And the next installment!
edit: added chapter numbers to the various pieces, to keep track.
Edit2: wrong chapter number. Stupid me for trying to edit while half-asleep in the morning
Chapter 2[/u]
Several hours later, the scene outside Bosch's quarters was much, much more different. Although Bosch himself wasn't, the rest of them were. Everyone was in full environmental suits, covered from head to toe and with the mini-grav generators turned on. Unfortunately for most of them, this was the toughest part yet for them all. Adapting back to normal Earth gravity after nearly a week of zero-g was the hardest part, and quite a few of the people gathered were complaining about it too.
Except for Gibson that is and Sargo that is. Both were the first ones to get into the suits almost immediately after Bosch had ordered it. Of course, they had been complaining about it earlier too, but now at least they were somewhat used to it. Looking at the others, he cleared his throat, trying to catch there attention. When that didn't work, he tried again. Still no response.
Getting somewhat irritated at the group, he shouted out loud, finally attracting there attention. "Gentlemen! Calm down already and quit your god darn *****ing already!!"
After that, they all stopped and turned to look at him and Sargo, who was standing right next to him.
"I know the suits and the gravity are hard to bear, but we've still got a job to do." He paused for a second before smiling and continuing.
"Besides, haven't you guys been listening at all? We're going to
Crash-land this flying bucket of bolts, which means you better get used to it fast, cause nothing is going to compare to the G's we'll be pulling off soon."
Seeing that they had calmed down a bit, he nodded and began the briefing. He was standing in for Bosch, who was not in the cargo deck holding the ETAK device and talking to the Shivans. They were coming up with a direct plan of action, not to mention modifying the controls so that Bosch could fly the ship down. Gibson was a bit uneasy with letting Bosch fly the ship down, even though he did have immense experience with flying as a pilot for the GTA of old. The man was much older now and his age could easily pose a risk to all of them. Gibson's own personal preference would have either been Sarno or John. Both of them were ace pilots in their own rights, with the former having flown the massive Ursa bomber and having an idea of how to handle large ships.
But still, Bosch had been adamant. He would fly them down, and without a risk. When hearing of Gibson's recommendations, he had only given a short laugh before simply saying "While Sarno may have flown an Ursa before, rest assured, I had plenty of experience flying such things myself. This transport will be no different. Rest assured Gibson, I will bring us down in one piece."
"Gibson, you may want to start now." His thoughts were interrupted as Sargo gave him a slight push, waking him up and bringing his mind back to the current situation.
Sargo leaned close in and whispered so only he and Gibson could hear. "Told you to get some sleep too. But nooooo, 'I'll be fine' you said. Nice job Gibson" He winked before standing up straight again and clearing his throat.
Gisbon just shook his head and nodded to everyone. Lacking any holographic machinery or suitable device to conduct the briefing, he motioned for everyone to follow him to a nearby window. The window had the view of the structure they were going to be boarding. Next to the window were crude chalk drawings of not only the outer ring, but a small section of the ring itself. It wasn't much, but at least it was better than nothing. Once everyone was in position and the jokes of how bad his and Sargo's drawings were over, he nodded to everyone and began the briefing.
"Ok then, let's start. First of all, this isn't art class, so you'll have to forgive the bad quality of drawing we see here." He joked, lightening up the mode a bit.
"As you all know, we are currently holding position above this rather strange ring-like structure. The mission is simple: We will be attempting to do a landing on this ring at this area." He pointed first to the ring, and then the small section he had drawn next to it.
"From the looks of it, we'll be landing in the start of a long canyon around 2 clicks in length. The entire canyon is covered in snow, so even if we do crash-land the impact should be a bit cushioned, at the least. Once we get down, our immediate objective is to set up a small base camp. Our environmental suits should protect us in the cold till we can either find a cave or some other natural shelter, or till we can build one. Either way if the transport is still functioning, we'll use it as base camp. We'll each be dividing into teams. Me, Bosch and John will be in one team and will stay back with the transport to try and repair any damage;. Sargo, Sarno and Terrick will be in the next. Sargo will be leader, your objective is to check out area A for any caves or natural formations we can use to shelter us against the cold. At the same time, Gerald, Ramayan and Dave will also roam the same area looking for any food we may be able to use. From what we can tell, there appears to be quite a lot of vegetation in the canyon, despite the cold. There might just be enough food available for us to eat, but it may just end up poisonous. Ramayan -"
He paused, looking for Ramayan at the back of the gathered group. He finally saw the dark brown face behind Terrick, looking back at him through the reflection of the suit's helmet glass. When Ramayan nodded, Gibson continued.
"Your the only one of us that's take any sort of course on vegetation and plant life, so you should be able to identify which plants are poisonous and which aren't. Therefore you'll be leader of this team. Water shouldn't be much of an issue since all we need to do is melt the snow."
Ramayan nodded. He didn't seem to have any problems with the issue.
"Raynold, Carlos and Venson, you'll take the final team. Venson, you're in charge."
"Aye Sir, what are we to do?" He replied in his slight Russian accent, his mouth almost totally obscured by the thick moustache and beard that took up quite a lot of his features. Gibson could already tell that he would be the most used to the environmental conditions they were going to go through.
"Simple." Gibson replied. "You'll be scouting around area B, and like team two you'll be searching for shelter as well. All of us will be armed with Hand-held weaponry in case we encounter anything hostile down there. If your team does encounter something hostile, fall back to the transport immediately. Nobody travels alone, and everyone has to be roped together to ensure it too. The terrain is slippery and we have no idea about the local wildlife either, so everyone be careful of any animals or wild creatures you see. If you also happen to find any piece of useful electronic equipment, don't touch it till it can be examined for booby-traps. I bet this ring has been abandoned for a reason and I'd rather not find out what it is till we're out of there. Everyone clear then? Any questions?"
He looked around the gathered group. They all looked pretty determined, if somewhat nervous, of what was to come. Then Gibson noticed a hand rise at the very back. Looking at the person raising it, he could make out Sarno's face through the face plate.
"Yes Sarno?" He asked, nodding at him to put the arm down.
Sarno lowered the arm and asked in a somewhat soft and sullen tone "Just a small question, but how do you intend to keep us all pinned down during landing? It's not like we actually have any seats or seatbelts for that matter you know."
Gibson nodded. This was something he was thinking about as well but fortunately he had found a somewhat simple solution for it.
"Simple, you'll be using your magnetic boots to hold you to the floor. Before landing, we'll all secure ourselves by using Magnetic locks to stick our suits to the wall. It should allow us to remain in one place, but the ride will definitely be bumpy."
Sarno nodded. It looked like the answer had satisfied him for the moment. Yet, he still had a somewhat puzzled expression on his face, as if he wanted to ask something, yet didn't have the guts to.
"Is there anything else Sarno? It looks like you've got another question in you there."
Sarno looked around to the others first, before looking right back at Gibson. "Well Sir...actually there is. I was hoping to ask, who is piloting us down? I don't think the Shivans would be able to survive all those G forces, or know what a soft landing is for that matter."
Gibson was afraid this question was going to come up. But might as well deal with it now rather than later.
"Well, the latest news is that none other than our fearless leader will be flying us down to the surface itself. He's already talked to the Shivans and they are working on setting a proper control system as we speak."
Upon hearing this, the room went silent. All the personnel gathered simply stared at Gibson, putting him in a somewhat uncomfortable position. Sarno was quite literally aghast with surprise. He obviously had been expecting to be chosen to pilot the ship down.
One of the others spoke first, shattering the silence a few seconds later. It was Terrick.
"Respectfully speaking sir, but why is the Admiral flying us in? Isn't Sarno or John a better choice? I mean, the GTVA put him as an Admiral because he's too old to fly, for heaven's sake!"
Gibson simply gave Terrick a glare and was about to reply when a voice from the very rear interrupted them.
"If it was true that they promoted people to Admiral just for their age, Mr. Terrick, then we'd also be seeing a lot more Neo-Terran Fronts." Everyone turned around in surprise to look at whom had just spoken. Upon seeing who it was however, all of them quickly saluted as Bosch stepped through the doorway. How long had he been standing there without anybody noticing? Standing and watching as his men being briefed on the activity they would follow on the ring below? Gibson simply had no idea, and instead followed the rest, saluting in respect to the old man.
Under normal circumstances, Bosch's frame wasn't very large, and nor was he well-muscled either. The past year working behind a desk and away from active service had reduced his body to a mere shadow of what it used to be during his prime years. Under the Zero-G environment they had endured over the past few days, Bosch's condition had worsened even more, and the signs were clearly showing now. The old man had been capable of moving about easily in the Zero G conditions, but now his walk was reduced into a slow stagger, barely being able to move the suit that enveloped his entire body. To him it must have felt like walking with lead weights, and the expression on his face as he moved from one corner to the other simple proved it.
He continued to speak, his voice low and somewhat weak from the strain of walking around. He obviously was tired and from the looks of it, about ready to collapse.
"Stand easy men." Bosch nodded at those gathered after saluting back. Once everyone's arms had dropped, he nodded again and continued to speak.
"I understand your concerns Terrick. I am indeed an old man, as well as somewhat unfit from my earlier days, but I've also got a lot of experience. Tell me, have you ever crash-landed any spacecraft into a planet before?"
He looked at all the men gathered before continuing. "Have any of you done the same, for that matter?"
Everyone simply shook their heads except for Gibson. He was the only other person here with as much flight experience - if not more - than Bosch himself, but he had almost no knowledge of the Shivan controls or the ship itself - something which only Bosch knew in this case.
"Point taken Sir, my apologies." Sarno said, somewhat embarresed.
Bosch frowned for a second. His tone became somewhat agitated. "What are you apologizing for pilot? You had a valid point in this case and you expressed it. In fact - " Bosch paused looking first at Sarno and then at John. Then he sighed before continuing. "Now that you mention it, there is a good chance I might just black out during the trip itself. I want both of you stationed inside the cockpit area itself. It's rather large, so space shouldn't be an issue. If anything happens to me, you'll have to take over the flight. Understood?"
Sarno's features turned to that one in surprise. Internally, Gibson applauded Bosch. This was one of the reasons he had managed to hold the NTF as long as he did. If Bosch was good at one thing, it was handling the men under his charge.
At least now the main issue seemed to be dealt and over with. Bosch nodded to the men and continued.
“You’ve all heard the plans, and you’ve all heard the risks. I’ve talked to the Shivans and we’ll be making our attempt after 24 hours. I suggest everybody get some rest before we go. The food container has been unlocked, so all the food is available for consumption. I expect each and every one of you to fill yourselves and enjoy the food.”
Bosch paused. His facial features turned morose as he looked down before continuing. “24 Hours from now, we’ll all either be dead or on the surface. In either case we’ll need all the energy we can get. That is all, dismissed.”
With that, Bosch moved towards his room on the other side of the group. The crew parted to give him way as he left. Not one person spoke a word as he walked through and went to his room. Once the door closed, Gibson looked back to those gathered. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, but finally Sargo spoke up, shattering it.
“Well, that’s about it. Who’s up for some proper food?”
A general murmur of agreement rose up from the others as they dispersed for lunch. Gibson sighed. This was going to be one of the longest 24 hours of his life.
