The roar of escaping sir started immediately. Next, a pressure door slammed down 10 metres behind Blake.
A sudden jerk on his suit safey line almost pulled him off his feet before the safety brake in the line reel kicked in, halting him.
Given the small area He was in held little air, and the widening door allowing more through, the escaping air soon ran out.
The hatch finished cycling open to reveil a wide Passageway through an open area about 30 metres square. A large cargo hatch sat open at the other end of the engineering bay. A collection of machinery on either side of the accessway between Blake and the cargo hatch.
"Reactor Core location Aubrey?"
" Left side, near the rear wall. May suggest you close the inner cargo hatch first, though. The hullbreach is in the cargo area. You will not be required to work in that area any time soon, I believe. "
Blake walked to the cargo hatch and initiated the repair procedure.
Repairman Skill level [ 1 ] 88%
Getting close to whatever the next level might be. Maybe a gold watch?
The Inner Cargo Hatch slid down, sealing the breach. After a minute, Blake could hear the air returning to the bay.
When the air ventilation cut out, Blake looked back to see the emergency pressure rising back up.
Alright. Let's get down to business
The bulk of the reactor was below deck level. A pillar about a metre in diameter rose to the ceiling. A control panel gave access to information on the status of the reactor, and maintenance panels ringed the rest of the column, giving real engineers a way into the pillar.
Placing his hand on the Reactor column Blakes System message tab light up.
Major Reactor Malfunction. Multiple component Malfunction. Repair Yes/No
Yes
The repair glow began with the contact of his hand to the pillar.
This time, however, he could see the steady drain of his energy in percentages.
At the point his energy hit 10 %, he stepped away from the pillar. The glow ceased instantly.
"I can not yet connect with the reactor to see what level of repair it has reached. Perhaps it repairs all components incrementally at the same time, meaning the reactor will be offline until repairs reach 100%"
Blake is sitting on a crate near the Reactor, munching on a Ration Bar, nodding away as Aubrey layer out its theory.
"We have no way to test your theory here, sorry. All I can do is keep repairing it until it lights up."
Blake paused a moment before continuing.
"There isn't radiation coming off this thing is there." his concern was perhaps too late to matter anyway.
"No. It is not a nuclear reactor. It is Antimatter."
OK. So much clearer. Not a gradual suffering kind of death then.
Just the instant annihilation of my atoms kind of death.
What a relief!
By the time the reactor was repaired, 12 minutes of repair time had been used.
Blake needed to make two trips back to the Mess. Just over 2 hours had elapsed since he started. Most of which was resting, eating, and walking the main passageway to the Mess.
"I have taken the liberty of shutting down most areas until a complete diagnostic can be made. Concern for sudden electrical fires is very real."
"Maybe I should spend some time here in engineering repairing everything I can. The reactor looks good as new, though."
"Functionally, it is new. Quite a remarkable skill you have. Every component registers ad if it came straight off the shipyard floor. "
Great! I will always have work in classic vehicle restoration then.
Automatic shutdown seemed to have taken care of the rest of the engineering terminals.
He repaired everything that needed anything anyway. This took another 3 hours real-time.
By then, he was ready for rest. A shower and sleep.
[Survival Quest Complete]
Repairman Skill level upgrade [ 2 ]
New Repair Ability. [Diagnostic]
Bonus. Repair Vessel A.i. Complete.
Repair Efficiency Upgrade.
Other people have alarm clocks. This is what I have.
Blake rose from his bed and showered to wake himself up more.
Eggs and toast for breakfast today.
As it turned out, the Ration Bars were more nutrient-rich, therefore better for energy replacement. So Blake really only ate differently at breakfast.
[Survival Quest Available]
Restore Atmospheric Integrity In Cargo Bay.
"Aubrey, is fixing the Cargo Bay breach important?"
"Not at this time, Mr Fisher. I would suggest restoring bridge control units, then working backwards toward the aft. This will have optimal opportunity to repair hardware links to the Engineering Bay"
"Thank you, Aubrey."
Blake actually chose to repair malfunctioning passageway hatches heading towards the bridge.
Mostly for the boredom killing factor, it being necessary was secondary.
Crew cabin.
Crew cabin.
Storeroom.
Crew cabin.
Stasis room....one tube occupied!
"Lifesigns are stable. Possibly the highest power drain on the emergency backup power units was here. Stasis units are highly efficient, so even that drain was minimal. "
It was clearly a young woman in the Stasis Tube. Mid twenties at a guess.
She was wearing a standard issue IVA suit.
"Should we get her out? Any idea who she is?"
"Navigator Third Class Elenor Connelly. Third Class is the designation for trainee.
We have no use for her at this time, and she may not be grateful to be rescued into a ship in this condition. However, from a psychological point of view, you would benefit from having human interaction. The aforementioned potential lack of gratitude will, of course, have a conversely unpleasant interactive experience. "
"So that's a yes and no. OK, we leave her for now. In the very least, I would have to deal with her crewmates' remains"
" Certainly, it would not be of benefit to dine with Dead friends."
"Cold Aubrey. Very cold. "
Blake continued repairing hatches on either side of the passageway. In hindsight, the newly found stasis units were opposite the room he woke in. Its presence should have been expected.
No other surprises occurred by the time he reached the bridge. Except the XP he received from the hatch repairs.
Repairman Skill Level [ 2 ] 10%
Higher level means less experience from minor repairs.
Maybe I'll get a boost from the bridge units. Even after a dozen crew cabin hatch repairs, I'm still at 50% energy level.
Entering the bridge, Blake started making repairs. Beginning on one side, he made a circuit of the Bridge.
Every was only minor repairs there. But it was the start of tracing faults back to engineering. He still hadn't figured out what his new diagnostic skill was. Maybe it will identify the component that required repair rather than repairing everything?
"Aubrey. Do you know where we are in space?
"I have calculated our position to a reasonable degree. Based on star position, "
"Where will we go once all repairs are complete?"
"This will be your choice, as the Captain of this ship. One of many options is that this is a medium-sized cargo vessel. Cargo contracts are simple enough to obtain"
"Space Trucking, eh? Is there an Earth in this universe?"
"Yes, there is an earth in this universe. It has not been habitable for over 100 years due to pollution related catastrophe. Going there would serve no purpose. "
"I'm going to need a history lesson one of these days."
"I have re-assessed the necessity to enter the cargo hold. If a Grav Sled is still present there, it will increase repair efficiency considerably"
"I'll grab my EVA then. I assume a Grav Sled is an antigravity work platform for moving objects?"
"Indeed, that description is adequate."
Stopping off at the Mess, it occurred to him that he would not be able to eat in the EVA Suit.
"You may use the protein paste fitted to the suit that can store multiple cartridges. I have been told that a person can live solely off the paste, but that they would soon wish that they couldn't"
"Good to know. Thanks." Blake found the listing on the menu for the paste cartridges, and after the a.i explained how to load them, he set off to the Cargo Bay.