April (42 page)

"I told it to fire the attitude jets a short burst while we're still hanging on the grapples, so if any of them are not operating we find out before we're hanging loose and can bump into the walls."

"You really are a belt and braces kind of girl aren't you?" I'll show you another trick. Dave has strain gauges on the grapples. We'll program just the four jets we're using to keep us centered in the tunnel, to fire after testing them all. Then Dave can tell us how we looked for balance before we commit to release. He tapped in the instructions again and she wondered if he would permit it, if she instructed the computer verbally?"

"There. Want to check it for me?"

She looked it over carefully. Not sure if he would throw in an error just to catch her. "Looks fine to me. Shall I inform Dave?"

Easy nodded a tiny bit, looking at the board like he was distracted and she started to call Dave, but bit it off and looked suspiciously at him.

"Was that an affirmative response Easy?"

"Yes it was April." There was a definite twinkle in his eye. He had been testing her willingness to act on a less than certain acknowledgement.

"Dave we are running a general thruster test and then immediately a specific thruster check to test our balance against station acceleration. We'd like a report on those numbers and then we will ask for release on signal. Confirm."

"We are looking for a thruster test and a balance test. After which you'll want a report and ask for formal release. Right?

"Yes. Initiating in a few seconds. She double checked the line break, so only the first part of the program would run and punched in a ten second delay. She announced, "Initiating thrust in ten seconds from my tone," and punched the big yellow square which produced a chime and counted down to zero. Meanwhile she got her thumb over the abort button in case she needed it. She felt a slight shiver build up for about two seconds then taper off. None of the warning lights came on and no voice, so all her jets burned green. A slightly easier vibration was felt after a short pause. Then Dave came back on. "You balance out on both grapples to within eight Newtons. It's within the error of our gauges. Looks good to me."

"Thank you Yard," she addressed him formally for the first time. "Would you clear our port and set your grapples for our command? I will call Traffic Control and confirm our exit."

"Grapples to your signal, clear."

April saw the lights go green on the board for the command and the port ahead swung out exposing a black circle.

"You are clear of our control and have a good trip. Treat it kindly and don't forget where to bring it when ya bust it."

April opened a line to Traffic Control and cleared her throat before keying the mic.

"M3 traffic, this is the
Happy Lewis
requesting traffic insert from North dockage. We will match velocity standing off and contact Departure Control for clearance on local two. Are we clear?"

Happy Lewis
you are clear. Contact on local two for departure. You do not show a transponder code in our database. Is this a maiden flight?"

"Yes Local, we are a re-registration. Would you like to assign us a code?"

"Coming on your line for loading, you are enrolled on our log this day, as The
Happy Lewis
out of Mitsubishi Three, tail number M001739 registered to Lewis Couriers,  transponder code 12001401739, Whom shall I list as having the conn?" He asked very formally.

April suddenly understood taking her out the maiden flight, was an honor to allow such a junior pilot as herself to do, if she was to be noted in the station log.

"Apprentice April Lewis, ID 837-21-4002," she answered quickly.

"Luck, to your ship and crew," he offered personally. Sending a ship out for the first time, even a refit, was still not so common as to have no formality. "Please confirm when you talk to Departure on two. Be careful out there. Clear at your pleasure."

"Shall I take her out Easy?"

"As the fellow said April. At your pleasure. You still have the conn."

Just to be polite April spoke again. "Executing on your radial signal Yard." She waited until she saw the light blink again and then punched the yellow square. It would take a full rotation of the station before it came around again and they released. It seemed forever as the sunlight on the wall swept from one side of the open hatch to the other as the station turned.

There was a clunk of grapples retracting and the faint vibration of the thrusters suddenly holding them where the grapples had been and the main ordinary drive pushed them out of the tube they were in at a gentle tenth G. As soon as they were clear of the hatch the thrusters killed their small spin component and the main drive went off.

With a mechanical precision the autopilot gave a small thruster burn at opposite ends to flip them over and an exactly opposite burn just in time, to stop them pointed back exactly at the station. Then the main did a equally long tenth G burn to leave them floating, looking back at their home turning slowly, but otherwise motionless before them. April let out a long relieved sigh.

"And that's how you fly a space ship," Easy concluded. "Anybody can do it with a computer."

"It was great, thank you. But if you don't mind Easy, I'd like for you to take the conn for awhile. I think I'd like to practice a little more, when we're not two meters from the station."

"OK. I have the conn, but you took her out," he reminded her before he keyed the mic. "Departure Control, this is
Happy Lewis
beeping a new transponder. We'd like to confirm automated departure in approximately ten minutes for ISSII. Sending you our preliminary flight profile." He punched the upload of their navigation program to  control.

"Happy," he addressed the ship, "position your attitude for the next scheduled burn and confirm."

"Maneuvering." the ship said and chimed. There were a couple of small burns on the thrusters and the scene outside wheeled over and then stabilized. "Attitude stable and confirmed by star fix," the computer confirmed.

 They had agreed on a slow and normal initial flight profile, to not demonstrate any additional capacity. So their profile showed a normal length half G burn initially.

Departure Control was taking a lot longer than usual to respond.

"Uh,
Happy Lewis
in queue for departure. We have a request from Earthside for detail. Could you confirm command structure?" This was unusual.

"I am Jefferson Carter Dixon, Master, ID 674-91-2055 commanding with new Apprentice April Lewis, second, making her first flight. You have all my history and logs in the database. I am qualified to fly solo, so Miss Lewis' status is irrelevant," he said a bit frosty.

"Thank you. Earthside is clear now. You are confirmed automated departure on your profile. Please monitor Low Earth Three and contact Local Two ISSII on arrival. Local out."

Easy looked at the clock. He had less than a minute to his burn. It was not courteous to hold the pilot unreleased so close to his burn. He had never had an ID request on departure before. "Somebody's playing games with us already," he told April. Then they felt a shudder and were pushed gently into the seats. They were on their way.

"Easy, why did you give me the privilege of being logged as taking the Happy out on her maiden flight?" April asked.

"Well, I did a bit of research, you see," he said grinning. "There was no apprentice pilot ever listed as taking a ship out on the pilot's first flight and no apprentice pilot ever listed as taking a ship out on its maiden flight. So I figured it would be amusing to log an apprentice pilot, who is an owner and thirteen years old, taking a new ship of a new class out, on the first flight for both of them."

"I suspect it is a combination of firsts that won't be logged again for a very long time and no matter if it is again someday you will always be the first. I didn't want to make you nervous by mentioning it. It is an interesting bit of trivia to remember. The sort of thing that can win you a beer on a bet."

Chapter 21

Eddie was surprised how quickly they got an appointment to speak with the Head of Security for ISSII. They had about twenty minutes to walk down to his offices. Justine suggested he not walk in carrying, so he peeled the holster off his ribs and left it laying on his guest bed. When they went out the door he was in the center of a square.

Uncle Justine was at his right rear, with his woman Mary in front of him and John at his left rear, with a new man he had not introduced in front. They were all dressed casually but Mary had on a loose caped coat draped over her shoulders and the new man had a soft sided piece of luggage.

When they got near the offices it was set up differently than he was used to on M3. There was a plaza with several businesses on the same hub. Two streets arched away up the curve of the station and two went away flat to the next rings each way along the axis of rotation. Even the overhead was different, trying to duplicate a beautiful Earth sky very successfully.

John and Justine sat at a table outside a small café, which used some of the plaza to simulate outdoor seating. Mary found a bench for public seating on the other side of the corridor and the new man went across to a suite of business offices and went inside.

Eddie went in the station offices and saw the Security section was a separate suite inside the General Station Complex. He went through and found a live receptionist. And after examining her, he figured a live guard also. "I'm Eddie Persico," he offered. "I have an appointment with Jan Hagen." She led him in without calling ahead and turned the chair for him in silent invitation to sit and announced, "Mr. Persico."

Mr. Hagen did not look happy to see him. He cupped his hand over his mouth with his thumb along his jaw line and his elbow planted on the desk in front of him and took his time taking the measure of Eddie. It was a very guarded gesture, but he dropped his hand to speak.

"You're not armed," he announced to Eddie.

"True. Do I need to be, here?"

"You were when you came on the station."

"There was a great deal of uncertainty when I came on the station and I have resolved a lot of it. I plan on leaving soon too."

"I'd like that," he admitted. "I hope you take your gun with you when you leave."

"I planned on it. Unless you want me to fetch it to you. I am not unduly attached to it and I have no desire to have an adversarial relationship with you."

"There's a bit of uncertainty about your identity too. There is no Eddie logged on the station - but there is an Evert Persico, mate," he said the last with a bad Aussie accent.

"Ah - he's my bastard twin," he declared affectionately. "I didn't even know he was on station. Round him up, if he isn't flat on his face too rotten to stand and you'll see we're two peas, but whatever the mix up my ID is golden and I'm sure you'll find his is not a bit bodgy," he said with a much better accent, laying it on thick.

"Indeed," he said without the least trace of belief. "I doubt I want to invest much time on a search since you'll be leaving so
soon
," he emphasized. "I'm more concerned with why you are here. I had thought perhaps you were coming to assassinate me... The idea shocks you!" he said, before Eddie could even reply, surprised at the look on Eddie's face. "That's interesting."

"I'm an officer of the security force on M3 and we don't do assassinations."

"You're a member of a crime family and some more of them have joined you from another station since you came. I'm worried you'll start a conflict with the elements who claim this territory for those kind of activities. Perhaps you think I am 'on the take' as they say and you'll have to remove me to establish a new franchise here?"

"Don't you think if that were the case I'd simply make a better bid, for you to accept a new franchise?"

"Not if you knew me."

"Ah, An honest politician. One who'd stay bought."

"Yes. If I were bribed, I'd keep the bargain."

"I believe you. However being from a crime family doesn't interfere with my being an officer of Security, anymore than being a spy keeps you from discharging the same responsibility here."

Jan looked amused. "Intelligence officer," he corrected. "Spies they just drag outside and shoot in the head when things go bad. IOs they trade. But I'm starting to like you. Would you care for some coffee?" He leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers in a very relaxed gesture.

"Please. But there is a little café on the plaza outside. Do you have a surveillance camera watching the front entrance, which would show it?"

"Certainly." he tapped a few keys on his desk pad and the scene appeared on the wall screen.

"There, the table with two men. Both looking out on the corridor."

Jan zoomed in on them without being asked. Justine and John were talking and smiling. There was a plain white demitasse cup in front of each of them. After a bit they both laughed at something and the waiter came and refilled their coffee from a silver pot. Justine spoke back and forth with him and the waiter nodded his head in agreement.

"He just asked the waiter in French if he had any nice cookies. And the waiter was embarrassed, but told him despite the French name of the café, he only speaks English or Farsi and the customer asked him in Farsi for cookies, so he is going for them."

"Uncle Justine speaks Farsi?" I had no idea. The man constantly surprises me. You read lips that well? Really?

As if to answer, the waiter appeared with a generous plate of sugar dusted crescents.

"And the other fellow with your uncle Justine? Who is he? A hired man?"

"I promised I would keep his name out of my conversation with you. So you'll have to discover his name yourself. But I'll tell you what he is. He is the equivalent on your station of my uncle. This is his territory as you say and we're not threatening it. Indeed he considers us under his protection while we're here. If I had to choose between his protection or yours it would be a tough choice. But I'm hoping to have both.