Airline Food for the Soul
#1 of Clean
To Fly
Or
Airline food for the soul
Written by Pyrin (1701)
All original characters copyright me, reposting is encouraged, please just notify me of.
YIM: Pyrin1701 Email: [email protected]
Special thanks to Emmy_Rose for the idea and the death of my years long writer's block.
"Are you gonna goof around all day with that thing, or put it on and get in here?"Steve hollers back to his co-pilot as she wrestles with her flight suit. The SR-71 Blackbird is a work of art in his mind: having to wear an environmental space suit just to fly it is a small price to pay in his opinion. "This damn thing doesn't fit! One size fits all, my tail . . . "
She continues to struggle with the unwieldy thick acrylic body suit, slipping her tail into the sleeve and yanking hard to pull it up to her chest. Steve continues to check over the instruments, recording everything on his checklist. The SR-71 is indeed a work of art; but at the speeds it's capable of, if something went wrong, only your offspring would know it, and only then at your funeral. Steve knows this all too well. "Aren't you done with pre-check yet?"
Tal grumbles as she drops herself into the co-pilot's seat, still struggling with pulling up the 3 stage zipper. Her paws tug hard, finally closing the top of the suit firmly around her neck. She sits back with a sigh of success as Steve continues the pre-check.
"You know as well as I do that you don't want a single thing to go wrong on a machine like this, Tal."She nods her head, sighing as she squirms in her suit, grumbling under her breath, "Damn it! I swear to god, I would not be surprised if these 'one-size-fits-all' suits were made by men . . . "
He chuckles softly to himself as he finishes the checklist, Tal continuing to try and get her suit into a comfortable position over her body. "You know, you're probably right, seeing as that suits design is older than me and your one of the first women in the Air Force,"he smirks at her.
She smiles back with a playful sparkle in her soft blue eyes, "Older then you huh? I didn't think there was anything that predated recorded history."Steve turns to glare at her playfully for a moment.
"Oh ha ha, take you all minute to come up with that one? Strap in and prep the engines, checklist is done."
Suddenly all business, Tal begins working her control console as expertly as a surgeon with a blade, flipping controls and adjusting the power levels, "Roger Sir, initiating startup procedures . . ."
Steve shivers mentally, his fur standing a little on end as nearly every surface inside the cockpit lights up with displays, controls and status indicators. He involuntarily starts to purr, sighing at the content feeling of knowing he will soon be soaring through the open skies once again, completely free.
Tal's ear twitches as she smiles and looks at him from the corner of her eye. Smirking, she continues her startup. "Hee hee! Wow, you really do love to fly, don't you kitty?"
Steve clears his throat, consciously forcing himself to stop purring as he blushes a little, "Yes, I do indeed, there is no greater joy in life. . . "he growls softly with his last words. "And don't call me 'kitty', Lieutenant"
She chuckles softly as she finishes powering up the large aircraft, "Hee hee, yes sir, Captain"He smirks, knowing his commander would've blown a gasket at such a comment to a superior officer, but Steve has always been laid back. Military customs, formalities, all of it was just the price he had to pay to fly. In exchange for that, anything was a reasonable price in his mind. He activates his radio and calls the flight crew.
"Foxtrot Charlie Ten, this is Sierra Romeo Zero Black, we are ready for taxi procedures, open the hangar guys . . . "
A guttural voice comes back quickly as Steve watched the furs around the jet scatter, pulling pieces of equipment away from the aircraft as they cleared the path, the double hanger doors before him begin to slide apart, revealing a pitch black outside. So far, all the Blackbirds test flights had been conducted at night to protect its existence, it's harder to see a black jet with no lights take off on a moonless night.
Steve chuckles to his self, thinking that it's pretty hard to spy on them to begin with, seeing as the base's border fences were more than a mile away in any direction. The government in a rare stroke of genius decided to build the base in the middle of nowhere as well, the nearest city being over 10 miles away. He shakes his head softly, setting everything else aside as he begins to power up the jets enormous, overpowered twin engines, his flight seat beginning to rumble gently under him, "Sierra Romeo Zero Black, this is Foxtrot Charlie Ten, you are clear to taxi."
Steve activated his microphone, "Roger That Foxtrot Charlie Ten, switching to Flight Control channel now."
"You bring my baby back in one piece now, ya hear?"Steve chuckles to himself, knowing how much work the chief engineer had sunk into this experimental aircraft. "That all depends on you guys; I just tell her where to go."He changes the channel to contact flight control.
"Skyguard, this is Sierra Romeo Zero Black, requesting permission to depart."
A soft, feminine voice comes back. Steve always wondered how Gloria, the Control Tower Com Officer, was able to sound so innocently sweet, while still communicating clearly that if you didn't do exactly as you were told on HER field; you would most likely never fly at this base again. "This is Skyguard, roger that Sierra Romeo Zero Black, you are clear to depart from hangar, head east to runway 17 and stand by for authorization check."
"Roger that Skyguard, moving out now . . ."he shivers again as his paw grabs the throttle control, pushing forward slightly and being rewarded with a soft kick as the jet gently begins to seemingly float towards the open doors. "Power control, green; fuel regulators, green; internal pressure, green; life support, green; all systems go, sir . . . "Tal continues to monitor the engines and systems in every way possible from the cockpit, dozens of monitors and gauges feeding her information about every system right down to the tire pressure.
He nods as he grasps the control stick firmly, guiding the craft to the end of the designated runway and stopping. He eases back the throttle for a moment and engages the wheel brakes, locking the jet in position despite the small cone of flames still spewing from its engine vents. In the back of his mind Steve thought back to the first time he ever saw a jet engine fire up, idling, it's light soft blue flame almost seems like warrior ready for battle, waiting for the final order, poised on a split-second reaction, prepared to leap head first into the fight and give everything he has.
The radio crackles as they waited for a few minutes, the control finishing it's preparations. A lot of work goes into a test flight, the craft is on active radar and under any number of a dozen engineers eyes at any given time, all watching for any failure or sign or a problem.
"Sierra Romeo Zero Black, this is Hardcode, are you ready for authorization?"Tal and Steve jumped a little simultaneously as the cockpits silence was suddenly broken.
"Roger Hardcode, authorization is Sierra Delta Tango Bravo Nine Five Nine."
Tal picks up just as she's supposed to, "authorization is Tango Pappa Sierra Lima Four Zero Four Zero."There's a pause of silence as Steve flips open the encryption unlock keypad in front of him. Due to its experimental nature, all controls directly related to flight needed to be unlocked, only minimal thrust and steering was available without the authorization code, which only the one known as Hardcode, knew; and it changed every few minutes. "Confirmed Sierra Romeo Zero Black, prepare to enter decryption code."
Steve's paw hovered above the number pad as he keyed his mike once more,
"Standing by, Hardcode."
He came back almost immediately. "Code is as follows; One Zero, Nine Two, Nine Five, Zero One, Eight Three, Niner, Confirm?"Steve's fingers punched in the keys just slightly faster than Hardcode was able to say it, tiny indeterminate symbols run across the small screen below the keypad, cycling thru several characters, the word 'Disengaged'begins to appear one letter at a time, the red letters turning green as it displays the last d.
"Confirmed Hardcode, system unlocked."
Tal and Steve both begin to relax as the control board lights systematically switch from red to green, full access of the craft being released to the pilots as the computer unlocks each control setting individually with a code generated by the key.
"Roger that Sierra Romeo, I'll hand you off to the control tower now, safe flight."
"Thank you Hardcode, Skyguard, are we clear for takeoff?"
Steve's gut clenches in anticipation, his paw gripping the throttle grip tightly with desire.
"Roger Sierra Romeo Zero Black, you may take off at your leisure, safe flight."
Steve smiles at Tal as she smiles back at him, nodding and receiving a nod from her in return. "Thank you Skyguard, we'll be sure to bring her home safe. "The fur on the back of his neck began to stand on end as his palm pressed into the throttle, the engines flaring up behind the twin jets, anxious to be let free.
He continues to push the throttle forward, the ship holding its position on the runway as its exhaust flames grow behind it, the cockpit begins to vibrate as the brakes and the engines fight with their respective forces.
"Releasing brakes in Five, Four, Three . . . "he continues his countdown as his paw grips the throttle once more, flipping the switch controlling the landing gear locks with his thumb and pushing the throttle up further. He smirks to himself as Tal gasps in the seat next to him, both of them suddenly being forced into their respective seats as the jet leaps to life.
Most everyone at the base at this time of night had something to do with the test flight, and knowing this, watched in admiration as their masterpiece of engineering behaves exactly as intended. The solid black dagger like jet sprinted across the runway with an almost unreal speed, continuing to accelerate faster as it approached the end of the runway. Steve grits his teeth, gripping the steering column and throttle as the G forces pin his body to his flight seat.
The small lights on either side of the runway whipped by faster and faster, the line of lights at the end of the runway flew at them with alarming speed. He pulls back hard, guiding the jet up, his stomach and guts dropping into his legs as the jet bites into the air and leaps from the ground like a bird from the edge of a cliff.
Steve and Tal groan in unison as the jet leans back further and further, the Blackbird's small wingspan requiring a steep climb angle until it reaches higher altitudes. In his mind, Steve could see the ground beneath them quickly rocketing away, everything growing smaller as the base dissolved into the background. The sky ahead of them is pitch black except for stars, and as they climb higher, the stars brighten, the night time lights of earth's parking lots and streetlights fading to give way to the universes chaotic beauty. Steve's heart soars even higher and faster than the jet, he can feel the very core of his being warmed as if by some miraculous holy light, he could feel his soul being fed it's favorite food, the freedom of the sky.
He turns and smiles at Tal, she smiles back, the same glint in her eye. He thinks to himself, 'truly there must be no greater thrill'. He has to concentrate to keep a tear from forming in his eye, chuckling to himself and speaking softly,
"Every. Single. Time. It never gets old, does it?"he asks Tal, shaking his head in mild disbelief that the sensation never fades even slightly.
Tal smiles as she monitors the instruments, nodding "No it doesn't, not even a little . . ."He grins a little to himself, purring involuntarily as he pushes the throttle forward another notch, eliciting as startled yelp from Tal as the jet leapt forward. Gravity shoving them both into their seats as if the jet wasn't moving at all, despite the fact that they were only halfway to cruising speed and already exceeding mach 6. "Do you believe in God, Tal?"
She blinks at him wide eyed for a moment at the suddenly random question. "Uhm, no, not in a religious sense anyway. I believe there is more to life, something greater that we don't know, but I hesitate to label it as what most furs think of as God."
He chuckles softly, easing back the stick a little further, guiding the jet up into the thinner layers of the stratosphere. "I know what you mean by that, but I don't think you need to believe to appreciate this . . . "
She raises an eyebrow as he levels out the jet, settling it into its cruising altitude. Part of the reason such heavy flight suits are required for flying the Blackbird is due to it's cruising altitude; it's less like "high altitude", and more like a "low orbit."He smiles at her, pointing out the front window, "Take your eyes off your gauges for a moment . . . "
Tal sits there wide-eyed, seeing something she had never seen or even imagined could exist outside of a computer simulation or Hollywood movie.
"I present to you, what I like to call, the Smiling Face of God . . . "Tal is speechless as she watches out the viewport. In front of the jet they could see the dark outline of the night side of earth, stars twinkling in open space with an intensity you cannot find anywhere on the surface of the Earth, the massive moon hovering off in the distance as if watching and waiting. Down below, sparkles of star like light glimmered here and there, people, life; cities beginning to awaken as dawn approaches. And on the edge of the horizon, the Sun itself begins to approach from beyond the earth, light shining and spreading across the world, heralding the coming of a new day. The black sky beneath them blossoms into shades of grey shadows and white puffy clouds, the faint blue sea shining happily miles below them as the Sun embraced the Earth once again.
Tal just stares in awe, thinking quietly to herself, after a few minutes, she gently mumbles to Steve, "Nope, I can't think of a better name either . . ."