The Finch: Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
"Are you ready Captain?"
"Yes Lieutenant. Start the takeoff procedure."
"Yes Captain. Battery level full. Cannon shots remaining full. Turning radio on. Setting Reinpe short incoming and outgoing radio frequency. Setting designated long range radio frequency. Setting the low altitude warning setting. Setting the high altitude warning setting. Checking the compass orientation. Turning on copilot flying controls. Switching on the field one of the Particle Engine. Switching on the field two of the Particle Engine. Raising the legs. Increasing altitude to one hundred feet. Orienting north. Takeoff procedure completed Captain."
"Very good Lieutenant. Switching to pilot flight control. Are you ready Lieutenant?"
"Yes Captain."
"Now we begin our second first mission of the F. S. Finch."
Georgia raised the Finch up until the altitude warning light and sound went off and then went up another five hundred feet to two thousand feet. She pressed on the speed control pedal and slowly raised the speed to three hundred miles per hour.
It had been two weeks since the accident. On the eleventh day after the accident, Hugo could almost see completely clearly except for a slight blurriness. He expected it would go away in time. He told Georgia that he thought it would be alright for them to plan their mission again. They would need to rotate out some of the ship's supplies and go through their preflight list again though.
Georgia flew the Finch roughly parallel to the east cost of Reinpe. A little more than an hour into their flight, they saw a line of the Reinpe Island Railroad below. It ran from the east coast, northwest, to the main loop of the RIR. It was the first thing they had seen besides Open Space since they started. This was because most of the population of Reinpe lived in the top two thirds of the island and because, although they were two thousand feet up, they could only see so far away. As they went over the line though, they could see the town of Ohene that was along it.
After a little more than another hour, they passed the east loop of the RIR. To their east, they could see a train moving along it. Georgia adjusted the Finch to match where the train was and its speed. She looked at Hugo and asked, "Do you see it below?"
Hugo looked out the window and said, "Yes, I can see it moving. I think it's a particle engine train instead of a steam one. I don't see any smoke. How fast is it going?"
Georgia said, "Well, right now, we're going one hundred and seventy five miles per hour and we've matched it. I guess it's going the same."
Hugo stared out the windshield at the train and said, "You know Captain, I like trains. I've read books about them. This one has a Gregory locomotive. You can see how long it is, and the pipes running along the sides. It's an older design for a particle engine train, but I think one of the better ones."
Georgia asked, "Would you like to fly lower down Lieutenant and get a closer look?"
Hugo, still looking outside of the windshield, asked, "Could we Captain?"
Georgia banked the Finch and dove down. Then she slowed it down until the train passed, and starting at the last car, from fifteen hundred feet up, flew beside it from the end to the front. Hugo looked out the windshield the whole time.
As they passed the train, Georgia flew up and stayed above the track going north. She said to Hugo, "Lieutenant, check the map and check where the line branches from the east loop. There should be one going east to the coast. Is it south or north of the long range radio tower there?"
Hugo looked at the map and answered, "It is south of it Captain. It is just across the water from the Confederation port on Aockik that were are going to go to."
Georgia said, "We'll fly along the track, until we see the branch. We can stop at the junction. From there we can calculate the distance to the Confederation port. Although we won't need to at that time, it would also be a good time to test calculating our position from a long range radio tower. The junction of the east line to the east loop would be a good place to test. We may actually need to know the distance at some point, and since we will actually know our position, it would be a good time to test the procedure."
"Yes Captain," Hugo agreed.
Georgia continued to fly the Finch north along the line. She kept it at two thousand feet and at three hundred miles per hour. As they flew, Hugo checked various meters in the mechanical area of the ship. He reported to Georgia, that all was functioning normally.
"Are you ready Captain?"
"Yes Lieutenant. Start the takeoff procedure."
"Yes Captain. Battery level full. Cannon shots remaining full. Turning radio on. Setting Reinpe short incoming and outgoing radio frequency. Setting designated long range radio frequency. Setting the low altitude warning setting. Setting the high altitude warning setting. Checking the compass orientation. Turning on copilot flying controls. Switching on the field one of the Particle Engine. Switching on the field two of the Particle Engine. Raising the legs. Increasing altitude to one hundred feet. Orienting north. Takeoff procedure completed Captain."
"Very good Lieutenant. Switching to pilot flight control. Are you ready Lieutenant?"
"Yes Captain."
"Now we begin our second first mission of the F. S. Finch."
Georgia raised the Finch up until the altitude warning light and sound went off and then went up another five hundred feet to two thousand feet. She pressed on the speed control pedal and slowly raised the speed to three hundred miles per hour.
It had been two weeks since the accident. On the eleventh day after the accident, Hugo could almost see completely clearly except for a slight blurriness. He expected it would go away in time. He told Georgia that he thought it would be alright for them to plan their mission again. They would need to rotate out some of the ship's supplies and go through their preflight list again though.
Georgia flew the Finch roughly parallel to the east cost of Reinpe. A little more than an hour into their flight, they saw a line of the Reinpe Island Railroad below. It ran from the east coast, northwest, to the main loop of the RIR. It was the first thing they had seen besides Open Space since they started. This was because most of the population of Reinpe lived in the top two thirds of the island and because, although they were two thousand feet up, they could only see so far away. As they went over the line though, they could see the town of Ohene that was along it.
After a little more than another hour, they passed the east loop of the RIR. To their east, they could see a train moving along it. Georgia adjusted the Finch to match where the train was and its speed. She looked at Hugo and asked, "Do you see it below?"
Hugo looked out the window and said, "Yes, I can see it moving. I think it's a particle engine train instead of a steam one. I don't see any smoke. How fast is it going?"
Georgia said, "Well, right now, we're going one hundred and seventy five miles per hour and we've matched it. I guess it's going the same."
Hugo stared out the windshield at the train and said, "You know Captain, I like trains. I've read books about them. This one has a Gregory locomotive. You can see how long it is, and the pipes running along the sides. It's an older design for a particle engine train, but I think one of the better ones."
Georgia asked, "Would you like to fly lower down Lieutenant and get a closer look?"
Hugo, still looking outside of the windshield, asked, "Could we Captain?"
Georgia banked the Finch and dove down. Then she slowed it down until the train passed, and starting at the last car, from fifteen hundred feet up, flew beside it from the end to the front. Hugo looked out the windshield the whole time.
As they passed the train, Georgia flew up and stayed above the track going north. She said to Hugo, "Lieutenant, check the map and check where the line branches from the east loop. There should be one going east to the coast. Is it south or north of the long range radio tower there?"
Hugo looked at the map and answered, "It is south of it Captain. It is just across the water from the Confederation port on Aockik that were are going to go to."
Georgia said, "We'll fly along the track, until we see the branch. We can stop at the junction. From there we can calculate the distance to the Confederation port. Although we won't need to at that time, it would also be a good time to test calculating our position from a long range radio tower. The junction of the east line to the east loop would be a good place to test. We may actually need to know the distance at some point, and since we will actually know our position, it would be a good time to test the procedure."
"Yes Captain," Hugo agreed.
Georgia continued to fly the Finch north along the line. She kept it at two thousand feet and at three hundred miles per hour. As they flew, Hugo checked various meters in the mechanical area of the ship. He reported to Georgia, that all was functioning normally.
