The next thing Romeo remembered hearing was a quickly repeated alarm buzzer – the hull had been compromised. That's not good. He quickly gathered himself mentally and croaked out, "Damage report." Romeo picked himself up from the ground, dusting debris from the explosion off himself as he did. Greg and Amaya groaned as they began to move.
Romeo eyed his coffee cup on the ground for a moment; it was shattered, and coffee was splattered all over the floor. He looked around and saw blood dripping from his hand. He must have cut it on the cup. He forcefully shouted, "Damage report!"
Greg, bleeding and dazed, sat up from the ground, covered in debris from an exploded console. He sat up and punched a few buttons on his console. "Direct hit, deck one... The... The primary computer system is down, but the emergency backup is coming up... There's a small hull breach on the bridge, and the power grid is leaking plasma up there, too."
Romeo rubbed his head and said, "Is the emergency bulkhead in place?" Greg nodded. Romeo looked over at Amaya and continued, "What the hell happened?"
Amaya was picking herself up, now. "Romeo, it doesn't matter. Look! We have to get to the fusion core!" She pointed at a screen nearby.
Romeo looked at the sensor readings and took a haggard breath. The fusion core's pressure was... "Holy shit." Romeo thought for a few seconds. "Greg, try to re-establish our computer link with my lab, I need Jarvis back! Amaya, with me, quick!" They ran toward the ladder. "Prep the escape pod, too, Greg. We might not be able to fix this!"
As they descended the ladder, they heard Greg shout, "I got it! Getting a ground link with the lab, but it'll take a minute!"
An alarm klaxon sounded, followed by a female computerized voice saying, "Warning! Damage to fusion core. Initiate emergency procedures."
As they reached the bottom of the ladder, Romeo ran, and Amaya followed as she called out, "Computer, situation analysis!"
The computer replied, "Estimate containment failure in 4 minutes, 18 seconds."
"Son of a bitch! The explosion must have knocked a control rod out of place," shouted Romeo. He and Amaya both uttered a steady string of curses as they ran toward the engine room.
They heard a comms-line click over the intercom. Greg said, "Connor, mayday! Are you still there? This is the Jenolan, we have an emergency!"
Romeo hit a button on a panel and muted the intercom as they entered the engine room, where the fusion core was whirring ominously. All manner of warning lights flashed on and off as Romeo and Amaya looked at readings on the consoles near the metal shell encasing the fusion engine. After several seconds, Romeo said, "Alright, we can fix this, but we've gotta go fast! You handle the magnetic containment field, and I'll replace the control rod!" Everything blurred together after that.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
Back on the ground, Catboy was in PJ Masks HQ, pulling on his spacesuit. "Greg, this is PJ Masks HQ. What the hell happened? I heard an explosion and lost contact with you a minute ago!"
Over the speakers, alarm sirens now filled the background as Greg's voice replied, "We… We don't know. The bridge has been hit and is open to space. We were on deck two, luckily, and I've got an escape pod ready. The fusion engine might go critical in a few minutes; Romeo and Amaya are working on it. Can you and PJ Robot pilot HQ to space by yourselves? We might need you."
Catboy finished putting on his suit, and continued, "Yes, PJ Robot has already started the emergency plan. We'll be ready to launch in 3 minutes."
Greg coughed over the line. "Okay. We don't have that long... We actually might need you to launch the PJ Seeker instead to recover our escape pod. Standby…" Greg groaned in pain. "Ah, fuck that hurt... Even if we do get the fusion engine repaired, Amaya looked hurt fairly bad, and I think… No, I'm pretty sure that I've broken my wrist. We'll still end up down there wounded. Hang on, let me check something..." He was silent for a few moments and cursed. "Dammit! Romeo's Robot was on the bridge."
Catboy was nervous as he ran back over to his console in Owlette's HQ Room. "Gotcha. PJ Robot and I are ready for whatever you need."
Greg's voice broke up over the audio feed as he said, "Jeez, this is a mess. Standby, Connor. I'm gonna go below and check on them. This doesn't look good. I'll be back in a minute."
Catboy replied, "Okay, please be careful!" He heard only alarms and static in the background.
A computer voice sounded amongst the clamor over the comm-line. "Warning! Damage to fusion core. Containment failure in two minutes, thirty seconds." Chills ran down Connor's spine as a loud alarm klaxon sounded.
Catboy nervously clicked his communicator and told PJ Robot what was happening. Once he finished, he said, "Prep the PJ Seeker for spaceflight, PJ Robot. I have a bad feeling about this..." The little robot beeped his understanding, and Catboy took a nervous breath. There was nothing he could do except listen at this point. It was all up to Amaya, Romeo, and Greg.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
On the Jenolan,Romeo and Amaya breathed a sigh of relief as Greg ran into the engine room. "Is it fixed?"
Romeo nodded. "Yeah…"
Amaya wiped the blood from her arm and looked at Greg's wrist. "Greg, your wrist."
Greg nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's broken. Robot was on the bridge, we've gotta do something!"
Romeo's heart almost stopped, but he took a few breaths. "He's probably okay… Jarvis, you with us?"
The British computer voice responded, "Yes, sir."
Romeo rubbed his head. "Locate Robot and use the transporter to beam him down to the lab."
Jarvis replied. "Standby… I have located Robot. He has been retrieved."
An electrical arc zapped through the room, and a loud hissing sound started from one of the pipes nearby the fusion engine. Romeo whirled around to look, and there was a white cloud fuming forth from it. Coughing, he said, "Coolant leak! Everyone out!"
Greg and Amaya went out of the room, but Romeo held back. He grabbed a roll of tape nearby and ran over to the pipe fitting that was leaking. Amaya yelled, "Romeo! Get out of there, we've gotta seal the engine room!"
Romeo quickly wrapped tape around the leak several times before it stopped. Holding his breath, he wrapped it further, and then wound his way out of the room, fumbling dizzily through the white clouds of coolant vapor. Amaya grabbed him once he was near the door and said, "Stupid!" She dragged him from the room and said, "Jarvis, seal the engine room!"
The door slammed closed behind them. Greg was coughing hard, "The coolant managed to get out, we've gotta go!"
The acrid gas stung Amaya's eyes, and she nodded. "To the escape pod! There's one by Romeo's office."
The three of them stumbled their way down the hallway, and Greg broke a glass case with his good hand and hit the red button inside. A mechanical iris opened up, and they all crawled into the tight pod. Once they were in, Amaya hit a button and sealed the hatch again. They breathed easier now, and Romeo screamed, "Fuck!"
After a few minutes, they had calmed down and could breathe right again. Amaya said, "Jarvis, can you clean up the atmosphere on Deck 3?"
"Yes, but it will take at least an hour. Perhaps you 3 should return in the escape pod. The fusion core is in low power mode, and retrieving Robot used most of the power reserves. I cannot use the transporter to return you at the moment."
Amaya looked at Greg and Romeo, both of them in bad shape. She said, "Understood, Jarvis. Strap in, you two. We're getting the hell out of here."
Greg panted, saying, "I'll need help." Amaya nodded and reached over to help Greg with his safety harness.
Once Romeo and Greg were strapped in, Amaya put her harness on, and she tapped a button on the panel. "PJ Masks HQ, this is escape pod 3, come in."
Catboy replied over the line, "Oh, thank goodness! I was worried. What's happened?"
"No time to explain. We're abandoning ship. I'm launching an escape pod. Greg and Romeo are in bad shape." She looked at a touch screen opposite her and tapped a few options. "We're aiming for landing zone kappa, come get us."
Catboy replied, "Understood, PJ Robot and I are waiting."
Amaya took a deep breath, and then fixed her glasses. "Hang on kids, this might be bumpy!" She pulled a big lever, and the pod launched, pinning them all to their seats.
~
