The Uli Rouge

[majkp]

<Somewhere in Cambridge system...>

~ Rick you were invited to the grand opening of Uli rouge but you forgot the auto-answering machine in the 'tentative mode'! ~

~ Oh bugger, did I? Fnordie, I'm glad you noticed it before the message got deleted. Set course to Grand Canaria, I'll confirm our presence immediately. I hope we won't be late. ~

Deckard's Whale turned and headed to the nearest jump hole of the fastest route to Omega 49.

***

<At the orbit of Grand Canaria...>

~ Rick, do you still have that orbital parachute and the special suit? ~

~ Hmm, I think I do, but what do we need it for now? I even don't remember last time I was using it. ~

~ I'm planning to surprise them a bit. ~

Fnordie's real reason was that he didn't want to climb those 3000 feet using his little feet but he obviously didn't tell that to Rick. Orbital parachuting was a very dangerous sport but Fnordie knew Rick once was excellent although he forgot it. It always started in an orbiting ship, one had to use thrusters of the special heat-proof suit which prevented him from burning in the atmosphere and once deep enough in the atmosphere, the 1st small parachute (made of azbestos composites) had to be opened to slow the speed and then finally the main parachute was opened 1000-3000 feet above the surface. During competitions there was a landing disc, and the winner was the one who managed to get into the 100 yard perimeter in the shortest period of time. Given the random atmospheric conditions on different planets, orbital parachuting was one of the most dangerous sports known in Sirius. The main issue was to calculate the starting point from the orbit.

Fnordie ran the simulations again. Even landing inside a 100 yard perimeter was a tough task but landing on a mountains peak would be considered as a total lunacy. Fnordie finally seemed satisfied, set up the final orbit course while Rick was in the process of getting himself inside the suit. It was obvious he forgot how to dress some parts of it but then he finally seemed ready.

He looked at Fnordie and sent him a thought:
~ Well then, I'm ready, but what about you? You'll land with the ship? ~

~ No, I'm going with you.. ~

~ What?? Are you ins... ~

~ I'll be in a pet-pod strapped with a rope to your belt so when the parachute opens, I'll be bellow you and you'll have no problems with steering it. ~ Fnordie thought that over well before.

Rick already knew that there is no point in resisting Fnordie so he just thought about something close to 'very well' and prepared the pod and the straps.

***

They were lucky. The weather was nice and there were no clouds in the air and the winds were exactly the same as in the calculations. Everything was going well, they passed the ionosphere, and Rick opened the first parachute to slow them down a bit as they were falling too hot. They both had some time to observe the Uli Rouge from above. It looked like a normal mountain with no signs that there might be something inside it.

The scenery was breathtaking. Rick recognized Reggie's Veranda, the lake, the plantages which seemed already harvested, Alan's Hangar, the mountains, the Cafe. But something detained him, he looked back at Uli Rouge and saw hundreds of small flashes from all over the mountain. Well, this wasn't very natural. The whole mountain was flashing like a christmas tree. If Rick could open his mouth in the helmet he certainly would have done that. But finally the reality caught him up. He saw lots of little dots flying in their direction.

~ Rick, hang on, that's the flak cannon defense system a very complex one I must admit. Just don't forget to open the main parachute when I tell you, it's almost the time. And don't get disturbed by the flak. ~

Rick didn't say anything, he didn't have to, his eyes were wide open, and if the windshield of his helmet wasn't coated with a reflex layer the Grand Canaria would see such a frightened look, that it couldn't be described. He then closed his eyes and tried to pretend it's just a bad dream and he actually isn't there.

~ Hmm, that's not going to work, Rick. Wake yourself up, and open the parachute NOW. You still have to steer it so we don't end in some gap. ~

The parachute opened and the air in their vicinity literally turned into hell. Thousands of flak explosions must have been well visible from long distance, but Fnordie & Rick were right inside it. Fnordie created a force shield around them so if anyone dreamed of flying through hell in a buble this was exactly what was happening. They were getting close to the top of the Uli Rouge. The flak parade finally stopped and Fnordie could bring down the shield.

But due to the fuss he didn't notice another threat - a cloaked Nova missile. Who would have expected something like that. Fnordie 'detected' it too late. Their only luck was that targeting system of these missiles was not designed to deal with a man on a parachute so it missed them very closely. The parachute on the other hand was not that lucky and it was not only ripped up, it was also set on fire by the jet of the missile and became pretty useless. The missile continued it's way up and finally locked itself on an innocent victim - Whale class freighter on the orbit. The explosion must have been visible from the ground.

Fnordie & Rick were falling like two rocks. But then their fall was becoming slower and slower and then it stopped. Rick's eyes were still closed when he heard a robotic implacable voice: "Hands up!". He opened them and saw DeSicev who was upside-down pointing with his finger in his face pretending it was a gun. Rick was so confused that he raised his hands and when they hit the ground he realised that it's not DeSicev but himself who is upside-down.

In this very moment Reggie, Fiona and another unknown man appeared, attracted by the massive fireworks. Reggie and Fiona both fell into uncontrollable laughter as they saw a pet-pod floating in the air and then Rick, upside-down in his smoked suit, strapped to the pod, touching ground with his hands with DeSicev's 'gun' in his shocked face.

"So much for the orbital parachuting", Rick said. The balance sheet was incredible, destroyed parachute equipment, destroyed Whale, total embarassment right in front of lady Fiona again.

He'll have to talk to Fnordie later when he chills out a bit...