Ship's Log: February 22

Well, that's definitely progress.

Her gaze swept over the various dials and gauges on the front panel. She noted which ones appeared to be active. Although several were now faintly illuminated, only two showed any activity. There was nothing, though, to indicate what she needed to do next. She was fairly certain, though, that it would require some complex usage of several of the controls.

She tapped the large pedal again, lightly. The sound of the engine increased and then diminished as she eased the pressure of her foot. She saw that the indicator on one of the dials moved noticeably when she did so. Although she guessed that RPM stood for revolutions per minutes, she had no idea how that related to the functioning of the vehicle's engine. She hoped that once she had the vehicle actually moving it might become clear.

Looking down at the floor, she tried the other two pedals. Other than for generating mechanical-sounding noises, they did not seem to have any apparent effect on the operation of the vehicle. She looked around at the other controls. Nothing seemed obvious for setting the vehicle in motion. She felt like she was in shuttle all prepped for launch, but still held by docking clamps. The problem was, she knew there were no such obvious restraints. Something else held the vehicle in place.

She tried to recall what the pilot had done while operating the vehicle and particularly what he had done when he had brought it to a stop. Frowning, she wished she that had paid more attention, but then she had not considered at the time that she might have to operate the vehicle herself so soon. Shifting herself in the seat, she positioned her hands on the circular steering control, closed her eyes and tried to remember the position of the pilot as he had handled the vehicle.

Most of his motions, she recalled, involved small course adjustments using the main control. The pedals must have been involved as well, but she had not noticed them in the shadows of the lower compartment. Occasionally, although she did not know for what reasons, his right hand had moved to the lever in the center section between the two seats. He had made a sharp motion and then returned his hand to the circular steering control.