From this angle, the Pod appeared like a gleaming white cocoon left by some unmentionably huge insect. Only as the shuttle closed the distance did the windows, antennae, decks, and struts become visible. The Pod seemed to hover over the pale shallows on stilt-like legs. From this angle the damn thing looked like a big bug, and the observation bubble on the end might have been a single eye. As the shuttle rose slightly, Kalico caught a glimpse of the landing pad—a flat square on the north end of the Pod’s cylindrical length. Compared to the width of the big A-7, the pad was ridiculously tiny. No wonder Makarov had balked at flying her out here.

“Supervisor?” Makarov called. “You sure you still want to do this?”

Seeing the tiny target, she really didn’t. But damn it, they were here. The Maritime Unit was expecting her. And she should have been here weeks ago. To fly off now . . .

She bit her lip, leaned forward in her seat. “Yeah, you call it a ‘feather dusting.’ The landing platform can’t support the A-7’s weight. So, instead of setting down, you’ll lower the aft ramp. Hover so the ramp’s barely above the landing platform. I scurry off, try to keep from being blown off my feet, and duck into the access door. At my all clear, you lift off and book it for home.”

“It’s the ‘blown off your feet’ part that worries me.” Makarov followed it up by craning his neck to give her a warning glance from over his seat back. “You understand, you’ll be between the full-thrust downdrafts from the jets. I call this foolish, dangerous, and likely to end up with you either hurt and floating in the water. Or maybe dead if you get blown off and tumble down the side.”

She extended far enough to give his shoulder a slap. “Juri, even if you weren’t the best pilot in The Corporation, the A-7’s automatics can hover within a millimeter’s variance. I’ll be fine.”

He shot her another worried look.

“What?” she countered. “All I have to do is duck, run straight to the access hatch, and slip inside.”

“You take too many chances. You get killed out here, and I’m the one they’re going to blame.”

She gave him a saucy grin. “What’s living without a little risk to life and limb?”

“Yeah, anything happens to you, it’s my life and limbs.”

“That was the point I was making. Just set me down. This visit is way overdue.”

“Hey, as I remember, on your last adventure, you were out in the forest, chased by cannibals, being hunted by monsters. That didn’t work out so well, either. Lost good people. Don’t want to lose you.”

She bit off any reply. Let the silence hang, and finally ordered, “Get me over that platform.”