I stood in the First-Class aisle holding a boarding pass that clearly said 2A, the silver-haired man sitting in my window seat looked me over and said, / Chapter 13 / 20

Chapter 13 - The Skyward TrialBy autumn of her sixteenth year, Zara’s design work with Coleman Aerospace Dynamics had reached its most critical milestone.

At a private airfield in the high desert of Edwards Air Force Base in California, a sleek, experimental prototype—the Coleman Zenith-1—sat gleaming under the morning desert sun. The aircraft was a solar-hybrid ultra-range jet designed to cross the Pacific using fifty percent less fuel than traditional commercial airframes.

Standing near the mobile flight command unit were Marcus Coleman, Uncle Thomas, and thirty senior test engineers.

Zara stood beside the lead telemetry console, wearing a headset, monitoring the real-time pressure diagnostics on her screen.

“All systems green, Telemetry,” the test pilot’s voice crackled through the radio speakers from inside the cockpit. “Zenith-1 ready for high-altitude throttle testing.”

“Proceed, Captain,” Zara said into her headset microphone, her voice cool, calm, and steady. “You are clear for departure on Runway 22.”

The twin experimental turbines spooled up into a smooth, high-pitched whistle that vibrated through the desert floor. The sleek white aircraft accelerated down the concrete runway and lifted effortlessly into the blue California sky, banking smoothly toward the upper atmosphere.

Marcus watched the telemetry screens, then turned to look at his daughter. Her eyes were sharp, focused, moving methodically across thousands of data points every second.

“Altimeter passing forty thousand feet,” Zara announced calmly. “Engine thermal efficiency at ninety-eight percent. Test parameters met.”

A loud cheer erupted from the engineers and technicians inside the command trailer. Uncle Thomas clapped his hands warmly, while Marcus stepped up beside his daughter, resting a proud hand on her shoulder.