that she spotted first. The thin, high albedo, ring just leapt out. Then by searching around some more she finally spotted the Troy. It was so small it looked like a minor star. Without figuring out their initial vector she'd have been lost in space until their power ran out. Or she just gave up and headed to Earth.
She engaged power and started to head back at full cruise.
“Paris, Shuttle Two-Niner,” she said. “Declaring notional emergency.”
“Your hypernode is out,” Glass pointed out.
“At some point, my internals are going to get through,” Dana said. “If I recall the manual, at about six kilometers, but I'm willing to bet Paris has some ears out from Troy. And I'd really like to know where the SAPL beams are. They head in to Troy along this line, somewhere.”
“Discontinue test,” Glass said, grinning.
“Thank God,” Dana said, lifting her hands from her flight controls. “Your bird, Coxswain.”
“Your bird, Engineer Apprentice,” Glass said. “Paris, Two-Niner.”
“Two-Niner, Paris. Get your notional emergency under control?”
“All done,” Glass said. “Shuttle Two-Niner continues under control of EA Parker.”
“Coxswain EA Parker, aye,” Paris said. “EA Parker will observe all traffic notices and lanes. Be aware of SAPL zone six thousand meters to your right. No major traffic in entry zone for one hour. Please decelerate to a maximum of one thousand kilometers per hour before entering close approach zone. Maximum velocity in entry, ninety kilometers per hour. Have a nice day.”
“Am I taking it all the way back to the dock?” Parker asked.
“That depends on if you ding it on the way.”
“Docking maneuver complete,” Dana sighed. Even with the automatic systems and the tractors, docking was always ticklish.
“Verify hard dock, Procedure Three-Six-Five-Four-Niner-Dash-Alpha,” Glass said.
“The engineer does that,” Dana said, looking over her shoulder.
“And you're the EA,” Glass said.
Dana checked all her telltales and noted one red light.
“We've got an environmental light,” Dana said, frowning. “It's . . . cabin pressure?”
“I'm going to give you a pass on this qual,” Glass said. “You did a great job on correcting all the crap I threw at you and at responding to the emergency. And you found your way back to the barn. But next time you might want to repressurize the cabin.”
“Watch quals complete,” EM1 Hartwell said. “Suit, eng and cox cross quals complete. Drill quals complete. I'm recommending EA Parker to EN, Chief.”
“Mutant?” the Chief said, looking at Glass. “She's completed them sort of fast. I hate to suggest . . . favoritism . . .”
“If you mean she has a cute ass, Chief, just say it,” Glass said. “And she does. But that's not why she made quals so fast. Oh, maybe a bit but just because people were willing to spend more time with her not let her slide. She's pretty damned sharp. I held her back on cox quals cause she was doing well enough I wanted to see how far I could push her. I'd take her as a cox OJT any day. She's just . . . good.”
“Parker,” Hartwell said, sticking his head in Twenty-Nine.
“EM?” Dana said. She was removing a balky grav plate that was part of the ISS. The things were not only heavy, they were just bulky. She was about to kill the internal grav to get the damned thing out.
“Go down to the BX and get your EN tabs,” Hartwell said. “Once they're slapped on, I'm going to move you over to Thirty-Six.”
“Boomer,” Dana said. She got along well enough with the CM3. He was better than most at having his ass kicked by a guuurl at nullball. “Does that mean . . . ?”
“You're full qualed,” Thermal said. “Don't let it go to your head. You know some of the idiots we've got who are full qualed. But take some time getting your tabs. Maybe pick up some lunch at the food court. You've earned it.”
“What about the grav plate?” Dana asked.
“Leave it for AJ,”
She engaged power and started to head back at full cruise.
“Paris, Shuttle Two-Niner,” she said. “Declaring notional emergency.”
“Your hypernode is out,” Glass pointed out.
“At some point, my internals are going to get through,” Dana said. “If I recall the manual, at about six kilometers, but I'm willing to bet Paris has some ears out from Troy. And I'd really like to know where the SAPL beams are. They head in to Troy along this line, somewhere.”
“Discontinue test,” Glass said, grinning.
“Thank God,” Dana said, lifting her hands from her flight controls. “Your bird, Coxswain.”
“Your bird, Engineer Apprentice,” Glass said. “Paris, Two-Niner.”
“Two-Niner, Paris. Get your notional emergency under control?”
“All done,” Glass said. “Shuttle Two-Niner continues under control of EA Parker.”
“Coxswain EA Parker, aye,” Paris said. “EA Parker will observe all traffic notices and lanes. Be aware of SAPL zone six thousand meters to your right. No major traffic in entry zone for one hour. Please decelerate to a maximum of one thousand kilometers per hour before entering close approach zone. Maximum velocity in entry, ninety kilometers per hour. Have a nice day.”
“Am I taking it all the way back to the dock?” Parker asked.
“That depends on if you ding it on the way.”
“Docking maneuver complete,” Dana sighed. Even with the automatic systems and the tractors, docking was always ticklish.
“Verify hard dock, Procedure Three-Six-Five-Four-Niner-Dash-Alpha,” Glass said.
“The engineer does that,” Dana said, looking over her shoulder.
“And you're the EA,” Glass said.
Dana checked all her telltales and noted one red light.
“We've got an environmental light,” Dana said, frowning. “It's . . . cabin pressure?”
“I'm going to give you a pass on this qual,” Glass said. “You did a great job on correcting all the crap I threw at you and at responding to the emergency. And you found your way back to the barn. But next time you might want to repressurize the cabin.”
“Watch quals complete,” EM1 Hartwell said. “Suit, eng and cox cross quals complete. Drill quals complete. I'm recommending EA Parker to EN, Chief.”
“Mutant?” the Chief said, looking at Glass. “She's completed them sort of fast. I hate to suggest . . . favoritism . . .”
“If you mean she has a cute ass, Chief, just say it,” Glass said. “And she does. But that's not why she made quals so fast. Oh, maybe a bit but just because people were willing to spend more time with her not let her slide. She's pretty damned sharp. I held her back on cox quals cause she was doing well enough I wanted to see how far I could push her. I'd take her as a cox OJT any day. She's just . . . good.”
“Parker,” Hartwell said, sticking his head in Twenty-Nine.
“EM?” Dana said. She was removing a balky grav plate that was part of the ISS. The things were not only heavy, they were just bulky. She was about to kill the internal grav to get the damned thing out.
“Go down to the BX and get your EN tabs,” Hartwell said. “Once they're slapped on, I'm going to move you over to Thirty-Six.”
“Boomer,” Dana said. She got along well enough with the CM3. He was better than most at having his ass kicked by a guuurl at nullball. “Does that mean . . . ?”
“You're full qualed,” Thermal said. “Don't let it go to your head. You know some of the idiots we've got who are full qualed. But take some time getting your tabs. Maybe pick up some lunch at the food court. You've earned it.”
“What about the grav plate?” Dana asked.
“Leave it for AJ,”
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