The Methuselan Circuit Read Online Free
Author: Christopher L. Anderson
None of them were the same so he gave up and chose the most complicated panel he could find with the most display screens. He sat down.
An opaque energy screen closed around Alexander’s station. He could see out the window, but he couldn’t see any of the other seats. He waited for direction. Nothing happened. He looked around, not wanting to touch anything he wasn’t supposed to. There weren’t any reference checklist, labels, signs—nothing. Finally, curiosity got the better of him and he touched a screen. Alexander jumped as all the displays and control boards came to life.
There were seven display screens in all, three smaller screens on either side of a single large screen. The large screen had a menu, just like his hologames. Without wasting any more time he got right to it. There were start up routines, system routines, questions, problems to be solved—he went through them all, except for one. On the first page of the first start up routine was a caution that read,
Pushing the Red Button will begin the Main Sequence, use only when called for by set criteria.
That made no sense to him. He wondered what the Red Button did, but he resisted doing anything about it until he found out when and under what conditions he could use it. He had other things to do regardless.
After about half an hour, Alexander heard a whirring sound. He scanned his displays. On the upper left bank he saw the colored ribbons and digital readouts for four engines. They wound up, settled down and stabilized. A minute later the shuttle moved. He looked out the window and saw that they were rising straight up into the air. He started. He’d forgotten his seat belt! He dug around his seat but there weren’t just two straps. There were five straps and a central buckle. It took some experimentation to figure out, which was made all that much tougher because the shuttle started to bounce around either because of turbulent air or by design. Eventually he got strapped in, but the shuttle kept bucking around like a wild horse. The air grew hot and Alexander began to feel a bit queasy.
He tried looking out the window, but the sight of the ground moving away faster and faster only made him feel worse. He turned back to his displays, picking up the last routine where he left off. Maybe, just maybe if he kept himself busy he’d forget about throwing up. If only it were cooler.
Then it struck him: he had engine displays! Wasn’t the air conditioner a system just like the engines? He looked around, paging through one display after another until he found something labeled “Pneumatic Air Bleed System.” Well, it said “Air” at least. At first all he could make out were a bunch of thick green lines going from some objects to other objects. He thought hard. Is that air moving from one place to another? He couldn’t tell, but one of the objects at the top of the page said “Pressurized NO2” and the object at the end of the lines said “Air Conditioning Pack.” Next to the “Pack” was a number: “35 degrees C.”
“No wonder it’s so hot!” He touched the bar next to the temperature readout and moved his finger down the screen until it read “17 degrees C.”
At once cool air began to blow on Alexander and he felt much better. A surge of accomplishment brought a smile to his face. He’d actually done something! His sour stomach disappeared, and Alexander dared a look out the window to see where they might be. The window was black with a sprinkling of bright stars. It can’t be night already! He leaned close to the window, so close he could feel the chill from the Plexiglas. Looking down he saw the bright blue and white limb of the Earth.
Alexander was in space.
The view was mesmerizing. It was one thing to see it on his visiplate at home, but here, even through the small window it was a completely different experience. He was actually in space and not watching it. Alexander pressed
An opaque energy screen closed around Alexander’s station. He could see out the window, but he couldn’t see any of the other seats. He waited for direction. Nothing happened. He looked around, not wanting to touch anything he wasn’t supposed to. There weren’t any reference checklist, labels, signs—nothing. Finally, curiosity got the better of him and he touched a screen. Alexander jumped as all the displays and control boards came to life.
There were seven display screens in all, three smaller screens on either side of a single large screen. The large screen had a menu, just like his hologames. Without wasting any more time he got right to it. There were start up routines, system routines, questions, problems to be solved—he went through them all, except for one. On the first page of the first start up routine was a caution that read,
Pushing the Red Button will begin the Main Sequence, use only when called for by set criteria.
That made no sense to him. He wondered what the Red Button did, but he resisted doing anything about it until he found out when and under what conditions he could use it. He had other things to do regardless.
After about half an hour, Alexander heard a whirring sound. He scanned his displays. On the upper left bank he saw the colored ribbons and digital readouts for four engines. They wound up, settled down and stabilized. A minute later the shuttle moved. He looked out the window and saw that they were rising straight up into the air. He started. He’d forgotten his seat belt! He dug around his seat but there weren’t just two straps. There were five straps and a central buckle. It took some experimentation to figure out, which was made all that much tougher because the shuttle started to bounce around either because of turbulent air or by design. Eventually he got strapped in, but the shuttle kept bucking around like a wild horse. The air grew hot and Alexander began to feel a bit queasy.
He tried looking out the window, but the sight of the ground moving away faster and faster only made him feel worse. He turned back to his displays, picking up the last routine where he left off. Maybe, just maybe if he kept himself busy he’d forget about throwing up. If only it were cooler.
Then it struck him: he had engine displays! Wasn’t the air conditioner a system just like the engines? He looked around, paging through one display after another until he found something labeled “Pneumatic Air Bleed System.” Well, it said “Air” at least. At first all he could make out were a bunch of thick green lines going from some objects to other objects. He thought hard. Is that air moving from one place to another? He couldn’t tell, but one of the objects at the top of the page said “Pressurized NO2” and the object at the end of the lines said “Air Conditioning Pack.” Next to the “Pack” was a number: “35 degrees C.”
“No wonder it’s so hot!” He touched the bar next to the temperature readout and moved his finger down the screen until it read “17 degrees C.”
At once cool air began to blow on Alexander and he felt much better. A surge of accomplishment brought a smile to his face. He’d actually done something! His sour stomach disappeared, and Alexander dared a look out the window to see where they might be. The window was black with a sprinkling of bright stars. It can’t be night already! He leaned close to the window, so close he could feel the chill from the Plexiglas. Looking down he saw the bright blue and white limb of the Earth.
Alexander was in space.
The view was mesmerizing. It was one thing to see it on his visiplate at home, but here, even through the small window it was a completely different experience. He was actually in space and not watching it. Alexander pressed
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