Last Flight For Craggy (8 page)

'Spence? Centre
on pod nine. Easy in. Easy in. Square up. Open the grabbers. Down.
Down. Down. Now shut the grabbers. Perfect. Hold it there. Dillow.
Unlock seven and eight pods.'

'Seven and
eight, unlocking now.'

'Locks opened,'
Cragg confirmed. 'Spence. Take a deep breath. Ease her up, but keep
everything dead square. Steady. Nice. A little more. Pods clear.
Match speeds. Now. I'm going to get a line on to secure eight to
seven.'

From his belt
he took two high tensile shackles and looped one on each end of the
line. Then he looped the line through the pod mountings and bolted
the shackles together.

'Okay, Spence.
Let go of pod nine. Clear. Line taking the strain.' Cragg was
certain the super strong line would hold it all together out in
space. 'Spence. I've got to get more line from the airlock. Stay
put.'

'Okay,
Craggy.'

Cragg returned
to the airlock for another coil of line and two more shackles. Then
he went back to pod six. Taking out the welding gun, he used the
heat to melt away his original welding. That done, he moved out of
the way. 'Spence. Come in and grab number seven, the end pod. This
is a tricky one, because the V sections have been warped.'

'Easy does it
then. Moving in.'

Cragg guided
the tug and the grabbers over pod seven. 'Don't forget we have
three pods tied up to this one.'

'This was your
idea, was it?'

'You got a
better one?'

'Nope. Coming
in.'

With the
grabbers locked on, pod seven was lifted clear, thankfully not
jambing in the damaged V sections. Cragg used the line and shackles
to secure six and seven together.

Dillow said,
'Craggy. Can we get six pods down with the ship?'

'Don't think
so. There's been some distortion between five and six. Not a lot,
but enough not to risk it. We'll have to take off number six now.
Spence. Leave pod seven, grab pod six. Easy. Steady, Lock grabbers.
Dillow. Unlock pod six.'

'Unlocking pod
six now. Green light.'

Cragg confirmed
the locks had unlocked. 'Spence. Locks are off. Ease her away.'
Spencer slid the pods apart. 'Dillow. We now have five pods on the
ship. Spence. You have all the ducks in a row. Keep it that way.
I'm going with Dillow to land our pods. See you in a couple of
hours. Don't go away.'

'As if. Have
fun.'

Cragg got
through the air lock and took his helmet off. 'That was fun.'

'Buckle up.
We're going down.'

Dillow took the
ship and the train of five pods in a single decreasing orbit. The
landing lights were all on and the patched up cradle illuminated.
Cragg stayed silent as Dillow lined up the pods on the cradle, the
ship on the pad and then landed.

'Angus?' said
Dillow.

'Ready.'

'Grab pod
five.'

Angus straddled
five with the grabbers and Dillow released the locks. This was
repeated for all the pods and it took a full hour to take them all
off. As soon as the pods were away, Dillow set off to join
Spencer.

'Nice to see
you again.' said Spencer.

Craggy said,
'You might change your mind with the next part. We need to hook up
pods eight to nine to the ship. That's never been attempted in
space. You up for this?'

'We can but
try.'

'Okay. Good
man. I need to remove the safety line. Six and seven will float for
the time being. Spence. Let go of seven and grab pod nine. I'm on
my way out of the airlock.'

As Cragg let
himself out of the airlock and got between the pods, he waited for
Spencer to lock the grabbers on pod nine before before releasing
the safety line holding the pods together.

'Now the fun
starts. Over to the ship, Spence.'

Spencer closed
the gap between the three pods and the rear of the ship.

'Dillow. Rock
steady nerves. Get ready to lock. Spence. Nice and easy. Don't
crash them together.'

Spencer inched
the three pods to the back of the ship. This was something nobody
had tried before. The design of the ship and pods were for locking
them together on the ground. It would take all of Spencer's skill
to get the pods in position with a tug hastily cobbled to a
grabber. How many millions of dollars depended on this going right,
was anyone's guess.

Cragg got as
close as he dared to the back of the ship, away from the thrusters,
but close enough to see what was happening. His mouth was parched
and he thought of the beer in the fridge but they had to get this
job done first. Inch by inch, the front of the lead pod kissed the
rear of the ship.

'Square up
towards the ship. Too much. Back a touch. Slide it down. Easy.
Down, Spence. Dillow get ready to lock on my word. Spence. Down
now. Dillow, lock it now.'

'Locked,' said
Dillow. 'Craggy?'

'Locks in
place. Spence. Let go.'

Spencer opened
the grabbers and that part of the job was done. But there was still
more to do.

'Spence. Hang
on to the damaged pods. We'll take ours down and return as soon as
we can.'

Sitting next to
Dillow, he let her take the ship on its one orbit, and land the
pods on the cradle. Another wait for the pods to be cleared and
they were back in space to work with Spencer. Starting to feel his
age, Cragg went for yet another spacewalk. He undid the shackles to
let the pods free.

'Spence. All
yours. Get that in the cradle and come back here for the last one.
We'll look after it until you do.'

'I'd better get
a damn raise after all this.'

'Don't tell
those muppets down there, but I've a few beers with your name on
them.'

'Nice one,
Craggy.'

'Good
luck.'

Attempting
another risky first, Spencer took the unlikely combination of tug,
grabber and pod into the slight Moon's gravitational pull.
Engineers and emergency crews were on standby for the unorthodox
manoeuvre. A camera was recording the historic event. Spencer
hovered over the cradle and Angus stood close by to guide his
colleague in. Tugs had all the finesse of a butterfly wearing
wooden clogs. Nothing felt right to Spencer. Relying on Angus's
directions and flying blind unable to see the cradle under the pod,
it was all about trust.

'Easy, Spence,'
said Angus. 'To me. To me. Stop. Down. Slow. Stop. Let go of the
pod. Now get clear. More. Done. Spence. That was a brilliant job,
my friend.'

'Not finished
yet. One more to go.'

Spencer took
the tug out of the gravitational pull and orbited to meet up with
the ship.

'How did it
go?' Cragg asked.

'Not too
shabby. They'll have cleared the cradle by the time I get this one
down. You can go as soon as I've grabbed it.'

Cragg worked
with Spencer to grab the final damaged pod. That done, he released
the safety line.

'Don't forget
that beer, Craggy.'

'Don't you get
too excited. It's only from Mars.'

'That shit?
Still. A beer's a beer. See you soon.'

By the time
Spencer reached the cradle, the previous pod had gone. Everyone
held their breath again as the pod was eased into the cradle.
Spencer was about to let the pod go, when the patched-up cradle
started to buckle. As the cradle collapsed, it was taking the
grabber and tug with it. Spencer tried to release the pod, but
everything was tipping over before he could let go of it. It seemed
to play out in slow motion, as cradle, pod, grabber and tug crashed
into the soft Moon dirt. The combined weight of the grabber and pod
crushed the tug into a compressed tangle of wreckage with Spencer
inside. A huge cloud of dust covered everything. Eventually, the
dust settled to reveal the mangled tug.

'Spence?'
yelled Angus. He got no reply. It didn't look good for Spencer.
'Spence!'

'Are you lot
going to get me out of here?' yelled, Spencer. 'My shift finished
hours ago.'

With the total
booze ban, Angus and a bandaged Spencer joined Cragg and Dillow on
the ship. A bucket had been filled with ice and beer. Spencer was
wearing a sling for his broken left arm and bandages for his broken
ribs.'

'I bet that
hurt, Spence,' said Craggy.

'Still
does.'

'Didn't they
give you something for the pain?' said a concerned Dillow.

'Yeah. But I
can't take them with beer. A man has to have his priorities
right.'

'Well. I think
we did a good job out there,' said Cragg. 'Cheers, everybody.'

'Cheers.'

'So, Craggy,'
said Angus. 'No more flying for you.'

Cragg said,
'This last trip was pretty eventful. Not a bad way to finish
off.'

'What are your
plans?'

'Chugger Taylor
has offered me a job in the sanitation department.'

'Oh, man. That
stinks,' said Spencer.

'More than
likely,' said Dillow.

'I meant Craggy
should have a much better job than that. What a waste.'

Cragg shrugged
and passed more beer around. 'Well, no way am I going to Earth
again. I'm too old for Mars, I'm told, so I should count my
blessings for a job here.'

'Better than
nothing, I guess,' said Angus. 'What about you, Fawn?'

'Mars. I'm
going back as soon as I've a load to take. I see myself living
there.'

Spencer said,
'Not planning on hauling freight?'

'Maybe for a
year or two.'

'Is that
right?' said Cragg. 'Don't you need your captains tickets to do
that?'

'Yes, of course
I...Craggy? Are you failing me?'

'Well, I was
just thinking...'

'Craggy?'

'I was just
thinking you could do with this.' From his pocket, he took out a
velvet box. 'Here you go.'

Dillow opened
the box. She took out the gold double lightning bolts.

Cragg laughed.
'Congratulations, Freighter Captain first class Fawn Dillow.'

Moon Commander
Anton Forbes invited Cragg and Dillow into his office. 'Coffee?
Tea? The real thing. Very rare.'

'Thanks,' said
Cragg. 'Tea will do us fine.'

Forbes put the
call through for refreshments. 'First of all, I'd like to thank you
both for your terrific work out there. Sterling efforts in saving
the haul. Well done, you two.'

Dillow said,
'Angus and Spencer did a great job, too.'

'Indeed they
did and we'll reward them accordingly. I see you are wearing your
captains pin.'

'Craggy thinks
I've earned it.'

'I do,' said
Cragg.

Forbes
said,'It's well deserved. Are you looking to haul freight to
Mars?'

'Yes. I'm ready
to go as soon as there's a load to take.'

'Hmm. We can
always take anything Mars supplies us with, but to make it
economical, we need to take stuff to them, too.'

Dillow
asked,'Don't you have anything to take?'

'Not for a
couple of weeks or so. Can you kick back until then? I'm sure your
father would like to see you?'

'Is he on
Moon?'

'On his way. He
was on security observation on his ship The Eye. Keeping an eye on
Earth. He'll be here in a couple of days or so.'

Cragg said,
'That'll be nice for you to catch up.'

'I suppose,'
said Dillow. 'Commander Forbes. Just out of interest, that
marsillium we brought in. What do they want it for?'

'The West
didn't go into details. Something about a non polluting power
source. '

'A bit late for
that,' said Cragg.

Forbes said,
'It's paid for. We just have to deliver it.'

Dillow said,
'With an unmanned ship I've been told.'

Forbes linked
his fingers and leaned back in his chair. 'We have no choice. No
captain, rookie or otherwise would take it with the diseases
rampant, and we wouldn't allow it. We need a ship to survive the
entry into Earth's atmosphere. We have one fully reusable ship. The
new one, Big Bird. We have been flat-out adapting it for the
marsillium and also for computer controlled flight. It is
programmed to return with the laser powered steelworks. Development
of Moon, and to some degree, Mars, will be extremely difficult
without it.'

'When does it
go?' asked Cragg.

'All being
well, twelve days time. The ship's ready, but the commissioning of
the computers will take the time. Would you care for a guided tour?
I could take you tomorrow if you like.'

'I'd really
like that, Commander Forbes,' said Cragg.

'Me too,' said
Dillow. 'Thanks.'

As agreed,
Cragg and Dillow met with Forbes the following morning. Fully
suited, the Moon Commander drove them himself the twenty five
kilometres away from the Base buildings, to the new ship site. The
sheer size of the project made Cragg and Dillow gasp.

'Three hundred
and fifty metres in length,' said Forbes, proudly. 'Fifty meters in
diameter. Twin plasma drive engines. Our engineers are constantly
refining the propulsion systems.'

Cragg
said,'From my poor old brain, I recall helium gas being bombarded
with electrical pulses. That turns it into plasma, which is ejected
using electrostatic and electromagnetic forces and that's the
propulsion.'

'I'm
impressed,' said Dillow.

'Don't be. I've
no idea what any of that means,' admitted Cragg.

'It means,'
said Forbes, 'We don't have to lug around a load of fuel to get
from A to B. We can go faster, further and carry more. The improved
engines can reach twice the speed of your old freighter. The skin
is a new material made from Martian elements, mostly marsillium
sprayed on in a thin coating. Super resilient to heat.'

'And that's the
launch slope?' Dillow asked.

'Yes. That's a
five kilometre, forty five degree slope. The ship is winched
backwards up the slope, then the plasma engines fire up and down
she goes, then up the short upward slope, into space. Cuts down on
take off fuel usage by sixty seven percent.'