by John C. Mannone
“Roger that, Mission Control. Thrusters set. Correction for maximum slingshot effect in progress.”
Engines thrum. The ship’s bow yaws, and Jupiter looms in the spacecraft’s view port.
“Target locked in,” the captain said.
“Starship Lyra. You’re looking good. Maintain zero-niner-zero.”
“Roger.” The captain loosens his grip on the control wheel; breathes deeply; mumbles to himself,
It’s going to be close. Relax. I can do this. I won’t miss the critical point . . . But what if I did? If I’m just a bit too far out, I’d be flung into space and drift forever; if I get too close, then I’ll descend into Jupiter’s hell, no escaping its gravity.
His knuckles turn white again. Perspiration trickles down his forehead.
Amber and green lights illuminate the panel. All steady at first, then they blink wildly. Entranced, he stares at them. Whispers her name; remembers that evening before the launch. Christmas tree lights softly glowed green, red, amber; then just blue on her sheened hair. He placed a red rose there. And kissed her supple lips. Accents of her perfume linger in his mind.
“Starship Lyra! Starship Lyra! Come in, please. You have a system malfunction. Auto-throttle sequence shutting down. Thrust compromised. Entrance through the ‘keyhole’ may be impossible. Can you override?”
Lights flicker on the captain’s stolid face, and only blue drops glimmer in the vitreous humor of his eyes.
“Pull him out of there!” the doctor said. “He’s breaking down; terminate the simulation . . . You’ll have to find yourselves another astronaut.”
11 comments:
Unexpected. Very clever.
Hollywood lingo. Works every time.
Nice scifi scene with a little twist at the end.
Daydreaming about love will do it every time. Excellent, John.
Congratulations!
Lucinda
Thank you Janice, Anonymous, JR, and Lucinda.
I am thrilled that you all like the flash.
I can only imagine that if I were in space, my physics would only give me so much joy; the bulk of joy, of sanity would come from memories of all the lovely women in my life…. Hopefully, then, I would not panic.
Very smart story. Love the ending.
Wistful sci-fi twist ending. cool
Another good one. Clever Scifi with a twist of reverie and love.
P. Frey
Very good - has a Twilight Zone-ish feel to it.
Kudos, John.
Thank you John, Christopher, Peg and Anonymous. I appreciate the comments.
And I think it was a Twilight Zone episode that tangentially influenced this piece.
Good one, John. Business and pleasure just don't mix!
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