flight deck
Kurama hadn't seen the rift before. "All I have to do is put us in the hole. What's not clear is what you're going to do."
Hinson sounded as tense as she felt. "I have no idea. For all I know we die instantly we hit the blackness. All Nagas wrote was there'd be a Rift. One possibility from my research ... "
Kurama laughed rudely. "Excuse me, your 'research'?"
Hinson nodded. "Unlike you, I can actually read."
Kurama laughed disrespectfully again. "Unlike you, I have better things to do in bed at night."
Hinson looked away bitterly. "Yes, I know, I've seen the aftermath of your predatory skills."
Kurama did stop smiling. "Let's get back to your ... reee-search."
"One possiblity is we step outside a fold. There are two outcomes. One is we enter another fold of the MultiVerse, the other is that beyond the fold is nothing and nothing is what we become."
Kurama looked a little more respectful. "Just nothing?"
Hinson nodded her head, looked at Kurama. "Just nothing."
"I'd be happy to hear any better scenarios." Kurama managed about 10% of a smile.
"We could be entering a tunnel, in which case we're both going to be very busy."
Kurama exhaled a bit. "Here's hoping."
"Or we could discover that a rift is like a curtain over something ... a black hole, some kind of light trap."
"That would not be good news."
"No, it wouldn't." Hinson buckled herself in.
Kurama cricked her neck, loosened her shoulders. "Time to find out, I guess."
"Yep."
Kurama became almost tolerable when she was on duty. "LT, am beginning pre-flight checkdown with MOEBIUS, suggest you checkdown with Command and Control."
"Roger that, Flight." Hinson picked up her voice handset. "CAC, this is Flight Deck, suggest you call down the pods, checkdown has begun with MOEBIUS, ETD 4 minutes 30 seconds on my mark .... 3 ... 2... 1... mark."
The answer came back quickly "Commander Patrick is calling the pods, will advise if delay."
"Roger, copy, CAC." Hinson looked at Kurama. "Need a hand?"
Kurama bypassed her usual bullshit. "Double-check me as I go, LT, don't let me miss anything."
That quietly pleased Melanie Hinson. "You got it, Flight."
The next two minutes were purely professional.
Finally, Kurama said "MOEBIUS checkdown complete. Confirm, LT?"
"Confirm, Flight." Hinson grabbed the handset again. "CAC, Flight Deck, one twenty two to ETD unless you say otherwise."
CAC crackled back, "Roger that, you are go for ETD, confirmed, that's a hard go on your ETD."
"Roger, CAC, copy that, we are go on ETD."
Kurama looked across at Hinson. "LT, we have a lot of reasons to not like each other, but I'm glad your ass is in that seat."
Hinson said "I picked you for a reason Flt. Lt. Kumara, still scared shitless?"
Kurama replied "Hell yeah!"
Hinson responded smiling "I can tell, your heart rate is up to 87 beats a minute."
Kurama laughed nervously "I'm not surprised."
Melanine grinned.
She stuck her right fist out and Kurama hit it with her left.
Hinson grabbed the handset again. "CAC, Flight, power cycling up, status nominal, twenty-two seconds."
The anonymous voice of CAC replied "We see you looking good, good luck, Flight."
"Thank you, good luck to us all. Flight out, entering count. EOX."
The lines went quiet.
Hinson stared at the array in front of her. "Ninety-six five four on power ... ninety seven one eight ... full power, Celia."
Kurama said "Sounds clean and true. Whenever you're ready."
Hinson was impressed with Kurama's composure. "Very well, on my mark. Five, four, three, two, one, mark."
Kurama punched the button.
Hinson was watching the arrays without blinking. "10 kilometeres to edge ... eight .... six .... no visual on anything beyond ... two ... target."
Two hands met between the seats and clasped together firmly.
Hinson sounded as tense as she felt. "I have no idea. For all I know we die instantly we hit the blackness. All Nagas wrote was there'd be a Rift. One possibility from my research ... "
Kurama laughed rudely. "Excuse me, your 'research'?"
Hinson nodded. "Unlike you, I can actually read."
Kurama laughed disrespectfully again. "Unlike you, I have better things to do in bed at night."
Hinson looked away bitterly. "Yes, I know, I've seen the aftermath of your predatory skills."
Kurama did stop smiling. "Let's get back to your ... reee-search."
"One possiblity is we step outside a fold. There are two outcomes. One is we enter another fold of the MultiVerse, the other is that beyond the fold is nothing and nothing is what we become."
Kurama looked a little more respectful. "Just nothing?"
Hinson nodded her head, looked at Kurama. "Just nothing."
"I'd be happy to hear any better scenarios." Kurama managed about 10% of a smile.
"We could be entering a tunnel, in which case we're both going to be very busy."
Kurama exhaled a bit. "Here's hoping."
"Or we could discover that a rift is like a curtain over something ... a black hole, some kind of light trap."
"That would not be good news."
"No, it wouldn't." Hinson buckled herself in.
Kurama cricked her neck, loosened her shoulders. "Time to find out, I guess."
"Yep."
Kurama became almost tolerable when she was on duty. "LT, am beginning pre-flight checkdown with MOEBIUS, suggest you checkdown with Command and Control."
"Roger that, Flight." Hinson picked up her voice handset. "CAC, this is Flight Deck, suggest you call down the pods, checkdown has begun with MOEBIUS, ETD 4 minutes 30 seconds on my mark .... 3 ... 2... 1... mark."
The answer came back quickly "Commander Patrick is calling the pods, will advise if delay."
"Roger, copy, CAC." Hinson looked at Kurama. "Need a hand?"
Kurama bypassed her usual bullshit. "Double-check me as I go, LT, don't let me miss anything."
That quietly pleased Melanie Hinson. "You got it, Flight."
The next two minutes were purely professional.
Finally, Kurama said "MOEBIUS checkdown complete. Confirm, LT?"
"Confirm, Flight." Hinson grabbed the handset again. "CAC, Flight Deck, one twenty two to ETD unless you say otherwise."
CAC crackled back, "Roger that, you are go for ETD, confirmed, that's a hard go on your ETD."
"Roger, CAC, copy that, we are go on ETD."
Kurama looked across at Hinson. "LT, we have a lot of reasons to not like each other, but I'm glad your ass is in that seat."
Hinson said "I picked you for a reason Flt. Lt. Kumara, still scared shitless?"
Kurama replied "Hell yeah!"
Hinson responded smiling "I can tell, your heart rate is up to 87 beats a minute."
Kurama laughed nervously "I'm not surprised."
Melanine grinned.
She stuck her right fist out and Kurama hit it with her left.
Hinson grabbed the handset again. "CAC, Flight, power cycling up, status nominal, twenty-two seconds."
The anonymous voice of CAC replied "We see you looking good, good luck, Flight."
"Thank you, good luck to us all. Flight out, entering count. EOX."
The lines went quiet.
Hinson stared at the array in front of her. "Ninety-six five four on power ... ninety seven one eight ... full power, Celia."
Kurama said "Sounds clean and true. Whenever you're ready."
Hinson was impressed with Kurama's composure. "Very well, on my mark. Five, four, three, two, one, mark."
Kurama punched the button.
Hinson was watching the arrays without blinking. "10 kilometeres to edge ... eight .... six .... no visual on anything beyond ... two ... target."
Two hands met between the seats and clasped together firmly.