“Don’t worry Mr. Adams, everything will go well.” answered Jeremy with a slight grin barely seen under his facial hair. “These lads are selected professionals, even if it seems otherwise. They are just a bit tired, you know. If those neatly combed decision-makers behind their desks on Hyperion had sent a bit more of electricians as well...” he noted resentfully. “...then we could concentrate already on the main tasks.” he blew out air inaudibly a few times, trying to get rid of the smell of the burnt cables from his nose. “Anyway, a moment please.”
He left the side of John for a few seconds to tell his quick instructions to Jake who seemed to be his right-hand man. “...and make sure you finish the C3 section till afternoon.” he muttered to his colleague.
As they finished, Jeremy went back to John. “Alright, fill me up with any information and plans you’ve got. The faster we learn about our obstacles, the sooner we can get out from this hell.” His look became serious and ready for action.
The concerned voice was heard behind two gentlemen: “I'm sorry to interrupt, but there are may be a problem we're not taking into account.” ,and belonged to one of the sent specialists - stocky and bold,man in his 40's, with eye replaced by pricey visor .
He hastened to introduce himself: "Ken Nichols. I was examining the data about the powerplant shortly after our arrival and it's array of fuel rods was quite a mess. Most of them were all ok, but some was left drowned into the active zone for years and idling. It was not enough to melt trough the reactor plating or to damage insertion controls, but even with all the wiring and drain system restored we stand a good chance to be sent adrift if whatever is our destination lacks uranium and a machinery to refuel us." Despite the evil tidings that were brought by him, the guy clearly had a good and infectious mood because of the intonation he talked with.
With this being said, Ken held out his hand with the touchpad, highlighting the depleted rods and overall reactor data, patiently waiting for whoever of two will grab it. "Good news is that PHWRs are famous for producing plutonium in its cycle at enough rates to generate some revenue, so we'll be having a pleasant discount if we trade these rods for reprocessing." Proceeded Ken with a slight smile.
John took the pad and has started reading reports of PHWR systems. "Well, first of all, don't start mourning us yet" said John with demurred attitude but he continued scrolling through automated reports. Most systems weren't labeled by green, yellow or red - they were disconnected from self-diagnosing systems to finish off repairs with draining and cooling systems and were marked as grey. "I see hitherto hinged system is unplugged, so I'll rely on your knowledge" John started to move forward "Actually you came in right time, I wanted to show Jeremy, the Vega databank. It contain various data of Vega reconstruction, blueprints of the decks, as you have noticed its a totally different ship, compare to typical Bismarck." He went on forward in bright white corridor and finally reached locked door. John came closer, some red light appeared behind if him for a moment and door automatically opened."Here we are, I'll update your biometrics to get access to this room". As door slided, it had opened a marvelous deck, with gardens on sides, and huge console and next to it negotiating table. The finishing natural part was a waterfall behind of the desk. It seems that John's team was astonished by the view "Unlike other decks and floors, this one wasn't damaged, so we have decided to maintain this ecosystem. Crew should feel comfortable even on distances such as Great Voyage" it seemed that old memories swallowed him "Before the strike almost every deck was like this room, so much needs to be done…" it was noticeable John's disappointment, but he swiftly mind off bad thoughts and headed straight though the deck to the console "Here you can acquire all required information. As Ken has mentioned, some fuel rods are degrading due to their age, although most of them are only halfway in elaboration of its resource. I wonder, is it possible at this moment to overview their status? I think some of them were damaged during Nomad strike." John turned around from console to Ken and Jeremy - I want to remind you gentlemen, I don't want to bring the powerplant to full functionality, like it was. Our task is to provide enough power to the jumpdrive strain and finally reach our relatives and allies in the Sirius sector, here we are only on our own and our fate depends only on us. Later then we will reconstruct the power plant according to our technical standards, with replacement of each powerplant rods.
Jeremy observed the surrounding area with ease while listening to John. The green scenery somewhat reminded him the Hyperion's more beautiful sections. "I must say I would have never thought this ship got parts like these." Turned to the other two.
"So gentlemen, with agreement of Mr. Adams' thoughts, we should focus on getting enough energy for one jump. I guess we have some coordinates to the Sirius Sector, so probably that's not an obstacle." He stepped closer to the console scanning it with his eyes thoroughly. "Our most urgent goal right now is to reconnect every single system with larger power consumption to these indicators. We must know how much energy left in this ship." He touched the panel at several points, while explaining with his greasy hand, leaving dirt marks carelessly. "Then shut down any unnecessary parts, which are not for life support. For example I would suggest to halve the crew quarters. People should be capable to rest in the cantine as well if need arise. Also, in my experience, reducing the temperature in the whole vessel could give us some savings. Assuming the crew have warm clothes." He looked back to John questioningly. "We need to sacrifice our comfort in the most possible amount."
He turned his back to the panel facing again with his acquaintances, taking a deep breath to enjoy the natural smell of the garden a bit. "All in all, if we are in the grace of Lady Fortune, we will be able to transfer enough juice to the jump drive and make our escape. With some extra work from our part, the cabling should be done in 24 hours, hopefully. Then we can do our calculations." He finished.
John turned to Jeremy and listened to what he had said and was satisfied with his answer. It seems that Ken wanted to be more pessimistic on this topic by his grimace. But the team had plunged themselves in a very limited time. Unlike before, while John had to work most of time with Vega’s PHWR systems, now leading the Vega he had to control every work ongoing on crew, so he had to rely on John and Ken, although his mind still was restless, especially after taking a look at Jeremy… As any nuclear reactor, persistence of its systems is very high, so if the crew would screw one of subsystems elements another will take an action...John tried to get past such thoughts, as professionalism of the Hyperion team shouldn’t make a doubt.
"Alright gentlemen, I won’t take anymore of your time, 24 hours is not that much as you would think." John nodded to Jeremy "Tell me if anything will go not according to the plan, we can spare more specialists for reactor works, as it's our number one task currently." John wanted to delve into the details about ongoing works in the turbine section, scratched a bristle on his cheek and thoughtfully said "... Good luck, you will need it." John turned away and let Ken and Jeremy to discuss further plans to power up the ship systems, an echo of Jeremys roar had been heard from far, seems disagreeing with Ken on some topic.
John went through the whole ship to the bridge, by the way inspecting ongoing works with the Vega. Everyone onboard was restless, a burden of responsibility was in the air. "Charles, report now." Charles was taking a sight on sensors "Not much to report, John. We are still unpowered and floating in orbit of that asteroid belt in this nebula… We’ve picked up some Nomad signals back then, but they couldn’t trace us, it seems." he patted his head "How’s the process going with the reactor?" John stepped up in a line with Jeremy and looked at the sensors as well "They promise to fix things in 24 hours. Hardly to believe but Vega powerplant can be repaired swiftly for temporary works. We should be fine." said John and noticed an uncanny smile on James face on his pale face "So, you think we won’t die here?" John smiled back "Take a break in your cabin, get some sleep. I’ll need you here in the proper condition to jump us out of this outskirts." Jeremy widely yawned "You think I deserved some rest? Good lord, thank you for that. I think these stimulants almost killed me. Contact me if anything happen" Jeremy turned around and headed to the personnel deck, leaving John alone in his thoughts in a darkened bridge, whose was lightened only by apparatus...
John had been woken up by sudden screaming silence. He fell asleep while checking the apparatus and many reports. His mind still was vague and he tried to remark when he fell asleep. He standed up and tried to find a flashlight by the touch on the desk. He got it enabled, John went through many panels and apparatus of the bridge, trying to enable a manual control of the power and use the last third contour of the powersource, but nothing had happened. A second later very bright color blinded John, suddenly apparatus and sensors enabled everything worked just like before the accident with the Nomads "It seems they did it!.." said John, he hastily connected by a video feed with powerplant deck, to get reports of the current situation. On the display appeared Jeremy, his face was dirt and sweating, John said “Jeremy, report me. I suppose everything went according to the plan?”
Jeremy's sleepless and tired face was clearly noticable through the display, however his voice suggested some relief. "Good morning, Mr. Adams. You just called me the right time." he started, while in the background his team members' voices echoed with satisfaction of a job well-done. "At last we managed to bring back to life several systems. I'm not sure if you have already noticed that we are in full control of how we distribute our remaining energy on the ship. According to my quick calculations we will be able to make a jump to the Sirius Sector." he sounded quite pleased for the first time in days. "Anyway, I'll sum up a quick technical report in a few minutes. Our part is mostly done here, for now, just a few minor tweaks are needed. Meanwhile we can commence the preparations for our great escape." he finished.
John had listened to Jeremy reports, but his mind suddenly was attuned by his thoughts, restlessly imagine what could go wrong if something was missed during open space repairs. Many lives were lost during the crash, and his heavy heartbeat strung his mind. He suddently started to remember name of his friends and fellow brothers and sisters were lost. He barely managed to prevent the plunge into his feelings, as much more lives is on the bet. Just like in casino, you are nothing without luck. He tried to convince himself that all possible job is done and only stroke of luck divide Vega from rest of Phoenix corefleet. "Alright Jeremy, glad to hear that. Expect maximum load on the powerplant in hour. Report me of any accidents during this hour, until then we can stop the jumpdrive and fix what weren't fixed. Control power fluctuations… Wish us luck." said John and finished communicating. John raised alert onboard of the ship, bridge again was alive like before, the buzz of people reassuringly affected his mind, consciousness was cleared from haunting thoughts . "James, load coordinates of Omicron Epsilon. " said John, sat down in seat of captain and pressed several buttons on the panel to affirmative jumpdrive charge. "James, powerplant status. " he said swiftly and James have checked automated reports of reactor and its powerplant subsystems "All systems green. We are clear to jump" said James. Accrue roar of ship now had been heard from every deck and ship body started to shake, it was the feeling that ship is alive. Display showed a countdown, a several seconds left before they would be able to get into four dimension, or several seconds before their death. "12,11,10…" voiced John, although a countdown was displayed on every panel of the ship. John was keeping his look at James, his face was covered with drops of sweat "All systems green. John, engage the hyperdrive" said James and John took the key of the captain, inserted it into the panel and turned it, the panel displayed only two buttons, "3, 2, 1..." he pressed button to engage the hyperdrive. Roar of the ship systems had been almost stunning, but several second later it was silent and bright light consumed the bridge, meaning they successfully escaped from damn nowhere. Next stop is the Sirius sector.
The Vega is still going through the hyperspace corridor and the reactor seems to be stable, although everything can be changed any minute. The crew on the bridge had been busy looking through every report of ship systems. Although the crew still has several hours before plunge back from hyperspace, they have to be ensure in safety of maneuver. John standed up from his captain seat and said to James "Contact me of any accident regarding onboard of ship, especially its vitality", he strode to powerplant deck. Everything seemed to be under control. Although he wanted to hear thoughts of Jeremy, how much time left before we will have to seal reactor systems by reagent to prevent disaster like Vega falling into the pieces.
Jeremy and his team seemed really busy in the powerplant deck. They moved from panel to panel, checking out indicators frequently, searching for any anomalies. From an outsider view Jeremy looked like a conductor of an orchestra, pointing out instructions and directions with emphasized hand movements to his subordinates.
"Mr. Adams, over here!"he noticed and beckoned the arriving captain."I was about to call you to make a report." he showed his datapad towards John."The current status of the reactor right now is somewhat satistfactory. Analyzing the data we received from the indicators, my prediction is that the powerplant will overheat in roughly 32 hours. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that it would result blewing us up to smithereens." he grinned."However, this will be probably enough to reach Sirius sector. Our next objective should be that we gather every boron or cadmium on board to cool down this beauty once we terminate hyperspace travelling. My girls and boys will do the rest."he sounded like a proud father while looking around on his team."Oh, and just in case I would suggest to prepare the escape pods for the the VIP personnel if anything goes wrong. We can never know."
"Command ship in danger! Personnel, proceed to the evacuation bay C…". James barely was able to understand what automatic systems were saying. Only the last step left to open the branch and exit the hyperspace, whereas they would able to feel themselves somehow safe. Hyperspace module had consumed all power onboard of the vessel, most of the control system were disabled and the bridge had lost contact with most decks, no chance to run self diagnostics to check subsystems status. Shiver came across the ship, it has been a question to survival of next several seconds. Smell of the burnt electronics and wire isolation consumed the vast room, wires fallen from the trays, most of the crew unconscious, floor had been painted by blood. The shockwave came unexpectedly, no one was able to prepare for such a blow… In a matter of a minute, we will do it, James prayed.
Vast reaches of the vacuum, combined with asteroids fields of different size and potty particles of different green colors marvelously played by sunlight. The Omicrons. Nothing predicted to change the peaceful landscape although in a few moments, something bright came out of nowhere, making little asteroids to be thrown away like drops of the water in the storm. A bulk ship has been appeared with burnt and scratched metal plates. Once the ship emerged from the hyperspace it hadn't any life sign meanwhile being consumed by smoke - most of the decks have lost it's integrity. Nevertheless, automated systems managed to send the SOS beacon.
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