Chapter 49: (41) Blast off

 Unfortunately, my sightseeing is cut short by an announcement that blears out in the train cart by a robotic voice.

 [“Arriving at launch pad 27, please follow all instructions given by the space port staff. Thank you for choosing Shuttles Labs shuttle model 52, don’t forget to rate your experience in Central Red-Eyes Spaceport on Trip Companion and we wish you a safe blast off.”]

 I don’t mind it, I’ve looked at enough trees and bushes for a month. At the start it looked like this spaceport enclosed a remarkably diverse ecosystem but when I looked for enough time, there was a noticeable pattern of foliage, then Haruna informed me this whole thing was artificial.

 That killed my mood… Apparently, they use this space like a seedbed for varied types of shrubs and trees.

 This is a common thing from what Nanako told me, wide commercial spaces are scarce and when you have to buy a lot of terrain for 100+ launch pads that need to be spaced apart for safety, you use the free space like a nature reserve. A nature reserve that has rockets flying out over it, but apparently they rapidly get out of the spaceport zone and the last incident in a launch happened over 20 years ago. So fires are not an issue, still the contrast is stunning.

 Especially when we are quickly coming up to the launch tower. In the distance, these towers looked tiny, but as we got closer, its actual size turned out to be massive. I would say 100 Meters tall, but that’s me eyeing it. The rockets or shuttles, I guess? That’s what they referred to them as, so I guess they’re shuttles. Anyway, it stands about halfway up the tower with a sizable platform propping it up, so it reaches the top of the tower.

 I can’t help but marvel at the structure, and I take the opportunity to take a picture of it using my phone. That elicits a reaction from Naeko.

 “Yea, I was also surprised on my first space trip.” She starts and I turn my head to her in surprise that she had gone before. Then again, she is from a wealthy family, so it stands to reason this isn’t her first time. Space travel isn’t expensive here, I looked it up before the trip, an economy ticket to MDS Promotional Space Station costs , so not cheap but… It’s space.

 She continues. “The shuttles are really impressive, such a tiny thing, but they can get to orbit really fast, hell I heard from an old timer they supposedly can go anywhere in the solar system if you give them half a year or so.”

 Her knowledge of this topic surprises me, so I ask. “How do you know that?”

 She gives me a cheeky smile and responds. “Does the name KentoDyne ring any bells?”

 I shake my head. “Not really.”

 Naeko frowns. “Oh…” she trails before continuing. “That’s my daddy’s company. They are one of the few Dragoon City enterprises that develop and manufacture shuttles and ships. Actually, they only have one other local competitor.”

 With this, I ask. “Really? So is this shuttle one of your dad’s?”

 She shakes her head and calmly replies. “Nah, KentoDyne doesn’t make private shuttles, this is a Shuttles Labs one. You can tell by the way they shape the canards next to the hybrid thermal nozzles.”

 “Hybrid thermal nozzles?” I inadvertently blurt out.

 Her face brightens up.

 ‘Oh no.’ I could recognize that face anywhere. It’s the one an expert makes when you ask something in their field of expertise.

 Like I expected, she says. “The hybrid thermal nozzle is one of the three workable solutions for earth-side propulsion. Fusion engines, and as a result, particle nozzles, release copious amounts of radiation, and the one on this shuttle also discharges fallout. So a secondary propulsion method is used to get the shuttle to space.”

 Nanako interrupts her. “Neko… What did I say about boring club members with your technical talks?”

 “No, no. Please continue Neko, I’m actually interested.” I’m not lying here. Even if I couldn’t understand half of it, I wanted to know how these people got space travel this far ahead.

 “O.. Ok..?” At my insistence, Naeko hesitantly continues. “Right… S-So, thermal nozzles work by passing a propellant through a heat exchanger that’s, in turn, thermally jointed to the main reactor.”

 “Wait, there’s a reactor on the ship?” I ask. “That’s just sound like a nightmare if a launch goes wrong…”

 Neko chuckles. “Haha, that’s not a problem… really… If something goes wrong, the least of your worries are the reactor… The antimatter container is the worst part.”

 ‘… Great one Neko… Really easing my worries about this…’

 She continues. “Back to the engine. At the start of the launch it uses intake air that as the propellant. Air expands when super-heated, but its trust isn’t enough for a vertical launch vehicle. A space plane design can work only on intake air, but for a vertical shuttle you need a booster propellant. That’s what the Liquid Co2’s for. At the start, the mix of intake air to Liquid Co2 leans to the air, but as the shuttle moves up, and the air gets tinner, the mix changes. About 70Km high you get to the goldilocks zone, where the air is thin but not too thin and the engine is at its most efficient, there it fires at high trust until the target apoap… I mean the top of its trajectory reaches the target’s calculated position, then another burn using the main engine, or the nozzles with only Liquid Co2 if the target is radiation sensitive, gets performed in space to match velocity.”

 ‘… Right, that went in one ear and right out the other… But hey, good to know!’

 I keep smiling and nodding and Naeko continues talking about… whatever.

————

 We finally reach the launch tower. Neako didn’t take long to realize I wasn’t paying attention and called me out on it. I apologized, and she took it well. I guess she knows she can’t expect everyone to know as much about the intricacies of space travel as she does. Actually, I’m quite surprised by her attitude here. I didn’t see Naeko for a techy but I guess if you push on the right topic everyone has at least something they geek over…

 After the robotic voice returned to inform us we had arrived, we exit the train and ride an elevator up to the shuttle. There, we file into the main cabin under the instruction of a staff member. The interior is kind of grim. Some parts are even unpainted and seven rows of seats in a vertical arrangement take most of the space. There’s a strange smell in the air and the lighting is clearly an afterthought.

 I sit down… for the third time today...

 Anyway, we lay in the seats on our backs, and the staff strap us in. The sitting arrangement here doesn’t really matter. It’s too uncomfortable for us to talk with each other and it’s clear this arrangement is just temporary until we reach the main craft that’ll take us to the station.

 After a little instruction about what to do in case of a launch anomaly… Yes, that’s what they call it, not suspicious at all. They left us and sealed the airlock.

 ‘This is it Yuumi… Fuck I can’t believe my little YGO adventure is going to end up with me going to space… Fucking hell, I’m going to space… Fuck… Hahaha…’ I don’t know why this is only dawning on me now but I’m freaking out.

 “So who’s got a song?” someone suggests, and that makes me snap out of my thoughts.

 “What?” I ask.

 “Never heard of the spaceman’s prayer? It’s a tradition carried over by the pioneers long ago when space travel was a big deal. Just a simple song for luck.” I notice Naeko is the one speaking at this point.

 While I knew a good amount of folk songs, I reasoned there were none that wouldn’t at least make them suspicious of my past. While the Director knew about Yuumi’s true origins and I could explain the contents of the songs as something passed down among the Katayama family, I didn’t want to reveal that to the others yet. I’m sure the Director wouldn’t want that right now either.

 So I respond with. “Not really.”

 “Come on Yuumi, you got to at least know one.” Naeko insists.

 “Why are you asking me? Going by your excitement about this, you probably know one or two.” I suggest.

 The Director is staying quiet through this. I guess he’s more annoyed than anything and doesn’t want to deal with our shenanigans. I can’t really ask him to cover for me, because we can’t move well now that we're strapped down, so I can’t signal to him I don’t have an appropriate answer for Naeko here.

 Thankfully, I don’t need to.

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 “Hey, I know one.” Aiko pitches in.

 I couldn’t have imagined her doing something like this back then. Good to see her get out of her shell a bit.

 “Really? Then let’s hear it!” Neko urges.

 This makes Aiko backpedal immediately. “Wait! Now? B-but.” she clumsily stutters.

 ‘Fufufufu, seems like that part of her personality is still alive and well after all.’

 After some more back and forth, an announcement blears in the cabin.

 [“Thermo Nozzle Turbo Pump speed up…. Pass.”]

 From all around, the shuttle makes an uncomfortable whining noise and the lights flicker. Metal shacking.

 ‘What the fuck is going on?’ I’m getting worried.

 [“Please keep in mind that fluctuations in non-essential circuits, E.g. Lighting are to be expected and well within expected parameters during power diversion.”]

 ‘Oh well, that helps. But I wonder what kind of shit box the Director got for us that's to be this noisy and uncomfortable!’

 “Come on Aiko! I’ll sing with you!” Mia suggests. With all this noise the ship is making, I can barely hear her, but Mia’s voice can be quite piercing when she’s shouting…

 Another round of metal clinging and scrapping sounds begins, and that’s also the cue for another announcement, this time from a human voice.

 [“Final system checks are a go. Shuttle Labs N65278 in launch pad 27 is go for launch.”]

 From then on, a countdown blared over the PA system, and the shuttle started shaking wildly.

 ‘Holy shit, this is fucking crazy!’

 But between the countdown, the metal noises, the mechanical clatter, I could hear a singing voice cutting through it all.

 “When the rocket stands before us like a tower of glass and steel…”

‘That’s Aiko…’ I realise almost immediately. ‘But her voice is so… clear?’

 That it was. Her voice was as harmonious and clear as some singers I knew from back home…

 ‘Why is it always the silent ones that have the best singing voices?’ A silly thought goes through my head.

 Aiko keeps singing. The song goes on about how the pioneers felt seeing a rocket for the first time, the terror, the joy, the excitement.

 All the while, the countdown got closer to zero.

 [“T-10… 9… 8…”]

 Suddenly, a “pop” echoed through the shuttle and an enormous roar followed.

 [7… Nozzle ignition confirmed… 6… 5…]

 The rattling got worse. If it wasn’t for the straps holding me down, I would’ve already fallen off.

 A loud ringing reverberated along the ship, which I guess made Aiko flinch as she briefly stopped singing.

 [“4… Launch clamps retracted… 3… 2…”]

 I brace myself. If the shaking on the ground is this bad that I can’t imagine how bad it’ll be during lift off.

 Aiko resumes where she left, at a strangely appropriate verse. “And we suddenly consider that it just might help to pray.”

 [“Holding clamps detached… 1…”]

 …

 …

 The shaking lessens immediately, and I feel a force push me into the seat, much like the experience in a car speeding up swiftly.

 “Arg…” I grunt.

 Mia joins Aiko in singing… She also has an effective voice.

 The song progresses to calling out various gods that I don’t recognize, but their domains remind me of The Greek Gods.

 ‘I can just feel Nes shaking in her boots… That’s silly, she doesn’t wear boots…’

 The launch continues, and now that the shaking and clanging have diminished, I can finally calm down as we get sent off to heaven… To play fucking YGO.

 

 

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