Read Online The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link by Daniel Hanks - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Daniel Hanks
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hole through space time. It was amazing stuff. Everything was exciting to me. I couldn’t wait to learn more.
Jenny grabbed my arm. “Hey, space case, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”
Pulled from my thoughts, I smiled. “Hi, Jenny. What’s up?”
“I was worried. Where were you?”
I paused. “Well, I went to see Kathy and slept on her couch.”
Jenny took a deep breath and frowned. “Oh, I see. You slept on her couch.”
“Yeah. She says I now owe her a night out dancing.”
Margret interrupted. “You’re now late for the start of your shift.”
“Thanks, Jenny, for trying to help. I owe you. Give me a call. Got to run,” I said, taking off in a light jog.
I heard her call, “See you, Drake.”
Chapter 5: No one knows a bender drive like you do
Jack waited by the door, looking at his assistant. “Yeah, you’re smart and passed your second-year exams, but you have a long way to go. When you show up late, you screw everyone you work with, and no one can trust you. Don’t be late again.” He turned on his heel and headed toward his office. “Come on. We have work to do.”
Bob lounged in Jack’s chair. Jack went to the wall screen and drew on it. “Navigation has been noticing a slight problem with our bender drive. The emitters are out of alignment on the starboard side, causing navigation to compensate. This operation will take all of us. Today we’re going to do a dress rehearsal. First, Bob get Drake checked out on an EVA suit and personal propulsion unit. While I get together the alignment tools and check their calibration,” Jack said. Bob nodded. Jack continued. “So, just to give you an overview of what we’ll be doing, Drake, we‘ll go out to the bender ring.” He brought up a picture of an emitter. “To adjust an emitter you first loosen this lock, then turn the adjustment. It’s simple. We’ll go over the procedure on a spare emitter with you this afternoon.”
“Don’t get me wrong, Jack. I agree we need to do this, but it’s not normal. Why are the emitters off and only on one side? We need to find out what’s going on. We also need to slow to fractional light speed and call Earth,” Bob said.
Jack shook his head. “We can’t slow. The emitters are so out of alignment we won’t be able to get back into warp. We don’t have the equipment to align the emitters out of it. The alignments must be done while we’re in it. This is the only way, Bob. We have no choice.”
Bob walked up to Jack and stood inches from him. “No one knows a bender drive as well as you do. What could cause this, and where can we check to see if the drive is in good shape?”
Jack scratched his chin. “Go get Drake checked out. I need to think about this.”
Bob led me to the maintenance airlock. I was excited to get a chance to do an EVA. “Well, you read the manuals and rules, but I’m going to tell you everything again as that’s what Jack would do. So sit back and be prepared to be bored,” he said, handing me a package. “The skin suit it makes your own skin into a pressure suit. Take off all your clothes. Jewelry. Everything.”
It made me think of a giant sock. The only fasteners were at the shoulders. The suit was one piece that you had to pull on, starting at your toes and ending with your shoulders. I’ve seen dancers with tights on, but nothing compared with what I wore. The suit was transparent with little lines that crisscrossed it.
Bob stood. His suit did little to hide his pot belly. He reached over to my shoulder. “Make sure the next layer gets plugged into this.” He held up a small connector attached to my skin suit. He turned around and opened a locker and then pulled out a large pair of coveralls with hoses hanging off it. “This is the outer layer. It has a cooling jacket and protective layers.” He handed me the coveralls. They were surprisingly heavy. On the back was a small pack that contained the cooling and air filters. “These suits
Jenny grabbed my arm. “Hey, space case, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”
Pulled from my thoughts, I smiled. “Hi, Jenny. What’s up?”
“I was worried. Where were you?”
I paused. “Well, I went to see Kathy and slept on her couch.”
Jenny took a deep breath and frowned. “Oh, I see. You slept on her couch.”
“Yeah. She says I now owe her a night out dancing.”
Margret interrupted. “You’re now late for the start of your shift.”
“Thanks, Jenny, for trying to help. I owe you. Give me a call. Got to run,” I said, taking off in a light jog.
I heard her call, “See you, Drake.”
Chapter 5: No one knows a bender drive like you do
Jack waited by the door, looking at his assistant. “Yeah, you’re smart and passed your second-year exams, but you have a long way to go. When you show up late, you screw everyone you work with, and no one can trust you. Don’t be late again.” He turned on his heel and headed toward his office. “Come on. We have work to do.”
Bob lounged in Jack’s chair. Jack went to the wall screen and drew on it. “Navigation has been noticing a slight problem with our bender drive. The emitters are out of alignment on the starboard side, causing navigation to compensate. This operation will take all of us. Today we’re going to do a dress rehearsal. First, Bob get Drake checked out on an EVA suit and personal propulsion unit. While I get together the alignment tools and check their calibration,” Jack said. Bob nodded. Jack continued. “So, just to give you an overview of what we’ll be doing, Drake, we‘ll go out to the bender ring.” He brought up a picture of an emitter. “To adjust an emitter you first loosen this lock, then turn the adjustment. It’s simple. We’ll go over the procedure on a spare emitter with you this afternoon.”
“Don’t get me wrong, Jack. I agree we need to do this, but it’s not normal. Why are the emitters off and only on one side? We need to find out what’s going on. We also need to slow to fractional light speed and call Earth,” Bob said.
Jack shook his head. “We can’t slow. The emitters are so out of alignment we won’t be able to get back into warp. We don’t have the equipment to align the emitters out of it. The alignments must be done while we’re in it. This is the only way, Bob. We have no choice.”
Bob walked up to Jack and stood inches from him. “No one knows a bender drive as well as you do. What could cause this, and where can we check to see if the drive is in good shape?”
Jack scratched his chin. “Go get Drake checked out. I need to think about this.”
Bob led me to the maintenance airlock. I was excited to get a chance to do an EVA. “Well, you read the manuals and rules, but I’m going to tell you everything again as that’s what Jack would do. So sit back and be prepared to be bored,” he said, handing me a package. “The skin suit it makes your own skin into a pressure suit. Take off all your clothes. Jewelry. Everything.”
It made me think of a giant sock. The only fasteners were at the shoulders. The suit was one piece that you had to pull on, starting at your toes and ending with your shoulders. I’ve seen dancers with tights on, but nothing compared with what I wore. The suit was transparent with little lines that crisscrossed it.
Bob stood. His suit did little to hide his pot belly. He reached over to my shoulder. “Make sure the next layer gets plugged into this.” He held up a small connector attached to my skin suit. He turned around and opened a locker and then pulled out a large pair of coveralls with hoses hanging off it. “This is the outer layer. It has a cooling jacket and protective layers.” He handed me the coveralls. They were surprisingly heavy. On the back was a small pack that contained the cooling and air filters. “These suits
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