Chapter 34
May 14, 1926 C.E., Friday, 10:00 AM
Alvarez Field Hospital
"As of now, you are released from my care. I'm confident of your return to full duty status," Commander Brown said and thumbed his tablet.
"Thank you, sir, for everything," Rachel responded and shook his hand.
"You've made a remarkable recovery, you have my best wishes for your future endeavors," he replied.
She left his office and glanced around for Hipper, who was making the rounds of the gym, saying his good-byes. He had charmed the residents of the physical therapy wing during her stay. She headed for a leg press machine where Johnny Cordell was working out.
"All done here?" he asked and scooted from under the machine.
"Looks like it," she replied.
"Well, go on then. You're making the rest of us look bad when you get on that treadmill," he teased with a wink.
Hipper gave off a questioning chirp and hopped up on her shoulder.
"Take care, see you soon," she said.
She shook hands with Chief Bell, who held the door for her, and left the hospital.
She made the five minute walk to the Office of Shipbuilding complex and stopped at the doors to AF 400, renamed Thomas Harding Hall. She unslung her gym bag and dug through it, searching for her building entry badge.
"Seen my badge?" she murmured to Hipper.
As she patted her pockets to check, the door opened and Commander Kimbrell stood there.
"Sorry sir, misplaced my badge."
"I needed a break anyway. Division tool room survey today."
"Ouch."
"I'll walk with you to get a new one."
"Yes sir."
Hipper ran ahead to chase a sand frog and they chatted on the way.
"Ensign Cordell looked good today," she said.
"He's got another month to go. Therapy wasn't too boring, was it?"
"More tedious than anything, but necessary. I'm not quite back to my pre-accident form, but I'm getting closer everyday."
She waved to someone leaving the gym and they arrived at the administration building. She signed in and they took seats, where a HD viewer on the wall was reviewing the previous night's baseball games. The wait wasn't long and they went to the security offices.
"New security badge for Lieutenant Junior Grade Goodson, Harding Hall?" the PO asked.
"Correct," Rachel replied.
"You're the lieutenant's commanding officer?" the PO inquired.
"I am."
The PO typed on a computer. "Reason for replacement, ma'am?"
"Lost in a shuttle crash."
He nodded, glanced at her, and thumbed a sensor next to the keyboard. A machine beeped and spit out a security badge coded for her building. He placed the sensor on the counter for her to press her thumb. She did and he replaced it in the badge machine. When the card was finished, he handed it over.
"Enjoy the rest of your day, ma'am, sir."
#
When both Rachel and Matt were home, they piled back into the car to head to the Goodsons for the weekend. Jake (a middleweight) had a boxing match that night to see if he would advance to the high school boxing championship. They decided to make a weekend of it, and the Goodsons were only too happy to have them visit for the weekend.
"You've been quiet," Matt said.
"Got a lot on my mind."
"Bleek?" was heard along with a furry caress to the face.
"Care to share?"
She shrugged. "I'm taking a team up to Yanakov station to start the survey and rebuild of the hydroponics gallery come Monday. I'm… I'm terrified to get in a shuttle and go up there. Me, who loves to fly."
He took her hand and kissed it. "I would be surprised if you weren't."
"At the Island, my Javelin caught fire and fell apart literally mid-flight. I felt the flames and saw parts flying off. I broke my leg when I ejected and had to use a parachute, then I splashed down in the bay. Despite all that, I got back in the cockpit two weeks later."
"I wish I knew what I could say to help you through this... remember EVA training?" he asked.
"Do I ever."
He took a deep breath. "I'm never doing EVA again. Ever. It's a fear I'll never get over, that's the honest to Tester truth. All I did was vomit and break some ribs, but I'm never doing it again- but that pales in comparison to what you've been through."
"However, my greatest, crippling, paralyzing fear is losing you. I saw you in the station sick bay, the photos of the crash... the Tester's grace, modern medicine, and your strength is why you lived. You're not a quitter at anything."
"That's the truth, m'lady. I've been with you since you were nine years old, so I can say with confidence that you're no quitter. Especially at something you've worked so hard for," Nate added.
May 17, 1926 C.E. Office of Shipbuilding hangar
She double-checked her toolkit and glanced at the shuttle hatch. She knew she was dawdling to get on the shuttle. The two spacers nearby were talking about the dates they had over the weekend, and PO2 Riley was talking to Lt. Hayward from Repair and Refit. Lt. Hardin was dead, Cordell was still in the hospital, and that left her the only current pilot from D&P.
"Ready, Lieutenant?"
She shouldered her duffel bag and took her tool satchel in hand. "Yes sir."
"You okay to do this?" the lieutenant asked.
She nodded. "Unless I sprout wings and fly to the station, I have to get on this shuttle. I don't want to lose my wings."
"All right, good to hear, let's get to it then."
He was piloting, she was co-pilot. She stowed her things and took her place in the cockpit. She kept her flight helmet on, as that was a new rule after the shuttle crash. They donned their earbuds and he performed a comms check.
"Alvarez Field flight ops, this is oscar sierra zero five, comms check."
"Oscar sierra zero-five, Alvarez has you green on comms."
"Roger, commencing pre-flight checks, stand by."
"Roger, standing by."
"Reactor… check."
"Propulsion… check."
"Avionics… check."
"Gravitic array… check."
"Impeller… check."
"Radar array… check."
"Life support… check."
"Everything green back there, PO?"
"Everything's go back here, sir," the flight engineer responded.
"Flight ops, this is oscar sierra one-five, we are go for departure, time now."
"Roger that, we have you good for departure. Have a safe flight, flight ops out."
She looked back into the passenger deck and saw Hipper on Nate's lap. Hipper gave her an encouraging chirp and tail flick, while Nate's face looked no different than it ever did. If he was nervous, it didn't show.
She took a deep breath and gripped her arm rests (to hide her trembling hands) as the shuttle drifted up and forward on one-quarter impulse. She looked over the panel in front of her, everything looked good. The shuttle departed the dome and entered the atmosphere, where there was some slight turbulence, which didn't help her jitters one bit. So she did what she usually did when she was anxious about something: analyze what was making her nervous. It helped to pass the time, anyway.
What is turbulence? It's the irregular motion of air resulting from eddies and vertical currents. The degree of turbulence is determined by the initiating agency and by the degree of stability of the air. The causes of turbulence are-
"What are you thinking about so hard about?"Lt. Hayward asked.
"It's a thing I do when I'm nervous; I analyze what's making me nervous."
He nodded. "Good strategy. Know what I do? I recall baseball stats, and Pressley Steading's dismal performance thus far is giving me unhappy recollections… you wouldn't happen to be a Protectors fan, would you?"
She rolled her eyes. "I am, and while not quite dismal, it was hard to watch them drop to seventh place."
"Well, they did lose a starting pitcher and first baseman to trades during the off-season."
"I know, right? Why would they trade someone who was the league's RBI leader?"
They chatted and fussed about their teams until the station came into view and Lt. Hayward performed a comms check with the station.
Breathe in, breathe out. One breath at a time.
"… roger, on approach. One-quarter impulse."
When they were at ten kilometers, the station's tractor guided the shuttle to the bay, another new rule for small craft, implemented after the crash. She flinched when the struts touched the bay's deck and techs milled about connecting hoses and lines.
"Station flight ops, arrival and shut down, time now."
"Copy, we have oscar sierra one-five arrival and shut down, time now."
She relaxed her grip on the arm rests, sat back, and let out a breath. She looked back in the passenger area, and Hipper gave her thumbs up with a his left true hand.
The team checked in with the station and received their room assignments.
"We'll meet up at the hydroponics gallery in twenty minutes, sound good?" Lt. Hayward asked.
"Yes sir," they chorused and headed to the station's personnel housing wing.
In her quarters, she secured her duffel bag in one of the lockers and left with her tool satchel. Hipper hopped on a rack and conducted a sniff inspection.
"You claiming that one?" she asked.
He nodded, hopped off the bed, and went to the hatch. He was ready to continue, with more places and people to see. She made her way to the hydroponics wing and went inside. The others weren't there yet, but she started the work anyway. She started up her digi-board (a lighter tablet replacement, thank you computer geeks!) and called up the station's hydroponics manual, the HydroPower 1900 series. The rest of the team entered the gallery and they started the survey
#
She shared a video call with Matt that night after a shower.
"The survey and breakdown took all day."
She shared a video call with Matt that night after a shower.
"All day? Why?" he asked.
"Hydroponic galleries in fixed facilities, like buildings and stations, are the largest," she said. "Tomorrow we replace parts and put it back together. This is a good assignment for the spacers, they've never worked on one."
"And you'll be home tomorrow?"
She nodded. "Spaghetti for supper?"
"I'll let Gillian know."
"Thanks love, see you tomorrow."
"Sleep tight, sweetheart. Good night."
#