by Bob Blanton
“Using thrusters,” Blake said. “He fired the thrusters until the Oryx was at a thirty- percent incline, then he pushed the throttle farther forward.”
“Speed Mach twelve; space engines at sixty percent; altitude forty-five thousand meters.”
Catie continued to read off the speed, engine power, and altitude until they were at Mach twenty and four hundred thousand meters in altitude. The engines were at seventy percent when Blake cut the power, and they slipped into orbit.
“This is the same orbital height as ISS II,” Catie said. “Dad is planning to put Delphi Station in a trailing orbit on the opposite side of Earth.”
“Same speed?” Blake asked.
“Has to be, the speed is defined by the orbit,” Catie said. “The higher the orbit, the lower the speed you need to maintain it. If you speed up, you’ll climb higher and continue to climb since gravity’s effect will drop as you climb. Soon you’ll just be drifting off toward Mars unless you get caught by the moon.”
“Right.”
Blake spent twenty minutes checking out the thrusters, then he flipped the ship and started decelerating, firing the engines in the direction they were traveling. “Twenty minutes until we hit atmosphere.”
“Okay. Are you going to ride her down on her tail until we start biting?”
“That’s the plan. Once we start getting a bit of air drag, I’ll drop her nose into the flight direction and start letting the drag slow us down. Keep an eye on the hull temperature. If it starts to heat up, I’ll take us up to where the drag falls off enough that the matrix can keep it cool.”
“Okay, shouldn’t be a problem, but I’ll keep an eye on it,” Catie said. “Speed Mach eighteen; engines at twenty percent; altitude three hundred fifty thousand meters; hull temp three hundred degrees C.”
“Speed Mach fifteen; engines at twenty percent; altitude two hundred eighty thousand meters; hull temp three hundred C.”
Catie kept reading off the data every thirty seconds as the Oryx descended toward the atmosphere. “Speed Mach eighteen; engines at twenty percent; altitude one hundred thousand meters; hull temp three hundred fifty C. You should be feeling some atmospheric resistance.”
“Just getting it now,” Blake said. “Leveling off into atmospheric flight pattern. Nose forward, wings level.”
“Speed Mach sixteen; engines at twenty percent; altitude seventy thousand meters; hull temp eight hundred C.”
“Speed Mach fourteen; engines at twenty percent; altitude fifty thousand meters; hull temp twelve hundred C.”
“Slowing our descent,” Blake announced.
“Speed Mach twelve; engines at thirty-five percent; altitude forty thousand meters; hull temp holding at twelve hundred C.”
“What’s our fuel status?”
“We’re at sixty percent reserves,” Catie announced. “Speed Mach ten; engines thirty percent; altitude thirty thousand meters; hull temp one thousand C. We should switch to atmospheric engines anytime now.”
“Speed Mach nine-point-five; engines at ten percent; altitude twenty-eight thousand meters; hull temp eight hundred C.”
“Switching to atmospheric engines,” Blake said as he toggled the engine switch to cut off fuel to the engines. Now they would only use the air being caught by the air scoop in front of the engines, pressurizing it and then forcing it through the coils which superheated it to four thousand C, causing it to expand and explode out the back of the engines.
“Alright, take us home,” Catie said. “Next trip, we’ll drop a load of oil off in Delphi Station’s orbital position.”
“Hey, we didn’t find any problems,” Blake said. “This was almost too easy.”
“That’s because we found all the problems on the ground,” Catie said. “We have that huge wind tunnel that we used to check out all the aerodynamics. We found a problem with the flaps there. Then the engines were tested a month ago, we redesigned the coil twice during that.”
“Then, I guess all that money we spend on the wind tunnel was worth it.”
“I call it good program planning.”
“Good thing you had someone managing that plan while you were off gallivanting around in space.”
“I only work with the best,” Catie laughed.
Fourth Flight
“We’re in orbit,” Blake announced. “Now, what?”
“Give her a little boost,” Catie said. “We’re about one hundred kilometers off of Delphi Station’s orbital position.”
Blake eased the throttle forward and let the Oryx accelerate for two minutes, then cut the engines again. “Thirty minutes to get into position,” he announced.
“Jerry, do you copy?” Catie called to their cargo man who was strapped in back in the cargo hold waiting to dump the load of petroleum they’d brought up.
“I copy.”
“We’re thirty minutes from target, do you need any help?”
“Missy, I can’t imagine what help I would need to turn on a valve,” Jerry replied.
“Copy that, I’ll let you know when we’re in position.”
“Did he have any problem with the transition to microgravity?” Blake asked.
“I’m afraid to ask,” Catie said. “He sounded like he usually does.”
“Oh, I recognized his sunny disposition right away,” Blake chuckled.
“So how is this going to work?” Blake asked. “Just pretend I don’t know.”
“Okay,” Catie sighed. “The nozzle will extend from the belly of the Oryx, and the oil will be ejected at about one-meter-per-second. Its surface tension will coalesce it into a ball. Eventually, it will freeze as it radiates its heat out into space. When we want to use it, they’ll just push the ball into place and put a pump on it. The pump will heat the oil up so it can be extracted. They’ll have to move the pump around every so often as most of the ball will remain frozen.”
“And you came up with all this on your own?”
“Well, ADI helped some. But this part was pretty easy.”
“Approaching position,” Blake said. “Flipping in ten.”
Blake flipped the Oryx so that the engines were pointing in their direction of travel, then he engaged them for two minutes to bring their speed back down to the orbital speed for Delphi Station.
“Jerry, we’re in position,” Catie announced after checking all the instruments. “You’re free to unload.”
“Unloading in thirty,” Jerry replied.
It took an hour to pump all the oil out of the Oryx. They sealed the ship back up and headed home. The return flight was uneventful.
“Alright, landing in five minutes,” Blake announced. “First load delivered, only six hundred forty-nine more to go.”
“Let’s hope we can manage them without drawing too much attention,” Catie said. “Who are you taking up next time for training?”
“I’m taking Fred up,” Blake said. “If you take him up on your flight, he’ll be qualified and ready to train the rest of the pilots, and we can go back to our day jobs.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Well, Jerry, how did you like space?” Blake asked as they deplaned. The ground crew already had a pump hooked up to the Oryx to fill it up with petroleum again.
“It wasn’t too bad. That microgravity thing was nothing,” Jerry said. “Just like swimming. Of course, I needed those lines to move myself around. I’m not so sure about these shipsuits we have to wear.”
Jerry was a rather portly man, and the shipsuit wrapped his body tightly, causing him to look pretty much like the Pillsbury Doughboy.
“I’m sure there are others who would agree with you,” Blake laughed. But, it sure beats those heavy and bulky suits the astronauts wear.
“But then you’d look a proper astronaut, not like some cartoon character.”
“There is that. You can put it in the suggestion box.”
“I’ll do that while I go to the bathroom,” Jerry laughed.
Chapter 13
Board Meeting –
July 8th
“I call this meeting to order,” Marc said. “Catie, why don’t you tell us how the test flights for the new Oryx have gone.”
“As everyone knows, we completed the test flights of the first Oryx last week. Uncle Blake and I took it through its test flight without any issues. The second Oryx came out of ground testing on Friday. It has completed the first three test flights and passed with flying colors. Tomorrow, it will do an orbital delivery as its last test flight. I don’t anticipate any issues, and if all goes as expected, it will rotate into the lift schedule. I believe Uncle Blake intends to start the twelve-hour schedule with the two of them so we can start microgravity production of the critical components we need here as well as those on the Delphi Station.”
“Way to steal my thunder,” Blake said.
“Oh, I’m sorry, were you expecting to surprise someone with that announcement?” Catie said, completely deadpanned.
Blake laughed at her. “No, I wasn’t. But you took care of half my update. Now everyone will think I’m goofing off.”
“We already know that,” Liz said.
“Okay, back on track,” Marc said. Although he like the banter, he needed to keep it under control, otherwise the meetings would last for hours. “How about the other aircraft?”
“We have produced six Lynxes,” Catie continued. “We’re going to stop there until we decide how many we want for standard aviation. I’ve started working with ADI on the design of the Foxes. They’re a direct adaptation of our existing Foxes but without the orbital capability. Currently, we are planning a limited run of eight, unless the board decides the situation demands more. I’ll let Uncle Blake explain the tradeoffs.”
“Thanks,” Blake whispered loudly.
“We also desperately need to add to the runway length or get the airport up,” Catie said.
“Why?” Marc asked.
“It’s pretty short for taking off in an Oryx with a full load. Most of our new pilots are electing to use fuel to get more boost to provide extra margin. You don’t want to hit the ski jump with a full load,” Catie said. “They’re completing their missions with less than twenty percent fuel reserves. I really would prefer that they fit the model Uncle Blake set of completing the mission with forty percent reserves.”
“I’m on it,” Blake said. “I’ll explain in my update.”
“Okay, Catie, anything else?”
“That’s it for now.”
“Dr. Metra,” Marc nodded at her.
“Nothing major to report. But I have asked Kal to start some basic testing of the refugees before we transport them here. We had several cases of tuberculosis in the last group, and I would prefer to isolate them before they share a plane with other refugees. We’ll be testing for tuberculosis, cholera, measles, hepatitis, and malaria. I’ll add to the list as we come across more diseases, and as I am able to create a quick test for them.”
“Are you going to reject them if they’re sick?” Catie asked.
“No, but we’ll treat them before we fly them here,” Kal said. “We want to minimize any spread of the disease.”
“I agree with that,” Marc said. “Blake, you’re up.”
“As Catie mentioned, we have the second Oryx into test flights. The third one has just started the ground base testing. It should be ready for its test flight this weekend.
“As she also mentioned, we’ll start doing some basic production during the lift missions. Each Oryx will stay in orbit for an additional eight hours on one of their runs so we can do some basic production while we’re up there. The schedules will be set so we can essentially have an eighteen-hour production window if we need one by skipping a lift with one of them. We’ve been doing some crew training on the flights so far, getting everyone used to operating in microgravity while the payload is being unloaded.
“Also, as Catie mentioned, we have to decide how much production to allocate to the Foxes since any material we put into them will not be available for the space station. But we all recognize we need to be able to defend our little area of the world.
“As for Delphi City, we’ve started the second section. We have quads one and four in place. Quad one will allow us to extend the runway, and we should be putting decking on it by midweek. Also, as I said before, we’re completing the quads around the center of our city plan so Catie can complete her park design. We’ll work on them starting this weekend. Kal tells me it will really help the community, plus we’ll be able to put a small luxury hotel there and bring in some tourists and potential immigration candidates.”
“It will definitely help with recruiting,” Samantha said.
“I’ve already been convinced to sign off on it during private negotiations,” Marc said, giving Catie a smile.
“Our airport is now officially under construction. We laid the pontoons for the first section last week and will be adding decking this week. We’re purposely not putting any major infrastructure under the runway to both expedite getting it laid, as well as to avoid exposing it to the jarring it would receive from aircraft landing and taking off. I’m hoping we have it ready for flights in four weeks. We’ll need to load them while they’re on the runway since there won’t be any other space available for a few more weeks. Planes will have to land in the city when they need maintenance, but we should really cut down on the traffic over here.”
“That sounds great,” Marc said. “I’m sure all of the pilots will love to hear both pieces of news regarding runways.”
“Everything else is on schedule per the weekly reports,” Blake said as he finished up his report.
“Okay, Kal, you’re up.”
“I met with the leaders in the community and have selected eight women to go to the police academy in Wellington: Four Arab women, three from the refugee group from Antigua, and the wife of one of our teachers. The training is sixteen weeks, they seem like a smart bunch, so I’m hopeful that there’s a chief of police there.”
“So, we have to wait sixteen weeks?” Samantha asked.
“The instructors at the academy have agreed to have half of them do eight weeks, then they’ll come back here and work until the next class starts. They’ll have to repeat the material, but it shouldn’t hurt them, and the experience they pick up here will help them learn more from the material when they review it. The other four will come back after the class finishes,” Kal reported.
“I like that,” Marc said. “How about the rest of security?”
“Security training is going well. I’ve instituted the command structure I mentioned earlier, and it’s really helping with performance and consistency. I’ve got more time for my other duties. Speaking of which, we’re doing well in the resettlement efforts, our refugees are fitting in very well. All of our agriculture and maintenance positions are filled. We’ve got a good daycare center up. The school is ramping up; we still need another five or six teachers, but the computerized coursework is filling the gap. We need to improve our recruiting.”
“Lynxes and a park,” Samantha said.
“Speaking of Lynxes,” Marc said, giving Samantha a look.
“Yes, I’ve gotten the New Zealand Aviation Ministry to certify the Lynxes; it’s contingent on an inspection of each plane. I am working with them and the governments of several countries to get reciprocal certifications.”
“That’s great. So, we can hop over to Auckland or Wellington anytime we want now,” Marc said, giving Samantha a smile.
“It will definitely improve our dining choices, as long as we have a pilot.”
“Are you suggesting I need to get certified?” Marc asked.
“Daddy, I’ve been telling you for months that you should.”
“Okay, I guess now I’m really motivated,” Marc said. “Anything else, Kal?”
“We do have one issue, food. Many of our refugees are importing their food because they don’t know if what we grow and produce here is halal or kosher,” Kal said.
“That’s right,” Cati
e said. “I have on my list to ask Sam if she would help me meet with the rabbi and the imam about the food. Everything I’ve been able to research says they should be okay with it, but it’s a delicate subject. We need to explain to them our processes and give them a tour. We will need to set up a process for them to do their thing.”
“We can coordinate schedules after the meeting,” Samantha said. “Oh, I see you’ve already found a slot. That works for me.”
“Catie, that’s something I would like to hear in your update,” Marc said.
“Why?” Catie asked. “It won’t be a problem unless they say no, and we won’t know that until we talk to them.”
“It’s important enough that you should give the board a heads up,” Marc said. “Someone else might have an idea or some special knowledge that might help.”
“Okay,” Catie said as she processed the new expectation.
“Liz, how are our scientists doing?” Marc asked to get the focus off of Catie.
“For those of you who didn’t hear the cheering or loud party in the lab building, the nuclear physicists managed to create a sustained a fusion reaction last Saturday,” Liz said. “They’ve been insufferable since. They are so happy and drunk with power that they want to start the design of an actual reactor. That new guy Catie suggested seems to have them hopping.”
“That is excellent news,” Marc said. “We’d really like to be able to introduce that to the world soon. Not only would it dramatically reduce carbon emissions, but it will change a lot of the economics as well. Low-cost power will help a lot of developing countries.”
“It might help to reduce the tensions with the major powers as well, or at least distract them while they figure out how to handle it,” Samantha said.
“I agree,” Marc said. “Fred?”
“Pilot training is going well,” Fred said. “We’re scheduled to build the matrices we need for more Oryxes at the end of next week. We should have new Oryxes coming off the line two weeks later.”
“That’s really is great,” Marc said. “If we hold to that schedule, I think we’ll be able to start station construction the first week of August.”
