Dan the Rocket Man

Just a little quickie I had in mind.

   Earth was getting too hot and too crowded and people needed answers even more than they need breathing room. Answers like: what are we going to do about the humongous population and the shortage of available living space? What are we going to do about the rapid depletion of non-renewable resources? What are we going to do when Earth inevitably kicks the proverbial bucket?
   Scientists bickered and argued and crunched numbers but all the while, the earth and it's inhabitants suffered in suffocating smog, pollution and the collective crush of each other. It was inescapable, like a black hole. The people needed and wanted answers. They wanted people of action, not debates and theories. This led to the creation of people like Dan the Rocket Man.
   Dan was a normal man for the most part. He born, raised and later served his country, the great U-S-of-A, as a member of it's air force. He was a fighter pilot. He flew craft that could easily break the sound barrier. He's performed barrel rolls and spins and turns that made the stomach lurch and scream for mercy. He never shied away from acrobatics. Rather, he loved them, he loved the thrill the adrenaline gave him. People like Dan were the natural choice.
   Earth was dying and there was no way around it.
   So the countries pulled their acts together to make a Unified Space Association (the US never would let it go that the abbreviation for the Association was U.S.A) that would save humanity. They made experimental craft that would push the limits of human space travel. There were no more clunky space shuttles that took too long to assemble, launch and travel. They built special ships to be piloted by screened and special candidates; the best of the best. With his damn good service record, Dan was screened and accepted.
   "Daniel," said his supervisor at the training site. "This thing is faster and testier than a jet. It'll take some getting used to."
   "No problem. And it's Dan. Not Daniel,"
   "Daniel-- Dan, you don't understand," the supervisor pressed as Dan stepped into the training simulator. "Some men have signed out just because of the stress and pressure. Once you're airborne - or spaceborne- that stress on you multiplies tenfold. There is no margin for error. One mistake, one minute slip-up, and you're hurtling back to earth in a fiery wreck."
    "I got this, Craig. Now get outta my way."
   Dan passed the simulation test with flying colors. He was the best of the candidates, by far. A real pilot ace. It amazed the U.S.A executives, who immediately signed Dan on as the man who would start it all.
   Craig was there for launch day. The launch site was a wide, concrete landing pad outside the U.S.A headquarters in Shanghai. He was briefed and briefed and briefed until his ears ached and his head hurt. And then it was time for him to suit up and strap himself into the steel pony. Well, in his case, it was more like a velociraptor than a pony.....
   "Dan, before you go," Craig was still there on the launch pad, all comb-over, glasses and wide eyes. "Good luck, man."
   "Thanks, Craig. You've been a real pal to me ever since the training and crap started. Take care of yourself, man."
   The cockpit closed around him. The ship reminded him of something out of Star Wars, all pointy hull, wings and canopy, with two engines slapped onto the rear of the thing. He clipped on his safety belt (as if that would matter at the speeds he'd be traveling?) and gripped the two prong control stick. The pad swiveled under him, directing him east and lifted up slightly, at an angle.
   "Everything okay in there, Dan?" asked a flat voice over the ship's internal communicator.
   "A-okay, boss."
   "Excellent. Lift-off will commence in ten. Prep your engines and systems, Dan."
   "Will do."
   "The map and directions to your destination will be on your display."
   "Gotcha. Thanks, boss."
   "Good flyings, Dan."
   The communicator clicked off and he small screen that served as his display flicked to life, displaying the solar system, complete with all of it's stars and planets. A red, dotted line showed him the path he would have to take. It was pointing and leading to the moon of Europa - a moon of Jupiter. He was to survey the ice there or something.... he didn't exactly know. He knew he had to find something habitable for humanity and if there was an ocean locked under that ice, they could possibly build underwater cities or something. The digital clock showed that nine minutes had passed, so Dan prepped his engines. The ship vibrated like a purring cat beneath him as the engines came to life. Even through the reinforced cockpit's canopy, he heard them whine and crackle.
   And when the clock struck ten minutes, he lifted off, a screaming metal projectile launched from the barrel of earth. There he goes! Faster than the speed of sound! It's Dan the Rocket Man taking off to the stars!