Read Online Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire by J. W. Murison - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: J. W. Murison
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clumsy to
fit in there together and the tool is too heavy for one of
them.’
‘ No problems Chief,
what am I looking for?’
The Chief pointed to the spanner, ‘It
would be a thing that fits on the end of that,’ he sniffed.
‘ So there’s only one
thing in there that this will fit on to?’
The Chief sniffed again, ‘Yeah, right,
you’ve never seen inside one of these have you. Sorry about that.
It’s just a single bolt about four times your height. There is a
ladder you can climb up to reach it on the inside. It holds on the
top half of the generator. Once the nut is off, we can extract the
bolt from this side, then split it in half so we can get into the
guts of it.’
‘ Right, I got
ye.’
The two junior engineers seemed
doubtful, but the look on their faces as Charlie took the giant
spanner off them and casually slipped it over his shoulder was
novel.
Charlie slid inside and didn’t take
long to find the nut. He slipped the spanner on and gave it a
heave. It didn’t turn so he put more pressure on it. It began to
turn but Charlie noticed something. He inspected the nut carefully
and shouted down.
‘ Hey Chief, a couple
of shots have welded this nut to the bolt. If I turn it any more it
will sheer off.’
‘ Don’t worry about it
Charlie. We will just make a new set. Sheer it off.’
Charlie could clearly hear the two
junior engineers laughing and grinned. After one mighty effort the
large nut gave out with a loud squeal. The spanner and nut fell
together and rolled out of the generator. Charlie could clearly
hear the Chief laughing as he climbed back down. The two junior
engineers stood with their mouths open.
‘ Any more
Chief?’
‘ About a dozen
Charlie, if you’re willing to help.’
‘ Lead the
way.’
‘ You pair of useless
buggers – get the team down here to remove that bolt.’
It only took Charlie a couple of hours
to sort the rest of the bolts. Three he had to sheer off.
The Chief was laughing all the way to
the rest room. ‘You just saved me a couple of days work Charlie. I
think there is still some of that coffee you Humans like if you
fancy a cup.’
‘ Love
one.’
The rest room began to fill up as the
engineers came in for their break. One of the youngsters was
listening to what passed for music. Eventually Charlie got a little
pissed off with it.
He turned, ‘What the hell is that
noise?’
The young engineer gave him a strange
look. ‘Balliboo, it’s their new album.’
Charlie shook his head, ‘The latest and
best of modern Modloch music.’
The engineer missed Charlie’s sarcastic
tones, ‘They aren’t Modloch. They are Almalons.’
‘ A whit?’
‘ Almalons.’
Charlie turned back to the Chief who
shrugged, ‘Never heard of that race. It’s not bad though. Where are
they from?’ He asked the youngster.
‘ It is a new planet
in sector G5. It was colonized by miners and eventually
terraformed. I think they are going to apply for Galactic status
soon.’
‘ Now that’s a wild
sector, right on the frontier.’ The Chief added.
Charlie almost shrugged it off, ‘They
won’t be getting paid for their music then.’
‘ Why wouldn’t they?’
The youngster asked.
‘ As far as I have
been led to believe, new planets and their citizens aren’t allowed
to have bank accounts. Something like that anyway.’
‘ Doesn’t apply to
artists,’ sniffed the young engineer.
‘ How no?’ Charlie
pushed it.
‘ Well, because they
are artists of course. It’s the same with all artists. They are
pretty much free to come and go as they please. Don’t matter if
they are musicians, painters, sculptors or actors. They are playing
here in a few months. They wouldn’t come if they didn’t get
paid.’
‘ As long as they are
part of the artistic community and their record company is
registered with the galactic body that deals with artists, then
they can go where they please. Most artists or their companies have
bank accounts on every
fit in there together and the tool is too heavy for one of
them.’
‘ No problems Chief,
what am I looking for?’
The Chief pointed to the spanner, ‘It
would be a thing that fits on the end of that,’ he sniffed.
‘ So there’s only one
thing in there that this will fit on to?’
The Chief sniffed again, ‘Yeah, right,
you’ve never seen inside one of these have you. Sorry about that.
It’s just a single bolt about four times your height. There is a
ladder you can climb up to reach it on the inside. It holds on the
top half of the generator. Once the nut is off, we can extract the
bolt from this side, then split it in half so we can get into the
guts of it.’
‘ Right, I got
ye.’
The two junior engineers seemed
doubtful, but the look on their faces as Charlie took the giant
spanner off them and casually slipped it over his shoulder was
novel.
Charlie slid inside and didn’t take
long to find the nut. He slipped the spanner on and gave it a
heave. It didn’t turn so he put more pressure on it. It began to
turn but Charlie noticed something. He inspected the nut carefully
and shouted down.
‘ Hey Chief, a couple
of shots have welded this nut to the bolt. If I turn it any more it
will sheer off.’
‘ Don’t worry about it
Charlie. We will just make a new set. Sheer it off.’
Charlie could clearly hear the two
junior engineers laughing and grinned. After one mighty effort the
large nut gave out with a loud squeal. The spanner and nut fell
together and rolled out of the generator. Charlie could clearly
hear the Chief laughing as he climbed back down. The two junior
engineers stood with their mouths open.
‘ Any more
Chief?’
‘ About a dozen
Charlie, if you’re willing to help.’
‘ Lead the
way.’
‘ You pair of useless
buggers – get the team down here to remove that bolt.’
It only took Charlie a couple of hours
to sort the rest of the bolts. Three he had to sheer off.
The Chief was laughing all the way to
the rest room. ‘You just saved me a couple of days work Charlie. I
think there is still some of that coffee you Humans like if you
fancy a cup.’
‘ Love
one.’
The rest room began to fill up as the
engineers came in for their break. One of the youngsters was
listening to what passed for music. Eventually Charlie got a little
pissed off with it.
He turned, ‘What the hell is that
noise?’
The young engineer gave him a strange
look. ‘Balliboo, it’s their new album.’
Charlie shook his head, ‘The latest and
best of modern Modloch music.’
The engineer missed Charlie’s sarcastic
tones, ‘They aren’t Modloch. They are Almalons.’
‘ A whit?’
‘ Almalons.’
Charlie turned back to the Chief who
shrugged, ‘Never heard of that race. It’s not bad though. Where are
they from?’ He asked the youngster.
‘ It is a new planet
in sector G5. It was colonized by miners and eventually
terraformed. I think they are going to apply for Galactic status
soon.’
‘ Now that’s a wild
sector, right on the frontier.’ The Chief added.
Charlie almost shrugged it off, ‘They
won’t be getting paid for their music then.’
‘ Why wouldn’t they?’
The youngster asked.
‘ As far as I have
been led to believe, new planets and their citizens aren’t allowed
to have bank accounts. Something like that anyway.’
‘ Doesn’t apply to
artists,’ sniffed the young engineer.
‘ How no?’ Charlie
pushed it.
‘ Well, because they
are artists of course. It’s the same with all artists. They are
pretty much free to come and go as they please. Don’t matter if
they are musicians, painters, sculptors or actors. They are playing
here in a few months. They wouldn’t come if they didn’t get
paid.’
‘ As long as they are
part of the artistic community and their record company is
registered with the galactic body that deals with artists, then
they can go where they please. Most artists or their companies have
bank accounts on every
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