Lost Era 05_ Deny thy Father - Jeff Mariotte [83]
Instantly the onboard computer obeyed, switching itself off, and the shuttle was under Will’s manual control. “You’re in control, Mr. Riker,” Satek said. “Bring us in.”
“But… yes, sir,” Will replied. He fought back the sudden wave of panic. He could do this manually, he felt sure, even without a computer. Any pilot worth the name had to know this procedure inside and out. He’d practiced it, run through the steps, simulated it… that hangar was rushing up at them fast, though, as they entered Tycho’s gravitational field.
“Bring up the nose,” Paul said, reading the situation.
“I know, Paul!” Will snapped, already reaching for the manual flight operations control. He brought up the nose a few degrees and slowed the shuttle’s descent. Next he powered down the impulse engine and brought the manual thrusters to a half-reverse, slowing the shuttle more and making the descent smoother still. “Landing gear down,” he said as he tapped that control pad, more verbally ticking through the checklist than because he expected a computer to do it for him. A slight correction to the X-Y translation control veered the ship to starboard four degrees, and Will continued his steady descent, regulating forward motion through his pressure on the center pad. His breathing was returning to normal now, as he knew he would pull off a smooth landing.
Three minutes later they were docked, with only the slightest bump on contact. “Well done, Cadet,” Satek said, stone-faced in his Vulcan way. Even Paul Rice congratulated him, once they were out of the shuttle and safely on the floor of the hangar. “I could have brought it down without that huge bump,” Paul added. “But I doubt that you did too much damage.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Dennis said. “You did fine.”
“I was nervous,” Will said, “when Satek shut off the computer. Even though I knew I could do it.”
“Anyone who can’t perform a simple manual landing has no business at the conn,” Paul said.
“That’s true,” Dennis countered. “But usually you know more than a few kilometers from your landing site whether it’ll be manual or not.”
“You can’t count on that, though,” Will put in. “Satek was right to test me. I’m just glad I passed.”
“With flying colors,” Jenna said, clapping him on the shoulder. “We’re all still here, aren’t we?”
At least there’s that, Will thought. We’re all still here. And finished with the day’s activity in plenty of time for tonight.
If Will had felt anxious about performing a manual landing in front of his instructor and peers, he was far more nervous about his plans for the evening. He knew he’d be able to grab Felicia after dinner-all the cadets were having a group dinner with some of the officers from the Tycho City Starfleet base-and he planned to invite her out for a walk at the city’s edge, where the lights weren’t so bright and the starscape would be vibrant and alive.
It was what would happen at that point that tied his stomach up in knots. Either he would be able to give voice to his feelings, or he wouldn’t. If he couldn’t then she would probably think him a complete idiot, of course, but that was a chance he had to take. Then the other consideration was whether or not she would return his affections or spurn them. He tried to brace himself for that, but it was like trying to get ready for a kick in the groin-all the mental preparation in the world would be worthless when the foot finally made contact.
During dinner-he barely knew what he was eating, and he was sure he didn’t get much of it in him-he kept looking at Felicia, who sat at a different table, across the room from him. Fortunately, she was in front of him, because it would have been even more awkward if he’d had to turn around in his chair to see her, especially since he’d tried to keep his feelings a secret from even his best friends, lest she get wind of his plans. She was just wearing her usual uniform, but her hair was neatly brushed