Firebrand Tours To The Galaxy Now Boarding. Kevin Colbran

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      Firebrand tours to the Galaxy

      Steven Firebrand was sitting waiting in his office contemplating life in general while he waited for the arrival of his new toy. People often had a problem relating to him. Lately, he had put it down to having Asperger's Syndrome. Before that a reluctance to drink alcohol when he was in the armed services where they viewed non-drinkers with suspicion.

      Steve Firebrand's nonchalant attitude to life revolved around the Ground Hog Day principle, where having lived his life vicariously with his other selves supplying pre-warning of problems and the remedies of the task well before it happened. The protagonist of the GHD movie had a multitude of tries to eventually work out the smooth way to live the day successfully ending up with the girl and the job of hosting the best comedy/news segment. With a myriad of others selves forging the way and forwarding the fix to the 'younger' versions it made life easy and complicated simultaneously. Steve was a slightly above average in most pursuits; not outstanding except for imagination which his peers viewed as a negative.

      The impending arrival of the foundation of his new enterprise, a training shuttle to prepare the fleet of tourist ships engendered the current train of thought.

      A whistle sounded as the red disc made a pass and barrel roll before slowing to a stop above the athletic oval at the Firebrand factory; as everyone had been waiting for this to happen, they dashed out to see the new addition to the company.

      The red shuttle drifted in to land in the car park; the ramp dropped, and Captain Mike Cox stepped out to hand over the virtual keys to Steven Firebrand. Mike, a tall, lanky country boy, seemed out of place in flight overalls, while Steve was a shorter stocky man wearing work shirt and trousers despite being the Chairman of Firebrand industries.

      “There you go, all nice and shiny,” Mike advised, “I am available to train you up so that you can fly it yourself.”

      “Sounds good, I will give the reins to Anne and get busy with the task,” Steve accepted, “For now would you like a brew, and we can rough out the programme.”

      “Feeling a bit dry after the flight from the Moon and there are a few things to settle first,” Mike agreed.

      “Okay come to my office while we work the bugs out,” Steve invited, on the way waved Anne Strothers, who ran the place, to accompany them.

      Once settled into seats with their brew they started the discussion, “Here are the technical specs to register the shuttles and main ship with CASA,” Mike handed over the data stick which was no drama as the Firebrand computers were well advanced.

      “Since the inventions we share are now protected, I have been training for my commercial pilot's licence and re-establishing my aircraft tech status, with this I should be able to tell CASA what to ask me to qualify as a Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer,' Steve said.

      “Sounds like fun, when I did the deal with the Air Force, they fell over backwards helping, if only to make sure they had a toy for themselves,” Mike said, “But the CASA bureaucrats won’t be so keen as they see it just another bother. This shuttle is carrying a RAAF ID for now as I have conned them into using it as the prototype for their trails, the only catch is that we will have to do a few demos for the brass.”

      “I can get my hands-on experience and if someone else is paying the tab even better,” Steve said.

      “There is a need to set up a fuel supply, can you swing a water distillery and centrifuge on the coast to get heavy water which is the fuel we need rather than have to ship it in from Grnatz?” Mike suggested.

      'Give me the specifications, and I will put my bright guys onto it, the state government should be delighted for a new resource industry. I will need it for my power generators.'

      Steve finished loading the data onto his computer and viewed the information, “Hmm this will cure my insomnia no problem,” Steve grimaced then having a bright idea suggested, “How about we go for a spin and see how it runs?”

      “Sounds like a plan, if you pass the ball to your bright young guns so that it will make them earn their keep,” Mike laughed.

      “Done,” Steve agreed, “Anne since you are now the boss of all you survey; would you organise 'Alpha' team to handle the shuttle and ship registrations. Then have the 'Beta' team set up an ample DO2 supply.”

      “Thanks, Senior, you are always so kind, I don’t know why people say such nasty things behind your back,” Anne retorted.

      “How about I put up a new sign such as CEO in charge of everything and a key to the Executive restroom,” Steve suggested going along with the joke.

      "Everyone knows who runs the lunatic asylum." She quipped, “I have a key already; it is the only way it is kept clean,”

      “Okay, I will leave it in your capable hands, I am off to fly the wild blue yonder,” Steve ended.

      “Break a leg, Senior,” She returned.

      “I see you get on well with the staff?” Mike observed, "Why does she call you Senior?"

      “I always allocate responsibility to those who can handle it, besides she gets paid more than I do,” Steve laughed, "We have quite a few Stevens visiting, and I am the Senior one, hence the name."

      “I thought you were the head of the corporation?” Mike asked, "and the name is as clear as mud."

      “If I were to pay myself more, I might as well just write the cheque directly to the tax man,” Steve returned.

      “Okay the blue yonder is waiting, let’s away,” Mike suggested, “Since we intend to play as civilians we start with a preflight inspection.”

      “Wouldn't do it any other way,” Steve replied, “I will just put my flight suit on, and I will be right with you.”

      “See you out there,” Mike said as he returned to the shuttle.

      It wasn’t long; Steve joined him to commence the preflight, as they did the walk around Mike pointed out the changes to the Humph's design. As it was the first inspection, they took their time and ensured that all was secure after which they climbed into the cockpit and commenced the instrument checks.

      Having received clearance from local air traffic control, they started up and lifted off without disturbing the grass. Senior updated the local clearance with the Toowoomba Airport, the shuttle ascended vertically out of controlled airspace, and the factory complex disappeared from their view.

      “Nice ride feels like we are still on the ground, I have been getting my hours up out of Wellcamp, the training loop is a bit bumpy in a light aircraft,” Steve noted, “How’s the traffic above us?”

      “Mostly clear as we are well away from the busy orbits, just bring our speed up to merge, there will be no problems,” Mike advised, “Once clear of the rubbish we will head off to the Moon factory, and you can see the progress of the new ship.”

      With Mike in control, after the shuttle passed the local orbits, they travelled to the Moon, arriving at Humph's factory, parking the shuttle the pair assumed their spacesuits with verbal commands as Humph was off doing his ‘milk run’ with Su Lin. Lined up in neat lines were several ship frames, from two of Humph's standard size, another couple with a short straight extension midships and another two with half straight with curved ends. A dozen shuttle frames were well advanced in construction as each large ship had a complement of two.

      “Well, what do you think?” Mike asked pointing at the mid-sized vessel as they surveyed the centre of activity, “Another couple of months and you will be touring to your heart’s content.”

      “Seems a little bigger than the Terra?” Steve noted.

      “Yep it is the prototype larger model; it has a 10 metre stretch in the middle; this nearly doubles the capacity without making it unwieldy.”

      “Sounds good can’t wait for the test flight,” Senior agreed already feeling the glow of ownership.

      “Humph will do that then deliver it to your factory where you can complete the fit out, saves the