Chapter 08: Desperate Measures

When I entered the central hologram room, Philip was still connected to the computer console linking him to the ship. The mercury colored irises of his eyes didn't look in my direction, they remained fixed straight ahead, but I knew he was aware of my presence through the ship's sensors.

"Can I help you, Captain?" Philip asked.

"I couldn't contact you," I informed him.

"A wiring relay overloaded and disabled internal communications," he explained. "I've been monitoring the repair crews, and full functionality should be restored within forty-five minutes."

"Very good," I commended. "Why did you shut down the engines?"

"Although we didn't have a rupture in the fuel lines," Philip stated, "we did, however, lose a significant portion of coolant."

"The thrusters are overheating," I finished for him as the conclusion became obvious.

"Correct, sir," Philip confirmed. "Since several engines were either damaged or destroyed, the coolant from them is being transferred to the thrusters we will be needing to use the most. Because of the damage suffered, certain passages through the ship are blocked or inaccessible, so the time requirements for the transfer of the engine coolant is unpredictable."

"What's your best guess?" I prompted.

"Anywhere from one to two hours," Philip replied. "Transferring engine coolant is sensitive work, even under the best of conditions."

"I know," I concurred. The stuff could freeze biological tissue on contact, and I'd heard of at least three people who'd been killed by contact with the harmless looking blue gel. During the initial testing of the Endurance, a coolant line rupture had nearly killed some of my crew, so I knew of the dangers. "As soon as communications are back online, I want an update on the progress of the transfer."

"Of course, sir," Philip accepted. "It will be done."

"Anything else I need to know or be advised about?" I questioned.

"No sir," Philip denied.

"Good," I said, quietly releasing a small sigh. We had enough problems on this ship; we didn't need any more. "I'm going to make a personal check on the other repair teams and see if I can assist."

"If I might suggest, sir," Philip offered. A hardcopy printout slid out of the computer terminal in front of me. "Here is a list of areas falling behind schedule in their repair efforts. If you wish to speed things along, you might try these first."

"Excellent," I said in return. "I'll definitely make use of this."

I took the printed document from the output slot and headed for the door while checking it over and considering where to go first. Philip had apparently optimized the list, for the one I would've picked was on top.

***

I spent nearly half an hour traveling around the ship and lending a hand to get the various repair crews back on schedule. Sometimes it was as simple as adding an extra set of muscles to move a fallen beam blocking a corridor, but other situations were more complex.

A group of technicians on deck thirty were attempting to bypass a severed electrical conduit when the broken line ignited a small plasma fire. With green flames and high radiation, plasma fires were a nightmare even when they were small in size.

Fortunately, the redundant backups for the fire suppression system were still working and extinguished the burning plasma in short order. With no injuries or deaths as a result, we felt very fortunate and continued our repairs. Once everything was back on schedule, I headed to the next stop on my list.

***

The metal crate slammed hard into the decking, shaking the floor and making a worker, wearing the red uniform of science and research, jump out of the way to prevent his boots from being squashed underneath.

"Easy with that!" I reprimanded. "It won't do us any good to get this to the upper decks if it doesn't function anymore."

"I'm sorry, sir," the junior officer quickly apologized. His youthful face clearly showed his remorse.

I knew the personnel records of every last member of my crew because I'd hand picked them myself. Recruit Nelson, who'd been trying to move the crate by himself, had scored very high on his aptitude tests. Although he was the youngest crewman on the Endurance, not to mention the lowest in rank, I'd seen the potential within him to be great. I wasn't about to let it go to waste now.

"It's alright," I relented. "We need to move quickly, but don't let the time pressure force you into making mistakes. If you need to, slow down. Here, I'll help you with this one."

I positioned myself on the opposite side of the large crate and tightened my fingers around the handholds built into the gray metal frame of the box.

"Now," I ordered, and we lifted the heavy container up and stacked it on top of a gravity pallet. Made of reinforced steel beams, and equipped with antigravity controls, the pallet hovered above the ground and made moving heavy objects significantly easier.

Once settled on the floating platform, we pushed the box down the corridor, heading for the environmental chamber being established in the repaired and overhauled forward hull. I took the opportunity to talk with Nelson along the way.

"How much do you know about the founding of the first colony on the moon?" I asked him.

He shook his head, his cinnamon brown hair being jostled by the movement.

"Not much, sir," he stated. His blue eyes registered worry in not being able to answer a question of his commanding officer.

"In a way, I'm glad you don't," I continued. "I was in charge of that project too, but it was a disaster. Holdups in the deployment of the environmental systems forced us to remain in spacesuits for three weeks, and we received additional air tanks by supply rockets from Earth. Watch the corner."

We edged the crate closer to the right wall to avoid a piece of metal plating sticking out from the edge of a damaged archway. As we entered the next hall, I picked up where I'd left off.

"When the environmental systems were finally brought online," I related to Nelson, "they'd somehow connected the air vents with the water purification system."

"How did that happen?" Nelson asked in disbelief.

"To this day, I still don't know," I admitted with a chuckle. "Instead of sending the clean water to a storage tank, it started spraying it from all the air vents."

"Oh no!" Nelson said, sharing a laugh with me about the insanity of the problem. His nervousness about being with his superior was quickly fading.

"The point is, I've had problems that were too big for one man to solve," I explained. "Many of the things I've accomplished in life, I never could have done without help. Everyone on this ship is the best, and I brought them here for that very reason. If you have a big job like this one, don't hesitate to ask someone for help."

"Yes sir," Nelson replied. "Thank you, sir."

"You have something to say?" I prompted when I saw him hesitating to speak up.

"My family is in the service, and none of them ever told me about an incident where their commanding officer helped like you're doing," he said slowly.

"You should ask them some time," I answered. "A good leader isn't someone who simply barks orders but one who finds people of either ability or potential and brings them together to accomplish wonders beyond what any one of them could do on their own."

We pushed the crate to a stop at the hatch leading into the construction area, and four men stepped over and lifted it off the hovering cart, taking it away to where they needed it.

"My point exactly," I said to Nelson, nodding toward the other men. "This ship is made of many people, but they are all one crew. You are a part of that, so remember to ask for their help when you need it."

"I'll remember, Captain," he promised.

As I went to check on the progress of the environmental systems, I patted Nelson on the shoulder in passing, and I saw a small smile on his face. He'd do better than before; I was sure of it. As Captain, it was my responsibility and duty to see to the welfare of my crew. I was good to my people, and they pushed themselves hard to accomplish what needed to be done. I was proud, not just to lead them, but to be one of them.

***

My second in command, Sheila Pierce, was working hard establishing a proper irrigation system among the plant beds they'd installed since I'd been gone. She was testing the seal of a water pipe on the ceiling when I walked in.

At various points across the room, cables had been strung between the dome ceiling and the floor. Motorized cable runners encapsulated the metal strands like a short sleeve. Taking a hold of a cable runner, I pressed the activation control and was lifted off my feet. The device made use of internal wheels pressing against the cable to drive itself up the metal line, dragging me along with it.

As I neared the halfway point between the ceiling and floor, I released some of the pressure on the cable runner's switch to slow my speed. The gravity lines had been established on the floor and ceiling, so a small area of zero gravity existed between them. I became temporarily weightless and used it to spin around and orient myself in the opposite direction. Pressing the cable runner's button again, I continued my journey, but I let the device go slowly because I wasn't climbing anymore but descending. My boots touched down, and I landed securely on the ceiling.

"Situation?" I asked Sheila as I approached where she crouched over a large container of rich soil.

"Proceeding as scheduled," she reported. Sheila had twisted her dark hair into a knot near the back of her skull to keep it out of her face, but a few strands had worked themselves loose and hung down on the outside of her right eye.

"How are you doing the irrigation?" I asked.

"We're using feeder lines installed in the soil boxes," she answered, brushing the stray hairs away from her face with the back of her hand. "We would've preferred a sprinkler method, but with gravity lines on the floor and ceiling, there was a chance the water would end up floating between them."

I nodded my agreement with her reasoning. "How long before we have any oxygen production here?"

"We have the seeds planted already," Sheila explained. "The crate you helped deliver was the last of the accelerators. Once they're unpacked and in place, we can advance the seeds to full size in only an hour, two at the most."

I was surprised. Having been so busy with her work, I didn't expect her to notice my assistance in delivering the crate. I made a mental note never to doubt her powers of observation.

"Captain," Philip's voice said through the portable transmitter mounted on the wall nearby. "Internal communications have been restored."

"Thank you," I replied. "Progress on the coolant transfer?"

"Four engines have received their additional supplies," Philip responded efficiently. "I'll be powering them up momentarily. Others will be brought online when the loading is completed."

The familiar rumble sent a quiver through the decking as the exterior thrusters engaged. Since the engine shutdown, the ship had been limited to only its inertia to continue forward, but as the thrusters fired, the Endurance began picking up speed. I only hoped it was enough.

Sheila positioned an accelerator over one of the deep bins of soil. The device was a large cube. A control board and display screen were mounted on top, directly in front of a mechanical swing arm. At the end of the swing arm was a rectangular attachment. Measuring two feet in both length and width, but only three inches thick, the attachment could be moved on the end of the swing arm to any position needed for it to carry out its function.

By typing a few commands into the control board, Sheila activated the accelerator. The clear discs mounted under the swing arm's attachment lit up in waves of violet light. Almost immediately, the seeds in the soil began sprouting minute green stems, followed swiftly by tiny leaves. The small plants continued growing at a phenomenal rate.

"Is it just me, or is the air in here a little stale?" Sheila asked me.

"It's not stale," I whispered in return, not wanting to start a panic with what I was about to say. "It's thin. We lost a significant portion of our atmosphere, and the plants we currently have aren't producing enough to support the needs of our entire crew. We're running out of air."