The Trip Down
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 12:15 pmThe Dropship Calico was on final approach. Already the faint whisper of atmosphere was passing over the hull, the crew and cargo locked down and strapped in. Alexei stood on the bridge, feet anchored in the secure loops, gripping the bulkhead with one long fingered hand. He watched the monitors with an experienced eye, comfortable and calm. Things were proceeding normally.
A shudder ran through the deck, and he frowned. "Chief?"
The Chief enlisted, a balding and muscular man of Asian descent, glanced up. "We've got a problem with the fuel line to pillar 4, Captain." His tone was casual, but everyone on the bridge tensed involuntarily. Alexei kept his voice level. "How bad?"
"Very. Recommend immediate abort."
Alexei glanced at the monitors, and then shook his head. "We can't - we're in the soup Chief. Can we make it to the LZ?"
The man, with surprising dexterity, unbuckled and pushed off, floating to the next station over and glancing over the shoulder of the newbie seated there. After a moment of silent calculation, he answered, "No sir. We need to touch down. Now. Whatever happened, Pillar 4 is flooding - if we burn now it might not blow, but otherwise..."
Alexei nodded, jaw set in a hard line, and answered, "Do what you can, Chief. Watch! Sound brace alert and prepare for emergency landing. Helm, bring the nose down and let gravity and the heat shields work - roll us 40 degrees to port and open ventral maneuvering jets!"
As he began snapping out orders, clear and composed, the crew burst into action, men at their posts entering new commands into their consoles, and several pushing away in the still trace gravity to hurl themselves down the elevator access shafts toward engineering and the compromised engine. As the Chief left the bridge, the watch stander slammed the shelter in place command, and moments later the ship began to lurch and roll as it prepared for a hard landing. A warning klaxon, harsher by far than the usual alert, rang through the halls, leaving the passengers, locked in their cabins, to wonder what the hell was going on, right before they, and everything they might have foolishly left unsecured, were wrenched about by the manuever.
A voice called over the speakers, "All hands! Secure in place. Prepare for high grav maneuvers. Secure in place. Do not release restraints until the all clear is sounded. Multiple maneuvers upcoming."
The ship lurched and rolled as it dropped altitude like an asteroid of legend, a blazing fireball ripping through the atmosphere and lighting up the night sky. As it passed through the upper atmosphere, however, this ovoid metal projectile flared thrusters, pitching the ship so the engines pointed directly downward and fired.
Riding the pillars of flame toward the ground, the Calico slowed, draining momentum until at last it was falling gently just meters above the ground in a field which, unfortunately for the owner, had been reduced to ash and char.
Then one of the four massive outer fusion engines ruptured. Flame belched out the top end of the engine as a line of hull plates along the outside erupted in fire and plasma before the emergency shutdowns cut the flow and stopped the entire engine from tearing itself apart.
The ship lurched one way, and then the other, as the pilot attempted to compensate, and then Alexei hit the emergency cutoffs and the ship fell the remaining two meters with a crash that rattled the bones of everyone on board, but which, luckily, was mostly absorbed by the massive shock absorbers in the landing struts. The ship rocked back and forth as they compensated, and then finally came to a stop with a metallic groan.
There was a moment of absolute silence.
Finally, Alexei seemed to recover first, and said, calmly. "Watch - get the Chief and have him start on a damage report. Sarenson, check on our passengers. Gunney, stay on post and make sure nobody gets curious until we know what's going on. Everyone else... let's fix this."
As the crew began moving, slowly and then with increasing speed as they realized it was over, Alexei gazed at the status readouts and the landing zone with a carefully bland expression.
They were down... and unfortunately, it seemed likely to stay that way for a while.
"Someone shut off that damn alarm, will you?
A shudder ran through the deck, and he frowned. "Chief?"
The Chief enlisted, a balding and muscular man of Asian descent, glanced up. "We've got a problem with the fuel line to pillar 4, Captain." His tone was casual, but everyone on the bridge tensed involuntarily. Alexei kept his voice level. "How bad?"
"Very. Recommend immediate abort."
Alexei glanced at the monitors, and then shook his head. "We can't - we're in the soup Chief. Can we make it to the LZ?"
The man, with surprising dexterity, unbuckled and pushed off, floating to the next station over and glancing over the shoulder of the newbie seated there. After a moment of silent calculation, he answered, "No sir. We need to touch down. Now. Whatever happened, Pillar 4 is flooding - if we burn now it might not blow, but otherwise..."
Alexei nodded, jaw set in a hard line, and answered, "Do what you can, Chief. Watch! Sound brace alert and prepare for emergency landing. Helm, bring the nose down and let gravity and the heat shields work - roll us 40 degrees to port and open ventral maneuvering jets!"
As he began snapping out orders, clear and composed, the crew burst into action, men at their posts entering new commands into their consoles, and several pushing away in the still trace gravity to hurl themselves down the elevator access shafts toward engineering and the compromised engine. As the Chief left the bridge, the watch stander slammed the shelter in place command, and moments later the ship began to lurch and roll as it prepared for a hard landing. A warning klaxon, harsher by far than the usual alert, rang through the halls, leaving the passengers, locked in their cabins, to wonder what the hell was going on, right before they, and everything they might have foolishly left unsecured, were wrenched about by the manuever.
A voice called over the speakers, "All hands! Secure in place. Prepare for high grav maneuvers. Secure in place. Do not release restraints until the all clear is sounded. Multiple maneuvers upcoming."
The ship lurched and rolled as it dropped altitude like an asteroid of legend, a blazing fireball ripping through the atmosphere and lighting up the night sky. As it passed through the upper atmosphere, however, this ovoid metal projectile flared thrusters, pitching the ship so the engines pointed directly downward and fired.
Riding the pillars of flame toward the ground, the Calico slowed, draining momentum until at last it was falling gently just meters above the ground in a field which, unfortunately for the owner, had been reduced to ash and char.
Then one of the four massive outer fusion engines ruptured. Flame belched out the top end of the engine as a line of hull plates along the outside erupted in fire and plasma before the emergency shutdowns cut the flow and stopped the entire engine from tearing itself apart.
The ship lurched one way, and then the other, as the pilot attempted to compensate, and then Alexei hit the emergency cutoffs and the ship fell the remaining two meters with a crash that rattled the bones of everyone on board, but which, luckily, was mostly absorbed by the massive shock absorbers in the landing struts. The ship rocked back and forth as they compensated, and then finally came to a stop with a metallic groan.
There was a moment of absolute silence.
Finally, Alexei seemed to recover first, and said, calmly. "Watch - get the Chief and have him start on a damage report. Sarenson, check on our passengers. Gunney, stay on post and make sure nobody gets curious until we know what's going on. Everyone else... let's fix this."
As the crew began moving, slowly and then with increasing speed as they realized it was over, Alexei gazed at the status readouts and the landing zone with a carefully bland expression.
They were down... and unfortunately, it seemed likely to stay that way for a while.
"Someone shut off that damn alarm, will you?