Last Flight For Craggy (4 page)

'It seems a bit
odd,' said Cragg, 'Only marsillium to take back.'

Potts replied,
'The whole lot of it destined for Earth. It's for the West. I hear
rumours they've discovered it has uses as a power generator.
Apparently, a little of it goes a very long way, but they're
keeping a lid on it. Heaven forbid the East had any benefit from
it.'

Cragg said, 'It
must be something big to just take the marsillium and nothing else.
Still, all the same to me,' then he added, 'Can't say I'm overly
concerned.'

'I don't
suppose it matters to you, Craggy. You must be feeling a bit
strange knowing the next flight will be your last. As a captain,
that is.'

'I might see if
there are any little jobs going on the Moon. Just to keep
busy.'

Pottsy
chuckled. 'If they'd offered me the same deal they offered you, I
wouldn't be looking so cheesed off about it.'

'That doesn't
mean I get to stay on Moon. Everyone has to be gainfully employed
there if they want to stay. They could always ship me back to Earth
and I don't want that.'

'I'm sure
something will turn up. I'm sorry I can't offer you something here,
Craggy.'

Cragg slapped
Potts on the back. 'This place is the future. Not for dried up old
fossils like me. There I go again, feeling sorry for myself. Never
mind me. But cheer me up with a decent drink.'

'Good idea,
Craggy. '

Unused to too
much inactivity, Dillow volunteered for chicken duty. First she
gathered the eggs, counting over ninety. With those safely stored
away, she raked up the mess out of the coop and added that to the
compost heap, turning it over thoroughly. Finally she fed the
chickens and decided that was enough. After a meal, she helped
herself to a beaker of wine and settled in the soak pool. Others
came and went, all chatting in the friendly Base way. It was all
either first names or nicknames.

Compared to
Moon, the people seemed more fun loving and easy to get along with.
The booze and smokes probably mellowed everyone's mood. The alcohol
ban on Moon was rigorously enforced and the inhabitants never
looked particularly happy. Moonitus some called it. Like everywhere
else, it was a case of who you knew, not what you knew, which
explained why Cragg was so popular.

Cragg had
revealed to her that he was a fully paid up member of the moonshine
brewers, and a scientist in the group had perfected distilling it
to a lethal concentration if it were even sniffed. Being a freight
hauler made him particularly useful in the black market trading.
His good humour and natural affability, coupled with his ability to
stay under the radar, had him slipping in and out of a shady side
of life.

Dillow
considered herself most fortunate. Few people had the choices she
had. She could quit and return to the increasingly volatile Earth
she hadn't set foot on since a small girl, now seemingly very
unlikely. She could apply for a job on Moon. She could also do the
same on Mars. But her lot for now seemed to be to spend up to four
months in space between Moon and the Red Planet with a week of rest
and recreation at the end of each trip.

She knew her
father, the space security commander, would not have been too
impressed if he saw his daughter drinking wine. She felt privileged
Craggy had trusted her enough to confide his shady dealings to her.
But she was a woman of thirty four. What she did was of no business
of her father's. Unless he was going to arrest her. She smiled
thinking that scenario wouldn't be entirely unlikely. Lance Dillow
was of the “do it by the book”, brigade.

The day before
they were due to take off, Cragg and Dillow worked with Scotty to
form the train with the ten freight pods. Each pod was numbered and
the first to be connected to the ship was number one. It wedged in
neatly between the ship thrusters, settling on the elevated cradle.
The first six had been attached without a hitch, but the seventh
refused to secure.

Cragg said, 'I
don't think this is anything we can fix flicking a switch. Time to
kick the tyres.'

'What?'

Cragg sighed.
'We gotta take a look. Come on.'

Dillow followed
Craggy through the airlock, and they stepped out onto the soft iron
oxide sand.

'Number seven
wasn't it?' Cragg asked.

'Yes.'

They climbed up
the steps to the single width catwalk and walked the eighty metres
to the end of pod six. Scotty had the grabbers in place, not about
to release them unless somebody told him to do so.

Scotty called
out, 'Hey. Craggy. What's the problem?'

'Not sure. Just
hold still.'

'Can you see
anything, Craggy?' Dillow asked.

Cragg said,
'How familiar are you with what makes the pods work?'

'We spent a
whole day on the pod coupling system. Two interlocking “V”
sections, that both have to be fully engaged to lock in place at
the top of each V.'

'Correct.
Remember what the lock trigger is?'

'A compression
trigger at the bottom of both V's. Both need to be perfectly
aligned for the locks to engage.'

'Right. Can you
see that top lock?'

'Yes. It's only
partially engaged.'

Cragg said,
'Something is blocking the sections getting fully aligned and we
need the pod off to see what that is. Just lifting up the pod will
damage the partly engaged locks. Scotty. Dillow is going back in
the ship to release the pod locks. We are going to inch up a bit at
a time. Off you go, Dillow. Call me when you are ready.'

'On my
way.'

Two minutes
later, Cragg got the call. 'Pod locks disengaged.'

'Okay. Scotty.
Up the tiniest bit.'

Scotty laughed.
'Up the tiniest bit? Is that technical lingo?'

'Just do it,
Scotty.'

The pod lifter
took the strain, in the upwards direction. Craggy was watching the
top lock. If it hadn't disengaged properly, the pod being raised up
would wreck the lock, making pod six and consequently its load
worth millions of dollars impossible to be added to the freighter,
so they would not be making it to Moon which meant the marsillium
wouldn't get delivered to Earth. It was a tense moment and he could
feel sweat beading on his upper lip. The lock was moving smoothly
back. He hoped the lock on the bottom V, obscured by the bottom of
the pods was doing the same.

'Up easy,
Scotty.'

The pod was
raised up and the locks eased away, unforced. Scotty was taking his
time, knowing they were taking a calculated risk as the pod inched
higher.

'Craggy?'

'Keep going up
straight and slow. More. And...we're free. Good job, Scotty. Take
the pod back so I can inspect the back of pod six. That'll do it.'
Cragg checked the back of the pod. 'I see the problem.' From the
bottom of the lower V section, he reached in and pulled something
out. It was a rock the size of his fist. 'This is the culprit. It
must have bounced up off the ground as the pod was brought over.
Just one of those things. Dillow. Prepare to engage pod seven.'

'Got that.'

'Scotty. Bring
her back over. Steady. Bring her down, nice and easy. Steady.' The
V sections hit the bottoms of their mating parts and triggered the
locks. 'Are we fully engaged, Dillow?'

'Everything
green, Craggy.'

Cragg said,
'All clear with pod seven, Scotty. Grabbers off. Okay. Pod number
eight.'

Cragg elected
to stay outside to ensure the next three pods engaged and locked
perfectly, which they did. 'Good job, people. Time for a beer.'

Scotty said,
'I'll get the lifter back in the hanger and I'll be right with
you.'

Dillow drove
her and Cragg back to Base Three and were de-suited and sipping
beer by the time Scotty joined them.

'I need that,'
said Scotty, taking a beer. 'Good thing you figured out the
problem, Craggy. Cheers.'

Cragg shrugged.
'Something had to be jamming it. Not much else but sand and rocks
out here.'

Dillow said,
'It could have caused a million dollar headache. I'd never have
thought of it.'

'Experience,'
said Cragg. 'Now you know it's something to look out for.'

Scotty said,
'It's the first time this has happened to me in three years of
doing the job.'

Dillow said, 'I
think it should be checked out before pods are linked up. It would
only take a few minutes to do that. I'll write a report about the
incident suggesting that all pod engagement systems are checked
just prior to connection.'

'It wouldn't
hurt,' said Scotty.

'I'll leave
that with you,' said Cragg. 'I hate writing up reports.'

'No worries,'
said Dillow. 'We've an early take off in the morning, so I'm off to
bed.'

Cragg said, 'If
I get wasted and oversleep, just take off without me.'

'You don't get
off that easy. Be bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.'

Cragg saluted.
'Aye, aye, Sir.'

'Goodnight.'

Scotty said
when she had gone, 'I thought you were still the ship's captain on
this flight?'

'So did I. I
think it's a good thing, her taking the initiative. She needs that
self assurance to do the job she has to do.'

'But what about
the experience she needs to go with it? Where's that coming
from?'

Craggy sighed.
'The school of hard knocks, I guess.'

'Scares the
crap out of me, Craggy. A bunch of rookies hurtling around the
solar system, no idea what they're doing.'

'Dillow has a
good head on her shoulders. She'll be just fine.' He had a hard job
convincing himself of that.

At first light,
Cragg and Dillow were suited up and ready for the buggy ride to the
ship. Potts and Misty were up early to see them off.

'What's up?'
said Cragg. 'You two couldn't sleep or something?'

'I couldn't
sleep anyway, with your snoring,' said Misty, jabbing him in the
ribs.

Dillow could
tell from the look in Misty's and Cragg's eyes that they had
something of an understanding.

Potts said, 'We
couldn't let you go without saying goodbye, Craggy. We may never
see you again.'

'Heck. That
sounds a bit sombre. I'll be around for years, yet. Has the
treasure chest been filled up?'

Dillow said,
'Treasure chest?'

Misty said,
'Don't get too excited. It's just token presents from people here
to relatives and friends on Moon or Earth. Small Mars rocks with
names carved on them, paintings using the different sand colours.
It's worth nothing, but means everything. It's on the buggy.'

'Don't worry,'
said Cragg. 'The exact weight has been factored in. Well, Pottsy.
Misty. Time to go.'

'Oh,' said
Misty. 'I nearly forgot. We made this card for you, signed by
everybody. Wishing you a happy retirement. And engineering made you
this belt buckle from pure marsillium.'

'Very flash,'
said Craggy. 'Not damn radioactive is it? I might still want to
father children.'

'Go on, Fawn,'
said Misty. 'Take this old devil home.'

Craggy kissed
Misty before putting his helmet on. 'If I do have kids, I'll send
pictures.'

'Jeez,' said
Dillow. 'Just weeks of this. Thanks for your hospitality. I'll see
you in a few months time.'

Potts and Misty
drove them in the buggy and helped get the chest into the airlock.
Final hugs and handshakes and the Buggy was driven clear. On board,
Cragg let Dillow do the entire take off procedure. Cragg was
assessing her competency and was impressed with her faultless
execution. The twin thrusters had to be realigned to balance the
extra weight of the ten pods.

'Pods off the
cradle,' said Dillow. 'Fine tuning for equilibrium. Ship to pod
equilibrium obtained. Assent one hundred metres per minute. One
kilometre above the surface. Quarter thrust engaged on
three...two...one. Approaching outer atmosphere. One full orbit.
Out of gravitational pull. Confirming computer coordinates.
Coordinates confirmed. One half full thrust in one...two...three.
Half thrust engaged. Three quarter thrust engaged in three...two
...one. Three quarter thrust engaged. Ship gravity one third Earth
normal. Air quality good.'

Cragg removed
his helmet as did Dillow. 'A perfect take off, Dillow. Nice
job.'

'Thanks. Auto
is set. Time to de-suit.'

'Sounds almost
dirty when you say it.'

'You in your
official blue underwear takes my mind right off anything
dirty.'

'Have you seen
my undies?'

'Unfortunately,
yes. I'll take first shift.'

'See you in
four hours for a feed,' said Cragg, taking off for his bunk.

Cragg yawned
and scratched his chin, contemplating shaving. 'Morning, evening,
whatever the hell it is.'

'Not that it
matters much, but good afternoon.'

'Any contact
with Moon yet?' *

'No. Just
static. The solar storms are still flaring up.'

'Any
issues?'

Dillow shook
her head. 'Everything steady. Humming along.'

'We'll do a
full systems check later. Hungry?'

'I am.'

'Come on. I'll
cook.'

Happy to leave
the deck, Dillow followed Cragg into the galley kitchen, and sat at
the two seat table, moulded into the floor and wall.

Cragg said, 'I
snaffled a dozen of those eggs from the base. No bread for toast,
of course.'

'I remember my
father telling me about bread, when I was a girl. He made it sound
wonderful.'

'You never had
bread?' said Cragg, scrambling the eggs.

'No.'

'That is so
sad,' said Cragg, putting a plate each on the table.

'That looks
good.'