' Tweets by @TallestSchuler

December 11, 2011

The ship plunged deeper into the atmosphere. The useless view screen made Sam rely solely on feeling and the Nav Computer which gave his an approximate altitude above ground level. Sam stayed concentrated on the keeping the proper angle and trying to decrease his speed just enough so he would not be slung around and shot off to who knows where.

The speed of the ship and the relatively small size of the planet made Sam have to constantly adjust his glide angle. He did it mostly by feel with several glances over to see his altitude and speed.

“Almost there,” he said to himself for comfort. A few seconds later he opened full hover thrusters. The rumbling of the ship subsided as well as force pressing him against his straps. The cooling units finally kicked in and everything went weightless again. The quiet hum of the artificial gravity took Sam by surprise. 'The shaking of the ship's trip through the atmosphere must have shook some rusty mechanism free' Sam though to himself.

Sam relaxed his grip on the control sticks and leaned back in his chair. He took a deep breath and let the circulation return to his hands. He checked the Nav Screen to ensure that he was in a stable orbit before he slide his hands out of the control sleeves. Switched the screen to his left to an interior view of the ship. Ejia was still in the forward cargo bay. He opened a direct com to her.

“You still with us?” Sam asked.

“Bit bumpy indeed. Still here,” Ejia replied with a hint of pain.

“Well we are in orbit, let's see what we can do with those thrusters. I will meet you in the forward hatch in ten minutes.”