room on the ship and sent the data to the fitter. The fitter had then sent back a program we could feed to the robot for each room. All I had to do was remove the fixtures and deploy the bot. According to the manufacturer’s advertisement, when done, the room would be completely clean, rust ground down and metal built back up where necessary. All openings would be patched or precisely resized for the new equipment, and fresh paint would be applied.
Run Hotspur bridge-head program , I instructed my AI.
" Exit bridge head and close door. Program will complete in thirty-four minutes ." I was still experimenting with different voices and today's choice was that of a middle aged woman. It would do for now.
I exited the room and heard the machine start. It was expensive to rent, but if it could remodel that head in thirty-four minutes, it would be money well spent.
My next task was the main head, so I climbed down to the berth deck. This head had also seen decades of hard use and neglect and the fittings were just as frozen and just as hard to remove as those in the bridge head. Luckily, there’s something about getting into a task; things that start off as difficult become easier as you get into a rhythm. Apparently, removing plumbing fittings was one of those things.
I was making good progress until I got to the toilet. In the bridge head I had to cut the fixture out and I didn’t expect things to be any different here. Something most people don’t know about a ship is that the septic system has to be very carefully designed to deal with pressure buildup. Since this system was barely functioning and hadn’t been in service for more than a decade, I didn’t think there could possibly be anything active left inside. That was a bad assumption to make. When I popped off the head, several liters of foul material suddenly exploded into the lower pressure environment. The half gas / half fetid material immediately filled the interior, coating every surface and occupant.
"Anybody home?" I heard Ada’s familiar voice echo through the empty hallway.
"Down here," I answered ruefully. Of course she’d chosen this moment to show up.
"Oh my stars! What’s that smell?" she asked as she turned the corner and looked into the head. "Is that…?" She couldn’t finish the sentence.
"Ancient shite? Yes." I finished the sentence for her.
Save video from when I entered ship until now , Ada instructed.
"You rat!"
"I’m not done," she giggled. Send video to Tabitha Masters .
"Oh, you’re dead."
"Let’s not get all worked up. She requested recordings of our lighter moments. Apparently, all she’s getting are your successes."
"But, that?"
"Frak, Cap. What’s that smell?" Marny’s voice filtered down.
"Nothing to be concerned about," I yelled back.
"How about you shut the door while you’re in there?" she responded over the comm.
"That won’t help," Ada joined the comm channel. "He’s got it all over himself."
"Yeah, yeah. Marny, could you help me out by bringing the renobot down from the bridge head?"
"Aye, aye, Cap. It spun down about ten minutes ago. That little bugger did a nice job, it’s the best looking room in the whole ship. I’ll be down in a jiffy."
"Can’t wait to see it. I’ll be in the bilge. That guy’s gonna be here in two hours," I said to Marny. "Ada, you feel like helping out with the septic field?" I was mostly joking and was surprised at her response.
"Sure. I’d like to see what this old tub’s got down there," she said. "But, are you going to scrape some of that off first?" She waved her hand, gesturing to my suit.
The good news was that I’d already removed the remaining furniture from the berth deck and it was ready for the renobot. The bed frames had come off with the merest of tugs. I’d originally been concerned the structure of the ship would be in similar decay, but Jake assured me that the skeleton's stronger alloy was still in perfect shape.
The bad news was I’d not been
Run Hotspur bridge-head program , I instructed my AI.
" Exit bridge head and close door. Program will complete in thirty-four minutes ." I was still experimenting with different voices and today's choice was that of a middle aged woman. It would do for now.
I exited the room and heard the machine start. It was expensive to rent, but if it could remodel that head in thirty-four minutes, it would be money well spent.
My next task was the main head, so I climbed down to the berth deck. This head had also seen decades of hard use and neglect and the fittings were just as frozen and just as hard to remove as those in the bridge head. Luckily, there’s something about getting into a task; things that start off as difficult become easier as you get into a rhythm. Apparently, removing plumbing fittings was one of those things.
I was making good progress until I got to the toilet. In the bridge head I had to cut the fixture out and I didn’t expect things to be any different here. Something most people don’t know about a ship is that the septic system has to be very carefully designed to deal with pressure buildup. Since this system was barely functioning and hadn’t been in service for more than a decade, I didn’t think there could possibly be anything active left inside. That was a bad assumption to make. When I popped off the head, several liters of foul material suddenly exploded into the lower pressure environment. The half gas / half fetid material immediately filled the interior, coating every surface and occupant.
"Anybody home?" I heard Ada’s familiar voice echo through the empty hallway.
"Down here," I answered ruefully. Of course she’d chosen this moment to show up.
"Oh my stars! What’s that smell?" she asked as she turned the corner and looked into the head. "Is that…?" She couldn’t finish the sentence.
"Ancient shite? Yes." I finished the sentence for her.
Save video from when I entered ship until now , Ada instructed.
"You rat!"
"I’m not done," she giggled. Send video to Tabitha Masters .
"Oh, you’re dead."
"Let’s not get all worked up. She requested recordings of our lighter moments. Apparently, all she’s getting are your successes."
"But, that?"
"Frak, Cap. What’s that smell?" Marny’s voice filtered down.
"Nothing to be concerned about," I yelled back.
"How about you shut the door while you’re in there?" she responded over the comm.
"That won’t help," Ada joined the comm channel. "He’s got it all over himself."
"Yeah, yeah. Marny, could you help me out by bringing the renobot down from the bridge head?"
"Aye, aye, Cap. It spun down about ten minutes ago. That little bugger did a nice job, it’s the best looking room in the whole ship. I’ll be down in a jiffy."
"Can’t wait to see it. I’ll be in the bilge. That guy’s gonna be here in two hours," I said to Marny. "Ada, you feel like helping out with the septic field?" I was mostly joking and was surprised at her response.
"Sure. I’d like to see what this old tub’s got down there," she said. "But, are you going to scrape some of that off first?" She waved her hand, gesturing to my suit.
The good news was that I’d already removed the remaining furniture from the berth deck and it was ready for the renobot. The bed frames had come off with the merest of tugs. I’d originally been concerned the structure of the ship would be in similar decay, but Jake assured me that the skeleton's stronger alloy was still in perfect shape.
The bad news was I’d not been
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