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| Tsv-05-100 Alternatives Chapter 1: Knight to king's Base 4.5 Chapter 2: What Reality is this? Chapter 3: The Hisorian Way Chapter 4: Fresh Air and Exercise Chapter 5: Stranger in a Strange Land Chapter 6: Point Man Put to the Test Chapter 7: The VR and the Videodrome Chapter 8: The Tem-Space Variant Returns Chapter 9: The Amazing R-Wing Chapter 10: The Lunaside Vacation Chapter 11: The Lunaside Hiso-Courts |
Tem-Space
Variant 5:
Alternatives
9. The Amazing R-Wing When they went to the space-port and boarded the RWZ-1000, Madkro had almost 100 percent total-recall of his wayward past. As they stepped up the ramp into the airlock, which led directly into the passenger section, he recalled the last time he rode a similar sized R-winger, in 2001, in a previous reality. It also had gone to the Moon, taking Regnazek's wife and son to him, along with 2 other scientists and the son's tutor. Madkro himself had navigated during that one. This time, he was a passenger, with Lisa by his side. It was geometrically much the same as the previous craft, with subtle differences in decor and detail. Like the previous craft, this RWZ-1000 also placed the passenger compartment on the middle deck, encircling the inner hub. The control-stations were at the outer edge of the inside, elevated 2 meters above the passenger section. The engine room was under the central hub. Madkro stopped inside the air-lock and looked through the small square of window on a door leading to the side. He saw an area with locker-like com-parts, leading around the outer ring of the craft, just before the wing. Storage compartment, he realized, and stepped to the other side of the air-lock. Just in-side the passenger com-part, to his right and left, were steps leading up to the control-stations. Inside the passenger compartment were 12 large, comfort-recliners, encircling the hub, looking inward, to an octagonal console with video-screens and what appeared to be audio head-sets. Of the 12 passenger recliners, 6 were filled. 2 of the passengers were Senzo and Kyra. Madkro and Lisa went to take the 2 seats be-side them, and they talked until it was time to take to the atmosphere. Item: The RWZ-1000 is the largest Roto-Wing craft capable of flying in the atmosphere and escaping the gravity of Earth, to enter orbit (2004). Anything larger is too heavy for the roto-wing and underside jets to lift. The capacity of the RWZ-1000 is 27,000 kgs. The RWZ-2000 has almost twice the capacity of the 1000, however, it is too heavy to be used on the Earth and is retained for use in outer-space and lower gravity masses such as the Moon or Mars. 4 of the seats remained empty, as a female steward in a blue and black uniform made the rounds, stopped at the air-lock, and spoke to someone there, for 2 minutes, then closed the door and secured it. She then went to a console at the base of the steps to one side, picked up a small device, and spoke into it. "Good day, everyone," she said, and the passengers all became alert. "We will be ascending shortly, in 10 minutes. Our ETA at the Planetary Orbital Station is 5:20 pm. For those who are continuing on to Lunaside, you will be taking the RWZ 5000, at dock 4, due to leave the station at 6 pm. If anyone needs to use the facilities, please do so now, before we lift." With that done, she went about the chamber, checking all the passenger seats, to make sure they were all buckled in properly. She smiled shortly at Madkro, but said nothing, and with all seats checked and secure, she went up the steps to the control stations. The flight was straight up, like an elevator, slowly at first, then gradually, much faster. It was 1,400 km to the orbital station. By rocket-ship, it would have been much faster, but the RWZ-1000 reached 500 kph by the time it left the atmosphere and entered orbit. Once in orbit, it reached 800 kph, to make up for any lost time. As scheduled, the RWZ-1000 docked at the POS around 5:20, and all passengers passed through the air-locks, into the station. They proceeded to dock 4, under the lower, artificial gravity of the wheel-satellite station, and boarded the RWZ-5000. The RWZ-5000 was a much larger vessel. It had 40 passenger seats, arranged much the same way as the 1000, encircling a somewhat larger hub, on 2 different levels. The control-deck was 2 meters above the passenger cabin, encircling the outer edge of the craft, just above the wings. The 5000 was designed for casual comfort and capacity. There was plenty of arm and leg room, facilities, one video for every 4 seats, a lounge around the central hub, with food and drinks, and plenty of cargo-space around the passenger section, beside the air-locks (2) just inside the wings. Passengers from 6 different RWZ-1000s boarded the RWZ-5000, destined for the Moon. All total that was 28 passengers. Before leaving the station, 2 stewards, one male and one female, went about instructing the passengers and rearranging their sitting positions. "It's for balance," Madkro said to Lisa. "The weight needs to be equalized." Minutes later, with all 28 people distributed equally about the passenger compartment, the RWZ-5000 departed from the station and set course for the Moon. "What about when we move around?" Lisa said. "We can move around, can't we?" "Oh, sure," Madkro said, and explained. "Once the vehicle is moving at 1,000 kph, we can move around all right, so long as we don't all put our weight on the same side." |
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