EQUATORIAL PACIFIC—GRYPHON FLIGHT
Immediately, I was in familiar territory, no different really from my 15,000-meter jump. I tumbled straight down, because there was no air to support me. No nausea, though; even my innards knew what was happening as I broke the tumble and staged myself horizontally. First, I extended my tail. “Tail extended and locked,” I reported. My Gryphon was now two meters long. Next, I spread my wings to their full three-meter-wingspan. “Wings extended and locked,” I reported, drily. “Rocket ignited, heading vector set to zero-four-niner-decimal-five-four, horizontal velocity two-hundred kph,” I reported as I ignited my rocket, got myself pointed in the right direction, and gunned it until I reached my designated horizontal velocity.
Figure 2—Howland, Baker, Jarvis
