User:Cesrate/The New Future/Transfer
It has been one and a half days[1] since we leaved LLO. Albatross seems to be a little funny in shape. She's cargo bays are all gone, leaving a place for our Pegasus to stay, although Pegasus doesn't fit well. Now it's quiet like a half-eaten fish, which was often taken by Helen, the commander of Albatross, as a joke. Helen keeps cheering us up during the travel, but the cabin is still somewhat filled with a kind of depression.
"I really don't know how to make you feel better." She says it with frustration.
"No need to blame yourself, it has to be someone to make it clear." I'm just talking flubdub, I believe.
"You are talking past, sly!" She stares at me cunningly.
I'm also looking at her, thinking how to end this.
"All right, forget it! Let's talk about families instead!"
"Gosh... Can we do something else? We have been talking about this for a half day!"
After a laughter, we decide to play "Return to Kerbal Space Program" instead, a game in which a group of Kerbanauts crossed through multiverses by accident and were trapped on a Kerbin-like planet, then pretend to be game developers setting up a distributed computation system disguised as a spaceflight simulation game for aborigines to "play" and draw cosmic maps for them to return.[2]
Finally, we're approaching Vall. Its cinerous surface gives me a bad feeling, never before have I had such a feeling on a moon. Damn it, we have spotted a pyramid on Mun, a Kerbal face on Duna and so much, what is to fear!
At the periapsis Albatross executes a retroburn getting the ship into Vall's polar orbit, just 30 km above.
"All right, put on your space suit and ready to go!" Helen "orders" us like a commander in chief.
"Hey, you just find fun in being commanded by her? You are the commander in chief!" Said by Conard.
"Well... Maybe."
"You are always like this." Conard smiles a little and turns to check the tables.
We are all in suit, standing in front of the hatch door to Pegasus. Through the door is an adaptor installed before our docking because the docking port on Albatoss is for the cargo bay and is a little larger than Pegasus'. It will take effort to climb in because damned Laythe Spaceport[3] forgot to put ladders on it!
"Ariel..." Said by Helen.
"What's up?" I turn around when hearing this, as I'm about to climb.
"Uhh... What do you think about Albatross?"
"Well... Everything is fine. Except the food, it's delicious indeed but gave me indigestion."
"Ahh, I'll ask them to change when you're back! Just wait!" She promises.
"Hey, you two, don't date anymore, you are wasting time! And I like the food!" Conard is yelling in command pod.
"What are you saying! When you are back I'll pour coolant onto your cuisine!" Helen shouts for fighting back.
Another time, cabin is filled with laughter. And... How long it will keep, in the future?
The docking port is closed. We use RCS to slowly move away. Albatross will keep orbiting Vall, and now we are on our own.
"Good luck, Pegasus."
"You too. See you later."
"Pegasus, this is Laythe. Nightingale now is your Com Sat[4]. We are watching, if anything happens we'll let you know."
"Pegasus acknowledged."
"Albatross, keep orbit. Your duty is to provide any possible help. Copy?"
"Yes, sir."
"Retroburn starting in 30 seconds." Stephen reminds.
"Attitude corrected."
"10 seconds."
"Ready."
"Engine start."
Engines fire, and we fell a comfort shake. After a short burn, we are at the landing trajectory. Albatross drifts away, becoming smaller and smaller, then a lightspot blended in starry sky.
We are leaving the north now, and 12 minutes later[5], we will know what the hell thing it is.
