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Chapter 21: Test
"Rem, try replacing the relay battery." Mary said from the other end of the bridge of the Alpha ship.
I was under a console, trying to fix some of the last bugs in the computer system before the pre-launch test. I pushed aside some of the wires hanging down from the bottom of the console and eased a finger length battery from the circuit board.
The last six months were the best of my life, I spent as much time as I could with Alex, and had become friends with most of the Alpha ship crew. Joey and Mary were the first to warm up to me, Rowan was a little more reserved to that point but it turns out he's like that with everyone except Mary. Everyone could see he had a major crush on her. As for Steve... well the man was a complete lecher, and after he'd been punted across the room a couple times to many for groping me, he got the idea and just left me alone.
I reached into my equipment box, pulled out another battery and placed it into the battery slot.
"Try now, Mary!" I called over.
"Ahhh... yep! That's it! It's working!"
"Ok, cool. Anything else?"
"Nope that's it for now, thanks." I pushed aside some wires, then began to plug a few of them back into their sockets.
After Alex's offer to help me, we spent a week going over everything I could possibly do. I had found that I had a knack for computers, or rather putting them together and fixing them. And after another three months of learning the ins and outs of the computer technology, I began working with the Alpha crew.
I pushed the last of the wires and cables up into their cradle in the console, and slipped the under-cover back into place.
I pushed myself out from under the console and stood. A month ago the bridge had been nothing more than a skeleton with exposed wires, cables, and circuit boards. Now though all the wall plating was in place and it was beginning to look like something space worthy.
"Say, Rem? Could you give me a hand with this?" Mary was holding the top edge of a large display screen.
"Sure."
I stepped over to the other side of the screen and took hold of the bottom edge and Mary followed suit. We lifted the thin screen up into the large open gap in the wall.
"There, all done, with that." Said Mary, as she wiped at the perspiration on her brow, and closed the wall panel.
I grinned, "Let's just hope it doesn't blow up in our faces during the pre- launch."
Mary snorted, "Yeah, let's hope."
I pulled at my braid of hair which I had let grow over the last six months, it was now down to my mid back, "So... you want to go for some lunch?"
Alex and I stood side by side in a blast bunker on the far side of the docking bay, we could see the status of all the ships on the main viewer high on the wall. Slowly one by one all of the gray indicators of the ships turned green.
The room was also filled with people. Every time an indicator went green the room cheered.
A young woman rushed into the room, "We're getting reports from the other launch sites! We've had a minimum of twenty go red on us but the others are ready to go."
This brought on another wave of cheering from everyone.
Alex spun me around and gave me a deep kiss, "It's a great day Rem! It's a great day!"
I laughed and returned the kiss, "I know, now we can finally find a new home."
After a little party, everyone went back to their respective stations to fix any problems that had popped up during the test.
It was a great day. This guaranteed that the project would get off the ground, and into space.
We expected no trouble from the Lunans, they most likely believed all of Mars' inhabitants dead from the destruction of the atmosphere, and we'd gotten reports over the satellite that they were abandoning Mars for good.
It had been decided, for the safety of the project to leave the Lunans here in our solar system, they would not be able to follow us. But even still they could survive on Luna quite well.
One more week. One more week and we will be shooting through the damaged atmosphere to a new home. A place where humanity could start anew, and hopefully we will fare better on our new world. Having learned from our mistakes, I believe we can.
Ok, the next update is going to be the last chapter and the epilogue submitted simultaneously. Just wanted to let you know.
Oh yes, thank foo, for beta-reading.
Review plez!
Chapter 21: Test
"Rem, try replacing the relay battery." Mary said from the other end of the bridge of the Alpha ship.
I was under a console, trying to fix some of the last bugs in the computer system before the pre-launch test. I pushed aside some of the wires hanging down from the bottom of the console and eased a finger length battery from the circuit board.
The last six months were the best of my life, I spent as much time as I could with Alex, and had become friends with most of the Alpha ship crew. Joey and Mary were the first to warm up to me, Rowan was a little more reserved to that point but it turns out he's like that with everyone except Mary. Everyone could see he had a major crush on her. As for Steve... well the man was a complete lecher, and after he'd been punted across the room a couple times to many for groping me, he got the idea and just left me alone.
I reached into my equipment box, pulled out another battery and placed it into the battery slot.
"Try now, Mary!" I called over.
"Ahhh... yep! That's it! It's working!"
"Ok, cool. Anything else?"
"Nope that's it for now, thanks." I pushed aside some wires, then began to plug a few of them back into their sockets.
After Alex's offer to help me, we spent a week going over everything I could possibly do. I had found that I had a knack for computers, or rather putting them together and fixing them. And after another three months of learning the ins and outs of the computer technology, I began working with the Alpha crew.
I pushed the last of the wires and cables up into their cradle in the console, and slipped the under-cover back into place.
I pushed myself out from under the console and stood. A month ago the bridge had been nothing more than a skeleton with exposed wires, cables, and circuit boards. Now though all the wall plating was in place and it was beginning to look like something space worthy.
"Say, Rem? Could you give me a hand with this?" Mary was holding the top edge of a large display screen.
"Sure."
I stepped over to the other side of the screen and took hold of the bottom edge and Mary followed suit. We lifted the thin screen up into the large open gap in the wall.
"There, all done, with that." Said Mary, as she wiped at the perspiration on her brow, and closed the wall panel.
I grinned, "Let's just hope it doesn't blow up in our faces during the pre- launch."
Mary snorted, "Yeah, let's hope."
I pulled at my braid of hair which I had let grow over the last six months, it was now down to my mid back, "So... you want to go for some lunch?"
Alex and I stood side by side in a blast bunker on the far side of the docking bay, we could see the status of all the ships on the main viewer high on the wall. Slowly one by one all of the gray indicators of the ships turned green.
The room was also filled with people. Every time an indicator went green the room cheered.
A young woman rushed into the room, "We're getting reports from the other launch sites! We've had a minimum of twenty go red on us but the others are ready to go."
This brought on another wave of cheering from everyone.
Alex spun me around and gave me a deep kiss, "It's a great day Rem! It's a great day!"
I laughed and returned the kiss, "I know, now we can finally find a new home."
After a little party, everyone went back to their respective stations to fix any problems that had popped up during the test.
It was a great day. This guaranteed that the project would get off the ground, and into space.
We expected no trouble from the Lunans, they most likely believed all of Mars' inhabitants dead from the destruction of the atmosphere, and we'd gotten reports over the satellite that they were abandoning Mars for good.
It had been decided, for the safety of the project to leave the Lunans here in our solar system, they would not be able to follow us. But even still they could survive on Luna quite well.
One more week. One more week and we will be shooting through the damaged atmosphere to a new home. A place where humanity could start anew, and hopefully we will fare better on our new world. Having learned from our mistakes, I believe we can.
Ok, the next update is going to be the last chapter and the epilogue submitted simultaneously. Just wanted to let you know.
Oh yes, thank foo, for beta-reading.
Review plez!