The next morning, Jack woke with a jolt as the heavy door whooshed open.
"Up and at 'em, everyone!" Spot shouted as he strode through the open door. Around the bunk room, the crew started awake, many of them staring around blearily as they searched for the source of the noise. Spot smacked his open palm against one of the nearby bunks, the sound ringing out into the huge room. "Let's go! This isn't a drill, people! We're on a timetable, here."
"Spot, what's going on?" Davey grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"Aleesha got us a lead on Metalbeard, but we have to get to the Anatoran system fast if we want to cash it in."
"How fast?" JoJo was already on her feet, boots on, and pulling on her jacket as she spoke.
"Three days."
"That's impossible," JoJo shook her head, feathers fluttering. "The Banner doesn't have that kind of speed! We could maybe make it in four or five, but three… We could blow the engines pushing them like that!"
Skittery chittered in agreement, crossing his arms and moving to stand beside JoJo.
"Skits agrees. We'll blow the hyperdrive. That could take out the whole ship!"
"Well, every minute we spend arguing about it is another minute lost. We can fight just as well on the ship as here. I want everyone onboard within the hour—half an hour, if we can push it. JoJo, Skittery, Aleesha and some of her mechanics will meet you on the Banner as soon as you can get there. They're going to try and help you boost drive efficiency."
JoJo and Skittery traded glances, then hurried towards the door. Spot looked around at the rest of the crew, slowly going through the motions of getting dressed and ready to ship out.
"That seems awfully nice of Captain Shray." Jack heard Davey murmur the comment to Spot as he bent down to pull on his boots. "What does she want from us in return?"
"Nothing," said Spot. "She owed me a favor. I'm cashing in. But I'm pretty sure she'd help us out anyways. She's that sort of person."
"No-one is just that sort of person."
"What makes you so jaded, wizard?"
"A century and a half of experience. People don't just do things out of the goodness of their hearts."
"Well, Aleesha knows I would do the same for her if she needed it. If she ever calls on me for help, I'll give it, if I can. Maybe that's all she expects in return."
"Sure," Davey grumbled. "Let's hope so."
.*.*.*.*.*.
"You can't just do that!"
JoJo's voice rang out from the deck of the Banner as the rest of the crew approached. Spot and Davey traded concerned glances and quickened their pace, the others hurrying along behind them.
Aboard the ship, they found JoJo and Ben Shray both halfway in an open hatch near the bow of the ship, waist deep in the machinery. Both had grease stains up to their elbows, and smeared across their shirts and faces, and both were glaring at the other.
"The capacitors can't just be rerouted like that!" JoJo was saying as they came aboard.
"I'm not rerouting them," Ben argued. "This one is burnt out, and it's dragging down overall efficiency. If we can create a workaround for the damaged capacitor, and allow the other four to take on the full load, it should increase your drive's efficiency. It could easily give you the boost you need to make it to Anatori in time."
"And how do you propose working around the damage?" JoJo challenged. "That's a potentially deadly idea. What if the remaining capacitors can't handle the new load?"
"They can," Ben reassured her. "I ran a full-level test on them before I called you over." He passed her a datapad, and JoJo began scrolling through the information readout on the screen. "Look, it's obviously not a long-term solution. You can't run one capacitor down for any length of time; it'll blow the drive, and probably leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. But it'll get you to Anatori. And these are pretty generic capacitors; you should be able to pick up a replacement on the Hub, so you can patch it before you leave the system again."
"Okay, fine," JoJo relented. "What's this work-around you're proposing?"
"Well, the system is designed so that it won't operate if it's missing a capacitor or one is burnt out, or anything like that. So we can't just take it out and let the system run its course; it just won't. We have to leave the damaged capacitor where it is and reroute power from the damaged section to the rest of the system. The easiest way to do that is to jump the damaged capacitor."
"Fair enough," JoJo grumbled.
The two of them leaned down and got to work on Ben's solution. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ship, Aleesha noticed the new arrivals and stood up from where she was working with Skittery to join Spot and Davey.
"How's it going?" Spot asked, glancing nervously back at where another argument had broken out between JoJo and Ben.
"Well enough," Aleesha laughed. "Ben was able to pinpoint some issues with power consumption and efficiency, and the two of them are trying to troubleshoot as many of those as possible. The rest of us are following along behind and cleaning up after them."
"What about the rest of us—what can we do to help?" Davey asked.
"Your normal preflight, I guess," Aleesha shrugged. "Make sure you go over those solar sails extra carefully; you'll need every ounce of power you can draw, particularly once you're in hyperspeed."
"What does that mean?" Davey asked.
"The increase in speed requires a matching increase in power," Aleesha explained. "That's why we're working on power consumption and efficiency solutions. Get more speed with less power. But it's still going to be a drain on your reserves. The amount of solar power connected while you're in hyperspeed is drastically reduced from what you draw while in standard solar orbit or sublight flight. So, essentially, you're working with an extremely limited power reserve that will go like it's water through a sieve when you're pushing the engines as hard as you'll have to do to make Anatori in three days. If we can increase power draw efficiency… well, chances are it won't do much, but it'll be like patching a few of the holes in that sieve. The water—or power—takes that much longer to run through. And for something like this, every little bit counts."
"Do you think you can do it?" Davey asked.
Aleesha shrugged. "Ben does. And Ben may come off as overconfident, but, in my experience, he can usually back it up with action. I've seen him do some amazing stuff. I'm sure he can get you there."
.*.*.*.*.*.
They were just closing in on Spot's one-hour deadline when Ben and JoJo finally crawled out of their hatch. Up in the rigging, most of the Haven personnel were helping the rest of the crew go over every square inch of the solar sails, checking for dead cells and tiny, starting tears. Aleesha and Skittery were closing up the control consoles, after reconfiguring them for more optimal power distribution. Even Davey and Charlie had jumped in to help, sorting and storing the provisions provided by Aleesha and her people.
"Well?" Spot asked, heading towards where JoJo and Ben were closing up their hatch.
"It just might do it," JoJo nodded. "That is, if this idiot doesn't blow us all to smithereens in the vast emptiness of space."
Ben laughed and swiped his wrist across his forehead, leaving behind a fresh smear of grease. "It won't blow. I'll bet my life on it."
"I'll take that bet. Why don't you ride along with us? If this works, we could use a mechanic like you onboard." JoJo rested her hands on her hips and smirked at Ben.
"No thanks," he laughed. "Not that I don't have faith in my handiwork here—because I absolutely do—but I'm just fine here in Haven. But stop by again sometime. I'd love to dig around in your ship some more. Bet I could get her back to better-than-factory shape in no time at all."
JoJo laughed and smacked Ben heartily on the shoulder. "No chance in hell you're putting another hand on my ship in a million years, hotshot."
"Your ship?" said Spot, arching an eyebrow.
"I fix her," JoJo shrugged. "Pretty sure that makes her mine."
"Yeah, I'll pass that on to Charlie's father," Spot grinned. He turned to Ben. "Thanks for your help." He reached out to shake the other man's hand, but thought better of it when he remembered the grease it was coated in.
"Any time, man; you know it," Ben laughed.
Aleesha and Davey joined the group. "Your consoles are all packed up, Spot. She's ready to go."
"Thanks," Spot said. "We appreciate it—everything you've done for us."
"Hey, putting a dent in Metalbeard's operation will help us too," Aleesha grinned. "I wish we could do more. Good luck. And if there's anything else you need, give us a call and we'll do what we can."
"Thanks again," said Spot. "I'll get you back someday."
"Don't worry about it," Aleesha grinned. "I know you're good for it." She turned and waved at the last of her people coming down from the rigging. "Clear out, everyone! Head back to the city."
"Good luck, Spot," Ben said. "Hope the reroute works," he said to JoJo. "Give us a call when you get to Anatori—you know, just to let us know that you haven't blown to smithereens in the vast emptiness of space."
JoJo grinned. "Will do, hotshot."
Aleesha and Ben climbed up the ladder to the Haven walkway. Once they were clear, the lines were cast off from the walkway, tumbling down to the deck where Jack and Race could jump on them and wind them up into neat coils. Up at the control consoles, JoJo powered up the inter-atmosphere engines and the ship hummed to life.
As they pulled away from their berth, Aleesha and Ben remained on the walkway, waving as the ship began to lift out of the ocean, heading for the open skies above the city. The transparisteel bubble closed in around them as they rose higher and higher, soon leaving the atmosphere behind. It didn't take long in planetary orbit to fully charge the solar cells, and then JoJo calculated their course to Anatori, and the Banner was off…