Free The Nerdy Dozen #2 by Jeff Miller Page B

technical aspects of the flight.
    â€œCome in, Biggs. Repeat, come in, Biggs. Do you hear me?” said a voice over the headset pulled over each gamer’s head. It was Dallas.
    â€œRead you loud and clear, Houston,” Biggs said. “Er, Dallas. Someplace in Texas. Listen, we’ve got an angry-chimpanzee situation happening. Any advice on how to approach it?”
    â€œDon’t worry about him; he’s always cranky,” said Dallas through the ship’s radio. Everybody could hear both sides of the conversation, but only Biggs had actual radio control. “That’s why he had to leave his crew and come retire in Florida. They couldn’t take it anymore. Boris, are you clear for launch?”

    The chimpanzee underfoot gave a couple of quick whimpers followed by a metallic clanking noise.
    â€œCopy that. You’re all set for launch, recruits.”
    â€œWell, that sounds promising,” said Sam from her seat.
    Neil shifted in the tiny pilot’s perch. Under an insulated white space suit, Neil wore a thin heating and cooling unit that channeled water through every inch of an astronaut’s constricting pressure suit. It was a bit stiff, but Neil had a feeling it could come in handy.
    He twisted his neck to let a little air flow past his sweaty neck.
    â€œLet’s see if your Chameleon skills carry over into the space race,” said Trevor as he and Neil watched the launch timer slowly count down from sixty. They checked gauges on liquid oxygen and hydrogen, but mostly prepared themselves for g forces that might squeeze all liquids from their bodies. Boris would be able to adjust any levels—they could simply focus on flying the craft once it reached outer space.

    The rocket would propel the capsule and the Whiptail spacecraft to the farthest reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. The main boosters would detach, and the Whiptail’s jet engine would take over. Neil could hear the bridge and scaffolding pull away. For now the windows were still dark and covered.
    â€œTen . . .” came Dallas’s voice over the ship’s radio.
    â€œWell, I feel great about Neil being in control,” said Biggs from his station. He made a signal with his hand that kind of looked like a rabbit with four or five legs. The Universal Biggs Language was going to need a pretty thorough reference key to clear up any confusion.
    â€œNine . . .”
    â€œEight . . .”
    Neil nodded his head, and Finch’s voice filled the helmet of every suit.
    â€œOkay, astronauts. Just like your last mission,” Finch said as the final seconds ticked by with robotic beeping noises. “And don’t think I’m not timing this. Extra points for a speedy recovery.”
    Neil gave himself a few seconds to breathe, and with that, the microphoned voice of Finch declared liftoff.

    Neil felt a low rumble, unlike anything he’d experienced before. The rocket violently shimmied back and forth and was suddenly plucked up from the ground. It was like someone dropped a yo-yo, only to jerk it back up toward their palm in an instant.
    The unrelenting power of five gs of pressure crushed Neil as the ship rocketed toward space.
    But then Neil felt a slight change in trajectory. He heard a bleating warning noise coming from his control dashboard.
    While the initial thrust felt like the rocket was headed straight up, it now felt like they were jetting through the atmosphere at a weird angle. The plane was veering downward.
    Summoning all his strength, Neil asked a question of his deputy pilot, Jason 1.
    â€œWhat’s . . . our . . . altitude?” Neil said, forcing his body to use neck muscles he didn’t even know existed.
    â€œWe’ve not yet broken the atmosphere,” Jason 1 responded.
    If the rocket were off by the slightest bit, they would come crashing back to Earth in a few deadly seconds.
    As his body was jostled with the force of ten rickety traveling-carnival