CHAPTER 6
The copter felt more buoyant than Mara expected, more like a vessel floating on water than a helicopter held aloft by blowing a downward force of air. While Ping operated the levers on the sides of his chair, she stared at the propellers spinning several feet above their heads. While they spun fast enough to disappear, Mara could not hear any sound—not even the whup-whup-whup she had heard earlier—nor feel any wind. At the least she’d expected a strong downdraft. How did the thing fly without smashing them into the ground?
Ping navigated the gated sphere more than one hundred feet straight up and toggled the levers. They pitched forward and flew toward town.
“From what I can see of this machine, it shouldn’t be able to fly at all. Clearly not enough force is coming from those
