In A Starship's Wake

Chapter 57: Unexpected Normalcy

Reentry in a ship this size could be tricky, so for once everyone was strapped in on the bridge. Warships even larger than Great Mandan Laker did it all the time, but those were warships. Freighters were built with different priorities.

Joseph watched the path indicators presented on the windshield intensely. He'd never done a reentry in a ship this large. He'd done simulations to get a captain's license for bulk haulers, but this time if he messed it up too badly the crash would be real.

Things were going well so far, despite his misgivings. The computer-provided path was simple enough to follow, and atomospheric reentry wasn't a new procedure for him. Confidence gradually returned as he discovered it wasn't that much different for a bigger ship.

Finally they were in the atmosphere. Joseph reoriented the ship and headed for the refinery, another fifty miles inland from where they'd descended. Rebecca was first to unbuckle and the others followed rapidly.

"You may not want to do that yet," Joseph warned. "Landing over the ore pits at surface refineries is tricky. It can bang us around far worse than if we missed a station feed port."

"I have every confidence in your abilities." Charlie waved the concern away. "It's the same amount of precision, and your feed port docks have all gone pretty well."

"Except for that first one." Rebecca's grin was so wide it was nearly audible.

"He still didn't hit anything. You haven't done either yet young lady. Just wait, soon we'll be laughing at your mishaps. Hopefully." She must have given him an affronted look. "What? If we laugh it wasn't a serious mishap, and you will have mishaps so let's hope they aren't serious."

Joseph hadn't visited a surface refinery before, and looked with interest as they approached. There were several buildings whose functions he couldn't tell from the air, and a small one to one side that was clearly the office. The ore pits were interesting structures, half above and half below ground with walls that were thicker at the bottoms and large pillars to support freighter landing struts.

Landing on the pit turned out similarly to reentry. Joseph was nervous about it, but had practiced enough that his worries were unnecessary. He managed to get them down on the first try. It was much harder to hit than a flat landing pad, but it was doable.

"No radio contact," Nathan observed. "What next?"

"We just put out the gangplank and head over to the office," Charlie said. "It doesn't look like a big enough operation that they have cargo coming and going constantly, so I'd guess nobody bothers to man the radio even when they're expecting company."

"Do we all need to go?" Rebecca was halfway out of her chair as she asked.

"Definitely not. Just Joseph, and maybe I'll go with him. Someone should stay here to start the unloading when we get the go-ahead."

"I'll go over to the office and make sure everything is set," Joseph said. "Charlie, come along if you want. Everyone else can mill around the ship as it pleases you, just make sure there's someone on the bridge. When I call I want the unloading to start immediately."

"No problem," Nathan nodded. "Are we in a hurry to make our next stop?"

"Not really." Joseph and Charlie started for the exit. "I just don't want to hang around any longer than we need to. We still don't know much about these people, and I'm still nervous."

The hauler's gangplank got them to the walls of the ore pit. From there they made their way down a ramp and across a dirt-covered stretch of pavement to the small office. Next to that building was a gate that led off the premises.