Astronomicon: Icarus

11 - Wagner Departs

"This is EUSC Wagner requesting permission to disengage docking clamps," said Captain Brian Stirling into his headset microphone.

"This is ERP2 control," came the heavily French-accented reply over the Wagner's internal speakers. "Docking clamps releasing now. You are cleared to depart."

"Thank you, ERP2. Switching over to internal systems and disengaging electrical connections now."

"Bon Voyage, Captain Stirling, we hope all of you aboard the EUSC Wagner have a safe voyage."

"Thank you, ERP2. We'll do our best. Over and out."

The speakers beeped momentarily as the communication channel closed.

"Okay, Warrant Officer, bring this ship about and move us about half a kilometre away from the station," ordered Captain Stirling.

"Yes, sir," replied Warrant Officer Ewan Scott before flicking several switches on the complex console before them and taking a tentative grip of the multi-buttoned joystick positioned between his seat and the Captain's.

Captain Stirling was seated in the centre seat of the three at the very front of Wagner's small and rather low cabin. The seats were heavily padded, ergonomically shaped and featured large, curved head-rests which slightly cupped the heads of their occupants.

Behind the front three seats was about a metre's space and then another row of three identical seats, where US crew members Captain Lee, Colonel Linda Miller and Lieutenant-Commander Brad Lewis were safely strapped into their seats. Behind them was another short space and then a large, open hatchway led back into the payload area, now doubling as a second cabin, where the rest of the US crew were seated. Behind them were another two rows of three seats, all currently empty.

All the seats featured five-point harnesses, securely holding each person into their seat and all the occupants were wearing the most advanced design of g-force compensating pressure suits, the US crew ones coloured bright blue and the British ones in medium grey. Everyone was also wearing compact pressure helmets but with the visors fully retracted.

"We're showing faults in several nonessential systems, sir," announced Warrant Officer Scott.

"Anything we're likely to need in the next few days?" asked Captain Stirling.

"One of the three water recyclers has failed and the life-support system is reporting a heater failure in the engineering deck. The other heater down there is working fine, so it shouldn't cause a problem."

"This ship was finished off so fast, it's a wonder anything onboard works. Are all critical systems working?"

"Yes, sir. Just testing the pressure compensation in the flight suits now."

"Did you hear that, everybody?" asked Captain Stirling over his shoulder. "We're testing the pressure chambers in your flight suits. Don't be alarmed if you feel a tightness in your chest, lower body and especially your legs and feet for a few moments. In fact, best to be alarmed if you don't feel any tightness."

"All check out, sir."

"Good. Let's get the pre-flights done."

It took almost twenty minutes to work through the extensive list of pre-flight checks. Once they had ensured that everything was set correctly, all the systems were programmed for the flight and EUSC Wagner was truly ready, there was only one thing left to check.

"Last chance, everyone. If any of you haven't had your g-force injection, let me know now. If you haven't had it, the next few hours are not just going to be seriously uncomfortable for you, but they will probably prove fatal too. Everyone had it? Okay, let's start the acceleration sequence. Close the internal hatch."