Caught in the Cretaceous

Chapter 6: Solar Power, Solar Problem

Everyone has a fitful sleep that night. Partly because of the storm. The Infinite has thick wall so most of the sound does get muffled, but it is a very big and loud storm and just having thick walls would not be enough to get rid of the sound. And with the power out except for life support the white noise and noise cancellers are out. 

Valkyrie wake up the next day later than she usually does. Though she is feeling refreshed she is confused, why didn't her alarm wake her up? Or at the very least one of the others? Then it all comes back to her. 

She gets up and carefully makes her way around her dark room to get dressed. As she stumbles around she questions why they never thought to do drills in the dark to be able to navigate and do at least basic work in the dark like during a power outage or an emergency. 

"No time like the present to learn," she mumbles, pulling on her shoes. 

Valkyrie makes her way into the hall and follows the sound of voices, keeping a hand on the wall to help guide her. She comes out into the meeting room and can identify the voices of her parents and uncle. 

"No one bothered to wake me? We could've gotten started on a solution to our lights situation." Valkyrie says into the dark room as she carefully navigates her way to an empty seat at the main table in the center of the room. 

"You needed your rest," Apollo answers her in a gentle tone that also left no room for argument. "Everyone needs as much rest as they can manage right now." 

Valkyrie resists the urge to roll her eyes, knowing they wouldn't be able to see it anyway. "Well, I'm up now. Shall we get to business?" 

There is a moment or two of silence while the adults think of how to respond to her. "Val," her father breaks the silence, "We've already been discussing the issue. And we've already made a decision." 

At first Valkyrie is confused why they aren't happy about making a decision on a solution, then she is confused why they haven't just told her the plan already so they can get to work. And none of them seem eager to provide her with an answer. 

"Okay, so what are we going to do then?" Valkyrie asks a little cautiously. 

"We're going to set up our reserve solar panels to help power the ship." Artemis states calmly. 

Valkyrie thinks on her words. Almost all of the solar panels that they have are designed to be fixed to the hull of the ship and connected to the power of the ship directly. They aren't designed to be set up in any other way. And they don't know what kind of damage was caused to the hull. They can't fix then to the hull if it's damaged. Valkyrie wishes she could see so she could try to figure out what they are thinking from their expressions. 

"So you want us to not only track down the panels we have in storage, but you want me to reconfigure them, in the dark. Am I right?" 

Valkyrie hears a sigh but can't identify who it's from. "Yes. But this is the only way we can realistically help with the power problem, both now and in the long run." Alexander explains gently. 

"We realize it's a lot to ask," Apollo starts in a gentle tone, ho[ing to help her see just how important what they're asking is. 

Valkyrie hears Meg snort at Apollo's words. "Yeah, easy for you to say. All you have to do is look for the panels in the dark. We have to work on them in the dark. That kind of work is hard enough to do with the lights on, and you want us to do it with the lights off. It's more than a lot to ask, it's a miracle." 

"We'll figure it out," Artemis insists. "First thing is first though, we have to find the panels that are in storage. So while the rest of us are looking for the panels you two should go outside and take a look at the hull. Maybe you can start to figure out a plan for how you will set everything up."