Michael and I climb into the EX-5, shutting the hatch behind us. I take my seat in the front of the craft, right beside Avera. I pull my harness down, and it clicks into place. I'm surrounded by buttons and switches in my seat. Some buttons might simply turn on the lights, while others might shoot you into space.
"Lucas and Scott, begin the power-up procedure." Avera tells us.
"Battery 1, Go?" I ask. "Go." Scott responds.
"Battery 2, Go?" "Go."
"Power up the APU."
Scott turns to his side and begins to power up the APU, the auxiliary power unit. It's used to provide power while on the ground, and it's shut off later.
"All Hydraulics, Go?" "Go." Scott responds.
"Hyperspace cell, Go?" "Go."
The hyperspace cell is what makes this all possible. It produces a mind-numbing amount of energy, and once this power goes through the hyperspace pods in the wings, a "warp" field is generated. This allows the spacecraft to go faster than the speed of light, a true engineering feat.
I continue flipping through circuit breakers, slowly bringing the spacecraft to life. Soon, the display in front of me is buzzing with information and data. I lean over and tell Avera she can begin the coms check.
Avera behinds listing off are names, and we respond.
"I am go." she says through our headsets.
"Lucas, go?" "Go." I respond
"Scott, go?" "Go."
"Michael, go?" "Go."
"Garret, go?" "Go."
"Vita, go?" "Go."
We all respond, go, and be ready for any further instructions.
"Ground control," Avera says, "We are go and ready to be towed out, over."
Then ground control responds, "This is ground control. You are going and will be towed out shortly, over."
As she finishes the sentence, the large hanger doors begin to open, letting the morning sun shine brightly into the hanger. I do my best to shield my eyes from the brightness, but it's still hard to see.
The spacecraft shudders as a towing tractor pulls us out of the hanger. I look to my right out of the window and see many workers standing on the ground, waving us goodbye.
It takes a couple of minutes to get towed out to the runway, while the slow little towing tractor is trying its best the whole time.
Once we are on the runway, the towing tractor unhitched itself from the EX-5 with a muffled clank.
We all exchange looks with one another, "Dawn your helmets." Avera tells us before she puts on her own helmet.
I turn to my side and grab my helmet, I lift it over my head and lower it down onto my suit. The helmet locks into place with a click, assuring me it won't come loose.
I look back at Scott, Michael, Garret, and Vita, "You guys ready for this?" I ask them.
"Ready as ever!" Vita exclaims back through the intercom.
"Sounds good," Avera says, "Let's get this thing moving!"
I turn back around, looking forward down the runway. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "Scott, Are the thrusters ready?"
"Thrusters ready for your input." Scott tells me.
Avera once again contacts the ground control, "This is EX-5, we are requesting permission for lift off. Wish us a safe flight, over."
YOU ARE READING
The Protogen Generation
Science FictionWhen a research team of protogens crash land onto their own planet after their mission goes awry, they quickly find that their planet is not the same as when they had left it. Follow along with Lucas and his crewmates as they try to return to their...
