Supernal

Chapter 14

7:30 am Sunday, 24th June 2029

Crew Room on the OCF

Toby had discovered that the digital clock in his cabin had an alarm facility so he woke early and was in the crew room ahead of the others. He poured himself a coffee from the machine and warmed a packet of scrambled eggs. When Rob came in and did the same, Toby asked why there was no toast.

"Crumbs," Rob said through a mouthful. "Crumbs can block up the air conditioning filters. We can't have biscuits or crackers or anything like that."

Charlie and Summers appeared and Rob asked his boss what he was going to be doing while Toby and himself were hard at it.

"Oh, you know ... the usual boss stuff, paperwork, administration. I'll give Mrs Summers a call on the encoded sat phone later to let her know everything's going okay. I'm sure she'll want to know."

"Don't you worry Rob," Charlie winked. "I'll keep him busy."

They agreed to meet just before twelve in the main assembly bay.

#

Rob led Toby through the passageways to the main cargo bay. Toby was getting used to the weightless environment outside the rotating accommodation module and was starting to enjoy the sensation of flying.

When they entered the cargo bay he was impressed by its scale. Rob confirmed his guess that they were underneath the main assembly bay floor. Several shipping containers made little impression on the huge space. Rob made a right turn inside the door and propelled himself to a row of one-piece suits and helmets hanging next to sealed double doors.

"Those containers fit exactly in the cargo bay of a Spaceplane or Cargo Dragon," he explained, "and these are the airtight doors to the unloading area. If we were going to open the outer cargo door we'd need to wear pressure suits with an air supply."

They went through the doors into a smaller area. A container was clamped onto the floor alongside the outer cargo door. Rob lifted the hinged side of the container to reveal a black metal box the size of a large suitcase strapped down inside.

"This is the new control unit," Rob said.

"What the hell is that?" Toby asked pointing at a strange crane-like machine alongside the cargo door.

"It's our robotic arm. It extends so you can use it to grab the container from the hold of a spacecraft docked outside and dump it in here. It's like the best computer game ever." Rob showed him a handheld controller that was almost identical to the video game controllers used by kids on Earth.

"The boss is hooked on it," he confided.

#

They unstrapped the box and began guiding it through the weightless passageways. Summers was correct. It was awkward, and they were constantly diving to stop the sharp corners from damaging the walls.

"There must be an easier way of doing this!" Toby complained after trapping his fingers for the third time.

"There is," Rob admitted. "Some of the assembly bay floor panels are removable so we can transfer large parts directly from the cargo area, but we need a minimum of six guys to do it. Health and safety regulations."

"But if they're weightless what's the problem?"

"They are weightless but still have mass. Once something heavy starts moving it's hard to stop and you can easily get squished. That's why we're having trouble with this darn thing."