Last Flight For Craggy

by Gary Weston

  Leo was a bright kid, always playing and laughing. As he grew up, I wanted Leo to be a freighter pilot like me. Get away from the rat race. But things were a lot different back then. The Moon only had a small settlement on it. It was a more miserable place than even now. Mars was nothing like it is now, just a bunch of small domes. Man, they had it tough back then. Pottsy was one of the first to call the dump home.

  Maria knew all that, and did all she could to persuade Leo to keep out of it. Boy did we have a few fights over that. Maria and I drifted apart. Understandable. I mean, I was never home. I just made sure they were provided for. But, in late twenty seventy six, I had a talk with Leo on a vidcam. He said things were getting bad on Earth. Talk of a fourth world war. He said he wanted to train as a freighter pilot and he'd talked his mother round.

  Because the Moon could only take a few each year, it was almost impossible to get a foot in the door. You can imagine the number of people wanting to escape Earth and make a fresh start. I pulled a whole bunch of strings and got him a place. He was due to come over in March of seventy seven.'

  'The hydrogen war was in February.'

  Cragg looked away from Dillow. 'One lousy month. I was on the Moon and we could see the missiles tearing the Earth apart. We all stood and watched it like it was some kind of firework display. One after the other, boom, boom. We could see the missiles landing, the flashes, the mushroom clouds. It lasted less than three days. Then it stopped. We ...none of us, could speak. We were numb. All of us had lost...' Cragg's chin wobbled and he wiped away a few tears as the horrors flooded his mind.

  Dillow said, 'I stood with my dad and all the others, watching it happen. I'd never seen him cry before, or since.'

  'We all cried. Leo was four months off his eighteenth birthday.' To have to stand and watch helplessly, knowing that his family, his wife and son, had been wiped out, and being unable even to say goodbye to them, was a pain that never went away. Dillow held his arm. She said nothing but like him, she had suffered the same way. Mere words had no meaning. She understood what he went through; what they still went through.

  Cragg took a deep breath, forced a smile and looked at her. 'Leo would have really fancied you. Who knows. If he had managed to come over...'

  'Who knows. If he was a chip off the old block, I'm sure I would have liked Leo, too.'

  Chapter 44

  In theory, it was simple. All the nineteen year old first time, unqualified solo pilot, flying a multi billion dollar ship had to do was land on a narrow runway that looked like a half finished theme park ride. But with the certificate over his bed proudly displaying the ninety two point average (simulator), Rocky Ramshorn knew all about theory.

  Everyone on Moon Base was lined up behind the safety barrier, watching the two ships flying in ever decreasing circles, coming ever closer to landing.

  'Take your time, Rocky,' said Cragg. 'Only go when you are ready.'

  'Thanks, Craggy. I could do without the audience down there.'

  'Ignore them. Every emergency vehicle on Moon is ready to help if need be. You won't need them, because you'll do this perfectly.'

  'Going for one more orbit, then I'm setting her down.'

  'Good luck,' said Dillow.

  'Thanks.'

  Rocky Ramshorn felt hundreds of pairs of eyes boring holes into him. Then he realised, if he were down there and some other rookie, perhaps one of his classmates, was about to do something this wild, he'd be the one with dropped jaw and eyes on stalks.

  Classmates. He thought of Amethyst Bouquet. She was in the year before him. Perfect, petite, sassy, teasing, and probably the most wonderful girl in the entire Universe. A pity she didn't like him. Always called him Sheepshorn, or Goatshorn. Giggled at him when she was with the other girls.

  He never stuttered, but anytime he was brave enough to talk to her, he stuttered like crazy. He wondered what it would be like to kiss her. She had a wide mouth, perhaps too generous for her small face. She always looked as if she were smiling, which she never seemed to do when looking at him.

  He was running out excuses. He had to land. 'Coming in,' he said.

  'Approach from the side, not from above,' said Cragg. 'You'll get a better view.'

  'Okay. I see the launch ramp. Opening landing thrusters.'

  'One half landing thrusters,' said Dillow.

  'Going one half thrust. I'm going right of the ramp, away from the spectators.'

  The landing thrusters blew a storm of grey dust away. 'Going to one quarter landing thrusters.' Rocky took the ship to the right of the launch ramp.

  'Rocky. This is Stella. There are direction sensors on the bottom of the ship. They line up with sensors on individual frequencies on the launch ramp. As they line up, they will bleep. The closer you get them lined up, the faster they'll bleep, until a continuous sound when bang on. You turn on the sensors with the yellow button, far top right on the consul.'

  'Got that. Turning on sensors now.'

  With his light touch with the controls, he manoeuvred the ship above the horizontal part of the ramp. He could hear the bleep bleep of the sensors. Forwards, they became slower. Backwards they sped up, until he had the continuous tone, telling him he was in the exact position with the ramp. Steadily, he reduced the output of the thrusters and the monster ship lowered gently down, until it sat perfectly on the ramp. He could now claim to be the first to land on the ramp. It felt good.

  When he opened the hatch, he could hear the cheering crowd. Angus was operating an extendible platform and Rocky got in the cage.

  When safely on the ground, Moon Base Commander Anton Forbes and Space Security Commander Lance Dillow were there to welcome him and congratulate him on a job well done. Not far away, Dillow and Cragg landed in the freighter.

  'I could never have done it without those two,' said Rocky.

  There was another rapturous welcome for Dillow and Cragg as they got out of the ship and walked over to the others.

  'Fantastic job, you two,' said Forbes.

  'I couldn't be a prouder father, Fawn.'

  Fawn hugged her father and he led her through the crowd. She paused and turned to Rocky. 'Not too shabby, Rocky.'

  'Thanks.'

  He left Forbes talking to Cragg and made his way through the people wanting to pat him on the back.

  'You were fizzing,' he heard somebody say. He turned to see Amethyst Bouquet. Even in a suit she looked amazing.

  'H H Hi.'

  'That was fizzing the way you landed that ship. Like you've been flying all your life.'

  'I I I bet you could have d d done it just as g g good.'

  'Hungry?'

  'Seriously hungry.'

  'Let me fix you a feed.'

  Amethyst hooked her arm through Rocky's and staked her claim, casting warning looks at the envious girls they passed.

  * * *

  'Craggy,' said Forbes. 'No way are you working in the sanitation department.'

  'That's what I get for a reward? No job?'

  'You get a job, all right. You are now the Cadet Special Training Captain.'

  'I am? Great. Just what I always wanted. What does it mean?'

  'You teach them everything the others don't. Like how to get themselves out of any crap they get themselves into.'

  'Hmm. From sanitation to crap. Sounds like a promotion to me. I'll take it.'

  'Good. But I want you to think it over for a few months.'

  'You do? Why?'

  'Because, if you fancy a trip to Mars with Dillow and Ramshorn, there's a place for you.'

  'On full captains pay?'

  'But of course. On one condition. You bring me some beer back.'

  'Don't I always?'

  Chapter 45

  'Me?'

  'I'm not taking us off, Rocky,' said Cragg.

  'Me neither,' said Dillow.

  'You want me to take off in a freighter with pods?'

  'Either that or we don't take off at all,' said Dillow.

  Crag
g said, 'Come on, Rocky. I'm not getting any younger.'

  'Come on, Rocky,' said Amethyst Bouquet. 'I can't wait to see Mars.'

  It was a special request from hero of the day Rocky Ramshorn to let Amethyst go with them. Forbes had been happy to allow it.

  'Okay. Buckle up. Oh. Dillow?'

  'Yes, Rocky?'

  'Are you ever going to give me my tickets?'

  'Depends. Get us to Mars and back in one piece, I'll have to think about it.'

  Dillow winked at the grinning Craggy and Rocky Ramshorn deftly waved his hands over the controls with the skill of an orchestra conductor, then the freighter with the train of pods gently lifted off the cradle, and blasted off into the heavens on a trip to Mars.

  * * *

  The landing was always going to be the big ask. After an uneventful trip, it was time for Rocky Ramshorn to test himself. Cragg and Dillow put on their best poker faces, anxious inside, calm, cool and collected on the surface. Amethyst Bouquet knew what was involved from her own training. She had seen Rocky land the ship loaded with marsillium. She had always liked Rocky, but her underlying shyness had her putting on a cover of cool indifference towards him. That he'd even looked twice at her when he had dozens of girls drooling over the space hero, wasn't an opportunity she was about to question.

  Rocky had had little in the way of coaching from either Dillow or Cragg. He knew all the theory, so it was just a question of putting it all into practice. Somewhere deep in his mind he was sure they would jump in to help if the need arose.

  'Heat shield deployed.'

  The Martian atmosphere entry was preset by the computers. There was a soft roar as the temperature of the shield rose. It took eleven minutes of rushing towards Mars, before they could pull up for safe orbiting prior to landing. Rocky gradually reduced the power from the plasma engines, on a final orbit.

  'Heat shield retracted. Freighter pilot Rocky Ramshorn requesting permission to land.'

  'Permission granted, pilot Ramshorn,' came the reply.

  Rocky took the freighter to a slow cruising speed, for the final leg of the journey. He glanced briefly at Amethyst at his left hand side and smiled, hoping he portrayed a confident persona. Then he obliterated everything from his mind to concentrate on the job in hand.

  Amethyst wanted to say something encouraging and supportive as he brought the new freighter with the line of ten pods in from the final orbit. He needed to be totally focused as he lined up the ship on the concrete pad and the pods on the cradle.

  Cragg had seen the lad control the ship using the mysterious coloured sensors, with subtle hand movements, totally in command and understanding the ship as a complete entity, an extension of himself. It had only been four months since he had tried to master the same type of controls on the ship, and avoided crashing it into Westmont by the skin of his teeth.

  For all his tender years, Rocky was a natural freighter pilot and Dillow would undoubtedly be signing off his tickets, giving him Freighter Captain first class status. These young people gave him a glimmer of hope for the future of their species. He would ride along on their coattails for as long as they'd let him.

  Freighter Captain first class Fawn Dillow had been in a reflective mood for most of the trip, the realisation that Earth was beyond, and probably not even worth saving, was a bitter pill to swallow. West and East had come out in all out war now, and Moon and Mars no longer took an active interest in their inevitable self destruction.

  It was too late to bring Earth back from the brink, as sad as that fact was. It was up to a few thousand Moon and Mars dwellers to turn hostile environments into homes to raise future generations. The glow of young love between Rocky and Amethyst gave her hope for the future.

  'Are you okay, Rocky?'

  'Just making sure the positioning is right, Dillow. Setting her down now.'

  Cragg and Dillow held their breaths, but showed nothing but a calm and confident exterior. There wasn't even the slightest feeling of touching down.

  'Good job, Rocky,' said Cragg, fitting his helmet. 'Dillow, Bouquet, I'd like us to check how the pods unlock. I know they're the new design, but they've hardly had much use. Rocky, listen out for my instructions.'

  Cragg led the others through the airlock. 'Excited, Amethyst? First time on Mars?'

  'I can't believe I'm here.'

  'Careful as you step down,' said Dillow. 'The sand can be surprisingly deep in places.'

  Cragg said, 'If I disappear, don't jump on my head.' He led the way outside. 'Scotty?'

  From high up out of sight came a voice. 'Rosy.'

  'Thank God. A woman in charge. Nice to meet you, Rosy. I'm Cragg, but you can call me Craggy.''

  'I've heard about you.'

  'It isn't true. I never did it.'

  'Did what?'

  'Whatever I was accused of doing.'

  'Rosy. Fawn Dillow here. Do what I do with Craggy and ignore him. Are you ready to unload the pods?'

  'When you are.'

  'Rocky. Unlock the pods.'

  'All pods unlocked,' said Rocky.

  Cragg said, 'Rocky. We are going to take a quick look to confirm all the locks have opened before the grabber takes them off. If you could put the luggage in the airlock in the meantime, that will be helpful.'

  'Got that, Craggy.'

  Cragg, Dillow and Amethyst climbed the steps to the catwalk that ran along the cradle.

  Dillow said, 'Amethyst. See how the locks have fully swung over? That's what we want. Never completely rely on the ships instrumentation. I found that out the hard way.'

  A quick walk along the catwalk told them all the pod locks had disengaged completely. They walked back along the catwalk and down the steps.

  Dillow said, 'Rocky. All good here. Complete the shutdown procedure and join us.'

  Four minutes later, Rocky opened the airlock and walked down the ramp.

  Cragg said, 'You have one more thing to do. The grabber operator is up there in that cab. Her name is Rosy. Say hi and give her the okay to unload the pods.'

  'Rosy? Rocky Ramshorn here. All pod locks are disengaged and okay to unload, please.'

  'Please? You didn't get that from Old Craggy. Okay. I'll meet up with you all later.'

  A buggy was ploughing up dust as it sped towards them. The driver pulled up a few metres from them and flipped his black visor off his helmet.

  'Frosty. Nice to see you again,' said Cragg.

  Todd Frost said, 'From what I heard, it's a wonder you're here at all. A close call, I gather.'

  'Not one to be repeated in a hurry. You already know Captain Fawn Dillow. And this young man is going to be an ace pilot in no time at all. Rocky Ramshorn. And this delightful young lady is Amethyst Bouquet.'

  'Nice to meet all of you. Put the luggage in the back and jump on.'

  With the luggage loaded, Frost drove them to Base Three passing the pod carrier on their way. The huge airlock door opened and Frost parked up. They all grabbed the luggage as the outer door closed, and then they went through the inner door.

  'Wow!' said Amethyst at her first sight of the Base Three interior. 'Fizzing.'

  'Fizzing,' agreed Rocky.

  Frosty said, 'Glad our place is fizzy. Time for a beer?'

  Rocky and Amethyst looked at Cragg and Dillow.

  'We can drink beer?' asked Rocky, unsure.

  'Yeah,' said Cragg. 'Just don't mention it on Moon or they'll have me shot for leading teenagers astray.'

  'In moderation,' said Dillow with a warning waggle of her pointy finger.

  'They'll shoot me in moderation?' said Cragg.

  'Behave, you.'

  'Got swimming costumes for a soak in the pool?' Frosty asked.

  'I wondered why Dillow told us to pack those,' said Amethyst.

  'You two have rooms next to each other. Two seven one and two, just along there. Drop your gear in there, put your togs on and come get a beer in the communal lounge over there.'

  'Thanks.'

  Frosty
watched the teenagers walking along the central path, pointing at the sights, especially the jungle.

  'Why have I suddenly aged twenty years?' said Frosty.

  'They have that effect on all us oldies,' said Cragg. 'You mentioned a beer?'

  Frosty said, 'Plenty in the lounge. Why don't you two freshen up and help yourself. I have some work to do, but I have half an hour or so, so I'll see you in there.'

  Chapter 46

  In the lounge, beers were handed out and Dillow and Cragg helped themselves to a feed of fish from the food trays resting in the steaming vats then added some fresh greens.

  'Nothing like home cooked food,' said Dillow.

  'And this is nothing like home cooked food,' quipped Frosty. 'That was quite an adventure you guys had.'

  'A bit hairy,' admitted Cragg. 'I'll not be flying a ship again, I know that much.'

  'We have some good young pilots coming through, so we'll be fine,' said Frosty.

  Cragg said, 'I'll still be involved with the training program, so that will keep me on my toes.'

  'Good for you, Craggy,' said Frosty. 'It'd be a shame to lose all that hard won experience. It looks like the Earth is at it again.'

  'Why they are so determined to kill themselves off defies logic,' said Dillow. 'Here's the rest of us, battling every day just to survive.'

  'It's almost like they're a different species,' added Craggy, swilling the beer around in his mouth hoping his taste buds would survive the experience. 'Hello you two. All set for a dip?'

  'Can't wait,' said Rocky.

  Frosty raided the fridge for two beers and handed them to the youngsters. 'Here you go. It takes some getting used to. If you go out the door there, take a right, you'll see a path heading into the jungle. That leads to the pool. Have fun.' As the teenagers walked off, Frosty said, 'They make a charming couple.'

  'Don't they just,' agreed Dillow.

  'Ah. Here's Commander Potts and his wife. I have to get going, so have a chat with them.'

  Potts and his wife saw them and joined them as Frost went about his business. 'Hello, Craggy. Captain Dillow. I don't think you met my wife Marcia last time you were here.'