snapped.
“But we’re still twenty minutes out, and we just need three more minutes to hit our orbital window. If we cut engines now, we’ll de-orbit, and won’t have enough fuel to recover or land safely.”
“Not my problem!” Hunter angled his ship so that the nose pointed threateningly towards the
El Capitan
. “Follow regulations, or be considered a hostile!”
“Wasp three,” Goldie barked into the com, “you’re over-reacting.”
“I’m following regulations,” Hunter replied testily. “We are in an emergency situation—”
“So will we be, if we de-orbit with low fuel!”
the
El Capitan
added.
“Follow regulations—”
“Wasp three, stand down—”
“—or be considered—”
“Dammit!”
Goldie heeled Wasp four over and kicked her thrusters, barreling the squat fighter directly at Wasp three. She heard Hunter’s surprised oath, before he yanked his fighter about and dodged Wasp four, the two of them angling sharply away from the freighter. Before Hunter could say anything more, Goldie keyed her com to Verdant’s frequency. “CnC, Wasp four: I am declaring a FOE, repeat, Frank-Oscar-Edward, request immediate docking assignment for both Wasps!”
“Goldie, are you nuts?” Hunter barked out, but Verdant was already responding.
“Wasp four, CnC: Frank-Oscar-Edward received, you are cleared for immediate docking in slips 128 and 130, confirm.”
“Confirmed,” Goldie replied. “CnC, send a team out to inspect the freighter El Capitan, they suffered some engine damage on orbital insertion. Coordinate inspection maneuver with Captain Toliver.”
“Roger that. Bring ‘em in.”
“Dammit, Goldie, you trying to get us court-martialed?” Hunter snapped.
“Shut up, Hunter,” Goldie told him, “before we get worse than that!”
~
“Miz Luis,” a staffer spoke up. Reya came over to his workstation to see what was going on. “A strange exchange with the Wasps escorting that freighter. Then the pilot of Wasp four declared a FOE.”
“What?” Reya blinked. “What the hell kind of fighter operation emergency could they have?”
“I don’t know, there’s nothing on telemetry. But we have the exchange before the FOE was declared.”
“Let’s hear it.” As the staffer triggered the playback, Reya picked up the workstation’s auxiliary earpiece and listened in. Her brows knitted slightly. Then she took the earpiece out. “If anyone’s looking for me,” she said loud enough for most of the staffers on that side of CnC to hear, “I’ll be in the hangar bays.”
~
The engineer underneath the Wasp rolled out on his backboard, until he could see Goldie standing beside him. Hunter was further away, but he also turned when the engineer rolled out. As he wiped his hands on a rag, he looked at Goldie and said, “The thruster bearings look fine.”
Hunter immediately threw out a hand and pointed threateningly at Goldie. “Don’t do it!”
Goldie ignored him, and said: “Check the linkages, then.”
The engineer looked at her cool expression and said, “Yes, Ma’am,” as Hunter roared in anger. Goldie knew that, as long as the ship was being checked after a FOE declaration, they were both required to stay there until it was done.
Hunter took a step away from the Wasp, then pivoted on the other foot, took another step, and pivoted again, essentially turning on one leg and staying in one spot. “I swear, Goldie, this is going on your record, not mine—”
“You’d better think about what goes on whose records,” Goldie said with an unnerving calm that matched his anger. “And you’d better figure out what you’re gonna tell CnC when Toliver reports in…” She paused, when she noticed who was approaching from the freighter bays. “Actually, maybe you’d better figure out what you’re gonna say to Toliver first.”
Hunter, catching her drift, turned to see Captain Martin Toliver bearing quickly down upon him. Toliver was maybe a hair smaller than
“But we’re still twenty minutes out, and we just need three more minutes to hit our orbital window. If we cut engines now, we’ll de-orbit, and won’t have enough fuel to recover or land safely.”
“Not my problem!” Hunter angled his ship so that the nose pointed threateningly towards the
El Capitan
. “Follow regulations, or be considered a hostile!”
“Wasp three,” Goldie barked into the com, “you’re over-reacting.”
“I’m following regulations,” Hunter replied testily. “We are in an emergency situation—”
“So will we be, if we de-orbit with low fuel!”
the
El Capitan
added.
“Follow regulations—”
“Wasp three, stand down—”
“—or be considered—”
“Dammit!”
Goldie heeled Wasp four over and kicked her thrusters, barreling the squat fighter directly at Wasp three. She heard Hunter’s surprised oath, before he yanked his fighter about and dodged Wasp four, the two of them angling sharply away from the freighter. Before Hunter could say anything more, Goldie keyed her com to Verdant’s frequency. “CnC, Wasp four: I am declaring a FOE, repeat, Frank-Oscar-Edward, request immediate docking assignment for both Wasps!”
“Goldie, are you nuts?” Hunter barked out, but Verdant was already responding.
“Wasp four, CnC: Frank-Oscar-Edward received, you are cleared for immediate docking in slips 128 and 130, confirm.”
“Confirmed,” Goldie replied. “CnC, send a team out to inspect the freighter El Capitan, they suffered some engine damage on orbital insertion. Coordinate inspection maneuver with Captain Toliver.”
“Roger that. Bring ‘em in.”
“Dammit, Goldie, you trying to get us court-martialed?” Hunter snapped.
“Shut up, Hunter,” Goldie told him, “before we get worse than that!”
~
“Miz Luis,” a staffer spoke up. Reya came over to his workstation to see what was going on. “A strange exchange with the Wasps escorting that freighter. Then the pilot of Wasp four declared a FOE.”
“What?” Reya blinked. “What the hell kind of fighter operation emergency could they have?”
“I don’t know, there’s nothing on telemetry. But we have the exchange before the FOE was declared.”
“Let’s hear it.” As the staffer triggered the playback, Reya picked up the workstation’s auxiliary earpiece and listened in. Her brows knitted slightly. Then she took the earpiece out. “If anyone’s looking for me,” she said loud enough for most of the staffers on that side of CnC to hear, “I’ll be in the hangar bays.”
~
The engineer underneath the Wasp rolled out on his backboard, until he could see Goldie standing beside him. Hunter was further away, but he also turned when the engineer rolled out. As he wiped his hands on a rag, he looked at Goldie and said, “The thruster bearings look fine.”
Hunter immediately threw out a hand and pointed threateningly at Goldie. “Don’t do it!”
Goldie ignored him, and said: “Check the linkages, then.”
The engineer looked at her cool expression and said, “Yes, Ma’am,” as Hunter roared in anger. Goldie knew that, as long as the ship was being checked after a FOE declaration, they were both required to stay there until it was done.
Hunter took a step away from the Wasp, then pivoted on the other foot, took another step, and pivoted again, essentially turning on one leg and staying in one spot. “I swear, Goldie, this is going on your record, not mine—”
“You’d better think about what goes on whose records,” Goldie said with an unnerving calm that matched his anger. “And you’d better figure out what you’re gonna tell CnC when Toliver reports in…” She paused, when she noticed who was approaching from the freighter bays. “Actually, maybe you’d better figure out what you’re gonna say to Toliver first.”
Hunter, catching her drift, turned to see Captain Martin Toliver bearing quickly down upon him. Toliver was maybe a hair smaller than
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