metal, rough angled riveted beams supporting it. The interior was hollow for the most part. The center is a barren hole, leading downwards into the darkness.
Kader led them to an elevator, and they quietly all rode it together. The elevator car flitted down and down facing the empty pit. The light in the interior was swallowed quickly and triumphantly by the large hollowness.
Finally they reached the bottom. The only thing filling the hole here was a large platform. So large that it could easily fit many fighter jets, or a few larger items.
“A launching pad?” Nol asked casually.
Kader’s thin lips curled to the corners of his face, eyes filled with mischief. The main hangar was a large hollow cavern, reinfo rced with composite buttresses. They surround the rocks like a robotic tendril, caging it against collapse.
There were a rough dozen large bays shuttered by metallic doors spray painted with sequential numbers. Nol walked through them with naïve wonderment, nostalgia almost, funny. They moved through the veritable temple of monoliths.
“I wish we could welcome you in a warmer sense,” Kader began speaking as they were well deep in the chamber.
“You’ve simply arrived late due to your rehabilitation. A frustrating, but necessary delay,” He stops suddenly, turning and facing Nol.
“We must begin your calibration early tomorrow you understand? We need to vet you immediately. The Cabinet made special note to not let you fall behind the program schedule.”
“Great, that’s very considerate of them.” Nol answered.
“They favor you,” He says, “It was not told to me w hy, but perhaps we shall learn ?”
“We will,” Nol agreed.
The hangar chamber eventually split into several exits at the far end, each leading off in a different winding direction. Kader and Ophelia led him through the one such channel, to a small room, his new room.
It was small, closed in, but well furbished. They throw his bags in a corner together.
“I must take my leave now,” Ophelia nodded softly, “I will try to see you within the week for an update.”
“Sure,” Nol answered,
Ophelia then hugged him in an unanticipated show of affection. He accepted it, the feeling shattering through him with immense emotional strength. It was a gut punch back into his emotional reality, seeping through the buffer of recent events. She left without further word .
“Get some rest,” Kader said stoicly, he left with no more discussion. Nol unpacked his minor possessions. He tried connecting his ionics, but found the net was not in reception here. Such measures would obviously be necessary, not too mention the natural dead zone a place like this must be. He disliked being unlinked, but focused on the morning ahead.
Time lurched forward immediately, a momentum of some kind behind it, a thunderbolt powerful, fast, deadly.
He was in the first of many testing and training rooms. A large chair is surround ed by monitors, and enclosed by electrode pads.
“The new control module requires modifications made to the pilot’s nervous system in order to function correctly,” A faceless faced technician explained.
“Is this what we’re doing?”
“No,” he said tersely, “Before that we must test your body’s electrical resistance among other properties. An incompatible pilot candidate is a waste of our resources and time.”
“Very warm,” Nol sniped sitting down in the encapsulated chair.
“Sorry, we have to explain this to everyone,” He continued, “We cannot stop until this is finished, if you quit, it is immediate expulsion from the program.”
Several other silent technicians began applying the wireless electrodes to various nexus points along his back, neck and head.
“Are you ready?” One asked,
Nol breathed slowly, hyperventilating at the sudden immediacy of the test, “Let’s do it.” He answered finally,
The techs stepped away. A roof closes over his head, completing his absolute isolation inside
Kader led them to an elevator, and they quietly all rode it together. The elevator car flitted down and down facing the empty pit. The light in the interior was swallowed quickly and triumphantly by the large hollowness.
Finally they reached the bottom. The only thing filling the hole here was a large platform. So large that it could easily fit many fighter jets, or a few larger items.
“A launching pad?” Nol asked casually.
Kader’s thin lips curled to the corners of his face, eyes filled with mischief. The main hangar was a large hollow cavern, reinfo rced with composite buttresses. They surround the rocks like a robotic tendril, caging it against collapse.
There were a rough dozen large bays shuttered by metallic doors spray painted with sequential numbers. Nol walked through them with naïve wonderment, nostalgia almost, funny. They moved through the veritable temple of monoliths.
“I wish we could welcome you in a warmer sense,” Kader began speaking as they were well deep in the chamber.
“You’ve simply arrived late due to your rehabilitation. A frustrating, but necessary delay,” He stops suddenly, turning and facing Nol.
“We must begin your calibration early tomorrow you understand? We need to vet you immediately. The Cabinet made special note to not let you fall behind the program schedule.”
“Great, that’s very considerate of them.” Nol answered.
“They favor you,” He says, “It was not told to me w hy, but perhaps we shall learn ?”
“We will,” Nol agreed.
The hangar chamber eventually split into several exits at the far end, each leading off in a different winding direction. Kader and Ophelia led him through the one such channel, to a small room, his new room.
It was small, closed in, but well furbished. They throw his bags in a corner together.
“I must take my leave now,” Ophelia nodded softly, “I will try to see you within the week for an update.”
“Sure,” Nol answered,
Ophelia then hugged him in an unanticipated show of affection. He accepted it, the feeling shattering through him with immense emotional strength. It was a gut punch back into his emotional reality, seeping through the buffer of recent events. She left without further word .
“Get some rest,” Kader said stoicly, he left with no more discussion. Nol unpacked his minor possessions. He tried connecting his ionics, but found the net was not in reception here. Such measures would obviously be necessary, not too mention the natural dead zone a place like this must be. He disliked being unlinked, but focused on the morning ahead.
Time lurched forward immediately, a momentum of some kind behind it, a thunderbolt powerful, fast, deadly.
He was in the first of many testing and training rooms. A large chair is surround ed by monitors, and enclosed by electrode pads.
“The new control module requires modifications made to the pilot’s nervous system in order to function correctly,” A faceless faced technician explained.
“Is this what we’re doing?”
“No,” he said tersely, “Before that we must test your body’s electrical resistance among other properties. An incompatible pilot candidate is a waste of our resources and time.”
“Very warm,” Nol sniped sitting down in the encapsulated chair.
“Sorry, we have to explain this to everyone,” He continued, “We cannot stop until this is finished, if you quit, it is immediate expulsion from the program.”
Several other silent technicians began applying the wireless electrodes to various nexus points along his back, neck and head.
“Are you ready?” One asked,
Nol breathed slowly, hyperventilating at the sudden immediacy of the test, “Let’s do it.” He answered finally,
The techs stepped away. A roof closes over his head, completing his absolute isolation inside
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