"And how many did...I lose..."
Zuikaku's steady hand pushed the pen into the paper with perhaps a little bit more force than was strictly necessary. Although she's been through this so many times, and that she's completely aware that it was but inevitable, writing up casualties report for her shot-down planes was still a very stressing order.
"Ammunition request…"
Zuikaku sighed, looking at the stack of papers in front of her. This would probably be a lot easier if she's confident enough to use a computer, but she really couldn't be bothered to learn. Not at the moment, at least. Back in her days a 'computer' was an American super weapon kicking her ass left and right, using it for mere paperwork felt just...wrong, somehow.
It's not like Zuikaku was alone in this mindset. Many ships prefered to forego modern technologies in favor of more familiar ones.
"Ah, Miss Zuikaku."
The girl that just entered the common room, however, was definitely not one of them.
USS Intrepid.
Zuikaku was not too familiar with the girl, but she at least knew that most girls in the base went to her when they have day to day tech problems with their smartphones and the likes. She's one of the many Americans transferred to Japan after the Abyssal forces withdrew from the American coasts. She's plain by American standard, either that or Zuikaku had been hanging around Iowa a bit too much. She's wearing a baggy blue jacket with the NASA emblem embroidered on the left breast, probably an official souvenir. Somehow it looked like the jacket was simultaneously too small and too big for her. It's loose in most places, but Zuikaku was not sure if Intrepid could zip it up fully without squishing her chest to the point of asphyxiation. A problem that Zuikaku could not relate to, thankfully.
"Can I help you?" Zuikaku asked, putting down her pen.
"Do you think the earth is flat or round?"
The way the question was delivered made Zuikaku think that it was not specifically meant for Zuikaku. Intrepid just really, really wanted to get that question out of her system as quick as possible and Zuikaku was just the first sentient object she found.
"Er...I'm pretty sure it's a slightly deformed spheroid." Zuikaku answered honestly.
Intrepid looked at Zuikaku awkwardly, like she's trying to consider whether her answer was worthy or not. Finally she sighed, walked over, pulled a chair next to Zuikaku, and slumped over the table.
"Uh...are you willing to tell me what's that about?" Zuikaku asked carefully. Zuikaku might not be a very sensitive person, but Intrepid definitely looked down, it almost like she's sinking inside the table.
Intrepid looked to the side at Zuikaku, her cheek firmly planted on the table.
"Miss, do you know that some people believe that the earth is flat?"
Zuikaku shrugged. "Well, that's reasonable. I mean, before people invented sail..." Zuikaku thought, but she was stopped from continuing her sentence when Intrepid started looking at her like a piece of garbage.
"Did I say something wrong?"
Intrepid got up, now sitting upright. "I didn't mean in the past. I mean people right now."
Zuikaku scratched her scalp. "Well, I guess even in these days some rural people don't have access to internet or basic education, huh?"
"No!" Intrepid exclaimed loudly. She's clearly angry, though the reason was unclear to Zuikaku yet. "I didn't mean rural people or old people! I mean some people, from the cities, with at least a high-school diploma, suddenly decided to deny centuries worth of advancement and believe that we all live on a disc!"
Zuikaku tilted her head, trying to process what Intrepid had just said. Not an easy thing under Intrepid's angry glare.
"Uh...that…" Zuikaku struggled to find the right words. "That's stupid."
Not the most exquisite respond, but Zuikaku really couldn't think of anything else.
"I know right?" Intrepid began sulking again, burying her face in her arms on the table. "I can't believe they'd just choose to...to..."
Sounded like Intrepid's brain was too angry to form a coherent sentence.
"Conviction can be pretty debilitating."
If it could convince people to slam their warplanes into an enemy ship, convincing them that the world is flat wouldn't too hard.
"Ugh." Intrepid skulked, still too irritated to continue the conversation.
"Hmm…"
Zuikaku looked at her stack of paperwork. Did she have enough time to play cheer up?
"Say, you used to work at a museum, yes?" Zuikaku asked, deciding that her work could wait.
"Yes." Intrepid answered with a tone that's a little bit more chirp than before. "It's sea, air, and space museum."
"Space museum huh?"
"Yeah." Intrepid finally smiled as she started drowning in nostalgia. "I used to work with NASA, you know, during the space race."
"You sound very proud of it. Is the job satisfying?" Zuikaku asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Ah, those were the days." Intrepid sat up and looked away towards the ceiling, or rather through them, as she began to reminiscence. "No fighting, just the constant honing of the mind, looking forwards to fulfil the potential of the human race…"
"Sounds wonderful. Pity I missed it."
"It's a pity that it's over so soon." Intrepid added."
Zuikaku nodded slightly. "You know, I never actually understand how going to space works. Do you just go high enough?"
Hearing that, Intrepid gave a light chuckle.
"It's less about altitude and more about speed, really. If the ISS suddenly stopped right now, it'd just fall."
"Uh-huh." Zuikaku gave a noncommittal nod."
"You see, it's more like you're constantly falling over the horizon, and-"
Intrepid struggled for a moment to try to find her words, before finally giving up.
"You know what? Miss Zuikaku, do you have a few mome-" Intrepid asked before she saw the mountain of papers on the table. "Oh."
Zuikaku chuckled. "I can spare a few hours, actually. And maybe after we dealt with whatever is in your mind you can teach me how to use a word processor."
"Oh!" Intrepid looked gratefully surprised. "Of course! We can use my computer! Come on!"
"Okay then, give me a moment."
Zuikaku quickly put her papers inside her briefcase and closed it. Intrepid offered to carry it for her, but she refused and simply followed as Intrepid exit the room.
It did not take long for the two of them to reach Intrepid's room.
It might sound obvious, but when Intrepid said 'my computer', it didn't cross Zuikaku's mind that it'd be in her room.
"Come in, please." Intrepid said when she saw Zuikaku stopped moving.
"Ah, pardon the intrusion…" Zuikaku said as she entered.
The accomodation for Kanmusu was definitely better than that of regular sailors. Intrepid's room looked less like a barrack and more like the room of a regular teenage girl. Very big and tall teenage girl, but still.
The wall was filled with, as expected, posters and pictures relating to aviation and space exploration, but rather than looking at the pictures of Saturn V and shuttles, Zuikaku's was drawn towards a propaganda poster depicting a Hellcat fighter.
Zuikaku had always been fascinated by American plane designs. Not so much for their beauty, but by their conceptual contrast with her own, Japanese planes. The Hellcat and it's blunt nose, almost like daring the very concept of aerodynamic to try to bring it down, gave the sense of brutal elegance compared to the Japanese's usual method of slim, calculated beauty.
"Didn't even bother to put a cap on the propeller…" Zuikaku murmured.
"Miss Zuikaku, over here."
Zuikaku turned, and saw that Intrepid was already positioned at her desk. In front of her was her computer, already online. Zuikaku still felt strange looking at the thing. She knew it shouldn't be too hard to understand, it's a screen and a big black box, plus some input devices, but Zuikaku came from an era when computers had gears and motors, not just...silicone magic.
After a few clicks from Intrepid, the screen now showed what looked like...something.
"Is that...a bunch of green beans wearing astronaut outfit?"
"They're Kerbals!"
Intrepid said that so cheerfully like Zuikaku should've known what that word meant.
"It's a video game and a simulation of realistic space travel, mostly concerning orbital mechanics." Intrepid said finally after seeing that Zuikaku had no idea what the heck she's talking about. "I think it's one of the best way to explain the basic physic of space to a layman."
"So...you want me to play a video game."
"Is...is this too childish for you?" Intrepid asked worriedly.
"Nah, it's alright. Teach me how."
" ...alright. Have a seat then." Intrepid stood up, giving her chair to Zuikaku.
"Now, you need to create a save file. Let's just play sand box for now."
Intrepid tried to put her hand on Zuikaku's, guiding her towards the mouse. But she's doing it from behind, accidentally smacking the back of Zuikaku's head with her…
"Oh! I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright. I don't mind."
After some hesitation, Intrepid proceeded to guide Zuikaku's hand again, tough Zuikaku could tell that she's being mindful of her chest.
After a few 'clicks', the screen now showed the inside what looked like a very tall, single story building.
"Oh, is this the vehicle assembly building?"
"Yo know of it?"
"I try to keep up with history once I woke up again."
Intrepid smiled proudly. "The real life one could build four saturn V rockets at once! Each the size of the Statue of Liberty!"
"Did they ever build four Saturn V at once?"
"W-well…" Intrepid stuttered awkwardly. "A-anyway! Let's build your first rocket, shall we?"
With that awkward interlude, Intrepid guided Zuikaku to build a simple rocket consisting of a command module, an orange fuel tank, and an engine.
"This is a children game, so this is just a facsimile of the real thing, but it's accurate enough, I think."
"Do children ponder orbital mechanics for fun nowadays?"
"Only the cool ones. Now press the green button."
Zuikaku complied, turning the screen into a view of what looked like a launching pad.
"Now shift to go full throttle, and press space."
"Press space to space."
Intrepid looked confused for a moment, but then gave a light chuckle as she eventually understood the joke.
Zuikaku pressed the space button, and her rocket lurched up. The sound was quite intense that Zuikaku slightly jumped back.
"You have a very good speakers."
"Thanks."
Zuikaku noticed that at the bottom right corner of the screen there's some sort of face cam showing the face of who was presumably the pilot.
"He looks like he's having fun."
"Oh, that's Jebediah. He's always like that."
Zuikaku leaned back, trying to relax as she watched her rocket ascend, forgetting that Intrepid was standing right behind her.
"Sorry."
"It-it's alright." Intrepid brushed it off, though unconvincingly."you've reached 10 kilometer. Start turning east by twenty-five degree. Since Earth is rotating from the west to east, this way we can use the energy to add to our acceleration. Use the WASD keys."
It took Zuikaku a moment to actually understand those words.
"After one hundred kilometer you've officially reached space. I suggest you stay at four hundred kilometer because I actually modded the Van Allen belt in."
"What belt?"
Intrepid suddenly looked very excited.
"Well you know that Aurora are the result of solar radiation, yes?"
"Yes…" Zuikaku answered cautiously, not sure where Intrepid was going.
"Well, some of those radiation actually stick around the Earth at about five hundred kilometer altitude, and prolonged exposure can be deadly."
"Really? Then how did you guys go to the moon?"
"Well, that's very interesting actually. We sent some guys into the belt in the Gemini program to see how long they could survive."
"Seriously?" Zuikaku couldn't see the USA being that callous with their best and brightest.
"Well, I'm exaggerating, but not by that much." Intrepid smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, you can see the result of that particular experiment online as a public domain."
"I don't think I have enough time to read an entire scientific scripture this week." Zuikaku struggled to say, concentrating on steering her spaceship with a non-analog controller.
"Well, in short, although we, even today, really don't have anyway to protect the human body from charged particle radiation, said body's ability to repair itself is enough to let them survive for a short time. So we just used more booster."
"Is that so?" Zuikaku said, still struggling with the control.
"Yup. Two and a half hour of charged particle exposure is not deadly as long as your spaceship isn't made out of led."
"What'd happen if it was?"
"Well, the hyper excited electrons would strike the atoms of your spaceship, basically turning the charged particle radiation into x-ray radiation and cook you. Probably. Oh, and you should press the S key to activate the SAS. That's the stabilizer computer."
"Ah, now you tell me."
"Congratulation on reaching space, by the way. Turn off your engine using the x key and press M to see your trajectory."
Zuikaku looked at the altimeter. Indeed, she had passed two hundred kilometer. The curvature of the Earth was represented pretty well in this game, she must say. She throttled down and pressed the M key, and the camera zoomed out to give her the view of the entire planet.
"You see that blue line? That's your orbital trajectory. Well, actually at this point it's just your trajectory of crashing quarter of a world away."
"So...what do we do now?"
"Well, you see..."
Although Zuikaku were not looking behind her at Intrepid, she could imagine the sagely face she's probably making right now.
"As Newton have said, if you accelerate an object in any hyperbolic, parabolic, or elliptical trajectory, barring resistance, said object will always return to the position where the acceleration was being made."
"What." At this point, Zuikaku was already lost.
"It means that you need to burn prograde at the apoapsis to make a stable orbit."
"What." Zuikaku asked again.
Intrepid sighed. She probably felt like speaking to a nine year old right now.
"When you're the furthest away from Earth, accelerate. Try to stay parallel with the surface. Just aim for the horizon on your navball."
"You mean that artificial horizon in the middle? Alright. I can do that."
Probably.
Zuikaku waited until the small symbol representing her craft reached the peak of its flight path before throttling up again.
"Take notice on how your trajectory changes the faster you are. See, now instead of crashing a quarter of the world away, you're going to crash at the other side of the world instead!"
Zuikaku looked. Indeed, her craft so far seemed to be still affected by gravity, even if she's officially in space.
Suddenly her trajectory became a circle.
"Wait, what?"
Intrepid laughed. "See that? At this altitude you're not losing gravity, which is strong enough to affect the moon, i might add. You're just using Earth's gravity to gain a constant speed to cancel out the force of gravity itself! Which is why we call it Zero G instead of Zero gravity!"
Zuikaku would not lie and claim that she understood what Intrepid had just say or what just happened, but judging by Intrepid's tone it's probably something incredible.
"I'm not sure if I understand it completely, but I'm basically throwing myself with enough speed that when I fall I miss the planet?"
"That's exactly it!" Intrepid cheered. Seemed like not many people understood this concept that she's so happy to finally met someone that did. "Congratulation on reaching your first orbit! Now kill the engine!"
Zuikaku felt a smile forming on her face as she pressed the X key again.
"Three hundred apoapsis, one hundred and eighty periapsis. Not bad for a beginner!"
"You're very enthusiastic about this, aren't you?" Zuikaku said, looking behind her.
"Ah." Intrepid suddenly looked embarrassed. "Is-is it weird?"
"Ha! No." Zuikaku chuckled, shaking her head. "It's nice seeing you so happy. You have a very nice smile."
"Oh, haha." Intrepid chuckled awkwardly. "Does that usually work?"
"Excuse me?" Zuikaku asked, genuinely confused.
"N-never mind." Intrepid flustered.
Now slightly confused, Zuikaku shrugged and returned her sight to the screen.
"Okay, so how do I land this thing? Parachute?"
"Oh." Intrepid face drooped. "I knew I forgot something when we was in the assembly."