by Ben Winston
“We don’t have an extra Centurion right now. All of them are out on patrols and seeding missions, I might be able to get a shuttle, but there is no way it could keep up,” John replied.
Ian nodded. “I know. So for now, I’ll send Talena and Cindy out in Hornets to shadow Nan. But let’s see if we can’t get something planned for the next tests, okay?”
“It’s gonna be a bitch for them to track her, but something is better than nothing I guess.” He turned and looked around; spotting who he wanted, he said. “Tormana! Get with operations and have them work up an escort mission for the Wasp experiment. Valkyrie flight is on tap. You gotta hustle because they’re going to launch as soon as they can get suited up.”
“On it, Chief!” The young man said and began typing furiously.
Ian activated his comm again. “Nan, we’re going to launch Valkyrie flight as an escort for you. Next time though, we’re going to find something more suitable to recue ops if they’re needed.”
“The wing leaders for Gold Squadron, huh? That ought to cover my ass. Aren’t you related to them Guardian?”
“One of them is my wife, and the other is a very close friend,” Ian replied grinning.
“I’ve never met either of them yet, but I’ve been told they are the two best pilots we have,” Nan replied.
“By the way, is ‘Nan’ your call sign?” Ian asked.
She chuckled. “No Sir, my call sign is ‘Tinker’, ‘cause of my interest in engineering. Doc Benson calls me Nan ‘cause my name is Nancy.”
“Nan actually is a doctor; she has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Apparently she was an astronaut until she met Janet,” Brittney said off the comm. Then she grinned. “She’s more qualified to do my job than I am!”
“I doubt that. Besides, I get the impression, she is right where she prefers to be,” Ian replied.
“You got that right, Guardian. Tell Doc Benson that just because you don’t have academics to back it up, if you can walk the walk and talk the talk, then there is no reason for you not to have that title,” Tinker said. “One of you left the mic open.”
“So, you get tired of NASA or something?” Ian asked.
“No, NASA was great, what little bit of time I was actually there. I spent more of my time as an ‘astronaut’ making public appearances and recruiting for the US Air Force. I got tired of never being assigned any real work and left. I met Janet Laskar at a restaurant just off the Academy grounds in Colorado Springs. She’s a very convincing lady, and I’m damn glad she convinced me,” Tinker replied.
About that time, Cindy and Talena came through the door, both dressed in flight suits. They came to attention, and Talena saluted Ian.
“Reporting as ordered, Sir.”
“At ease. We have an experimental Wasp fighter out there by herself. I want the two of you to go out and watch over her in case she gets into trouble. However, you might have a hard time finding her. There has been an unexpected side effect of the new armor and power systems. Without IFF and her running lights, she’ll be all but invisible to you,” Ian said.
“So we need to keep an IFF lock on her. Are Hornets the best craft to be doing this in? We have no medical and no real way to get her back here safely if we need to,” Cindy replied.
Ian shook his head. “No, they aren’t, but for the time being, it’s all we have. Her call sign is Tinker. She is in Wasp X-One and is currently in a testing hold while she waits for the two of you.” Ian looked up at the ensign that was working with operations to get the flight authorized. “Tormana, has operations got us fixed up yet?”
“Just about, Sir. They will be sending the file down here for your signature authorizing the flight, Sir,” Tormana replied.
“Good work,” he looked back at the two girls. “Go mount up and get ready to launch. We’ll give you a holler in a couple of minutes.”
Both girls saluted this time, and left the room. Looking out the window and down onto the open launch and landing bay, he saw Cindy running across the deck to the fighters. She had put her helmet on because of the noise of the bay, but Ian could tell it was her because of her shape. On the other side of the ship, and a few minutes later, he imagined Talena would be doing the same thing.
He walked over to Ensign Tormana and looked over his shoulder. When the document came up, Ian placed his hand on it and spoke. “Commander Ian Williams.”
Like magic, his signed name appeared on the bottom of the document authorizing the launch of two fighter craft as a safety escort for the duration of the test flight of the Wasp X-One. Glancing up, he nodded to John. “Turn ‘em loose.”
Chapter 7
F.S.S. Star Dancer.
Selene Orbit, (Earth’s moon)
Earth, Sol Sector.
“Valkyrie Two green and awaiting go.” Cindy reported.
A moment later, Talena, out of breath, could be heard. “Valkyrie One is green. Valkyrie flight waiting for go.”
“Mission has been authorized, Valkyrie flight. You have a go. Transferring launch control to fighters, launch when ready.”
“Valkyrie flight, Tally ho!” Talena called and Cindy pushed her throttle into over-boost, and released the little fighter’s restraints. She shot down the tube, pushed by the thrust of her craft as well as the cascading magnetic fields that assisted the fighter to accelerate into attack speed as soon as it left the launch tube. Automatically, she extended the short wings and turned to form up with Talena.
“Valkyrie is clear and on mission. Where are you at, Tinker?” Talena asked even though she already had IFF lock on the experimental craft.
“It looks like you already know the answer to that, Valkyrie. Just keep coming, and you’ll run right over me,” Tinker replied.
“Well, we wouldn’t want that, Tinker!” Cindy replied.
“Wasp X-One, this is control. Please engage all landing lights and visual recognition markers until Valkyrie flight has a positive visual on you,” one of the controllers said. It made Cindy grin to know they were trying to prevent a mid-space collision. ‘Well, that is their job after all’, she said to herself.
Ahead of her, about twenty kilometers Cindy could see one of the lights of space get brighter. However, at this distance, the Wasp still looked like just another star in the heavens.
“I think I see you, Tinker, but we’re still a ways out. I think we’re going to need to put neon lights along the outline just to be able to see you!” Talena said, the grin clear in her voice.
“Intercept in five, control” Cindy reported.
“Understood, Valkyrie Two. Just don’t hit her,” the controller replied.
Demonstrating the speed and maneuverability of the small fighters, Cindy and Talena linked up with the test craft in just over five minutes.
“Wow, control, you weren’t exaggerating this time, if it weren’t for her lights, I don’t think I would be able to see her at all,” Talena replied.
“That was our read as well, Valkyrie. We need more information on this, so please keep notes on your mission recorders for us,” Brittney said over the control comm channel.
“You got it doc,” Cindy said. Both she and Talena shared a chuckle when they heard the woman sigh.
“Okay, now that the gang’s all here, how about we get on with the testing? I have a date tonight!” Tinker replied.
The flight tests proceeded as planned, and the fighter performed above expectations. However, since no weapons were being fired and the shields had only been on minimum, there had been no way for the little fighter to discharge the energy building up from the armor. Half way through the final test, the readings began spiking into the red.
“Control, this is Tinker, I’m not liking what I’m seeing from the energy readings here.”
“We see that too, Tinker. Please bring your shields to combat mode and enable your weapons systems, stand by for a mission change,” Brittney replied.
“X-One and escorts, alter course to one-niner-two by five-three relative and
accelerate to two-zero-zero. Target range approach in one-five minutes,” control ordered.
“Course change acknowledged. Wasp X-One is fangs out. Energy readings increase from shields. Estimate redline in five minutes. Please advise,” Tinker said.
“Valkyrie flight drop back to observation only positions,” control instructed. “Wasp X-One, drop shields, and begin firing weapons. Vector is clear. All units decrease speed to one-zero.”
“Valkyrie One and T wo in position, let ‘er rip, Tinker!” Talena replied.
“Shields reset to flight mode. Firing weapons now!” Tinker replied.
“Tinker, I have the energy level dropping, but not very fast. Can you confirm that?” Brittney said.
“Affirmative, I think I’m picking up energy from the light and heat generated by the lasers. If you can cool them down a bit, I have an idea about how to limit the stray photons.”
“The continuous fire mode is neat, and will do a whole lot more damage per shot, but if you over heat the guns, they’ll shut down. In a Hornet, if you lose the lasers, you’re a sitting duck,” Cindy replied.
“Setting reactor to minimum output. Stand by,” Tinker said.
“Good idea, Tinker,” Brittney said.
“Levels dropping, but still not very quickly. Weapons systems are reaching over-heat. I recommend discontinuing the tests,” Tinker added.
“I agree, with one exception,” Brittney said. “Return to Star Dancer for landing and discharge.”
“Understood. Levels are back into the upper green. Setting weapons systems back to stand-by, and returning to Star Dancer. Valkyrie, stay close, I might need to punch out without notice,” Tinker replied.
Back in Beta landing bay, the excitement level had risen as the ground crews got ready for the landing.
“Put ESAR (Emergency Search And Rescue) on stand-by for recovery, prepare for a hot landing. No one is to approach the Wasp unless cleared by Dr. Benson,” John ordered.
No one actually replied to the orders, but Ian could tell that they were acting on them. He was impressed with the efficiency and professionalism of John’s team.
Down on the landing bay floor, men and women were running around securing the bay. Several of the people had suddenly changed into fire resistant suits, and others were double checking the emergency systems built into the bay.
“Ian, the design we decided on is based on a standard Earth aircraft carrier,” Brittney said. She pointed down the bay toward the opening into space and the force curtain that held the atmosphere in the bay, but allowed fighters and other ships to enter and leave.
“Do you see those cables stretched across the deck about twenty feet inside the curtain?”
Ian nodded. “Yes, they look like the landing cables on an aircraft carrier.”
“Exactly,” Brittney nodded. “The Wasp is equipped with a hook that she will lower when she starts her landing. We placed the cables based on the recorded landings of hundreds of other fighters; our pilots as well as from before the crash. In all but the most heavily damaged, emergency landings, that point is where the hook should grab a cable.
“Now, when it grabs the cable, not only will it work to stop the fighter, it will also discharge the energy built up by the fighter into the storage system built into the cargo hold. By the time the fighter stops moving, it should be safe to work with,” she finished.
“Okay, but what about the Hornets? Won’t they snag the cables with their landing gear?” Ian asked.
“They shouldn’t. The landing gear don’t actually touch the desk for another thirty to forty feet. If the bird is so low that they risk snagging a cable, the controller would give them a wave-off anyway,” John replied. “The hook actually hangs down well below the gear until it’s engaged.” He brought up an image of an F-18 landing on one of the carriers on Earth to show Ian how low the hook was.
“Energy levels rising again. Honestly, Doc, this armor charges up if you even breathe on it,” Tinker said.
“I see that. Are you going to make it back to the ship?” Brittney asked.
“It’ll be close, but I think so. My worry is what do we do if she doesn’t discharge in there?” Tinker asked.
“We get you out of there, then jettison the Wasp,” Ian said. “So don’t worry about it, we got you.”
Tinker chuckled. “Yes Sir, we’re in-bound to Beta Bay. ETA is one zero minutes. Destruct course set to activate on ejection. Initiating crash protocol.”
“Understood, X-One. The pattern is empty, you have priority,” the controller said. John nodded proudly.
“Attention all personnel, emergency landing in progress. All air tight doors are now closing. Port side Maglev tubes will be cleared and sealed in two minutes. Stand-by for further instructions,” Star’s voice could be heard all through the great ship.
Ian grinned at her. She had been quietly standing off to one side and hadn’t said anything for the last hour.
“You’ve been quiet. Do you have any thoughts on this?” Ian asked and nodded his head to the busy activity in the room.
“I’m very proud of these people, Sir. Even though my former crew had been mostly academy trained and had years of experience, this team is acting like a veteran crew. John has trained them well, but I am the most impressed with him. Even without the ability to use the teaching equipment, he has taken to his duties as if born to them. If we ever build more ships like me, I think he would be a very good candidate for the command position,” Star replied.
That did impress Ian. Star had never praised one of the crew as highly, with the exception of Chief Dommer and his engineers.
“Thank you, I will remember that for the future. Perhaps I should ask him if he would be interested in beginning the training,” Ian replied. “I know I certainly trust him, and I’m very proud of what he’s done here too.”
Star nodded. “Did you know that this isn’t the only team he’s trained?”
Ian was surprised. “No, when I met him down at Talos, I got the impression he was only working with this team.”
“No, he has had a hand in training every flight control crew we have in all three landing facilities. The other Flight Commanders defer to him as senior among them. The teams at Talos trained under him as well as their officers. If you will remember, the current Flight Operations commander at Talos came to us as a former civilian air traffic controller,” Star explained.
“I knew he was good, but I had no idea about all of that. I think I should have a talk with him then,” Thank you, Major,” Ian said grinning at her.
“Wasp x-one on final approach! Emergency teams to ready positions!” the controller called out, his voice echoing into the landing bay was heard by everyone.
Even though everyone in the bay wore hearing protection, the individual comms worn by the crew members automatically merged into the controller channels when the crewmen came on duty. It was usual for anyone entering the landing/launching area to be added to the control channels for safety reasons.
“Wasp X-One inbound on final. Engaging automatic landing system,” Tinker replied. Suddenly alarms started blaring, and the Wasp turned away from the landing path. The canopy blew off which was shortly followed by the pilot ejecting into space.
The Wasp turned for deep space and went to full power. A short time later it exploded violently.
“Emergency!” Talena said over the comm. “Pilot ejected near outer marker! Request ESAR immediate launch!”
“I have her,” Cindy replied. “Position stabilized. Activating recovery beacon.”
“Search and Rescue is on the way. Good catch Valkyrie two!” the controller replied.
“Control, what happened? We couldn’t see anything. She called final approach, then ‘poof’ she punches out,” Talena asked.
“I’m patching her comm into my Hornet,” Cindy replied. “There, how ya doing, Tinker?”
“Woozy, that ejections system really kicks you!” Tinker said. “What happened to the Wasp?”
<
br /> “Wasp X-One turned on exit vector before self-destructing several kilometers from the ship. We are all damn glad it didn’t do it in here!” the controller said. “I have a date tonight too!”
“The ESAR folks will be here in a second or two, Tinker. Just hang in there,” Cindy said.
Tinker chuckled. “What else am I gonna do? You could always join me out here and we could dance until they get here, Valkyrie Two.”
“My call sign is Athena,” Cindy replied.
“Just before Tinker punched out, the energy levels in the Wasp shot up into the red. Applying full reverse thrust bathed the wasp in plasma from the engine. We thought we had negated the effect that would have when we redesigned the engine cowling. We’ll have to analyze the data, and my pad recorded everything up until it was destroyed, plus there is the box in Tinker’s ejection chair. We’ll get this figured out and fixed. We need these fighters,” Brittney explained.
“Indeed we do,” Ian said joining the channel once again. “Good work today everyone. Tinker, enjoy your evening tonight, but tomorrow you will have dinner with my family. Call it a reward for being the first pilot to eject in a non-training environment.”
“Wonderful, I get a reward for punching out! If the food’s good, I might have to do it more often!” Tinker joked.
“Oh, I think you’ll like the food!” Talena replied. “I swear I’ve gained weight since I’ve started living with them!”
“Well, we know you can’t be pregnant, so it must be the food!” Cindy quipped.
“What do you expect? It’s not like he has a lot of time for me!” Talena replied, jokingly.
“Okay, I think that’s enough you two,” Ian said. “I’m pretty sure that isn’t something to be discussed on an official channel.”
“I don’t know, I could stand to hear more about it,” Tinker said, causing Ian to blush and Cindy and Talena to laugh. No one got upset because everyone knew that Cindy and Talena were trying to help Tinker deal with the feeling of isolation that comes with floating ‘free’ in space.
“SAR team is on station. We’ll have you inside in just a minute, Tinker.” A new voice entered the channel. “The medic would like to know if you are feeling ill, or if you have been injured in any other way.”