The roar of air was very loud here; it thundered and buffeted around the metal walls of the tower structure. At the bottom of the second flight there was one small window, which looked out directly across the Langley’s flight deck, and she stopped to peer out. In the growing daylight, she could see the two arresting cables strung across the landing area, and the glowing beads of the deck lighting. She continued on down the stairs, descending into the structure of the right wing, and along a narrow corridor that led along inside the wing, to emerge in the main corridor. She suddenly felt hungry, and she glanced at her watch. The breakfast service would have started by now. She turned right, and headed back towards the front of the ship, and the galley. She had just started eating when Coombes came up and set down his tray opposite her. Cutlery clattered as he sat down. Light streamed into the galley from the sweep of windows that looked out onto the blue morning sky. The Langley had taken up position again at sixty-one kilometres altitude, ready for a day of flight operations.
