
Subj : New Beginings(21)
To   : All
From : Skyhawk #1
Date : Sun Jul 23 1995 17:18:43 PST

                               New Beginnings(21)
                             By Daniel C. Harrison

     "Kev, can you hear me?" The hum of the I.V. machine filled the infirmary
as Candar leaned over Kevin. It had been eight hours since his operation was
concluded and, he was coming out of it. Grayson had been nothing short of
extraordinary. She turned where she knew he was standing and smiled. "Is he
alright to talk to?"
     "Yes, there's no danger." She heard Grayson move next to the machine.
"Henry will be fine in a few days as well. He lost some blood but fortunately
we have a good stock of that seeming, this is a colony ship."
     Candar nodded. Since the Outlander would technically drop these people off
with nothing but what they brought, they had to of been prepared. She turned
back to Kevin. "Come on Kev...wake up."
     Kevin's eyes fluttered for a second and he groaned. "I died and I'm
hearing an angel. I'm ready for judgement, baby."
     Candar laughed and hugged him. "You know who this is! God it's great to
hear you again. I was worried as hell. I need your help badly Kev. Our engines
are gone, including the secondarys. Were on battery power only. We estimate
about six more hours before we lose that. Weve managed to sustain the cryo
systems but, they'll go before anything else because of the draw on power. In
short, were in a world of shit!" She took his hand and squeezed it hard.
     "Sounds like it." he whispered. Kevin opened his eyes and slowly turned
his head, his eyes meeting her's. "Those guys in engineering. They don't know
much do they?"
     "The bastards tried to take the ship over and head it back to earth. They
would have blown us up if Jerry hadn't pulled the shut down switch. We were
building toward a critical hyper jump when it happened."
     "Damn." Kevin coughed hard and, Grayson moved forward. Candar heard him
adjust some things on the machine. "I'm ok, Doc, really."
     "You need more oxygen." Grayson swore and she heard him slap the machine.
"Second rate crap! I knew we should have spent more."
     Candar squeezed Kevin's hand. "It's ok. Kev, I need to know. What can we
do about this? Were dead in space."
     "So you said." She heard him lift his head. "Your eyes...you can't see can
you? What the hell.."
     "There's no time." she cut him off. "Tell me now. Use that engineering
mind of yours..or were finished."
     Kevin thought a moment. "I'm too tired for this shit. Damn. Uhmmm" His
voice trailed off and Candar squeezed his hand again. He turned to her. "I'm
awake although I feel like I could sleep for a year. Ok, are the colony
shuttles in Lock Two still intact?"
     Candar sat up. "Yes. But. we can't abandon ship, there isn't enough.."
     "Hear me out, Captain, I'm not done." She stopped and waited for him to
finish. "Jerry is running engineering right?
     "From the bridge station. Engineering is unreachable at the moment.
There's too much residue left from the explosion."
     "Yeah, figured that." Kevin turned slightly so he could face her better.
"I have a radical idea. Those shuttles have a full load of fuel. There is extra
fuel for them in storage tanks. We could take the storage tanks and put them
inside the shuttle. Take up most of the passenger space but, that's ok. We then
use titanium steel to make two A frames. We weld those frames to the hull on
each side of the ship. Once thats done, we use the shuttles maneuvering
thrusters and put them inside those frames. We then weld them to the frames. Do
you see what I'm getting at yet?"
     Candar grinned. "Yes. Your making  the shuttles into two large boosters.
We can use them to get this crate moving. I assume your also planning on using
the computers in them to replace the navigation system."
     Kevin shook his head. "Not entirely. Under my directions, you can set up a
network program to link those computers to the main system. The power problem
can be solved by supplementing the batteries with solar power. Rig up some
panels on the front of the ship and, put rotors on them. They can be used to
rotate the panels in whatever direction we need. The extra fuel inside the
tanks should give us a continual boost for awhile till we run out. After that,
we have to coast. Therefore, it's up to you and...Henry was it? That same guy
who was with us on the "Glory Virgin." 
     Candar laughed. "Surprised eh? So am I. I was dead wrong about him. In
fact I was wrong about a lot of things. But, I see what you mean. It'll be up
to us pilots to figure how we can stretch that fuel to reach Mirinda III. Once
we do that, the computer will do the rest."
     Kevin groaned in pain and fell back on the mattress. "My side is killing
me. How long will I be like this?
     "Till I let you out." Grayson answered. "And if you don't relax and quit
straining yourself, your going out for awhile. I'm glad to see your feeling
better though."
     "Thanks Doc...we owe you big!" Candar smiled and hugged Kevin. "Anything
else we need to know, Kev?"
     "Yeah. The landing is gonna suck. There wont be enough fuel for a soft
one. We can maneuver so we dont burn up but, if you don't get the math right on
this one , baby, we'll bounce off the atmosphere and continue on into deep
space. Then, we really will be dead. I don't suppose you sent out a distress
call to earth? Or anyone?"
     "A few times." She hung her head. "But even if they heard were so far off
from where we were supposed to be, they may never find us even if they did
there's no telling what would happen."
     "Ok." Kevin sighed and pulled the covers over his head. "But I hadn't
planned on being a damn colonist too dear! We're gonna be stuck on Mirinda
after we land. If we land. There wont be a second chance. Hope like hell it's
friendly. Don't need to go through another Delazar! Make it work, Captain."
     She squeezed his hand once more. "I'll do that, Mister. You take care."
