settled
looked at her husband. "Yes, perhaps we shall," she said.
The whistle blew again. Daniel stepped back into the Princess Cecile with a smile of satisfaction while behind him the rectangular port began to whine closed.
"Ship, this is the captain," he said as he grinned at Adele. "Prepare for liftoff!"
* * *
Daniel Leary, captain of the private yacht Princess Cecile, settled into the couch of his console. His tremble of fear was a new thing, something he'd noticed only since he'd become a commanding officer. Liftoffs had never bothered him before.
He checked the lockout disconnecting the console, then let his fingers caress the touchpad to gain its feel again. Everything was as it should be, the minuscule hum of a living machine waiting for him to order its next action. He switched it on.
Daniel grinned. He'd worked, he'd fought, very hard to rise to a position where he could fear that some freak failure of hardware or programming would flip the vessel onto her back as she started to lift off.
"Captain to Power Room," Daniel said over the command channel. "How do things look, Mr. Pasternak? Over."
"All green, Captain," said the Chief Engineer from his post in the center of D Deck. "The flows on Port Four and Starboard Five are down ten percent, but the valves are brand new. They'll wear in, and if they don't I'll polish them with emery. Over."
"Ninety percent is more than adequate, Mr. Pasternak," Daniel said. "Out."
Being slightly down in water flow on two of the corvette's plasma thrusters wasn't a matter of concern. The Princess Cecile could reach orbit with 40% total power, though Daniel'd be dumping reaction mass if he ever got into that situation. The thrusters were all in the green—literally; the icons showed across the top of Daniel's display—but it was more than a matter of courtesy that caused him to check directly with Pasternak. A good engineer had a feel
The whistle blew again. Daniel stepped back into the Princess Cecile with a smile of satisfaction while behind him the rectangular port began to whine closed.
"Ship, this is the captain," he said as he grinned at Adele. "Prepare for liftoff!"
* * *
Daniel Leary, captain of the private yacht Princess Cecile, settled into the couch of his console. His tremble of fear was a new thing, something he'd noticed only since he'd become a commanding officer. Liftoffs had never bothered him before.
He checked the lockout disconnecting the console, then let his fingers caress the touchpad to gain its feel again. Everything was as it should be, the minuscule hum of a living machine waiting for him to order its next action. He switched it on.
Daniel grinned. He'd worked, he'd fought, very hard to rise to a position where he could fear that some freak failure of hardware or programming would flip the vessel onto her back as she started to lift off.
"Captain to Power Room," Daniel said over the command channel. "How do things look, Mr. Pasternak? Over."
"All green, Captain," said the Chief Engineer from his post in the center of D Deck. "The flows on Port Four and Starboard Five are down ten percent, but the valves are brand new. They'll wear in, and if they don't I'll polish them with emery. Over."
"Ninety percent is more than adequate, Mr. Pasternak," Daniel said. "Out."
Being slightly down in water flow on two of the corvette's plasma thrusters wasn't a matter of concern. The Princess Cecile could reach orbit with 40% total power, though Daniel'd be dumping reaction mass if he ever got into that situation. The thrusters were all in the green—literally; the icons showed across the top of Daniel's display—but it was more than a matter of courtesy that caused him to check directly with Pasternak. A good engineer had a feel