manual override for the first drop pod and armed the release charges.
The first three pods all carried the same manifest: equipment they needed to survey each of the three presumably habitable planets in the Tau Ceti system. Upon arrival at a survey planet, one pod was to be dropped to the selected landing site, unpacked, and its contents left behind after each survey mission ended. The last three pods contained the equipment they would need to prep the selected site for colonization.
He quickly assigned the tertiary landing site as pod one’s landing target, and then watched the data pad as the seconds ticked away.
“Jack, it’s almost time to drop.” Frank called into his comm-set. He waited for a response, but it never came. “Jack?” he queried, growing concerned. “Jack, do you copy?” Frank began switching channels and calling Jack’s name. But there was no response.
“What’s wrong?” Lynn asked.
“I can’t raise Jack on comms!”
“Could the system be malfunctioning?”
“No way,” Frank told her. “Each unit is independent. It doesn’t rely on any ship-board systems to operate. If he can’t hear us, then his unit has the problem.”
“Or worse,” Lynn added pessimistically.
Frank hadn’t even considered that possibility. Not Jack. Ever since they were kids, Jack had always managed to get by intact, through one scrape after another. If Jack couldn’t hear them, then it meant that his comm-set was malfunctioning. Frank was sure of it. “Five seconds to entry window,” Frank announced as he watched the drop pod status board. If Jack was still alive, the first pod would drop on cue.
Jack watched the data pad as it counted down to zero. On cue, he pulled the manual release handle, activating the explosive bolts that held the pod in place in its berth along the bottom of the Icarus. Immediately, there was a sharp crack like a gunshot, and a tremor erupted within the pod’s housing wall. That was followed by a larger, more definite vibration as the jettison charges ignited. Jack peered out the access hatch window as the drop pod left its receptacle, dropping down to the planet below.
The first drop pod’s release changed a status prompt on Frank’s display from a green “SECURE” to a flashing red “POD AWAY”. “Yes!” Frank hollered. “I knew it! Jack’s alive! The first drop pod is away!”
Lynn said nothing, though she was also relieved. She was busy with her own problems behind the Icarus’s flight controls. The ship was sluggish to respond, and the damaged balloot was trying to drag their nose down into the plasma wake. It was a constant struggle to keep the nose up, and they were running out of fuel.
Suddenly, a sharp increase in the orange-red glow from the plasma spilling out from between the balloots, lit up the inside of the flight deck. This caught Frank’s attention. “We’ve got trouble here,” he announced grimly. “That balloot is not gonna hold much longer. And when it goes, I doubt we’ll last more than a minute before the plasma cooks us.” Frank didn’t realize it, but with Jack out of communication, he was looking to Lynn to make command decisions.
Lynn, however, did realize it. After all, she was technically second in command. Without thinking twice, she made her first command decision. “We’ve got to get Jack back up here, now!” she decided. “Send someone to bring him back. We can’t wait for him to drop all the pods!”
Frank reacted without hesitation. He wanted his best friend back in the command seat where he belonged. “Tony!” Frank called over the secondary comm-channel. “Can one of you fetch Jack? His comm-set is down and we’re running out of time.”
“ No way! ” Tony answered over the comm-system. “ We’re barely holding our own here! One of us leaves and we’ll lose the whole compartment in less than a minute!
The first three pods all carried the same manifest: equipment they needed to survey each of the three presumably habitable planets in the Tau Ceti system. Upon arrival at a survey planet, one pod was to be dropped to the selected landing site, unpacked, and its contents left behind after each survey mission ended. The last three pods contained the equipment they would need to prep the selected site for colonization.
He quickly assigned the tertiary landing site as pod one’s landing target, and then watched the data pad as the seconds ticked away.
“Jack, it’s almost time to drop.” Frank called into his comm-set. He waited for a response, but it never came. “Jack?” he queried, growing concerned. “Jack, do you copy?” Frank began switching channels and calling Jack’s name. But there was no response.
“What’s wrong?” Lynn asked.
“I can’t raise Jack on comms!”
“Could the system be malfunctioning?”
“No way,” Frank told her. “Each unit is independent. It doesn’t rely on any ship-board systems to operate. If he can’t hear us, then his unit has the problem.”
“Or worse,” Lynn added pessimistically.
Frank hadn’t even considered that possibility. Not Jack. Ever since they were kids, Jack had always managed to get by intact, through one scrape after another. If Jack couldn’t hear them, then it meant that his comm-set was malfunctioning. Frank was sure of it. “Five seconds to entry window,” Frank announced as he watched the drop pod status board. If Jack was still alive, the first pod would drop on cue.
Jack watched the data pad as it counted down to zero. On cue, he pulled the manual release handle, activating the explosive bolts that held the pod in place in its berth along the bottom of the Icarus. Immediately, there was a sharp crack like a gunshot, and a tremor erupted within the pod’s housing wall. That was followed by a larger, more definite vibration as the jettison charges ignited. Jack peered out the access hatch window as the drop pod left its receptacle, dropping down to the planet below.
The first drop pod’s release changed a status prompt on Frank’s display from a green “SECURE” to a flashing red “POD AWAY”. “Yes!” Frank hollered. “I knew it! Jack’s alive! The first drop pod is away!”
Lynn said nothing, though she was also relieved. She was busy with her own problems behind the Icarus’s flight controls. The ship was sluggish to respond, and the damaged balloot was trying to drag their nose down into the plasma wake. It was a constant struggle to keep the nose up, and they were running out of fuel.
Suddenly, a sharp increase in the orange-red glow from the plasma spilling out from between the balloots, lit up the inside of the flight deck. This caught Frank’s attention. “We’ve got trouble here,” he announced grimly. “That balloot is not gonna hold much longer. And when it goes, I doubt we’ll last more than a minute before the plasma cooks us.” Frank didn’t realize it, but with Jack out of communication, he was looking to Lynn to make command decisions.
Lynn, however, did realize it. After all, she was technically second in command. Without thinking twice, she made her first command decision. “We’ve got to get Jack back up here, now!” she decided. “Send someone to bring him back. We can’t wait for him to drop all the pods!”
Frank reacted without hesitation. He wanted his best friend back in the command seat where he belonged. “Tony!” Frank called over the secondary comm-channel. “Can one of you fetch Jack? His comm-set is down and we’re running out of time.”
“ No way! ” Tony answered over the comm-system. “ We’re barely holding our own here! One of us leaves and we’ll lose the whole compartment in less than a minute!
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