Insertion by Chris Kennedy
Author:Chris Kennedy [Kennedy, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beyond Terra Press
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter 8
âReady to go?â Hrensku asked several days later as they walked out to the interface craft for Bowdenâs first launch to space at the controls.
âYeah,â Bowden said with a chuckle. âI finally just got readjusted to gravity again; must be time to leave.â
âJust so. Such is the life of an interface pilot.â He glanced at Bowden out of the corner of his eye. âIs that what they have planned for you? To be the Lost Soldiersâ interface pilot?â
Bowden shrugged. âI donât know what they have in store for me.â
âThere must be something you Terrans are planning. To need these qualifications all of a sudden speaks to there being something going on.â
âMaybe.â Bowden shrugged. âIf there is, though, I donât know what it is.â
They put their gear in the craft and did the aircraftâs preflight while the loadmasters finished stowing the cargo. Although there wasnât going to be anyone else on the craft with them, they were going back fully loaded with medicinals, food, and other stores for the habitats.
The preflight was fairly normalâa small leak to be fixed and a couple of bolts to be tightenedâuntil they got to the cockpit. The landing gear lever was missing the round ball-like attachment on the end that was used to grip it, leaving just a metal post sticking out of the instrument panel.
Bowden got down on his hands and knees and searched the cockpit but couldnât find it.
âItâs not necessary,â Hrensku said after five minutes of searching. âWeâll get a replacement at the spin when we get there.â
âThat isnât what weâd do back home,â Bowden replied. âIf something was missing from the cockpit, the aircraft would be down until they found the missing item.â
He looked up to find Hrensku looking at him funny. âDown?â Hrensku asked. âWhere would it go down to?â
Bowden chuckled. âNot physically down. The word in that case means ânot flyableâ until they found the missing piece. We didnât want it to get into the controls and bind something.â
âIn this case, it is all right,â Hrensku replied. âThe piece is big enough that it couldnât have gotten into anything.â
âWhere did it go then?â
âWho knows? Maybe someone took it as a souvenir.â
âA souvenir? Why would someone take that?â
âWho is to say?â Hrensku shrugged. âThis is the only craft, though, so we either take it or we donât go flying today. And, if we donât hurry, weâre going to miss our launch window.â
âOkay,â Bowden said slowly, not feeling entirely comfortable with it. Navy procedures were typically written in blood. If there was a procedure that had to be followed, that usually meant the reason for implementing the procedure was because someone had died. He shook off his misgivingsâthere really was no place for the knob to go in the cockpit; perhaps it had gotten loose and someone had taken it before it fell off.
They strapped in, fired up the craft, and taxied to the runway. They stopped just short of it so the maintenance crew could arm the RATOâthe rocket-assisted takeoffâbottles.
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