Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space

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  The Eagle was a fighter of sleek elegance, lightning speed, and explosive power. Gallant smiled the moment he laid eyes upon it. The slow, clunky, single-seat nuclear trainer he flew on Mars defied comparison. He began to appreciate that re-qualifying as a fighter pilot on this ship was going to be challenging.

  The F-715 Eagle had twin anti-matter engines. It was an all-planets tactical fighter designed by Mars Douglas Corporation to gain and maintain combat superiority against any comparable spacecraft. Fully combat-ready, it included an anti-missile missile (AMM-3 called Mongoose) designed for defense against incoming ballistic missiles. In addition, it had a 1.21 GigaWatt (GW) xenon-argon pulsed laser cannon.

  The F-715 was sixty-six feet long, twenty-four feet high, with a wing span of thirty-six feet. Fully loaded and armed it weighed twenty eight tons. Its power plant consisted of two anti-proton nuclear fission engines capable of 0.01c for short periods and 0.004c for sustained travel. It had a titanium honeycomb fuselage with a shoulder cantilever wing. The fuselage, fins, and thrusters were made of similar material and covered by a carbon composite skin. It could detect and track spacecraft and small high-speed meteorites at great distances with unprecedented accuracy.

  The pilot and his astrogator sat in tandem with the pilot in the forward seat. There was sufficient room for the crew to stand and maneuver within the cockpit, albeit with grueling effort. In addition, a small bunk bed was crammed under the crew’s seats for rest during extended flights. The remainder of the craft was occupied by engines, equipment, and supplies.

  Midshipman Sandy Barrington was assigned by the XO as his flight instructor for re-qual. Thin, nervous, with exaggerated lines around her mouth she was a young woman who took her daily life very seriously. She was an expert pilot and was intent on demonstrating the Eagle's capabilities to Gallant in detail. She allowed him to get the feel of flying the fighter under her guidance.

  “OK, Gallant, move into position for catapult launch,” she ordered.

  Gallant slowly maneuvered the craft over the hangar deck to the guide slot for the starboard catapult. It was possible to launch using only Eagle’s engines, but that was allowed only during battle conditions or emergencies because the exhaust heat scorched the bay area and required extensive cleanup.

  When he was in position, she allowed him to take off and fly short hops around Repulse while she lectured him, or demonstrated various capabilities. This activity lasted for several hours every day when Gallant was not otherwise occupied.