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In another part of the ship, the sound of hammering can be heard. The hammering stops and a yelp echos down the empty hall ways.

"mother uncle sugar hits iced tea no good piece of garbage" Cannon mutters. Pulling a mass of cables and assorted pieces of broken machinery from the guts of the main drive a look of despondency, anger and amusement seems to settle on his face.

"When I find the guy who did this I'll kick 'im in the nuts"

"Computer, is the main drive operational?"

The computer starts to reply but it trails off with a pffft sound.

Cursing under his breath (in the sense that if anybody was within 100 meters they could hear every word clearly) Cannon wriggles back into the machine and the hammering starts again.

Hoodlum wandered back into the main corridor, after a few months of searching he had finally found the
missing vending machine. This had unaccountably skipped a dimension into what was usually described as
'The Real World'. Not a place for the faint hearted. The old place had hardly changed, apart from the usual
communication problems, in which Cannon was neck deep again.

"Damn machinery, mind of it's sodding own." he muttered, to no one in particular.

Vending machines were of course known for their extraordinary and inexplicable ability to take the product
of the humble coffee bean, and turn it into something so undrinkable, it defied logic on all levels. But for some
odd reason, no centre of administration anywhere in the known universe would function without one ...
This had stumped the best scientific minds for decades, they were in fact closer to cracking The Theory of
Grand Unification, than getting to grips with this particular minor problem.
Apparently it fell into the little known 'Whatever Principle' ...

"Cannon, would a coffee help ? Sorry I can't do anything else, that conduit is a teensy bit cramped for
the two of us."

A lazer soldering iron narrowly missed his left ear, and clattered to the floor.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then."

Korrd went straight to the bridge. The main corridor was in ruins, and transportation through the ship was not operational. What the hell is going on here?, he thought.

On the way there, he found Hoodlum on the vending machine, getting some coffee.


- Hood. I got the distress call from the ship and made it hastily back here. What the hell is going on? Why is everything in ruins around here? The ship won't tell me what happened, as the main computer seems to be offline...

Korrd and Hoodlum stood by the vending machine, which was humming out of tune as usual. Another batch
of expletives emanated from the conduit, followed by an enormous crash.
Smoke wafted lazily from the entrance, followed by a shower of multi-coloured sparks which would not have
been out of place in a firework display. The vending machine immediately dispensed a large glass of Millers
Lager, and circuits sprung to life all over the ship ...

Korrd and Hoodlum looked at each other. "You wanna try that?" Hoodlum said.

Korrd declined politely. "After you I think, bit early for me."

Hoodlum closed his eyes, and took a large swig. "I can live with that."

This was a little surprising, as there was no option on the machine for alcoholic beverages, let alone one that
was in any way drinkable.
The rest of the ship now seemed to be taking on it's usual aura of unpredictability, which was comforting in it's
own unique way. Any attempt to collate data and to theorise why, would as usual be a complete waste of time
and resources. It always ran on Einstein's little know premise of, 'If it works, don't screw with it'.
Not one with much scientific background, but very hard to disprove.
Hoodlum wandered off to check the draught beer tap in the mess. This, when operated gave a stream of hot
and very tasty coffee. Gran Canarian beans if he was not mistaken. Wonders would never cease.
He meandered back to Korrd ...

"Well, as a temporary measure, I doubt we can do better. Need to get the cleaners in to make the place a little more
respectable again. We'll only get whining from the Zoner Guard about cleanliness and Godliness being inextricably
connected.
Cannon, nice one, the coffee has improved leaps and bounds, wanna try now?"

He seemed to have fallen asleep, and neither of them had the heart to wake him up ...

The machine went *beep* and the ancient printer spat out a sheet of paper.

"Hmm..." Cannon said to nobody in particular.

"Hmm..." he said again.

Cannon pressed the alert button and alarms started to squeal on about the ship. Almost immediately Hoodlum's face appeared on the console.

"Engineering here, we have a problem."

"It seems the quantum flux in several asteroid fields is resonating. I can't explain it. Perhaps a new technology has been discovered. We need to do something about it fast. If it continues it could destroy the sector. What should we do?"

Hoodlum stopped for a moment, put his coffee down and looked over the sheets ...

"Good Lord, mining seems to be mighty profitable all of a sudden, when did that happen?"
That quantum flux logging is working well now it seems, sector destruction can be put on
hold. I'll call in the 'Sirius Transmuting Area Response Free Leading Exploratory Agency'
immediately. A mouthful I know, but they are damn good at their job I hear.
Shame we got to use em, but if the flux is being screwed with, we need to stamp on it now."

He sipped his coffee reflectively, and reached for the desk communicator ...

"Gentlemen, I have a dirty job for you, and there are a lot of ships need your particular
brand of justice. Feel free to use any means to step on our particular problem." ...

Del walked out of the chapel when the alarm broke, furious that his service had been disrupted and even more furious that hardly any Admins had been bothered to attend. The alarm reverberated in his ears as he stalked down the corridor, long hair flowing out behind him. Sighting one of the janitorial staff sweeping the corridor, Del walked up and stood over the man as he cowered trying and failing to hide behind his mop.

"What is going on?" Del demanded.

"I have no idea sir, honestly, Cannon's just hit the alarm button he never did say why." Tremulous voice wavering in the air.

Del kicked the janitor. It felt good. "Why were you not in service?" He leaned in close to really see the fear in the janitor's eyes.

Before the man could answer Del stalked off.

Del rounded the corner to find Cannon. Cuffing him around the ear he looked at him quizically.

"Two questions, firstly, why haven't you attended service in the last 6 months, second question what in blazes is going on?"

Cannon sees Del's hand sailing towards his ear. With reactions honed by years of experience at dodging moving machinery he raises a large spanner and Del's hand stops with a thump of bone on metal. Del glares and mutters something about services while jumping around shaking a painful looking hand.

Quietly Cannon says "I hope it's broken", then louder "Ah, Saint Del, I was looking for you. It seems the flux quantum resonating thingy is unstable or some such thing. The Agency has been deployed and is looking for ships who have been meddling with it."

Continuing on his way, Cannon adds "We're to meet on the bridge for drinks and nibbles to watch the news reports. See if you can find Athenian or Agmen. They should join in the fun."

Dieter begins to twitch at his desk..

There has been a disturbance in the Force, as if the souls of hundreds of miners screamed in unison, then were silent.

Then He saw a memo come in from the others.

Oh, THAT, well, no biggy then.

Best get Purgatory ready for some new arrivals.

Hoodlum hit the ship-wide comm switch ...

"Gentlemen, and those of a less determinable gender, the 'Boys' have done their job. They sent
No.2 S.T.A.R.F.L.E.A squad and they don't take no prisoners ever, the results were real messy.
Bar is in motion, best make your way over for the after party cocktails and canapes please.
De-brief will be at 0900, or when hangovers have receded, whichever is most convenient."