"Approaching the surface of another planet, maybe?" Chick persisted.
* * * * * * * * * *
This is what I thought, Chick! We're like the same person! Petulant, insulting, unlikeable, constantly chased and reviled by Klansmen! It's either a coincidence that Thomas Pynchon created a character that embodies all of my character traits or it's an international conspiracy. I know which one Pynchon would support.
At what point in the atmosphere of a planet do you go from going "up" to going "out"? And then what direction are you going once you've broken the bonds of a planet's overwhelming gravitational pull? What do directions mean in space? Are all space directions relative to the home planet of the beings traveling through it? You probably have to give directions as if you're telling somebody how to get to Powell's in Portland except you've lived there for decades and just never really learned the street names so you have to give relative directions based on local landmarks and visual cues. "Head toward that cluster of three bright blue stars until Andromeda is directly out the port window and then turn upward 90 degrees until you see the tail end of the constellation Taurus. Head straight toward that until you're momentarily blinded by a pulsar from about 45 degrees out of the starboard side of your forward viewscreen. At that moment, stop! There's a massive black hole straight ahead so you're going to want to go around it. Sure, it'll add three light years to your overall mileage but you'll save a ton of time. That is if time has any meaning after being sucked into a black hole. Ha ha! Anyway, if you keep on straight from there, you should see the flashing neon lights of the new and incredibly immense Powell's New and Used Books on Perblexy IV. Sure, they don't really sell used books at used books prices but they sure have decimated the small mom and pop book stores that did! You'll love it!"
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