“Are we going to talk about the starship or sex?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t communicate well when I’m horny,” he said.
“Yes, you do. I’ve always known exactly what you wanted.”
“Do you want me to answer your questions before we go to bed?”
“Yes. You can scratch my back, too,” she said.
He scratched her back and said, “It has four sides so any one side can shield the other three.”
“Lower and to the right. . . . Oh, that’s good. . . . Why does it need a shield?”
David said, “Origin will be cruising though random atomic particles in interstellar space at near the speed of light. It’ll be like a target in an atom smasher for almost five hundred years.”
“Lower,” she said.
“That’s not your back.”
“You’re very observant,” she said. “Where are the windows?”
“There are no windows.”
She moved closer to the picture. “No windows. How can you see to fly it?”
“Monitors,” he said. “It has twelve sensor arrays, three on each side, transmitting to monitors in the cabin.”
“But why no windows?”
“The ship will be about the size of six supertankers. The cabin is in a sphere at the center of the ship,” he said. “It’s surrounded by storerooms surrounded by fuel tanks surrounded by shields built into the sides. There’s no place to put an outside window, but with twelve sensor arrays, it will be like having a dozen windows. You’ll be able to see clearly in any direction.”
“So we’ll be cooped up in there for three years?”
“It’s the safest place to be.”
“What if the monitor system fails?”
“Systems: A dozen. Operational redundancies with spare parts in storage,” he said. “If they all fail, one of us has to sit in a door open to space with a sextant and a walkie-talkie.”
“Very funny. Why did you quit caressing my bottom?”
“You moved.”
“No excuse. Your arms are long enough to keep up. The engines are pointing in four different directions. How’s it going to get anywhere?”
“Each engine has thirteen nozzles. Working together, they can accelerate the ship in any direction.
“Origin will look like a flying pyramid when it launches, from flat on one side straight up toward the point engine. When it’s about two thousand feet over the ocean, it will hover and rotate so it will look like a wedge flying into space with its sharp edge up. Travelling at high speed in interstellar space, it will fly toward a side and look like a pyramid flying upside-down.”
“The engines must be extremely powerful to launch a ship that big with full fuel tanks,” she said.
He shook his head. “They don’t have that much power. Sometime after the first test flight, Origin will lift an empty fuel tank into orbit. After that, the ship will launch with all the fuel it can lift on each test flight and transfer excess fuel to the orbiting tank. Just before departing for Minor, the starship will dock with the orbiting tank and fill up.”
“Where did you learn so much about it?”
“I’ve been reading everything I could find about it since the idea was first proposed.”
“Clever,” she said and kissed him.
Chapter 13
Claire was on duty at Holloman’s base hospital the next Sunday afternoon when the phone rang. “Medical Duty Officer Captain Archer speaking, sir.”
“This is the county dispatcher, Captain. We have a multiple casualty train wreck in a mountain pass with helicopter-only access. Your base is the nearest facility.”
“Yes, ma’am. Hold on a second please while I push the emergency klaxon.” She pressed the mute button and shouted, “Sergeant Thomas. Wake up! We have an emergency!”
Claire double-checked the coordinates with the dispatcher and hung up as a sleepy-eyed sergeant appeared at her door. She briefed him and told him to wind up the duty helicopter and all the PJs, Pararescue Jumpers, he could find. Then she said, “After you’re done with that, call the backup medical duty officer. I’m going.”
The sergeant said, “Yes, ma’am,” started to turn away and then turned back. “You’re going ma’am?”
She was dialing the phone and without looking up, she said, “That’s correct, Sergeant.”
Claire left a message on the phone in her and David’s quarters. He was playing golf, and she did not want to disturb his game by calling his cellphone.
▼
The helicopter blades started to turn when Claire arrived with a large bag of medical supplies. She climbed aboard after the supplies were loaded, handed the pilot the destination coordinates, and told him to lift off when ready.
The leather jacket she wore was a gift from David. It had captain’s bars on each shoulder, a flight surgeon’s badge on the left front, and a name tag on the right side. Ignoring surprised expressions, she buckled herself into the seat between the flight engineer and the PJ. When her safety belt was fastened, she looked up to see the pilot and copilot looking at her over their shoulders. She looked the pilot in the eye, and with the heel of her right hand on her right thigh, she slowly tapped her fingers. He and the copilot turned to face forward, and the helicopter lifted off.
Claire put on a headset and used the attached microphone to brief everybody. Then she said to the PJ, “You were the only one they could find?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m low man on the totem pole. I had the duty. Everybody else was bugged out.”
“After this is over, I’ll buy you all a drink at the low-man’s club.”
▼
On short fall days in the mountains, the sun sets early, and it was dark when they arrived over the train wreck in the mountain pass. A semicircle of fire flickered in the wreckage and reflected from the adjacent mountainside, which blocked the only way out of the flames. Four passenger cars and an engine were off the track on the inside of a curve, as if an inside track had failed. That was the good luck, because the other side was a cliff, and it was several hundred feet to the river below. The bad luck was that people could be seen surrounded and trapped by the burning wreckage. Some were lying down.
The fire’s turbulent updraft jolted the helicopter and caused it to pitch and roll as it hovered over the fire. That caused the PJ to swing in wide arcs at the end of the hoist cable while he was being lowered. He turned to face the direction of his swing as he neared the ground and made a running landing while simultaneously disconnecting from the cable.
The pilot, who had been working hard to keep his machine steady over the fire and avoid hitting the nearby mountain, said, “You’ve got it.” The copilot, wearing night vision goggles, took control and flew into the dark canyon’s smoother air while the cable was retrieved.
Next, the large bag of medical supplies was lowered. As they circled back into clear air, Claire began putting on a harness and said, “I’m going down next.”
After a brief silence, somebody said, “Ma’am?”
“You can all testify as witnesses. The black box recorder will back you up. This is a direct order. I am going down next.”
There was no “Yes, ma’am” response, but the flight engineer checked her harness and connected it to the cable while the copilot circled back to the fire.
Approaching the circle of flames, the pilot took control again. He hovered over the flames, and Claire began her descent. Despite the cold air, light from the instrument panel and fire were reflected from perspiration on the pilot’s forehead as he fought to keep the helicopter steady.
Claire swung at the end of the cable. At times, it appeared she was going to land in the fire. Trembling with fear, she told herself, You can do this. You can do this!
As she swung in a big arc near the ground, the PJ caught her with one strong arm around her waist. Her momentum lifted him off the ground while he disconnected her from the cable. Then he released her and made sure they were far enoug
h apart so each could make a safe parachute landing fall.
Gratefully, she noted his name tag as they stood up. But before she could thank him, he shouted, “What the fuck are you doing?”
She looked him in the eye and said, “That language is not appropriate when speaking to a superior officer, Sergeant Bing.”
“What the fuck makes you think you’re superior to me here?”
“I know more about medicine, Sergeant.” His eyes flicked down to her flight surgeon’s badge. He did not say anything, but his face was still clouded by anger. She thought her descent into the ring of fire must have scared him, too.
“Where do you need me?” she asked.
He gestured to a group of people who appeared to be injured. He said, “They haven’t been examined. Supplies are in the middle.” And then he walked away without another word.
It was a bloody mess. Claire and Sergeant Bing worked hard to triage everybody and treat the critically injured as best they could. Then they left the less serious injuries to crawl through the wrecked train and search for other casualties. She could see that getting in front of him made him angry, so she tried not to do that. They were both burned as they rescued six more people, including two with critical injuries.
Two civilian fire department helicopters arrived during the night. Four paramedics and their equipment were lowered. One broke his right ankle when he landed.
▼
Rescuers arrived by train at dawn and cleared a path through the still smoldering wreckage.
David was on the train. He found Claire holding a little boy who was wearing her jacket and had a splint on his left leg. Though both of them were wrapped in a blanket, she was shivering in the below freezing cold, smeared with soot, and wearing bandages on her burns.
▼
Claire and Sergeant Bing wound up in adjacent beds, separated only by a curtain in a small town hospital’s crowded ward.
David was sitting in a chair and had his head on her bed. He and Claire were holding hands and dozing when the curtains were pulled back. Her commanding officer congratulated her and Bing for a job well done.
She said, “Sir, I would like to report Sergeant Bing.”
The colonel’s expression turned serious. “Report?”
Claire glanced at the other bed. A shocked expression was on the sergeant’s face. “Sorry sir, wrong word,” she said. “I would like to commend Sergeant Bing and recommend him for a Distinguished Flying Cross.”
She grinned at Bing, and he laughed.
▼
On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Claire and David received orders transferring them to NASA and giving them leave over the Christmas holidays. They attended two parties before they left: One was a going away party given for them at the Officers Club. Claire was delighted to receive a pair of Air Force blue bunny slippers as a going away present. The second party was given by Claire and David in a rented motel ballroom near the base. She put a sign with big letters on the door, “The Low-Man’s Club.” They invited friends, Sergeant Bing, and the crew of the helicopter on the night of the fire. The dress code was civilian casual.
At the party, Bing gave Claire a maroon beret with a Pararescue Flash. With tears in her eyes, she hugged him. His eyes went wide with shock, and he held his arms away and straight.
“Hug her,” David said. “You saved her from a broken neck or worse. You’re entitled.”
The big Sergeant lifted the Captain off her feet. When he put her down, she knew she had been hugged, and they were both smiling.
Chapter 14
On Monday, January 4, 2048, Claire and David were seated at a table with two other couples in the NASA Space Center in Houston. A man standing at the front of the room and facing them said, “Good morning. I’m your instructor and immediate supervisor. During the next thirty months, we’ll become family, so our first order of business is introductions. To you, my name is Jim. If anybody needs to know, my last name is Baldwin.
“On my left is Eagle Flight: Air Force Major Leah Taylor and Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Taylor. Leah was a fighter pilot, and Matt was a senior flight surgeon. I say was because now you are all NASA astronauts in training and members of Team Thunder.
“In front of me is Wolf Flight: Navy Lieutenant Commander Susan Wolf and Dr. Paul Wolf. Susan was a test pilot. Paul was a flight surgeon when he was in the Air Force.
“On my right is Cougar Flight: Air Force Captain Claire Archer and Major David Archer. Claire was a flight surgeon, and David was a fighter pilot.”
Jim continued with basic information and a course outline for most of the first hour, and then the class was given a break. Coffee was in a corner of the room.
During the break, Leah asked Claire, “Didn’t you rescue a cougar cub in the Grand Canyon about two years ago?”
“Yes,” Claire said.
Paul was surprised. “That was you!”
Claire nodded. “I thought everybody would have forgotten that by now.”
“What did your commanding officer have to say?” Susan asked.
Claire shook her head. “I was in medical school at the time. The only comment from anybody in authority was from one of my instructors. He said he was no pussycat, and I believed him.”
The team laughed.
▼
When the class resumed, Jim introduced Perry Wright, PhD, administrator of NASA. He said, “Good morning ladies and gentlemen. You’ll have a very demanding schedule for the next 30 months. So I won’t take much of your time, but I do want to welcome you to NASA and Team Thunder.
“The potential value of your mission is beyond measure. You will demonstrate fusion power: a clean, safe, economical, and abundant source of energy that can stimulate the world economy. You will gather new data about our universe, and you may also discover a planet where people can live. That could save the human race from extinction when the Sun makes our planet Earth too hot for life.”
After Dr. Wright left, Jim continued with a detailed technical briefing. Just before lunch, he said, “The primary crew will not be able to fly Origin before May of 2050. Therefore, each of you will be assigned a plane to maintain your real-world flying skills. Much of your flying awareness will transfer to flying the starship, and we want you to stay sharp.
“You have all flown Winddancers, and you will begin refresher training starting next Monday. NASA wants you to fly as much as you can when you’re not busy with your other training duties. That means most of your flying will be done on weekends. You will be authorized to use the planes for your personal transportation and to carry passengers.”
Eyebrows around the room went up. Jim smiled and said, “I know, I know. That’s not the way things are usually done. But the question was: if we can’t trust you to use good judgment with planes and passengers, how can we trust you with a multibillion dollar starship? And vice versa: If we can trust you with Origin, shouldn’t we be able to trust you with planes and passengers? Giving you free rein to use the good judgment we know you have should result in more flight time. And that will be to the advantage of the mission.
“One of the three separate control panels on the starship is called a shirtsleeve control panel. It’s the largest and most elaborate of the panels and it’s designed to be operated in a comfortable cabin environment. Four shirtsleeve control simulators are in the classroom next door: one for me and one for each flight. Most of your training time will be spent there learning everything about the ship except how to fly it. You will get breaks for survival and other training from time to time to keep you, and me, from becoming blithering simulator idiots.
“A special dining area has been assigned in the cafeteria where you will be served meals from the ship’s planned menu. These meals will also be available in your individual crew quarters, which are replicas of Origin’s cabin. Since these meals are part of the development costs, you will not be charged for them. You are not required to eat them exclusively. But when you are two hundred and fifty light years
from Earth, there may not be many restaurants or supermarkets. So try to perfect your menu before you leave. If you have any recipes, suggestions, comments, observations, or complaints, I’m your guy. The same goes for any issues with your quarters, and you will not be charged for them either.
“Are there any questions?”
Matt Taylor asked, “My family lives in Anchorage. Is that too far for a weekend trip?”
Jim said, “The rule against routine supersonic flight over land is in effect, even for NASA. But flying just below the speed of sound should do it.”
There were no more questions and Jim said, “Okay team, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty with your first Origin lunch.”
▼
“This is terrible,” Paul said. “If this is meatloaf, I’m a supersonic dodo bird.”
“What kind of sound does an extinct supersonic bird make?” Susan asked with a grin.
Paul blushed. “This is a polite table.”
“I have a recipe that has received good reviews,” Leah told Jim. “I’ll email it to you.”
After lunch, Jim drove the team van along the back of the Team Thunder training complex. Six parking spaces were marked “Reserved for Team Thunder Astronauts.” Three doors were in front of each pair of parking spaces. The one on the left was marked Cougar Flight, the middle door was marked Wolf Flight, and the door on the far right was marked Eagle Flight. “Private, Do Not Disturb” was under each flight’s name.
Jim parked in the last parking space and led the team to Eagle Flight’s door.
“This will be Eagle Flight’s living quarters for the next 27 months or so. Quarters for Wolf Flight and Cougar Flight are identical.”
He opened the door to a short passage that led to a small round floor at the bottom of the ball shaped cabin. On it was a laundry area, a compact gym, stairs to the floor above, and the bottom of a fireman’s pole. Jim led the team up two stairways to the top floor, which was the same small size as the bottom floor. It had two work stations and a large video screen. He called it a study.
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