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Lpnet1 Lpnet2 Lpnet3 Sci-shorts-01 Sci-shorts-02 Sci-shorts-03 Sci-shorts-04 Gallery | Animation |
| Tsv-02-100 The Illusive R-Wing Chapter 1: Treezine Agent Chapter 2: Lisa Chapter 3: Unexpected Visitors Chapter 4: Knowledge is Power Chapter 5: A Piece of Sky Pie Chapter 6: The DGP Governor Chapter 7: Point Kapex, Lunaside Chapter 8: The Scenic Route Chapter 9: The Temspace Refraction Chapter 10: The Age of Aquarius Chapter 11: To Ride the R-Wing Chapter 12: Effects of the Tuniverseo |
Chapter 11: To Ride the
R-Wing
12/19/2001: It was hard to believe that so many things could go wrong with a man's life, as well Madkro knew, but thinking about how tough this near over-the-hill, air-force vet turned Lunaside director had it, and Madkro was ready to believe somebody else in the human rat-race had suffered worse than himself for a change. The idea of using an R-winger to reunite Longray with his family was perfect. It was, after all, one of the best reasons conceivable for the peace-time uses of the R-wing. It was a chance to prove the true value of the space-vehicle, outside of the tired old anachronism of stealth maneuvers during war. After securing everything and kissing Lisa good-bye, he said, as he left with Panders, "I can't think of a better reason to use the R-wing," then turned to Lisa as they left through the door. "You know who to call if you need help," he said. "It's getting to be a regular job," she admitted. "Ren, call me if you can, over the com-link. Please?" Panders stepped outside and he stepped back in for a minute, gave her another kiss, and agreed. "Yes, I'll make the call, if I have to go outside and align the satellites with my bare hands." She smiled wide as he left. Minutes later, as he thought about her, they drove along to the airport, and he began to get used to the idea that he had another job with the ASC, as a personal courier. "So, who's on the team," he said to Panders, "besides us?" "We tried to get Senoka," she admitted. "I'm not sure if we did. If not, General Levekon has authorized me for the position. We'll know more when we check into the Notch." "ETA?" She checked her time-piece, and projected. "We should be there in about 7 hours," she admitted, and looked at him. "Relax, Madkro. We'll get there alright. Raveni, is the R-wing ready?" "Should be," Raveni said. "We'll be in the air by 20 hundred." The sun was setting as they reached the air-port. They were on an R-wing after it set and all was under the deep blue twilight of the mid-December night. Once they were in the air and safely on their way, they relaxed in their body-glove-like seats, as the gyro tipped a bit to the sides and Panders and Raveni steadied it. Madkro's navigation was simple enough, such that he fell asleep shortly during the flight, once they were directly on course. If they had to make adjustments, Panders would do so, and awaken him if he was needed. He had been working late every night, for several days, and his sleep had become rare and irregular. This job had taken him by complete surprise, and he nodded off for a few hours during the flight to the northeast. During that time, he had a strange dream, in which he was piloting a single-person R-wing unit during a war, and crashed in the sea, separated from his squadron. The R-winger floated in the waves, under the twilight, as dark clouds moved in and it began to rain. The air-tight vehicle floated up and down on turbulent waves as the rain hammered it, and then it was beached on an unknown island. He sat inside the vehicle and waited for the storm to pass, and tried to fix the controls which had been damaged with the auxiliary system under dim, yellow and orange lights. Unable to complete the repairs, he decided to give it a rest, to wait for the storm to pass and the light of dawn, several hours away. He fell asleep during the dream, in the single R-wing unit, in the same body-glove-like seat, and heard somebody's voice over the radio. As he awoke, during the dream, he awoke from it, to hear Panders addressing him. "Madkro, wake up," she said. "We're almost there. Let's get those coordinates locked. We'll be making a simple wing-to-hover approach and a direct descent to the pad." "Check," Madkro reported. "I'm locking us in." 2 minutes later, they had the coordinates locked in and Raveni confirmed from his station. "Right, I'm receiving Notch-98 retrieval," he said. "We've got a green light." Panders guided the amazing R-wing vehicle down, as Madkro reported, "Adjust 2 degrees left." Panders made the adjustment. "There it is," she said, "I've got it." They slowed to hover, over the mountains, and Panders guided it down to the pad. "Let's have those pods," she said. "Deploying pods," Raveni reported, as the blue lights of the landing-pad became brighter upon the approach. 30 seconds later, the pods touched the pad and the vehicle settled down. "Touchdown confirmed," Raveni reported and relaxed. "Alright," Panders breathed easy, "Shutting down main drive. Madkro, you awake now?" "Yes sir," he reported. "Okay," she said, and checked in with the base over the com-link. "Our Lunaside ETA is approximately 12 hours from now, just before sunrise. If you need any more rest, check in with casual for a room. Raveni, same goes for you." "What about you?" Raveni said. "You need rest too." "I'll be seeing Levekon and Netikon to secure our party and the 1000 we'll be using for this job. I'll rest if I get the time." She used the com-link for a second, to get a green-light, and the pad began to move the vehicle into the cavern. A minute later, they left the vehicle and separated inside the base. Madkro decided he was still in need of rest, and went to casual for a room. |
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