“Your awake,” said Jin, looking down from the command module.
“Yeah, how long was I out?” said Reliq, as she watched Jin descending the tube toward her.
“Not long captain. I believe you’ve been asleep for just over one rotation of this world this time.”
“Oh, is that it? What's our status?” Said Reliq, as she sat up.
“I have managed to get most the major command module systems up by cannibalizing components from the habitat ring. But we have some issues.”
“What is it Doc?”
“It’s better if I show you captain. Can you walk?”
“I will manage,” said Relic, as she willed herself painfully to her feet, before climbing up to the ladder.
Once in the module, Reliq sat at the command station, pausing for a moment as she looked at the empty chairs around her. Standing in front of her, Jin put a hologram sphere into a pedestal beside him. Clicking and whining as it unfolded, the sphere projected a flickering three-dimensional image of blue light. Unable to make out the distorted hologram, he pulled a pouch of small tools from the breast pocket inside his coat and began tinkering with the mechanics of the sphere.
“That should do it,” said Jin, as he made one final adjustment.
The intricate gears and mechanisms in the sphere moved rapidly as they freely expanded outward. Trailing a fine pink mist in their wake, the cogs accelerated and rotated around the pivotal point of the sphere until they were all but invisible. Becoming increasingly clearer, the blue mess of distorted light above the orb focused and concentrated in a sharp topographical map of the area surrounding the crashed ship.
“What am I looking at?” Asked Reliq, leaning towards the hologram.
“I intercepted some maps, and communications from Company radio signals. Seems they figured out roughly where we crashed,” said Jin.
“That's a problem Jin. Won't be long before they come to finish the job.”
“Exactly what though Captain. So, I cut all nonessential systems, including the steam engine, to hide us from their thermal scanners. It bought us some time for repairs, but...”
“But we’re trapped now. Right?” Responded Reliq.
“Right captain. Although I have managed to get the command module operational enough to take off, the Company would be here before the engines even warm up.” Said Jin before a brief pause. “Also, we lost most our aillinium on re-entry shielding. However, I may have found a solution for that problem.” Continued Jin.
Placing both hands over the hologram, Jin moved the hologram. Detailed images of trees and mountain contours rapidly sped by before coming to a stop over a large fenced off area, several miles northwest of their position. Magnifying the image more, details of military vehicles and guard towers surrounding a large opening in the ground became clear.
“What is that? A mine?” Said Reliq, as she studied the image.
“Close... turns out these Issonians may not be as primitive as we thought.” Said Jin. “This area north east of here is a heavily guarded Issonian military installation. It’s where those Company troops are heading.” Continued Jin, as he zoomed the map out showing the Company troops quickly advancing towards the installation.
“What are you getting at Jin?” Said Reliq.
“From what I have pieced together from intercepted Company and Issonian radio signals, there is aillinium down there, literally tons of it.” Continued Jin.
“That doesn’t make any sense. The people of Issa are hundreds of years away from being able to use refined aillinium.” Said Reliq.
“From what I gather Captain, they don’t know what it is. They store in down there as chemical waste to protect the public. They believe it's a useless and hazardous by-product of their mineral extraction methods.” Said Jin, with a tone of excitement.
“Well, this situation just got a whole lot more complicated. I need the command module warmed up and ready to take off as soon as possible,” said Reliq. “The Judicators need to be made aware of this. There is no telling what the company could do with that much aillinium.” Said Reliq, with urgency in her voice.
Standing up, Reliq staggered briefly as she put weight on her injured leg. Limping to the back of the module, Reliq used a handle to spin a series of gears to open the door into the engine room. With Jin following behind, she manoeuvred the levers and buttons on the large brass and iron steam engine to prepare it for start-up. Groaning to lift a heavy bag of black engine sand, Jin came up beside Reliq, pouring the power into a large basin at the bottom of the engine. The sound of the starter clicked rapidly causing a spark to ignite the back sand, instantly causing it to glow orange then white. With a torrent of heat flowing from the intake, Reliq pulled a large lever causing the furnace door to slam shut, holding the heat inside the engine, and causing it to loudly roar to life.
“I need you to divert power to the radio transmitter. I need to get a message to the Avus ring.” Said Reliq loudly, as she inspected the pressure gauges on the engine.
“Captain?” Responded Jin, with hesitation.
“I don’t have much time to explain, but the Union has people on that ring,” said Reliq as she made her way back to the bridge. “Avus will be over head soon. Can you get enough power to send the transmission?” Continued Reliq, looking back at Jin while sitting in her seat.
“Yes Captain, I will make sure it happens,” said Jin, as he walked over to the mess of wires on the wall and began rearranging their terminal ends on a switchboard.
Seeing Jin gesture that the radio was ready, Reliq put on a set
