Here we go again! After much thinking and toiling, I am proud to present:

SEP-010, Chapter 16.

"Now, I know we've kinda talked around the issue at hand, but I wanted to get a clear indication from you, Mr. Payton, about what is going on with the SEP-010 mission and where we stand at this time. What is going on?"

Matthew Payton nodded to the man standing in the audience, and his eyes swept briefly around the conference room. The question the man...

SEP-010, Chapter 15.

Constitution.

Five seconds.

The timer ticked down passionlessly . . . mercilessly . . . mechanically. Five seconds existed between then and now, and for all of the thirty two years Jamie Cunningham had been alive in the universe, she could now remember scarcely too few years. Barbie and her plastic pink Camaro in her bedroom. Her parents fighting down the hall. Their divorce. Her first kiss. High school, and all of its turbulence...

SEP-010, Chapter 14

Jamie Cunningham removed her bluetooth earset from her head, letting it float in the cabin. She set her hand on the commander's seat, closing her eyes in a confused state of shock . . . and mild panic.

The words lingered through her head -- modulated by the radio, it still rang clearly: Mission Control had received her preliminary report on Brian Adkinson's condition, and they were understandably upset. It wasn't unusual for astronauts to have a case...

Operating in tandem, now, which means I will try to keep everything more or less logical and readable. Here is:

SEP-011, Prologue.

Astronaut Charlie Davis rolled up his sleeves as the compressor turbines spooled down, and he took a moment to regard the awesomely hellish heat he felt soaking through the clear canopy above him, permeating straight through his visored helmet and flight suit. He set the parking brake as he blew out an irritated sigh, triggered the canopy...