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Message #:1067
Time to look for the author...*** X-Eagle "This Ain't No Simulator" |
"This Ain't No Simulator"
by Commodore Fyrstk
(a X-over plot with the U.S.S. Eagle)
Navigating the shuttle back out of the asteroid field, proved to be easy for Ronov. He even enjoyed it. Unlike when they entered, he was only working with minimal thrusters which gave him plenty of time to react. He had directed the shuttle straigh "up," meaning they would exit at the "top" of the asteroid field as opposed to either side, which the alien ship was searching for them at.
"We're almost to the edge," came his brother's voice of the inter-comm. "The alien ship is almost to the 'rear' of the field, which should give us maximum cover from their sensors."
"Ah wish ya would say 'will' instead of 'should'," Ronov commented into the speaker.
"Sorry, Ronnie," Rohan apologized.
"We're almost clear," Ronov reported, seeing the darkness of open space ahead of him. "Will we be able to jump rahght to warp?"
"Yes," Rohan replied. "Because of the location of the other ship, you can even go a bit further out before jumping to warp, but not too far."
"Got it," Ronov acknowledged. "Waste no tahme jumpin' ta warp. Is Noble still confident this thing will hold up under warp?"
"Sure am," came the voice of his cousin and friend.
"Alrahght," Ronov said with a sigh. "We're out of the asteroid field... here we go."
Ronov reached forward and touched the control. The shuttle hesitated at first, but then jumped to its maximum warp. Ronov could hear a slight miss in the engines as they hurtled away from the asteroid field. The ship that had been looking for them, had not noticed the shuttle's jump, however.... The move was detected by two other ships.
Close to six hours later, Rohan's voice came over the comm system. "Time to drop from warp, Ronnie. You did it."
"All Ah did was pilot this boat," Ronov answered. "Y'all and Noble deserve th' credit." He tapped, again on the console, dropping the shuttle to impulse.
"Oh no," came the twin's voice over the comm.
"What, 'oh-no'?"
"We have a follower," Rohan reported. "They'te too far out for me to get a good reading on them, but they are headed this way."
"That's just wonderful news," Ronov grumbled. "What about this planet ahead?"
"It does have life signs. ..... No technology, like sattelites or space-faring vehicles. I'm seeing signs of air pollution, so they must have some sorts of industry."
"Well fahnd me a spot ta set down so Ah don't raise no attention," Ronov requested. He started to maneuver the shuttle for entry into the planet's atmosphere. Just lahke the simulator.... Just lahke the simulator. He reminded himself.
"Noble wants you to take one orbit around the planet. He thinks he has an idea to give us 'eyes in the sky,' as he calls it."
"Will do," Ronov replied.
Rohan turned around in his seat and glanced to Noble. The other boy was fiddling with a tricorder, that was used for diagnostics on the shuttle's engines.
"I'm reconfiguring this to act as a relay sattelite," Noble told Rohan. "It won't give us long range sensor capabilities, but it will tell us if any ships enter the system."
"That is a great idea!" Rohan told the eight-year old.
"I just hope it works."
Noble checked the screen of the tricorder, then looked to Rohan. "Can you hone in on the tricorder's transmitting frequency?"
Rohan looked back to the sensor console. He made a few adjustments, and a moment later he nodded to Noble. "Got it."
Noble walked to the hatch door, and placed the tricorder on the deck, by the outer door. He then closed the inner door and depressurized the space between the doors. When he opened the outer door, he shut off the artificial gravity plate, and watched the tricorder float outside the shuttle. He glanced back to Rohan as he pressed the control to close the outer door.
"It is functioning," Rohan informed him. "It is not picking up the ship that is approaching yet, but it does show the other planets in this system. Really nice work." He tapped the inter-comm. "Okay, Ronnie. Let's set this thing down."
With the coordinates provided by Rohan locked into his console, Ronov asked for his brother to make certain that everyone was buckled in, and to apologize in advance for any rough landing, remind them this "was not a simulator." When he got the "all clear" from aft, he angled the shuttle to make entry into the planet's atmosphere.
The going was smooth at first, but then one of hte damaged stabilizers gave out, and the shuttle started to shake. Ronov heard screams and crying coming from the passenger compartment, and tried to block them out. The shaking got even more violent before clearing the upper layers of the atmosphere, then even out quite a bit, though there was still some minor shaking.
"You're doing great, Ronnie," came Rohan's voice. "Right on course."
Ronov wished he had his brother's confidence. Truth be told, that passage through the upper atmosphere did more than shake the boy up physically. He, once again, felt he was out of his league here. Still, he used all the things he had learned about flying a shuttle, and pressed on.
Soon, the land mass Rohan had picked out for their landing had come up on him. Ronov again angled the shuttle to land it. Ah'm coming in too fast! he thought as he watched the altimeter tick off the distance to the ground. He reached over and tapped the inter-comm on to the whole shuttle.
"Here it comes, Ever'one! Hang o..."
The shuttle impacted the ground much harder than Ronov had intended and actually lifted off again. Again, he heard screams from the back, as he watched the scenery go by. The shuttle hit the ground again, but this time, Ronov was certain he could feel the aft end of the shuttle rising.
Oh crud! we're gonna flip!
Suddenly the forward motion of the shuttle stopped. Heaps of earth spilled onto the forward view-glass, and the back of the shuttle slammed down to the ground. Then the lights went out.
###
