Seeds to the Wind (The Medicean Stars Saga Book 2) by Crawford McCullough

Author:Crawford, McCullough [Crawford, McCullough]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Published: 2016-01-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Western Mountains

Government Training Facility

After arriving in the control building, the youths had been herded about, each by an unrelenting technician. The beige halls and drab rooms had flown by, but the result of their tour of government architecture did have some lasting impressions: gone are the bright jumpsuits they had worn for training, gone is the filth and grime that had built up all over their bodies, and gone is every single strand of hair they once had.

Clean and clean-shaven, they sit ringed about the edge of a wedge-shaped chamber halfway up rocket number six. The chamber is cramped and sterile. Jill, the shortest of them by far, cannot stand fully upright or her freshly buzzed head would strike the supports for the floor above. Jackson almost had to crawl on all fours when they entered given his height and the low, white ceiling. In fact, everything in the chamber is white, a blinding hue that, if the overpowering smell is any indication, was only applied this morning. The door at the narrow end of the chamber leads into the core of the rocket, another whitewashed space completed with a white ladder whose coat is already visibly wearing from the hands and feet of those who have moved on to higher levels.

The chamber, remarkably, had not felt that cramped despite the low ceiling until Mike had accidently discovered that the chairs in which they are sitting fold flat into narrow cots. For a several-hour flight into space, the tiny porthole on the curved wall of the chamber would be sufficient to keep the claustrophobia at bay, but when they realize that this seems to be intended as their living quarters for the foreseeable future, the walls seem to take a big step in on all sides.

Florence is seated closest to the window, her long body relaxed into her restraints so her head can twist around and she can squint at the ground below. Ground crews are running away, dragging umbilical cables and pieces of equipment used to load the rockets. The crews’ movements are frenzied, and when she glances at the clock projected in red on the far bulkhead she can see why. Five. Deep beneath them in the bowels of the rocket a throaty rumble begins. Four.

“Look! Oh no, they’re not…” her voice trails off as the rumble becomes a deafening roar that would have made it impossible to hear her anyway. Three. Through the tiny window, the figures she had seen, along with anything else upon the ground, are swallowed in a maelstrom of fire-streaked gray clouds. Two.

The vibration and noise are so great, it is clear that the rocket is going to disintegrate on the spot instead of lifting off. Surely no man-made structure can withstand these forces that are going to powder the passengers’ bones.

As the clock turns through one, the engines build to a crescendo before tapering off markedly. At first there is no other change, but slowly the force holding them into their seats noticeably grows.

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