Long Road
15 Sep 2016Fozzimus
5 minutes, 47 secondsIt's really hard to actually spot something on a world's surface from 50 kilometers high. I mean, really hard. Some people claim to see structures or weird things, but, buddy, when you get down there it's as huge (and as interesting) as a freaking canyon.
I had the Atlas on a stable flight attitude. Sensor Scan had identified the crash site , but all I saw from the Observation Deck was the holo-overlay of the Nav-System around some (aparently) empty spot.
4 minutes, 32 seconds
"Delacy-Foxtrot-Oscar-Zulu, this is flight control. Please obey local regulations, and fly safe. Docking permission is required to enter port."
"THURSTON DOCK THIS IS COMMANDER FOZZIMUS FROM THE ATLAS, I NEED EMERGENCY DOCKING PERMISSIONS, WE HAVE SERIOUSLY INJURED ON BOARD."
"Foz?"
"DOLLY, FOR GODS SAKE GIVE ME A GREEN LIGHT"
"Oh my god, go, make haste! Landing Pad 02 is clear, I'll have a medical staff ready. Fly Safe, Commander."
"I owe you."
4 minutes, 10 seconds
I had the Atlas hovering about 500m above ground when I spoted the unmistakeable trail of a forced landing. It's ugly. I've seen many of these, and they all look terrible: a long sequence of semi-burnt, half-buried entrails of a ship. Seats, cargo racks, boxes, scrap metal, cargo cannisters, and if it's really ugly, human "remains". Some commanders insist on flying without enough Escape Pods for the entire crew...
3 minutes, 25 seconds
>>Lowering Cargo Scoop. Access Granted<<
"GROUND CREW, ITS YOURS. I'M HEADING DOWN THERE TO HELP YOU."
"Solid Copy Commander. Medical staff is ready. We're pulling them out."
3 minutes, 01 second
Low Gravity SRV roaming can be fun, but can also be hell. Every single damend move throws up a huge cloud of dust and dirt. By the time I had driven to the actual Escape Pods, I could only see them on the wave scanner. That very specific hum and beep sequence of an active Escape Pod. All of the salvage missions that involve Escape Pods are specially risky. It's not a hard-titanium-plasteel cannister filled up with Silver you're bumping and tossing around. It was on the last round trip to get the remaining two Pods that I actually noticed it: The wave scanner was indicating movement outside the target. The Pod had been breached and was venting. Fast.
2 minutes, 10 seconds
"Anything I can do, Doc?"
"... it's up to how fast the Engineering Team can crack that. It's not like we can simply open the lid, you know this. Once the Escape Pods activate, there's a symphony of cryogenic systems and life support that kick in. It's the only way these pods can survive for days, or weeks. Remember, there are no supplies in there such as food or water. The person is literally frozen. They don't call these things 'coffins' for no reason."
1 minute, 00 seconds
Auto-Loader was still arranging the last Pod on the propper cargo rack and securing when I had reached the Bridge. I had screamed for the Nav-System to startup the engines and plot a course back to 58 Epsilon Herculis while running from the SRV Bay to my seat. By the time I had fastened by harness, the Atlas was already waking up.
>>WARNING. LIFE SUPPORT CONTAINMENT BREACH ON ESCAPE CRYOPOD ALPHA-SECOND<<
I punched everything to max-thrust and immediatly pointed the Atlas 90 degrees up. Boosted and as soon as I had left Mass-Lock, I hit it.
>>FRAME SHIFT DRIVE: CHARGING<<
32 seconds
"CLEAR THE AREA. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO THIS ON MANUAL. PULL HIM OUT OF THERE AND HAVE THE REANIMATION KIT READY."
"YES SIR, PULLING."
"3...2...1... ENGAGING!"
Date and Time of Death: 3302, Sep. 01 , 23:58 local time.
It took them three attempts before giving up. Doc told me that the kid died with no suffering, that it wasn't my fault. Well... tell that to the rest of his family.
I was half-way through the second bottle of the cheapest booze on the bar when the liaison came by.
"Commander Fozzimus? We have unfinished business."
"Well... shit...."
"Don't worry Commander, the family has decided not to press charges. Here's your pay. You're free to go."
Some Commanders always fly very high above their missions. All they see is the trail leading to some very hard earned creds. Sometimes, some of us have to go down and check the grim reality of space from close up.
Most of the times, it aint pretty, even if the paycheck is.