Skitter Popping the Jigging Frog pt4

Posted on Sun 31st Mar, 2024 @ 2:14pm by Izwyx 'Lo

2,127 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: O' the Cardiff Rose
Location: WhiteStar Mining Ring
Timeline: 6 months before MD1

Previously…
https://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/2303

Johep was able to call directions in real time to the pilots. As though fingers were directly moving the colonnade of space protected in a shell of energized plasma, the gondola stopped moving into the danger zones finally.

“Captain, Impulse Manifolds are in similar straits, at 114% safeties cant exceed 120 without blowout.”

The problem she dreaded most had arrived, only a quarter of the way to go, they were losing their engines ability to pull.

And now… The Conclusion

{Bridge- TK Haneda}


Sepp Agandar had the idea straight away, “If they lose the load, we can handle the Gondola easily. We must consider their lives Captain noble as we fought.”

Losing the load was the last resort, too many people had real lives on hold and sacrificed time of their lives to achieve this. It was possible to save them both, Starfleet would have focused on the lives of the miners, but the crew on board were not here for science and exploration. This was the choice they made to live their life and they were ready to fight for it.

And then it clicked inside her mind. The Gondola was heavier than the payload.

The payload was in a cargo shell and had the safest strongest containment fields in the quadrant. There was even an airlock with sample control and mini workstation attached to the Cargo mechanics and gantry connection. They needed to lose forty kilos off of the Gondola sure, but what about the metric tons lost if they shed the whole thing. Her mind raced to consider what could be shed but all systems were trimmed and reduced for weight. There weren't even chairs, just restraints bolted to a special movement rig.

“Hokall, does the sample reader in the gondola show connection to the sample readout room in the Cargo container?”

“Yes, stable connections to rear cargo compartments-”

Koussa interrupted, “115% of capacity sir!”

Izzy nodded to tell him she heard, but whirled to her right hand man, “Sepp, how long can they stay stable on their own merits before losing ground? If we give them slack can we purge and cool at all before we have to resume I mean?

“They'd begin falling immediately, twelve seconds before they’d impact the red zones.”

Izzy smiled, “So, Ten seconds of purging would give us a few more minutes?”

“That will definitely burn out the Exchange manifolds, but those can be easily replaced.”

“Agreed. New plan, we are not severing the interlink to release the load, but rather the gondola. We have grapplers on them, and the moment a clear line of sight occurs we can lock onto the cargo shell. That Gondola is worthless, and weighs a ton, if we can get them to move through the interlink into the cargo shell-”

Koussa protested, "That shaft isn't large enough for four men to move through!"

“117% Captain!”

"They better suck in the gut then." She stopped and pointed at her comm officer, “Kligo, open channel and send tech specs, issue orders for immediate affect.”

Koussa proclaimed, “Manifolds past Red, at 118%! We are in meltdown!”

And then she saw the weight change in the gondola altogether, going down inexplicably as though people were fading one pound at a time.

{Gondola- En route to TK Haneda}

Sepp Agandar spoke over the sole speaker in the oval space where four souls prayed in union to be delivered. At their feet an airlock gantry connection rooted them to a ball of spectral mass they ripped from a parent star. The tug at their feet and lift at their head made them feel stretched already, but what came next was outrageous.

“Captain is ordering you all to move to the airlock and take up residence in Sample readout room in Cargo Shell.”

Kitdj was a veteran of the industry, and immediately protested. “Sir, the gravitic compression in the interlink is four times normal-”

Wegma was the foreman, “Listen none of us want to drop the load but we don't have options!”

The Sepp came back strong, “You are being ordered! We have a hand on the cargo shell but the gondola will not survive transit. Move now!”

It was no secret the Sepp was married to Gnuto, their burly machinist, and he wisely kept his mouth shut while the others heard the Captain out. Any plan Sepp was a part of had to include safely seeing Gnuto again, and their trust began to develop. Quietly, the man unbuckled, and floated to the bottom of their conveyance. The interlink was just large enough for a person to slide through it holding their arms at their side, and the other side was a simple workstation with no bolted seats or restraints.

Gnuto spoke, “You all go first, If I don't fit, I wont block the rest of you.”

Wegma needed no other invitations and unbuckled, he was at the airlock in a single breath.

“You’ll feel it like a wave pressing in. Don’t stop. I’ll push you, but you have to kick and pull your way through. Don’t stop.”

Wegma stared into the meter wide shaft connection. It was just three body lengths, but the thought of getting trapped in their under four times the normal gravity triggered his claustrophobia.

“Kitdj, please go first, you are smaller, and can help pull.”

Kitdj eyeballed Wegma, sensing a cowards excuse but saying nothing. However even Kitdj on looking into the shaft felt far too large for the maneuver. Kitdj set aside social convention and stripped down to just an under suit, before climbing into the narrow pass. His belly and shoulders touched but with effort he moved down the shaft.It only took a few seconds but it was anxious shifting motions the whole way until light spilled back at them.

Their other associate, Utyro wordlessly continued praying until Wegma grabbed his leg, “Your turn!”

Utyro stopped intoning wordlessly and opened his eyes. His mediations had taken him away from this terrifying place but to return brought panic.

“I can’t go.”

Gnuto wasted no time, “It is an order, I will force your ass through if you don't get moving!”

Utyro shook his head, “No. I will have faith-”

Wegma socked Utyro in the head very hard, yelling out “We don't have time, you go next, by God we will push you through, we aren't going down like the last guys I swear!”

Utyro winced and held his head, “Stop! I’ll go!” However a similar size meant the same problems. Utyro also stripped down to just barely make a shimmying progress into the shaft. Gnuto felt sympathy over the man's tears, danger and claustrophobia made a potent mix. Gnuto began taking his kit off, even going past the under clothes leaving only a single strip of modesty. His bare skin pocked in goose flesh from the cold.

“Weg, go! Hurry!”

Wegma still didn't see Utyro clear and balked at going into the shaft with someone still in it. A change in gravity suddenly forced them both to one side of the gondola and then the other. Outside of their restraints a jolt like that would kill them if it was violent enough. And then a scream from the interlink shaft compelled their attention.

Wegma called to him, “Utyro are you ok?”

When there was no answer they both felt immediately panicked. Was Utyro just crushed in their escape tunnel?

Kitdj replied over the intercom, “Utyro is alive but bleeding, I am getting him out now.

Wegma was still wearing his uniform so Gnuto shouted “Weg, get down there now or Im going before you. Got it?”

Pure terror crossed Wegmas face, the thought of going into the shaft paralyzed him so Gnuto made a choice. He took Wegma by the shirt collar and brought him close, “Death outside, or death inside but you will go now!”

With a whimper Wegma dropped his legs into the shaft and began to wiggle inside.

Sepp’s voice came over, urgently compelling them, “Thirty seconds until we lose grip, gnuto have you crossed yet?”

“No Sepp, Wegma is in the shaft now Im following!”

The Sepp was very quiet, “Make sure you get there.”

Gnuto heard the tone loud and clear. The gondola was getting cut very soon, there was no more time for patience. Gnuto jumped into the shaft, his feet hitting the head of Wegma beneath him.

There was no space, the tight coffin like space tripped every fear of dying in a confined space, and to boot, the middle of the space had intense constricting gravity bands. Poor Utyro had been crushed in one of them during a slip and now Gnuto could only imagine death. Wegma wasn't moving either so Gnuto had to trust in doing a bad thing for a good reason and kicked down.

Wegma shouted in protest, but was unstuck. The gravity bands at his head had nearly knocked him out, but the fierce kick had moved him down farther. Wegma came to and immediately began to wail.

Hands from beneath pulled him and Gnuto counted, “Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen…”

Wegma was pulled from underneath, and Gnuto let the tight gravity bands help compress his belly and shoulders. Letting all of his air out in a terrifying final wheeze, he hoped there was stil enough time. Unbelievable force in a rope like vice passed up his body shockingly painful and at his throat he choked immediately.

Hands on his bare thighs pulled him out of the small shaft as he fell onto the floor of a bare gunmetal colored grating inside the Cargo shell. They had all made it through.

{Bridge- TK Haneda}

“CAPTAIN?!” Sepp Agandar never yelled like that before, Izzy listened.

“Sepp, reduce Impulse to 80%, shuttles, go to overmax, reel hard for next ten seconds we have to suck in a breath right quick, in three, two, one…”

She checked, with no life signs in the gondola that meant it could be discarded now.So Izzy ordered its destruction without a second thought.

“Detach the gondola, tell the miners to hold on for dear life.”

Suddenly lifting four times less weight the captain had already programmed the gentle return to normal into subroutines. The Payloads anteroom for sample control was a functional airlock with no seats and they played very gently. Even so, the unfortunate souls inside felt the worst nausea of their lives, and were tossed around with no padding.

The ascent went well given guidance and patient nudges, and three more minutes passed with just a quiet tense anticipation. The Cargo shell entered the transporter range and the four on board were rescued moments later. Koussa announced the Cargo container was received by Haneda, and Izzy felt a certain giddiness from the exultation wash over her. She hit her intercom again for the whole ship.

“Captain speaking… Stand down Emergency conditions. Well done everyone, we got our cake and are gonna eat it too. And please… Stop pissing on things Artan. Right away… Repair teams… issue buckets… and mops.”

Laughter was a sweet reward after the crisis had passed. She indulged and let herself giggle, but returned to the stern face before anyone noticed.

A voice holding back tears of happiness remarked at her back, “A middling achievement, the gondola will need to be replaced of course.” Sepp Agandar congratulated her in the Tellarite way.

She turned to see him behind her, “It was ugly and smelled of man breath. A new one is a favor to us all.”

His toothy grin preceded the human acknowledgment of a handshake, and she met it with vigor.

-Personal Log-

“Well I was just fired. Turns out Yiott was well connected, so my last day is tomorrow. I gotta stop hitting people. Once again though, I’d do it again. I think I understand why I was placed here now. Not by happenstance. Not at all. What’s curious, is my severance includes a percentage of the haul, .00029 or enough for me to get a nice house somewhere with a beach and live out my days surfing. But… I love being a captain though, which is why I’ve decided to resume my career in the fleet and play the damn game. I’ll tell you this, whoever placed me on a Tellarite mining ship has one hell of an aptitude for their job. I’m coming back by choice, with a caveat likely ticked off on some command course counselors wish list. My sincere appreciation to this entity for their uncanny lessons. I have no problem speaking my mind, but having learned how it feels when your subordinates do the same… Lesson learned.”

-End-

Stephen

 

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