Fireball XL3 Crashes at Space City (short story)
Fireball XL3 Crashes at Space City was a Dateline 2066 short story printed in TV Century 21 that contained elements from the Doctor Who universe.
Notably, the location of Unity City, first introduced in The Daleks comic story Duel of the Daleks, was mentioned again here.
Summary
At 3.30, Fireball XL3 crashes at Space City as it attempts to make a forced landing. Hitting the runway at two hundred miles per hour, the craft skids across the concrete, bounces off Fireball XL5's launching pad and smashes into the base of the control tower. The three man crew ejects to safety, moments before their ship bursts into flames. Within seconds, fire-fighting tenders are on the scene but the heat is so intense that their hoses melt before they can be used. With the danger of the ship's fuel tanks exploding present, hover firefighters are summoned and spray over a thousand gallons of foam onto the blazing wreckage. Hours later, at 7.00, the fire is finally brought under of control, albeit at the cost of the tower's main control room and living quarters. The crisis over, a spokesman for Space City releases a statement, estimating the cost of the damage at well over four hundred million dollars and confirming that an enquiry had been set up to investigate the cause of the crash.
Elsewhere, after months of discussion, the site for the new capital city of Italy is chosen, set to be built at the town of Brindisi and called Citta del Sud. Plans for the development and housing are granted by both the Italian and World Governments, with it being hoped the move south will bring wealth and prosperity with it on a level tantamount to that of the north currently.
In England, Doctor John Oswald-Smith is elected as the chairman for the Battle of Hastings Tenth Centenary Committee in order to start organising events for the one thousandth anniversary of the battle. Taking place throughout the south of England in October, Oswald-Smith states his expectation that many tourists from all over the world will visit the country for the celebrations.
Meanwhile, a picture report from Universe Edition 13 of TV 21 wins the Scoop of the Year award for 2065, having been allocated the win by a panel of journalists representing every universal newspaper and magazine. A journalist hailing from Mars, Doctor Ghengis Drawn, presents the award to TV 21's editor, who accepts it on behalf of his staff at a special luncheon. He also accepts the award for the Star Reporter of 2065, owing to the absence of the recipient Joe Meesh at the function.
In Marineville, the Marineville Press Office releases photographs of an Aquasonic Vibration Condensor in use gathering visual reports from under the sea. Hanging beneath the surface of the waves, the twelve receiver aerials collect a video report. After transforming them into vibration waves, the computer relays them via the aerials across the ocean floor to Marineville's tracking station, at which point the reports are released to the press.
From Unity City's Penitentiary, Admiral Beatty continues to protest his innocence for the charges of espionage levelled against him. However, these claims fall on mostly deaf ears as his trial approaches. The German lawyer Freidland Barnhof is called in for his defence while Judge Thor Bowdine is scheduled to arrive on the coming Thursday.
At 9.15 in King's Cross, the monorail express is held up as the police search the train for a bomb, having been tipped off by a mysterious phone call which claimed the train had been sabotaged and a bomb secured to one of its seats. After forty minutes and a thorough search producing no evidence of such an explosive device, the train is allowed to continue its journey, onwards to Glasgow.
Characters
Worldbuilding
- Fireball XL3 is three hundred foot long.
- Space City's hoses are made of asbestos and plastic.
- Over the years, Rome and northern Italy have become over populated and industrialised, leaving the south an "empty void" with its peasants living in starvation.
- Citta del Sud should be ready for habitation in 2070, after which Rome will become Italy's second city.
- John Oswald-Smith has been the mayor of Hastings since 2054.
- Joe Meesh was unable to attend the awards ceremony because he was in Space City covering the crash of Fireball XL3.
- The Aquascans are floating platforms of computers and sonic condensors and are anchored across the world's oceans.
- A rescue attempt to free an Alsatian dog from an underground cave in which it had been trapped for days has succeeded.
- The weather forecast for Great Britain indicates it will be sunny throughout the morning. In the afternoon, scattered showers of rain from 2.36pm until 5.13pm will affect Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Oxford with warmer temperatures up to twelve degrees Centigrade in other areas. The evening will remain warm though temperatures will fall to eight degrees Centigrade by 5.17am the next day.
Story notes
- The references in this story to the planned celebrations for the one thousandth anniversary of the Battle of Hastings foreshadowed the events of the Stingray comic story A Trip to England, which began in TV Century 21 almost eight months later.
Continuity
- The Battle of Hastings celebrations were later put in peril by the Hood, who sabotaged and briefly took control of Stingray. (PROSE: Disaster!)
- The winner of Scoop of the Year was the picture report showing the destruction of the Crustavon Star City, relayed via Subsonic Aquascan film. (PROSE: Scoop!)
- Admiral Washington Beatty has been arrested for espionage. (PROSE: Admiral Beatty Arrested, Admiral Beatty Arrest Sensation)
- Freidland Barnhof is Beatty's defence lawyer, Rur Bendin stands for the prosecution, and Thor Bowdine is the judge. (PROSE: Beatty Trial Sensation)
- Fresh tremors have been reported at Ramos, Venus, coming soon after the devastating earthquake at Pangad some weeks prior. (PROSE: Admiral Beatty Arrest Sensation)
