Chapter Two – Reawakening the Yokohama

So, the foundation had been laid in the teaching hospital at Robinton Cove. Now we just had to equip it. What we needed was not exactly readily at hand, residing high above us aboard the three colony ships parked in geosynchronous orbit. But, as the Dragonriders had proven in using the power cores of the Yokohama, Bahrain, and Buenos Aires to alter the course of the Red Star, we could salvage what we needed. Now we just had to get up there.

"Jaxom, you and I will be the first pair to go up," I said, laying out my plan in the hospital's briefing room.

"Why you two?" R'mat, blue Targath's rider wondered, gesturing around at the other healer-riders. "What about us?"

"First, none of you have been there before," Jaxom answered for me. "Ruth and I have, and so has Masterhealer Dana."

"Second," I jumped in, leaning on the edge of the table, "no one else here is as familiar with the ships or their systems as Jaxom and I are. Don't worry. You'll be up there soon enough. Jaxom and I are going ahead to power the ships' life support and gravity systems back up. That'll make it easier for the rest of you to move around once you get up there."

"We're also going to try and deploy the colony ships solar power arrays once we get there," Jaxom added to the explanation. "The vessels have been drifting a bit since the anti-matter power cores were removed. We'll need the solar arrays to help power the electric thrusters so we can stabilize the Ancients' ships and keep them from falling out of orbit."

"Ow, my head hurts listening to that talk!" Jeela, green Vernath's rider, groaned. "Do what you have to, Dana. We'll do the rest!"

Many cheers and hurrahs echoed throughout the room and down the halls of the teaching hospital.

"Ready?" I asked, turning to the Ruathan Lord.

"Oh, you bet!" he replied, grinning from ear to ear.

First things first. While the destruction of my scout vessel, the Quester, had been necessary during the Exiles crisis, I had taken the time to remove the spacesuits that had been stored there in case they were needed. Like now. Following my instructions, the other healer-riders helped me and Jaxom suit up. Then, they helped us out to our dragons who were waiting patiently nearby outside.

We go back? Ruth asked, sharing his rider's excitement.

I didn't hear Jaxom's reply, but I could tell Ruth was excited; his tail swishing back and forth in anticipation, his eyes whirling faster.

"Ready, Goldie?" I asked, reaching up to give my little queen a brief scratch as I strapped myself in to Tarnaa's riding harness.

Her reply was an enthusiastic 'Cheep!' from my shoulder as she snuggled up close to my helmeted head, her wings tight against her body, her head stretched forward in anticipation.

"Jaxom?" I radioed, pressing the transmitter button on my own suit.

"Ready!" he reported, giving me a thumbs up from the nearby Ruth.

"Let's do this, then!" I shouted, pumping my fist in the air.

As one, our two dragons leapt skyward; Ruth, for all his smaller size, easily keeping pace with Tarnaa. We circled the teaching hospital once… then vanished between. A few heartbeats later, we all materialized once more in the docking bay aboard the Yokohama!

"We've been spending so much time up here lately," Jaxom chuckled over the suit's radio link, "that it almost feels like a second home to me."

"That's not as far-fetched an idea as you might think, my friend," I responded, unstrapping from Tarnaa's harness and floating over to the docking bay's master control panel. "If we are successful in redeploying the Yokohama's power panels, the ship could once more become habitable."

"You're serious?!" Jaxom gasped, bumping rather hard into a nearby console in his surprise.

I nodded. "If we can successfully restore power to the ship, we can reactivate the oxygen regenerator, the water reclaimers, and the artificial gravity systems."

"By the First Egg!" Jaxom whispered, staring in awe around him. "A spaceborne Hold!"

"A possibility," I admitted, chuckling as Goldie tumbled by, clearly enjoying the lack of gravity in the bay.

Keying in the proper sequence, I first reactivated the life support systems, raising the pressure and temperature in the bay to Pern planetary normal. Then, reluctantly, I switched on the arti-grav generator, cringing as Goldie let out a squawk of protest at having to fly once more.

"Truth be told, Jaxom," I said as I removed my helmet, "I've been thinking of converting the Yokohama into an orbital hospital."

"A hospital?!" the Ruathan Lord spluttered, removing his own helmet. "Here?! Why?"

"Certain injuries can be better treated in an environment where there is no gravity," I explained, stripping out of my spacesuit and hanging it in a nearby locker. "We could also use the Yokohama as a spaceborne observation post, monitoring conditions down on the surface, and issuing warnings to the proper authorities if warranted."

"Could we move the Bahrain and Buenos Aires?" Jaxom asked as I verified the systems in the docking bay.

"To position them equidistant around Pern?" I responded, grinning as I did. He nodded. "It would give us better coverage of Pern's entire surface and increase the capabilities of the satellite phones."

"Fandarel has been after me about establishing a Smithhall in space," Jaxom admitted, "where he could manufacture some of those materials the Ancients used to make that can only be done in the absence of gravity." Looking straight at me, he added, "We'd also be able to operate additional healer facilities in the repositioned ships, giving you and your healer-riders more places to transport the injured to."

"Reading my mind, Lord Jaxom?" I chuckled, thumping him on the shoulder. "Let's not count our dragons before they're shelled. We still have to see if we can redeploy the Yokohama's solar arrays."

That had to be done from the Yokohama's command bridge. It also meant putting our spacesuits back on. The local controls in the docking bay only worked for that area. We would need the pressure suits to make it up to the command deck where we could access ship-wide controls, including arti-grav and environmental controls.

"Stay here with Tarnaa, Goldie," I told my queen as I shifted her onto my lifemate's neck ridge. "I'll send for you as soon as we're ready."

My little golden friend wasn't happy about the separation, but it couldn't be helped. Ship-wide environmental controls had been turned off when the Ancients had descended to Pern. That meant large portions of the ship were either near-vacuum, or totally fetid and unsafe to breathe. Getting the solar arrays redeployed was key to our being able to salvage what we needed for the teaching hospital… and for any future plans we had for the colony ships.

When Jaxom told me what Fandarel was envisioning, I wasn't that surprised. After all, he was a Mastersmith… with a penchant for pursuing the most efficient ways to make things. And it was true that certain materials, once used by the Ancients, could only be manufactured in micro-gravity. If we could bring the colony ships back to life, it would go a long way to fulfilling Fandarel's plans and dreams.

It was a long, arduous path from the docking bay up to the Yokohama's command deck. No lights, other than what our pressure suits gave off. Thankfully, the suits had work lights built into the helmets, so we had a slightly easier time than feeling our way in the dark. The lack of gravity also made our journey easier. We just had to push off of an available surface or pull ourselves along via convenient handrails.

As we were gliding down a long corridor on the way to the bridge, Jaxom grabbed my boot, dragging me to a stop.

"What's wrong?" I radioed, turning to face him.

"Turn off your suit lights," he responded, floating nearby.

"Why?"

"Please," he insisted.

Shrugging, I did as he asked as he turned his own off. That simple act should've plunged us into total darkness, but I soon realized there was still some light coming from somewhere. In fact, it seemed to be brightest just inside my helmet!

"Thought so," Jaxom chuckled, appearing in front of my faceplate.

"What's this about?" I asked, more than a little confused.

In that moment, I finally noticed how the color of the light was shifting… from a bluish-green to a pale yellow… and I couldn't stop the gasp that escaped me when I realized what it meant!

"Masterhealer Dana," the Ruathan Lord spoke, bowing to me. "Star voyager. Diplomat. Explorer. Dragon healer. Dragon rider. Craftmaster of Surgery. Lord Holder of Robinton Cove. Born of the fusion of human and dragon DNA, your eyes are glowing… just like a dragon's!"

It was true! I could see the reflection of the glow in the faceplate of my helmet!

"By the First Egg!" I whispered, reaching up to lightly touch my helmet.

"You never noticed before?" Jaxom asked, laying a hand on my trembling shoulder.

All I could do in reply was vigorously shake my head in the negative.

"They don't seem to swirl like a dragon's does," Jaxom observed, leaning closer, "but the color shift and glow is remarkably dragon-like. Quite the gift you inherited from Wirenth."

"We… we better keep moving," I managed to finally get my recently speechless voice to finally say as I switched my suit lights back on. "The others are waiting for us."

There was a grin from ear-to-ear on Jaxom's face when he switched on his own suit lights. Nodding my silent thanks, we pushed off and continued on down the passageway. Ten minutes later, we reached our destination… the Yokohama's command bridge.

"Now what?" Jaxom radioed as we floated in front of the hatchway. "No power to work the door controls."

"Vessels like this always had manual overrides on the doors," I assured him, opening a nearby panel.

Inside was a lever that I grasped and pulled outward. The doors moved slightly as the latch was released. After that, with a little bit of effort from the two of us, we were able to push the doors aside and enter the command deck.

"It still amazes me that our ancestors were able to create such a marvel!" Jaxom sighed, glancing about at the expansive command deck. "Travelling the infinite vastness of the distance between stars to reach Pern!" Then, getting down to the reason for our visit, he said, pointing as he did, "AIVAS said the solar array controls should be on that panel."

"Well, since you've done the homework," I joked, gesturing for him to get to work.

Sighing nervously, Jaxom pulled a small piece of paper from his suit's utility pocket, referring to what he had scribbled down on it.

"Hope there's still enough reserve battery power to pull this off," he muttered, following the activation sequence AIVAS had given him.

During the time the dragonriders were extracting the anti-matter power cores, the citizens of Pern had had to power up certain portions of the three colony ships, allowing them to work aboard the vessels in relative comfort. Once they had removed the power cores, however, the vessels went dark. Small wonder as the cores were the main power source for the ships. However, during those brief periods of activity, the energy they had used should've also been recharging the reserve batteries located throughout the ships, including those that would allow the solar arrays to deploy. Still, after centuries of disuse, I had to wonder how well the batteries would hold up.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Jaxom muttered, silently praying as he pressed the final button.

We waited several seconds, but no response from the control panel. A full minute later, as Jaxom was about to give up hope, the panel lights suddenly winked on. A viewscreen activated, and we could see the long unused solar array panels slowly extending.

"It works!" Jaxom gasped. "After all this time, the sharding things still work!"

"Don't get your hopes up yet," I cautioned. "This only extends the panels. We don't know yet if the panels are still functional."

"Killjoy," Jaxom muttered, but he smiled a quirk of a smile.

Several times as the solar arrays were extending, an alarm sounded on the control console. Hearing them, Jaxom would refer to his AIVAS notes and punch in the recommended command code. An hour later, status lights on the control console indicated the panels were fully extended.

"Okay, that's phase one," Jaxom sighed, somewhat relieved. Checking the displays, with some excitement coloring his voice, he added, "Power's coming through!"

"You'll need to realign them," I said, double-checking the gauges, "if we're to achieve optimal power levels."

"Working on it," Jaxom responded, keying in more commands, clearly relieved that the arrays were still able to provide power.

"And…" he remarked as the position indicators slowly altered, the images on the viewscreen showing the panels slewing about before finally settling, "square on! We're at optimum alignment!" Hastily checking the power level indicators and comparing them to what AIVAS had said the arrays should be able to produce, Jaxom jubilantly reported, "Shells! Nearly perfect output… even after nearly three millennia! It's incredible!"

"Nice work!" I congratulated the Ruathan Lord. "My turn now."

Keying in the command override code I had discovered during my initial investigations into the Pern Charter, I powered up the main computers then quickly used them to bring the Yokohama back to life. Illuminators on the bridge flared to life, filling the room with light. Reserve atmosphere reservoirs opened, raising the internal pressure of the massive ship to standard Pern sea level values. Circulating fans once more began to move the air through the rooms and halls of the vast ship, filtering and cleaning the air.

Pressing a button on a different console, I said, "Landing Control, this is the Yokohama. Do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Dana!" Piemur radioed back. "How's it going up there?"

"Jaxom has successfully deployed the Yokohama's solar arrays," I reported, grinning from ear to ear. "The Ancients' vessel is alive once more!"

"Whoo hoo!" Piemur cheered, his shout of delight nearly bursting my eardrums in the close confines of my pressure suit's helmet. "That is awesome news!"

"The air scrubbers are cleaning up the atmosphere," I told him. "We'll call you back in a few hours once we know the Yokohama is ready for new visitors."

"Better hurry!" Piemur chuckled, glancing behind him. "The visitors' queue is filling up fast!"

"Roger that!" I laughed. "Over and out!"