Emerald

Crisis

The sun has dropped already halfway behind the horizon and sends a dull red light over the forest. Dray navigates the shuttle back into the hangar and sets it down accurately between the clamps. Mil is glad her and Koshi are finally back. She spent the whole afternoon worrying about the exploration team. Since she knows about Andrej's discovery, she has this illogical but nagging feeling the ice age would set in any moment now. It doesn't help the astrophysicist insists the next cycle to be due in 248 Emerald years only, according to his calculations. Mil cleans the lab and goes down to the hangar to say hello to Dray and Koshi. Andrej offered to prepare dinner in the meantime. Carlos is still working on the components of the broken accumulator.

Koshi is the first to leave the decontamination chamber and hands Mil the bag with the drill cores. A sterile container holds the spore plant. The captain looks tired and starts to shed his suit. After shutting down the systems of the shuttle, Dray initiates the regeneration cycle of the engine. Then she passes the lock chamber as well, sagging against the wall during decontamination. The lock opens with a hiss. The pilot looks exhausted. No wonder, she was on duty since sunrise.

"Let's call it a day. I'm looking forward to a hot shower and a meal."

Koshi nods and hangs up his suit. Mil helps Dray to get rid of her own bulky garment. Then the pilot picks up the bag with the new samples.

"You'll probably want these in the lab?"

While Koshi goes up to ops, Mil follows her colleague slightly surprised with the bag plant container. Up until now, Dray never showed motivation to help with what she considered the biologist's job. As soon as they reach the lab, the reason for the unexpected behaviour becomes clear. The pilot turns around and looks at Mil directly.

"Carlos didn't find the reason for the engine failure, did he?"

"Actually, he did. But he can't find a way to repair it."

Carefully, Dray sets down the samples on the measuring table and brushes aside a strand of her sweaty blond hair in a tired motion.

"We guessed something like that when there was no report coming in from you. Koshi was disappointed we had to turn around before we reached the tundra belt. On the way back, he realised you did duty on com the whole day. So he concluded that Carlos and Andrej were still working on the engine. This harried him. Do you know how bad it is?"

"Bad. The matrix of the Mellow-accumulator seems to be destroyed beyond repair. Carlos is still searching for a possible bypass."

Dray's grey eyes widen. Her laughter is dry and without humour.

"For the Mellow? I wish him luck there. They are supposed to be indestructible. So: no spare parts shipped and no way to repair it."

In an uncomfortable silence they head for the common room. Mil feels her stomach drop. Until now, she was convinced Carlos' ingenuity would solve their problem.

Koshi and Andrej already sit at the table. Carlos cleans his hands at the sink. As soon as everyone is seated, Koshi asks for the status report. His voice is as steady as ever. Carlos looks up and gives a brief summary of the problem and the measures he's taken in the meantime to try and bypass the accumulator. The captain is quick to understand the dimension of their problem without detailed explanations. He listens silently and asks some precise questions.

The resulting discussion turns around components Mil never even heard of. At one point,Carlos starts taking notes on a pad. Some ideas seem to have potential and Mil observes a new spark of hope in the eyes of her companions. She gets up and starts filling plates with the dinner forgotten in the heater. During the meal, the discussion continues. Dray suggests to modify the secondary manoeuvring engine to bumper the ignition impulse of the main engine. Carlos allows this might work, but would result in a rough start. Andrej frowns.

"If it doesn't work, we might use the plasma engine of the Shuttle. It is more powerful than sec engine, and thus would give us more thrust during take of."

Koshi rubs his temples, obviously fighting a headache. He leans back and stares at the ceiling.

"I'd like to keep this as a fall back option. Let's first try Dray's proposition. If this doesn't work, we still have the possibility to dismantle the shuttle. I'd like to try and reach the tundra belt one more time. After all, we have a mission to complete before we are officially allowed to think of our return voyage. Are there other important developments?"