SF Drabble #169 “Dead Reckoning”

The yellow dwarf sun appeared to grow steadily larger. His forward viewscreen was already dilated almost fully to black, but still the star was too bright to look at. With the computer out, he was relying on the clock and the readouts of engine thrust. If he’d done his math right, he would fall past the star — missing its corona by just enough to keep from melting his heat shield — to be thrown back out like a stone from a slingshot with enough velocity to take him within range of rescue by colonial patrols.

If he’d done his math right.

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