The cargo shuttle was much like that of a twentieth century orbiter shuttle, or space shuttle. It had two stabilization wings, used for atmospheric landings, which jutted out from either side of the hull. The cockpit was crammed into a small slot in the front to allow for more room to store supply shipments. Boosters and main engines were placed in the back and fuel was stored in a double lined pocket on top of the shuttle. In emergencies this pocket could be ejected. Cargo space and sleep pods took up the rest of the space. The combination of the different features would have made this a perfect shuttle, except for one minor detail, the shuttle had no means of defense. This could prove to be a fatal flaw because of the increasing number of attacks on flights through the Belt and the Great Belt.
Crieg was tired and he had reason to be. It took eleven months for a shuttle of this size to make a run to Terra II and return, and considering that the shuttle was being hurled through space around one hundred million kilometers an hour he had to stay alert. In addition he only had a two meter by two meter room to move around in and even that was partially taken up by his co-pilot. Crieg pondered this as he stroked his thin red moustache.
Bruce Collins, Crieg's co-pilot, at that moment sleeping with the cargo, graduated at about the same time as Crieg from the Terran Defense Force Space Fleet Academy in California. Due to illnesses, however, Collins spent the first two years of his career on the ground and in a hospital bed. This was only his fifth run. This did not overshadow the fact that he was one of the best shots with a gun and a great pilot. Collins beat him, and Crieg's long time friend, James Hunter, in shooting matches often.
Crieg knew that there was a cloud cover coming up that was too thick for him to see threw so he set the ship on autopilot to avoid an accident. The autopilot kicked in, shutting off the cabin lights. The shuttle passed the divider into night and the cabin went pitch black. If it had not been for the blue and red glow from the autopilot indicator lights, Crieg would not have been able to see at all.
The shuttle dropped into Earth's grasp and the heat shield panels cooled. Crieg entered the first set of clouds. He strained to look out the window as it fogged up. The thick, high clouds passed quickly revealing the lights from below. Crieg noted his destination along the horizon. In the middle of all the twinkling lights sat a rectangle of bright yellow lights. At the end of the landing lights were four round sets of lights surrounding landing pads just big enough for a shuttle to land. This meant only one thing to Crieg. He was almost home.
"This is approach control, please relay a status check."
The sudden interruption of Crieg's serenity caused him to hit his head on the overhead panel. He did this frequently.
"I repeat, this is approach control, please relay a status check."
Crieg shook his head. He squinted his eyes to read his instruments. "All systems normal."
"Prepare to activate breaking thrusters and slow to five hundred thirty-four KPH."
"Copy that as five hundred thirty-four kilometers per hour." Crieg pushed a button next to a desired speed indicator. Numbers raced up. Crieg released the button at the desired speed. "Indicator set at five hundred thirty-four KPH and is in deceleration mode."
"Copy that. On my mark activate breaking thrusters . . . now."
Crieg pulled back hard on the lever to his left. The contents of the shuttle, including Crieg and Collins, were jerked forward.
"Your pad is number three. Happy landings. Control out."
Just as those words were spoken, the shuttle was thrust forward twice and barrel rolled upside down. Crieg fell to the ceiling, having failed to fasten his safety belt. Buzzers and flashing lights filled the cabin with a devastating effect to Crieg's senses. He struggled to reach the control stick. Crieg successfully pulled it to one side. The shuttle rolled over once more, dropping Crieg back into his seat. Without a moments hesitation Crieg pulled a handle up from the floor.
The shuttle jerked again. Crieg turned off the warning buzzers then struggled to regain control of his ship. He fought desperately to pull the shuttle out of its dive, but no matter what he did it continued to plunge to the earth. At that point Crieg gave up and reached for his ejection handle located behind the handle he had just pulled. He gripped it tight then closed his eyes.
Far below, base personnel flooded the landing pads. They watched in horror as the shuttle fell from the night sky. Most of them saw the cargo hold explode away from the hull. As soon as they saw its parachute deploy they returned to watching the falling shuttle. Forty-nine meters off the ground the shuttle exploded. Everyone on the base skipped a heart beat as the thunderous explosion rocked the ground.
They all stayed and watched in horror and disbelief as the flaming wreckage fell to the ground. They all waited, but the single parachute they were waiting for never appeared in the night sky. When rescue teams finally made it to the crash sight all they found were burned hand imprints on the ejection handle. Crieg tried to eject, he had just waited too long.
