Vulcana: Introduction of the Main Weyr part 2
Vulcana
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The Cygnus
On board the Cygnus business was proceeding as usual. Centurions
were repairing damage from the last meteor shower and harvesting
the latest crop from the hydroponics. Vincent and Old Bob were in
the shooting gallery with Zure. {Zure is a centurion that is in
charge of all the other centurions. He replaced Star after Star
blew a fuse one too many time from loosing a shooting match.}
Maximillian was as always in the control booth.
In space the four children were drifting toward the Black Hole at
a rather large velocity. Between them and the Black Hole was the
Cygnus. A rather large crash was due any time now. Patricia had
decided at the outset of this project that since they were
*warriors* ( she had a rather inflated opinion of herself back
then) they didn't need a space ship. After all they were all
trained in the techniques of force shields including recycling
oxygen. All of the children were beginning to regret that
decision. A space ship had better odds of survival than the
current situation.
CRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Hull breach in Hydroponics level seven. Repair team A753 to
respond" was printed out on the main display. It would have been
informative if there were any humans left to read it. As it was
all concerned robots already knew far more detail than was
displayed on the monitor. Maximillian ignored it. Hydroponics
seven wasn't used any more and the teams were skilled in repairing
meteorite damage.
"Run for it!" shouted Leia as the section airlock doors started to
slide shut. They quickly dove under the doors and scampered to the
other side of the hall way.
"I don't think we are in Kansas anymore. " quipped Chris. Patricia
thew the tomato she pick up in hydroponics at him. It bounced off
his air shield.
"I think we can get rid of the shields." Aurora said, and promptly
shut her's off.
"Oh brilliant what if there hadn't been oxygen here? What would
you have done then princess?" Patricia asked her voice dripping
sarcasm.
"oops"
The control room was a hive of activity as damage control processes
took over. The damage in the hydroponics lab was unusual in that
no meteorite could be found. This meant the salvage crews needed
to be called off and new materials shipped up from storage. Oxygen
depletion was at a normal rate but carbon dioxide levels were
elevated by 0.001%. Maximillian sent a crew to check the air
purification system in that area.
"Shush! Someone's coming."
"What do we do now?"
"Hide. I don't want them to know we're here until I know who they
are."
"Where?"
"Go up. Adults never look up."
Repair team A753 marched around the corner in perfect time and
halted in front of the lab. Air lock doors were lowered on either
side of the repair team. Air was slowly pumped out.
"Hey they're robots." said Aurora.
"What was your first clue sherlock?" said Patricia.
"Well you don't have to be so mean about it. This whole thing was
your idea. I want to go home!"
"Alright. I know. I'm sorry. Let's get out of here."
"Where do we go?" asked Chris, "I've lost the beacon I don't think
I can teleport back home."
"Let's go further down the corridor and up to that wide open space
over there, " Patricia said, pointing to a three story high arc
with a landing at the top. "We can figure out what to do from
there."
Maximillian was puzzled when the observation area's air
purification system showed the same problem as the corridor's
system. He would have to send the repair team there next and
schedule the entire level for an overhaul next month.
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