Catastrophic Endstate
If you're stumbling upon this post for the first time, you're entering the narrative midway through its unfolding saga. Alternatively, if you've eagerly awaited the next episode, consider revisiting Chapter Index to refresh your memory.
Behind the pilot and co-pilot seats of the hybrid airship N-798 LM was a flight deck with jump seats for additional crew or VIP passengers. Ranell sat in one of those seats now, chatting quietly with the navigator and watching the endless ranges of impossibly rugged mountains, pockmarked with innumerable frozen lakes, pass beneath them as the Sky Tug made its way doggedly through twilight sky beneath the gray, overcast clouds.
“Weather report is mostly cloudy with occasional snow showers, Captain.” The navigator called out this information to Captain Pruitt, the pilot. “Winds westerly at nine to thirteen knots. Sixty percent chance of snow. Expected high today of twenty-two degrees below zero Fahrenheit.”
It was wintertime in Nunavik, Canada. Those lakes can be pretty, Ranell thought. But he knew from countless trips that this was a harsh, barren landscape. He turned away from the window. What a miserable place.
He was journeying aboard the airship as part of his oversight operations. I may as well get used to this, he thought glumly. These airships are the single biggest drain on GML’s finances. It will take me forever to get some value out of them. He’d been here for months, personally overseeing every aspect of the operations, trying to squeeze enough profit from this project to keep his corporation afloat. In the process, he’d made a royal nuisance out of himself to the Strange Lake team, but at least GML was out of danger for the time being.
He glanced down at his watch, then turned to address the navigator. “It’s almost time for my video call. Did you say you could help me set up the remote feed?”
“Sure thing, Doc.” The navigator was a young man in his early twenties. He seemed energetic and professional, dressed in his gray-blue Nomex flight suit. “I’ll set you up in the main cabin. There’s a headset and camera in there,” he pointed to a cabinet on the wall.”
“Can I take this one in my personal cabin?” Ranell asked.
“Sure thing, Doc. The screen’s smaller, but we’ve got a feed in your room too.”
“Have you ever used one of these before?” the navigator asked helpfully. Ranell was seated at a small desk next to his bunk. The space was small but well-designed to take advantage of every square inch. Ranell felt like he was sitting in a high-end recreational vehicle.
He placed the headset on and pulled the transparent visor down over his eyes. “Yes, I’ve used something like this before, but not this exact model. Can you help me with the interface?”
The navigator made some adjustments, “You’re gonna feel like he’s right in the cabin with you!” He made some minor adjustments and returned to the cockpit. Ranell was alone.
The navigator was wrong. Ranell was placing a regular video call to his dear friend and confessor, Monsignor Raphael Mendoza. Mendoza was back in California at his office in the Our Lady of Angels chapel. All he had was the laptop in the chapel office. So, the whole call felt pretty normal.
Choose Option 1: Discuss Failing Marriage
Choose Option 2: Discuss Pressures of Job