Author's Note: It is that time of year again...time for the annual alphabet advent calendar. Last December you all picked out this year's theme 'M is for Mechanic' and boy is it applicable for what we are going through at this moment in time. As a result, I am dedicating this anthology to all of the medical workers out there battling pandemic. I hope that this story can help bring a welcome distraction both to those who are on the front lines and also those who are helping to slow the spread of COVID-19 by staying home.
A is for Axle
Going out on a quick morning ride had seemed like such a good idea at the time. It had only been Dynamite's second morning back on base and she was craving her normal routine. It was true the ground was still covered by a mixture of slushy snow and mud, but she knew the trail behind the base like the back of her own tire. So as the sun started to peek over the horizon, she headed out for a quick trail run before breakfast.
She didn't make it far…which in many ways was a blessing because when she hit a pothole hidden by rotten snow and heard the snap the followed it meant that she actually had a chance to limp back to base. Now all Dynamite had to do was figure out how she was going to manage how she was going to make
Taking a deep breath Dynamite tried to put some more weight on her front tires. Instantly her vision was consumed by the blinding white pain, but she bit her tongue and limped back down a familiar path. What had first taken her minutes to ascend, now took her over an hour to descend and by the time she made it back to base, the morning sun was now reasonably high in the sky.
Scanning the tarmac, Dynamite was able to see at least one of the base's residents was well into his morning routine. Maru was nursing a mug of coffee as he eyed the sky as though he was trying to gauge the sky.
"Help?" Dynamite managed to squeak out with a mixture of relief and embarrassment. Now that she had successfully made it to safety, she could allow herself to be modified by making such a simple, stupid mistake. Luckily, it seemed like the base mechanic wasn't going to give her a hard time about it. He simply let his eyes quickly identify the area of injury and allow his training to take over.
"Let's get you up on the lift." Maru sighed as he set his coffee mug on the tarmac and moved to help to take some of the weight off of the ATV's injury.
Moving into Maru's hanger took what felt like a small eternity. Every time Dynamite's undercarriage was bumped wrong pain was sent like a bolt of lightning through her chassis. By the time she was finally up on the lift and the mechanic could start poking around to see the extent of the damage, she had managed to attract an audience. Chief Ranger was doing what helicopters did best and practically hovered at the edge of the hanger keeping an eye on the smaller vehicles.
"Yep…" Maru grunted as he rolled out from under her. He leveled a look at Blade then looked Dynamite straight in the eyes. "You have a broken axle. I can whip something up to get you rolling around in the short term, but it will take at least two weeks to get a part in that will take the strain of off-road driving."
Maru didn't have to spell out what that meant. This year's pack of potential recruits were due in just under four days and Dynamite wasn't going to be able to properly but them through their paces.
"Why don't you put in a call to Avalanche?" Cabbie's voice startled everyone back into the moment. Dynamite had no clue how the old plane had managed to sneak up on them, but the Chief managed to remain completely composed.
"Go on." Blade said with the rise of an eyebrow.
"Avalanche is the most senior member of the smokejumpers, after Dynamite, and he works for his parents during the winter so I suspect his employer might be willing to let him ditch work a couple of weeks early."
For a moment Blade seemed to chew things over. "Alright, I think that will work." Glancing at Dynamite he informed her, "If we can get him, Avalanche will cover the field drills, but I will expect you to still cover classroom portions of the test." Turning to Cabbie he said, "As the communication expert on base, track down Avalanche's details and arrange for pick up." Finally, he looked at the mechanic, "Maru, you know the drill. I am going to need a full incident report that I can submit to the Superintendent. It won't stop Cad from breathing down my intakes about exceeding our staffing budgets for this month, but it will at least make sure that national stays off our hoods."
"I will get right on that after I get this bandaged up." Maru waved a tine towards Dynamite's undercarriage. Blade simply gave a quick bob on his tires and let the mechanic get to work patching some of the damage that Dynamite had managed to do to herself.
Term- Axle- An axle is a critical component of the of a vehicle's drivetrain. It is a metal, often steel, rod that connects the tires to the vehicle and allows them to turn. While the configuration of axles differs between front-wheel, rear-wheel, all-wheel, two-wheel, caterpillar track, and some types of aircraft, pretty much any vehicle that moves across the ground will have at least one axle. The axle is responsible for carrying a lot of the vehicle's weight and can stop the craft in its tracks if broken.