"Some of the most high-stakes missions in Air Force history," Kai said, "and he's scared of a woman." He tutted at me but winked to cushion the blow. I loved Kai just as much as everybody else did, and he loved getting me to get good and angry. He was just so damn smart at it, too. I sniffed my nose with my middle finger in his general direction, and he smiled while the Captain sighed.
"Children," Phoenix called, spreading his hands wide.
"Thank you, Phoenix," the Captain said with a rare thread of sarcasm. "What do you recommend, Lotus?"
No one had ever listened to me since I was a child. Not the parents who abandoned me. Not the foster parents who hardly even saw me. Teachers hadn't had a clue what to do with the genius of a problem child. Professors had begun to sort of understand. B
