I heard someone struggling to unlatch the door. I inhaled deeply as I waited. Finally, there was a tug at the door, but it didn’t budge. “Oh, damn,” I heard a voice I knew well say. “Forgot the other latch.”
The smell of kerosene and booze assaulted me as I entered. “Come on in and have a couple long pulls with us, William,” Jack said, not a care in the world. Straight tequila will do that to you, and they were drinking straight from a mostly empty bottle.
“Yeah, someone has to work tonight. Apparently, you guys didn’t get that memo,” I told them.
“Hell, ya got Faux Mulder and Emperor Tit. Not sure why ya need us shit shovelers?” Sam said, laughing. The others joined in the chorus.
As much as I was aggravated with the nitwits, aside from Avery, the three idiots who were trying to drink the night away were most of the reason why I came to the Patch anyway. They were all my good friends, which did make being their boss difficult.
“We have to figure some shit out. We might be down for a while,” I said as I warmed my hands over the heater.
Jack, who was by all appearances already drunk, asked, “What’s going on?”
“Damn generators. All of them.”
Jack laughed. “More time to drink.”
Whether it was drugs, women, or insert vice here, he didn’t have a stop button. I grabbed the bottle away from him. “I’m serious, guys. Titouan is going to go ape shit if we don’t get things figured out.”
Tom stood up, adjusted his ball cap, and said, “What do you need us to do?”
We ran through options. Since the generators were out, there was no heat. Even though it was relatively warm by Arctic standards, it was still very cold. The only space at the Patch large enough to accommodate everyone was the Commons. We decided the best option would be to round up what kerosene heaters we had and place them inside the Commons in case the power couldn’t be brought up as quickly as we hoped. Cold people are angry people. I had one angry bastard to deal with, and that was enough for me. Speaking of which, it was time for me to pay the piper. I had to find Titouan.
Before I left, we quickly ran over the plans for a second time. Jack and Tom were going to help Avery. Sam was going to ready the Commons for the worst-case scenario, while also taking inventory on the things we would likely need in case of such an event. I was going to talk to Titouan. I got the shit end of the deal, by far.
***
It didn’t take long to find him. He told me he had lapped the Patch a few times looking for me, and how he had just come from the generators, but no one was there. He, of course, berated me because Avery wasn’t working on them. I told him we must've left shortly before he got there. I also told him what I knew at that point, and exactly none of it pleased him. What infuriated him even more was when he saw Sam placing kerosene heaters inside the Commons. He asked me what the hell was going on. I told him I was taking precautions in case the power couldn't be restored – it was mostly a precautionary thing.
“What the hell do you mean the power can’t be restored? And you know you’re not in charge here. Why are you making these calls behind my back?” he yelled.
I ground my teeth as I quickly formulated what not to say. "I said in case. We have three generators not working right now, but that doesn't mean--"
“I guess Avery’s blaming me?”
“He didn’t say anything. Why would it be your fault?”
Ignoring my question, he said, “Avery isn’t cut out for this, William. It’s too much for him. I knew it the entire time.”
Through gritted teeth, I said, “We’ve had one damn instance, besides today, when the power had completely gone out, and that was for, what, a half hour or a little longer?”
“That’s only the case because I’ve spent eighteen-thousand dollars on new controller boards for those generators. He repairs nothing. All he does is replace parts, and that is expensive. You know this.”
“Look, Titouan, I trust Avery with this stuff. He knows a hell of a lot more about these things than either of us could dream of knowing. If he says something has to be replaced, I trust he knows what he’s talking about. If anything, blame Miley for buying crappy generators.”
“He doesn’t know more than the makers of those so-called crappy generators. The engineer I talked to said the boards should be functioning perfectly well in the cold.”
"Yeah, I'm sure he'd happily tell you how well they would operate in the Marianas Trench, too, if that’s where you needed them.”
Titouan angrily shook his head. “Let’s just go to the generators. It’s pretty clear you can’t separate your emotions where he is concerned.”
One of these days, I thought. One of these fucking days. “Lead the way.”
“Somebody has to, which is why I am, and you aren’t.”
Ten years prior I would’ve punched him right in his pussy ass little face. Instead, I forced a smile and said, “Yeah, sure.”
He angrily stomped off in the direction of the generators.
***
Essentially things had gone from bad to worse. We found Avery well into the process of working on the generators. He had two control boxes completely taken apart, and Jack and Tom were nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Jack and Tom, Avery?” I asked.
“Looking at the transformer,” he mumbled to himself, not bothering to look at either of us or translate his mumblese.
“Why would they be looking at the transformer?” Titouan asked.
“Because I told them to.”
“Is it too damn much to want a short update on what the hell is going on here?” Titouan continued.
Ignoring him, he focused on me. “Can you shine the flashlight into this
