fell back away and out of her sight.”
“ Fifty meters separation and increasing, ” Ensign Wells reported. “ You’re clear to jump, sir. ”
“Roger that,” Jessica replied. “Jump point in ten seconds.” Jessica armed the jump drive as the countdown continued. “Hold on, people. We’re about to get wet.”
“ Good luck, Jess, ” Robert called over the comms.
“See ya, soon,” she replied as she tightened her shoulder restraints. She glanced down at the console. “Cover up! Jumping in three……two……one…”
Jessica closed her eyes and covered her face with both hands again, tightening her muscles to prepare for the sudden jolt they would feel when they came out of the jump, thirty meters below the surface of Lake Tanner on the planet Kohara.
“…Jumping!”
The blue-white jump flash washed over the cockpit of the jump sub, lighting up the inside of Jessica’s eyelids, despite their being closed and covered. She remained tense, expecting the sudden jolt, but it didn’t come. Something was wrong.
Jessica’s hands dropped from her face and her eyes opened, immediately looking through the jump sub’s two forward windows. It was dark outside the sub. Something else was different. The gravity… “What the…?” A surge of adrenaline hit her as the situation became apparent.
Reflections of light from one of Kohara’s three moons glistened off the ripples in the water rushing under them, growing closer as they fell toward the water. “Brace yourselves!” she yelled.
The jump sub slammed into the water, not nose first as planned, but rather belly first. Jessica felt herself being crushed downward into her seat, a sharp twinge of pain radiating through her back. At the same moment, she was thrown forward against her restraints, the belts digging into her shoulders and eliciting further pain. Her head jerked forward, feeling like it was going to separate from her neck, as the force of the impact caused the sub to decelerate considerably.
And then it stopped. Jessica glanced out the forward windows again. They were floating. Not on the water, but through the air, but only for a moment. They immediately began to fall once more, slamming back into the surface of the lake only seconds later.
Again, pain shot in all directions… Through her back, shoulders, and neck. She tried to cry out in pain, but nothing came out. As they bounced upward again, she could see lights along the shoreline. The lights were rapidly moving toward them… She glanced at navigation display. They were headed right for the shore, and they were traveling far faster than they had planned.
They slammed into the water a third time, bouncing upward yet again. We’re skipping along the surface! Jessica realized. Her mind raced as the sub reached the top of its airborne arc. We’re headed for shore… And fast! She glanced at her display, looking for a way out. As they began to fall toward the water again, her fingers danced across the touch screen display, calling up the docking thrusters control page. She manually fired the nose attitude thrusters that had been installed to aid in rendezvous and docking with the Scout ship. The nose of the jump sub was pushed downward by the tiny jet of thrusters spewing out of the topside of the jump sub’s nose.
This time, instead of slamming belly first against the water and bouncing upward, the nose of the jump sub pierced the glistening water and slid under the surface, diving downward toward the bottom at high speed. Jessica again was thrown forward against her restraints as she flailed her hands about, trying to grab onto the sub’s maneuvering controls. Alarms filled the cockpit, and the surface proximity warnings began to blare. She finally managed to grab hold of the diving planes control, but it was too late.
The jump sub slammed into the bottom of the lake, driving deep into the soft mud. The sound of the impact was deafening; twisted metal and alarms, and then the sound
“ Fifty meters separation and increasing, ” Ensign Wells reported. “ You’re clear to jump, sir. ”
“Roger that,” Jessica replied. “Jump point in ten seconds.” Jessica armed the jump drive as the countdown continued. “Hold on, people. We’re about to get wet.”
“ Good luck, Jess, ” Robert called over the comms.
“See ya, soon,” she replied as she tightened her shoulder restraints. She glanced down at the console. “Cover up! Jumping in three……two……one…”
Jessica closed her eyes and covered her face with both hands again, tightening her muscles to prepare for the sudden jolt they would feel when they came out of the jump, thirty meters below the surface of Lake Tanner on the planet Kohara.
“…Jumping!”
The blue-white jump flash washed over the cockpit of the jump sub, lighting up the inside of Jessica’s eyelids, despite their being closed and covered. She remained tense, expecting the sudden jolt, but it didn’t come. Something was wrong.
Jessica’s hands dropped from her face and her eyes opened, immediately looking through the jump sub’s two forward windows. It was dark outside the sub. Something else was different. The gravity… “What the…?” A surge of adrenaline hit her as the situation became apparent.
Reflections of light from one of Kohara’s three moons glistened off the ripples in the water rushing under them, growing closer as they fell toward the water. “Brace yourselves!” she yelled.
The jump sub slammed into the water, not nose first as planned, but rather belly first. Jessica felt herself being crushed downward into her seat, a sharp twinge of pain radiating through her back. At the same moment, she was thrown forward against her restraints, the belts digging into her shoulders and eliciting further pain. Her head jerked forward, feeling like it was going to separate from her neck, as the force of the impact caused the sub to decelerate considerably.
And then it stopped. Jessica glanced out the forward windows again. They were floating. Not on the water, but through the air, but only for a moment. They immediately began to fall once more, slamming back into the surface of the lake only seconds later.
Again, pain shot in all directions… Through her back, shoulders, and neck. She tried to cry out in pain, but nothing came out. As they bounced upward again, she could see lights along the shoreline. The lights were rapidly moving toward them… She glanced at navigation display. They were headed right for the shore, and they were traveling far faster than they had planned.
They slammed into the water a third time, bouncing upward yet again. We’re skipping along the surface! Jessica realized. Her mind raced as the sub reached the top of its airborne arc. We’re headed for shore… And fast! She glanced at her display, looking for a way out. As they began to fall toward the water again, her fingers danced across the touch screen display, calling up the docking thrusters control page. She manually fired the nose attitude thrusters that had been installed to aid in rendezvous and docking with the Scout ship. The nose of the jump sub was pushed downward by the tiny jet of thrusters spewing out of the topside of the jump sub’s nose.
This time, instead of slamming belly first against the water and bouncing upward, the nose of the jump sub pierced the glistening water and slid under the surface, diving downward toward the bottom at high speed. Jessica again was thrown forward against her restraints as she flailed her hands about, trying to grab onto the sub’s maneuvering controls. Alarms filled the cockpit, and the surface proximity warnings began to blare. She finally managed to grab hold of the diving planes control, but it was too late.
The jump sub slammed into the bottom of the lake, driving deep into the soft mud. The sound of the impact was deafening; twisted metal and alarms, and then the sound
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