Okay, I’ve learned a bit of a lesson. The idea of splitting a short story out of a novel is great, and all. But let me tell you that the process can be a bit of a pain in the backside.
The sub-plot story of my two pilots is rounding into shape, but the process of getting it back into the book is quite tedious. The story is told in the novel via a series of scenes separated by some distance. And I decided that it would be a good idea to keep the two in sync, so as I change things in the short story I go back into the novel and change it there, too, assuming it makes sense, anyway.
So the process is a bit of a bear to maintain.
Still, the act of looking at this bit as a stand alone short was worth it.