Dateline

La Flèche, T plus 23 hours, 32 minutes

On the Rhumb Line, 172 degrees West

"You want me to do what?" Aaron was stood with Kelly and Able outside the cockpit, looking down at a piece of stainless steel tubing sticking up vertically from the floor in a small cubicle to one side of the aisle. Over the rush of the aicraft, he could hear Cat swearing to no-one in particular.

"I want you to look through the periscope and give Cat your best guess as to how far behind us the extra-terrestrial beam is. Continuous readouts, as best you can. Also, how fast it approaches. We want to get it inside the cabin. About ten feet should do it."The

"You mean the death ray? You want it to reach us? You're crazy!"

Able smiled ruefully. "Maybe. Maybe not. But I think it something worth trying. Will you do it?"

He looked down at the device, with it's eyepiece and various knobs and dials. "Will you show me how to work it?"

"Sure. It's pretty easy, really."

Sitting himself down on the low stool in the booth, Aaron placed his right eye over the eyepiece and tested his hands on the controls.

"You turn the periscope with you left hand, and focus with your right. It should be set looking aft, towards the rear."

"Got it. I can see the underside of the plane, and the wing tips if I turn it."

"Good. Now, with your right hand, try focussing on the black graduated marks on the fuselage. They're there to measure how much the aircraft stretches in flight. The image should be clear top and bottom when it's set correctly."

"Okay, got it."

"You read the distance from the dial here," said Able, pointing to a readout above the periscope. "It's in millimetres, but Cat only needs readings to the nearest meter, so only call out the numbers in red."

He nodded, his mouth suddenly very dry. Through the eyepiece he could see the golden hue of the phenomenon, already close behind. Cat must be a first class pilot, he reasoned, with balls of adamantine steel. He focussed the scope as best he could, using lines of bright golden threads that weaved throughout the curtain of light, like eels in a pool of water. "Okay, one hundred and six meters." Saying it made the danger suddenly real.

"Oh, I forgot. That's the distance from the scope. We want to get it to within ten meters, no more. That will place it just inside the cabin, but not so far forward it plays hell with the electonics." Or kills everyone on board, was the unsaid thought.

"Great, ten meters, alright." A sudden urge to piss came over him, despite having gone just a few minutes before.

Cat called out from the cockpit. "Come on, let's do this! We're twenty minutes from the dateline. If you're gonna go through with this madness, Abe, now's the time!"

Able beckoned everyone right forward, into the space behind the cockpit and the forward exit. He looked paler than ever, but nodded and called out, "We're set! Start your run!"

Aaron couldn't tell any difference in engine sounds, but the curtain of light began marching towards him through the scope. He began calling out numbers. "Eighty! Seventy! Sixty" It was difficult to focus on the curtain of light, and he began to panic. "Jesus, it's coming fast, slow down!"

"You want me to slow down more? You sure?"

He realised his mistake almost too late. He'd forgotten he was looking backwards, and that the curtain of light was overtaking them. "No, I meant faster! Go faster!"

Alison screamed beside him. Tearing his eyes away from the scope, he ducked his head out into the passageway and saw the cabin filled with a golden radience, beautiful but terrifying at the same time. Golden flashes and streaks of light danced within and formed fingers of lightning-like shapes around every sharp corner. It advanced at walking pace, steadily, straight towards them. The air took on a sharp, ozone smell and Aaron felt the hairs on his neck stand up.

"Woah, Holy crap! Look out!"

As one they all pressed back against the bulkhead wall. Kelly stuck her head into the cockpit and yelled something at Cat, and then they were accelerating, the roar of engines increasing as Cat gave a three second burst of afterburners. The line of golden light slowed and stopped just two feet from where Aaron now stood, pressing back against Alison by the bulkhead, then retreated back down the cabin before disappearing. A cacophony of alarms and warning tones blared out from the cockpit.

"Are we good, Cat?" called Able, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Think so," replied Cat, resetting various systems and cancelling alarms. "Whatever quantum crap that thing puts out, your plane really doesn't like it. Want to try again? We've got seven minutes..."

Aaron took his place at the periscope once more. This time, he was prepared. "Twenty meters. Eighteen. Fifteen. Fourteen and a half."

Cat was bringing the speed up again slightly, keeping the death ray from approaching too fast. "This is it, Abe, now or never, you'll have ten seconds, maybe less, then I'm getting the hell out of dodge."

Aaron wondered if Cat always spoke like this, or whether she was reliving the thrill of combat once more. Either way, it sounded like she was having fun. The plane slowed some more. "Twelve meters. Eleven."

"Here it is! " someone shouted.

"Ten! Hold it there!"

Turning to look at Able, he thought the man was going to puke.

"Good luck, Able. I'm sure this won't be the end." Kelly was touching Able's shoulder, tears running down her face.

Able swallowed, nodded once. "Well. Someone once said that death is but the next great adventure. I'll see you on the other side." Stepping forward, Able approached the glow in curtain.

"Hey, Able? Tell them to look after my little sister would you? Her name's Becky."

"Sure thing, Aaron."

Turning away once more, Able faced the light, then, with a sharp intake of breath, he stepped in. For a instant, so quick it was almost too fast to see, there was a golden Able shaped form in the light. Then he was gone.

They were silent for a few seconds, watching the golden glow and the strange, sparkling, flashing lights within. And then, without warning, he was thrown off his feet, suddenly weightless, as Cat pushed La Flèche into a steep dive, screaming at them to hold on to something. More alarms sounded and the engines wound down to silence, the fuel tanks finally empty.

La Flèche fell slanting downwards, infront and across the face of the golden curtain of light, like a surfer on the largest wave ever to have existed.