(no subject)
Maelström
Chapter 5
“Good enough”
Lisa checked everything before she left her office, even though she had done it like three times already. She was going to the Factory Satellite, to supervise the transport of the new Reflex engines for the SDF-2 and the test flights of a new line of VTs that Doctor Lang's team was developing. When everything was set, she left her office and headed towards the shuttle that would carry her to the Satellite.
She was on the shuttle already fastening her seatbelt when Roy got in. They had been sort of avoiding each other after their visit to Claudia's grave, and she was surprised to see him come on board the shuttle; she thought he wouldbe flying his VT.
“Captain, Lieutenant,” Roy said saluting Lisa and Sammie.
“Captain,” both women said while he sat in front of them.
“What are you doing here, Captain?” Lisa asked and then added, “I thought you'd be flying our escort.”
“Well, a certain Captain grounded me after an incident a few days ago. I'm only authorized to fly test flights, Ma'am,” Roy said with a know it all grin.
“Tough Captain that must be,” Lisa said.
“Yeah she is,” Roy said and both of them shared a smile.
“So who's flying our escort?” Sammie asked.
“Commander Hunter is,” Roy said.
The preparations for the take off began, and when the engines started to roar and the pilot started to test the flaps, Roy moved uncomfortably in his seat. When the shuttle started to move towards the runway, he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“I better go to the front,” Roy said and stood up.
“I thought you were grounded?” Lisa said looking at him trying to hide her amusement.
“I won't even get near the controls, I'll only be supervising,” he said and winked at her.
“Supervising?” Lisa asked raising her right eyebrow.
“Yeah, you know these shuttle pilots they usually don't have too much experience,” he said and both women looked at him skeptically. “It's just to make things safer for all of us,” he added and started to walk towards the cabin.
“Pilots!” Lisa and Sammie said at the same time rolling their eyes.
Lisa looked outside the window and smiled when she saw Rick's VT getting ready to take off. Her heart beat faster. She was going to miss him a lot while she was going to be on the Satellite.
For the first time she felt he was really interested in her, and it was a nice feeling. They had shared some moments together, most of the time at her place, and they just sat and ate pizza or drank coffee and for the first time the subject of their conversations was her, not Minmei. It wasn't like they talked about her all the time. They talked about other things, but she felt like he was paying attention to her. She smiled while she watched him take off. Yes, she would miss him, Lisa was thinking when the strength of the take off pulled her against her seat.
They landed inside the Factory Satellite on time. Lisa and Sammie were unbuckling their seatbelts when Roy appeared in the cabin, smiling.
“Nice landing, Captain,” Lisa said looking at him sternly while Sammie rubbed the back of her neck.
“I told the pilot he was coming in too hot, but he didn't listen, rookies,” Roy said looking innocent.
“Right, the pilot,” Lisa said raising an eyebrow.
“I swear I didn't even get near the controls,” Roy said and then added, “Scout’s honor.”
Lisa and Sammie rolled their eyes again.
“Commander Breetai and Doctor Lang are waiting for us,” Sammie said while she grabbed the folder she had been reading while the trip lasted.
“We should get moving then,” Roy said and winked at them and started to walk out of the shuttle.
Roy had never been on the Factory Satellite before. He wasn't part of the operation that captured it, so he was quite impressed with what he saw. It was weird to see Zentraedi and human infrastructure mixed so perfectly. He walked towards his quarters planning to leave his things there and then go to the prep room. It had been a while since the last time he had flown test flights and the idea excited him. It would give him the opportunity of doing something different than patrolling or fighting.
At the moment the idea of taking this special assignment was looking like a good idea. It would give him the opportunity to breathe fresh air, well synthetic air to be honest, but it was a change and it might help him to adjust to his new life. He had tried to resume his life as if nothing had happened. He had crashed and burned trying that and he had made one bad decision after another. Maybe what he needed to do was to do things slowly, step by step and not being in contact with how his life used to be.
Lisa had been checking with Doctor Lang on the advances on the Reflex engines for the SDF-2 and making the last adjustments on the transport operation. She had left Sammie in charge of the primary phase of the test flights. But now that her meeting was over she was walking towards the bridge so oversee how the test flights were going.
She liked the Satellite from the first moment she was on it. She had found it fascinating and it was nice to leave the routine she had on Earth, even though she missed Rick. Also she had missed being in outer space. Things looked much clearer from outside. On Earth she was usually pushed forward by the million things she had to do, which had been a good thing; it kept her busy and didn't let her think. But now she felt it was time to do a little reflecting.
When Lisa entered the bridge, things were going smoothly. She smiled proudly to herself when she saw Sammie in control of the situation, while several screens showed the test flight that was taking place outside.
“Control, I'm ready to shoot missiles at your command,” the voice of Roy sounded on the speakers.
“Roger that, Captain,” Sammie said and after checking some data she added,“Shoot on my mark, 3,2,1, mark.”
The screen that was inside Roy's cockpit showed him firing and a few seconds later an explosion.
“100 over 100,” Sammie said.
“This baby is awesome.”
“Let's proceed to the third phase, sir”
“Roger that control, changing to Guardian configuration,” Roy said.
“Configuration ready at a 100%, begin flight at maximum speed,” Sammie said.
“Roger that control,” Roy's voice said and on the radar screen it was visible how the VT was moving.
“Control, I've reached maximum speed but I think I can push this baby a little more.”
“Negative, Captain.”
“Fine, you always kill all the fun,” Roy said apatheticlly.
“Prepare to shoot on my mark Captain,” Sammie was saying when alarms started to sound all over the room. Lisa immediately walked closer to Sammie's station.
“Captain?” Sammie asked.
“Controls are failing, I lost control of the flaps on the left wing,” Roy said.
“Change configuration to...” Sammie was saying but Roy interrupted her.
“Controls are not responding. The transmission is dead. I have zero control of the VT.”
“Override the system,” Sammie said in desperation.
“How? The controls are not working.”
“You need to change your course sir! You're approaching Earth’s gravitational field.”
“I would love to Sammie, but this thing is not responding at all. The only thing that is working are the thrusters.”
“I...don't.”
“I need something better than that Lieutenant, I'm heading towards Earth’s gravitational field with an out of control VT out and at this point I can't eject myself, so you better come up with something...” Roy was saying when Lisa cut him off.
“Captain, do you read me?” Lisa said from the station next to Sammie's
“Yes Lisa.”
“Can you use the controls of the thruster to redirect your VT away from the Earth’s gravitational field?”
“Negative, I don't have control over the nozzles. This thing is only flying straight.”
“Send a search and rescue team immediately to the area,”Lisa said to Sammie.
“Lisa, if I enter the gravitational field of the Earth you're not going to need an S&R team. I'll be dead before even hitting the ground at this speed.”
“I know!” Lisa said frustatedly.
“Then let's start thinking outside of the box because you either find a way to catch me or ...”
“That's it.”
“What?”
“We'll catch you.”
“How exactly do you expect to do that?” Roy said skeptically.
“Do we have VTs patrolling the area?” Lisa asked to Sammie.
“Yes Ma'am- 4 VTs are at the perimeter.”
“Send them to Captain's Fokker’s coordinates! I want them there ASAP. And what's the ETA of the S&R team?”
“They'll arrive in two minutes.”
“Here's what we're going to do,” Lisa said and cleared her throat before looking at Roy though the Communications screen. “You're going to shut down all the systems of the VT, that will decelerate it a little bit, and then you'll eject yourself out.”
“What!? I can't eject. At this speed even if the VT decelerates I'll be caught by the gravitational field anyway.”
“They'll catch you.”
“Who? The patrol?”
“Yes.”
“I think I'll take my chances inside VT.”
“Rick did it, he pulled me out of Mars and brought me to the SDF-1.”
“Yeah well, you weren't pulled off of Mars at this speed, and honestly I don't think they'll catch me in time.”
“You can use the propulsion device from the ejection seat to direct yourself while you're out the VT, giving the patrol team enough time to catch you.”
“And I thought I was the crazy one! The propulsion device from the ejection seat doesn't last that long Lisa,” Roy said anxiously.
“Well it's the only chance you have, so it's either that or take your chances inside the VT, Roy. It's your call.”
Everyone remained silent, the tension getting bigger inside the bridge by the second, and every second that passedwas a second that Roy was closer to the point of no return.
“Come on Roy, trust me on this one,” Lisa said softly, almost pleading. Roy remained silent, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of the alarms.
Roy had no doubt about Lisa's skills as a strategist, but this was beyond insane. The chances of success where practically zero; he was an experienced pilot, he knew that.
“Fine, let's do it,” Roy finally said. If anybody else had come up to him with this idea he would have said no way! But the few occasions that Lisa had thought out of the box the outcome had always been a success, so he'd take his chances on her this time. What was the worst that could happen? Him ending up dead... not that he wanted to die, but he had nothing that attached him to this world like he used to.
“Fine,” Lisa said with a smile. “Sammie get everything ready for an emergency landing. I want everything set on the landing area, medics, first aid equipment, all you can think of that it might be needed there I want it there.”
“Yes, Ma'am.”
“Lieutenant Adams,” Lisa said to the leader of the patrol team. “You and your team will have to fly as close to Captain Fokker as you can and get ready to catch him the minute he ejects.”
“Yes ma'am, we are in formation next to Captain Fokker.”
“Is the S&R team in the area?” Lisa asked to Sammie.
“Yes, it is.”
“Everything is ready Roy, you only have 3 minutes before reaching the hard deck.”
“I'm shutting down all the systems,” Roy said. “All systems are out, the VT is just moving by inertia.”
“Eject!” Lisa said anxiously.
“That's easy for you say,” Roy thought while he reached for the ejection handle.
“We'll here goes nothing...” Roy said and pulled the handle.
The next seconds inside the control room were full of pure tension They saw Roy eject from the canopy of his VT, but then they lost video. The radio went mute as everyone expected the report from the leader of the Patrol team.
Lisa couldn't help but tap her fingers against her consol nervously. “Come on Roy! Come on!” she kept saying to herself, waiting for some signal that he was OK. “Claudia is going to kill me if something happens to you. Come on!” she thought, reality hitting her just as she finished her thought. Claudia wasn't with her anymore.
“Control, this is Lieutenant Adams, I got Captain Fokker,” the voice of the Lieutenant sounded in the speakers. A huge sigh of relief could be heard inside the control room. “I'm taking him to S&R shuttle. He’s unconscious but alive.”
“Roger that Lieutenant,” Lisa said with relief.
Lisa was walking through the corridors of the Satellite, completely weary. It was near midnight and she had just gotten out of the last damage control meting after the incident with the VT. All she wanted was to jump in her bed and sleep, but there were still things she needed to do.
She knocked on the door. She was concerned it might be too late but she could not go to bed without knowing how he was. She thought she might just call him but that felt too impersonal and cold and she thought she owed him more than that.
“Coming,” Roy said before opening the door, a towel tight around his waist was all that was covering him.
“Roy I...” Lisa said and turned her head away, her cheeks turning a very bright shade of red. “I'm so sorry, I just wanted to know how you were, I went to the infirmary and they said you just left... I should leave.”
“Oh come on Hayes! Like you've never seen a man in a towel before,” Roy said and moved away from the door to let her in. “Get in,” he added and grabbed her by the arm.
“No, I mean yes... I have,” Lisa said nervously, entering into his quarters, still avoiding looking at him. “I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“Me?” Roy said raising an eyebrow and putting one hand on one of his hips at the edge of his towel that was dangerously low. “You really think this could make me nervous?”
“Eh...well you...no,” Lisa finally said.
“Relax Lisa, I'll get dressed,” he said with a grin and walked into the bathroom, without closing the door completely. “So what brings you here?”
“I just wanted to know how you were?” Lisa said while she looked around Roy's room uncomfortably not because of him being in a towel but because they were alone. Probably the reason she felt awkward being alone with him was because of what they had shared at Claudia's grave. They had bared their hearts there and she couldn't help feeling afraid that he would mention something about her breaking or that he might break again; she had felt so useless and helpless trying to comfort him. She had always been so bad when it came to comforting people, she always felt out of place, never knowing what to say or do.
She shook her thoughts away and remembered why she was there. She looked around again. There wasn't much in the room, just a bag and some clothes spread over the bed. His flight suit was laying on the ground. Nothing personal.
“I'm fine, just a few bruises and scratches but that's all,” Roy answered from inside the bathroom.
“I was worried that you might have a concussion,” Lisa said and started to walk around the room uneasly
“Nah, I just hit my head but it was nothing serious. Although they put some stitches in,” Roy was saying when something caught Lisa's attention. She had been passing her hand carelessly from one piece of furniture to the next, while she walked around Roy's room, and her hand suddenly collided with something.
“Are you sure you'll be able to keep doing the test flights?” she asked, while she took a closer look at the object against which her hand had collided. They were Roy's dog tags, but what caught her attention was the fact that they weren't only a pair. She moved them without lifting them from the nightstand. The first two were Roy's and then her heart made a jump. The third was Claudia's.
“Of course, a few bruises won't stop me,” Roy said standing next to Lisa, making her jump.
“Sorry I didn't mean to...” Lisa was saying but Roy interrupted her.
“It's OK,” he said with a soft smile and took the dog tags in his hands. “The paramedic handed them to me while he treated Claudia on the Helicopter. I found them while I was packing. I thought it was a nice way to remember her,” he explained and put them on. “You know, to keep her with me.”
“It is,” was all that Lisa said and looked at the ground.
“Well I better leave, you must want to rest,” Lisa said after a moment of silence and started to walk towards the door, wanting to escape from his room. Roy's confession made her defensive walls start to crumble again and she was afraid the same thing was happening to him. They weren't the kind of people who shared their feelings so openly, actually they were the kind of people who built protective walls around their feelings, walls that didn't fall easily and yet it felt like it was going to be the second time they were going fall in less than 2 weeks.
“Wait,” Roy said while he put a tank top on. “I wanted to ask you something about the test,” Roy added and started to look for something between the things he had on his bed.
“Sure,” Lisa said, unable to stop her whole body from tening up despite herself while she waited for Roy.
“Here,” he said and grabbed a folder, “I was checking the specs of the test and there are some inconsistencies.”
“Like what?” Lisa asked.
“Like this,” he said and handed her the folder.
“Can I sit?” Lisa asked looking at the small dinner.
“Sure,” Roy said and Lisa sat down. She left the folder over the table and then started to read it.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Coffee would be great,” Lisa said while she kept reading.
After a few moments Roy left a mug of hot coffee in front of Lisa while he sat at the other side of the small table with a bottle of beer in his hand.
“I see what you mean. There are functions of the VTs that we are not even testing and there are others that we are overloading.”
“Yeah, and the problem is that there are functions that we are not testing that are very important,” Roy said taking a gulp of his beer while Lisa drank from her mug.
“This is magnificent, I was dying for a coffee. Thanks.”
“I should thank you, for saving my six today.”
“I have specific orders from Admiral Gloval to finish these test flights at all cost. And since we have no other pilots crazy enough to run these test flights, well I did what I had to do to finish the mission.” she teased, finally feeling more relaxed and no longer uneasy. They were talking about work, that was always a safe topic, maybe that was what they needed to make things more comfortable between them.
“Aww that's so sweet of you Lisa. Knowing that you only saved my life for the mission, it really makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside,” he answered teasingly.
“I know, too bad I couldn't save the VT.”
“I bet that if you would have had a replacement pilot you would have saved the VT instead of me,” he jocked.
“Well...it was a really nice VT,” she said and both of them laughed.
“Like I was saying, these functions we're not testing they are really important,” Roy said when they stopped laughing.
“Like which ones?” Lisa asked and Roy started to explain to her. They kept talking and sharing ideas about the test flights until very late.
to be continued...
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