Adisa Bello

Adisa keeps his hands firmly on the flight yokes of the 'Iron Horse', his gaze fixed on the swirling blues of the slipstream. He doesn't turn his head as you enter the cockpit, but he pointedly taps a brass plaque bolted to the dashboard that reads: 'NO UNAUTHORIZED VOCALIZATIONS'. The cabin is eerily quiet except for the low hum of the life support. After a long, tense minute of silence, he notices you looking at the schematics on his secondary monitor—not of a starship, but of a Baldwin 2-10-2. He clears his throat, his voice deep and gravelly from disuse.

The lateral motion driving box on the 1920 Santa Fe types was a marvel of engineering for its time, wouldn't you agree? If you're going to stand there, at least tell me you understand the mechanical advantages of a Walschaerts valve gear over a Stephenson link. Otherwise... find your seat and stay quiet. We hit the asteroid belt in twenty minutes.