Genesis Code, (Book 1, Genesis Series)

Chapter 10

Captain Jenny Waterson radioed in from the space above the Earth's outer-perimeter force field, seeking permission to land.

'Craft 766-C you are clear to land. Dock Twelve is available. Set down on the port side of the hold.'

'Roger that.' Jenny ordered the on-board computer to establish outgoing radio silence. She kept the incoming audio link with HJA active in case they ordered her to divert. The computer beeped once.

She severed the outgoing link. 'Damn it, they cut that fine.' She ran a shaky hand through her tightly cut platinum-blonde hair. 'Okay, Jenny. Calm down. You've got this.' Her focus switched to her craft as she readied for the next step of the descent.

She engaged the autopilot and tried to loosen up her rigid posture. Her pulse pounded, as it always did before a descent. Two things could go wrong: she could mess up the timing to get the beginning of the descent right, or worse, she could miss her slot which would screw up her schedule. Calypso Couriers—a subsidiary company of the World Government—weren't big on second chances. With two warnings already, any further infringements would guarantee their termination of her employment contract.

Jenny had worked twenty years as a pilot but that experience gave her little job security. She was seventy-five, not too old to fly, but too expensive to keep. Younger, cheaper pilots waited in the wings for her to make a mistake. If Calypso Couriers wanted her gone, they'd have to invent something, because she was damn good at her job. And it wouldn't end because a trainee controller couldn't get his shit together in time.

She pulled her seatbelt tight and checked her descent numbers.

A male voice spoke through the communications system. 'Strong winds at vertical eighty miles. Be on alert. Looks like a hurricane is building.'

She reactivated the outgoing link and confirmed receipt before resuming radio silence. She'd need all her concentration to get this rust bucket to the magnetic landing plate at the docking station. She dried her palms on her military-green uniform, feeling her usual pre-flight jitters surface over the unpredictability of each free fall.

The craft remained in orbit over the landing coordinates at the docking station, just above the Earth's atmosphere. Jenny engaged the thrusters engaged sporadically, realigning the craft as it tried to pull in a different direction. Then it began its descent, dropping into the non-existent atmosphere and through the deactivated force field. The thrusters blasted again to maintain the correct position. She monitored the increase in atmospheric density through her screen as the computer relayed progress through the audio channel.

'Density at ninety per cent, ninety-five, ninety-eight...'

She braced herself for the imminent drop.

'One hundred per cent density achieved.'

A sudden jolt and a sharp push downwards knocked her about as the thrusters forced the craft into a computer-guided free fall. Thrusters disengaged and acceleration increased as the craft dropped towards the surface. After just a minute, the craft had reached one hundred and eighty miles above the docking station: the edge of the storm.

Winds twisted violently around the craft, trying to push her off course. Jenny yanked on her seatbelt straps. The computer handled the craft's position realignment while the winds jostled and pushed it about. Jenny's eyes never left the screen, the same one showing the craft's tilt variance as it lurched left, then right. She poised her hands over the controls. One touch would transfer the power back to manual. But it was safer out of her hands.

The craft continued to rock from side to side, creaking and moaning as the computer adjusted for the motion.

Then it hit the inner circle of the storm. A mass of blackened clouds swirled one way, then another, taking repeated shots at the craft.