(PART 1 OF 4)

Xoda and Abi had gone round to see Zebrina as she had a surprise for the 2 of them in the basement. Xoda and Abi followed Zebrina down some steps into the huge basement and showed them a giant space craft on a simulator. The two furs couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Zebrina passed them some white clothing told them that she would like to test the machine out but needed some volunteers to go into the spaceship. Xoda and Abi agreed and Zebrina thanked the two of them volunteering and showed them the control room and how she could replicate faults like a sudden loss of power, the furs were amazed by it all as Zebrina pressed a button and the door to the simulator slowly opened outwards and upwards as Xoda and Abi followed Zebrina out of the control room and towards the simulator.

Zebrina, Xoda and Abi all climbed the steps into the simulator and Abi showed them inside, two seats, computers, a large monitor at the front of the ship, steering controls, multiple buttons all over the place except on the doors, she then pointed out a big red button on the ceiling which was only to be used in a real emergency only, once pressed the machine would stopped completely and the door would open. The furs agreed and when Zebrina asked if they wanted to try out the simulator, they both quickly said yes.

They all left the simulator and headed back into the control room, Zebrina told them what the practice run would consist of, taking off from a 45° angle, fly up to 100,000 feet before leveling out and then begin descending before landing on the runway of the Island's airport, As soon as the two of them were told the plan a couple of times then it was time to enter the simulator on their own.

Xoda and Abi climbed the metal steps to the simulator before taking their seats, Zebrina did their safety harnesses up and checked they were secured before she made her way to the door, telling both furs to relax because at this point they were shaking from excitement. Xoda and Abi were given communication headsets in order to keep contact with ground control as well as contact the airport control tower, Zebrina finally wished them good luck as she pressed a button to close the door of the ship and another button to move the stairs clear of the spaceship. The Simulator began tilting to the 45° angle. Zebrina typed in a command to start a 10 second countdown, As soon as she hit the enter key the countdown began. Inside the simulator the screen lit up with an open blue sky, a few white clouds but all in all a perfect day. Xoda looked to a digital text screen next to him, the countdown began and 10 seconds ticked away as Xoda and Abi looked at each other. At 7 the simulator began shaking as the ignition sequence activated.

4....3....2....1....lift off!

Inside the spaceship Xoda and Abi felt themselves lift off from the ground as the simulator shook, meanwhile in the control room Zebrina cheered as she watched the screen, SpaceX 1 launched without any trouble and as the simulator shook from launching, Xoda watched the height gauge as it increased 25,000, 50,000, 75,000 as it neared 100,000 feet Xoda began to level off on the controls and as he did so, in the basement the simulator went from a 45° angle to a near horizontal flight. Abi confirmed they had levelled out, the sky outside on the screen was a very dark blue, they were so close to leaving the earth's atmosphere and now to contact the airport requesting permission to land Zebrina gave them clearance but also to turn 19° to the left in order to line up with the runway Xoda turned 19° left and Abi checked the height display and Xoda confirmed that the ship would descend at 1,000 feet a minute as they descended towards the runway.

It would be a while before they landed and confirmed with Zebrina that the airport had granted permission for SpaceX1 to land on the runway. As they neared the runway Xoda activated the landing wheels as SpaceX1 came into landing on the runway. Xoda held out his left hand while Abi held out her right hand as the two of them locked together SpaceX1 came into landing only bounced up and down on the runway hard before coming to a stop.

Zebrina activated the stairs and then activated the door to the simulator and soon as the door opened Zebrina congratulated the pair on a near perfect flight for their first ever time and asked if they would you like to volunteer for the Simulator Space Program (SSP)? Zebrina explained that the SSP would consist of being in SpaceX1 for a full 24 hours, there would be food onboard and it will be exploring the unknown.

Xoda and Abi agreed not knowing what lay ahead.

Story by  XodaFox

Xoda, Abi and Zebrina are owned by  XodaFox

Art created by CrimsonPyroWolf on deviantArt.