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Helen found Harvey.
Alone.
In the flight chair.
He no longer needed straps to hold him in place. He’d managed to power up the systems and connect himself in. She hadn’t thought to look for him here until she’d noticed the open hangar door from far down the field.
By the time she’d arrived, the drone was long gone.
There was nothing to say, even if he was still capable of responding.
Instead she sat and took his hand.
He squeezed her hand, once. But she held on and watched the command screens.
Harvey flew. Loops, rolls, Immelmanns—maneuver after maneuver in a beautiful flight of such joy and such sadness. She didn’t know what she’d expected once he found the woman who had exposed and caused the ending of the Casper program, but it wasn’t the flight that followed.
The tears burn
