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The Melville wasn’t built for extended use in orbit He could generaterockets They carried only enough chee already read 50 percent
Drifting in the serenity of open space, the nitude of what just happened becauards hi the mad escape
The bizarre, harebrained scheme Platz had asked him to partake in Save the Aura, and a life in orbit awaits Not thereward for an immune, but the payment didn’t really matter If the Aura failed, that would be the end of everything
Despite a burning desire to turn around and try to rescue his crew, he knew that the task Platz gave him took precedence
There really was no decision to roup, somehow
Skyler waited until he ell clear of Gateway Station and the thread of the Elevator Then he fired the thrusters and began to descend toward Earth
Chapter Twenty-one
Somewhere Above Australia
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Theto die
Sole to deflect the heat of reentry
He reency on Kelly’s face as she pointed frantically above the craft She wasn’t telling hi him the climber latch was still stuck to the top of the ship
The da had the aerodynae ar fro out beyond the Melville’s profile, causing friction with the air
The ship shuddered as its computerover backward If that happened, disintegration would be instantaneous
Skyler closed his eyes, and caed at hisNeil had said
The stuck latch had been a ruse
The simplest solution possible hat Skyler needed He reached up and toggled the release switch that had failed them earlier
The effect was immediate
"Yes! Occam’s razor!" Skyler shouted as the latch released
He heard the metal structure detach An instant later, he heard it shear through the rear fin of the craft
"Occas lit up all over the cockpit Skyler gripped the stick with both hands and put all his strength into holding it center
Onboard computers sensed the loss of control fro rockets The fuel gauge dropped faster as the ship’s altitude
At an altitude of twenty kiloan to spin and tumble
The Melville had no ejection seats
Body pressed painfully into one side of his seat, Skyler decided to turn off the autopilot and level the craft out Keeping on course for Darwin, at this point, was less i at a terrifying pace, spinning out of control, Skyler shifted his focus to bailing out
He clawed his way over the pilot’s chair, then over the navigator’s chair, and through the door into the cargo bay The craft lurched froth he had left to keep fro wind outside grew ever louder Skyler guessed he had about thirty seconds to get a parachute on and exit the doomed vehicle He pulled himself up the wall and opened the locker where the chutes were kept Quickly he threw on the pack, buckling only the main clasp The rest he would have to deal with outside
On a whim, he opened the next locker over, where the weapons were stowed Grief swept over hiun beside it
He shook his head clear and yanked out hishis way to the back of the cargo bay, he grasped a safety line with his free hand, wrapped it twice around his forear howl of wind greeted his out froo before the door opened fully, he’d hit it on the way out
He closed his eyes in pain as the line constricted around his ar wind, Skyler could hear the hydraulic o door shut off
The door was open
He let go
Wind buffeted hiers would allow, Skyler finished strapping on his chute and securing the gun He yanked the rip cord
The chute deployed, whipping hi with brutal force Then, peace As if floating on a pilloarency and altitude he’d uessed he was a good thousandbut watch as the Melville, his livelihood for the past fifteen years, spiraled toward a small city below
The ship s at the center of town Rock and fire spewed from the tremendous explosion
He’d truly failed, now Loss of crew and ship, a captain’s worst nighto doith his vessel
Anguish threatened to consume him, but somehow survival instinct won out He had aof opportunity to guide his fall Shelter, water, and food were about to become the only concerns in his life They alere, he supposed, but never in such a tangible way
Using altitude to his advantage, he turned in a slow circle, scanning the horizon Thethe sao
The sun filled the sky with an orange-colored haze to the west, above a landscape of mud flats and a sliver of ocean beyond
Below, the deserted city looht to steer hiood place to land As far north as possible, he decided Every inch closer to Daras one less he would have to walk
A strong, warm, southwesterly wind pushed his Weeds choked every available opening Abandoned vehicles crowded the streets Desperately he tried tofor areas of coulfed the building struck by the Melville, a few hundred meters northwest of hi evening sky
He drifted lower, guiding his chute to keep hi down at the rooftops, through holes worn by tins of subhus were like caves to theht hih hiritted his teeth, felt war The aerial collapsed froe of the roof
It crumbled into a noisy heap in the dusty street below
With the sound came a wild cry fros Others answered, frohost town came to life