The Long Road Back- First Steps by Bryce Euston

Author:Bryce Euston [Euston, Bryce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Specul8 Publishing
Published: 2020-02-07T22:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

Michael seemed wary as he entered the Wing Commander’s office, to find her standing at the window, looking out at the majesty of the universe. He cleared his throat to gain her attention. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.

“Come over here, Michael, and enjoy the view.”

As with most pilots, he didn’t see space as scenic splendour. To him, it was a tactical situation. He stood beside her, hands clasped behind his back, unconsciously selecting approach vectors, and egress angles.

The Wing Commander, a former pilot herself, knew exactly what he was doing—she did it herself every time she stood by the window. A sigh escaped her lips as she turned to face the young man.

“Michael, go and take your Mabel for a spin. The Captain has approved your request to seek out the Lord High Poobah and show him the error of his ways. I hope your new friend really does know his way around the Temple.

Now this is way above your security level, so I’m afraid I’ll have to promote you. From this date, you are Flight Leader Fraser. Your clearance is now Yellow, which allows me to give you some very interesting information about the Temple.

Paradise was originally destined to be a Sector Capital, but the bloody supernova put a swift end to that. The Temple was the original Sector Admin Centre, and was very well equipped.

We assumed that all the technology had been destroyed or has just worn out over time. Imagine our surprise when our Sigint bods picked up a faint, but still active, trace of that equipment.”

“What sort of equipment are we talking about, boss?” Michael couldn’t hide his curiosity.

The Wing Commander laughed harshly.

“Everything up to and including a ten tonne mass driver. Hopefully none of it is still in working order, but we can’t afford to take the risk. Sector has decided that Paradise needs to be taken all the way back to Stage One, so Rehabilitation is bringing in a complete Initial Settlement team. The Angry Bantam is on her way, and is due into orbit in ten days.

In six days Colonel Smythe is leading a two Company team to secure Paradise City. You can go in five days. I want your new mate checked out before I let him loose again.

Now bugger off and take your new toy for a run. And don’t break the bloody thing!”

~*~

Michael was out of the office and back on the flight deck in a flash. His ground crew had completed the pre flight checklists and Bob, his crew chief, was sitting on the wing root, holding out his touchpad for the pilot to sign.

Michael touched his forefinger to the pad to signify his acceptance of the completion of the checklist, and clambered into the cockpit. He touched the multifunction display, which brought up the prestart checklist.

Unlike his old Goshawk, the Raptor automatically ran through each of the checklist items itself, only requiring his thumbprint at the end of the whole thing, not after each item. Feeling slightly superfluous, he watched the items chased each other down the display.

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