Last spark from the ashes

It’s easier to push unwanted thoughts aside, with Jesse getting so excited right there. Easy to just be glad that he’s happy and let him see what he wants to see. No need to think any further than that. What’re the odds it’ll spark a memory anyhow?

“Only planes I know are on the scrap pile.” Blaze shoots him another look, and this time her gaze seems to soften a bit. So does her voice when she adds, “Glad you’ll get something worth remembering out of this day. Seems fair.”

She swoops them in on a steep arc, to minimize the time spent in low atmosphere. For a while all is dark below, without any city lights or traffic to break the shadow. The ship's somewhere over Ontario and high enough to see Hudson Bay on their right when the sun brightens sharply above them. They’re crossing the day-night line now, chasing the setting sun and gaining every moment. By the time they reach Old Alberta they’re low enough to have a clear view of prairies and tree stands and the odd hint of regular structures flashing by. Blaze slows their flight steadily, compensating for winds at this altitude and bringing up a second feed so they can see the view from under the ship’s nose.

“See, you tap and hold here, it'll change the magnification,” she explains with a quick demonstration. “Zoom right in and out. We can bank round for another pass if you want a second look at anything.” If Jesse’s this happy about a simple fly-by, then she’s –they’re – going to do it right.

And happily, this does look to be a future where nature survives. The small clumps of buildings they can see right now are overgrown with grass and sometimes trees; Blaze has to redirect their path around a flight of geese, and there’s more than a few groups of deer and bison visible down there. Perhaps not as many as one might expect in man’s prolonged absence, but this is definitely their land now.