Peter hesitated for a moment; with Sunday their only day off, he really just wanted to gel with his fiancée after the crazy week. But maybe Anya would enjoy getting to know another couple. He turned to Blake. “Sure, that sounds great. When?”
“How about Sunday afternoon?”
Peter nodded in acceptance as he lifted a hand. “Perfect, but do me a favor, let’s not mention we’re training partners.”
Blake flashed an understanding nod. “No problem. I’ll just tell the wife you’re my new boss.”
Peter shrugged in accord. “Sounds good. So what should we bring?”
“Oh, don’t—”
A squawking voice blaring out through their headsets snapped Peter to attention. “Fire, emergency egress!”
“What?” Peter’s pulse leaped as he questioned if the voice was serious. Seeing Blake quickly unbuckle his seatbelt before turning to work on the hatch confirmed this was no joke. Peter fumbled with his belt before finally freeing himself. Whatever happened to the exercise starting in fifteen minutes? Damn!
Blake’s demeanor stayed steady as he called out over the headset, “Hatch opened,” before ripping out his headset cord and scrambling out of the spacecraft.
This was the first time for Peter to rush out of the capsule. He drew a sharp breath as he unplugged his headset and rolled over on his hands and knees on the couch to speedily follow Blake out of the hatch. As his head poked out of the opening, Blake was already hooking up his clamp to his zip line. Peter was doing fine until his flight suit snagged on something, preventing him from exiting. Damn it! He tried shaking his arm free, but was having no luck as precious seconds passed. Unfortunately the tight opening prevented him from turning around to see what he was caught on, and with his rigid helmet, his vision was blocked. He blindly kept shaking his arm trying to free himself. A sudden shadow appeared. Blake. Dude you’re supposed to be flying down that zip line. His partner quickly reached in and freed his arm before helping him out. Peter clambered to his feet, embarrassed, as Blake gave a quick thumbs-up before racing to his zip line. Peter was right behind. He clipped on as Blake jumped. Peter leaped off right behind his partner and started to fall parallel to the scaffolding before he felt a tug and began zipping along the line.
The ride was invigorating, the perfect release from all the stress he had felt all week. He yelled out a loud “Yippee!” as he looked down the line to see Blake clowning around, his hands out imitating a superhero in flight. Peter chuckled at his partner. As he approached the last fifteen feet, the trolley came into contact with the spring, and Peter’s body lurched forward uncontrollably. He estimated he had slowed down to around 10 miles per hour before he was about to hit. He turned his head and held his breath before crashing into the cushioned wall, which felt like falling off a top bunk bed.
He swallowed hard as he moved his body to verify all the parts were working properly. Everything was fine as he reached up and unhooked his clamp. His partner had already freed himself when the instructor walked toward them. He didn’t look happy.
Both men had their helmets off by the time the instructor reached them. He started shaking his head while his voice erupted in frustration. “That was way too slow. Did you two have a tea break up there or something?”
Peter’s mouth was slightly open as he tilted his head, raising both hands. “We were told the test wouldn’t start for fifteen minutes.”
The instructor narrowed his eyes directly at Peter. “You know better than anyone emergencies can happen at any time. You have to be ready at all times whenever you’re in that capsule.”
The man was right.
The instructor turned to Blake, his voice reaching an even higher octave. “What the hell are you doing coming down with Peter? You’ve been through this exercise before and know you should be way ahead of the commander. Plus you were screwing around on the way down.”
With his helmet under his arm, Peter stepped forward to defend his partner, his voice hardened and direct. “He stayed back to help me.”
By the instructor’s mannerism, it was obvious he didn’t care. “That’s bullshit. He knows the rules. He’s supposed to haul ass to that zip line, plain and simple. Instead he just burned himself up by hesitating.”
Blake spoke up. “Sorry, but there is no way I’m leaving my commander to die.”
The instructor pulled out a pen from his shirt pocket and wrote something on his clipboard. In a cocky tone he replied, “We’ll see what management has to say about that.”
The instructor was right once again. One man alive is better than none. As Blake’s boss, he should be the one to reprimand the young man. But how could he? Deep down, he wanted someone who would save his ass, just as he would for his partner.
Blake turned away from the instructor with a disgusted look; carrying his helmet by his side, he started walking back to the scaffolding to try the exercise again. As he passed Peter, a sly grin appeared on his face and he spoke in a soft tone so only Peter could hear it. “He doesn’t know I was the Human Torch. I’m not going to burn up. I’m a superhero.” He winked. “Besides, I’m not going to let you die.”
Peter smiled.
PETER HELD A bottle of wine as he and Anya walked up the few steps leading to Blake’s quaint two-story home. He wiped off the light bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face as he approached the blue-painted door under the covered porch. He was pleased the humidity was mild for a September day.
Anya pointed to something on the porch. “That’s cute.”
Peter knocked before turning to see what she meant, a charming, white porch swing that looked out over the front yard. “Looks just like the one my aunt has.” He looked out over the well-manicured yard as he waited for someone to open the door. He was surprised there were no toys about. Most of the other middle class homes on the cul-de-sac were cluttered with them. The door began to open and Peter turned back around. He smiled at Blake, who was standing in a pair of worn, leather flip-flops with a white Hawaiian shirt over a pair of loud orange surfing trunks that went down past his knees.
Blake raised both arms. “Welcome.”
Peter had to tease the young man. “Thanks, so are we going surfing later?”
Blake eyed Peter’s tan shorts and blue polo shirt. “Not you, old man, but maybe your pretty girlfriend.”
Peter turned to introduce Anya, who was all smiles in her blue sundress. “Blake, let me introduce you to my fiancée, Anya Alexandrov.”
Blake extended his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Anya grabbed his hand. “Thank you, it’s nice to meet you, Blake.”
Blake waved his arm as if he was welcoming in a large crowd of people. “So come on in.”
As they entered, Blake’s wife approached barefoot in a yellow tank top and white shorts, her short, blonde hair bouncing as she walked. “Hello.”
Blake pointed to his wife proudly. “This is my better half, Suzy.”
After shaking hands, Peter handed the wine over to the pretty lady. The home smelled like a bakery. “Something smells good.”
“Oh, thanks, that’s the appetizers.” She excused herself to get back to the kitchen. Anya offered to help, which Suzy readily accepted.
As the girls walked to the kitchen, Blake escorted Peter into the living room. Peter was amazed at how clean the home was, especially for having two young boys. The only clue kids inhabited the place was a single, large toy box in the corner of the room. “You’ve got a very nice home.”
Blake motioned toward the couch. “Thanks. This is all Suzy’s doing. She keeps this place clean, and I have no idea how she does it. Our boys can be little tornados, tearing this place up.”