31 Space Dinosaurs in Love (1/2)

”Catastrophe is inevitable.”

- Pookie

-------------------------

2 Weeks Later

-------------------------

I wake up to my doctor poking me.

”Sorry.” she says.”We're here.”

I sit up.Rub my face.”Peachy.”We head to the bridge.

There's a lot of bustle.Most of the original Hephaestus crew are at their stations.We gave back control of the ship after we changed course to Damocles.That maneuver burned so much fuel, they couldn't change course again if they wanted to.I wonder how many still want to?

I look down on Damocles.It's beautiful.I mist up a little.We made it.I wish we were coming in slower.

Pookie is in the Captain's chair.Captain Wick is the one crewmember not allowed on the bridge.He keeps trying to kill me.Pookie offers me the chair.I wave him off.He can crash the ship as well as I could.

My doctor pulls me over to some acceleration couches.I remind her to blow her nose before she puts on her helmet.We strap in.Here we go.

Hephaestus was supposed to land on small planet with barely any atmosphere.Damocles has the same mass as Earth, with a robust atmosphere.The Hephaestus was to skim Mars, using the atmosphere as a brake.Hitting the Damocles atmosphere at full speed would be like hitting a brick wall.So, we spun the ship around, and blew the rest of our fuel to slow down.We also blew the fuel from the rescue rocket.And the dregs from Hermes' rescue rocket.And whatever else would burn.We're still coming in hot.And arse first.Pookie cracks his knuckles, grabs the airfoil controls.

Pookie manages to bite the atmosphere and flip the ship around.It takes less than a second.Two deft jerks of the airfoil controls.It's an amazing piece of flying.Our biggest danger was skipping off the atmosphere and back into space with no fuel.Followed by cannibalism and death.

Our next death threat is hitting the surface.We need to fly in the atmosphere for 49 seconds to slow down enough for a survivable crash.But the atmosphere is only 2 kilometers thick, and we're still flying at interstellar speeds.The slightest miscalculation with the airfoil will send us slamming into the surface, or back to space cannibalism.

Pookie lets go of the controls.Takes a hit from his flask.Slaps down his helmet.Puts his hands over his visor.

Okay then.