{"sf1_id":834623,"sf2_id":"qmywO71B","title":"The bloke in the engine room","author":"Robert Baird","words":545,"posted_at":"2015-03-21T10:44:00.000Z","tags":["Poetry","Sci-Fi","Space"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/834623-the-bloke-in-the-engine-room","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/qmywO71B","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/6a/2c/6a2c1e2d-4a03-41d4-97d8-0eb6ca053bbe","description":"#4 of Tales of the Dark Horse\n\nWith apologies to Rudyard Kipling. Just some doggerel, guys.","content":"So then, why not have us some doggerel to go along with the various escapades of the Star Patrol? I enjoy doggerel, because it's about all I can manage. I had this idea, though, that in the future poetic ballads will come back. Robert Heinlein had that idea, too, come to think of it. Anyway, with apologies to Rudyard Kipling, here's:\n\n\"The bloke in the engine room\"\n\nYe can 'ave ye yer gods an' yer 'eroes  \nKing Arthur 'r 'Erakles  \nGive 'em tribute an' carve to 'em statues  \nAn' whatever so else ye please  \nRave all ye want to a spaceman  \nBut 'e'll swear to 'is very doom:  \n_The mightiest god in that universe broad  \nIs the bloke in the engine room!_    \n  \nI were shipped on me very first cruiser,  \nAs a young machinist's mate.  \nAn' the ship were a hundred an' seven years old  \nAn' the chief were a hundred an' eight.  \nCame a call from the bridge from the captain  \n(A brash and excitable gent):  \n_I have the conn and the journey's on --  \nReactor to fifty percent._    \n  \nNow I know we'd left RAH Station  \nWith Leonis in our sight  \nBut their ain't so much margin for error  \nWhen yer travelin' faster'n light.  \nCame a call from the bridge to the captain  \n(Not as wise as ye'd 'ope from 'is rank)  \n_Our track's not far from a neutron star --  \nEngines, all ahead flank!_\n\n\u0026nbsp;The chief engineer were a grizzly  \n'Alf a ton if 'e weighed a pound  \nBut 'e leapt like a hare to 'is station  \nAn' he swung the levers 'round.  \nTogether we opened 'er up to full --  \nThe reactor was all aglow --  \n_Then we'll meet our lord with the throttle floored:  \nCaptain, I've made it so!_    \n  \nIt wasn't enough by Tsiolkovsky  \nIt wasn't enough by a prayer  \nWe was 'eaded for 'ell in a hurry  \nAn' I 'eard the ol' grizzly swear:  \n_We need thirty percent over rated  \nBut by love of Montgomery Scott  \nOne twenty-four an' there's nothing more --  \nI've given 'er all she's got!_    \n  \nThen 'e looked to the fuel restrictor  \nAn' its five-ton safety lock  \nI knew what 'e wanted and who could say 'no'  \nWhen it's death at the end of the clock?  \nSo we pulled like a steam locomotive  \n'Til the safety gave way with a snap  \n_Can't live by regs when they chain yer legs --  \n'Ere's a hundred and forty, cap'!_    \nWhen the cruiser was clear outta danger  \nThe captain came down to see  \nLike 'e thought we'd be dead at the throttle  \nThat invincible grizzly an' me.  \nChief were 'oldin' a bottle of whiskey  \nAn' 'e raised it right up with a grin:  \n_Well you son of a gun, that were awful fun --  \nWhen should we do it again?_    \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;So 'ere's to yer 'eroes of legend  \nEnkidu and Gilgamesh  \nThey don't 'em now like they used ta, nay,  \nBut I saw one in the flesh.  \nAn' I'll say from the day that I met 'im   \nTo the day that I'm laid in my tomb:  \nAin't a one o' yer tales what could tip the scales  \nFrom that bloke in the engine room --  \n_Aye: the mightiest god in the universe broad  \nIs the bloke in the engine room!_    \n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Tales of the Dark Horse, Season 1","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/827655-madison-may-of-the-star-patrol.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/852137-in-case-of-emergency.json"}}