Daughters Of The Night Sky Quotes
"I stared as the rainbow-hued blooms danced in the breeze, imagining them ballerinas on the Moscow stage."
"The summer of my tenth year was a particularly magnificent display."
"To waste any of that color seemed inexcusable."
"I knew that if I had one of these machines for myself, I would never settle in one place for the rest of my days."
"I don’t think they license many lady pilots... Many doesn’t mean none. I can be one of the few."
"You’re right, Katinka. If you want to fly, go earn your wings. Just don’t let them stop you."
"Music, if nothing else, must be true if it is to be beautiful."
"Deep within me I knew my work had to begin that very moment if I was to have wings of my own."
"I hoped Stalin wasn’t simply Hitler in a different uniform but dared not voice my concern."
"She was the last woman I expected to let her life revolve around a man."
"The more I learned of Hitler, the warier I was of him."
"I had to be even-tempered with the instructors, but junior cadets were welcome to the full brunt of my anger when they deserved it."
"It was always a battle, and some days I worried I’d be tired of fighting before I even got to the front."
"I felt my legs go heavy, as if caked in wet concrete, as I tried to stand. I hated to return to firm ground, like a bird was loath to return to her cage."
"I would have been happy to fly on to the endless horizon."
"There’s a difference between testing your limits and being foolish."
"I can’t control how many hours I get to fly, but I can control how well I know the techniques."
"We’re not here to make friends; we’re here to fly."
"Part of what makes a good navigator is knowing her pilot as well as she knows herself."
"I know," she said with a smile, knowing the words that I could not express. "It’s not always easy, but it is worth it. I promise you."
"Would you want me if I were otherwise? A biddable waif who’d be happy to wait at home and darn your socks?"
"It’s called honor, duty, and pride... And I suggest you acquire some in the coming months. You may find yourself in need of them."
"It’s not often in the weeks following an invasion that a sentimental wish comes true, but so far mine had."
"A career, no matter how noble it is, can’t be the whole of your life."
"To assume that 'the rest of our lives' would stretch decades and decades into the future seemed an arrogant presumption."
"The idea of eating fish eggs had repulsed me... The explosion of flavor was an experience unto itself."
"We worked hard to get here. I don’t see what the harm is."
"The best soldier is a homesick one. They know what they’re fighting for."
"How could I, in good conscience, not use that gift to come to her aid in her hour of need?"
"Vibrant colors and elegant lines fell victim to efficiency and function."
"My heart strained painfully against my ribs for a moment before I reminded myself to draw breath."
"A private room with a rug? Flowers? What am I doing here—training pilots, or debutantes?"
"What did you expect? The army doesn’t make women’s uniforms."
"If you want uniforms that fit, I suggest you ladies call upon your proper skills and get to work."
"Well, at least we have a place to keep our lipstick."
"I wouldn’t have picked them if they weren’t."
"The first of the sacrifices we will be asked to make."
"Military discipline. This is what she’d meant."
"I find that playing at lunchtime refreshes me for the afternoon classes."
"Of course you are. You’re out of your proper element."
"Never forget that. If you want to thank me for your wings, then get back to your training and use them."
"The first rule of military leadership, Katya, is to go where I will do the most good without reference to my own preferences."
"But aviation clubs cost money we didn’t have."
"So long as you’re a navigator, it means your pilot is still alive."
"It’s one thing to die in battle, but this seems like a waste."
"She died in service to her country. It’s as good a death as any of us can hope for."
"You didn’t see the massacres in Kiev. The Germans slaughtered men, women, and children by the hundreds."
"War has a way of surprising us. It makes heroes out of the unlikeliest of men, and villains of the ones you usually expect."
"We didn’t want this. Only madmen and sadists want war. We wanted to fly, and when the war came, we wanted to do our duty."
"If your men possess a fraction of the bravery you have shown, I wouldn’t fear for them."
"Bad times are easier to endure with a pretty face and nice clothes."
"You didn’t suit the uniforms, so you made them suit you."
"We fly to protect my people and my country. I fly for Russia as she could be, if given the chance."
"Rest was no luxury. We needed to be alert up in the air. The slightest error in judgment cost lives."
"I felt a wet warmth against my windblown face as we approached our targets. Tears streamed down, and I didn’t bother to stem the tide."
"Our encampment, now farther west than where we’d trained and taken our first missions, was always buzzing with activity after dark."
"It’s nonsense," Taisiya said. "If the men in a regiment took the parachutes off their flares, he would say they’re just doing what was necessary to complete the mission."
"We have to be the best. Not just good," I said, steel filling my bones. "We need to fly more missions than the men. We have to be more efficient than they are. We can’t be excellent. We have to be exemplary."
"I wouldn’t have been tempted to test her limits just a tad on the way back to base."
"I gripped the metal bar on either side of me, fighting the urge to grab the stick and scream for Taisiya to turn over the controls."
"Don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you."
"I flew the plane, leaning over Taisiya’s slumped form, painfully aware that I was exposed to any more attacks the Germans might think to throw at us."
"You have to let her go," Renata said, rocking me gently.
"I’m not talking about getting sanctioned leave," Vanya said, barely audible, scanning the yard for listening ears. "Father has connections. I’ve served long enough and honorably enough he might not object to me using them. Travel papers."
"There’s good reason Mother and I were always sent from the room when he came to see Father, of that I’m certain. Anything more, I don’t want to know."
"You were actually right, and somewhere in hell the devil is putting on an overcoat."
"If I lose my kindness, I’ve lost the war, no matter what the outcome is."
"I’ll owe Father ten years of indentured servitude if Osin comes through," he said without humor. "Thankfully I won’t be in the country anytime soon for him to collect on it."
"After the war. When things calm down... so long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters."
"It will pass. We’ll find ways to help from a distance. There is plenty we can do."
"No one will question it. Because your father is such an old and dear friend, I have a gift for you and your lovely bride as well."
"Understood. Comrade Osin, we owe you our lives."
"We’re to be Nicola and Andrei Lipov while en route. Traveling on a confidential errand from the office of Stalin."
"I wish you both the best, and I hope the next time we meet it will be under pleasanter circumstances."
"You’re hurting... I should have had Osin smuggle us some morphine."
"The only thing you need on your hands is me in a drug-addled stupor."
"It isn’t safe for anyone to have faith these days."
"The people need help, especially the orphans."
"I will do what I can to follow the safety protocols because I want you in my plane, but I have to do what I can to end this war, even if it isn’t always safe."
"I’ve seen what they can do, and I make no apologies for what I did."
"Our parents are supposed to be monoliths. Unchangeable. Solid. It’s unmooring when we discover they’re human."
"You have always been one to quash a challenge that others would think insurmountable. You have your father’s heart."
"Enjoy them, ladies. You’ve earned this token of appreciation."
"Twirl," Oksana commanded. "Let's see your mother's handiwork."
"Were you expecting otherwise from a guards-designated regiment?"
"That was simply beautiful," I said, putting my hand to my heart for dramatic effect.
"They seem like nice-enough boys, but they haven’t the hunger my ladies do. That can’t be taught or disciplined into anyone. It comes from decades of being told we can’t do a thing while knowing we can."
"Separated by life and death, but always united in duty."
"We would take months to heal, to be ensconced in one another, before setting about rebuilding our lives."
"She does. She should go to art school after the war."
"I can't promise," I said, not wanting any of our final words to be half-truths or empty promises.
"Go and be well. Go home to your Vanya, and make some little painters. The world needs more painters."
"Take her there," I said. "When the cease-fire sounds, we will have done our part. We can leave the rebuilding up to others. Those with more energy left than us."
"Get off of her, you disgusting jackasses," I snarled.
"I don’t want to hurt you," I said, remembering the German I’d learned before the academy.
"Take this, please," I said in my rough German. "You look like you need it more than I do."
"Would you like us to take you home?" I asked. "We don’t want you to come across any more trouble."
"Please let us help you. We just want to help you."
"Good. We don’t intend to hurt you, either, so we’re not enemies. The war is over. You have nothing to fear from us."
"Such a thing is not possible. They come, and I am powerless to stop them from doing as they wish."