Ætherglow #12

“Hey, what would you do if femboys from the 21st century attacked this shuttle and held us for ransom?” you say, mixing up two unrelated trains of thought.

“Uhh, that’s weirdly specific Aydan. Why, did your ancestors freeze themselves somewhere just to pull this off?” Vik says.

“Of course not. But that’s just what a femboy hijacker would say, so you never know…”

“Well then, I’d probably distract them by telling them they’re cute while I send a distress signal and hope a rival gang of 22nd century femboys answers.

The green light above you goes red. They are beginning the launch sequence. Liftoff is as gentle as riding in the elevator was. You can’t see anything from your window but stars, but you watch them move, trying to track the spacecraft’s attitude as it pitches over. Luckily a roll program brings your world into view. For a minute you see the Mare Muscoviense spread out beneath you, with the dwindling spiderweb of lights that is your home falling further and further away.

You feel a change in G force as the ship's liftoff thrusters cut off and its main nuclear-thermal engines engage. You’re gaining altitude fast. Launching from Spaceside to the L2 is a direct injection with no need to enter low Lunar orbit. The burn lasts about 20 minutes before you finally feel the acceleration cut off. Now the shuttle is orienting itself and entering a roll, its Passive Thermal Control program making sure all sides of the craft are evenly heated by the Sun. The light turns green and you feel your belts loosen up. Now you can really tell you’re in orbit.

You’re just about to unfasten yourself so you can properly experience microgravity when you feel a jolt, like one of the maneuvering thrusters fired.

“What was that?” Vik says.

“I don’t know, is that normal?” you say.

The light goes back to red and your belts automatically tighten back down just before you feel a sudden shift in rotation. Then another on another axis. The maneuvers before this were all very gentle, these ones really jerk you around. And they keep happening, faster and faster. Glancing up at your window you can see the stars go by at an alarming rate, changing directions every few seconds.

This is an automated shuttle, there is nobody on board except you and your fellow passengers, all technopath candidates or school staff who are probably technopaths.