(Eight)
Kimble led Wolverine and Henry down to the lower level. Remy volunteered to stay behind to keep first watch on the Clansmen. They went down the stairs and Kimble took them to the door marked Storage. Kimble didn't put his hand on the security panel but clicked off a button instead. He said, "Kimble, La ShaRain natay LaRoo."
Lucky answered, "Command override accepted."
"No palm print," Kimble explained with a shrug and the usual laugh.
The door unlocked and they went inside. The room had rows of scaffolding shelving. Some of the shelves held large bins of various sizes while others had an old guitar and some books among other loose items. Kimble unlocked one of the bins on the closest shelf and slid it off. It was heavy but he managed it just fine. Apparently he was very strong in spite of being so light. He opened it and displayed its contents. It was filled with small packages of preserved meals. The packages had the Chinese style Dognan markings on them.
"This's all Dognan stuff, okay? The highest quality. Clan cain't make shit like this. Fallen scrounged it up on her raids, just like alla the rest of the pilots do. Alla the good stuff we got is Dognan. We raided the pens close to the Dognan so much she gots more of it than most, is all. Alla this stuff is preserved. It don't need ta be refrigerated. We kin heats them up in the galley. Most of these bins here have food."
Logan looked around and nodded in satisfaction. There were a lot of bins, plenty to go around by any reckoning. It would have to do.
"The rest have more blankets, some clothes, soaps and stuff like that. Medicines. That Lightnin' I used wuz stashed down here by Fallen. Me an' Seth inventory this stuff alla the time sos we usually have an idea how things stand as far as stored goods go. Alla the fresh stuff like the fruit we scrounged, sos once that's gone, too bad, I guess. Maybe we kin finds more if we gits in a real jam an' hafta lands someplace."
"What about water?"
"Tanks're in the Engine Room."
Kimble replaced the bin and fastened it back to the shelf. They left the Storage room and crossed the hall. Kimble used the same code phrase to by-pass the security panel. The room was quite large, the largest on the ship itself. Three large clear containers the size of refrigerators stood out against the back wall, easily noted because of their size. Two were filled with some kind of thick liquid that appeared to be blue gel. Another large tank nearby was clearly marked "Water" and was also full. Pipes led in and out of it, connected to the ship's systems and what was probably a filtration and recycling system beside the tank itself.
What was the most surprising, were the ship's two engines, planted neatly in the middle of the room itself. They were small, only about the size of compact cars and were unlike anything the two X-men had ever seen. They were complicated and had a lot of running parts, not simple motors that Henry had seen before. Here was the source of that burnt plastic smell.
Yup, they were fried, all right. Small vapors of smoke still wafted up from one of them. It seemed this room was more than prepared for that problem to be dealt with. On the back wall of the room was a long storage rack stacked with tiny boxes and spare parts. Another cabinet made of drawers sat beside it, all labeled neatly. A worktable was fixed beside that as well, the area above it covered with tools all neatly arranged and hanging. Fallen was tidy and organized, there was no doubt they were in good hands.
Kimble jerked his thumb towards the engines. "When Fallen's better, she kin works on those. Maybe in a coupla days. I might be able ta gits some of it done myself b'fore then. Don' know fer sure."
"You can repair the engines?" Logan was surprised.
Kimble tapped his head. "Yeah. I gots the maintenance files. Fallen's got tools. Not a big deal. I've done work likes that in the hologram all the time. I likes the work, it keeps me busy."
"How long will it take?" Henry asked. He was really interested in the motors, his brilliant mind going into overdrive with near orgasmic excitement. He was touching them and poking about, eager to explore. Many times he'd had opportunities to learn from others, times he had cherished. He was always quick to remember and incorporate what he'd learned for the team's use back home, his memory near perfect. He was trembling with delighted fascination now, already thinking of how he might be able to apply this technology back home. Kimble would have all the help he wanted right here, right now. Sign me up, if you please.
Kimble laughed as he spoke next, sensing Henry's unveiled interest. " 'Pends on how many parts I kin fix and what she has t' modify. I'd say a few hours. She's got lotsa spare parts, enough ta rebuild one of them completely at least. It ain't no big deal. Now that we jumped already, we kin gos pretty far on just one engine if we hafta."
Henry looked at him in surprise. "Surely you jest. These engines can't be big enough to fly this large a ship by themselves."
Kimble laughed. "They're Siskan, like me. Full 'a surprises."
"I'll just bet," Henry replied playfully. Back in an environment where his prodigious brain might be used, he was much too excited to be anything but eager and happy. "We heard that Siskan technology was rare and hard to find. How does Fallen have so much of it?"
"When Fallen gits bored, we fly 'round some of the dead worlds that the Dognan leave behind. She looks fer downed vessels, junk yards. She's got lotsa Salvage implants. She knows what ta look fer, the Clan don't. She picks stuff up and fools around with it - kinda like me," he said with a smile. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. It took her a long time to get those things workin' right. Lotsa bottles of whiskey, lotsa swearin'." He laughed, reminiscing. "I sometimes wonder if the value of her projects kin be measured out in bottles. Anaways, once she got 'em right - bang! Those locks went on the doors. She didn't dare let the Clan see what she'd done. So far, no one bothered ta ask why Lucky wuz so powerful. They just assumed it wuz cuz her Ristle is so strong."
He pointed to the two large tanks filled with blue plasma gel. One was dark, the other one glowing. "Those're the batteries. One is out from the jump, but the other's got a pretty good charge on it. 'Nough to run the life support machines fer about five days."
"Speaking of life support, you need Ristle to keep alive, don't you?" Henry asked abruptly, his curiosity overriding his better manners.
"Seems that way, I guess," Kimble answered warily, he obviously didn't like to talk about himself.
"Can you charge from the batteries directly? Maybe it would be better for Fallen."
Sensing only eager curiosity from the big, blue doctor, Kimble pointed to a small lamp on the workbench. "See that light? That's me. I'm that tiny light compared ta that huge battery. Remember the boost?" Henry nodded. "That boost charges both of them power cells. Fallen kin boost in her sleep when she's full strength. My tiny light bulb ain't nuthin' more than the energy it takes fer you ta scratch yer ass!" he laughed. "Yeah, I probably could charge off the battery, 'cept I gots no way of gittin' the power from the battery inta me. Looks like I gots ta have direct contact through my skin. Even so, I ain't puttin' my hand in that thing! Don' know if it'll fry me or what! I knows it's safe to touch Fallen." He cocked his head and grinned. "Lot's more fun, too. I'll sticks with her, thanks."
"You said she had damage to her Ristle Process. If she can't charge the batteries right now, or even fix the engines, doesn't your draw hurt her?"
Kimble shook his head. "Doubt it. The 'gram never used all that much." He walked over to another viewing screen. He concentrated and Fallen's med scan came up.
Henry watched him, observing that Kimble had maintained the telepathic link with Lucky that Fallen had spoken of before. It made sense, he supposed, that as a separate entity the hologram might have a modem or some other such connection to the primary computer system. It explained how Kimble and Seth had switched the use of the hologram so quickly, and some of the conversation he'd overheard upstairs while Kimble was tending to Fallen. It didn't mean this was Kimble's only talent, Henry was much too wise to assume that. He wondered what kind of abilities the Kimble hologram now possessed and if he was dangerous. Maybe Wolverine could handle him, maybe not. They had to learn as much about him as they could.
Kimble called up a graph, oblivious to the doctor's internal musings. "See the red? That's where Fallen is now. She's producin' Ristle even in her weakened state. The Lightnin' is keepin' her from fallin' all the way down. You kin sees she's just under the yellow. That ain't too bad. See that little dip in the scroll line? That's when I drew from her. It didn' even drop her ta how low she wuz when I first started the scan. See? Nuthin' ta worry about. When she's midway in the yellow, she kin fix the motors. See the blue? She'll be able to boost, maybe fly us a little. The green? Well, we'll just hafta wait an' see. I'm not convinced she'll ever jump again, or if she should even try. Seems ta me this dimension's plenty big for alla us ta play around in. We'll git ya guys home, worry 'bout the rest later. Fallen's gonna be fine."