CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 2: A Captain's Journey

49 ∞ Touched By Lightning

Long Ago...

Without Canaisis, finding the shuttle would have been impossible, but when Gareth found it, he was dismayed. One side was completely buried in ash, a stubby wing and the bulge enclosing the atmospheric engine sticking out. He looked the shuttle over through the wind-blown, swirling ash storm as he approached it. Once under the pointed cylinder, he found relief as the piled ash blocked the wind.

He keyed his suit, and the loading ramp lowered to the ground. The bright yellow lights hurt his eyes as they lit up the ramp and cargo area. His exhausted legs cried out in protest as he struggled to pull the sled up the ramp by its rope. After securing the sled inside, he keyed the ramp protocols and hung onto a wall handhold. The ramp started rising, and before it closed, compressed air tanks released their charge. The burst of air blew most of the ash and dust off of him and the sled, the cloud flying out the ramp before it sealed shut.

His eyes adjusted to the light as he relaxed and made his way to the back of the hold. Large, human-shaped sockets waited in the wall. He centered himself on one, then turned his back to it and stepped backward into the socket. He felt the shuttle lock onto his suit, and started wiggling his body until he slipped into the crack that opened at his back. Stepping carefully backward out of the suit with another wiggle, he finally stood in a narrow cubicle that separated the cargo hold and the suits from the rest of the shuttle, thus minimizing possible contamination picked up from outside.

He checked that the suit had made a proper power connection before stripping off his long-suit. He couldn't smell himself or the suit, but he knew he had to smell really awful. Deciding to leave the suit open to air out, he made for the airlock. Once inside, he headed straight for the galley and prepared proper food out of the freeze-dried packages. His meal tasted surprisingly wonderful after several days of nutrient packs.

He showered and put on some clothes, then to the pilot's control room, where he donned the flight suit. It would offer protection in case a sudden incident vented the shuttle to vacuum. He clamped the helmet home and stepped to the controls.

As soon as he sat down, Canaisis spoke into the cabin, "Welcome aboard, Captain."

He looked out the front screen. "Thank you for your help, Canaisis. I mean it."

"You're quite welcome. Are you prepared for launch, or would you like more time?"

Canaisis' question made him pause and think. He was exhausted, and his body craved sleep. But, looking out at the dead world outside, he knew he wouldn't wait.

"I don't want to see any more of this world, Canaisis. Run diagnostics, and I'll do the safety checks."

"Aye, Captain."

Activating the controls, he brought the shuttle to standby readiness and ran his checks. All systems answered green. He switched to standby and strapped his harness tight.

After a moment, Canaisis said, "All diagnostics show green, Captain."

"Thank you."

He fired the vertical rockets and watched the ash blow out from under the shuttle in an expanding circle. Three seconds later, he engaged full thrust, and the shuttle rose in a vertical take-off. The surrounding ruins fell below him as the noise of the engines became all-pervasive. With increasing speed, he rose above the jagged buildings and structures. Scorched fingers reaching for the sky-Earth's final plea...

Focusing ahead, he engaged forward motion from the engines. The wings extended outward to assist flight, and when he achieved enough forward speed for the wings to provide lift, he cut the vertical rocket engines, and the main engines took over.