Sparrow on the Wind

Posted on Fri May 16th, 2014 @ 3:20am by Bruce Air (PNPC)

596 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Session 7: Changes
Location: New Bajor

“Structural integrity is at zero percent,” the female computer voice informed politely.

“Thank you, I know,” Bruce Air yelled above the sound of air roaring past the broken canopy. There was a sound of tortured metal and the door hatch finally came away completely. Bruce’s hands pushed power from internal lighting to the SIF.

“Structural integrity is at zero percent,” the female computer voice informed politely.

He pulled a pair of flight goggles over his face to stop the streaming winds from buffeting his eyes. Ahead of him he could just make out the outskirts of the Capital. He was three kilometers and a million light years away from reaching it.

“Structural integrity is a…,” the computer cut out as Bruce pulled power from everything but flight control and life support into the SIF.

At 2.5 kilometers the dilithium housing tore away. Bruce ejected the tank and it erupted behind him. Luckily he was travelling fast enough that the heat and flame did little more than scald him.

At 1.9 kilometers the remnants of the Klingon shuttle lost all power. From that point its collapse was inevitable.

At 1.7 the batteries for the SIF were drained and Bruce diverted the last of the RCS energy into keeping the ship together.

At 990m the RCS died and Bruce was in a plummeting cage of metal and plastic flying only dozens of meters above the ground.

At 610m the shuttle frame hit the ground and began to slide.

At 590m the rear of the shuttle tore away, leaving Bruce sliding in an open backed canopy and clinging on for all he was worth.

At 520m the shuttle hit an outcrop and leapt spinning into the air.

At 450 meters it hit the ground and bounced throwing debris in all directions.

At 430 meters it hit the ground again and began to roll.

At 300 meters the canopy shattered completely, hurling Bruce forward into the air.

He hit the ground and began rolling his Klingon battle suit protecting him from the worst of the impacts. He finally rolled to a stop only 150m from the Eastern gate of the Starport. Standing up he let out a long groan. He pressed the release button on his chest pad and the useless Klingon EVA suit fell of him to the ground.

“150meters… I must be slipping.”

A rather angry looking official with a pistol at his side and a PADD in his hand stormed up to him, already yelling long before he reached the young Australian, “What in the Divines do you think you are playing at? This is a restricted air space! I will have you arrested for piloting a starship in such a reckless manner.”

Bruce looked over his shoulder at the burning wreckage still raining to the ground, “What starship?”

The man mouthed for a moment, abashed by the audacity of the others. Bruce put his arm around him.

“Righto, why don’t you arrest me, and tell the authorities that I rode in on that broken Klingon wreck and walked away without a scratch. I am sure they will believe you, and not locking you up in my place faster than an alco to meths.”

He patted the red faced man amiably, “Tell you what, sport, keep the EVA suit.”

He put his hands in his pocket and walked towards the Starport, past teams of emergency personnel now rushing to put out fires. Within a few moments he was just one more face in the crowd. He was not here by accident though, oh no. He was looking for a certain ship…

 

RSS Feed

Comments (1)