The small space shuttle sitting in the hangar was painted deep red with black lines at the seams where the metal was fused together. Venn had been the painter. He stepped back with a grin and held his oversized airbrush so it rested on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He was far enough from the shuttle that he wouldn't get a headache from the paint fumes but he could still smell it.

Kayel, the supervisor of the project, walked up behind Venn. Venn heard him coming and turned, lowering his airbrush to the floor. He took off his paint stained work gloves and held out a hand.

Kayel shook it with a smile. "Excellent work as always, Drake."

Venn waved a hand modestly. "Oh it was nothing. Barely took me four hours." He pulled the safety goggles off and rubbed them on his shirt, which had probably been black at one point but was so spattered with paint you really couldn't tell. His pants were the same. His black eyes glittered and flicked to the small group that had come with Kayel. "Quite the audience. Here for a test pilot?"

Kayel smiled mysteriously. "You could say that."

Venn frowned and stepped back. "Well then, be my guest." He didn't join the group Kayel had brought in. He was the outsider. The one with the training and practice to fly spacecraft, but whose appearance made anyone too uneasy to work with.

Kayel began explaining the specs of the shuttle, listing all of the requirements for anyone willing to fly it. He finished by saying, "Those of you who helped with the successful test launch last week will know that this shuttle was built for one pilot. It is meant to be a messenger ship and so is lighter and more mobile in space. That being said, it is still a prototype and after this much testing we believe it is safe to send someone up in it. We wouldn't send you all the way to space, just high enough that we could test the landing mechanisms on your way down. Do I have any volunteers?"

Silence from the group. After a minute, Venn noticed Kayel's sly glance his way. His breath caught as he realized what Kayel wanted. A grin slowly spread across Venn's face as he raised his hand. "I will."

Kayel smirked. "Excellent, and how about a name for the shuttle? She's unnamed after all."

Venn didn't even need to think. He knew the Roman numeral that specified the model by heart. "Aries-XVIII."

The wind roared outside the shuttle as Venn tilted the shuttle into the specified nosedive. "This is Aries to Mission Control, how am I looking?" Venn said, his voice calm and casual despite the steep angle toward the ground.

Kayel's voice rang out in Venn's ears. "Mission Control to Aries, you're spot on as always Drake."

Venn grinned broadly. He was high enough up that he could still see several states and maybe even Canada. Suddenly he realized there was a large chunk of rock right in front of him. He cursed loudly, mentally apologizing to any parents letting their children watch the live stream of the launch. He yanked the stick to the right, sending the Aries into a barrelroll.

"Drake! What was that?!"

Despite his attempt to avoid the rock, the screech of rending metal ripped through the air and the Aries jerked. "GAH! You might have warned me about the METEORITES IN THE ATMOSPHERE!" Venn shouted, wrestling with the controls to pull out of the careening spin he'd been launched into.

Dozens of alarmed voices could be heard faintly through the headset Venn wore. Kayel's was loudest. "There weren't any on our pre-launch scans. That one must have slipped in afterwords."

"Wow thanks Sherlock, I never would have guessed. What do you want me to do? Eject once I'm at a reasonable depth in the atmosphere?"

"If you don't think you can land the Aries then yes. Your life is more important than the shuttle."

Venn could feel gravity starting to take more effect the longer he fell. The G forces grew with each second. He fought with the controls for a few minutes more before he just focused on holding the stick steady. "Yeah, no I don't think that's going to happen. With the amount I'm spinning I might not even be able to eject without getting tangled in my parachute."

Venn had to resist the urge to turn around to look out one of the windows to see the amount of damage. He knew the motion would make him dizzy. He muttered a long string of curses as gray concrete spots signaling cities became easier and easier to see.

"Venn, we want you to try ejecting right now. If you stay in there the G forces might crush you. This is the highest safe height that you'll still be able to breathe."

Venn noted subconsciously that Kayel had used his name instead of calling him Drake. "Sure thing." Venn pressed the button that should have ejected him out the top of the shuttle. Nothing happened. "Uh, SOS. Button didn't work."

Venn glanced to the side as Kayel cursed in his ear. He instantly regretted the motion, as it made him extremely dizzy. Black spots danced in his vision. His head slumped slightly and his eyes fluttered. "Better... come up with something fast..." he panted. "I'm going to pass out."

Mission Control was a hubbub of noise and typing keyboards. Kayel watched the stream coming to them from the cameras mounted to the outside and inside of the shuttle. Venn was in bad shape, though you wouldn't know it if you didn't know him. His expression was calm and he scanned the controls with practiced ease. But his hand on the stick was slipping, his eyes were darker than usual.

"Venn, try ejecting again. Maybe it just didn't take."

Venn's right hand flew across the controls pressing several other buttons and switches before reaching the eject. It didn't work. "Nope. Nothing."

The large screen showed he was only a few thousand feet from the ground.

A weak smile crossed Venn's face. He released the control stick and pulled an ornate silver pocketwatch from his pocket. He squeezed it in his fingers. "Looks like you'll need to reimburse some farmers," he said. Gallows humor. Curse him, but it made Kayel smile.

"I'm sorry Venn."

"No. I am." Venn's eyes went up to the camera on the stream. He looked resigned. He saluted with the hand wrapped around his pocketwatch. "Goodbye mission control. Thanks for trying." He squeezed his eyes shut and released a shuddering breath. He leaned his head back.

The screen flashed with red and the sound of an explosion cut off as the microphone was shattered. The feed from the cameras all died.

The control room fell dead silent. As one, everyone rose and bowed their heads. None of them had really liked Venn, but they would all remember him now.