The Merrin, part 5
#5 of Merr
Key, Alice and Greg fight to keep the ship (and themselves) together.
Is it worth it though...
Next: Part 6
The results of the simulations are less than encouraging. While the maneuvering thrusters still work, the hull won't be able to tolerate much torque, so stopping the pitchpole has been time consuming. Doing it so the hull doesn't tear apart has been tricky.
"Point 2 ml, number three thruster on my mark," Key states.
"Point 2 mil, aye," Greg repeats.
"Ready...mark."
"Fired."
The hull shutters in response. It's done this with every thruster firing. Because of this, every door on the ship is sealed, and the few survivors are in their escape pods, everyone but Key and Greg. They are still in engineering.
"Hull integrity 80 percent," the computer announces.
Key frowns. "Too much. .025 to thruster 7."
"025, thruster 7, aye."
Key watches the readouts carefully for a moment, then says, "Now."
The ship shutters, but not like before, and Key smiles. "We've stopped."
"Sir?"
Key's smile grows as he says, "Attention all hands, we've stopped pitchpoling. Structural integrity holding at 80 percent. The Lt and I are going to take a short break, then we'll start straightening us out."
There's a few whoops and sighs, but the one that catches Key's attention is Alice's, "Well done guys."
Still sitting in the left seat, Alice relaxes. It's been a hellacious few hours, and soon the guys will soon start to bring them back to a zero angle.
"Pond, if we get to Merrin, what could we end up needing that isn't already in the pod, if rescue is uncertain?"
"I would recommend a prefab shelter, but it would not fit in the pod with the rest of the equipment."
"What if we slaved another pod to this one, used it for equipment?"
"That is possible. I would recommend using either of the adjacent pods, as they stand the best chance of staying close to our pod."
"Why not just use both?" she asks as she climbs out of the pod.
"I will set that up, both pods will stay with ours."
"Good." She walks into the hall and opens a utility closet. Finding the large matter/energy converter in standby, she presses the activator. "Prefab shelter."
The screen lights up, showing that it will be created in several sections. As the sections appear in the converter's bay, she quickly sets them aside. When it's done, she moves all the pieces to one of the unoccupied pods. She then repeats the process for the other pod. She returns to the utility closet and tries to think of what else they may need.
The lights abruptly shift to yellow, disrupting her thoughts. Puzzled, she asks, "Are we going to do a course correction?"
Key's voice comes over the com, "No." He clears his throat, then says, "Attention crew, we'll be starting up the engines in a few minutes. We need the additional power. We will not be firing them, so the damping fields will not come on. I'd strongly recommend making sure your gear gets charged during this time."
"Pond, do we have anything that needs charged?" she absently asks.
"Currently, no. all our packed equipment have full charges."
She chews her lip for a moment. Something about the word charge is bugging her. She looks slowly around the utility closet, hoping something in here will help her think.
When the engines start up, making the deck plating vibrate, her eyes light up. Not charge, power. "Pond, how long would it take to deplete the pods' power cells?"
"Speculating, after landing, one shelter, regular use of portable converters and other equipment, and automated distress beacon...six to eight months."
"Can we use this converter to make spare, charged power cells?"
There's a moment of silence before Pond answers, "They will be small and may only last a year."
"Better than nothing, and a way to recharge them, if possible."
"I will see what I can find."
* * *
Key stares at the screen, watching as the ship slowly returns to zero angle. They've been at this for nearly eight hours and they'll be done in just a few more thruster actions.
"0.025 ml to thrusters 6 and 7, 0.03 to thrusters 4 and 5, 0.04 to thrusters 1, 2, and 3," Key states.
Greg repeats that back, then readies to fire.
"Steady...steady...Now!"
As the thrusters fire, the ship groans and shutters, Greg states, "Failure, thruster one."
Key watches the displays carefully for a moment, then says, "It's fine. Attention please, we're holding at zero. Repeat, our pitch is steady at zero degrees and structural integrity is steady at 80 percent."
He hears the few remaining crew voice their relief before turning to Greg. "Greg..."
He's lying on the floor.
"Greg?" Key's to him in an instant, one hand to his neck, looking for a pulse. "Alice, I need your help. Drudge, authorize Pond for remote access to peripherals."
"Understood," Drudge answers.
Alice's voice comes through the com, "Put your left hand on his chest, and your right on his forehead."
Key blindly follows her instructions, and moves his hands. "What do you see?"
"It's okay. He's just passed out."
Key sits back on the floor and sighs heavily. "Can't blame him. we've been at this for, what, ten hours?"
"Twelve. You need to sleep too, you know."
"I can stay up. Drudge helps me."
"No, you can't." Her tone is firm, she's done arguing.
"Doctor's orders?"
"You know damn well I'm only a medic." He can almost hear the tears in her voice.
He smiles and relents. "Works for me."