Coming Home

A faint sonic boom recalled me from my memories. Most of the civilians in the area had not even noticed the sound, but I had been waiting for this signal of the Enterprise's imminent return. The ships landed toward the east, to make the earth's rotation work for them, and since the wind was from the east there would be no need for a complex landing maneuver. I noticed that the patrol boat had already left the dock for the landing site. Behind the Land Station, the maintenance staff was hitching the landing frame to the station's truck.

I stretched. Then I stood up and started down the hill to the ramp.

One of the maintenance section's Group Leaders was at the ramp when I reached it, trying to clear the area for the recovery operations. She was all alone in the impossible task of policing the uncontrolled area, and immediately put me to work helping out.

"Would you get those people off the dock?" she asked me, by way of greeting. Of course. The fishermen were always the worst, I smiled to myself, but at least was was possible to keep the dock clear if you could once get them to leave. You only had to stand at the shore end and look fierce. Besides, that would put me in a good position to watch without being in the way of the recovery crew.

"Hey, I just put my hook in the water! Give me a chance."

"It's a public pier, buddy. We pay for it."

"Just who do you think you are anyway? Why don't you show us a good example and get out of here?" Well, that was a good point, at least. Theoretically, an off-duty Land Station officer had no more right to be there than anyone else.

"Keep it quiet! You'll disturb the fish," said one fisherman, who had just knocked a half-full can of beer into the water.

"That's right," I said, "I'm going to chase them all up beyond that little spit up there. You can go up there, too." Mostly I just smiled and kept talking. Eventually everyone would become so uncomfortable that they would go somewhere else. Patience is one of the advantages of perfect confidence.

By the time that I had the dock clear, several more officers had arrived and the ramp area was reasonably secure. The old green pickup truck was driving down with the landing frame which would be backed into the water like an oversized boat trailer to receive the Enterprise. I turned my attention to the water. The patrol boat was heading in, towing the space cruiser which, in turn, was still towing the freighter.

I sat down on the pier to watch.

When the lake-going train reached shallow water, the patrol boat released the Enterprise to maneuver in on its own. Actually, the only reason for using the boat at all is that its engine burns a less expensive fuel than the cruiser's maneuvering thrusters. The presence of the patrol crew was an added welcome to the space travellers as well, and Space Officers were usually the most vociferous supporters of keeping the boats at the Land Stations.

The cruiser rose about 7 meters above the water and civilian spectators always wondered how such a large ship could come in so close to shore; they didn't realize how light these sub-galactic explorers really were. In fact, the draft of the defueled Enterprise was something less than a meter and the ship didn't lock onto the landing frame until it was virtually at the shore line. But the amazement of the tourists added an extra source of amusement at every return.

This time, the Enterprise kept its rear thrusters running as the truck pulled the frame from the water in order to counter the drag of the freighter it had in tow. We had no frame suitable for the freighter, so it had to be physically beached and dragged far enough up the ramp for the maintenance crew to attach dollies to its body. This extra and unaccustomed duty took up almost twenty minutes. Then the Land Station truck pulled both ships up the ramp.

It is remarkable to consider how little things have changed through the years. The old launching ramp is still the same, except that the parking areas have been expanded, and the site is still an earth base for the Enterprise's exploration. Of course, it is a new Enterprise and doesn't land anymore. Only the shuttle craft reach the earth's surface, and they don't make water landings. The ramp itself is used only for terrestrial pleasure boaters now.

They towed the two vehicles up the hill and around the gift shop to the Land Station's administration building. There the crew disembarked. Kirk and Spock, along with some special-duty officers, needed to make official reports. Most of the crew, however, were free to wander the campus or had taken leave and were headed for town or family.