
Subj : New Beginnings(32)
To   : All
From : Skyhawk #1
Date : Tue Aug 15 1995 15:49:35 PST

                           New Beginnings(32)
                           By Daniel C. Harrison(Skyhawk)

     Candar shook her head trying to push past him. "It's nothing, Jerry. I'm
just tired. It's been a long voyage and I'm still shaky from cryo. I'll be
alright."
     Jerry took her hand and pulled her closer. "There's something else, isn't
there? I can tell. Why are you pulling away? You used to be so warm. Now, your
like a different person."
     Candar nodded,. "A different person who happens to be your Captain. Don't
let personal feelings interfere with the job. If there's anything else I'll
tell you when you need to know. I need to get to the brdige, and so do you."
She continued down the corridor.
     Jerry sighed deeply and followed her. Why was he so persistant? She could
hear him behind her as she walked. He had a right to know. He wanted to marry
her. But, how could she even consider it when she was dying? She flexed her
arms and stretched as she moved. She didn't feel any worse. In fact, the
numbness that she remembered before cryo was gone. All feeling had returned.
There was no pain. It was strange. She grapsed the ladder and pulled herself up
to the bridge. "Henry, are you getting things in order?"
     Henry turned and smiled at her. "Good to see you, Captain. Jerry did a
grat job, we're preparing to enter orbit of Mirinda now. Dr. Grayson and Kevin
have successfully brought out half the colonists. Kevin called and was
complaining about too many kids running around down there. And, the planetary
governor wanted to speak with you."
     Candar swore. "That pompous ass. I don't want to bother with him until
after weve landed. Tell Kevin to make sure they're all in their seats and
secured. Then I want him up here. You stay on the bridge and assist us."
     Henry grinned. "Yes, Maam. We are drifting without engines so, entering
orbit will be tricky. There is enough fuel left in the thrusters to turn us and
let gravity do thwe the rest."
     Candar looked over the stats. "This angle is going to be awful steep. Can
we adjust the trajectory so we don't nosedive?"
     Henry shrugged. "Maybe you can. Kevin seems to think we have to or, we
might bounce off the atmosphere. There is also the risk of burning up although
that's not likely."
     "It isn't." Candar sat down and began checking her controls. "This thing
is a pile of shit but, it'll survive a reentry. What do the weather patterns
look like?"
     Henry surveyed the cloud formations. "Lot's of high wind in the southern
continent areas. A very strong jet stream across the ionosphere. It's gonna be
one hell of a bumpy ride."
     Candar flipped the intercom. "Kevin, this is Candar..can you hear me?"
     "Yeah, babe." His warm voice filled her with happiness. Behind her she
could feel Jerry stiffen. He was really jealous! 
     "Kev, did you get a look at the engines? Jerry said that you thought
engine one might be restarted."
     There was a moment of silence. Kevin coughed. "Uhmm Jerry spoke too soon I
guess. I got a look at the mainframe on the gravitrons..they're shot, Captain.
No chance of repair."
     "Damn." she sat back in her seat. "Any ideas?"
     "We have the chutes up top that Jerry rigged prior to us going into cryo.
They might slow us down." Kevin's voice was filled with doubt.
     "Don't bullshit me!" Candar said impatiently. "You know as well as I, the
impact at that kind of a speed will blow us out of this universe. We'll all be
dead."
     "Trajectory angles might help us.."
     "Your the engineer, I'm the pilot." she cut him off. "Altering trajectory
will only help slightly. We need a buffer." She cut the link. Damn!
     Henry swore. "I can't believe weve come this far to smash up. There must
be a way." He looked at the screen. "Weather patterns in that southern
continent look nasty. Gonna rain like hell."
     Candar sat up. "What did you say? What's the wind velocity in the
ionosphere with that jetstream?"
     Jerry moved closer. "I think I see what you mean, babe. Henry, zoom in on
that southern tip. Analyze wind velocity."
     Henry tied into the computer. "This thing still doesn't run right. Too
much damage. But, I think we're looking at winds of 120 knots. About 70 at
ground level."
     Candar smiled. "There's our buffer. Were going to use those winds to slow
us down. Jerry, is there a manual release on that chute from here?"
     He nodded. "Yeah, I tied it into the emergency systems. It'll blow if I
activate it. I had hoped for a softer landing."
     "We're not going to get it." Candar took some paper and a pen. "We'll come
in about a 30 degree angle. A bit steep but, necessary. From there, we'll begin
to hit the ionosphere. As soon as we encounter those winds and hit the center
of that airmass, I want to deploy those chutes. They'll likely be ripped apart
but, this crate will slow way down. Enough for us to locate a decent landing
field and belly her. Our landing gear would be ripped to pieces so, that's
howit's gotta be. Either of you ever bellyt landed before?"
     Jerry shook his head. "Never had to. Just practice in school."
     Candar looked at Henry and got a blank stare. "Well, this is going to be
fun cause, neither have I. A first." She hit the intercom. "Kev, get everyone
secured. We drop in ten minutes. Tell Grayson to have medical supplies ready."
     "Will do." Kevin came back. His voice sounded agitated. She smiled
inwardly. She'd be too if she had to deal with over 300 agitated colonists. She
doubted if either Grayson or Kevin had told them that they weren't landing on
Hycenda. A lost dream. They would have to make do. She turned to Jerry, "Okay,
adjust pitch, two degrees."     
      "Complete." he announced. Realignment ready..let's do it."    
