“You mean a crystal-like this?” Kestok held the canister aloft with one hand.
“You just gave one to them! I’ve been begging you for one for years. Literally years! And you just hand them over to strangers as soon as you meet them?” Skorra glared at her father. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I’ve told you many times. We only have two crystals of large enough size to power something like this. One powers the tower, the other was a backup for that. It was too dangerous to chance on your experiments. We couldn’t risk it.”
“That makes it worse! You trust them with it so quickly. I was so close father.”
“Ehhh…” Kestok said. “What, uh, exactly were you doing in that panel?”
Skorra looked puzzled for a moment, her head twisting to the exposed machinery and back. “Trying to restart the power, of course.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how to tell you this, but that in there, is for the toilets.”
“I did wonder why there was so much water. Wait are you an engineer?” Skorra’s eyes went wide, her hands clasped together.
“Sure am. I think,” Kestok looked around the room, “the real engine room is that way.”
Kestok had led them through the ship, gas lamp in one hand, canister in the other as he plunged through the corridors like an adventurer, acting on keen mechanical instinct on where to go. His gut feelings had been vindicated about an hour later, as they emerged into a massive chamber. In the centre of it, set half into the ground was a long thin tube, its doors open wide. Alongside the walls were shut off screens, long-dead glass waiting for life.
“Ah, I have been in here before. Nothing seemed to work when I tinkered with it,” Skorra said.
“You opened the reactor chamber then?” Kestok said, pointing to the open tube. “That thing, with the doors.”
“Yeah, it was empty, I thought it might be some kind of storage.”
“You are a lucky little furry one. If anything on this ship worked properly you would have gotten a lethal dose of radiation. From the fact that you aren’t hairless, I’m guessing the material inside degraded long ago. Hold this please,” Kestok said, passing the lamp to Meggok.
“It’s nice to feel useful,” Meggok said.
“You think you can get it working on that crystal thing?” Michael asked. “It doesn’t look like it plugs in.”
“Nope, it doesn’t,” Kestok said, placing the canister on the ground. He walked around to the end of the open reactor, inspecting something plugged into the side. “How does the crystal in the tower work? Is there some kind of extraction mechanism for the power?”
“No,” Gravult said. “From what I understand, the crystal controls itself.”
“Really? huh.” Kestok gestured to Mellok. “Can you link in the furry girl? I’ll need her to help me and I don’t want any issues in translation. I think, maybe I can get this linked up, but I would rather it didn’t explode or something. At least she looks like she knows her way around a spanner.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Meggok said, scowling.
“Please, hun, you can’t tell which end of a screwdriver to use. You stick to the gourmet dishes, I fix the machines. Aileena, Brekt, can you give me a hand as well?”
“At least, you aren’t alone,” Michael whispered to Meggok. “Would have been nice to at least been considered.”
Meggok nodded. “I know, right?”
It took less time than Michael thought, to adapt the reactor. Kestok had, with the help of the others, removed the large central metal tube, rolling away to the side. In the trench that now lay in the ground, he had pulled the wiring to the centre. From there it had been a simple case of unscrewing the top and bottom of the crystal’s container, revealing large round metal knobs. He had stripped back some of the thick rubber coating from the reactor wire and had wrapped it around the knobs, leaving the bottom end unhooked from its original connection to the power circuits of the ship.
“We ready?” Kestok said.
“I believe the knower should say something, it seems only right,” Mellok said.
Michael was speechless, at a loss for words. Far from his usual self. He looked around the room at the expectant faces of the Merydians. “Well, uh you know what they say,” he began. His eyes danced over their feline faces. “Just hang on in there.” He couldn’t help it, their faces dragging the cliché poster to the top of his mind.
“Yes, hang on in there. Like our ancestors would cling onto the trees during the rainy season, knowing that the water would bring life to the valleys below. You’re saying that we too, must endure this period of ice, to find our reward at the end.” Gravult nodded sagely.
“Uh, yes, exactly. That’s it. Got it in one. Kestok, you want to start this thing up?” Michael said, trying to shift the focus away from himself.
“Ready?”
As Kestok connected the wiring, the crystal flashed brilliant pink. Lightning arced into the rods that held it within the cylinder. Power flowed through the cabling into the ship, and long-dormant systems yawned awake. The lights came on first, flickering like halogen bulbs before coming on at a pleasant low glow.
Next were the screens, Merydian text pouring down their surfaces. Michael found, strangely, that he could read them, the shapes quickly becoming English letters between blinks. More lightning arced from the crystal, the ship hungrily demanding more power. There was a loud blaring noise, and the lights began to flash taking on a blue hue.
“What the hell is that?” Michael shouted over the noise.
Kestok ran to the screens, his eager disciple following behind, her tail bobbing. His fingers moved over the glass, scrolling through the words. “Say’s here that power regulators are failing across the ship. It wasn’t designed to be jumpstarted all at once like this. Normally things are more controlled, I think by an AI, by the looks of these messages.”
“So, that’s bad?” Aileena said. “Can we switch on the AI?”
“I don’t think they ever installed it. Or maybe the one they had failed? Hard to tell just yet. The ship is struggling, with nothing controlling it.”
“So,” Meggok said, almost smugly. “We need an AI?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Well, it just so happens I grabbed this fella before we left the Seeker, didn’t feel right leaving him there.” Triumphantly he removed a clear chip from his pocket, waving it in his hand. “Will this work?”
“Can’t hurt to try,” Kestok said grabbing the data unit holding Clive from his husbands’ hand. “Hang on… yeah, here. Let’s hope the ship recognises his formatting.” Kestok pulled open a drawer from between two screens. It was full of similar chips, but Clive’s fitted awkwardly, bending the thin metal holding them in place as Kestok squeezed it in. The drawer shut.
The klaxon continued to blare. On the screens the images blurred for a moment, replaced with random pixels before returning to their original layouts.
“Ugh, can someone shut off that noise?” Clive said, his voice crystal clear. “That’s weird. I feel like I put-on weight all of a sudden.”
“Clive, can you feel the power supply in the ship? Can you control the regulators? Bring them online one at a time?” Kestok said, his attention back on the screen.
“Maybe,” Clive said. His voice was strange, whatever system was projecting it made it feel like he was standing right next to the group. “Hang on.” He went silent for a moment, and the alarm stopped, the lights returning to their normal colour. “Ah, that’s better. Someone mind explaining to me what’s going on?”