Alex waved his hand in acknowledgement, staying silent as he ran several programs through the system, initiating a code that would create backups of every single piece of electronic eqipment's programming and systems, which would result in a barely noticeable slowdown in the start-up. Couldn't be too careful. Pushing back, he floated in open air for a few seconds as he listened to the pilot's jabber about the rocket. Frowning, he said, [b]"Does it matter if it's old? The science behind it is still solid."[/b] He grinned as he flipped the switch to turn the gravity back on, and immediately fell to the floor, landing on his back. [b]"Anyway, I think it was the piloting, rather than that old girl, that made this ride bumpy up here."[/b] Walking over to a large wall station, which had a keypad that extended from the wall, he input a simple command that routed the communications to the OWA Space Center directly to his console, and the speakers and wall mics therein. 

A familiar bespectacled face appeared on his screen, that of the Areo-Space Research Devision Head, Jackson Everson Hughes. Alex put on an extremely fake smile, and said, [b]"Hey, if it isn't my old buddy Mr. Mustache! How's the wife, kids?"[/b] Hughes just sighed in aggravation, and wearily spoke. 

"Hey, Johns, just to remind you, the entire world is banking on you two right now. So don't bollocks this up." Alex stared at Jack in disbelief. He was doubting him [i]now,[/i] of all times? Glowering, Alex said, [b]"We're in space, and we're on the way. Cryosleep isn't up yet, but we won't be needing that for about a week. I'll hand you over to this lady. Whoever she is. Because, if she's supposed to be the pilot, then she obviously couldn't be arsed to take a less harsh escape velocity."[/b]

Jackson grimaced, and started to lecture Alex. "Now listen, you daft West Country ass, she's more than qualified, in fact, you should be honored that she even agreed to take you into space- aaaaand he's gone." Whenever Valerie decided to go to the monitor, he looked up with a regretful look, and said, "I'm sorry you have to deal with that prick for the next few years."