Part 7 - Crash!
September 14th 2006 13:04
‘Brace! Brace! Brace!’ It was a silly term, left over from the ancient days of flying when crashes were commonplace. Its meaning had become lost. In modern usage it represented the need take time to sit back and contemplate or interpret the original meaning of the phrase itself. The idea was that if you heard someone use the phrase you would be so distracted by your attempts to understand it that you would completely dismiss what ever was going on around you.
It worked well for dentists, taxi drivers and politicians. It also worked well on the Beige Bummjob, so well in fact that when Bo said, “Brace! Brace! Brace!” everyone on board became so involved in their own ruminations that they forgot to look out the window and see what the blue dot was all about.
The best description available is, “Everything went blue, then everything went black and before we knew it we were only half a billion kilometres away from a pretty little star.”
“What happened?” asked Re
“I don’t know,” Bo was reading readouts from the dashboard but none of it made sense. “None of this makes sense. We were supposed to crash into that blue thing and now it’s nowhere to be found. We’re headed straight for that star instead.”
“So it wasn’t gas then,” said Ru. “Perhaps it was a wormhole?”
“Yes,” said La. “That would make sense. We’ve been transported via a fold in space to somewhere a long way from where we began.”
“We could be anywhere,” pondered Hu.
“Would anyone like something to eat?” poor Je, she was always at work.
“I am feeling a bit peckish,” La smiled at his wife.
“How far away is that star?” asked Bo.
“About four hundred and seventy million kilometres,” Re read from his side of the dashboard.
“How’s our speed?” asked Ru.
“Point 98 of Light and falling.”
“Point 98? How far did you say we were from that star?”
“Four hundred and seventy million kilometres, at most.”
“And what’s our direction?”
“We’re headed right for it!” answered Bo. “Brace! Bra…”
“We’ve no time for that now!” interrupted Ru. “We all need stay focused!”
“You’re right,” she said. “Ok, we’ve got to lose as much speed as we can with our vacuum breaking system then find a planet we can orbit to give us the final drag.”
Flicking a switch on the dashboard she said, “Vacuum break deployed.”
They were all thrust forward into their seats as the ship reduced speed.
“Everybody,” commanded Ru, “Keep a look out for a planet.”
“There should be one within out visual range any second now,” said Re, eyeing one of the dashboard monitors.
Hu saw it first. “There, to the right.”
“I see it!” exclaimed Bo, her hands busy on the dashboard telling the ship’s computer to steer to the planet.
“It’s blue,” whispered La.
“Oh no!” Je Screamed. “It’s the blue dot, come back again!”
“No it’s not,” Hu leaned forward in her seat. “It’s different; I can see clouds and land! It’s definitely a planet.”
“I’ve told the computer to make orbit. We should be OK,” said Bo with relief.
Losing speed the Beige Bummjob headed toward the planet. Just like the blue dot their view of the planet grew bigger and bigger through the windscreen.
“Um, Bo,” began Ru. “If we’re going to make orbit, shouldn’t we be headed off to the side of the planet and not right for the centre of it?”
“You’re right,” she checked the coordinates and the altitude. Everything seemed right, but they were still heading directly for the planet. “There must be something wrong with guidance, switching to manual,” she said.
She was too late. The ship shuddered from the impact of hitting the planet’s atmosphere. The windscreen heat shield deployed automatically and the crew was shaken to the roots of their teeth.
Bo took a deep breath and once again gave the command, “Brace! Brace! Brace!” but the others were too busy screaming to hear her.
The Beige Bummjob crashed into the planet. It lay mostly submerged under the crust on one of the land masses. The force of the crash knocked all six crew members unconscious.
Ru was the first to awaken. He looked about, Bo was nearest so he went to her first and gave her a gentle shake. She didn’t stir.
“Bo?” he asked. “Are you OK?” No answer. He went to Hu. She was already stirring.
“What happened?”
“We crashed into the planet,” said Ru. “Are you OK?”
“I think so,” mentally she checked her body parts. “Yes, I think I’m OK.”
Ru pointed to La and Je. “Check on those two and I’ll see how Bo and Re are doing.”
Re had already come around. He undid his seatbelt and ran to Bo. He checked for a pulse.
Ru came to his side, “Is she OK?”
“No,” Re whispered, “I think she’s dead.”
It worked well for dentists, taxi drivers and politicians. It also worked well on the Beige Bummjob, so well in fact that when Bo said, “Brace! Brace! Brace!” everyone on board became so involved in their own ruminations that they forgot to look out the window and see what the blue dot was all about.
The best description available is, “Everything went blue, then everything went black and before we knew it we were only half a billion kilometres away from a pretty little star.”
-o0o-
“What happened?” asked Re
“I don’t know,” Bo was reading readouts from the dashboard but none of it made sense. “None of this makes sense. We were supposed to crash into that blue thing and now it’s nowhere to be found. We’re headed straight for that star instead.”
“So it wasn’t gas then,” said Ru. “Perhaps it was a wormhole?”
“Yes,” said La. “That would make sense. We’ve been transported via a fold in space to somewhere a long way from where we began.”
“We could be anywhere,” pondered Hu.
“Would anyone like something to eat?” poor Je, she was always at work.
“I am feeling a bit peckish,” La smiled at his wife.
“How far away is that star?” asked Bo.
“About four hundred and seventy million kilometres,” Re read from his side of the dashboard.
“How’s our speed?” asked Ru.
“Point 98 of Light and falling.”
“Point 98? How far did you say we were from that star?”
“Four hundred and seventy million kilometres, at most.”
“And what’s our direction?”
“We’re headed right for it!” answered Bo. “Brace! Bra…”
“We’ve no time for that now!” interrupted Ru. “We all need stay focused!”
“You’re right,” she said. “Ok, we’ve got to lose as much speed as we can with our vacuum breaking system then find a planet we can orbit to give us the final drag.”
Flicking a switch on the dashboard she said, “Vacuum break deployed.”
They were all thrust forward into their seats as the ship reduced speed.
“Everybody,” commanded Ru, “Keep a look out for a planet.”
“There should be one within out visual range any second now,” said Re, eyeing one of the dashboard monitors.
Hu saw it first. “There, to the right.”
“I see it!” exclaimed Bo, her hands busy on the dashboard telling the ship’s computer to steer to the planet.
“It’s blue,” whispered La.
“Oh no!” Je Screamed. “It’s the blue dot, come back again!”
“No it’s not,” Hu leaned forward in her seat. “It’s different; I can see clouds and land! It’s definitely a planet.”
“I’ve told the computer to make orbit. We should be OK,” said Bo with relief.
Losing speed the Beige Bummjob headed toward the planet. Just like the blue dot their view of the planet grew bigger and bigger through the windscreen.
“Um, Bo,” began Ru. “If we’re going to make orbit, shouldn’t we be headed off to the side of the planet and not right for the centre of it?”
“You’re right,” she checked the coordinates and the altitude. Everything seemed right, but they were still heading directly for the planet. “There must be something wrong with guidance, switching to manual,” she said.
She was too late. The ship shuddered from the impact of hitting the planet’s atmosphere. The windscreen heat shield deployed automatically and the crew was shaken to the roots of their teeth.
Bo took a deep breath and once again gave the command, “Brace! Brace! Brace!” but the others were too busy screaming to hear her.
-o0o-
The Beige Bummjob crashed into the planet. It lay mostly submerged under the crust on one of the land masses. The force of the crash knocked all six crew members unconscious.
Ru was the first to awaken. He looked about, Bo was nearest so he went to her first and gave her a gentle shake. She didn’t stir.
“Bo?” he asked. “Are you OK?” No answer. He went to Hu. She was already stirring.
“What happened?”
“We crashed into the planet,” said Ru. “Are you OK?”
“I think so,” mentally she checked her body parts. “Yes, I think I’m OK.”
Ru pointed to La and Je. “Check on those two and I’ll see how Bo and Re are doing.”
Re had already come around. He undid his seatbelt and ran to Bo. He checked for a pulse.
Ru came to his side, “Is she OK?”
“No,” Re whispered, “I think she’s dead.”
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