Burnt Ice Read Online Free PDF Page B

then clambered aboard a small Orbital
lifter.
     
    They were the only passengers for
the flight; the heavy equipment they had loaded the evening before had been
strapped to the deck plates behind them. Marko walked under the cabin anchor
points and lifted his pack up, pressing the deploy toggle as his colleagues did
the same. The clips swung up and self-locked, the pack unrolling itself to its
fullest extent. He picked up the other end and held it up against the ceiling
so the clips could lock themselves on. He sat in the hammock and pulled his
collapsible helmet out of its pocket, put it on and then checked all the
systems.
     
    ‘Morning, folks. This is Erica,
your local pilot. Everything squared away? Sound off when ready and we’ll lift.’
     
    They all spoke their names and
then settled into the hammocks, which slowly folded themselves around each
person, placing them in an optimum acceleration position. Marko was still
fascinated by the way a beautiful, pliable, soft piece of fabric could go
ceramic-hard in seconds to protect its occupant from just about anything,
including hard vacuum and explosive damage — the pack even had a parachute
built into it.
     
    As the pilot told the small ship
to lift and gave it the Orbital’s coordinates, the live feeds from all over the
ship came online. Marko picked up the feed from the co-pilot’s seat to view
proceedings. The flight crew was nestled in microships inside the main cockpit:
the seats almost totally enclosed each crew member. Marko had taken one apart
when he was a youth — they were really amazing pieces of technology. They could
keep the occupant alive even if they had sustained serious injuries, fly
considerable distances, enter atmosphere, and land the occupant safely. Built
into them was a whole range of micro equipment that would generate oxygen,
create water, carbohydrates, and even medical drugs, as long as the necessary
raw materials could be found and fed into them. Marko thought that it was nice
to know that the Administration still regarded flight crews as worth keeping
alive. And all those in the service who were not piloting had their hammocks,
which they considered much better than just the acceleration seats and
harnesses that the civvies had to put up with.
     
    The craft climbed up through the
atmosphere on high-powered AG units, quickly accelerating until the
hydrogen-augmented ramjets kicked in and really booted it hard into orbit.
     
    A couple of hours later they
docked with one of the smaller orbital vehicle servicing units and transferred
their equipment across to the skeletal, Type Zero atmosphere shuttle — which
had been allocated for the survey and investigation — after thanking Erica and
her crew for the lift.
     
    Harry and the captain propelled
themselves into the cockpit to start their vehicle checks. The rest of them
stored their personal equipment and then hooked up their hammocks in the
communal sleeping area. Jan checked the contents of the refrigerators,
freezers, dried food lockers and fresh food stores. Fritz checked the
navigational equipment then sorted and helped Marko plug in and test all their
investigative and survey equipment. They then hard-suited before both EV-ed,
placed, then locked the deployable survey gear on the exterior of the craft.
Once back inside they went through the remainder of their individual
checklists.
     
    Jan found that one of the medical
packs had expired, so she returned to the station, signed out a replacement,
and then swung by the dry canteen, grabbed extra ice cream and stocked up on
chocolate as well. Her return earned a round of smiles in appreciation. The
crew then sorted the last few check-offs while the water tanks were topped up.
     
    ‘Marko, we’re showing as good to
go. Seal, lock and disconnect us please.’
     
    ‘Bridge, we are sealed, locked
and disconnected. Comms umbilical remaining.’
     
    ‘Orbital, this is Longbow. We’re
ready to depart on flight plan LA1164.