Alpha 1472 Read Online Free PDF

made their way into the flight deck of the shuttle the first thing that struck them was the newness of it all, the cleanliness, the smell, the small confines in which they would be working. All of these factors somehow heightened the adventure.
    Mary stood, poised at the ed ge of the door, “In you go Mary” said Captain Daniels. He was to be the last crew member to enter the shuttle, it was his responsibility to lock and secure the door. Mary reached up and made a grab for the ladder, actually getting into the shuttle was a problem all of its own. Although she was physically fit, she had always found difficulty traversing the short distance between the hatch and her workstation. This was a task that was confounded even further by the present angle of the shuttle and gravity itself. However, once they were in orbit the weightlessness of space would eliminate these problems. Captain Daniels effortlessly clambered into the cabin and was now lying on top of the ladder. Reaching through the rungs he pulled the door closed and pulled down on the triangular lever which activated the locking mechanism. The sound of heavy bolts falling into position could be heard, followed by the hiss of the entire cabin becoming pressurised. He then reached above his head, and in one swift movement had pulled himself into his own position. They had now reached the point of no return, they were sealed in the capsule, and the next time they would leave the shuttle they would be on Epsilon Omega.
    The crew, now firmly secured into their seats, began to methodically press buttons on the consoles in front of them. As they did so, each section of the cockpit illuminated and sprang into life, the communication systems came on line.
    “T minus fifteen minutes and counting, all systems show green”
    By this time there was no inner excitement felt by the crew. To anyone observing the activities now in progress, it would appear that no attention was being paid to any of the communications being made between mission control and themselves. This, however, was not the case. As each of them went through their final checks to ensure that their stations were operating correctly, their senses were working in overdrive, every sight every sound was being digested and nothing was missed. From the very second that the door had been secured, the ground crews had been working feverishly to remove all of the superstructures that had been supporting the shuttle, and now it stood alone towering into the night sky. It was indeed a monument to modern technology.
    “T minus twelve minutes. All ground staff to vacate the area, repeat all ground staff to vacate the area”
    With this announcement all of the people who had been working around the base of the shuttle got into their support vehicles and a stream of headlight was seen driving away from the area. Within two minutes, there was no one there. The shuttle stood alone, floodlit in and eerie silence. The scene inside the cockpit was a complete contrast. The countdown operator had just announced that there was only ten minutes before lift off. Mission control went into its final check sequence. Five minutes later, Daniels opened a communication channel to control
    “All checks finalized and completed, everything on board 1472 alpha reads A,OK and we show green at all stations. We are entering final preparations and waiting go, over” “Roger that 1472” Came the reply. With this captain Daniels turned to his crew and instructed them to prepare for take off. Complying with his orders they secured all safety harnesses attached to their seats and placed their heads into the contoured headrests. With all of the checks and preparations now completed the crew lay motionless in their seats and awaited the inevitable.
    “All final checks and preparations complete, all systems show green, we are ready for go and counting from 15... 14... 13... 12... 11... Ignition... 9... 8... 7... All systems still read