Hundeerde Orbit — Wayfarer
Eight Houndswifts, canopies down, pilots strapped in, instructor in the back seat, and engines live. Today it was Timo’s turn and a great honour to lead Red-Wing out with the designated callsign Red-One, on the Wing’s first ever flight out into real space. This was now the culmination of several months of intensive training, first on the ground at Theden, and the last seven months with many hours of simulator training.
He was ready. The rest were ready.
Lewis: Red-Wing—Comms-One, prepare for departure vectoring, report in!
Timo wiggled his butt firmly back in his seat and thumbed his radio.
Timo: Comms-One this is Red-One, I am so ready and stan-ding-by!
The seven remaining pilots also called in, ready and standing by.
Lewis: Red-One!—Comms-One, you are cleared for departure, port-side curtain. You lead.
Timo: Comms-One!—Red-One, I just want to say for the record, that this is the best day of my entire life and I would like it noted in the official log.
Lewis: Red-One—Comms-One, achievement noted.
Take them out, Mr. Rattenfänger!
Then, with just enough throttle, Timo lifted his Houndswift up off the flight deck and nosed forward, his real nose and whiskers quivering in anticipation as the Houndswift slipped through the curtain, and out into space. Real and actual space for the very first time. This was real flying, with the cadets fully in charge and in control of their craft. The instructor in the back seat would remain silent, and only intervene if, and when, absolutely necessary for the safety of crew or craft.
Scott, playing tag-team communications with Lewis, was watching the plot screen. Soon all eight pilots of Red-Wing were assembled at the prearranged holding point, near Tind. The mission was to be a straightforward, triangular flight, with three waypoints, around Vandra, Skerry, and finally returning to Tind.
Scott: Red-Wing—Comms-Two, we have you confirmed at holding point. Red-One, you are cleared to commence lunar triangulation.
Timo: Comms-Two—Red-One, acknowledged.
Red-Wing! Route formation, bearing 2-5-7, mark 0-3. Vandra hard limit, bearing 2-6-0, mark 0-1. Advise lunar impact bearing 2-6-3, mark negative 1.0.
Scott: Red-One—Comms-Two, acknowledged your current vector is right down the middle.
Timo: Red-Wing—Red-One, advise route bearing will progressively tighten to 2-6-0 at terminal approach.
Scott turned in his chair to Lewis.
Scott: He’s going even tighter than Seb. Right on the limit.
Lewis sat back in his chair and pushed his glasses up his nose.
Lewis: Yup.
As Red-Wing approached Vandra, Timo continued to tighten the formation’s bearing. As they approached both the terminal capture point and the hard bearing limit, the instructor in Timo’s back seat moved his paw ever-so-slightly closer to the control stick.
Timo: Red-Wing! Tight formation!
Capture at bearing two-six-zero! Mark! Negative zero-decimal-nine!
Balls to the wall, boys, we’re goin’ round! Yee-hah!
And around they certainly went, looping around Vandra, right on the absolute hard limit for the mission, but not a fraction of a degree over it. All the pilots felt the maximum G force press against them, as the Red-Wing formation made the turn. They flung themselves out from behind Vandra and headed for Skerry, located just inside the inner rings of Hundeerde.
Timo’s lead turn around Skerry was made just as tight, the rocky surface below looking very unforgiving indeed as it flashed by. However, for a pilot who had flown a fibreglass glider within metres of Graufelswand and then made a complete orbit of the Graufels summit, a little rocky moon did not seem quite so intimidating.
Soon Red-Wing were rounding Tind, its high peaks clearly visible as they swept past.
Timo: Red-Wing—Red-One, hold at rendezvous 39-Alpha.
Comms-Two—Red-One, request docking vectors for Wayfarer.
Scott: Red-One—Comms-Two, you are cleared for docking starboard portal.
Timo then led Red-Wing back to Wayfarer, slipping once more, one by one through the starboard portal curtain.
As each Houndswift settled on the flight deck and each canopy raised, Timo couldn’t help but look across to his fellow wing mates and pump his fist in victory, receiving many in return.
Later — Instructor’s Debriefing
Klaus: Those glider boys sure do know how to pull a max-rate turn!
The other instructors all nodded in sage agreement.
Orbital Mechanics Class
Following the high of their first real flight, Red-Wing found themselves that afternoon back in class listening to a lecture on orbital mechanics. Not that the subject wasn’t important, but it was a slightly unglamorous comedown after pulling max G’s around the far side of Vandra before lunch.
For even the most attentive of the group, maintaining one’s full attention against the combined drone of the lecturer and the ventilation system was proving more and more difficult.
“And therefore, applying the vis-viva equation—”
One cadet in particular was usually precision personified: upright bearing, sharp uniform, crisp salutes, and highly attentive to the smallest of details. The lecturer continued on with relentless determination, oblivious to the drifting attention of the class. The cadet’s upright bearing in his seat began to degrade to the point where, if anyone had been paying close attention, they would have seen a definite sway. The battle between alert consciousness and sleep finally swayed in favour of the latter.
In a graceful arc, Hans swayed just a little too far to maintain his sitting balance and ended up colliding with Scott’s shoulder.
Scott: Hey, Hans!
Startled, Hans sat bolt upright again.
Hans: Huh! What?!
Toby: Reckon you drifted off, mate!
As the classroom erupted into laughter, the instructor briefly lost his place in the lecture, before picking it up again and resuming his stupefying drone.
Intermediate flight training proceeded through the next few months, extending and consolidating the skills of the pilots in both real flights and further simulation sessions. The communication cadets also honed their skills, providing Red-Wing with essential mission support both in real-time flight dynamics and mission analysis.
Viewport
Both Seb and Raven had found themselves once again standing together at the viewport, watching Hundeerde slowly slip by as the Wayfarer made its regular orbits. It was a scene that never really grew old, and it was a great place just to stand quietly and process whatever happened to be on one’s mind that day.
Seb: The Skipper has always called us Red-Wing.
Raven: Yeah. I’ve noticed.
Seb: It’s like he is flying with us every day.
Raven: Yeah, it is.
Seb paused for a few moments lost in his own thoughts.
Seb: Do you think the Skipper knows about Red?
Raven did not answer straight away.
Raven: It’s possible.
As the Wayfarer continued its orbit, the sun slipped below the horizon, revealing the night side of Hundeerde. Seb continued to look out at the starscape as the full cosmic array blinked into view. Then the same three stars that Charlie had put on his fifteenth birthday cake and the same ones he had noticed out the window that day, appeared once more — three stars for his family, James, Katrín, and Davíð.
Seb: There are more stars up here than I ever imagined.
Raven: The stars have always been there, but sometimes things only become visible once you’ve flown high enough to see them.
