MV 6 Snippet 5

 Last one.

This one I saved for last. It is in the Engineering Universe and well, introduces someone new to the mix.

A New Addition to the Family

Antigua, Capital of the Federation

 

The air car was a 911 sports model, red with a black interior. It was about twenty years old and drew the eyes of everyone around it. The pilot, Daryl Strucker was a kid fresh out of high school and training to be an air mechanic. He had been told to take the air car out for a spin about two kilometers out and then back.

He had taken it out and monitored the computer hooked up to the air car computer. When nothing showed up in the diagnostics, he decided to open it up and have a little fun. Obviously, the owner thought the knocking sound was something important but it was probably jitters Or something that had been sucked into the intake and then blown out.

He was thrown back into his seat as the jet turbines spooled up to their maximum power. He let out a gasp of thrill and hung on for dear life.

What he failed to appreciate was the sudden kick as a fitting let go and one engine on the passenger side went offline. The computer didn’t compensate in time and the sudden loss in lift made the airframe roll.

Inverted he scrambled to right the craft but he was less than two hundred meters off the ground, far too low to be pulling stunts like a full afterburner run. The air car had lost lift and the inverted frame actually changed its aerodynamics to send it hurtling into the ground.

Right into the middle of a residential neighborhood.

Daryl managed to scream and yank back on the stick in an attempt to correct.

It was the wrong move. The air car skipped off the pavement on the road, through a fence and then right through the living room window at 2294 Palm Olive Drive.

The crash and hydrogen fire killed the pilot and the family who had just gone down for a nap.

Firefighters arrived on the scene within minutes. A pump truck managed to stay aloft and dump it’s foam onto the fire before it was forced to land and switch to the fire hydrant and straight water.

The foam had done its job though, smothering the fire and depriving it of oxygen. The rest was beaten down by the drenching of water.

Rescue personnel had suited up and busted into the home. They were appalled to see half melted toys and a couple of plastic highchairs. They went room to room and found the body of the mother cat under a blanket. There were no signs of life initially.

When they heard a mew, they turned back and looked. Hands pulled the body aside to find three kittens: two male, one female. The female was alive and scared.

The kitten was carried out to an ambulance. They put her on oxygen as the police officer and supervisor taped off the area and dealt with the media and neighbors. A full investigation would begin right away.

A sad looking social worker arrived. She had read the file on the ride in and found the kitten with the paramedic. “That was fast,” the paramedic said.

“I’m about to go on vacation,” she said. “I was actually on my way home when I got the call. The boss said someone else will follow up.”

“Oh.”

“So, this is Ember?” the woman said as she examined the terrified kitten. The kitten hunched up in a defensive ball.

“Ember? That’s … ironic?” the paramedic said.

“Why?” the woman asked. “What’s wrong with the name Ember?”

The paramedic pointed a free hand back to the house.

The social worker looked past the fire truck to the still smoldering house. “Oh,” she said simply.

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