Inktober25 Ship
a/n: Lila and Vandham are working hard to save the ship. Not as flirty happy as it usually turns out.
All the good stuff belongs to Monolith Soft, but Lila the NPC is mine.
"Look for the shiny ones," Lila shouted into her shoulder.
Even from far away and through a cheap mic, her tech's response was distinctly whiney. "Lila, we're gonna have to check them all to be sure."
"If we get the best bets …" She grunted as she removed an exemplarily bright screw. "… we might be okay. Gives us the time …" She flicked the instrument cover off and hissed sourly. "… to go back …" She carefully removed a suspicious circuit, but not before bypassing it. "… and do the overtime heavy version you're so keen on. Shiny screws, Gino. Shiny!" She tapped the comm link off and slipped the circuit into a pocket.
"Rat boy giving you grief?"
She almost didn't look. There was another suspicious screw glinting an arm's length away. Still, she had to make sure it wasn't her imagination. She braced herself against the side of the narrow duct and twisted her head to look directly "up" its length. Blocking most of the free space at the far end was Chief Vandham.
"He wants to do a perfect job." She pushed herself a fraction in order to drift to the tempting panel, and settled in to remove it. "I want to save the ship." The walls of the duct suddenly shifted, pushing her askew. She righted herself grimly and focused.
"That explosion weakened this entire section."
"I figured that out already, sir. Don't you have more important things to do?" Another circuit removed, and she smacked the panel into place a little faster. She slid half a meter toward her boss and the next panel.
"I was passing by. Shiny screws?"
"Yes, Chief. Look for a circuit that …"
"I got it."
She continued. "… has too low a rating. Better to risk a circuit melting than have a cascade of failures."
"You lecturing me about the ship I built?"
"I make it a policy to finish my sentences, sir."
There were only three or so panels between them when a jarring, muffled clang not so much sounded as rolled through the space. Lila bounced back and forth between the walls. As she righted herself, she noted to her horror that the duct below her was going dark. The lights weren't flickering out, though. The crawlway itself was being extinguished, crushed as a result of this latest blast.
"Move."
"Three more panels."
"Now!" The Chief was straining to brace the sides of the duct with his arms. "Slide on past, Brown."
She scooted towards him, stopping to have an awkwardly positioned argument. Gravity-free work spaces made easier access, but even after five months it was still weird to have a conversation with someone who was "upside down". "Sir, you go and I'll follow."
"I don't see you holding the wall," he grunted. "Move, Brown."
"Sir! You'll…"
"… be back on line by lunch. They'd probably scrap you. Move, Brown!" he urged.
A minute later, she was shaking in the outer corridor, speckled with blue mim fluid that had swept after her as she shot out the exit. She ignored the shouting crewmembers around her, but she wouldn't ignore her own tech's repeated pings. Still, the device squawked three times before she responded.
"That was big. You still there?"
"Yeah." She staggered to her feet.
"I'm fine too, thanks for asking."
"Great, Gino. My site collapsed. I'm moving to the next one, 8-4. Keep on it."
"That explosion…"
"One less duct to check. We still can get ahead of it, if we're fast enough. Move, Gino!"
a/n: Not quite the ship I usually write about.
Next up: Squeak. At this point, I don't care.