Celestial Nexus

Vayle was angry! It was her fourth time trying to re-weld the stabilizer bar to repair the wings. Every time she thought the weld was complete, within minutes it would break. She attempted multiple welding techniques and multiple joints, but no success. She was starting to take it personally.

She walked back to her work bench, maybe it was the welding iron she thought. There was a second one in the bottom drawer of her work station. She squatted down to reach the bottom and pulled the drawer open.

It was filled with all the junk a mechanic would have. There were wrenches, screwdrivers, bolts, nuts, nails…etc. She started removing all the items slowly and piling them on the ground next to her. “Of course the welding iron is all the way at the bottom” she screamed, still frustrated. As she worked her way through all the items, her fingers suddenly touched a small rectangular wooden box. Almost instantly, her anger was gone. Slowly and very gently she pulled the box from the drawer. It had been years and she had forgotten about it.

She laid the box down next to her and moved her fingers to the opening clasp. Her fingers were shaking now, but slowly she pressed the clasp and began to open it. As the lid moved, it revealed a deep purple felt lining, purple was her mothers favorite color! As she took the lid off, her fingers immediately ran for what was inside. In the center lay a pair of mint condition, forest green tactile pilot gloves. Again she let the memories take over.

The gloves were a gift from her mother on her 17th birthday. Growing up Vayle had idolized her mother. She was calm and gentle but at the same time powerful and confident. She had joined the military in her teens and worked her way up from a service technician to a squad leading ace. Her mother loved flying and took Vayle on flights in their personal tiny plane every chance she got. It was a dual seat, single engine, open cockpit relic from the 20th century. Her mother had restored it from scratch and gave it a new life. Vayle loved the feeling of the crisp breeze blowing through her hair as the plane danced through the air at her mothers command. She would always look to her left and see the smile on her mothers face as they coasted over the beautiful sapphire rivers and lush green mountains of the province they called home.

Vayle wanted to follow in her mothers footsteps and join the air force too. She started flying lessons when she was 8 years old. On her 17th birthday, she was finally old enough to begin her journey. She remembers the night, even though it was her birthday, she could not focus on anything else. She was due at the air force rookie barracks for initial training and flight suit fitment the next day. She had spent the whole evening packing, bursting with excitement. It wasn’t until late that her mother walked into her room with a little package wrapped in sky blue paper with a misty white cloud bow on top.

“Every pilot needs a good set of gloves” her mother said as she handed Vayle the present. Without even trying to control her excitement, Vayle ripped the package apart and opened the box. It was a pair of gorgeous forest green tactile gloves. The leather felt tough, the sowing was rugged, the fit was perfect, almost as if they were custom for her fingers. She immediately pulled them over her hands and felt their warm embrace strengthening her.

Unfortunately she never got the chance to use them. The following morning was the day everything changed. It was the day her mother flew off for the last time. The rookie training was suspended and her dreams were suddenly stopped.

Vayle drifted back to reality. As gently as she opened the box, she put the gloves back and closed it. Her focus had cleared and she reached into the drawer and pulled out the welding iron. This time she knew the weld would hold. She stood up, turned around and headed back towards the ship.