Last Flight For Craggy (17 page)

'Flying this,
of course. You and Amethyst can be together most of the time.'

Cragg said,
'Are you sure you want to do that, Dillow?'

Dillow
shrugged. 'It makes sense. These two want to be together, and I'm a
free agent.'

Cragg said,
'You always will be a free agent if you don't give yourself a
chance of meeting anyone.'

'He's right,
Fawn,' said Amethyst. 'You can't be on your own for months on
end.'

'I'll be fine.
It won't be forever. I'd rather you two were together.'

'Thank you,
Fawn,' said Amethyst.

'You're
forgetting something,' said Rocky. 'To fly this with Amethyst, I
need to have my tickets.'

'Dillow said,
'You give us a perfect landing with a full train of pods, you
pass.'

Amethyst said,
'You had better make a perfect landing, Rocky Ramshorn.'

'No pressure,
then.'

'I'm still
available as a pilot,' said Cragg. 'That's all you need if you get
stuck for a qualified pilot to go with you. Don't forget, I have a
girlfriend waiting for me, so I have to get back as soon as I
can.'

It was time for
the moment of truth. Cragg kept a low profile in the background,
watching the proceedings. He was still unfamiliar with the new
style controls, so he left it to Dillow to assess Ramshorn's
competency. For all Cragg knew, Rocky could have been swatting
flies. With Dillow a captain first class in her own right, now, she
was considered qualified to assess other pilots.

Amethyst
couldn't stand the tension and shut herself away in her bedroom so
as not to be a distraction to Rocky. Too much depended on Dillow
passing Rocky. She knew Dillow wouldn't pass him unless she
genuinely believed he was ready.

The Earth
loomed large, but it was Moon that was their destination. Dillow
sat quietly next to Rocky, offering neither advice nor
encouragement, but ready to step in if things were going wrong.
Rocky did a single orbit of Moon, and took a deep breath.

He had
successfully landed with pods on Mars and took off with pods from
there, too. He had done it before and he knew exactly what to do.
Using the sensor controls to line up with the cradle, it was a slow
and deliberate landing. Rocky set the freighter on the pad at the
end of the cradle and the pods on the cradle itself.

Cragg
volunteered to oversee the outside supervision of unlocking the
pods, communicating between the grabber operator and Rocky. One by
one the pod locks were released, and the grabber separated each pod
ready for the pod carrier later. All Rocky had to do now, was to
take off for a short hop to the freighters designated pad, away
from the cradle and pod carriers, so as not to risk damage from the
unloading. Cragg stayed outside, watching the faultless, smooth
take off. He could see the perfect landing in the distance.

Cragg nodded
and smiled. 'Some people are just born freighter pilots.'

Dillow's voice
filled his helmet. 'What you think, Craggy? Do we have a new
captain?'

'Hmm. Not sure.
What do you think?'

'Kinda
borderline.'

Amethyst could
stand it no longer. 'Will ya give Rocky his damn tickets,
already?'

'Craggy. We
gotta make a decision or we'll never hear the end of it.'

Cragg sighed.
'Oh, okay. Congratulations Freighter Captain Rocky Ramshorn first
class. Welcome to the club.'

The celebration
was held in the freighter, due to the total alcohol ban on Moon.
Beers were being passed around freely.

'I thought you
jokers were going to fail me,' said Rocky.

'You, young
man,' said Craggy. 'Are a natural pilot. You will be the stuff of
legends before long.'

'Thanks. Both
of you.' Rocky stretched and yawned. 'Time I got back to my own bed
on Moon. Amethyst?'

'I'm all
yours.'

Cragg and
Dillow watched the young love-birds head off to the airlock.

'You,' said
Craggy, 'Are a real sweetheart, Dillow.'

'How much have
you drunk?'

'Not enough.
But you are a sweetheart. Volunteering for the big ship, months in
space on your own. And just so a couple of teenagers can be all
amorous in private.'

Dillow sighed.
'My time will come. I've another hundred or more years ahead of me.
Lots of time for love.'

'Maybe. I count
myself lucky for another chance at my age.'

'It's good to
see you happy,' Dillow said, sipping her beer. 'I tell you what I
think will be interesting. On Moon, we have over two thousand
people with no booze or smokes. There's going to be one almighty
culture shock when we all get together.'

Cragg agreed.
'Like you said. It'll be interesting. Cheers.'

Moon Commander
Anton Forbes had gone out of his way to find Cragg. After a couple
of beers too many the previous night, Cragg was wondering if he was
in trouble again.

'I'll just get
us a syncoff.'

Forbes made
himself comfortable in Cragg's untidy quarters, moving a suit and
helmet off the chair.

'Sorry,' said
Cragg. 'Maids day off.'

'Don't worry
about it. You've been busy. I'd like to thank you for taking the
youngsters under your wing.'

'It's been a
real pleasure. To be honest, those new non-touch sensors are beyond
me.'

'That's one of
the things I wanted to talk about. But first, I have a bit of a
problem.'

'Which is?'

'Captain Dillow
has requested she fly the ship and Ramshorn takes off with trainee
Bouquet in her freighter. That concerns me, Craggy.'

'I thought it
might. Ramshorn and Dillow are up to the job.'

Forbes said, 'I
don't doubt it.'

'But. Both are
still not much more than rookies. That's what you're thinking,
isn't it?'

'Yes,' said
Forbes. 'And they're both flying solo. No back up. There's nowhere
to put a copilot. It would have taken too long to alter the big
ship to comfortably accommodate two pilots. We have neither time
nor personnel to spare right now.'

'I'd offer to
go with Dillow if there was room, but like you said, there's no
room.'

'Not with
Dillow,' said Forbes. 'But there is on the freighter. We should at
least have another qualified pilot with Rocky. The trouble is, we
only have a few more rookies, no qualified pilots.'

'I could go
back with them if that helps?'

Forbes looked
uncomfortable. 'Before we come to that, how confident would you be
to send off Ramshorn and Dillow, for want of a better word, without
backup?'

'This is
unusual times, Anton. Forget the rulebook. Trust them.'

'Easy for you
to say.'

'Like I said,'
said Cragg. 'I can go with them if you wish.'

Forbes shook
his head. 'With respect, Craggy. I know you're a bit lost with the
new controls. You wouldn't really be much use on the new
freighter.'

Cragg sighed
and nodded. 'Sorry I can't be more useful to you.'

'I didn't say
you couldn't be useful. I have a freighter of your own for
you.'

'But you said I
was lost on the new controls.'

'You are. This
freighter is old school. The deck is from your old ship. You can
fly it with your eyes shut.'

'I don't know
what to say. And I appreciate the offer. But again, what about back
up in my ship?'

'We just
haven't got the pilots we need. You said I have to throw out the
rulebook. And I acknowledge that fact. I have a rookie for you. You
can show him the ropes.'

That sounded
like something he could do. 'Okay. And Rocky can teach Amethyst.
She's already trained on the theory and she understands those new
fangled controls as well as he does. She'll soon pick it up.'

'Suit up. Come
and see your new old ship.'

Forbes drove
them to the hanger housing the old new freighter. They got off the
buggy to admire the ship.

'Latest twin
engine plasma thruster technology. Faster than your old ship.'

Cragg said,
'Hard to think that in the old days, it could take up to two years
just to get there, depending on how close Mars was to Moon. Those
old fuel rockets were so damn slow.'

'You ever fly
one of those?'

'Hey. I'm not
that bloody old. Plasma drives have been around for well over a
hundred years, getting better all the time.'

'They had a lot
of issues to overcome,' said Forbes. 'Whilst Earth has been busy
throwing rocks at each other, the real expertise in ship and engine
technology has been right here, I'm very proud to say.'

'Making
something from practically nothing is a way of life here.' Cragg
could see at least five separate projects going on. Ships from
Earth in more settled times were being brought out of mothballs,
being updated and rebuilt for future needs. Designers,
craftspeople, engineers of many nationalities, worked together in
ways alien to Earth.

Forbes said,
'Your freighter has a larger passenger section. She can take thirty
at a squeeze. We modified it after we agreed to move to Mars, to
accommodate passengers. But for this trip, apart from the rookie
you'll be on your own.'

'Okay. What
will we be hauling?'

Forbes said,
'Building sections, mostly. Plus cables and pipework.'

'You'll be
filling the empty accommodation areas with other stuff, won't
you?'

'Of course.
Stuff being packed up as we speak. Stella? are you still in
there?'

'Yes,
Commander. Do you wish to enter?'

'Yes. Two to
come aboard.'

Stella Wayward
opened the outer airlock door to let the two men in. They passed
through into the flight deck.

'Hi, Stella,'
said Cragg. 'Performing miracles again, I see?'

'Just the
computer side of things.'

Stella was a
hugely popular young woman, and known as a genius when it came to
making computers that actually did what they were supposed to. She
was a pretty, twenty five year old blonde, with mesmerising deep
blue eyes that had the boys eager to date her.

'Craggy,' said
Stella. 'What do you think of your new ship?'

'Something
missing. It needs a pair of fluffy dice hanging somewhere. Can't
possibly take off without fluffy dice.'

Stella had no
idea what he was talking about and looked to Forbes for an
explanation.

'He's really,
really old,' whispered Forbes, loudly.

'Honest. I'm
only really old.'

'You spend some
time with Stella getting used to the controls. I'll see if I can
get you a fluffy dice.'

With Forbes
gone, Cragg settled down into serious mode. The differences in the
controls from what he was used to were subtle, and he worked those
until he didn't have to think about it.

Stella said,
'She's longer than you're used to, because of the extra
accommodation. Rule of thumb, just double the length.'

'Right. I can
do that.'

'Also, the pod
locking is to the new design and ten new pods are being packed. You
are are already familiar with that.'

'I am.' He sat
back in the new seat, letting it mould to his body. He was where he
was always meant to be. 'I'll get to know her between here and
Mars. She'll tell me when she's happy or sad.'

'I can see
you'll get on really well,' said Stella, smiling at the wistful
expression on Cragg's happy face.

Although it was
supposed to be a break between trips, it didn't seem much like one.
Dillow was also learning about her ship. It was huge, compared to
regular freighters, dubbed Big Bird by everyone. But for its size,
the human space was insignificant compared to the rest of the ship.
This was all about carrying monster payloads at the fastest
possible speed. Any considerations for the pilot were limited to
what could be squeezed into the existing space without any
potentially risky rewiring of the computers and the controls.

There was a
seat at the pointy end, a toilet, which doubled as a shower. A cot
pretending to be a proper bed and failing badly. Any cat swinging
was out of the question.

A phenomenal
top speed could more than halve the journey between Moon and Mars.
As long as she could take a few days off between trips so she
didn't go tin can crazy, she could do this. This Big Bird was now
her baby. She did a Craggy.

She took off
her gloves and put the palms of her hands on the walls, connecting
with the ship. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She thought
she could feel the slight vibrations of the generator.

Dillow made a
pact. 'I need you, you need me. Let's take care of one another,
okay?'

She put her
gloves back on, shut everything down and went down the ramp. She
walked along the catwalk admiring the clean lines, the beauty of
the ship, her ship. Ahead was the fairground ride of the ramp from
which Big Bird would be launched. The ship was right; she was
ready. She patted the side of the hull.

'Sleep tight,
my beauty. Goodnight.'

None of them
could keep away from their ships. Cragg was more concerned with the
soul of the freighter. That was something he understood more than
anything physical. She was a new ship so she would have her own
idiosyncrasies. They would learn from each other. He stood on the
deck, eyes closed, taking in the essence of the freighter. It was
one of those intangibles; something most would either dismiss
completely, or like Cragg, believe in unconditionally. Cragg
believed.

Rocky and
Amethyst were also coming to terms with the way their lives had
changed in such a short time. They had found love; worthwhile and
challenging work to do, and an exciting future to build. The
positions of the planets made it the shortest possible journey but
they still had the place to themselves.