The Orthogonal Galaxy (47 page)

“
Sorry there, Gents,”
Blade said gasping for breath. “These duds is harder to adjust than
I thought they’d be.” Blade grabbed at his crotch. “And awful
uncomf’able too.”

Blade’s flight instructor
couldn’t resist the opportunity to mess with his pupil. “You think
these are bad. Just wait to see how bad you chafe after spending a
few years in that spacesuit.”

Blade’s eyes grew as big a
golf balls, while Paol smiled widely at the gesture, and queried
Blade’s instructor, “So, Arjen. I don’t remember seeing the hand
gesture for grabbing yourself. Should we have practiced that in the
simulator so we know how to adjust for it out here?”

Playing along, Arjen
responded, “There was never an intended gesture, but the computer
misinterpreted it occasionally as a dive maneuver, so we had to
reprogram the dive signal to prevent it from happening again after
the last accident.”

“
Accident?” Blade leaned
closer, his face glistening with sweat, mostly from the heat, but
partly because of the anxiety of his first solo flight.

“
Yeah, we couldn’t figure
it out for the longest, but after collecting enough data from the
black boxes, we finally pieced together what was going wrong. Why,
even Metch here had a nearly fatal moment while adjusting
himself.”

Arjen gestured to Paol’s
flight instructor, who shrugged his shoulder and tipped his head in
affirmation. “It can happen to the best of us.”

“
That does it!” Blade
spat. “Take me back to prison. This ain’t gonna work
out!”

“
Now, Blade,” said Arjen.
“I’m just kidding about the accident.”

“
I know that,” said Blade.
“That’s not why I’m callin’ it quits. This monkey suit is so hot
and uncomf’able that I’d rather crash and burn than to stay inside
it fo’ ‘nother minute.”

“
Let’s get you up in the
plane, Blade. It’ll be better when you get out of this heat.”
Arjen’s former playful voice was transformed into a tone of serious
business.

The XJ-20 experts walked
their students through vehicle and suit inspections, instructed the
new pilots to climb into their cockpits, drop their visors, and
buckle themselves in to the seat. The pair of instructors then
returned to an air conditioned building and put on communication
headsets as each sat at an override control terminal which the
instructor could use to gain control of the aircraft should either
student make a mistake in flight.

Paol and Blade turned on
his headset and waited for instructions, as they sat side-by-side
on the tarmac. They made eye contact with each other along the way,
when Paol gave a thumbs-up to his colleague across the way. Blade
nodded his head slightly and bared his white teeth through a forced
smile. He was extremely nervous about his first flight, but he was
comforted in knowing that he’d be up in the air with his good
friend. He took a deep breath realizing that that there was a
safety net sitting at a control panel on the ground
below.

“
XJ-1, do you copy?” came
the voice over the communication channel.

“
Roger, Ground 1,” replied
Paol.

Another voice repeated the
question. “XJ-2, do you copy?”

“
Yes, sir!” Blade
attempted to exude confidence in his response, but his voice
crackled dryly.

“
XJ-1, initiate startup
sequencing.”

Paol engaged his HOC,
turned on the main power supply, and waved his hands in the proper
gesture to engage ignition. He heard a soft rapid clicking noise
and a high-pitch whistle that grew higher until it was out of audio
range. The jets kicked in, and Paol confirmed that all systems
checked.

Similar displays indicated
successful startup in the control room as well.

“
XJ-1, please confirm
startup.”

“
Startup successful,
Ground 1.”

“
XJ-2, initiate startup
sequencing.”

“
Roger, Ground 2.” This
time Blade’s voice was all business. While his hands trembled
slightly, he was focused and ready to fly. “Startup successful,
Ground 2.”

“
XJ-1, you will take-off
on runway 3. Please proceed to runway.”

“
I’m on my way, Ground
1.”

“
XJ-2, please proceed to
runway 1.”

“
Roger, Ground
2.”

The planes proceeded in
parallel away from the buildings and as the pair started for their
respective runways, the pilots gave each other some final
encouragement.

“
Good luck, XJ-2,” Paol
spoke.

“
See ya’ back on the
ground soon, XJ-1.”

After taxiing to the end
of their respective runways, the new pilots waiting for their next
instruction. Paol glanced down the long runway, distorted by the
heat waves rising from the black asphalt. Blade looked to the
stillness of the blue sky and then glanced to his right and
strained to see his companion across the way. The distance was too
great to see more than a dark silhouette in the cockpit of the
adjacent airplane.

“
XJ-1, XJ-2. You are both
cleared for takeoff. Proceed when ready.”

Paol and Blade responded
affirmatively. Paol engaged the throttle first, and Blade followed
soon behind. Superheated gas emerged from the engines of the
airplanes as the flight instructors watched the planes amble down
their respective runways while glancing back at the cockpit video
on their control terminals to make sure that the advance of each
pilot was successful for takeoff.

Paol’s visor display
indicated full speed, and with his left hand he slightly curled his
fingers skyward. A smooth motion ensued as the aircraft nudged its
way off the ground and into the air. Within moments, Blade’s
aircraft roared off the runway and into the sky as well. The flight
instructors could hear the roar of the engines for a couple of
minutes. Within ten minutes, the binoculars of the instructors
became useless. They switched off their headsets and
conversed.

“
Not bad for a first
takeoff, huh?”

“
Yeah. I saw a little
veering down the runway from Blade, but he was pretty steady in the
air.”

“
I always remember my
first time when I see these newbies lifting off. It was so much
easier than I feared.”

“
Yeah, I expect these guys
to be pretty excited when they get back. After getting the first
flight under the belt, you can’t help wanting to get back up there.
It’s just plain addicting.”

Once in the air, Blade and
Paol separated themselves as instructed gaining sufficient altitude
to do some free maneuvers. This helped them gain a feeling for the
real aircraft instead of the simulator back in Houston. While Blade
continued heading north, Paol veered off to the east.

Blade watched the four
blue flames of Paol’s jet engines propel him away. “XJ-1, this is
XJ-2. Where ya’ takin’ that bird of yers?” he inquired.

“
I think I’ll head over to
the Great Salt Lake. It should be interesting to see the salt flats
from high in the sky.”

“
Uh… is it ok to fly
there?” The tone of Blade’s voice made the statement sound half
like a question, and half like a reprimand.

“
We can fly anywhere we
want, XJ-2… as long as we have enough gas to return
home.”

“
Ground 2, is this true?
Are we allowed to fly anywheres? There ain’t no restricted air
space fer us?”

“
Affirmative, XJ-2. Your
display will warn you if you are converging on any other aircraft
in the vicinity, in which case you will be able to take evasive
maneuvers quickly enough.”

“
I’m just surprised that
astronaut candidates are allowed to fly with no
restrictions.”

“
XJ-2. You are not quite
at astronaut candidate status yet, but your status as preparation
for the Earth2 mission gives you permission to do just about
anything you want.”

A smile came on Blade’s
face as he let his left arm extend outward to indicate a hard left
bank. Arjen sat forward in his seat perplexed by the sudden hard
change in course, while Paol’s instructor, noticing the movement
glanced away from his cockpit display with concern.

“
What’s wrong,
Arjen?”

His concern was answered
with a raised hand gesture from Blade’s flight instructor. “XJ-2,
you are engaged in a vastly sudden change in course heading. Is
everything ok?”

“
Never better, Ground
2.”

Growing more direct, Arjen
probed. “Where are you heading, XJ-2?”

“
Well, I always wanted to
see Vegas. I’m headin’ to Las Vegas, Ground 2.”

Arjen sat back in a seat
shaking his head and smiling at Blade’s playful exuberance. “That’s
a negative, XJ-2. There is heavy air congestion in Southern
Nevada—not recommended for a first flight.”

“
Ground 2. D’ya not just
say I could goes anywhere I want?”

Arjen’s smile evaporated
while Metch started snickering at his partner’s sudden
dismay.

“
That is true, XJ-2. But I
don’t recommend going there on a first flight. There will be plenty
of time to do a fly-by of the Strip.”

“
So why’s it ok fo’ Paol
to head to Salt Lake City—that airport’s much busier than Vegas,
ain’t it? Nah—I’m headin’ to Vegas, Arjen. See ya’ in a couple of
hours.”

“
XJ-2,” said Metch now,
trying to compose himself. “This is Ground 1.”

“
Go ‘head, Ground
1.”

“
Put twenty on the
roulette wheel for me, would you?”

Blade and Metch enjoyed a
hearty laugh, while Arjen still disapproved of Blade’s joy
ride.

“
Paol, can you talk some
sense into your partner?” Arjen asked sincerely.

“
Hey, Blade,” called
Paol.

“
Yeah.”

“
I think Arjen is right.
Why don’t you choose a different location? Maybe you could spot a
movie star in Hollywood.”

Arjen’s eyes grew wide at
the thought. “NO… no… Las Vegas is just fine, XJ-2.”

Laughter filled three of
the headsets simultaneously. Ground 2 had become the butt of the
joke, but it was all in good humor, and spirits continued to fly
high as the two aircraft vectored off in opposite directions—Paol
flying northeast to the Bonneville Salt Flats, and Blade venturing
southwest towards Las Vegas.

“
Just remember,” added
Arjen. “You have to stay within 100 miles of the border, or else
you’ll get tagged by law enforcement. My orders are clear—I will
override if you get too close.”

“
Roger that, Ground 2!”
The response from Blade was filled with excitement as he peered
towards the south keeping an eye out for Las Vegas.

The next five minutes
passed in relative silence. Blade and Paol continued to acquaint
themselves with some of the responses to various hand gestures, but
there were no significant stunts performed. Arjen and Metch
continued to monitor the progress of their pupils, but all was
calm, until a voice rang out over the headset.

“
Ground 1, why am I
seeing—”

Metch leaned forward in
his chair and breathed an expletive.

“
What happened?” As soon
as he asked, he realized that the answer was an obvious one. The
cockpit display for Paol’s XJ aircraft went immediately
dark.

“
XJ-1, do you copy? This
is Ground 1. I’ve lost your display. Please respond.”

The silence grew more
disturbing with each passing moment.

“
XJ-1, do you
copy?”

“
XJ-2, this is Ground 1.
Do you copy?”

“
Yes, I do, Ground
1.”

“
Can you identify XJ-1’s
location?”

“
Negative, Ground 1. XJ-1
is not on my radar.”

“
XJ-2, can you proceed to
a heading of 175 degrees?” The request was moot, as Blade had
already performed a hard bank. With his display focused on the last
known location of Paol’s jet, Blade abandoned his trip to Las
Vegas, and began pursuing after Paol. After pulling out of the
bank, Blade gave the signal for rapid acceleration. His body was
pegged to the seat as the fire of the engines thrust the aircraft
forward with violent force.

“
Not so fast, please,
XJ-2,” implored Arjen. “There is no reason to jeopardize your own
safety over what is probably just a communication
glitch.”

There was no response from
Blade, as he continued to accelerate.

“
Blade, I can take over
control of your aircraft. Please throttle back on acceleration. I
doubt there’s anything to worry about.”

“
What if there
is?”

“
Then there’s nothing
you’ll be able to do about it anyway. You can’t exactly pull up
beside Paol and offer him a ride, you know?”

Blade’s acceleration
continued.

“
Blade, listen to reason,
please.”

Just as Arjen was about to
take over the controls, he noticed that Blade’s acceleration was
dropping. His speed leveled out.