Except…that wasn’t working out so well either.
“Gosh diggity darn it!” Ciangi snapped as something crackled and she yanked her hand back from a port she was trying to repair.
“Really?” Gonzales said, tossing the blonde engineer a med-kit. “That’s your idea of a curse?”
“Well, pardon me for not wanting to use foul language. There are young minds present.”
“What? Like who?”
“Mimic is only a few weeks old at this point,” Bahn said quietly. “You wouldn’t swear around a baby, would you?”
“I especially swear around babies,” Gonzales assured them. “They don’t understand and they have an affinity for puking on my clothes.”
“If it makes you feel better,” Mimic said from the corner of the room where she was curled in a pop-out chair. “I’ve read much worse on what you call the ‘net’.”
“See? I’m not corrupting any innocents here.”
“Well, in any case,” Ciangi said, returning to her work. “I’ll stick to my creative expletives, thank you very much.
“You’re welcome.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes but continued to concentrate on her work. “Give me that mini-field generator please.” I passed her the tool she needed then returned to my station where I could run to any of the three in just a few short steps.
“Crap!” This time it was Bahn who was reeling back from his post, a small, blue fire bursting into being on the crystal adaptor he was working on.
I was over in less than a blink, whipping out my pocket extinguisher and spraying the blaze until it was no more. After that, my coolant cleaner quickly dissolved the thick white foam that the extinguisher produced. Once I was sure everything was copasetic and not combusting, I returned to my post.
“This isn’t working,” the taller of the coin twins said, pulling at his long ponytail. “We shouldn’t be getting this many overloads just doing simple re-specs. We haven’t even gotten to a propulsion test yet. Or the dampeners!”
“Do you have a suggestion?” Gonzales asked, for once not snarky as she stood as well, wiping engineering lubricant from her hands. “Because my specialty is so far away from this, it might as well be on the other side of that wormhole. The only thing I’m good for right now is following directions.”
“By all means, this should be working,” Ciangi said, setting down her tools as well. “I just can’t figure out why we’re getting so many sparks. I feel like once we build the dampening system, it will fix this issue, but we can’t build a dampening system if we can’t even get the adaptors to work.”
The three of them stood there, contemplating, while I looked between them, uncertain if they were serious. After a few stressful seconds, I cleared my throat tentatively.
“What’s up, Higgens?” Gonzales asked, eyes looking to me curiously.
“Uh, if I’m understanding you all correctly, the only issue is that the current power level is too much for the repairs to handle until the whole system is in place?”
“That’s the current theory, yeah.” I looked around one more time, sure they were playing some kind of trick on me. “What is it? You’ve got a funny expression on your face. Well, funnier than usual.”
“Gonzales, be nice.” Ciangi scolded.
“What? He knows I’m just playing around. We got that repartee, ya know.”
“It’s just, I, uh... If that’s the issue, why don’t we just, uh…shut off the power?”
“Shut off the power? But without that, there won’t be any life support, or gravity field, or anything really.”
“So?” I shrugged. “I know I’ve read about engineers working in space before. This would essentially be the same thing, wouldn’t it? An artificial vacuum is still a vacuum.”
The three were silent for a long moment, exchanging glances that I couldn’t interpret.
“I believe I have also read about such things,” Mimic added softly. Soft was about the only volume level she could generate anymore. “It is how space stations tend to outer damage of ships, if I am not mistaken.”
“Yeah, and it also happens to be incredibly dangerous and require two years of schooling and an internship…in addition to what we went through as mechanical engineers.”
“Then again,” Gonzales said, eyeing me with a smirk. “It’s definitely a valid option. And perhaps the best one we’ve had about the problem.”
“We’ve only been discussing the problem for three minutes,” Ciangi. “Perhaps we should spend a bit more time researching before jumping to the most dangerous conclusion?”
“Discussing it out loud,” Gonzales corrected. “But you know it’s been in the back of your mind ever since we started synthesizing the crystals we need.”
“That isn’t necessarily true.”
Gonzales raised an eyebrow and crossed to my side.
After just a few beats, Ciangi sighed. “Alright. So maybe it was a couple of hours after the first time my hair caught fire. But still, I’m not sure that this is the best course of action.”
“That’s alright,” I said, holding my hands up in a sign of peace. “We’re civilized people here. How about we compromise? Take a few hours, maybe even sleep on it. If you can think of a better idea, let’s do that first. But if you can’t…”
“Then it’s time to make an artificial vacuum!” Gonzales said, probably a bit too cheerfully.
Bahn nodded, coming up beside his shorter counterpart. “That sounds like a fair compromise to me.”
“Good. Then let’s all take a break for now.” I held out my hand to Mimic, who slowly shuffled over with me. “Of course, if any of you decide on something before tonight, feel free to speed along the process. We don’t have much time.”
“Of course. Stay by the comms, everyone. Hopefully, this will be our last night floating in this nowhere land.”
“Be safe, everyone.”
And with that, we all went our separate ways, busy with our own thoughts. Mimic and I headed back to our room, where she lie down with a rasping gasp.
“I’m worried about you,” I murmured, sitting in the chair across from her bunk.
“I am fine.”
“I know that you’re not.”
“I know as well, but I have read that a specific response is not what is expected upon such an inquiry, but rather a general assurance of positivity.”
“I guess usually, yeah, but I mean it. I’m worried about you. I see the pain you’re in.”
“Unfortunate. I was trying not to telegraph it.”
“You don’t have to hide it, though. That probably takes even more energy. You don’t have to pretend to be fine.”
“I… I will try to keep that in mind.”
“Good. You should get some rest while you can.”
“And what of you?”
I smiled and pulled out my data-log. “I have some research to do.”
6
Creating a Void
“Higgens!”
I groaned, unwilling to open my eyes or lift my head.
“Higgens! I don’t know what you’re doing in there, but I’m about to break the door down myself if you don’t get up and let me in!”
That sounded serious.
Groggily, I lifted my head and tried to take inventory of my surrounding. I was still in the bunk that Mimic and I had claimed for ourselves, where apparently, I had fallen asleep sitting up and slumped forward against the wall. My shapeshifting companion had once again reverted to her black and spikey self, taking up one of the bunks in its entirely.
She needed all the rest she could get, so I knew I needed to get to the door before whoever was banging on the other side woke her. Since when had I locked it anyway? I didn’t remember doing so.
“I’m coming!” I hissed, fighting my way to my feet. My head spun for a moment, but I managed to recover and make it to the door before anyone could do any kicking in. I blinked in confusion as I saw the engineering trio on the other side
, looking bright-eyed and in agreement.
“What’s going on?” I asked quietly.
“We’ve made up our minds a little early, and there’s no time to waste.” Gonzales grabbed my wrist and pulled me out into the hall. “So, rise and shine, sleepyhead, it’s time for your very first try at engineering in a vacuum!”
I tried to verbalize objections, but my brain wasn’t quite keeping up with the situation. I had never been much of a morning person, and I was even less of a four-in-the-morning type of person.
“But if we’re killing the power and life support to the whole ship, don’t we need to wake up Mimic?”
“There’s plenty of preparation and suiting up that has to take place beforehand, so we thought it best if she rested while she could,” Gonzales assured me. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her once it’s time.”
“Okay, that’s good. But can we stop for some coffee along the way?”
‘Really? I never thought of you as much of a java drinker.”
“I’m not. Sleep is always superior, but when it’s in short supply, I’ll take caffeine as a substitute.”
“Gotcha. Well, I think we can arrange that.”
They changed our course toward the cafeteria, and a few minutes later, I had a steaming cappuccino right in front of me.
The hot drink did indeed help, soothing over my frayed nerves and overworked synapses. I felt myself start to feel less dead and ready to do the impossible.
Well, impossible for me. Apparently not so much for my engineering friends. And yet, they felt that they needed me, so there was that.
I didn’t have much time to contemplate whether I was overestimating my worth or not, because soon they were hauling me toward the engine room. From there my day devolved into a frenzy of sealing leaks, setting up oxygen tanks and emergency suit repair kits. From there it was making sure that our enviro-suits had every possible nick or tear patched up and reinforced.
By the time we were ready for the big shutdown, it was somewhere around ten o’clock and I was excited and nervous and all sorts of conflicting feelings combined into one little body.
Or maybe that was the caffeine. I had never been allowed to have it when I was younger and now I remembered why. It made me…twitchy. Like all of my nerves were standing on end and my fingertips were about a half inch longer than they should be.
“You wanna go get your BFF, or shall I?”
I looked up from the gap I was sealing to see Gonzales standing over me with another coffee in hand. “You sure?”
“Yup. Grab both your suits and haul your hindquarters down to her. Once she’s in here, we’ll do the final seal and then turn off the engines and have a go at this very dangerous plan of yours.”
“I don’t know about it being my plan.”
“Hey, take credit for your accomplishments,” she said, helping me up and handing me the warm drink. “This is a good idea, friend. And one we probably wouldn’t have thought of on our own. Sometimes you need to think outside the box and that’s exactly what you did.”
“You really think so?”
“Of course. I never say what I don’t think. That’s why I have eleven write-ups on my record and get paid ten thousand credits less than the coin twins.”
“That seems excessive.”
“And so is my attitude, apparently.” She patted my back while simultaneously shoving me out of the room. “Now go get sleeping beauty and make sure she’s suited up before she withers away. I’ve always wanted to save a damsel in distress, and this is the closest chance I’m ever going to get.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” I murmured before turning and going to do as she said.
“Are we ready?” I asked, probably for the fifteenth time as the five of us stood in a semi-circle, the engine controls in front of us.
“I mean, as ready as we could ever be. You’ve got the most out-of-ship experience of any of us,” Gonzales said.
“Yeah, don’t remind me of that. I’ve been on a handful of hull cleanups and that’s it. I haven’t even repaired a rupture from the outside.”
“Shush, positivity only please.”
“Actually, we want to retain a neutral state as much as possible, lest we spark some sort of reaction in our vacuum,” Bahn laughed.
Gonzales sighed. “Your puns are as amazing as ever, Bahn. At least if we all die in a horrible explosion, I will never have to hear one again.”
“Just for that, I’m specifically going to haunt you.”
“Does it work that way? If we’re both dead, you can’t, like, attach your spirit to mine, can you?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to many dead people.”
“Guys, back on topic.” I took another deep breath. “Ready?”
“Ready. Kill the power, Higgens.”
I reached over to the side of the console that was my responsibility and turned several dials to the settings Ciangi had made sure were drilled in my head. The rest of the team did so as well, with only Mimic not participating.
No, she was strapped down in a corner with several fire extinguishers beside her in case of an emergency. I hoped that she didn’t feel left out, but she was so weak, and so tired, we thought it was the best way to keep her both occupied and safe.
I felt my weight start to shift almost immediately. It wasn’t full-on, gravity-less floating, but there was a certain feeling of constantly tipping forward. I also heard the fire doors closing all around us, sealing off the engine room from the rest of the ship.
And finally, there was the steady hiss of air as Bahn set the environmental controls to flush the atmosphere of the room.
We stood there for several moments, waiting for everything to be just right before we moved into action.
Once our feet started to lift from the ground, Ciangi hit a button on the large countdown holo-screen we had set up on one of the data-logs, and we got to work.
First was pressing the code into our enviro-suit’s number-pad on the arm which would engage the magnetic function of our boots. Once we were all safely adhered to the floor, we went about doing our parts.
For once, I didn’t let my anxiety or self-doubt distract me. I had a job to do and I was not going to be swayed.
“Welder.”
I crossed to one of the tool stations we had set up, grabbing the tool and getting it to Gonzales as quickly as I could. She took it and started setting one of the capacitors, the tip glowing ionic-blue.
“I need a sprocket clamp.” This time it was Bahn.
I bounded over to the table once again and fetched that tool too.
“Welder done.”
Back to Gonzales to grab the tool and put it on the table for the next person who needed it.
The next five hours dissolved into a sort of dance as I moved between the three. I had to be careful not to bump into anything or get them the wrong tools, lest someone make a mistake that ended with the death of everyone.
There wasn’t any talk beyond the orders for tools and various swears as close calls or drops happened. It was tense, it was nerve-wracking, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when Bahn uttered an actual sentence. “Did you finish the dampener installation over there?”
“Just completing it now,” Ciangi answered, standing up from where she had been crouching.
“Gonzales, how are those sprockets coming along?” Bahn asked.
“On the last one now.”
The tallest of the engineers took a deep breath, then nodded. “I…I think we’ve done it.”
“What? Really? You finished installing all the new crystals and making sure the system hasn’t rejected them?”
“So far, all of my tests are coming back successful. The only thing left to do is power up the system and see if it works.”
‘Really?” I asked worriedly. “Just power on the system? Isn’t there a safe way to go about this that doesn’t involve all of us exploding?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“Right. So, this is a kind of do-or-die thing, but I’m putting my money on the do part.”
“That’s an easy bet to make,” Ciangi cracked. “If you lose, no one can collect the bet from you.”
“And that’s the beauty of it, isn’t it?”
“Alright then,” I said, cutting into what I sensed was another round of banter. “Let’s bring the systems online.”
“Right-o.”
The four of us lined up in the same order that we had started this whole project with, each pressing the dials, punching in the codes, or raising the levels of whatever it was our responsibility to do. I watched the others out of the corner of my eye and I had to admit that I had never felt so much like part of a team. They really had needed me for their plan to work. Well, my plan, apparently.
But still, even with those pleasant feelings and affirmations flowing through me, I couldn’t help but feel like we were counting down to our possible demise as soon as a single spark of energy shot through our jury-rigged system.
What happened before played in reverse, with our weight returning to us in waves, air hissing back into the room, and then the fire walls slowly sliding up until the engine room was back to its proper state.
“Should we be raising those so soon?” I asked. “Seems a bit self-assured, don’t you think?”
“Can’t help it,” Gonzales assured me. “In order to bring this room back to its status quo, we have to pull them up. They’ll come back down if they need to, but there’s not going to be any reason to. Right, guys?”
“If you say so,” Ciangi answered with a shrug. “I prefer not to jinx things, so I will just say that our preparations should be adequate.”
“That’s a fantastic assurance,” I remarked before crossing over to Mimic’s chair and unbuckling her. “You ready to go home?”
“Yes, very much so,” she said, voice low and warbling, as if she was a sim that’s memory crystal had been corrupted.
Mimic: The Space Shifter Chronicles Boxed Set (Books 1 - 9) Page 9
