In Service of the Queen
by Davina Lee
An alternative future of women and their adventures
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Author's Note
At the conclusion of our last chapter, Adelaide started her day with a visit to the Empyrea City Public Library to get a book about sign language and another on the rules of football. The sign language book is Adelaide's attempt to communicate better with Beatrice, the mysterious acrobat who claims to know where to find the legendary cheese cave.
Cheese cave or not, this chapter picks up about a week later with another day in the life of Adelaide and her friends.
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Chapter 9: What Friends Do
Empyrea City Café
Adelaide sat alone by the window, resting her chin on her hand and her elbow on the café table. She scanned the sidewalk outside with her eyes. Women were walking briskly, pulling their coats tight, as the light from sodium vapor lamps began to replace the fading sun.
Adelaide raised her head as a woman approached wearing a dark blue woolen coat that extended to her knees. Adelaide studied the woman's face for a moment and then stood up, raising her hand in a wave. The woman waved back as she turned to enter the café.
"Cordelia," said Adelaide.
"Hey, sis."
Adelaide looked her sister up and down as Cordelia unbuttoned her coat to reveal the sky blue pressed shirt, crisp dark blue trousers, and shiny black shoes of the Air Self-Defense Force. "Nice," said Adelaide. "I can understand Vivienne's appreciation for a woman in uniform. You look good."
Cordelia grinned as she dropped her gaze to her feet. She reached up with the finger of her right hand and tucked a single loose strand of hair behind her ear. Looking up again, she said, "You really think so?"
"You make a right proper specialist second class, sis."
"Thanks." Cordelia pulled out the chair on her side of the table and stood beside it.
Adelaide gestured to the table. "I've got appetizers coming," she said, sitting down. Cordelia sat as well.
"Jalapeño poppers?" asked Cordelia.
"Am I that predictable?"
Cordelia smirked as she nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, a woman in a white apron, wearing her hair pulled into a bun that that was showing a lot more errant stands of hair than Cordelia's, came by with a plate in one hand and two beer steins in the other.
The café server set the plate of steaming cheese-stuffed jalapeños in the middle of the table and placed one beer stein next to Cordelia and the other near Adelaide.
"Thank you," said Adelaide.
"You are so predictable," teased Cordelia.
Adelaide shrugged before reaching out to snag a jalapeño popper. "When you find something that works..." She bit the end off, pulled back suddenly, and then waved her other hand in front of her mouth. "Ooh, hot... hot."
Adelaide reached for her beer and took a long pull.
Cordelia reached out for a jalapeño popper of her own, but held onto the stem end, spinning it while she pursed her lips and blew across it. "So, I hear you've got yourself a girl," said Cordelia.
"Huh?" replied Adelaide.
"Yeah, and I heard she wrote a song for you." Cordelia grinned as she raised the jalapeño popper to her mouth and bit the end off. "Must be pretty serious," Cordelia said while chewing.
Adelaide lifted her stein and took another swig. "Yeah, I guess. It hasn't been that long."
"Oh, Addie. I'm your sister. You don't have to bullshit me. I know you too well. Remember how hard you fell for Misty Whatsername?"
"That was middle school, Cordelia. That doesn't count."
"You wrote her initials all over your notebooks. Inside little hearts, if I remember correctly."
"She dumped me. Right before the dance. You remember that?"
"You were so love sick." On the other side of the table, Cordelia folded her hands together and brought them toward her face. She tilted her head, leaning her cheek against her hands and batting her eyes.
"Shut up."
Cordelia dropped her hands, straightened up, and reached for her beer. She took a sip. "She wrote you a song, Addie. I don't know much about musicians, but I think that's a good sign this girl's in it for the long haul."
"Enough about my love life, sis. What's new with you?"
"Group Captain Thorne thinks you're in it for the long haul, too."
"Who?" said Adelaide, hoisting her beer stein to her lips.
"The woman who usually sits at the bar and hits on you whenever you come in."
"Oh, for friend's sake." Adelaide set her stein back on the table without taking a drink. "Her? Why did you have to mention her?"
"Well, she's given up on you. I can tell you that. Got herself another girl. A bottle blonde. With legs for days and a fondness for plunging necklines."
"Good for her." Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Please, can we talk about something else? Anything?"
"I've started pilot training." Cordelia picked up her stein and took a swig. "Actual airtime. Not just book learning. Though we still have lots of that."
"You're flying? How cool is that?"
"Well, it's gliding, mostly. That's how it works. We go up in a dirigible, strap on the wings, and jump out of the gondola."
Adelaide's eyes went wide. "You're kidding?"
Cordelia shook her head. "Nope. Angel wings are unpowered. It's all about finding the right air currents and updrafts to stay aloft."
Adelaide took a sip of beer and looked Cordelia in the eye. "How do you land?"
"Not very well," said Cordelia. "So far I've crashed twice."
"That's not so bad. How many times have you been up?"
"Twice."
"Oh," said Adelaide. She took a long pull on her beer before exchanging the handle of the stein for another jalapeño popper. Adelaide blew across the appetizer in her hand. "I'm sure you'll get better."
"I hope so. I'm not sure how many sets of wings you get to bash up before they toss you out of the program. I don't think I want to find out." Cordelia lifted her beer stein to her lips and didn't set it down for several seconds.
Adelaide reached out across the table and laid her hand atop Cordelia's forearm. "They can't toss you out. You're my sister. And you're awesome."
"Thanks." Cordelia took another pull at her stein. "Still though, I'm keeping my options open. Dirigible pilot might not be so bad."
"You'd still be up in the air."
"Yeah." Cordelia picked up another jalapeño popper by the stem and blew across it. "And they've been expanding the fleet, so there's more chances for me there."
Adelaide sipped her beer and set it back down while Cordelia brought the popper to her mouth to chomp the end. "More dirigibles?" mused Adelaide. "I wonder why?"
"I don't know." Cordelia nipped off another bit of jalapeño and chewed while she answered. "They're none of them too big," she said. "Just tenders from the look of it. Running supplies back and forth to Elysium, probably. Perfect job for a specialist second class with a poor landing record."