[Writing] The last flight of Jebediah Kerman

[Salamander]

Oh, we have an FF board now? Siiiiiick. Here\'s something I whipped up real quick.

Kerbin rotated below them like the pinnacle jewel of an otherwise empty crown. The two other bodies that played out their celestial dance around it were rough slabs of granite by compare, ugly and dead. A shimmering constellation of satellites in every possible orbit passed them by, sometimes by a thousand yards or less.

Jebediah let his tool belt and his body float for a moment, not bothering to keep his hand on the railing as the flight director so often reprimanded him to.

“You’re a risk taker, Jeb,†Kranz had said shortly before the last rocket of his career blasted off. “-just don’t take any stupid risks. That’s all I ask.â€

While Jeb resented being told what to do, he also understood the directors words, somewhere in that dark part of his brain that still contained a molecule of reason. A molecule, but only that. There was a certain type of person who volunteered to be shot up on structurally dubious canisters of fuel, and the selection process to locate such a man did not favor those with a well developed sense of reason.

“KB-1, this is KB-2, ground wants an update on the EVA, over.â€

Jeb caught himself. He had been staring out at that wonderful blue and green marble, and slowly drifting farther away from his capsule.

“Roger KB-2. Almost done, five minutes at most, over.â€

With a deep sigh that only he could hear, Jebediah began to pull himself hand over hand by his tether, back towards the craft.

“Uh, KB-1? This is KB-3, I’ve got a really big splash in the pond. At least several kilometers in size. It’s matching our orbital path.â€

“Didn’t I tell you to have the techs fix that damn thing before we went up?â€

“They said they did…â€

His tools were right were he had left them. It was a shame that he was spending his very last flight as a simple mechanic, but there was not much else to do. There were no more great heroes left. No more places to explore for the first time. No more champagne to drink, no more girls to woo, no more parties to crash when he returned. Space travel was old hat now, and the public had turned its thinly stretched attention to other things.

As the last rivet on the solar panel ground its way into its socket, a shadow engulfed Jeb. He looked up immediately. His mind was well attuned to the dangers that inhabited this lonely stretch of space, where the atmosphere met the vacuum, and this interloper met none of the qualifications. The permanence of the shadow suggested it was far too large to be a wayward satellite, and neither was it an eclipse. The words of his trusty co-pilot echoed once more across his mind, mocking him. They said they did…

Miles below in the control bunker, Kranz spit coffee all over his monitor. Jeb’s last words filtered through a haze of static.

“It’s huge…â€

[Lord Wasteland]

Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, instead of 'It\'s Filled With Stars' its 'It\'s Huge'

Nice job, man.

[Salamander]

Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, instead of 'It\'s Filled With Stars' its 'It\'s Huge'

Nice job, man.

Danke. I think Harvey should put some aliens in KSP in future updates. It would be interesting.

[Lord Wasteland]

No, he should give us Daleks, Cybermen, Rifts, and Time Lords, as well as time machines...

[dogon11]

No, he should give us Daleks, Cybermen, Rifts, and Time Lords, as well as time machines...

YES.