Alpha 1472 Read Online Free PDF Page B

green...5...releasing docking clamps ... 3... 2 ...1 ... we have lift off at 1400 hours, 1472 alpha is clear of the launch pad and on her way, we have a go, good luck to you all”
    Over the speakers, the crew could hear cheers and celebrations from mission control as they seared through the night sky towards space. As the beast rose into the night, they could feel their faces being pulled and contorted under the immense G forces that were being exerted upon their bodies. Though the roar of the engines they could hear the sound of the operations back at mission control.
    “Vector calculations are now complete, opening window sub sector alpha 92, grid 74.”
    With this conformation, the series of satellites that orbited the planet, systematically begun to shut down creating a window through which the shuttle would pass. Within seconds the craft rolled over and passed through the unseen portal. Ground control then re-activated the grid to seal the window. Everyone on the ground, and indeed around the world watched via television as they ascended through the patchy cloud cover and disappeared from view, after a few minutes the only evidence left of the shuttle was the tell tale plume of smoke arcing off into space.
    Before departing for Epsilon Omega, mission control had scheduled them for two orbits of the planet; these were to be made under the guidance of the computers back on the ground. This gave the crew chance to sit and look through the window and marvel at the sight of their world passing by below them. Positioned around the globe was a network of sophisticated satellites, each one interlinked and interdependent o f the next. All of them were travelling in a precise geostationary orbit five hundred miles above the surface. This network had been in place since the sun of the planet had turned supernova. It had been a time when the future of the planet was in jeopardy. The resulting affect of the stars collapse was to throw them into deep space, placing it on an elliptical orbit of immense proportions. Many hardships ensued, tidal waves, hurricanes and finally an ice age set in. during the time between the holocaust and the installation of the first network, which had been patchy at best, the satellites that they had managed to launch gave only minimal coverage for the planet. As time progressed and technology advanced, the system was updated regularly. The network was, in time redesigned and upgraded to cover many purposes, not least to provide an atmosphere for the stricken planet. At the heart of each satellite lay a nuclear reactor which provided each unit with enough power to create ample light and heat to sustain the, now artificial atmosphere. The weather for the planet was now controlled through the vast computer network housed within the offices of the meteorological centers around the world. Now thankfully, the only thing that was necessary to maintain coverage was an ongoing program of maintenance and replacement.
    In recent years, problems had begun to return to the planet. At first scientists believed that the fault lay with the network that for so long had protected them, however, extensive research had revealed that the source of their meteorological and geological discrepancies were the direct result of a slowing in the rotation rate of the planet itself. To correct the problem it had been decided that a radical new addition the network had to be introduced. The space facing side of each unit had been fitted with a directional neutron particle beam, which when activated, gave the planet the propulsion it needed to maintain the optimum rate of spin. It had also been found that the newly upgraded system now yielded unexpected benefits that were of extreme interest to alpha division, this was planetary defence. Another reason for the existence of alpha division was to minimize the effect of space debris entering their atmosphere and falling to the surface, this problem had until recently been the main course