just hop in the shuttle and fly down right away,
Rick didn ’ t understand, until Sam explained that safety regulations
required the ship to be in the sky over the landing site while the shuttle
dropped, in order to provide radar guidance.
By the time Sam
called Rick to get suited up for the shuttle ride, it was almost anticlimactic,
he and his family had been sitting around in their cabin so long, they ’ d all gotten bored. Rick was getting hungry, unfortunately Sam
had advised Rick not to eat much before the shuttle drop, so Rick satisfied his
hunger with an apple, trying to set a good example for his children, when what
he really wanted was junk food. Kaylee and Manny had put their swimsuits on,
and were about to go to the Beach with their mother. The call from Sam produced
a family scramble to change clothes again, until Sam mentioned that Rick would
not actually be stepping into the shuttle for another two hours, at least.
Plenty of time for a swim. We ’ ll call you when he ’ s ready, Sam said, have fun in the meantime.
Rick went down to
the shuttle bay, got his e-suit on, had it checked out and tested by Sam, then he
sat around with the helmet off, waiting. He waited long enough that he decided
to take the e-suit off to use the bathroom, so he had to put it on and have it
checked out all over again. Sam didn ’ t seem to mind.
Finally, Nelson
showed up, and began his pre-flight inspection of the shuttle, which he said
would take an hour or so, their window for launch was in 90 minutes. When Rick
mentioned his family wanted to see him off, Nelson frowned, and gruffly relied
that was fine, as long as they stayed in the airlock doorway
alcove, and didn ’ t touch anything.
So as not to bore
his family again, Rick waited until they were ready to actually board the
shuttle before calling his family; they stood dutifully in the hallway, their
view of the well-worn shuttle obscured by the windows in the two airlock doors.
They waved, and blew kisses to him, Manny recorded the whole thing on camera.
Then, Rick was aboard, Sam helped him strap into his seat, and the inner blast
door closed over the airlock, cutting off his view of his family. Again he sat,
and waited. And waited.
Almost half an
hour later, Nelson turned halfway around in his pilot ’ s
seat and addressed Rick. “You ready, professor?” Sam had vouched for the
archeologist, but Nelson wasn ’ t sure about him. A
passenger, stumbling around in an e-suit? Nelson would have to watch out for
the archeologist ’ s safety, make sure he didn ’ t
do anything stupid and get hurt. It all sounded like a pain in the ass. His
ass, as the pilot in command.
Rick gave the
pilot a thumb ’ s up sign. “I ’ m ready.”
“This ain ’ t no luxury spaceplane, you hear? We don ’ t
have artificial gravity, and the ride is likely to be rougher than you ’ re used to, so if you ’ re gonna puke, use
the bag.”
Rick responded
with another thumb ’ s up. “Nelson, on
Sahara, our shuttle was held together with duct tape and string. The university
didn ’ t spring for luxury. And I took a dose of space
sickness meds, I ’ ll be OK.”
Nelson looked
skeptical. He turned back around to his console. “I hope so.”
Sam spoke up from
the copilot seat. “Hey, Nelson, if Rick says he ’ ll be OK,
he ’ ll be OK. He ’ s a
good guy. ”
“If you say so.”
The pilot responded. He was edgy, anxious. This rescue drop was the first
non-routine thing he ’ d done since he signed up with
Universal Transport. He didn ’ t want to screw it up, get a
black mark on his record. A passenger was just a complication. “ Ace control, this is the shuttle, requesting clearance to exit.”
Vassily ’ s voice came back. “Roger that, shuttle. Standby, doors
opening.”
In the airless
shuttle hangar, the only sound was transmitted faintly through the support arms
which held the shuttle in place. A vibration, a whirring of gears, then the
shuttle bay was
Rick didn ’ t understand, until Sam explained that safety regulations
required the ship to be in the sky over the landing site while the shuttle
dropped, in order to provide radar guidance.
By the time Sam
called Rick to get suited up for the shuttle ride, it was almost anticlimactic,
he and his family had been sitting around in their cabin so long, they ’ d all gotten bored. Rick was getting hungry, unfortunately Sam
had advised Rick not to eat much before the shuttle drop, so Rick satisfied his
hunger with an apple, trying to set a good example for his children, when what
he really wanted was junk food. Kaylee and Manny had put their swimsuits on,
and were about to go to the Beach with their mother. The call from Sam produced
a family scramble to change clothes again, until Sam mentioned that Rick would
not actually be stepping into the shuttle for another two hours, at least.
Plenty of time for a swim. We ’ ll call you when he ’ s ready, Sam said, have fun in the meantime.
Rick went down to
the shuttle bay, got his e-suit on, had it checked out and tested by Sam, then he
sat around with the helmet off, waiting. He waited long enough that he decided
to take the e-suit off to use the bathroom, so he had to put it on and have it
checked out all over again. Sam didn ’ t seem to mind.
Finally, Nelson
showed up, and began his pre-flight inspection of the shuttle, which he said
would take an hour or so, their window for launch was in 90 minutes. When Rick
mentioned his family wanted to see him off, Nelson frowned, and gruffly relied
that was fine, as long as they stayed in the airlock doorway
alcove, and didn ’ t touch anything.
So as not to bore
his family again, Rick waited until they were ready to actually board the
shuttle before calling his family; they stood dutifully in the hallway, their
view of the well-worn shuttle obscured by the windows in the two airlock doors.
They waved, and blew kisses to him, Manny recorded the whole thing on camera.
Then, Rick was aboard, Sam helped him strap into his seat, and the inner blast
door closed over the airlock, cutting off his view of his family. Again he sat,
and waited. And waited.
Almost half an
hour later, Nelson turned halfway around in his pilot ’ s
seat and addressed Rick. “You ready, professor?” Sam had vouched for the
archeologist, but Nelson wasn ’ t sure about him. A
passenger, stumbling around in an e-suit? Nelson would have to watch out for
the archeologist ’ s safety, make sure he didn ’ t
do anything stupid and get hurt. It all sounded like a pain in the ass. His
ass, as the pilot in command.
Rick gave the
pilot a thumb ’ s up sign. “I ’ m ready.”
“This ain ’ t no luxury spaceplane, you hear? We don ’ t
have artificial gravity, and the ride is likely to be rougher than you ’ re used to, so if you ’ re gonna puke, use
the bag.”
Rick responded
with another thumb ’ s up. “Nelson, on
Sahara, our shuttle was held together with duct tape and string. The university
didn ’ t spring for luxury. And I took a dose of space
sickness meds, I ’ ll be OK.”
Nelson looked
skeptical. He turned back around to his console. “I hope so.”
Sam spoke up from
the copilot seat. “Hey, Nelson, if Rick says he ’ ll be OK,
he ’ ll be OK. He ’ s a
good guy. ”
“If you say so.”
The pilot responded. He was edgy, anxious. This rescue drop was the first
non-routine thing he ’ d done since he signed up with
Universal Transport. He didn ’ t want to screw it up, get a
black mark on his record. A passenger was just a complication. “ Ace control, this is the shuttle, requesting clearance to exit.”
Vassily ’ s voice came back. “Roger that, shuttle. Standby, doors
opening.”
In the airless
shuttle hangar, the only sound was transmitted faintly through the support arms
which held the shuttle in place. A vibration, a whirring of gears, then the
shuttle bay was
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