Our Roots, our Destiny (Chapter 6)

"(The technology on this space station) [is quite, mmm,] (spectacular)," Genefrod admitted.

"(You've been practicing your Echoan,)" Gilbe said.

"(It's easy to do since I can simply talk to your computer,)" Genefrod said. "(Our computers could talk if we wanted them to, but it is a bad problem to get it to understand... subtle meanings.)"

"(I've grown up with talking computers,)" Gilbe said.

"(I've been reading the bits and pieces of the encyclopedia your captain let me access. I've mostly been paying attention to the linguistics.)"

"(And it shows!)"

"(I'm glad to hear it.)"

"Have you been spending time in the simulator?" Gilbe asked, switching tone as quickly as language.

"Let's say I feel a lot more... confident, about falling through the smog in this parachute thing," Genefrod said.

"Good to hear. It's three more orbits before the entry window. The Entreprize is will begin setting up at noon, when the temperature gets warmer. Then they will be able to recover you on your way down."

"Understood."

"I'll be bringing some of my equipment, though I'm told most of your equipment [planetside] is capable."

"Let's get you to the Mk1-X," Gilbe said.

Genefrod followed Gilbe to the docking hub, where the real deal was berthed. Gilbe and Skurb helped Genefrod suit up, and he dropped down through the hatch into the seat of the Mk1-X. He could see some minor differences from the simulation--everything seemed sharper and better defined, and he realized that Root's simulator wasn't perfect. If he didn't have gloves on, he'd have felt the difference too.

Genefrod went over the setup while Skurb and Gilbe watched from the control deck. Kegrel and his crew watched from the flight deck of Entreprize.

After the preparations were finished, it was nearly time to depart.

Skurb spoke: ("This is Roots. This is the poll for departure.)
"(FIDO?)"
Kegrel: "(Go.)"
Skurb: "(Down-CAPCOM?)"
Hibne: "(Go.)"
Skurb: "(Up-CAPCOM?)"
Gilbe: "(Go.)"
Skurb: "(Down-GNC-Guido?)"
Jenuki: "(Go.)"
Skurb: "(Up-GNC and Up-Guidance is go. Flight?)"
Genefrod: "Ready."
Skurb: "(We are go for departure.)"

Genefrod undocked the capsule, which surged back slightly. He took the translation stick and with a few puffs, pushed away from Roots. "I'm undock--"

"(Flight, Roots, please use your call-sign, over.)" Hibne interrupted.

"(Roots, Flight.) I have undocked. Moving back at 3 meters per second... uh, over."

("That linguistics encyclopedia didn't tell him anything of radio etiquette, looks like.") Gilbe muttered.

"(Roots, Flight. I heard that.) [I doubt interrupting me is good (etiquette) anyway.] (I'm awaiting maneuver node instructions. Over.)"

"(Flight, Roots, Skurb says manuever at Tee Plus fifteen minutes and zero niner seconds. Two Zero Three meters per second retrograde. Five Point Three meters per second Anti-Normal. Over.)" Gilbe said.

"(Affirmative,)" Genefrod said, punching the maneuver into the keypad.

"(Flight, Roots, Set Sierra Alfa Sierra to Maneuver Node)"

"[Uh... bit of a problem.]"

"(Flight, clarify.)"

"(Roots, Flight. The S.A.S. is unresponsive.)"

Gilbe and Skurb stared at each other.

"[Aaaand I've broke it.] (The front panel came off, things are corroded in here.)"

("What the hell is he gonna do?") Skurb whispered to Gilbe.

("He'll have to fly manually after all. It's a short maneuver, he'll be fine.") Gilbe said.

("And if he's not?")

("Relax, Skurb. He trained for this. Briefly.") Gilbe said.

("Flight, you're going to have to fly it manually.") Gilbe said over the radio.

"[WHAT?]" Genefrod said.

("Flight, the navball and maneuver-node calculator will guide you,") Gilbe said.

("I've never flown a ship without stabilization before!") Genefrod said.

("Flight, Yes you have.")

("The basic SAS stabilizer was enabled in that run! Here, I'm just drifting!")

("oh,") Gilbe said. She talked it over with Skurb for a few moments. ("Flight, you're beyond the reach of the robotic arm and I'm sure you'd find docking to be a much more stressful manuever. You'll have to learn on the fly. Just point at the maneuver node. Try not to expend too much fuel.)"

Genefrod took the rotation stick. He carefully nudged it, causing the craft to start to spin. There was no stabilizer to reverse the spin, which was a shame as it was a spin in the wrong direction. He spun it the other way, which made matters worse, and before long he was downright tumbling. Genefrod was no stranger to spinning along multiple axes, but with no way out, he began to panic. ["HELP! PLEASE! THIS ISN'T WORKING!"]

("Flight. Remain calm. Address each axis of rotation individually.")

Genefrod took some deep breaths. 'Okay,' he said to himself, 'what are five things I can see?' He could see the red flashing warning lights, the spinning stars and brown globe out the window, the countdown timer, and his own reflection in his visor. 'four things I can hear:' the warning alarm, the countdown timer, the ratting of his spacecraft, and the calm voice of Gilbe in his ears. 'three things I can touch:' the broken S.A.S. control box, the control stick, and the equipment in his suit's sample bags. 'two things I can smell:' his own sweat, and the funk left over from Roots. 'and something I can taste--adrenaline in the back of my throat, that's it.' He wasn't sure if he felt any happier, but he wasn't panicking, and that was something. He took the stick.

With slow, deliberate movements, he brought the rotation of the craft to, if not quite a standstill, a respectable drift.

("Flight. Very good. Now orient the spacecraft towards the maneuver node. It will be on a slightly different vector now due to your... course corrections.)" Gilbe said.

Genefrod found it difficult, but doable this time. He tried more than once to stop his rotation at the proper point, often overcompensating, but eventually he found he could do it. He had to continually correct to keep from drifting.

("Maneuver in tee-minus fifty seconds,)" Gilbe said, and she counted down the timer in sycronization with the timer on the craft. ("Three, two, one, fire.")

Genefrod opened the throttle. There was a loud CRACK, a hiss, and a jerk--and the craft began spinning violently once again.

Genefrod was quickly loosing field of view. "(He can't survive that! He can't possibly! two thirty five RPM and rising!)"

'Two thirty is nothing,' Genefrod thought, which was interesting since "nothing" is exactly what Genefrod's consciousness would be doing after a moment later.