Read Online Burnout: the mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 by Stephanie Osborn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stephanie Osborn
Tags: Science-Fiction
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went… it just didn't go far enough. And I have no idea why.
Crash Murphy stretched out on the hotel bed and stared at the blank ceiling, brow creased in thought.
Chapter 6
The next day, Crash walked into the high bay and greeted Mitch as he scanned the area, studying the progress made since the last time he was in the bay. It was substantial.
"Hi, Mitch. How's it goin'?" he asked as the lab manager wandered by.
"Pretty good, Crash," Mitchell paused to address the investigator. "We've got about eighty to eighty-five percent of Atlantis recovered now. My guess is that's pretty close to all we'll get. Now it's just a matter of piecing it all together."
"How's it looking?"
"I know what you wanna hear, Crash," Mitch sympathized. "I'm sorry."
Crash sighed, and scanned the bay again, wary. "Where's Lisa?"
Mitch gave Crash a sly smile. "Now why would you ask that?"
Crash looked as exasperated as he felt. "Maybe because she didn't pounce as soon as I walked in the damn door."
"Lisa left last night, Crash," Mitch revealed. "Headed back to D.C. Jack sent her back with the mag tape from the ops recorder."
"Oh." Murphy paused. He crossed his eyes whimsically. "Would it be rude to say, ‘Thank God'?"
Mitchell snorted once, then suppressed it, grinning.
"I guess not," Crash decided, not bothering to hide his smirk.
The two men were silent for a moment, sobering as they stood, considering the reconstruction work. White-suited engineers scurried around the huge room like worker ants. Just then, one of the hard-hatted workers waved a hand.
"Hey, Mitch, c'mere."
"What's up, Charlie?" Mitch bestirred himself and headed over to the section of floor reserved for the payload bay contents where Charlie was working.
"Look at this…" Crash overheard Charlie say as Mitch walked up.
Mitchell stood conversing with the worker for a few moments, then turned and waved. "Crash, come take a look."
Crash sauntered over. "Whatcha got, Mitch?"
"This is strange, Crash. Here's the airlock assembly," Mitchell gestured to the reconstructed debris before them. "It was in an external, payload bay configuration. It's busted up some, yeah, but we've got it reassembled…"
"Not quite, Mitch. You're missin' a hatch," Crash pointed out.
"That's the strange part, Crash. It's the INNER hatch that's missing." Mitchell stood with a puzzled frown on his face, staring at the hardware.
"Really? That IS interesting…" Crash mused, and moved closer to examine the airlock. "Hmm… Can I take a look?"
"Sure, go ahead. You're here to investigate, so investigate to your heart's content. C'mon, Charlie, I want you to see about reassembling…" The two men walked away, and left Crash to check out the airlock assembly.
This really is weird , Crash thought as he crouched down and examined the debris. I wouldn't have thought the inner hatch would be the one to go missing. I'd assume that the inner hatch would be more likely to stay with the craft, but the outer hatch might get lost when the payload bay doors came off as the shuttle disintegrated . He ran delicate rubber-gloved fingertips over the inner hinge joint. What the hell?! Wait a minute… He bent his head low, then knelt, and studied the area where the missing hinge would have been. He produced a jeweler's loupe from a pocket, and studied the joint.
"Hey, Mitch!" Crash turned and flagged the Materials Lab chief, who broke off his conversation and came back to Crash's side.
"Whatcha need, Crash?" Mitchell asked immediately.
"Can we take this section over to the Lab and look at it a little closer?"
"Sure. Let's check it out of the computer records and walk across the street…"
* * * *
"Oohhh, shit," Mitch murmured as he scanned the hinge surface under the microscope. "Damn. Good catch, Crash."
"What do you see?" Crash demanded.
Mitchell raised his head and looked straight into Crash's eyes with a foreboding gaze. "The inner airlock hatch wasn't lost, it was removed. This hinge was cut."
"I
Crash Murphy stretched out on the hotel bed and stared at the blank ceiling, brow creased in thought.
Chapter 6
The next day, Crash walked into the high bay and greeted Mitch as he scanned the area, studying the progress made since the last time he was in the bay. It was substantial.
"Hi, Mitch. How's it goin'?" he asked as the lab manager wandered by.
"Pretty good, Crash," Mitchell paused to address the investigator. "We've got about eighty to eighty-five percent of Atlantis recovered now. My guess is that's pretty close to all we'll get. Now it's just a matter of piecing it all together."
"How's it looking?"
"I know what you wanna hear, Crash," Mitch sympathized. "I'm sorry."
Crash sighed, and scanned the bay again, wary. "Where's Lisa?"
Mitch gave Crash a sly smile. "Now why would you ask that?"
Crash looked as exasperated as he felt. "Maybe because she didn't pounce as soon as I walked in the damn door."
"Lisa left last night, Crash," Mitch revealed. "Headed back to D.C. Jack sent her back with the mag tape from the ops recorder."
"Oh." Murphy paused. He crossed his eyes whimsically. "Would it be rude to say, ‘Thank God'?"
Mitchell snorted once, then suppressed it, grinning.
"I guess not," Crash decided, not bothering to hide his smirk.
The two men were silent for a moment, sobering as they stood, considering the reconstruction work. White-suited engineers scurried around the huge room like worker ants. Just then, one of the hard-hatted workers waved a hand.
"Hey, Mitch, c'mere."
"What's up, Charlie?" Mitch bestirred himself and headed over to the section of floor reserved for the payload bay contents where Charlie was working.
"Look at this…" Crash overheard Charlie say as Mitch walked up.
Mitchell stood conversing with the worker for a few moments, then turned and waved. "Crash, come take a look."
Crash sauntered over. "Whatcha got, Mitch?"
"This is strange, Crash. Here's the airlock assembly," Mitchell gestured to the reconstructed debris before them. "It was in an external, payload bay configuration. It's busted up some, yeah, but we've got it reassembled…"
"Not quite, Mitch. You're missin' a hatch," Crash pointed out.
"That's the strange part, Crash. It's the INNER hatch that's missing." Mitchell stood with a puzzled frown on his face, staring at the hardware.
"Really? That IS interesting…" Crash mused, and moved closer to examine the airlock. "Hmm… Can I take a look?"
"Sure, go ahead. You're here to investigate, so investigate to your heart's content. C'mon, Charlie, I want you to see about reassembling…" The two men walked away, and left Crash to check out the airlock assembly.
This really is weird , Crash thought as he crouched down and examined the debris. I wouldn't have thought the inner hatch would be the one to go missing. I'd assume that the inner hatch would be more likely to stay with the craft, but the outer hatch might get lost when the payload bay doors came off as the shuttle disintegrated . He ran delicate rubber-gloved fingertips over the inner hinge joint. What the hell?! Wait a minute… He bent his head low, then knelt, and studied the area where the missing hinge would have been. He produced a jeweler's loupe from a pocket, and studied the joint.
"Hey, Mitch!" Crash turned and flagged the Materials Lab chief, who broke off his conversation and came back to Crash's side.
"Whatcha need, Crash?" Mitchell asked immediately.
"Can we take this section over to the Lab and look at it a little closer?"
"Sure. Let's check it out of the computer records and walk across the street…"
* * * *
"Oohhh, shit," Mitch murmured as he scanned the hinge surface under the microscope. "Damn. Good catch, Crash."
"What do you see?" Crash demanded.
Mitchell raised his head and looked straight into Crash's eyes with a foreboding gaze. "The inner airlock hatch wasn't lost, it was removed. This hinge was cut."
"I
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