he doffed his helmet. “You and your folks did a great job on her before I took her out.”

Oguz smiled and Jak watched as the older man puffed his chest out a little.

“We only do quality work here in Pyc Village.”

“It shows.”

“However,” Oguz continued, “I’m not sure how they do things in Wodniki Village, but pilots help the techs with post-flight checks and maintenance.”

“We do things the same,” Jak said with a nod.

Oguz nodded back. “Well then let’s get to it.”