Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (22 page)

Behind
them, the air car rotated lazily on the carpeted turntable
and
was inserted in the tube on the opposite side of the corridor for a
return trip. Hissing as it was released, the empty car accelerated
silently away.

The
corridor ceiling was higher here, almost two levels tall. Four, w
ide
moving walkways, stretched from where they were standing to the
upper level balcony, for boarding and off-loading passengers to the
shuttles in the flight bay. The doors to the bay on the balcony were
closed. There wouldn't be any planet tours for at least a couple of
weeks yet.

The
intuitive Shepherd led the pilots between the walkways and to
the
flight bay's crew door, on the main level, underneath the balcony.
Any one of their private security codes would admit them into the
bay. Brian did the honors of working the chirping keypad. The heavy
airtight door slid open with a woosh, and a wall of warm, stale air
greeted them. The pilots recognized the thick smell of lubricants,
fuel and electronics, commonly associated with aircraft and other
large machinery. They felt immediately at home when they stepped
through the doorway and into the thick air of the flight bay.

Jack
had no idea which part of the bay they had been in when they
first
arrived but in contrast, this area was well lit and teeming with
life. They headed for the control tower which stood on the other
side of the shuttle boarding ramp. The tower looked like a huge
pillar stretching from the deck to the ceiling far above, with a
glass flying saucer impaled in the middle of it. Jack correctly
assumed the glass saucer was flight control. Off to the right sat a
shuttle looking overused and aged, gaping holes where panels ought
to be.

Contemplating
its cause of demise, the pilots paused and gazed at
the
silent ship like a huge, dead animal. In such disrepair, it was
difficult to tell what it really looked like when whole.

An
automaton whizzed past, pushing an anti-grav cargo pad. Close
enough
to prompt him to step back, Brian wheeled about, "Hey, you
overgrown tin can, watch what the hell you're doing!" It did
not slow or acknowledge his presence.

"
HEY
!"
The voice came from above and the pilots turned to search for
its
owner. He stood on the walkway that ringed the glass saucer part of
the control tower. He leaned over the rail, "Get to that
training simulator and quit bothering my work bots!"

He
seemed to demand respect and Jack didn't want to start off on
the
wrong foot. "Yes, sir, where might we find it?"

The
man pointed further towards the stern, "Five bays down on your
right
and hurry up. You're late!"

Paul,
Mike and Derrik, saluted out of habit, Jack out of courtesy.
Brian
and Maria simply followed suit as a matter of decorum. Six pilots
turned in unison and trotted towards their destination. Fritz loped
along behind, his nose trying to identify the odd scents and new
surroundings.

Their
flight boots clomping on the steel flight deck, the pilots
covered
the distance to the simulator bay in short time. Halting just
outside bay six, they were confronted by a short Saurian with pale
gray skin and a furrowed brow. He stood before them, hands on hips,
in clean, white work coveralls. Simply put, he did not look happy.
"About time!" he barked like a drill sergeant. "Don't
stand there like a herd of stupid Bardigs. Get your butts in here
and let's get to work." He turned and waddled on his short legs
into the bay filled with electronics. The simulator pod stood on an
articulated pedestal in the center of the bay, connected by
umbilical cords to the Saurian's huge control console.

"Pilots,"
he harumphed to himself, "pains in the ass... and keep that
hairy
thing
out of my bay," he said, pointing to Fritz. Jack thought about
responding to this unkind attack but was interrupted by Maria's tug
at his elbow. He ordered the Shepherd to remain at the doorway.
Obediently the dog obliged, finding himself a comfortable place to
sit and watch the traffic go by. The Saurian continued, "My
name is Tee and you will address me as such. I am a technician, not
an officer, so you will not salute me or call me sir. Understand?"
He did not wait for an answer, "Good. Two of you will stay with
me the rest will go with CABL 12 here, and he'll show you a shuttle,
inside and out."

CABL
12 stepped out of the training simulator, "It's ready now,
Tee."
CABL 12's voice was raspy and metallic, he looked cold and lifeless,
different from CABL 5, yet the same. True, both were CABLs, but 12
lacked the animation the pilots noticed in 5. Derrik and Maria opted
to go into the simulator first.

Jack,
Brian, Mike and Paul, followed CABL 12 through the flight
bay.
Ahead of them, Jack could see the noses of several shuttles,
sticking out past the end of their bays. He was a little puzzled.
"Y'know, the first ship we saw back there..." he thumbed
back in the direction of the old shuttle, near the control tower,
"seemed a bit smaller..."

CABL
12 nodded mechanically, "Shorter Commander, no engines. We use
it
for
parts." It became clearer to Jack and the others not all CABLs
had the same personality either, CABL 5 had been outgoing and
friendly, while CABL 12 seemed barely alive.

Mike
interrupted Jack's train of thought.
"Wow,"
said Warren, stopping abruptly, "what's that?" The others
stopped
to follow his gaze into a nearby storage bay. The dimly lit bay,
held another training simulator, much smaller than the shuttle
simulator they were using. This one was also slimmer, more
streamlined. Instead of a side
passenger
style
entry, it had a fighter craft type, canopy entry.

"It's
not ours, Commander," said CABL 12.

Pappy,
accustomed to achieving results through rank, took over and
applied
pressure. "Didn't ask who's it was, CABL 12, we asked what it
was. Answer the question please."

"Yes,
Commander. It's an interceptor flight simulator going to a small
training
outpost in the Ridargos System. It can simulate four different craft
and their assorted compatible armament, as well as an unlimited
number of combat situations."

"Is
it operational?" asked Jack.

"Yes,
Commander." The four pilots grinned at each other. "Shall
we
continue?"
asked CABL 12, coldly.

"By
all means," said Jack. They let CABL 12 walk ahead so they
could
talk
with some amount of privacy. "I don't know about you guys, but
that's
what I want to learn how to fly." They all agreed.

"D'ya
think between the six of us, we could figure out how to use
the
programming console?"

"Sure,
Mike," said Pappy. "All we gotta' do is, while two of us
are
in
the train-sim, the other two watch Tee to see what he does."

Brian
shrugged, "Sounds like a plan to me!" In an effort to
work
the
bugs out of their plan, they discussed the details in hushed tones
as they followed CABL 12.

The
shuttle was wide and low, its landing legs were so short, to
pass
under the craft would require crawling. The nose, although tapered
was short and blunt. Cockpit glass, severely sloped, was large
enough for good visibility even on the sides. The long
semi-rectangular hull held fifty people comfortably. The engines
were fixed to the sides of the hull at the stern of the ship. On the
top of each of the two engine nacelles was a gracefully back-swept
tail about nine feet tall. The only wings were two, four foot stubs,
up near the cockpit, forward of the boarding hatch. Since the
shuttle flew mostly by anti-gravity technology in atmospheric
flight, a great amount of wing surface was not needed. The fins and
tails were primarily required for stability during forward flight.

All
in all, she wasn't a bad looking ship, a bit brutish maybe but
not
unattractive. Jack noticed some minor differences between some of
the other nearby ships but nothing major. CABL 12 explained this was
because some of the units could be modified with attachments for
military use, others could not. After a thorough look, their
questions answered, they returned to the shuttle simulator bay.

Derrik
and Maria were stepping out of the simulator when Jack
walked
into the bay with Paul, Brian and Mike. CABL 12 was instructed by
Tee, to take Derrik and Maria to see a shuttle while the others took
their turns at the controls of the training unit. Pappy and Mike
headed for the hatch of the simulator while Jack and Brian put their
plan to work. Jack grabbed Derrik's arm as he passed, "Check
out what's in bay eleven, I'll explain later..." he whispered.
He let Derrik go.

Jack
and Brian watched every move Tee made on the huge control
console,
and when they got their turn at the train-sim, Mike and Pappy took
over. By the end of their training period for the day, they felt
they knew the console well enough to run it on their own.

Tee
stepped out from behind the console to address the six-pilot
class,
the Saurian's face lined with a perpetual frown. "You will be
here on time tomorrow. Your skills are pathetic, and you need
practice so bad, you should spend
all
your spare time in this simulator." He turned and plodded away,
muttering, "Pilots, hummph, waste of time, pains in the ass..."
He turned abruptly and spoke aloud, pointing to Fritz, "And
leave that ugly, hairy beast someplace else tomorrow!"

"That
does it!" growled Jack. Maria grabbed him with both hands but
could
not maintain her grip on his arm. He pulled loose with little effort
and strode over to the defiant Saurian, snarling like an angry
wolf... "
Listen
,
you sour, shriveled, little
prick
!
I don't know who you think you are, but
we
don't take this kind of shit from
anyone
!"
Jack punctuated his point by prodding Tee's chest with his index
finger. "You make
nice
,
or I'm gonna' tear off your putrid little head and use it for a
bowling ball!
Got
it?"
The Saurians eyes were wide with surprise. "And one more crack
about my friend here..." Jack gestured to Fritz, who was
barring Tee's retreat, "and I'll
feed
you to him... understand?" Fritz, watching through sparkling
brown eyes, took his cue well. He pinned his ears back and displayed
his teeth, adding a little guttural rumble.

Saurians
were sarcastic and cocky by nature, which could prove
to
be unwise in some situations, but they could never be accused of
being blatantly stupid. Between this large human, a race he knew to
be extremely dangerous, and his subhuman but obviously intelligent
companion, Tee suddenly realized it would have been much wiser to
hold his tongue. He had no idea what bowling was, but he was sure he
wouldn't like it... especially since it entailed the removal of his
head. Not wishing to be eaten or torn asunder, his demeanor quickly
softened, "I beg your forgiveness, Commander, you are, of
course, right. My attitude has been inexcusable, please accept my
apology... to all of you."

Jack
nodded and motioned to Fritz, who strolled to his side, past
Tee.
The Saurian turned and hurried out which exaggerated his curious
little waddle. No sooner had he cleared the doorway, than the pilots
broke into laughter.

"Think
he bought it?" said Jack, with a broad grin.

"Hook,
line and sinker!" chuckled Brian.

“
You
are
evil," commented Paul.

"Bloody
horrible little bastard deserved it," said Derrik with an
offhand
wave.