Tales From the Swan: The Eagles and the Senator

[steuben]

Gilely Kerbin watched the telltale light by the airlock. It turned yellow with the clang from outside. She caught the sight of one of the hummingbirds, the craft used to move cargo pods, as it went back to the cargo ship that had just arrived. The light blinked for a couple of seconds then turned a solid green. She pushed herself over to the door. She uncorked the whistle hole. It was silent. She replaced the cork and undogged the hatch.

 

On the other side was a stern looking kerbal. It looked like his face was frozen in a permanent slight scowl, like he disapproved of everything he saw.

Gilely reached through the airlock. “Welcome aboard the Eagle’s Nest senator,” she said.

 

The senator took her hand. He was pulled through the lock with easy grace learned in microgravity. The two other occupants of the capsule came through the lock after him.

 

One left the second helmet he carried floating motionless by the senator’s elbow.  The other left a duffel bag floating by the senator’s knee. The one that had left the duffel bag paused at the door to the rest of the station.

 

“You riding back with us, senator?” she asked.

 

“No,” the senator shook his head. He stopped and swallowed hard. “I will be taking the rotation shuttle back.”

 

“Too bad, it’s just as good a ride.” She tossed a small bottle.  “These will help.  Catch you on the brown side.” She floated out the door.

 

Gilely caught the bottle. The senator looked at it.

 

“I’ve never been motion sick in my life.”

 

“Neither had I,” Gilely said. She placed the bottle in a leg pocket. “I got a really bad case a couple of rotations back.” She grabbed the helmet and the duffel bag. “Almost had to be sent down in one of the supply pods. It cleared up after a few days. But, it was one of the worst weeks of my life.”

 

She gestured with the helmet.

 

“The captain is in ops right now. We have one of the plant haulers docking. They were in the pattern after you.” She looked at the senator, “or you can get settled in your quarters.”

 

“No. I’ll see the captain first.” He pushed off to the door.

 

“Slowly, sir. You don’t need to push as hard as you think.” She followed behind him.

 

They floated through the corridors to the operations centre. The captain looked up from the plotting table at the hatch.

 

“Welcome aboard senator,” he said. ”we have one of the eagles coming to nest. If you want you can watch from the dock.” He looked at Gilely. She tapped her leg pocket and slightly wiggled the helmet. “It will be more impressive than watching pixels on the screens,” he continued. “I will join you after it’s docked.”

 

“Thank-you captain.” He turned and moved back to the hatch.

They floated along the corridor. One side of it was painted blue the opposite was painted brown. Everyone they passed had their feet towards the brown side.

 

“Do the colours mean anything?” the senator asked.

 

“Up and down mostly,” Gilely said. “They were chosen by the pilots. They’re the same as the nav ball.”

 

She looked over at the senator, a kerbal that disliked wasteful spending. He put the Cygnus, and its related projects, high on his list of wasteful spending.  “We saw a nice bump in productivity, and a sharp decrease in both claustrophobia and agoraphobia.”

 

They arrived at one of the windows near the docks. Five of the eight fuel plant haulers, nicknamed eagles, were docked. Around them were suited kerbals performed checks and maintenance.

 

Gilely looked out the window for a moment. She looked down at her watch. She looked out the window a new constellation had appeared, a regular quartet of stars.

 

“There they are, sir. About a handbreadth up from the port-aft blast shield.”

 

The stars resolved into four flares of intense white pointed towards the station.

 

Gilely frowned. She pulled the mike down from his ear piece. “Just a moment senator.”

 

“Con 6. Ex,” She said into the mike. “One seven seems to be coming in a bit hotter than usual.” She paused and frowned, listening to the response through the earpiece. “Okay. I’ll talk to them after they’ve cleared. Ex out.” She put the mike back.

 

“Problem?” The senator said.

 

“Oh seventeen has always given us trouble. She’s been rebuilt from the frame out. The parts have been swapped with other birds. They work there without a problem, and working parts give us trouble.” She shrugged. “She’s a cranky bird. We keep her low on the rotation. But she hasn’t quit on us yet though.”

 

A white cloud formed in front of the ship.

 

“More problems?” The senator asked.

 

“No. That’s the RCS thrusters. She’s burning them hard to get down to the right speed. She’s too close for the main engines at this point.”

 

The ship came in close again the white cloud formed. The ship halted. Small puffs of white nudged the ship onto the docking ports. There was a clang as the ports locked together.

 

The lights on the ship turned off. It was illuminated by the lights from the dock, sunlight, and Kerbinlight. A couple of suited kerbals leapt to the ships. They trailed a collection of hoses and cables. One of them waved as she went past the cockpit. Their helmet lights played over sections of the hull as they connected the lines. After a moment they pushed off back to the station.

 

“They’re not using eva packs?” the senator asked.

 

“They have them,” Gilely said. “Some do use them. Most save the fuel for emergencies.”

 

“Why don’t you take it out of service until the problems are fixed?”

 

“She hasn’t failed us yet.” Gilely looked out the window. Two suited figures climbed out of the hatch. They went hand over hand on a line attached to the station. “Some of the others will, and have. Every time we’ve said go, she’s gone. Grumbling the whole way there and back. She’s believes in the project.”

 

“And you Gilely. Do you believe in the project?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Because of Reinhardt or despite him?”

 

Gilely caught the captain coming in out of the corner of her eye. She gestured out of the window. One of the large craters on the surface of Kerbin was coming into view. “That one nearly wiped life off the face of the planet. It certainly would have wiped us off it. I believe in what he will end up achieving.”

 

“Senator” the captain said.

 

The senator turned around. His eyes bulged momentarily. He began to vomit. Gilely swiftly brought the helmet. She grabbed the senator’s shoulder to stop his spin. She caught most of the vomit in the helmet.

 

After the senator stopped coughing, the captain continued. “There are fewer in the cult of Reinhardt then you’d expect.” He patted the senator on the shoulder. “Now let’s get you cleaned up.”

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by steuben
cleaning for the new forums

[KSK]

Ohh - I like it. Really good writing and it all feels very grounded somehow, like I've read the prequel a while back, so I recognise the universe you've set the story in but can't quite remember how it goes.

I'm probably not explaining this very well.

Anyhow - great start and hopefully more to come if you get a chance!

[Generalstarwars333]

I know what you mean. I think.