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toraknu
Member Posts: 78 Arc User
Damn.... The alarm sirens were howling......
On the structure in front of us, several shields were hesitantly erected, staggered several times.
Hatchways opened and small structures were ejected in pairs and shortly afterwards accelerated to maximum power with chemical engines, forming a satellite network around the dark structure floating before us in space.
At the front side of a slowly extending turret gun, a powerful flickering beam tube was threateningly directed at the pulpit of our small ship. Shortly afterwards, a spotlight lit up and dazzled the screen.
The call lamp on the radio desk flickered continuously and signaled several incoming radio connections.
It was time for action.
(earlyer)
Our ship drifted only hesitantly out of the warp channel and stepped back into known space.
Since 2 weeks we were, only interrupted by short navigation breaks in the overspace on the way.
Our small cargo ship was only equipped with an old Warp 6 engine which had constantly pushed our freighter through the warp channel with a strong running noise.
What an annoying surprise when we arrived at the Federation base and found it shut down.
Shut down for maintenance, allegedly announced. Probably our poorly tuned antenna had failed again in the warp channel and did not provide us with the necessary information. so on hold... with the best view of the abandoned base.
Very well. Just a few more hours.
Josephine had come to me in the cockpit and had made herself comfortable on the co-pilot's couch.
The rest of the bridge crew had meanwhile gone into the berth and had transferred the guard in the control room of the pulpit to me. It didn't take long since we decided to share a couch. Josephine was always very enthusiastic
when she could loll on the commander's couch and it was also fun for me to play around with my fingers. we liked each other.
It didn't take long since we stretched and lolled and everyone had his fun until I chump with the foot
came onto the console with the alarm switches and the toes triggered some buttons.
WUMMMS "The cargo ship made a leap backwards as the axle weapon emptied its energy cells and
to move a fireball in front of us to the darkened station.
Even as the empty energy cells were being recharged screeching, we saw the energy ball sliding onto the station.
and broke through the outside wall next to a dark window opening. After a violent explosion from the window opening, mobilliar and air remains that were freezing in the icy vacuum of the room drifted slowly away.
hastily I secured the weapon circuits on the emergency console when josephine hastily put on her on-board combination again.
from the hallway, screams and annoying shouts came as the crew moved away from their bunks to the central and other stations.
There's trouble............
(later)
This is the commander of the cargo ship OPEN MARKETS.
We surrender and are back in full control of the situation after the unfortunate incident!
Please secure your weapons, I repeat, please secure your weapons,
I assure you we have the situation here back under our control.
The image is displayed on the screen. A serious-looking station commander scolded like a bird in the cane and wished every freighter crew in the surrounding 3 sectors to get hold of them and send them through the next airlock by hand.
The image faded and the station's communications officer switched with freighter commanders
a few calmer words. When the screen went out, the freighter commander turned around and looked at me.
and josephine long and just shook his head.
You two come with me, get dressed and get your uniform in order!
we'll beam over to the station and see what we can rescue from the Situation.
the two of you actually managed to dismantle a room at the station with a single shot of radiation,
thank God during the owner's absence. he was engaged in maintenance work at the decommissioned station.
well, we'll see if this station commander has a sense of humor.
"Attention, Federation Station 3, ready to beam over."
His name is NEUANDON and what you met was the Commander's quarters.
"Energy! "
hi this is a test of an automatic translation with DeepL an new translator
the miniseries is my own fanfiction from the german comunity
so i try to put the chapters in here
errors might be possible ! greetings toraknu
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Good luck, jokers!!!
The captain of the freighter closed the airlock with a sneering grin and for a while there was still hail of stupid sayings and not so funny comments from the radio headsets of our communication units.
We were simply abandoned in free space, with some tools and safety lines for the repair work on the damaged commander's cabin. Now we shimmyed from the outside to the burst station wall to start the repair work. The captain of the freighter had, when he noticed our futile attempts at communication, and explained that the transmitter core had been removed from the suit communicators.
All we had left was receivers. Our cargo ship slowly disappeared into space.
Josephin looked simply stunning in the tight space suit the station commander had left them.
since 4 days we were working with the few tools left to us to cut the debris
and removing the garbage. Tomorrow the opening in the outer wall should be closed with a heavy steel plate.
4 days only emergency food / suit concentrates, no real toilet, no sound shower - no comments we could let go about the suit communication. even if we hit each other with the tools on the fingers nobody received our curses.
Only the station crew contacted us from time to time and gave instructions as to when we should arrive. at the adjacent ward airlock to receive further work material and tools.
We sweat. And we stank! The tight spacesuits were only designed for such a long time in an emergency. Only the energy and oxygen modules were exchanged by the station crew every few hours. or better said between the materials in the airlock were included. We had to replace them ourselves.
I radioed some morse code to josephin with the headlamp. shortly afterwards she shimmyed over to me and we pressed the helmets together. dull sounded the vibrations of her voice through the contact point. we had to scream to communicate. somehow I enjoyed these short moments, this nearness to josephine despite the insulating space suits.
we talked for a long time about tomorrow. when we got the material and the plate for the leakproofing we could close the hole in the outer skin if necessary. sealed and filled with breathable atmosphere we had possibly a chance to escape this suit prison.
The plate sat firmly on the inner wall. the welds did not necessarily look pretty, but they fulfilled their purpose. the sealant spread and reliably closed the last gap. When we met with the captain of the freighter on the angry station commander, the two of them had quickly agreed on a solution to the incident.
Since we both had enjoyed a technician training, the station commander offered to repair the damage. or take the next ferry to the planet under the station and be tried there.
we decided to stay at the station.
josephin looked at the pressure indicator of her suit instrument more and more often. slowly but steadily the values for the external atmosphere reached the altitude and after 2 hours approximately the lower limit for breathable external pressure.
Shortly afterwards, the emergency force fields in front of the inner bulkhead of the room door began to flicker and finally went out. We looked at each other and I decided to take off the helmet first.
The air was still thin and still freezing cold, and it still smelled penetratingly of charred and burned mobilliar.
only slowly the icy areas around us thawed in the spotlight. I nodded to Josephin. The little one had been trampling for minutes to finally open the helmet.
we kissed for a long time. it was nice to feel her soft warm lips. we paused for a moment until in the dark our suit receivers cracked loudly. one voice clearly called us back to work. when the station pressure was equalized, we could open the room door. later, on the corridor, lay tools and a warm meal. The first warm meal in almost five days. We crept back into the commanders' cabin.
First we're gonna fix the lighting, I was talking to josephine...
I can't see those suit lamps anymore.
The lighting stopped, gravity control, information systems, and environmental control.
The whole level became suddenly quiet. On the walls of the quarter a faint light became visible in the darkness, which illuminated us floating in a ghostly light in the quarter between the unpaved furnishings. I called Josephine for us to move towards the discarded space suits.
We quickly got to the space suits. Slipped in and the helmet closed, the suits built up their own pressure system. We activated the magnetic boots and finally regained contact with the ground.
Unfortunately, the spacesuit systems were still unable to communicate with each other. We put our helmets back together. Quickly we agreed to leave our small accommodation and look for the way to a collection point for emergencies. Nothing could be heard from the station management on the radio. Only hesitantly we could open the door with the hydraulic emergency system.
The same unusual silence prevailed in the hallway in front of the quarter. Slowly we set step by step with our magnetic boots in the direction of the glowing emergency arrows to a meeting point near the plane lift.
It was lucky that the station builders thought of applying a self-luminous paint for the emergency lighting and directional guidance.
On the way we met a few people who were moving towards the emergency depots in weightlessness without space suits. Many were afraid of being trapped in their quarters when the air became thinner. The depots had
space suits and food concentrations, communication systems and tools. Such a depot was also close to the collection point. Josephine moved to an equipment cabinet and handed me a communication unit.
These were standardized within the Federation. The slot on the Backpack of our space suits already had a module which I quickly changed at Josephine. When she changed the module on my satchel I could press the tuning button of the module and the receiver clicked on a frequency with radio traffic.
".......WE WILL OPEN FIRE ON YOUR STATION. YOU STILL HAVE 12 MINUTES TO OPEN THE DOCKING LOCKS AND LET OUR ENTRY COMMAND ON BOARD..... "
A mechanical voice repeated itself over and over again with a badly modulated voice module. Apparently some kind of translation device was used to move the station to the task.
Josephine was startled when a hand lay on our spacesuits.
We had already cleaned the commander's quarters. For several days we were busy cleaning up when suddenly the airlock to the quarter opened and a quartermaster introduced himself.
"You've already done a good job and we want to acknowledge that you kept your end of the deal! Of course the damages of the equipment are still to be compensated. What do you think of an offer? "
Josephine looked at me. I saw that the little one had her mouth full.
"Well, answered the quartermaster, I assume you agree to be accommodated in a small two-man quarters. The beds there are separate but the accommodation has its own sanitary unit with shower. "A grin appeared on the Quartermaster's lips as he mentioned the separate beds.
"Finish your work here and report to the person in charge at level 42. He'll show you to your quarters. Further work on the installation of the commander's quarters will be taken over by our people. Oh, and don't go near the OPS. The old man still hasn't completely calmed down. "
The Qartier Master turned around and left us alone in the already tidy commander's quarters.
We collected our things and our suits, tools and went to level 42 deep down in the station.
When we left the lift system, the air was contaminated with heavy odours. So this is what the workers' quarters looked like, which one normally did not enter as a normal space trader and traveller. The filthy creatures who came to meet us in search of the station manager didn't want to get in touch with us.
We passed a kind of dining room with a replicator unit. The room was full of people from all regions of the known systems. At the exit of the dining room a security officer was to be seen who on request grumpily referred us to a communication unit on the wall of the. After consultation with the person responsible for the level, we went to GRAU 21. The colour markings and room numbers showed us the way and followed a logical plan.
Grey 21- A small workers' quarters with 2 beds, a sanitary area and a lounge area. The small quarter was intended as a sleeping cell and was furnished in an equally tasteless manner. We took off our spacesuits, undressed and squeezed ourselves together into the narrow sound shower of the sanitary facilities. For a long time we held ourselves silently in our arms and enjoyed the feeling of cleaning which stroked over our skin with alternating vibrations and simply rubbed off the dirt, sweat and other adhering secretions. Quietly we left the sanitary area and made ourselves comfortable on the floor of the small cabin. We still hadn't decided which of the two narrow sleeping places was occupied. It didn't matter to us. We enjoyed the tender embrace for a while and gave in to our feelings.
RUMMMS RUMMS...... In the hallway a kind of station alarm sounded for a short time, but it broke off immediately with the next RUMMS. at the same time it became suddenly dark. and we began to float.
We had just recovered from the shock of the sudden laying on of our arms when the glowing helmet with the face of the person responsible for the area became visible. Grinning, he reached us after controlling our communication systems and set us up another radio channel. The sounds were not understandable and only when he activated the encryption and confirmed with his command code was the radio traffic converted into understandable speech for us.
"We were incapacitated by an approaching spaceship. The ultimatum. Did you hear that? Report to the quartermaster, RICK USOME, on level 12. He's already requested and cleared you for two stun guns. Oh, yes.... avoid the lift system and use the emergency elevators. The next one is in this direction, about 3 crossings away and brings you up to level 12. good luck !
I'll give you two more personal codes to access the station systems.
They have TECHNICIAN RELEASE YELLOW 4, like all our better maintenance crews, on instruction from RICK "
We ran off. Go after Josephine. The little one was faster in your magnetic boots again.
The person in charge handed out heavy rifles behind us to the people at the collection point.
Apparently, the station was prepared for a fight.
The narrow emergency elevator, a narrow cell with its own supply system and drive accepted our new technician codes and brought us directly to the brightly lit level 12 with high pressure values.
All of them had space suits on and were heavily armed. RICK USOME was behind the next GA bend and showed us the way to a depot room. There we changed the light working suits in the already bad air against heavy armored SPACE-BATTLESUITS and received heavy disintegration guns on Rick's instruction.
"I need YOU as support for the restoration of the power supply." told us RICK USOME on our return. "We've lost communication with our maintenance crew on level 10. Probably they've been taken out or captured. Here you both have a PAD with the station overview and further information files. The code of the encrypted PAD is green 56 and you will find in the PADs an extension of your access release as well as a goal what you should reach and bridge. I assume this damaged system is crippling our station. Hurry, the ultimatum is about to expire.
We rushed back to the emergency elevator. When we reached level 10, we activated the screen field projectors of the combat suits and armed the weapon. I agreed with Josephine that we set the guns for killing. From reaching the mission, on the pads was indicated a computer unit in an engineering room,
the future of the station depended. Gravity was still off. We agreed to switch off the magnetic boots and to float in the dark aisles. In the ceiling areas, at intervals from the station builders, handles were inserted which were intended for the failure of the gravity control.
Quietly but purposefully we floated in the semi-darkness and arrived behind the next corner in an illuminated room in which 3 heavy figures with strange suits stood beside 2 technicians lying on the ground. The handles of a kind of axe or spear protruded from the space suits of the two figures lying motionless on the ground.
Josephin put her gun on faster than I did. Almost in time, the desitegrators shot at the scene and dissolved the bond between the molecules in the group of people. As a precaution, we fired a few more shots at the slowly dissolving contours. The corridor has been damaged.
We both opened the flip-up helmets of the combat suits and avoided the radio traffic.
Neither one of us had recognized the alien beings. The specie hadn't met both of us yet.
We quickly continued on our way to the defective computer unit. Shortly before the technical room, heavy footsteps became audible in a side aisle. Apparently other alien beings had become aware of the disappearance of their comrades. We closed the helmets of the combat suits and slipped into the technology room.
In the technical room we were spotted on the sluice damaged by an explosive device. The bulkhead could no longer be closed. Manipulations were visible on the computer core. External devices were connected and had apparently tampered with this device here. Josephin pointed to a junction box on the wall. Here was the normal connection of the computer block with the station network. I took over guarding the door while Josephine was tampering with the supply line to the computer. The connection could not be broken.
On the corridor in front of the technical room, rays of light from lamps became visible. Apparently the strangers had begun to surround the technical room. A first grenade, poorly targeted, enveloped the corridor in opaque fog in front of the technical room. The attack was imminent.
Josephine gave it up to get closer to the wall connection. The only reason we haven't been attacked with heavy weapons is because the strangers apparently needed the manipulated computer. Our mission was clear. The computer block had to be severed. Josephine put on the disintegrator gun and destroyed the connection line to the station network with several shots.
We gathered behind the computer core waiting for the strangers to storm the room. Both of us squatted close to each other and I was ready to protect myself with my umbrella field in front of Josephin when the women stormed the room and took us under fire.
The lighting flashed suddenly.
In the corridor, shots from automatic defense systems were suddenly heard. At the same time a strong force field lay in front of the destroyed bulkhead of the technical room and protected us from the outbreaking fire in the passage in front of the technical room.
A voice came up. It was the voice of the old station commander...
"To the crew of our station here, the OPS. We have the situation under our control again ! our defense systems start up again and fight inside and outside the station the invaders and your ship. I'll get back to you shortly with information. "
In the suit communication systems, the voice of quartermaster Rick USOME was heard shortly afterwards:
" Well done you two! I'll pick you both up from the tech room later.
Our station computer work again and soon we can add the environmental control.
You have removed the interfering computer from the network.
I think the old man is guilty of something!"
Laughing, the radio connection was cut.
I looked at Josephine and we switched off the Protecting Shields and held each other for a while. "If we can get a cabin with a double bed now?" to me the question slipped out and for a second we both looked at each other in amazement before we burst out laughing.
( thats Toraknu ... pls remember this is a test of an Automatic Translation with DeepL errors are possible thx)
We calmed down and continued the examination. At the point where the being had gnawed, the power line was exposed and would create a short circuit as soon as the energy was reactivated. Carefully we cut the insulated handle of the lamp into the eaten wire and bent the energy conductor away from the wall of the hold. This should be enough to prevent the bang when switching on. As a precaution, I scratched a mark in the cargo floor covering with an object which should later make the place visible.
We continued on our way. Everywhere from the rooms we heard these quiet crawling noises which had given the small beetles the nickname "Crawling Death". Those things ate everything. Starting (for whatever reason) with the insulation of the energy conductors until later........
The ALARM went on. Pressure drop ! I looked after Josephine, together we grabbed our hands and searched quickly. Suddenly the rushing rest of the atmosphere of the ship swirled past us. Normally, Automatic would have jumped to force fields. The short circuit cut out the entire cargo area.
Automatically our helmet visors closed. The suits immediately built up the pressure from the oxygen unit. Slowly the strong breeze became weaker. We were able to release the handle. The hold was vented. I loosened my grip and let go of Josephine's hand. We checked the radio channel and set up a voice link.
As we left the storage area we came to the bulkhead to the ship's bridge. The door check didn't bode well. The mechanical pressure pin neither protruded on our side nor was it retracted into the recess. This means that there was equal pressure on both sides of the pressure bulkhead. Now... our side was vented. Carefully we removed the emergency lock. The explosive bolt ignited and released the door lock. The power failure forced us to swing the heavy pressure bulkhead open with combined forces. Josephine cried out.
In the command centre, the crew was seated in casual clothing. The belts had automatically been put on during the alarm and the pressure drop must have come so suddenly that none of the 3 crew members had a chance to take his space suit out of storage and pull over. Rule number 12 on the merchant navy. Ship members on watch, i.e. in responsible bridge position, had to wear a space suit. At the seat we looked at the empty hooks for the helmet. Well . One learns quickly and thoroughly under the conditions of space flight.
We emptied the seats and placed the bodies, which were slowly getting colder, behind the bulkhead of the headquarters in the corridor. There was no time for further action now. Josephine had meanwhile taken the seat of the ship's engineer and set about controlling the emergency energy. The bulkhead was closed by me but not locked.
I had found the hole in the outer skin and was applying sealant to an emergency planking.
It was the eroded windshield seal of a kind of emergency windshield for the landing approach.
Some **** had forgotten the maintenance on the mechanical safety bulkhead of the Window
so that it did not react in time to the pressure drop.
Slowly our suits reported a significant oxygen consumption. We need to re-establish internal pressure or to other satchel packs for our space suits. I pressed the plank onto the hole in which the pane was once embedded. In a few minutes the swelling agent did its work and hardened after a short annealing. Josephine turned a tap on us and let the contents of a large pressure bottle flow out of an emergency compartment into the control centre.
(earlier)
Almost half a year had passed. Josephine and I had settled into our new quarters on the SPACE STATION.
We had joint ventures and a permanent job in the maintenance crew cycle. One evening we sit in the casino with the strange little bartender, we won a ticket for 2 in a raffle. RISA SUMMER FESTIVAL .
The bar owner had donated the ticket for 2 as one of the bigger prizes. From our station almost regularly went a trade route with transport ships, old freighters, towards the Federation worlds in the center of the Federation.
In addition to goods from our region, passengers were also carried in deep-sleep cabins. On board the slow old freighters there was not enough supply to allow the crew and a large number of passengers to walk around.
Everything was fine. The quartermaster had agreed to the excursion but had booked it as an annual holiday. We had dressed our things and squeezed into space suits and reported to the departure station. The crew of the old cargo ship consisted of a handful of vagabonds who took the accommodation and preparation of the cold sleeping chambers very easily.
Apparently, they had a long history of transporting live cargo. As a precaution Josephine had only electronic payment-systems with her. In our equipment were only old image documentation devices. It was rumored that the crew was going after the departure and steal the valuables of the passengers.
We didn't stay awake to see the start. The cold sleeping cell had taken up her work and sent us deep into confused dreams. We dreamed of a hard launch procedure and a slow acceleration of the old cargo ship. The pressure absorbers of the cargo ships were not as mature as on the modern spaceships of the Federation. Even in deep sleep, we seemed to be pushed from one corner to the next when the cargo ship with, loud firing manouverig engines changed position and aligned the hull in the right direction. Then came the take-off procedure and the old large-volume engine took up its work among rumblers and puffed up its work and continuously pushed the moaningly groaning old ship's cell forward into the range of the speed of light. It was a brief pain when the old cargo ship crossed the speed of light. Then the old freighter glided gently through the warp space.
For several days we lay deep asleep in our sleeping chambers when we were abruptly pulled out of sleep. Alarm lights flashed hectically flickering on then suddenly it became still. while I avoided puking in the helmet of my suit I caught a glimpse of Josephine's sleeping cabin. The little one had reigned faster than I had and was trying to crawl out of the open hatch of the sleeping cabin onto the floor. You weren't well either. The loud alarm must have been triggered by the ship's computer. But only we were awake. The rest of the passengers were still in deep sleep on emergency gear change. Josephin activated the display of her deep-sleep cabin and read out the logbook.
Ship alarm, crew out of range or out of action, pressure drops on the decks. Power outages. No course correction since 2 navigation points. The old on-board computer had processed an error log and checked the passenger lists. Only Josephine and I had the entry maintenance engineer. We were woken up.
The own energy unit in the deep-sleep cabins had logged the activities up to that moment. We knew now why we were woken up but still not why. The internal pressure in the cargo hold with the deep-sleep cabins was still present. We waived the space suits and opened the visors of the space helmets.
The air was stuffy and stale but breathable. We took an old torch from the bracket on the wall and looked for a depot or a cupboard with equipment. Again and again Josephine stopped and listened into the dark corridors of the ship. She was upset. Heard something. Slowly we felt our way forward and opened one bulkhead after the other in the sections of the freighter. We passed several doors behind which there was apparently negative pressure. The bolts of the pressure gauges were sunk into the guide. A clear sign that we should keep the doors closed.
Suddenly there was a bang in front of us. An electric spark on a wall power distributor. Apparently, a last remnant of the stored energy had been discharged from an energy buffer. But this couldn't usually happen on its own. We shone with the old lamp in this direction and were shocked when something moved.
(Later)
The ship had fallen back into normal space and had an uncritical course. As a precaution, we activated a buoy and sent an automatic radio signal. Unfortunately we were away from the room we were driving in. It would take weeks before someone would drive this route and come across the signal. Our engine was off.
The " crawling death " ! We had heard stories in the space school about ships that had a beetle plague on board. The critters multiplied like crazy during the flights and went for everything that could be easily dismantled. In addition to soft rubber parts, they seemed to be particularly fond of the warm, soft, heated insulation of power lines in operation. The creatures died from vacuum or energetic discharges. But the critters had a swarm instinct and always appeared in growing communities when there was something to dismantle. There was hardly any way to control the plague, unless the mother of the swarm could be eliminated.
Josephine had an idea. We had a subordinate computer with the energy from our space suits to run. We had access to the inventory lists of the spaceship and found a short-range orbiter in the back of a minihangar. We could turn the thing into a decoy if we activated the engines in the self-sufficient orbiter and created an energy jam at the engine. The hot material and the energies that flowed there should attract the swarm and turn the hangar into a trap. We set off for the back little hangar.
Everything was in place. The orbiter's engine was already hot for minutes. We heard the quiet scurry of the beetle legs and saw them pouring out of the hallway, the ventilation into the hangar and flocked around the orbital ship. At some point the beetle body stopped flowing and the dark mass of hundreds of insects made themselves comfortable on the hull of the small orbiter. I drew Josephine's attention to a particularly thick and apparently larger beetle which was moving in the mass. We watched his every move and saw how it suddenly produced a small dark beetle while gnawing at the ship's hull of the orbiter. The Queen of the Swarm was present. No more bugs had followed for a while. Slowly the orbiter gave up. The engine slowly retired from service and stopped short more and more often. It was time.
We had tied in near the emergency switch. We had closed the helmets and switched them back to internal pressure. With one blow I opened the emergency switch for the outer sluice gate. The explosive bolts of the emergency opening flew out of the holder with a loud bang. The heavy hangar bulkhead flew with a jerk into the empty space and the internal pressure tore the orbiter ship out of the anchorage we had detached. We saw it whirling away in space with the cargo of the hangar and drifting away towards the little sun.
We waited until the pressure equalization was complete and released ourselves from the belts. After several rooms we reached an intermediate bulkhead which was closed by us. The next days we repaired the emergency aggregates in the engine room and created an acceptable atmosphere on the ship again. It's hard to believe what damage this swarm did to the ship during the few days of the space flight. We were able to restore some of the power lines.
But activation of the ship's propulsion system or higher means of communication had still failed.
We maintained the power supply to the cold chambers. In a room which had its own pressure bulkhead we had arranged ourselves. After another 2 weeks we suddenly heard a scratchy loud screeching as if metal on metal, rubbed. We jumped out of the provisional bunks and folded our helmets in confusion. The suit immediately activated the internal communication and after a short time we heard a voice in the receiver.
".......cargo ship NATALIE...This is the ALPHABETH. We start entering your Ship to help.
Close your helmets. We need to blow open some hatches. We've responded to your distress call! ".
I briefed the radio operator on the situation on board.
Now, we've been placed in quarantine protocol. This means that we were both locked up on the ALPHABETH under medical observation and taken to the nearest star base. The sleeping chambers were cleaned and disinfected. The dormant ones were brought aboard the ALPHABETH in the chambers and were also kept under quarantine. The old freighter, the Natalie. A special team will board it again and check what of the cargo is still to be used. The rest of old Natalie...now unless Starfleet is planning a maneuver in this section and a few school rats acquire their first weapon skills, the old freighter will probably have to head for the sun. No one wants a beetle-infested ship at their station or in their space dock.
2 weeks alone with Josephine and locked up in quarantine...
I could imagine worse!
Risa will have to wait.......
The quarantine passed and since there were no negative findings Josephine and I were released again.
The shipping company of the cargo ship thanked us with a little surprise for the support and rescue of the cargo. We were offered a small sum or, also because our voyage ended so abruptly, alternatively a smaller cargo ship that was no longer in service.
Since we still had debts after the damage of the station and the money would have been collected immediately, we decided to try the disused van. The representatives of the shipping company thanked us again and left our quarters with a big smile and a few encouraging words. Something with "Good we could put the ship in the hands of capable technicians."
A few days later we arrived at the spaceport and received the ship's logbook and the necessary documents.
on a data chip. When we entered the hangar, however, we were struck by the blow. The HERMES VII, so the name of the Runabout was according to the documents only 7 years old, but the small ship had experienced a few heavy storms on its last journeys. The fractures in the outer shell seem to have been caused by a hard emergency landing and were only patched in a makeshift manner.
" What a Patchwork Junkpile!" Josephine's commens was bad.
The damages required a lot of work and also finances. Some of the work could not be carried out in the room. Thank God the Runabouts were suitable for atmospheric flight and could land in larger space ports.
We used our friendly codes to open the side hatch. What a bunch of TRIBBLE. The crate was severely affected on the inside by the impact of the emergency landing. In the passage to the stern the side modules of the mission capsule had been looted.
One of the two warp nacelles was damaged and the lounge in the rear area was confused. The group of tables torn from the anchorage. Some instruments were already patched in the cockpit. The energy was present, however, the matrix of the warp core needed to be checked urgently.
We were just trying out the replicator in the back module. The ordered coffee was not to enjoy and had a wrong color. At least the garbage disposal company worked. The proximity alarm was triggered in the cockpit we activated. The volume numbed our eardrums.
On the bridge Josephine was the first to reach the controls and swung into the pilot's seat.
Proximity alert...here in the dock... so the damn computer is TRIBBLE too.
At least the shutdown switch worked. It was good to be quiet.
Several Hits on the ship's hull frightened us. It came from the side entrance.
We opened the manual lock of the lock and were amazed when a young employee of the room dock introduced herself in a dirty mechanic's overall. "Tach too. You must be the heroes of the bug ship. " !
The little one grinned cheekily with her freckled face and pointed to the runabout.
"Somebody had triggered an order. The shipyard is supposed to help you with the restoration of the scrap heap.
Well, the boys and I had drawn lots to see who got the honor. And I lost!"
The little grins snotty and imagined Josephine and me as Katjana. She had grown up in this world and had taken up duty in the maintenance crew of the space dock a few years ago. The little one had probably only been out of training for 10 years, but the act did not detract from her waking eyes and quick-witted mind. We invited Katjana to the ship and noticed how the little one was interested in the maintenance computer in the cockpit.
After flying over the logbook, the little one put on a sour face.
"You've taken over a nice piece of junk! Let's talk to the guys from the maintenance crew about the parts supply. Maybe we can cannibalize some parts from other wrecks.
We agreed and Katjana pulled the maintenance log onto her PAD and left us after she had left a bag of some fruits from the local gardens.
We closed the hatch and made ourselves comfortable in the lounge area. At least the bunks were still good.
The first time alone and unobserved after 2 weeks of quarantine under supervision.
Anyway, we had fun together even though the bunk wasn't necessarily meant for 2 people.
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We've been working on the old runabout for a week now. We had gotten a little bit into the wool in between because Josephine wanted to change the name of the runabout, but I did not agree with that. The name change would have taken up too much capital. we simply could not afford it at the present time.
Thus, a lot of attention has been paid to HERMES VII. Too much for our taste. During a visit to the canteen in the room dock, we caught a few rather nasty remarks. Obviously the bets weren't in our favor, that we didn't dissolve the whole space dock into its components at the start.
We improved the energy supply, almost restored the energy matrix, and with the help of Katjana and some of her friends from the shipyard we were able to weld even the worst cracks back together. The smaller ones were only examined again and got an additional planking. The right warp nacelle, however, had a serious defect. No tinkering and no glueing helped here. We were able to save the warp coil but the Intermix chamber was defective and had to be replaced. Josephine offered to get us one of an old shuttle. But that didn't help us for long. At full load, the right warp nacelle would be suspended and would have to be restarted over and over again.
To get the shuttle back into the room, a test flight with an inspector was necessary.
For the planned appointment Katjana appeared with her old transport wagon next to the shuttle again and had a large garment bag as it is used by the astronauts. Katjana laughed when we spoke to you about the additional piece of equipment and asked if we would mind if she would hire with us. When Josephine and I looked at each other irritated Katjana pushed immediately afterwards that she would come along for free food and accommodation for the time being because we would rather need the earnings for the ship. We had got to know the little one better since several weeks and knew that she was a decent technician who could handle the machines almost a bit better than we did.
We agreed. The main reason for the consent were Katjana's contacts here in the system which had provided us with a lot of spare parts so far. The little one disappeared at the rear.
"Are you the owner of this aircraft? "An approximately 40-year-old lean man approached us and asked for our ship's documents. "Please add the maintenance log and your pilot's license." Josephine disappeared into the ship to get the requested documents. In the meantime, the hagere in his Starfleet administrative uniform circumnavigated our runabout with suspicion and looked very closely at the work carried out. as Katjana waved out of the hatch he looked up somewhat irritated and looked at me reproachfully. "Under no circumstances may you take passengers on the test flight! Who gave you permission?" We quickly assured him that Katjana was part of the crew and was not a passenger.
Shaking his head, the test took place in the sensor officer's seat. Josephine and I additionally pulled the belts of the
Pilot seats were stuck and Katjana had disappeared in the back of the engine room. The necessary routine checks were processed by the ship's computer and after a few yellow entries and hints in the course of the routine checks, a decision was expected from me as a pilot. I saw the inspector shaking his head, flying over the displays on the ship's computer and taking notes in silence. After some hesitation he looked at me and just nodded at the next start.
A loud buzzing was audible, followed by a protesting creaking of the old ship's hull as the runabout slowly rose up. I carefully regulated the drive power and distributed the impulse energy to the two engines by hand. With trembling flight attitude I brought the somewhat unusual controls under control and manoeuvred the runabout to the prescribed positions, which the examiner selected for us as a landing site. Take-off and landing "again and again" after a felt eternity I got a feeling for the control and reacted better to the next landing place that the examiner named us.
It is time to enter the open space, the inspector thought, and assigned us a landing site just before the large bulkhead of the space dock. After a felt eternity, the ship's computer had hit the right radio channel and established a connection to the flight control of the space dock. The examiner identified himself and requested a test flight permit for our runabout. We noticed the wide grin on the screen and the laughter in the background when it was given by the flight control after a long break. The gang certainly had their fun as they followed our take-off and landing attempts in the space dock.
We took the runabout into space and moved away from the space dock. Again and again the examiner called up the data of the two warp nacelles. Finally, shaking his head, he agreed to give clearance for a short flight with warp 1.
The ship was vibrating when we crossed the line to warp one with only one warp pod. A short pull of the neck and then the stars became longer stripes. The shaking stopped. We had set course for a neighboring system and sneaked in that direction. The warp gondola on the left was OK and delivered good values. The inspector had the flight interrupted and resumed a few times. Finally, after the last short distance, he ordered the course to be reversed and to fly back into the space dock.
I tried to enter the new course data into the on-board computer and was surprised when he confirmed the order but the ship did not deviate from course in any way. The examiner became impatient and asked for information about what happened.
"We've lost control. " I answered. Via Intercom I called the engine room and reported the incident to Katjana.
The little one immediately disappeared from the screen and checked the displays in the engine room.
"Everything's OK back here! "The answer came after a short time. I don't know at best what's stopping the course correction. Anyway, it's not the machines.
The inspector requested contact with the space dock and declared the test flight failed if the problem could not be solved. I checked the ads and couldn't find the reason either. Josephine put her hand on my shoulder.
"Let's restart the systems!" I got permission from the inspector and we closed our helmets on the bridge as a precaution. Katjana had also closed the space suit in the engine room.
On my signal, Katjana shut down the warp core and switched off the note energy. It became very quiet in the hull. And it was dark. We had weak light from surrounding solar systems and a bright red fog on starboard through the windshield. Before it became too romantic, the examiner spoke up and demanded the continuation of the test flight or the placing of the emergency call.
I activated the radio traffic of the space suit and called the engine room several times. Katjana finally contacted us and asked if she could switch on the machines again. After my YES, the note energy was first reactivated.
The computers and displays on the bridge came back to life. Slowly the status displays of the boot processes clattered and the one or the other alarm was switched off by me after checking. I didn't care if the toilet flush was impaired on the test flight. The inspector watched me with interest as I clarified the ship and finally gave his consent to restart the warp reactor chamber. The ship shook slightly as the reaction started in the warp reactor. After a short time, however, the mixture stabilized and the usual quiet humming began.
I tried a few short manoeuvres on the control panel and was pleased to see that the ship was steering.
After a short clarification message to the examiner, we turned the runabout around and briefly returned to the room dock.
This time we flew almost with warp 2, the whole distance and fell shortly before the space dock back into normal space. And continue the rest of the way with impulse energy. We received a call from the room dock via radio and a grinning face appeared on the displays.
"Congratulations on your return. When we couldn't reach you, we wanted to send a rescue shuttle. Glad you made it back on your own! You have clearance to land!" Radio contact dropped out and we put the ship on course.
A little later we sat in the back lounge for the final meeting and sat down at the small map table. The inspector went through the individual points of defect with us and finally granted permission for space suitability. However, with the requirement to remedy the defects up to a further inspection date.
After I received the final report and the certificate on my PAD and logged into the ship, we sat together and sipped on our coffee.
The inspector cleared his throat and put the coffee cup aside. "Now that the examination has been completed, I would like to thank you again for your intervention on the damaged cargo ship NATALIE. One of the passengers rescued in the deep sleep capsules was my son. He is now well again and he was surprised when I told him about the events there. Of course, my thanks have nothing to do with your passing the ship's test. I just wanted to mention that again at this point". The examiner put on the coffee cup again and drank the rest with painfully narrowed eyes.
"By the way, you should fix the Replicator as soon as possible. The stuff coming out of there would be one reason to stop the space flight immediately!". We were still laughing as the inspector took his things and moved towards the exit.
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thats hurts if you want to correct something in the lines...
wich caint of alert do we trigger when we correct the spelling
your comment is beeing checked and will be then posted...
sitting and waiting! while on some other pages the translator and the original text from the same site waits
thats no fun !