Free Castaway Planet by Eric Flint, Ryk E Spoor

screwed it up, I—”
    “Sakura!” Her daughter’s name came out much more sharply than she intended, and Laura took a deep breath, let it out. She had to stay calm . “Sakura, honey, don’t apologize. Are you all right?”
    “I . . . I think so.”
    “Good.” She turned her seat to face the others. That felt very odd, because with the way LS-5 was sitting, she was now looking down , held in her seat by the restraints.
    “You were right, Mom,” Melody said. “I did need those straps that tight.” The ten-year-old’s face was white as a sheet, and tears were starting from her eyes, even though she was rigidly controlling her expression.
    Laura chuckled a little at that, and Melody gave a tearful but sheepish smile. “There’s a reason for what we tell you. I’m glad you listened.” She looked over to the next seat. “Hitomi, come on, little girl, just tell Mommy if you’re all right.”
    The sobs slowed, and Hitomi lowered Skyfang from her face; the hazel eyes were wide and frightened, but her head nodded, and a mumbled “Okay,” managed to make it through the winged wolf’s fur.
    “I’m . . . a little battered, Dr. Kimei,” Whips volunteered, “But I think everything’s okay.”
    “Good. Now everyone just stay still for a few minutes; I’ll check your vitals to make sure that we really are all okay.”
    It was almost quiet inside the crashed shuttle except for the howling fury of the wind outside, which managed to penetrate faintly even through the soundproofing. LS-5 occasionally quivered under what Laura guessed were either waves or extremely strong gusts of wind. She carefully examined all of the readings and, finally, relaxed.
    “All right, everyone. We’ve landed, and we’re all fine. Sakura—”
    “I’m sorry!”
    “Young lady,” Akira said mildly, “your mother told you not to apologize. I think what she—what we both—wanted to say is ‘well done,’ actually.” Her husband turned so the others could see him. “You already knew there were no automatics. But when we were on final approach, we went into a small storm . . . and even so, Sakura kept us up and flying until the very end, all by herself. I think there are plenty of professional pilots who might have had trouble when the wind hit during the conversion.”
    Melody grinned—a very shaky grin, but with much of her spirit and returning, and Laura felt herself relax again. “That old saying you told me, right, Sakura?”
    Sakura sniffed, obviously trying not to cry, but there was a tiny chuckle there too. “Any landing you walk away from . . . is a good landing.”
    “Exactly!” Whips said. “By the Beyond, Sakura, you kept us flying right to the end, and I think if that wind gust hadn’t hit at just the wrong time, you’d have brought us down perfect.”
    Hitomi sat straighter and clapped. “Hurray for Saki!”
    Laura laughed and suddenly they were all clapping. Sakura turned her chair around and they could see she was blushing, but smiling, tears finally drying. “Okay, I did awesome then. And we’re really all okay, Mom?”
    “Really. Sitting like this is going to be a little uncomfortable, but that storm won’t last forever, and once it’s over I hope we can get out. What’s the condition of LS-5 ?”
    “Checking.”
    “I have to pee,” Hitomi said suddenly.
    Laura shook her head. “All right, hold on.” A thought struck her. “Um . . . will the toilet work in this position?”
    “I think so, Dr. Kimei,” Whips said after a moment. “It works in microgravity and when we were attached to Outward Initiative , and in the position we’re sitting . . . yes, if we keep it in the microgravity mode I think it will.”
    “Good. Then since you’re farthest back and the biggest can you help—”
    “Of course.”
    As the big Bemmie assisted Hitomi to get out of her harness and move to the rear of the cabin, Sakura spoke up. “Well, the bad news is that we’re not flying LS-5 again, not any time soon