we are on schedule to arrive in orbit above Forrestal at 0300 hours, the day after tomorrow. That
is 3 am for all you planet huggers. We will be boarding the drop ship tomorrow night so that we
can drop into the atmosphere as soon as we arrive. That gives you all day tomorrow to get any
foolishness out of your system. As of 2100 hours tomorrow night, it is all serious business.”
A few murmurs of complaint ran through the crowd of children. Boarding the drop ship
tomorrow night meant that they would have to sleep there until they departed.
“Second,” Deke’s loud voice cut the complaints short, “I know none of us is looking
forward to sleeping on the drop ship, but that is probably the toughest thing you will have to
endure on this trip, so I don’t want to hear any gripes.”
“Third,” he continued, “I was happy to see that almost everyone found a partner and
made my job easier. Unfortunately, we had one member of our expedition drop out at the last
minute, so we have an uneven number of explorers this trip. That means that one of you gets to
be my partner.”
The murmurs began again, wondering who ended up having to partner with Deke. Deke
silenced everyone with a whistle. .
“Congratulations, Mr. Jameson, you are my partner this trip down.”
On the opposite side of the mess hall Terry leapt to his feet, “I’m not your partner! I
already have a partner!” He scanned the crowd, looking for someone. “There he is.” Terry
pointed at Merrell.
Deke smiled widely. “I’m afraid you are incorrect. Mr. Gustav signed up to be Ms.
Vasquez’s partner.”
Terry sputtered in surprise. “That’s impossible.” He turned toward Merrell. “Tell him,
you idiot, it was a mistake.”
Merrell blushed as he suddenly became the center of attention.
“Sorry, Terry. I just figured that you would partner up with Link or Junior. I did sign up
with Jacinda.”
“You are an idiot. Why would you sign up with Rags?”
“Stop calling her that,” Merrell barked at Terry with surprising anger.
“Whatever, just set it right.” Terry stared daggers at Merrell.
Deke stepped forward, interrupting Merrell before he could respond.
“I’m afraid the assignments are final, Mr. Jameson. You are my partner and that is the
way it is going to stay.” Deke turned away from Terry, stopping any further argument.
“Enjoy tomorrow, people, but take the time to review the expedition rules in your
datapads. I don’t want to have to remind anyone about how to behave once we are in the bush.”
Just as he did in their previous meeting, Deke motioned for the crowd of children to part and left
the room.
The children all watched the door for a moment, making sure that he was not coming
back. Once it was certain he had left for good the room broke out into a party. Children ran
everywhere, celebrating their last bit of freedom before they set out for their great adventure on
Forrestal. The only one who did not seem to be celebrating was Terry Jameson. He sat near the
edge of the mess hall, arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
After a few minutes, the room settled down. Small groups of children gathered together
excitedly discussing tomorrow evening’s drop onto Forrestal. Terry watched Devon and his
friends from his solitary perch in the corner. He stared at them in anger, as if trying to burn them
with nothing more than his gaze. After almost an hour of being ignored, he shook his head in
frustration and stalked out of the room. Nobody paid any attention as he left.
Chapter 8
Devon whistled for Sammy. The trunk ambled out of the cabin behind its master, with
what almost seemed like excitement. Flim was waiting for him in the hallway with a big grin on
his face.
“Let’s go, Devon. You and your dog are holding us up.” Flim had a small backpack
over one shoulder.
“I’m coming, Flim.” Devon eyed Flim’s backpack with skepticism. “Is that all you are
taking?”
“It’s all I need,” he replied with a wink.
They stepped onto the nearest pedway. Other groups of children streamed toward the
docking level of the ship. Each had luggage of some sort. Most had large backpacks, but some,
like Devon had automatic luggage.
“Are Merrell and Jacinda meeting us at the drop ship?” Devon asked.
“That is what she said yesterday.” Flim winked and grinned from ear to ear. “They spent
the afternoon together getting to know each other.”
Devon had been busy almost all day with Blake Foundation business. There were lots of
people who had wanted to talk to him before he departed for his trip down to Forrestal. He hated
formalities, but considered them a necessary duty to his family and their business interests. He
had been eager to spend more time with his friends, but could not until now.
“So, what did you do while I was busy? Devon asked.
“Oh, I entertained myself.”
“That didn’t include spying on Jacinda and Merrell, did it?”
“Just for a bit, but they are boring…” Flim suddenly realized he had probably said too
much and blushed.
“It’s okay,” Devon reassured him, “I’m sure you were just making sure that Merrell
wasn’t playing a joke on her by signing up as her partner.”
“He is actually a lot smarter than he looks. And he was being very nice to Jacinda. I
think he likes her.” Flim grinned again at his last comment.
Devon and Flim shared a short laugh. The other children glanced at them, wondering
what joke the two had shared.
“So, did you do anything else? That doesn’t sound like it took very long.”
Flim tried to suppress a smile, but failed. “Ah, let’s just say I helped somebody pack for
the trip.”
“Flim, what did you do?” Devon shook his head, having a vision of Flim exchanging
someone’s tropical underwear with wool long-johns.
“Nothing bad, just a bit of creative cuisine,” Flim said, acting hurt that he could be
accused of misbehavior.
Devon stifled a look of disapproval. He hoped that Flim had not done anything mean.
He thought he knew who had been the target of his friend’s shenanigans, but it was too late to
worry about it now.
The pedway dropped them near a very large doorway. Jacinda and Merrell waited there.
Merrell excitedly waved as soon as he saw them.
“Hi, guys. Are you ready for the drop to Forrestal?”
“Hi, Merrell,” Devon waved back. “I’m ready. How about you?” Devon looked from
Merrell to Jacinda. She gave him a funny look, and then waved too.
“Oh, I’m all set,” Merrell said excitedly. “Jacinda and I spent all afternoon deciding what
we should take. We have it all planned out. What to wear, what to eat, we thought of
everything.”
Jacinda interrupted him. “I’m sure that Devon isn’t that interested in our packing.” She
hurriedly changed the subject, seeming embarrassed. “So, Flim, is that all you are taking?”
“Like I told Devon, It’s all I need.” He winked at Jacinda who smiled meekly.
A high-pitched note rang out, rescuing them from an awkward silence.
“Everyone aboard,” Deke’s voice rang through the crowd of children gather near the
door. “I assume that everyone followed the equipment list in your datapad. If you didn’t, then it
might be a long trip.”
The children moved in a group through the door, which led into the hanger bay. The bay
was dominated by a sleek looking craft that had a rounded bottom and stubby looking wings. A
picture of an anvil held up by a tiny parachute over the words
“Going Down?”
covered the nose
of the craft. Stewards were directing the children toward a hatch that had opened in the bottom
of the drop ship. Each person’s luggage was taken and stowed in another hatch as they boarded.
“Get ready to be stowed,” Devon told Sammy. Several people looked at him as if he
were being silly. They did not realize that his luggage followed his verbal commands. This
made Flim smile.
“Can he roll over too?”
“Sure, but he doesn’t fetch very well.” All four of the friends laughed. They waited their
turn to board. Once on board, the crew seated them, everyone in a seat next to their partner.
One female crewmember, to which all the others were deferring, motioned for Devon and
Flim to come to the front of the drop ship. She motioned for them to take the very front row.
Jacinda and Merrell were then seated directly across the isle from them.
“I hope these are satisfactory, Mr. Blake,” she asked.
He nodded, looking uncomfortable with the extra attention. Devon scanned his
surroundings. He had never been on a drop ship before, but had read enough to recognize most
of the important differences between this ship and a regular spaceship. The seats were
comfortably padded and large enough for adults, offering plenty of room for the children. A
large, rigid safety harness was positioned above each seat. Before the actual drop, these
harnesses would be lowered over each passenger and locked into place. These were designed to
keep each passenger safe during the rough, atmospheric entry for which the ship was designed.
Everything else on board seemed to have been designed to be solid. Devon knew that this was
necessary because of the stress that dropping into an atmosphere put on the ship. Drops could be
very rough, depending on the speed of the descent and the conditions in the atmosphere.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Blake. She is a good ship,” the crew chief assured him, as if she could
read his mind. “We have done hundreds of these and nothing has gone wrong. You’ll be asleep
anyway.”
“What do you mean, asleep? Devon asked.
“We are equipped with sleep-wave generators. All of you will be sleeping like babies
during the descent. The flight crew will be asleep as well. The pilots will be the only ones
awake during the drop. It makes it easier if they don’t have to worry about the passengers.”
“I thought that we would get to see the entry.” Devon’s face showed disappointment. “It
sounded like it was going to be like the biggest roller-coaster ride ever.”
“It’s a lot rougher than any roller-coaster. I don’t even like drops, but it is part of the
job.”
“Still, I wish I could be awake.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Blake. Those are the rules.” The crew chief patted Devon on the
shoulder. The firm hand helped reassure him.
After a few more minutes all of the children were seated and their gear stowed in the
cargo hold beneath them. The soon-to-be explorers chatted quietly with their partners,
wondering what Forrestal would be like. Their conversations were interrupted by a voice over
the intercom.
“Okay, people, we are scheduled to drop into Forrestal’s atmosphere in approximately
five and a half hours.” Everyone immediately recognized Deke’s voice.
“This is a routine drop, so no need to worry. Just to make it easier on everyone, you will
all be asleep for the drop.” A few protests could be heard throughout the passenger
compartment.
“That is the way it is, people. So, no need to complain. The crew will engage the sleep
wave generators at 2200 hours, so take care of any
final
business quickly, if you know what I
mean.” A wave of giggles ran through the seated children. Everyone knew what he meant. A
handful of students got up from their seats and moved toward the bathrooms in the rear of the
craft.
“So, buddy, you ready for the big fall?” Flim asked Devon.
“You bet. I just wish we could be awake.”
“Not me,” Flim answered. “I don’t need that kind of excitement in my life.” Flim leaned
across the aisle and tapped Jacinda on the shoulder. “What about you guys?”
“Sure, I love this stuff.” Jacinda nodded as she spoke. “We had a zero gravity elevator
in our colony that is a lot like this. Every once in a while they would let all of us kids ride it, but
only on special occasions.”
Merrell looked less sure, his face filled with worry. “I really don’t like heights very
much. I’m glad I will be asleep.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud voice. “It figures that you’re scared. Is that
why you signed up to have a girl as a partner? So you could look tough by comparison?” Terry
Jameson stood in the aisle behind their row. There was no way to tell how long he had been
listening.
“Go away, Terry! Go bother somebody else.” Merrell was red-faced with anger.
“Shut up Merrell. Nobody cares what you think, least of all me.”
Jacinda put her hand on Merrell’s shoulder, keeping him from standing up and
confronting Terry.