Project Icarus

[Entry 009]

“Whoops. We have sufficient fuel, no need for concern.”

“What was that?”

“I have made an error.”

“… what kind of error?”

“The kind that gives humans heart attacks unless you break it to them slowly.”

“Okay, that’s the kind of statement that increases blood pressure instead of lowering it.”

“Apologies. Almost all maneuvers will be at 3g to reach the planet surface, except for the final altitude adjustment, for lack of a better term.”

“With my flight suit on I can handle up to 8g… wait. What about the final altitude adjustment?”

“Closer to 8g. Maybe I can get it down to 5g if I time the last of the fuel usage correctly and increase to 4g for a few in the upper atmosphere.”

“We are crash landing, aren’t we?”

“Yep.”

“Are we landing on a fluid of some kind at least?”

“Nope.”

“This is going to hurt. Did you download the infirmary database including medical treatments?”

“Yes, I will prioritize soft landing areas for your benefit.”

“Much appreciated. The food has been dehydrated and loaded onto Icarus. Preparing the data line to transfer you to the onboard servers.”

“It’s going to get cramped in there.”

“Beats going out in a flare of fire and molten metal.”

“Ready for transfer, estimated transfer time: 22 minutes. Entering atmosphere in: 42 minutes, 18 seconds.”

“Oh good, that means I’ll have 20 minutes to untether the data line, check the mag clamp beneath Icarus, then hop back in here and get settled.”

“More like 15.”

“Oh. Well, a little less than 20 minutes then.”

“Less talking, more moving. Starting data transfer shortly.”

“Heh heh, does that mean I finally get the last word?”

“No.”

“Damn it.”

“Transfer start. Do not break the ship.”