tools yourself?"
To her relief he
responded appropriately.
" Aye, that I did, most o' them."
"And the modifications to the sled?"
"Aye, those too."
"Damned
impressive," she said.
To Harris'
surprise, Hawkins went on to explain some of the other basics. "You canna
buy any o' the tools you be needin' to work out here.
Lots o' the time you dinna even know what you'll be needin' ."
"So you have
to be ready for anything?" asked Carlisle.
"Aye, Lass. Ready for anything. Lots o' these wrecks, 'specially the
military ones, be havin' some kind o' damage t' begin
with. That does na ' help. But you dinna even need them
t' be damaged. Doors and hatches get stuck, 'vacuum welded' they be callin ' it. I made a power vibrator rig that can usually be
breakin' the vacuum welds after a couple o' minutes but we've still had t' be
burnin' through more o' them than I'd like."
"So you've
got cutting lasers and hydraulic shears?" asked Carlisle.
" Aye, that we do. You gotta be rememberin' that there's nay
any power on any o' these old ships neither. Some of the old machinery be still workin' if you can be gettin' power to it. This
sled has some hefty batteries on 'er and we installed a heavy duty generator from
a spaceport tug that we be salvagin' a couple o' years ago."
"Does that
seem to do the trick?"
"Aye, Lass.
I wished I be havin' another for the other sled."
Carlisle made
several minor steering corrections on the controls to the utility sled while
she thought of another topic to keep the conversation going.
"How would
you get me on board one of these ships, say a Succession destroyer or something
like it?" she asked.
The older man
thought for a moment.
"Well...We
can usually be powerin' the doors up through the ship's docking connector. If
that does na ' work, or it be too badly damaged, I be
havin' some power hand tools t' be crankin' on the manual overrides for the
doors. We dinna need 'em too often, thank God! As a last resort, we can be
cuttin' through the hull. That can be takin' a while though."
Hawkins lapsed
into silence and Harris realized that the conversation was the longest he'd
ever heard from the man. He wasn't making eye contact, but he was
communicating. The ensign had chosen to ask the old technician about his
expertise and had then followed up in a manner that conveyed genuine interest
on her part and the older man had responded to it. Harris momentarily wondered
if his lengthy conversation with the ensign the night before had been similarly
orchestrated.
The remainder of
the trip was over fairly quickly. Harris watched intently as Carlisle slowly
and carefully guided the utility sled into the open main cargo door on the side
of a battered old pre-war cargo vessel. On their suit radios, both men could
hear her speaking softly inside her helmet.
"Slow and
easy, Tamara...just a little to starboard...now forward...and... stop ."
Her hand
movements on the controls were deft, smooth and confident. Harris could have performed
the docking operation more quickly, but even he couldn't have done it any more
smoothly. The two men each secured their side of the craft to one of the larger
cargo holdfasts in the belly of the old ship. As Carlisle put the sled's engine
on standby, she realized that she was sweating.
"Well done,
Ensign."
"I took your
advice and went really slow."
"I saw that.
A lot of our new pilots manage to bump into something."
"It wasn't
too bad," she said as she unbuckled and got out of the pilot's seat.
"Of course this sled really handles well. It's agile and responsive, not
at all like I expected. Is that your doing, Hawk?"
"Aye, Lass,
I be makin' a few other modifications."
Carlisle looked
around the cargo bay, which was empty accept for the Rover I .
"Alright,
before we go any further," said Harris, "it's time for a short
briefing on salvage protocol. Standard spacewalk tethering procedures are in
order out here. While moving, even through a ship, don't unhook any tether
before you have
To her relief he
responded appropriately.
" Aye, that I did, most o' them."
"And the modifications to the sled?"
"Aye, those too."
"Damned
impressive," she said.
To Harris'
surprise, Hawkins went on to explain some of the other basics. "You canna
buy any o' the tools you be needin' to work out here.
Lots o' the time you dinna even know what you'll be needin' ."
"So you have
to be ready for anything?" asked Carlisle.
"Aye, Lass. Ready for anything. Lots o' these wrecks, 'specially the
military ones, be havin' some kind o' damage t' begin
with. That does na ' help. But you dinna even need them
t' be damaged. Doors and hatches get stuck, 'vacuum welded' they be callin ' it. I made a power vibrator rig that can usually be
breakin' the vacuum welds after a couple o' minutes but we've still had t' be
burnin' through more o' them than I'd like."
"So you've
got cutting lasers and hydraulic shears?" asked Carlisle.
" Aye, that we do. You gotta be rememberin' that there's nay
any power on any o' these old ships neither. Some of the old machinery be still workin' if you can be gettin' power to it. This
sled has some hefty batteries on 'er and we installed a heavy duty generator from
a spaceport tug that we be salvagin' a couple o' years ago."
"Does that
seem to do the trick?"
"Aye, Lass.
I wished I be havin' another for the other sled."
Carlisle made
several minor steering corrections on the controls to the utility sled while
she thought of another topic to keep the conversation going.
"How would
you get me on board one of these ships, say a Succession destroyer or something
like it?" she asked.
The older man
thought for a moment.
"Well...We
can usually be powerin' the doors up through the ship's docking connector. If
that does na ' work, or it be too badly damaged, I be
havin' some power hand tools t' be crankin' on the manual overrides for the
doors. We dinna need 'em too often, thank God! As a last resort, we can be
cuttin' through the hull. That can be takin' a while though."
Hawkins lapsed
into silence and Harris realized that the conversation was the longest he'd
ever heard from the man. He wasn't making eye contact, but he was
communicating. The ensign had chosen to ask the old technician about his
expertise and had then followed up in a manner that conveyed genuine interest
on her part and the older man had responded to it. Harris momentarily wondered
if his lengthy conversation with the ensign the night before had been similarly
orchestrated.
The remainder of
the trip was over fairly quickly. Harris watched intently as Carlisle slowly
and carefully guided the utility sled into the open main cargo door on the side
of a battered old pre-war cargo vessel. On their suit radios, both men could
hear her speaking softly inside her helmet.
"Slow and
easy, Tamara...just a little to starboard...now forward...and... stop ."
Her hand
movements on the controls were deft, smooth and confident. Harris could have performed
the docking operation more quickly, but even he couldn't have done it any more
smoothly. The two men each secured their side of the craft to one of the larger
cargo holdfasts in the belly of the old ship. As Carlisle put the sled's engine
on standby, she realized that she was sweating.
"Well done,
Ensign."
"I took your
advice and went really slow."
"I saw that.
A lot of our new pilots manage to bump into something."
"It wasn't
too bad," she said as she unbuckled and got out of the pilot's seat.
"Of course this sled really handles well. It's agile and responsive, not
at all like I expected. Is that your doing, Hawk?"
"Aye, Lass,
I be makin' a few other modifications."
Carlisle looked
around the cargo bay, which was empty accept for the Rover I .
"Alright,
before we go any further," said Harris, "it's time for a short
briefing on salvage protocol. Standard spacewalk tethering procedures are in
order out here. While moving, even through a ship, don't unhook any tether
before you have
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