Chapter 10
[Reality Check - Wednesday Jul. 22 2009, 2125 hours, Bay 5B]
Thallin's face broke into a grin. "I was born on..."
"Not that beginning!" Kay retorted, a snarl in her voice. She
paused, taking a deep breath, then continued in a steadier voice. "All
right... Let me see." Her eyes lost focus for a moment as she contemplated
her next question, a finger to her chin. "Ah. Tell me about Izi. Who is
she?"
<Oh, great... What do I tell her?> "Her name is Izabelle Fate,"
he started, making it up as he went along, "and her rank is Lieutenant
Junior Grade. She's twenty-one years old, and was born in Salt Lake City,
Utah, to Claire and Jack. She's a Veritech Pilot who's working with me
on the VX-001." Thallin felt he definitely was on a roll... "We're experimenting
with a full immersion virtual interface system... er..." Which just gave
out on him. "She's got brown hair..." he continued, sweating.
"Thanks," replied Kay, saving him from trying to make up more information
on the spot. "That should be enough about Lieutenant Fate's record for
the moment." A pause. "Why was she completely naked when I came in earlier?
And why did she say she didn't have any clothes?"
<Yeah, Thallin... Why?> nagged the little voice in his mind.
"She... er... was caught in a bad situation during the attack on Macross,
and the only clothes she had were destroyed." <Lame, Thallin.>
replied the voice.
"But that was several weeks ago, Thallin."
"We hadn't been able to acquire any until now. Er... Actually, I..."
<Help> he whimpered. <Please, continue> said the voice.
<I'd love to see how you'll get us out of this one.> "We've
been so busy since the attack that we just haven't had time to think about
it. In fact, I'd have to say she's been completely immersed in our work."
Thallin grinned at this double-level pun.
"Hrm. All right. Now, how come she clunked me over the head for my
clothes, then?" She shifted the ice-bag atop her head and winced at the
pain.
<Well, waddayaknow... I can answer this one truthfully!> "I'm
not quite sure about that. I'm sure she would be able to answer that question
better than I can. I might venture to say that all the work and
stress from the experiment has her more than a little addled, though. That
could certainly be the reason for her odd behaviour."
Kay nodded her agreement. <Oh good! She's falling for it.>
"Okay, Thallin. That helps out on those points, but now you've got me wondering
about this experiment you're working on. What's it about?"
<Gulp> "The experiment... well..." <Need time, stall>
"What did you say your clearance was again?"
"I don't know the official term yet, but I'm a Commanding Officer in
charge of sixteen pilots and a full support crew. That should account for
something"
<You're lying through your teeth, Kay. I've seen your security
rating.> "Well, I don't know... I'll tell you the official spiel, though."
Thallin's voice changed slightly as he drifted into 'lecture' mode. "The
VX-001 project is an experiment in radio-controled Veritechs. Through the
use of virtual reality and a complex control computer, we seek to take
the pilot out of the danger of the combat field while simultaneously improving
the capabilities of the Veritech. Once the pilot is removed from the equation,
a mess of problems can be eliminated, such as the effects of G-force on
pilots. A normal human pilot can only withstand nine gravities, and then
only for a short time. The Veritechs themselves can handle forces much
stronger. If a pilot doesn't have to worry about G.L.O.C., he can pull
off some rather fantastic manoeuvres. Ones that would have killed him if
he were in the plane."
"Gee-lock?" asked Kay. "What's that stand for?"
Thallin's suspicion started gnawing on his mind. "Oh, sorry. That's
'G force-induced Loss of Consciousness'. I'm sure you've experienced it
before, or have come close to it, being a pilot."
"All right. Go on, then" she urged, absent-mindedly wiping her palm
on her flight-suit.
"There are other advantages, too. The space that would normally be taken
up by the pilot can be used for other things, except for the nominal amount
of space that would be required by the additional control circuitry and
computer hardware." Too late, Thallin remembered the requisitioned computer
parts and realised he'd just made a blunder.
"Computer Hardware? Tell me, Thallin: would this plane of yours use
standard Veritech computers? The components would be the same, right? Things
like navigational equipment, damage control systems, movement and transformation
hardware and combat computers?"
"Err..." <Give in, it's easier in the end.> "Yes... The components
they use are very similar." Thallin scratched his chin, wondering just
how much he should admit to. "In fact we can - and did - use stock-standard
parts for our repairs."
"Where and when, exactly, did you get these 'stock-standard parts',
Thallin?" Her voice was cold and hard and brought to mind pictures of marble
tombstones.
"We took them from your Veritech," admitted Thallin, "right before the
transformation battle." He noticed that he had started to squeeze the ceramic
mug and stopped, realising he had already started to crack it in some places.
"I apologise sincerely for that. I had no idea that your Veritech had been
stationed to this hangar, and I assumed that Izabelle had requisitioned
it for replacement parts. I am terribly sorry if it inconvenienced you
in any way."
"Well, I could have been killed," Kay replied in a surprisingly sweet
voice, "but I wasn't, so I guess I have to forgive you. But, Thallin, remember
this: 'never assume anything, because it makes an Ass out of U and Me'."
<You and I> Thallin corrected automatically, missing the point.
"Don't worry about it too much, though, because it introduced me to a whole
new concept of space flight. In fact, you probably saved my life."
Kay looked straight at him a smiled the same smile that Izabelle had used
on him. Thallin felt his knees go weak.
The door to the bay sighed open, allowing Izabelle to walk in before
closing again behind her. She was wearing one of Thallin's spare uniforms
and fitted her about as well as a pair of shoes would fit a fish. She walked
over to Thallin and Kay, trying to adjust the jacket to something more
comfortable. "Thallin, I have come to the conclusion that Kay's suggestion
had some validity. I believe I should acquire some suitable, and fitting,
attire. I hope you may see to it for me."
Thallin was about to answer when Kay cut him short. "Wait, Thallin...
What time is it?"
Thallin checked his wrist, but was beaten to the delivery by Izabelle's
prompt response. "It is now fourteen fifty-five and forty-eight seconds,
Kay. Why? You seemed troubled."
"I'm late for class!" She jumped to her feet, followed by Thallin. "Thallin,
Izabelle, I really have to go." She extended her hand towards Thallin before
realising her mistake, but before she could pull it back into a salute,
Thallin had reached out and shaken it. <Guess what, pal. You
can keep the killing urge down.> Kay looked up at him in surprise,
then smiled before walking past Izabelle and him. She paused at the door
and turned towards the other woman. "It was... er, nice to meet
you Lieutenant Fate. I hope to meet you again under less violent terms."
She turned and ran out the door.
Izabelle continued to look at the door as it closed behind Landers,
a puzzled expression on her face. "Thallin... Does Kay know you assigned
me to her squadron?"
[Reality Check - Thursday Sep. 3 2009, 0627 hours, Bay 5B]
"The only problem is that to build some of the circuitry in your 'brain',
I've had to salvage parts from the control deck and the receiving unit
in the VX. We may not be able to find replacement parts for those on-board
the ship." Thallin's body was lying perpendicular to the grey Veritech,
his head having disappeared into the confines of an access panel. The Valkyrie
had been stripped of its paint so that the two could check its external
plating for signs of metal fatigue after the Veritech's sortie in Macross
Island.
"So we have no way of controlling the plane?" asked Izabelle.
"None. The ideal way would have been to have the pilots jack in to the
control deck and control the Veritech with their thoughts as well as physical
controls, but the interface still isn't working properly."
"I thought the Veritech fighters were already controlled by thought.
Through the helmet."
"I'll let you in on a little secret..." Thallin paused. "Could you pass
me the wrench for a second?" Izabelle handed him the implement he had requested
and Thallin's hand disappeared into the access panel. "The so- called 'think-cap'
is a myth. What you actually have inside the helmet is a set of receptors
which take bio-physical readings of the pilot every .1 microseconds. That's
for medical purposes, so that the Veritech does not damage its pilot through
a rough manoeuvre or an over-abundance of Gs." Thallin re-emerged from
his work. "Of course," he continued, throwing the wrench away in disgust,
"the actual workings are a little more complex than that." He stood up
and kicked the Veritech. "Goddamn piece of junk. All I need is a three-dollar
piece of hardware and the only place I can get it is in Tokyo Research."
The night had been long and the VX had fought repairs all through it.
Thallin stepped back into his temporary-cum-permanent quarters next to
bay 5B and was about to collapse onto the bed when he noticed that Izabelle
had beaten him to it. Heading towards the desk, he collapsed in its chair
and laid his head upon his arms, preparing to fall asleep.
The console beeped.
Swearing softly so as not to wake Izabelle, Thallin took the call. The
screen resolved itself into the face of a dark-skinned, young female with
an odd look of concentration upon it. "Lieutenant Braywater? This is Sergeant
Tamara Sam'di of Supply and Requisitioning, Sir."
Thallin closed his eyes, remembering the supply requests. <Oh
boy.>
Forward to Chapter 11.
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