The heroic efforts of an OSC liner made for some unexpected extra passengers in orbit near Manhattan today.
The liner Breezewood was ferrying passengers from Curacao to the Macinac in New Tokyo when disaster struck. "We were doing our usual flyby of Manhattan with plenty of our VIPs in our observation lounges," recalled Captain Jonathan Seabourne. "Suddenly there were bright flashes of light. At first, the passengers were thrilled by what they thought were fireworks, but I knew what we were really seeing."
The "fireworks" were actually ships entering Manhattan's atmosphere. A glitch in the autopilot functions of several vessels caused them to careen into the planet, exploding when the hulls of the space-faring craft failed under atmospheric stress. Each fireball left a wake of cargo, lifeboats, and debris floating in Manhattan's upper atmosphere.
Breezewood was the only non-affected ship in the area and so immediately began search and rescue operations. "We jettisoned cargo to make room and began tractoring people, left and right," said Seabourne. "At one point, we had to do a fuel dump to free up more space. Fortunately, with Manhattan right there, we weren't concerned about resupply."
Breezewood pulled close to three dozen pilots and crew from the abyss, even offloading its passengers planetside to head back up for another sweep of search and rescue. "They can always arrange other transit from Manhattan," said the captain. "Those stranded in space couldn't."
The crew confirmed that navy, police, and civilian pilots were among those rescued. "Whatever caused this affected everyone's machines," said Seabourne. "It's a stark reminder that even in this day and age of high technology, there is a reason we still hire helmsmen."
When asked about the danger the Breezewood was in performing the pickups, Seabourne immediately dismissed the concerns. "Our crew knows our ship and knows her redlines. We had to be on our toes to get into tractor range, but I never had any doubt that our helm could pilot us safely. Besides, when any pilot sees another in danger, you render aid."
"No one deserves to be abandoned in space. Friend or foe, you do what you can to reel those lifepods in."
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