The orbital bounced twice, finally touching the black. Chase leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, as the braking jets fired and struggled to bring the sleek craft to a safe stop. Feeling the pressure ease, he unplugged his data cable from the seat's system jack and then from the datajack set behind and below his right ear. The cable, remembering its unpowered shape, wrapped itself into a neat coil that Chase dropped into his pocket.