Astronomicon: Icarus

4 - Icarus Departs

"Now, I'm guessing you'll want to familiarise yourself with the galley, Ishaan. Icarus runs on Callisto station time and we tend to run meals at 7am, 1pm and 6pm but things get pretty flexible when we're mining. Including yourself, there are seven mouths to feed, but I should warn you appetites around here can get pretty impressive. As I explained in your interview, you'll also be expected to help with cleaning and some basic maintenance, including servicing the drinks machine in the rec room. The team like some variety with their meals, but nothing too exotic."

Ishaan smiled confidently, "Do not worry, Captain, I've served on a few mining vessels and I know exactly what to expect. Good portions, plenty of protein and no salad. I know my way around a mop and I can change a light unit."

"Sounds good. And don't worry too much about the food, the guys will soon let you know if they don't like it."

"I'm sure they will," Ishaan smiled back. "I will see you all at lunchtime."

With that, Ishaan stepped through the Galley doorway and left them. Captain Taylor led Felix into the much brighter illumination of the control room. They walked around the centre console and headed towards the low archway that provided access to the cockpit.

"This is the part of the ship you will need to know inside out," announced Captain Taylor, stooping into the low, arched passageway.

Almost immediately the metal walls of the passageway gave way to clear glass. A semi-circular tube of clear, but very thick, glass stretched forwards over the bow of the Icarus, reaching almost three metres before rounding off like a bubble on the flat hull.

The front half of the space within the glass cover was entirely taken up by the pilot's console and a partially reclined seat facing it, complete with padded arms and headrest. Two joysticks, one for each hand, and a pair of metal foot pedals were the most obvious controls, but there seemed to be controls or readouts of some form on almost every surface in the cockpit.

"This gives you the best view on the ship. It can be a little unnerving at first but, don't worry, you've got ten centimetres of the toughest glass they make between you and the vacuum, and a crash cage outside that to stop anything large striking the glass. It won't be long before you start finding the rest of the ship's interior claustrophobic in comparison."

Felix carefully climbed forwards and slid himself into the comfy seat. Before he could do anything else he had to fasten the five-point harness simply to avoid floating back out of the seat again. Micro-gravity made chairs of any kind almost useless without some way of bracing yourself against them.

"It's all pretty standard controls-wise but take it gently at first. Icarus probably has a lot more kick than anything you've piloted before. She might not be as large as the passenger shuttles you're used to, but she's got more than twice the power available and that makes her a quite different beast to control."

"Shouldn't be a problem. I've clocked up hundreds of hours in the simulators on Callisto station, trying out all sorts of vessels. I've simmed dozens of hours on vessels like this one."

"Good. Most of the time you can just leave the AHD system engaged, Hazard Detection, and it will deal with the finer points of navigation, but for mining operations, you have to switch it into advisory, like this." He demonstrated by twisting the large switch into its amber position. "It will still track everything and advise you, but you will be in full control. The automatic setting doesn't understand that we have to get very close to hazards to perform mining operations. It will do its best to keep us well clear of the rocks we want to mine."

"How close do we get?" Felix asked.

"That's your judgement call. Within two or three metres whenever possible."

"That's close!"

"We can winch the men and equipment onto and off the asteroids from up to about fifty metres away but it takes longer and no-one likes to use a winch in those conditions. Much better if you get close enough and they can simply jump on and off as needed. That way we can get in, pick them up and get out in a matter of seconds. Setting up a winch line means hanging around too long and leaves us open to other complications."

"Should be no problem," laughed Felix. "I'm looking forward to trying her out."

"No need to delay. We're all aboard, loaded and stowed ready to go. Fire up the engines and prepare to depart," said Captain Taylor, then he reached for the microphone clipped just above the console to Felix's right. He stretched the curly cord almost taut as he brought it to his mouth and then pressed the red button on the side, "Secure outer hatches and prepare for launch."

- - -

The Icarus released its docking clamps and eased gently away from the docking ring of Callisto station. Under Felix's control, the manoeuvring thrusters provided the necessary squirts of thrust. As soon as she was a few metres clear of the station, Felix cautiously increased the thrust and started the vessel turning gently away from the station.

The distance continued to increase until Felix felt it was safe to redirect thrust to the main nozzles and engage considerably more power. He carefully aligned Icarus with the desired course and brought the engines up to one-third thrust. At the rear of the ship, the four large exhaust nozzles began to glow very slightly on their inner surfaces as an almost invisible blue plume of plasma began to stretch from each.

The main screen on Felix's console showed a rearward view, an image of Callisto station rapidly receding to little more than a speck in the distance. Icarus continued to accelerate rapidly as Felix ran through his flight checks. All the readings were normal and the flight computer confirmed that power systems, cooling systems and life-support were functioning perfectly.

With everything in place, Felix reached for the throttle lever and pulled it further back until it locked into position about two-thirds of the way along its track and within moments the main engines were operating at maximum cruising thrust. That was not as high as they would go, but it was the highest setting that could be sustained for hours or more without overheating.

He switched the Hazard Detection system into its fully automatic mode and let the flight computer take over control of the vessel. After one last check that everything was running smoothly, Felix unfastened his harness and set about climbing out of the cockpit. Due to the ongoing acceleration, there was now a very firm pull towards the back of the vessel and he soon found he had to use the hand-holds mounted at regular intervals along the arched passageway back to the control room to avoid falling over. It was more like lowering himself down a tube than walking back to the control room.

Every step he took he could feel the powerful magnets in the soles of his boots gripping the floor, pulling the textured grip into the meshed surface of the floor panels. For the next three days, the crew of the Icarus had to put up with the continuous discomfort of sustained acceleration. It would be hard work but far healthier for their bodies than zero-G.

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