Who Ya Gonna Call?
Posted on Sun 1st May, 2022 @ 10:55pm by Chief Petty Officer Larry Kersenboom (Ret.)
Edited on on Mon 2nd May, 2022 @ 2:18am
797 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
A Good Day to Hunt
Location: The Zodiac
Timeline: MD-13, 0800 hours
Continued from here.
The three men and two women pulling heavily laden grav-sleds wore nearly identical gray coveralls with their names embroidered on the front pockets and the backs emblazoned with the following:
SLUDGEBUSTERS!
graphic
Who ya gonna call?
Residents of The Zodiac peered at them in bafflement. As they walked by, a jaunty tune blared from a SongPod that one of the women wore on the upper part of her right arm. The group of people timed their steps to the beat as they walked.
In the neighborhood.
Who ya gonna call?
Sludgebusters!
The heat is up,
And it don't feel good.
Who ya gonna call?
Sludgebusters!
When they reached the large ventilator shaft they halted and began unloading the grav-sleds. When the song ended, the woman wearing the SongPod turned it off and started directing the others. Like a well-practiced surgical team, the five people began organizing equipment--vacuum pumps, hoses, lengths of pipe, brushes, primer and sealant, and finally, ladders and the sections of a metal work platform. They all wore anti-grav boots, but it was best to conserve the power in them as much as possible; thus the platform and ladders.
Larry scanned with a tricorder while Chris extended one of the ladders. "It needs to go up about five feet more to reach the A/C duct," Larry directed.
"You are going to owe us some good beer for this, matey," Chris informed him. He completed the five-foot extension and locked the ladder into place. "That should hold. Phew, that mess stinks!"
"Yeah. Sucks to be us," Larry said as he found a roll of yellow construction site tape and began marking out a safety perimeter.
In short order the three men secured oxygen masks to the hoods of their hazmat suits, got the oxygen flowing, and climbed upward. Moments after the men reached the A/C vent, Renee and Marie heard fluent swearing.
"What's up there, guys?" Marie asked, flicking on her communicator. "And if you're going to swear in Klingonaase, at least do it with a better accent."
"The accumulation of sludge we scanned is like a clogged artery that's gonna kill the patient any moment now," Larry reported. "Either that, or a really bad case of constipation. I'm not sure we'll be able to contain it. Renato wasn't kidding; this stuff has been here for decades."
"Wow. That's a beautiful mental image. Do you need one of us to bring up more hazmat containers for the vac pumps?" Marie asked.
"No," Jake replied from his mike. "We need to install a containment panel at this duct before we start suction. Once that's installed, we'll want the hazmat containers--or better yet, a transporter, so we could just beam the stuff somewhere--anywhere--else. I pity the folks in Recycling and Reclamation we'll be delivering this mess to. We're coming down for the platform pieces and supports."
"Aye-aye, Skipper," Marie said. "Don't think I can get a transporter for you, though. This is just going to be a dirty job."
"Yeah. Larry will owe us all individual cases of beer when we're done with this," Jake said, "after we've each spent a couple of hours showering."
In short order the work platform and containment panel were set up and the clearing away of sludge began. It flowed from the accumulation in the air duct down a suction tube and into hazmat containers that had to be sealed and replaced. After a couple of hours, all the containers they had were full and stacked on the anti-grav sled.
Renee switched on her communicator. "The container I just attached is the last one. I'm taking the filled containers down to Reclamation and will bring back more. Y'all need anything while I'm out?"
"Coffee would be nice," Larry said into his mike.
"If you want coffee, you might want to come down out of the miasma you're in, and drink it on the deck, where the air is fresher."
"Fresh air--it's much overrated!" Chris chimed in.
Larry glanced down at his hazmat suit, which was speckled with drying droplets of old, decrepit water and bits of sludge. He thought about breathing in any of it and made a face. "Yeah, I think I'll take a pass on that. Maybe some other time."
"Right-o. Lunch break in one hour. I'm buying pizzas. Renee out."
"Bring Meatlovers!" Larry called down to her. "No, Supreme!" Jake added. "None of that cauliflower crust rubbish you like to eat!" Chris called out a split second after Renee broke the connection.
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