A hundred meters from blunt nose to bulbous stern but barely twenty in diameter, the interceptor crouched in her launch cradle like Death waiting to pounce.

Stepping away from the launch cradle, McAdams watched as the escape pod disappeared up the tube.

The child looked at once unhappy and frightened, and, as the shuttle tilted back on the launch cradle, it began to cry in anticipation.

Chekov took a look at the panel: missile firing button depressed, one launch cradle registering empty.

From there - from that now empty launch cradle - Bowman had left on his last mission, through the circular hatchway that led to infinity.

With drives engaged, she pulled away from her launch cradle, acknowledged Traffic Control and continued her conversation, all at once.

"The heart of it is the Corliss accelerator," he said, and with the chalk he drew an arc underneath the tower's launch cradle, through the rock itself.

Angel pointed to a dozen men who were wrestling a sled into the crude launch cradle and explained how she had enhanced its anti-gravity properties.

A pair of sliding ways is placed on top, under the hull, and a launch cradle with bow and stern poppets is erected on these sliding ways.

Cadillac and another Mute warrior came forward to hook the Skyhawk onto the launch cradle as Steve taxied forward onto the catapult.