Birth of a Pilot

Angelo’s eyes well with happiness at the sight of his older brother. Without thinking, he starts taking off his seatbelts. Leon stretches out his arms toward him. Angelo swings his right leg over the divider and attempts to make his way down by stepping on the left pedal. 

That is, until he’s cruelly reminded that the machine is still on. It turns a sharp 90 degrees while Angelo scrambles to press the power button. He manages to turn the Starwalker off, but falls out of it doing so. Thankfully, some kind star rangers who happened to be crowding nearby catch him as he falls. He fears what would’ve happened if he stepped on the right pedal instead. 

As he stands up, everyone in the geoprocessing plant begins to clap for him. Even Mia, in the background, is clapping! He can’t hear it, since he’s wearing a helmet, but he’s overcome with appreciation nonetheless.

“Thank you, thank you!” he tries to tell his saviours, but he soon realizes they can’t hear him, either, since they’re also wearing helmets. He nods toward them to show thanks.

“You’re welcome, son!” he hears from inside his helmet. “How’d they react? I wish I could see the looks on their faces!”

“They’re um, th-they like it a lot sir--oof!”

Angelo is nearly tackled from behind by a pair of arms. Leon’s arms. They’re wrapped around him tightly. The younger Summers turns around to return the snug embrace, taking note of the tears being squeezed out of his brother’s closed eyes. Angelo feels physically incapable of letting Leon go. As always, Leon is the first to break it off. If only Angelo could hear his voice. If only he could tell him he’s okay!

“What happened? You alright, Angie?” asks the staff major.

“I-I’m fine… I’m fine.” The young ranger looks at his brother when he answers, even knowing he can’t hear him.

“Do you see a man with a white mustache anywhere, son? I need to know how he reacted!”

“I don’t… think so.” Angelo looks around. No one there matches that description, but he does remember something. “I think that guy left when I came through the first time.”

“Dang it! Karl, why do you have to--?” Romero mutters something unintelligible. “Oh well.” He calms down. “I guess we can get started with the last test. Let me know when you’ve reached the door.”

“Okay! I just have to climb back into the robot.”

“Why’d’ja get out?” Romero sounds both annoyed and confused.

“Um!” Angelo has to think quick. “Uh, I wanted to stretch my legs.”

“Well stretch your legs on the way back into the Starwalker, okay?”

Angelo rolls his eyes. Could you give me just one moment?

By this point, Leon is tugging at Angelo’s arm and pointing toward the door. He knows what his older brother is trying to say. ’Come back.’ He doesn’t know that Angelo’s job isn’t quite over yet.

“...Got it.” The young ranger casts a sorrowful glance in his brother’s direction. He pulls away. Leon looks confused. Angelo attempts to signal that he needs to do one last test, and then he’ll be right back. The older Summers still looks confused, but the sadness in his eyes tell Angelo that he at least understands what he’s trying to say. Leon shakes his head. He takes Angelo’s hand again, but the latter refuses. With his best smile, Angelo tries to convince his brother that he’ll be fine and will come back soon. That seems to appease Leon. After a few moments, he nods.

The young ranger runs back to the Starwalker, attempting to climb back in. He fails, but after struggling a little bit, Leon gives him a boost. Angelo straps himself in and turns on the robot. Instead of leaving in tears like last time, the younger ranger is determined to leave his brother with a smile on his face. They wave at each other for the last time before Angelo departs. He also uses the Starwalker to wave at Mia, but even from a distance, Angelo can tell she seems much less calm about the situation. As he turns around, he can briefly make out her and Leon having a frantic conversation. He hopes he doesn’t keep them worrying for long.

“I-I’m strapped in and ready to go.” Angelo is surprised by the confidence in his own voice. He feels manly.

“That’s my boy!!” Apparently Romero notices too. “Hold on, I’ll get the door open for you!”

The Starwalker makes its march toward the doorway. Angelo doesn’t look back. Mostly this is because he knows he physically wouldn’t be able to see Leon and Mia even if he turned around, but it also makes him feel more dramatic and adult-like. He watches as the doors pry themselves open expectantly. The bright Martian light envelops him as he exits the facility.

“I’m outside.”

“Good! I’ll close the doors. You? Just start walking.”

At the staff major’s request, Angelo starts walking, not knowing where he’s going in particular. He looks over to the left at his speedometer. 30 mph. The ranger enjoys a few sweet moments of silence to himself, but it all comes to an end much sooner than he would have liked.

“You’re a good kid, Angelo.”

“Th-thank you.” The ranger only accepts this compliment out of nicety. He knows the staff major doesn’t know him well enough to make that decision.

“We have quite a bit of time before you get to where you’re goin’, but in the meantime, why don’t we have a little chat, since you can talk now.”

“Wh-where am I going?” Angelo doesn’t remember the researcher ever specifying a direction.

“Nowhere. Nowhere in particular, at least, as long as you don’t plan on taking my baby near the snow, anything is fine! We just need to get you a little ways away from base, okay son?”

“O… kay.” A sense of regret creeps around the young ranger’s neck. “H-how far?”

“I’ll let you know when you get there!” Romero reassures. “But enough about that, let’s talk about you!” Angelo hears him rub his hands together. “I wanna know more about my new son! What brings you to the IF? A love of space? A love for technology? Both? Or did you just want an easy job?”

Angelo figures there’s no harm in telling him his real reasons. “I… I came here for i-independence, sir.”

“Ooh, that’s a new one! Though, something strikes me as strange.” The staff major pauses. “That kid who stayed back to help you in, that was your brother, right?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Older, right?”

“Yes.”

Romero scoffs. “Thought so. Looks like a nice enough boy, but he seems a little shelter-y. Is he?”

“I-I don’t know, I guess? It’s not r-really his fault or anything, m-my family kinda shelters me.”

“Ahhhhhhhh~” He melodically sighs. “That makes a whole heap of sense. Of course they did. And I’d be willing to bet they’re not the only ones who do it!”

“Huh?”

“Now, I don’t mean to be rude,--”

Angelo tenses up. Nothing good comes after that phrase.

“And I hope I don’t make you cry. Again. But! I must say... you look very… weak. Fragile.”

“I’m aware.” The ranger is no stranger to these words. In fact, Romero saying that earlier is part of how he got in this mess!

Romero chuckles. “I’m glad you were! Makes it easier for the both of us. Anyway, that’s probably why your family and crew cradle you like a baby. I can kind of understand, but it makes it hard for you to grow that way. And heaven forbid you try to make your own choices, right?”

“Y-yeah…” Angelo wants to agree, but thinking back on the choices he’s made recently, he wishes more people would’ve tried to stop him. He wishes Leon told him not to try to carry the bag of rocks alone, running away from home is easily one of the worst mistakes of his life, and agreeing to pilot the Starwalker? Though the others didn’t want him to pilot it, he didn’t either!

“Don’t worry. You’ll never have to worry about that from me.” says the same man who prevented Angelo from saying ‘no’. Still, no matter how much he distrusts Romero, the ranger can’t blame his initial answer on anyone but himself. Maybe this really is his own fault… Angelo’s initial bitterness toward Romero melts away into guilt.

“So, where ya from, son?” the staff major asks.

“Nevada. Where are you from, S-Staff Major Romero?”

“Huh? I heard Nevada, but not the rest. Could you repeat it for me?” It seems that the staff major can’t hear Angelo as well after turning down the volume.

“Wh-where are you from, sir?”

“I’ve been on this planet for so long, it feels like I lived here for my whole life!” 

“Oh! I can’t believe I’ve met the f-first M-Martian!” Angelo finds Romero’s response odd, but he’s too concerned with hoping that his joke lands.

“Ahhh! My secret! You sure did find me out!” Romero laughs. “Didn’t know you had jokes, son!”

Angelo silently celebrates his success. The conversation keeps going afterward, with the staff major asking the questions, and Angelo answering them. The young ranger notices that whenever he asks something to Romero, his answers are vague, so he stops questioning him. Eventually, the researcher runs out of questions to ask, and for the first time, volunteers some information of his own.

“Son, you wanna know why I came here, to the IF and Mars?”

“Sure.”

The Staff Major takes a deep breath. “I wanted to make an impact. Always have, always will. I remember when I was a little boy and they were talking about this new city on the moon, they called it Lunaria. Still do, in fact! When I was a boy, I knew I wanted to be a part of that, but then… I grew up and became a star ranger only to learn it pretty much got completed it without me. Not gonna lie, I was miffed! But it wasn’t all bad. I met a nice girl. In fact, nice would be an understatement. She was… the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on...Yuko.” At this moment, Romero’s voice sounds different. It sounds sincere, more sincere than Angelo had ever heard before.

“She inspired me.” Romero continues. “When I told her my dreams, she dreamed even bigger! It’s honestly a shame she couldn’t officially join the IF; this was obviously before Jun Kim and everything. Still, my dear Yuko, she had the most brilliant mind and soul! I have some great ideas, but wow! Hers were something else. She’s… no longer with us, but she once told me ‘Greg! No matter what you do, always put your heart into what you believe in.’ And so I did. When I was offered the chance to go to Mars, I jumped at the chance! I took her with me and we had our dear little Rachel. I helped work on this base's construction, but you won’t see my name in any of the history books. So that’s why I decided to become an engineer. I wanted to be recognized for creating something that made a difference! So I put my heart and soul into every project I work on, not just for my sake, but for Yuko's. My projects, my inventions... I really do consider them my children. Our children.”

“Wow…” Angelo responds, not knowing how he should respond. It sounds sweet that Romero is doing all this for his wife, can he really stay mad at him?

“But enough about my life’s story! Let’s focus on that final test so you can go back to base!”

Finally, the time has come for the final test.

“The land around you is flat, right? No obstacles, no ice?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“So here’s the final test. I want you to go top speed. Just jam down that gas pedal as hard as you can.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Romero answers. “You ready?”

“I-I think so!”

“Good! I can’t see you too well from the cameras, but I have been tracking your helmet’s location from base. I can see how fast you’re going, though it might show up a little faster on your end because it’s accounting for Earth’s gravity. We forgot to fix that. Anyway! On your mark, get set, go!”

Angelo slams down on the right pedal. The speedometer dials up from 20 miles per hour, to 30, to 40, before finally settling around 50.

“I-It’s reading at fifty-three miles per hour, s-sir!” Angelo reports back. He finds the speed exhilarating.

“Hmmm… can you jam it down some more?”

Angelo obeys.

“Now it’s at f-fifty five!”

“Only fifty five? It should be going faster than that! Try again!”

Angelo presses his foot against the pedal with all his might. The speedometer doesn’t budge.

“C’mon, c’mon! At least sixty!” the researcher strains.

56… 57…

“Keep pushing it, son!”

58… 59…

“You can do it, dear!”

“It’s at sixty, now!”

“Yeeeeeeah!” Romero’s yell startles Angelo so much, his foot springs off the pedal.

“Um, s-sir?”

“She did it! She’s going so fast! I knew she could do it!!”

“S-Sir??”

“Look at her, just cruising right along!”

“Sir!!!”

“What is it, son?”

“M-my foot, it’s-- I--- Th-the Starwalker--!”

“She’s doing amazing, isn’t she?” Romero sighs dreamily.

“My foot’s not on the pedal!”

The staff major laughs. “It’s alright, son, she’s still… she’s. She’s still moving?”

Angelo slams his fist countless times against the power button. No avail. He continues until his attention is diverted by an oncoming rock pillar. His foot slams down on the left pedal, narrowly avoiding it. He keeps pressing on it in order to orient himself back to his original path, but since the Starwalker is still running, it turns in a large arc.

“O-Okay. Okay! We can be calm about this!” Romero’s voice rings with uncertainty. “Did you press the power button?”

“Many times!” Angelo squeaks.

“Uhhhhhhhh, did you press the other pedal--? What are you saying, Greg? Of course he did! He turned just now!  Uhh!” The staff major’s pause does not fill Angelo with hope. “Okay, I---um, okay… D-don’t panic!”

Angelo watches as his life and his vehicle spirals wildly out of control. His life flashes by, except for the part where he learned how to breathe.

“Son? Son, are you there? Angelo??”

The pilot hears words, but their meaning is lost on him.

“Sniff once for yes, twice for no!”

Angelo sniffs instinctively. He remembers how to breathe again.

“Good! Thought I lost you for a sec!” The staff major’s voice is still frantic. “I--I’ll be honest with you, I really don’t know what to do right now. But! J-j-just stay with me, and we’ll figure out a way, okay?”

Angelo sniffs.