moment.
“Can
you do it?” the Admiral asked.
“Yeah,
I got it.” The craft slowed then the OMS tapped. “I keep forgetting.” Sergio
locked the OMS down and then used the wedge. He pushed and pulled until they
were aligned, then used the tractors at the front of the craft to dock.
“We're
down. Tractors engaged. We're going to need to use the plasma rocket to give a
thrust on a five degree angle for a three point four second burn, at ninety
percent then negative three by three for a one point two second burn at seventy
seven percent, pause for one minute then straight out for a two minute twenty
three second burn at ninety eight point one percent,” Irons explained as he
tapped his course.
“Roger.
Burn one commencing now,” Sergio replied. The plasma thruster angled then fired
for a few seconds. They felt the acceleration, and then it faded away to almost
nothing. The rocket angled again, fired, and then realigned and fired again.
“We're burning through a lot of fuel you know,” Sergio warned.
“Can't
be helped. We'll get it back. We can insist on a cut of the fuel from this
rock. It should top you off nicely,” the Admiral explained.
“Roger.”
“Okay,
something else. Do you know about relativity?” he asked, looking at his young
co-pilot.
“Only
a little.”
“Okay,
the faster we go, that is, the closer we get to C, that's the speed of light,
the more time and space bends. For us time will slow, while outside it will
continue on. For us it will seem like we've only been out for hours.”
“Okay.
You lost me,” Sergio said shaking his head.
“Ever
get into trouble for not being home on time but you thought you were?”
“Um..
now that you mention it..”
“Right.
The clocks weren't off. Oh they were, but that was because you went fast. The
faster you go, the slower time travels for you.”
“Which
explains that,” Sergio grimaced. “I kept telling mom I was on time,” he
mumbled.
“But
you went for a rock far away and boosted both ways?”
“Yeah,”
Sergio muttered, then checked the readouts. He looked up to the top panel then
down.
“And
when you got back the clock didn't back you up?”
“No.”
Sergio grimaced.
“That
is because it reset when you got back to the station. It should have
compensated for the time difference on its own, but it didn't. So when the
computer detected an anomaly in the time stamp files it corrected it on its
own.”
“Which
got me in trouble.” Sergio frowned, then smiled a little. “I'll have to
remember that one. It'd make a great excuse.”
“Which
your mother won’t buy in a million years young man,” Irons chuckled.
“Probably
not.” Sergio chuckled.
Two
hours later they entered the perimeter of the station. “Anvil to 552Q what are
you doing?” A testy voice called over the radio. The Admiral smiled.
“This
is 552 we're bringing in a carbonaceous chondrite for processing into water and
material. Is there a problem with that?” He left the question hanging.
“Admiral
is that you?” He looked and saw that Io was transmitting on a side band. He
smiled. “Good to hear from you Io. Yes it's me. Sergio and I were just taking
the Valdez tug out for a spin around the neighborhood.” He nodded to Sergio.
“Is
that the ship?” Sergio craned his neck. They passed under the ship as they fell
into orbit around the station. “My god, she's beautiful,” Sergio murmured. He
was amazed by the clean lines of the ship. “She looks brand new!”
“Why
thank you,” Io seemed to preen over the link. Sergio blushed.
“Open
mike,” the Admiral chuckled.
A
voice cleared after a moment. “Right, 552 you're good. Next time let us know
what you’re doing ahead of time though?” The testy voice rose in pitch with
exasperation.
Sergio
grinned. “No promises Wally, I didn't know myself.” He chuckled.
“Bring
her down to the level thirty three mining port. We'll take her from there.” The
controller
“Can
you do it?” the Admiral asked.
“Yeah,
I got it.” The craft slowed then the OMS tapped. “I keep forgetting.” Sergio
locked the OMS down and then used the wedge. He pushed and pulled until they
were aligned, then used the tractors at the front of the craft to dock.
“We're
down. Tractors engaged. We're going to need to use the plasma rocket to give a
thrust on a five degree angle for a three point four second burn, at ninety
percent then negative three by three for a one point two second burn at seventy
seven percent, pause for one minute then straight out for a two minute twenty
three second burn at ninety eight point one percent,” Irons explained as he
tapped his course.
“Roger.
Burn one commencing now,” Sergio replied. The plasma thruster angled then fired
for a few seconds. They felt the acceleration, and then it faded away to almost
nothing. The rocket angled again, fired, and then realigned and fired again.
“We're burning through a lot of fuel you know,” Sergio warned.
“Can't
be helped. We'll get it back. We can insist on a cut of the fuel from this
rock. It should top you off nicely,” the Admiral explained.
“Roger.”
“Okay,
something else. Do you know about relativity?” he asked, looking at his young
co-pilot.
“Only
a little.”
“Okay,
the faster we go, that is, the closer we get to C, that's the speed of light,
the more time and space bends. For us time will slow, while outside it will
continue on. For us it will seem like we've only been out for hours.”
“Okay.
You lost me,” Sergio said shaking his head.
“Ever
get into trouble for not being home on time but you thought you were?”
“Um..
now that you mention it..”
“Right.
The clocks weren't off. Oh they were, but that was because you went fast. The
faster you go, the slower time travels for you.”
“Which
explains that,” Sergio grimaced. “I kept telling mom I was on time,” he
mumbled.
“But
you went for a rock far away and boosted both ways?”
“Yeah,”
Sergio muttered, then checked the readouts. He looked up to the top panel then
down.
“And
when you got back the clock didn't back you up?”
“No.”
Sergio grimaced.
“That
is because it reset when you got back to the station. It should have
compensated for the time difference on its own, but it didn't. So when the
computer detected an anomaly in the time stamp files it corrected it on its
own.”
“Which
got me in trouble.” Sergio frowned, then smiled a little. “I'll have to
remember that one. It'd make a great excuse.”
“Which
your mother won’t buy in a million years young man,” Irons chuckled.
“Probably
not.” Sergio chuckled.
Two
hours later they entered the perimeter of the station. “Anvil to 552Q what are
you doing?” A testy voice called over the radio. The Admiral smiled.
“This
is 552 we're bringing in a carbonaceous chondrite for processing into water and
material. Is there a problem with that?” He left the question hanging.
“Admiral
is that you?” He looked and saw that Io was transmitting on a side band. He
smiled. “Good to hear from you Io. Yes it's me. Sergio and I were just taking
the Valdez tug out for a spin around the neighborhood.” He nodded to Sergio.
“Is
that the ship?” Sergio craned his neck. They passed under the ship as they fell
into orbit around the station. “My god, she's beautiful,” Sergio murmured. He
was amazed by the clean lines of the ship. “She looks brand new!”
“Why
thank you,” Io seemed to preen over the link. Sergio blushed.
“Open
mike,” the Admiral chuckled.
A
voice cleared after a moment. “Right, 552 you're good. Next time let us know
what you’re doing ahead of time though?” The testy voice rose in pitch with
exasperation.
Sergio
grinned. “No promises Wally, I didn't know myself.” He chuckled.
“Bring
her down to the level thirty three mining port. We'll take her from there.” The
controller
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