At first, Tom wasn’t sure what to think of the strange occurrence of the rats around him. His first instinct was to swat them away but there was something about their appearance at such a critical time that he thought better of doing such a thing. Hadn’t he seen something like this before? Yes! He had! Gavin! As Kitty tried to control herself Tom began to look around for the sunglass wearing rat hybrid. Where was he?

Kitty snapped her head around to look at Plymuth when he referred to her as Stripes. She wasn’t offended about being called that, she was just surprised he was talking to her. What he said actually made it through to her logical mind and she couldn’t help but wonder for a brief moment, can he see how close I am to losing it here? The answer, of course, was obvious. Claws extended. Pupils dilated to the point where the normal goldish color of her eyes was all but gone. Panting (without the extended tongue). Startling at each sound. All of the signs were there, damn near screaming things were getting hairy.

Just then she felt a light touch to her shoulder and when she whirled around she saw Tom standing out of reach, holding a…..rat? Now was not the time to try and calm her with food! Couldn’t he see she wasn’t hungry????!!!!! She was frightened and wanted to get the hell away from here. NOW. It was as those thoughts were going through her mind that she saw Tom gesture to the other rats around them. Kitty glanced around and became totally confused now. When she looked back up at Tom with a puzzled look, he nodded towards the place Plymuth had jumped from. As gently but as urgently as he could, he pointed out to her the rats were guiding her that way as well.

Wit one more glance at her hybrid friend for reassurance, she quickly followed Plymuth and before she knew it, she was on the ground beside him. The rats were moving along quickly and would stop from time to time and turn to raise their twitching noses in the air before turning and scurrying along again.

As Tom brought up the rear, he quickly relayed to Plumth what the rats were doing, hoping his instincts were right and that Gavin was someplace nearby. He would have to trust the rats to lead him to where ever it was Gavin knew they should go.

Kitty followed Plymuth as Tom instructed and Tom fell in behind her keeping his hand lightly on her hip to make sure she didn’t get completely out of control. The rats, as it turned out, were leading them into a darkened corridor. While Kitty was very cautious she was starting to pick up on a familiar yet faint scent. While she was still ready to bolt and attack at any moment, her human side kept the last thread of hold it had on her by telling her over and over again she knew that scent and it wasn’t an enemy.

Gavin could not have been more accurate in his assumption about Plymuth as he kicked at the rats scurrying about his feet. Land mammals confused the aquatic humanoid at the best of times and he had no idea what the creatures were up to and when Tom had explained that the rats were leading them to safety the mariner at first considered that he too was going feral on him. He, however, couldn't deny that the little critters were moving with an uncharacteristic intelligence. Whether or not someone was controlling them was debatable but they seemed to headed toward a place that would serve as port in this storm and so he followed them.

Plymuth smoothly swung under a pipe running through the narrow alleyway and rounding a corner found the alley suddenly ended. The rats maintained their course, though, passing into a dark three by three foot opening in the wall.

"Bullocks.", he cursed silently to himself as he crouched down and peered into the blackness. There was a faint light source radiating from the other side of where ever the tunnel went which allowed Plymuth to see fairly well but he didn't let on that he could see into the dark. Maybe it was instinct or perhaps it was just the paranoia generated by having a bestial woman literally battling her inner demons but Plymuth thought it wise to conceal as much about his nature as possible. As he crawled into the old shaft and carefully made his way through with the guidance of the rats they steered him down a side passage which lead them into a slightly taller crawl space illuminated by a few shafts of light radiating from grates in the ceiling.

"Well, well. Home sweet home." Commented Plymuth as he rose to a crouching position still unable to stand up straight in the subterranean which seemed to run under some sidewalks.

Kitty was grateful for the tighter confines, even if the man before her was having some issues with it. If need be, she’d push him right out of the way and take the lead herself. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. Plymuth kept following the rats, after his initial reaction to them, and they led the three fugitives into a nice little tunnel like area below the surface of the area.

Once more Kitty was picking up on a familiar scent and it was even stronger down here. As Plymuth moved into the larger space, she followed along and stayed in a crouched, ready to spring stance. Her muscles were coiled and ready to get her out of there in a hell fire hurry if need be.

Her head tilted slightly as she sniffed the air again and smelled the scent. Her feline eyes adjusted to the darkness and as they did, she began to move around cautiously investigating the scent. Her upper lip would quiver and curl in a snarl like gesture as she moved closer to the scent. Finally she caught the silhouette of a form crouched in the darkness and in the blink of an eye, the tigress pounced.

The next thing Gavin knew, he was lying on his back with Kitty on top of him poised to strike with her deadly claws. But something in the voice she heard from her victim stopped her. Right hand raised above her head, claws extended and practically snarling, she was a millisecond away from making that killing blow when she recognized the dark glasses and the curve of the jaw. Slowly her hand lowered, her claws retracted and the snarl eased off her face. Her left hand had a hold of Gavin’s collar and as she slowly released her hold, she leaned down and sniffed close to his neck.

Now she knew who’s scent she was picking up on. Finally giving a heavy sigh, Kitty rolled off Gavin and sat crouched away from him and the others. She’d come close to killing a person she referred to as her friend and that wasn’t good. Thankfully she still had enough of her human characteristics she was able to [prevent herself from making the blow that would have ripped out his throat.

Signing the word ‘sorry’, she decided that separating herself from the others as best she could right now was the only thing she could do to protect them. As noises from over head became louder, she grew anxious again as her eyes darted to the ceiling overhead now. Would they find them? Would they survive this and live to see another day? Had she left her protective bunker and familiar tunnels only to lose her life in her fist, and only, exploration for others?

Kitty had only one prayer: Please don’t let that be the case.

Squeezed into the shadows, Gavin watched the tigress approach but was fairly used to the predatorial look in her eye. Honestly, he'd never expected her to actually go in for the kill. Just as she pounced, Gavin opened his mouth to speak.

"I--URK!" It took a moment for the rat-man to fully process the look of death in the cat-woman's eyes but by then she seemed to have gotten control of herself and slinked away. He didn't know what the sign meant but she seemed at least regretful and Gavin was thankful enough she didn't kill him to shake the whole incident off. Clearing his throat, he shook himself off and pushed his glasses back into their place on his nose before he remembered where he was and simply took them off, his muddy brown eyes moving easily in the darkness. "I see the rats delivered my message," he said in that usual calm tone, though he kept his voice hushed. With a tentative glance over to Kitty, Gavin addressed them all again as he stepped back and held a hand out to the tiny little enclave in which he had been sitting. It looked maybe big enough for a child to sit comfortably in, certainly not a full-grown man, even one as lithe as Gavin, still he seemed to have been quite comfortable for who-knew-how-long. "Ironic that we'd cross paths again," he went on, "but it seemed like you could use a good hiding place. I'm good at finding hidden places. If your quiet, they shouldn't find you. Either way, if I move up front here, they should see me first and I can lead them away."

He motioned again toward the tight squeeze of a space behind him. "Go head," he said, as he began to inch his way around Plymuth. He was more than a little uncomfortable exposing his back to Kitty as he passed but he hoped the gesture, if he survived it, would at least serve as a hint of forgiveness. Still, Gavin didn't look at her when he made it in front of the group and settled himself at the mouth of the opening, blocking out any pinhole of light that had made it down there before and completely cloaking the fugitives in blackness. "Make yourselves comfortable," he whispered, "I managed to find some food and stored it back there for you. I assume you don't mind scraps."

While she didn’t show it outwardly, Kitty was more than grateful for Gavin’s appearance in this forsaken place. If it hadn’t been for him, there was no doubt in her mind she would most likely be dead now….and taken a few with her in the process. While the skittering rats seemed to avoid her as much as Gavin did, she welcomed their subtle noises. It was much better than the pounding and thumping of boots and the shouting of order over head.

As Gavin gestured to the small hidey hole, Kitty was the first to accept his offer and found herself beginning to calm almost instantly. While Tigers were known for their nomadic life in the wild, Kitty had never really been used to life in the wide open. She wasn’t afraid of it as a norm, but when it came to these sort of situations, she found the confines and familiar feeling of a dark ceiling overhead to be more to her liking.

An occasional loud noise would cause her to cease all movement, including breathing, as she seemed to coil up like a spring in preparation to pounce. When the noise would fade away and she could breathe again, Kitty searched the hiding place for an alternate way out….just in case.

The scraps Gavin had collected were a welcomed addition as well. Taking a few pieces for herself, Kitty made sure to hand Tom and Plymuth some of them. Rather they ate them now or saved them for later, at least she did her part. Now all she wanted was to wait for the sun to fully set so they could make heir escape from this hellish place and be on their way again.

As she sat nibbling on the scraps Kitty glanced at Gavin as he crouched and watched the opening for them. Taking a scrap in her hand she moved closer, tapped Gavin gently on the shoulder, and offered him the scrap as a gesture of good faith and apology. Hopefully he would see she was trying to make an effort here and wouldn’t reject her good will.

Plymuth guzzled back an entire canteen of water as the Death Troopers passed by over head. Falling dust disturbed by the vibrations of their heavy boots on the concrete glowed in the pin holes of light emanating from ancient grates in the walkway long since packed tight with earth. A few good stomps and they would be exposed but it seemed that the soldiers were unaware of the old drainage system above them, 'probably completely covered on the surface', considered the mariner.

Only after his thirst was quenched did, Plymuth divert is full attention to the danger that lurked above them. Naturally he dehydrated quicker than most, it wasn't matter of life and death but Plymuth took every opportunity he could to enjoy a cool drink. Aside from the necessity it also helped him ignore the wild beast in the corner of the room. He didn't know what was worse. Dealing with the Death Troopers or being trapped in tight space with the mad tigress. Thankfully she calmed down quickly, the other hybrids instinctively gave her space and Plymuth did the same, avoiding any eye contact or quick movements she might mistake for hostility. He in fact knew a little bit about animal behavior from working with the bull 'storm seals' they trained for protection. Vicious beasts, but loyal to the death.

Listening to the foot steps above them, Plymuth really didn't care what happened. Sitting there in the dark with three humanoids so different from him, his thoughts keps on drifting back to Avalon. His home. Now just a ruined platform in the middle of the sea, wiped out by Humans. Humans, like the ones hunting them right now. The more he thought of the horrors that befell his people, the angrier Plymuth grew. His muscles rippled beneath his shirt as rage coursed through his viens. Sweat began to bead his forehead and he secretly hoped the troopers discovered them. He was tired of being the last of his kind. Tired of hiding and most of all tired of being hunted by Humans.

Gavin turned his muddy eyes up to Kitty when she tapped him on the shoulder and smiled as he accepted the scrap.

"Thanks," he said before turning his attention back to the opening. The vibrations were dying down, becoming less heavy and more muffled with the lighter steps of so many citizens, the smells more of dust and less of burning ammo. Tilting his head upward, Gavin sniffed the air and listened as the last soldiers seemed to move past their hiding place. When he glanced to the others, he saw that they, too, seemed to notice the falling quiet. "Let's just be sure," he whispered to them. Calling to his fuzzy little friends, he sent two little gray scouts scuttling down the path from which they'd come, their pattering footsteps echoing in the growing silence. A few minutes passed in silence in which Gavin waited with all the nonchalance of waiting for a bus. Finally, he before the rats even returned, he turned to face the others with a small smile. "I think we are safe to fight another day," he said, using a grim expression he and the other rat hybrids had used back at the lab after another day of cruel training and experiments.

Shifting himself around in the tiny space, he looked at them all in the near complete darkness and nibbled on the scrap Kitty had given him.

"So if I may ask," he began, "where did you all go? I woke up in the hotel and you were gone." His tone was conversational, betraying none of the hurt or confusion he had felt before. He then turned to Plymuth, his eyes narrowing as recognition drifted slowly into them. "And . . . you look familiar..." he added.

Kitty felt herself relaxing more and more as the threat shifted further away from the hiding place Gavin had secured for them. So much so that the hybrid tigress actually closed her eyes for a few minutes seeming to sleep. Of course when Gavin’s soft, hushed voice filled the small space, her eyes opened and she studied the fellow hybrid. In the confusion she had forgotten all about him. All she knew when she woke up was that Leo and the truck, the strange man with the slave girl and the slave girl was gone.

Now, as she sat listening to Gavin’s questions, she realized what she and Tom had done to him was no better than what Leo and the others had done to her and Tom. Now she knew where the old saying “Two wrongs don’t make a right” came from. Shifting her weight slightly so she could easily use her hands to sign, Kitty tried the best she could to explain not knowing if Gavin could understand her or not. Hopefully Tom would interpret for her if Gavin didn’t understand.

very sorry….woke up….leo gone…truck gone….slave girl gone…..bad man gone…..felt abandoned….decided to leave place since nothing left…..picked up trail of pretty boy….followed to this place….wish had stayed in other place now….

The guilt she felt for abandoning Gavin ran deep and the more she thought about what had happened, the worst she felt for it. Blinking a few times and looking away from his gaze, Kitty thought for a few moments then shifted her weight once more and moved a little closer to the Rat hybrid and signed again before extending her hand.

so very sorry for abandoning you…..no mean to…..know how you felt when realize all gone….please forgive….not happen again….promise….

Kitty’s gold gaze had returned to a normal look and as she looked to Gavin now, there was sincerity in her eyes letting him know she felt terrible for what happened to the man who now saved their lives….again.

Plymuth couldn't be sure where and when this 'rat-man' would have come across him. "Got the wrong the guy, pal." he told him as his eyes wandered back up the ceiling.

A soothing calm began to wash over the mariner like a cool shower. He could tell from the sounds that the danger had passed just like the 'rat-man' had foretold. Now it was just a matter of lying low for a while and letting the situation blow over.

Listening to Tom's translation of the 'tiger-girl's' apology, Plymuth realized that the 'rat-man' was at the Oasis hotel when all hell broke loose, but he still didn't recall him. Probably due to the fact that man was so nondescript that he seemed to literally blend into his surroundings. Oddly, though, crouched beside him in close quarters he observed the man actually was quite distinct.

"The name's Plymuth." The mariner offered to the rat-man as he turned his wide nocturnal eyes on him, "I 'eard those blokes chasin' us were called Deathtroopers and the other normal soldiers were Peacekeepers. Seems they run the place, but there's another militant group here that call themselves, Rangers. Ran inta one o'them, gave me this."

Plymuth pointed to the arm band with '5025-T' written across it in white, its bright green colour subdued by the night vision of the four non-humans. "I believe the guy's name was Salem. Salem Midvale, and I got the feelin' from him that they were none too happy with Stonehaven's current government. You know anything about it?"

Rarmon and Jack had escaped the troopers having slipped into a sewer...Ramon looked to the nimble man still aiming his pistol at the manhole.... “They won’t expect us to go underground with a heavy mech with you.” Rarmon stretched his arms the sewer had dried up thankfully...but he still wouldn’t be able to climb the ladder he had accidently torn off the first five rungs when climbing down. “We will have to find a storm drain of some sort.” Jack nodded pushing the pistol back into its holster he held his finger up after a moment he pointed down one of the ways of the tunnel... “This is the way out I believe.”

The two trudged through the dark Rarmon went first his helmet equipped with a flashlight both could use night vision...but lights were more traditional not scaring people who ordinarily hung down here. Rarmon reaching round he pulled...... “Oh...for f’ sake!” Jack gave a chuckle the bottle of whiskey had been hit only the bottle neck remained Rarmon dropped it with a sigh. “The other bottles are further down.” The two continued to march through the sewer both looking for theexit.

COL Miles McGuire on a special assignment for NASA - tasked to deliver and mount a new communications module to the abondon space station obiting Venus. The countries involved in the joint affair had taken sides and the space station has been abondoned.

During that time frame, the world was at war and tensions were high. While on a space walk to install the communications, Miles experienced several large white flashes coming from behind the moon. Brillant white flashes...the earth was behind the moon and suddenly Miles felt all alone.

Very alone...twenty years have past since that spacewalk around the spacestation, the days before the spacestation, he was in a hyper sleep chamber, sleeping soundly for fifteen years just to get to the space station.

Now, he worked around the clock, preparing for what he knew little about...what existing conditions were on the planet.

The day of and the morning after the Apocalyptic event communications with earth returned nothing but static on the radio comm. He spent days in the space craft, racking his brain...he had no alternate plan. he decided then, that he would salvaged everything he could from the space station, including the new com module and mount it on his craft. He would continuously make an attempt to contact anybody still alive on earth.

On the last day before pulling away from the space station, COL Mcguire notices a fuel leak in one of his space craft capillaries. The trip back to earth would take a lot longer to return and he hoped the earths gravitional pull would do the rest. Miles routinely kept perfecting his robotic devices he built with the parts from the space station to help him keep his sanity. He keep his personal hygiene up, shaving daily and brushing his teeth...and his long hair. He had even reread his Louis La'Mour series of cowboy stories, at least eighteen times and was bored.

That was then...this is now....space travel it seemed like only a few days ago when he left the space station...but in fact it had been almost 27 years since pulling away...and Miles was orbiting the earth for the past 24 hours. There are several hot contaminated spots on his radiac meter ADR-77 instrutment panel reads and interprets the high gamma-beta and alpha readings...

He turns on the tv screen. He views the screen and listens to the taped message sent off in five languages to mankind. Dreams of returning to the good life fades as the first images of what was once Colorado appears on the tv screen. Christ...where's all the trees?

Miles tears open the last of his food supply paks...the reality sinks in...he'sgonna have to make a landing down there and look for food.

Looking for a place to put the craft down and keep it well hidden,he spots this old farm ...

Salem Midvale leaned back in his plush office chair. A treasure he had found on one of his expeditions into the steppes. He was just finishing up a silver can filled with chocolate pudding when one of his men came running in.

"Salem!" he called looking frantically about the control room.

Salem raised a hand but despite the anxious expression on the young man's face remained calm. "Over here. Y'know if you take them goggles off you'd see a little clearer."

The young ranger ran over to central control panel. A mishmash of plasma screens and monitors connected to a fragile network of video camera's they had strung around Stonehaven and beyond. Very few of the images were clear, but they allowed them to at least get an idea of what was going on without wasting precious man power.

"Oh, thank you, sir." Said the younger man in a formal manner, to which Salem furrowed his brows.

"Salem is just fine, son."

As the young ranger lifted up his goggles it became apparent to the senior ranger why he kept them on. His eyes were mottled. A combination of golds and greens, and his pupils were oddly shaped, kind of like a frog's, Salem reckoned. For the most part everything else about the ranger looked normal. Maybe he had a little extra webbing between his fingers but aside from that he was normal, at least that's the way, Salem saw it. Humanoid, Human, what the hell was the difference? Intelligent mammals all of them, but the powers that were saw things differently. They used the Human's natural tendency to shun differences and to set themselves apart from all other living things to their advantage. The prejudice gave them control and that was what he aimed to get rid of.. if he could.

Among the rangers, mutations were not looked upon with disdain. They were all brothers, but this kid was new and obviously he had spend the better part of his life hiding his differences. Salem didn't blame him. Most people were down right mean to Humanoids and it was just easier to go about and pretend you were Human rather than attract unwanted attention.

"Sir... I mean, Salem, I just saw something..." The young man stammered.

"Take it slow, kid. What's your name anyway?"

"Sony."

Salem cast a glance over at one of the monitors behind him and checked out the brand name. The kid didn't know it but he was named after an old piece of technology. His parents probably weren't very imaginative and just called him something they had heard, or read. If they could even read.

"Well, Sony." Said Salem as he slowly rose out of his chair, "You have the look of a man who's seen a ghost. Where were you patrolling?"

"North of the city, along Redbone Ridge."

Salem looked surprised. "That's a hot-zone, kid." he expressed knowing well that what people called Redbone Ridge was the southern edge of a massive blast crater. People avoided it... well, normal people, obviously, Sony was a little more resilient to radiation than most. Not an uncommon thing among, Humanoids. "So what did ya see out there that's got ya in such a state?"

"It was a space ship!"

Salem's expression was blank for a moment while he read Sony's face. The boy definitely believed what he was telling him, but perhaps he was mistaken. "You sure?" Asked Midvale trying to contain a smile.

"I swear it!"

Salem straightened up and placed his hands on his hips. "I take swearin' pretty seriously. You sure it wasn't some sort a big bird or the like? There's lots a strange things out there."

"No, sir. It was a space ship just like in my book."

The young ranger reached into his pack and pulled out an old comic book and on the cover was a space craft landing on a strange planet.

Salem took it and studied the cover. "You didn't happen to see this silver guy with the surf board as well?" he asked in a joking manner.

"No, sir." The kid answered seriously.

Salem handed the book back and scratched his head. "Well you saw somethin'. Where did it land?"

"The other side of the crater. We were told never to venture out that far, else I would'a drove around."

"No. You did good. There's nothing out there..." Salem paused and walked over to a table covered with maps, quickly rummaging through them. He grabbed the one he was looking for and spread it open, "... except an old farm."

"A farm?" Questioned Sony, not really familiar with the concept.

"It's a place where people would grow food." Salem explained, "But there's plenty else out there, and to them we're the food."

Salem considered then that Sony actually did see a space craft. Where the hell did it come from? Such things hadn't been around for over seventy years. It wasn't entirely out of the question that someone had been able to maintain and use such technology and if it were true this could be the ace in the hole he had been looking for. With such a craft at his disposal he could challenge the Peace Keeper's and Death Trooper's control.

Salem walked over to his monitors one more time while he gathered up his pack. He gave a quick scan to see if he could spy any of the new Hybrid's he had encountered earlier that day. Still nothing. He hadn't heard any reports from the Death Trooper's making any captures. They always loved to gloat, so no news was good news.

"Com 'on, kid." Called Salem as he ran out the door.

Sony followed close behind. "Where we going?"

"To find your space ship."

Kitty was drifting off for a nap when her eyes suddenly fluttered open and she glanced quickly at the others. Seeing they were on high alert as well, she signed to no one in particular.

hear that?

Tom nodded slightly but didn’t say anything. When the ground trembled slightly, not enough for normal humans to feel but certainly ones like herself, Tom and Gavin could, she tapped Tom;s shoulder again. When he gave her a puzzled yet concerned look again she signed once more.

something big. something not hear before. need to get out of here before find us. hurry…

She tapped Gavin on the shoulder then and gestured for him to show the way out. It wasn’t quite dark yet but it would be soon and she wanted to be ready to move along as soon as the darkness slipped over the land.

They took a break the drain was unusual that was for sure they had found the exit deciding to sit in the tunnel and preparing themselves before leaving. It was an odd exit for a sewer system the ground was dry and walls rose almost a good 20 foot above them on either side… “It’s a dam drain?” Jack stating as he sat beside Rarmon. The huge assault trooper was rearranging his bag lifting a new bottle of whiskey from the deep parts of his bag carefully wrapped in a vest he began to remove his clothing to replace the…small arms bullet riddled vest he would have to patch the coat later.

Finally after many moments of rummaging he had rearranged his bag two boxes of ammunition empty in front of them Jack began to use these as mess tins pulling some standard issue ration packs he poured the contents into the tin he pulled a disk of metal using the same concepts as a car lighter it began to heat up the mess tins…Rarmon finally spoke his input… “A…spaceship has entered the vicinity it took out a Russian satellite on its entry trajectory but our Sat has left the area I will begin hacking the Chinese SAT entering this area to attain what there is to be seen.” Jack only nodded accepting these actions it was unusual a spaceship to have come to earth in such a manner it could mean the military are coming back to earth or simply an expedition to see if anything still crawled on earth, who knew?

Rarmon lifted his head and noticed at the top of the wall a post holding the remnants of a fence to have...a camera attached to it. “These people are being spied on?” Jack gave a shrug as he stirred the meal with a fork... “It could be for security....” Rarmon shook his head looking to Jack... “We could follow them to their HQ clear it out take some hostages guaranteed exit...You do know you didn’t need to make me food?” Jack gave another shrug tapping the fork on the side of the tin. “It is a habit and it would be odd just cooking for myself, imagine it as a chance to get some real food to that brain still in that box of yours instead of those artificial supplements being fed to it.” The two gave chuckles as the last of the sunlight was splayed across the sky indeed it was almost night time and that meant time for them to eat quick and move on.

Slipping into the two seater pod, I look around for a gun or something to use if there's trouble. I find flaregun and laff, I don't even know how to use this thing. I read the directions and stuff it in my gunny sack. Looking around the pod, I decide to abondon the idea of using the pod and will land the space shuttle Endeavor inside the walls of that farm.

The Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System (STS), an American spacecraft operated by NASA for orbital human spaceflight missions. The first of four test flights occurred in the 20th century, which were followed by operational flights. Major missions included launching numerous satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science experiments, and servicing and construction of space stations. The Shuttle has been used for orbital space missions by NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, the European Space Agency, and Germany. The United States funded STS development and shuttle operations.

At launch, the Space Shuttle consisted of a dark orange-colored external tank (ET) two white, slender Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs); and the STS Orbiter Vehicle (OV) which was the payload that wasn't delivered to the space station. This Payload could be launched into higher orbits with either of two different booster stages developed for STS (1 stage PAM or 2 stage IUS).

The shuttle stack launches vertically like a conventional rocket from a mobile launch platform. It lifts off under the power of its two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) and its three main engines (SSMEs), the latter fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from the external tank. The old Space Shuttle had a two stage ascent, which didnt exist on the Endeavor. The boosters were used only for the first stage, while the main engines burnt for both stages. About two minutes after liftoff and during flight, the SRBs were released, and shortly would begin falling by parachutes into the ocean to be retrieved by ship for reuse.

The shuttle orbiter and external tank would continue to ascend under power from the three main engines and their inertia. Upon reaching orbit, the main engines were shut down, and the external tank is jettisoned downward and falls to burn up in the atmosphere. This was different on the Endeavor and it was possible for it to be re-used in orbit for various applications. The orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines could be used to adjust or circularize the achieved orbit.

This orbiter could carry astronauts and payloads such as satellites or space station parts into low earth orbit, into the Earth's upper atmosphere or thermosphere. Usually, a five to seven crew members would ride in the orbiter. Two crew members, the Commander and Pilot, were sufficient for a minimal flight, STS-1 through STS-4. But with the risk of failure, Miles was sent out there as an expendable Pilot and Commander.

A typical payload capacity is about 22,700 kilograms (50,000 lb), and could be raised depending on the choice of launch configuration. The orbiter carries the payload in a large cargo bay with doors that open along the length of its top, a feature which makes the Space Shuttle unique among present spacecraft. This feature made possible the deployment of large satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and also to capture and return large payloads back to Earth.

When the space station space mission was complete , it was supposed to fire its Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) thrusters to drop out of orbit and re-enter into the lower atmosphere. But with the payloads still onboard the descent was going to be a little harder to control. During the descent, the shuttle orbiter would pass through different layers of the atmosphere and decelerates from hypersonic speed primarily by aerobraking.

In the lower atmosphere and landing phase, it acts as a glider with reaction control system (RCS) thrusters and fly-by wire controlled hydraulically actuated flight surfaces controlling its descent. It then makes a landing on a long runway as a spaceplane. The aerodynamic shape is a compromise between the demands of radically different speeds and air pressures during re-entry, subsonic atmospheric flight, and hypersonic flight. As a result the orbiter has a high sink rate at low altitudes, and transitions from using RCS thrusters in low pressure to flight surfaces at low altitudes. Unfortunately, Miles knew he wasn't using a long runway to land the craft and to use the jets to ease the craft into position would raise suspicion so upon knowing all this, using autopilot was out of the question...

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...ease back on the flaps use more thrusters.

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...you're at 50,000 feet and your glide path looks good.

Roger VG1...easing back on flaps, glide path level...


"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...flaps down, ease off the thrusters, keep your nose up

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...you're at 45,000 feet and closing...temperature is raising 212*

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...heading 202.7 northwest, airspeed 4500 nautical

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...you're at 30,000 feet vg1 using after booster rockets to stabilize cabin

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...come about and fly into the grey clouds

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...your target is inbound 200 miles airspeed 3000 nautical bearing 202

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...level after stabilzers keep your nose up Commander..

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...you're 2000 feet and closing

VG1, anding gear is down, STS STB after booster rockets are now mark...5..4..3..2...1... ignite...rockets are burning...is position....dropping down.....500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 75,,50

"Commander Miles.....this is VG1...kill thrusters.

Roger VG1...10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, touch down..

VG1...the Eagle one has touched down at 0900 hours. Engines shutting down...

The landing went smooth and inside the farm, Miles shut down the instrutment panel and sat looking outside the window...testing the air.