CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 2: A Captain's Journey

57 ∞ A Specific Mindset

Shortlisted - Day 0001

Gareth followed Harlin as they climbed the landing gear ladder. As he ascended, he began to truly appreciate the size of the retractable landing gear. The wheel well they ascended into was bigger than a small house.

"There we go." Harlin pointed at a scaffold that ran around the well near the top of the ladder. After a hop to the small step-off, he turned to take Gareth's duffel bag. It was no easy task carrying it while climbing a ladder, and Gareth appreciated the assistance. Once standing on the scaffold, Gareth scrutinized the landing machinery, eyes roaming.

Harlin observed him for a few moments. "First time?"

Gareth lifted a corner of his mouth. "No, just doing my inspection. This gear is remarkably clean and looks in good service."

Harlin laughed and gave him a slap on the back.

"Stacy wasn't kidding. His safety record is one of the best. He has no problem yanking a shuttle out of service if something isn't right. He's pissed off a lot of people for that, but he doesn't care. And as for his techs, he'll ship them Earth-side fast, on charges, if they take shortcuts. And truth be told, he has good reason for being tough."

Gareth looked at Harlin. "Oh?"

"Remember that shuttle that came apart over Maajidoor city twenty years ago?" asked Harlin, a sad note in his voice.

Gareth thought for a moment. "Yes, I do. It became a meteor shower on approach, if I recall. Almost a hundred and fifty fatalities from debris falling, along with shuttle crew and passengers. Almost three hundred dead, total."

"Well, Stacy's daughter was on that shuttle."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Harlin gave an offhanded shrug. "I'm just telling you in case you're ever with him and the subject comes up. He spent three years seeing to the maintenance crews and inspectors getting the maximum sentence."

That meant a charge of 'Disregard for life' followed by the death penalty. The death penalty was rare, but in this case, Gareth could see where it was warranted. It didn't matter if one intended loss of life or not, where responsibility was concerned. Taking the life of the guilty did nothing to ease the pain of the families of the victims. But it did send a clear message to society as a whole, and Gareth couldn't argue with that.

Harlin broke the somber silence with, "Come on. Let's find Sheila." He turned to make his way around the scaffolding toward the airlock to the shuttle proper. At the door, he keyed the electronic pad, but nothing happened. He tried again to no avail.

"Now what?" he asked in confusion.

"Just wait," said Gareth quietly behind him.

Harlin turned to him with a questioning look.

"Protocol is that this door remains locked from the inside. We have to be let in, and Stacy did say a tech would be expecting us. Give him time to stop what he's doing to come and investigate the alert we just triggered."

"Oh. How do you know all this?"

"I told you, I was a shuttle jockey."

"That you did. But you said military."

"Yep. But on a military shuttle, we wouldn't have made it halfway up the ladder. Still, some procedures remain the same. No matter what, a shuttle is a shuttle." Gareth shrugged.

"Okay, but now I've got to ask. No bad guy climbs up a ladder with people around. So, assuming no one's looking, what would stop him from going up the ladder?"