The Mission part4b3a&b

The Mission part4b3a

In the name of Joachim Irwin, via Shlomo MacAllister, the Irwin estate places the following new ad for new staffing:
(Wanted:
Qualified Military Pilot for Scientific Expedition—two positions available—Referrals to link: “i//a: 1789cc4585cc2300w” --Babbage Engine access code--Serious Inquiries Only)

The first gentleman to answer my ad was a former British Space Agency test pilot named Thomas R. Carlisle. This candidate seemed to be the perfect fit for the job of Pilot and Chief Helmsman, except that his resume only mentioned that he had attained the rank of Major in the British Royal Aerospace Command and had been honorably discharged from service after completing only one mission.
When Shlomo brought Major Tom into my office, I looked up from my oak and steel desk to see a trim and neatly dressed man with an earnest and friendly smile lighting up his otherwise plain features. When asked to sit in one of my fine leather chairs, I noted the sharp click of boots on my beech covered floor as he strode to the chair. After we had bowed in greeting and Shlomo had departed to attend to other matters, we began our interview. Beyond the normal review of qualifications and a brief discussion of the Psychiatrist’s screening report, I wanted to know why Major Tom had been released from service after only one mission.
The tale that emerged was enough to fill a small volume many times over but the gist of it was that during a routine test of the new Eastinghaus Aether drives, Major Tom’s spacecraft had nearly been lost. He was brought back safely to Earth by the means of several course corrections and a circum-lunar orbit. All of this drama was never publicized by the Imperial Press Agency, since at the time Napoleon V’s France was ahead in the development of the Aether drive. After this mission, Major Tom was quietly retired and all British Space Agency craft were fitted with better sensors and the new Embedded Binary Difference Engines to allow the pilot better control of his vessel.
Major Tom was not very happy about being drummed out of the British Space Agency and was glad to sign onto our mission—we were glad to have him.

The Mission part4b3b

The second position for pilot and helmsman was finally selected; and this candidate was as opposite in personality and background to Major Tom as can be imagined. Matthew Grisholm of the Unified States Alliance in America came from a working class family in the Confederate States sector of the USAA. This outdoorsman had become interested in flight when news came to the Unified States of the development of the Verne Cannon—the Empire of France could now launch a projectile around the world. Matt Gus, as he was known to his friends, joined the Scientific Corps to study Astronomy and Orbital Mechanics at Georgia Technical Institute. When war broke out between the USAA and Imperial Mexico under Maximilian III, Matt joined the Alliance Air Corps and began his life-long love affair with flying by piloting attack dirigibles in the bombardment of Mexico City. Sick of war and still holding the dream of being the first man from the Alliance (USAA) to travel into outer space, Matt resigned his commission in the Alliance Air Corps and went back to Georgia Tech to complete his Doctorate in Astro-Geo-Physics.