Fade in

INT – Bridge – Day

Helton stands at the command station, Stenson to one side in the main pilot station, Lag at the other (co-pilot) station. SGT Kaushik stands at one station, Allonia at the other, and Quinn stands wide-eyed in a corner to watch it all. The forward window shows the space-port, side “window” screens various readouts.

Stenson: Power looks OK. Stable, anyway. All landing struts read GREEN.

Lag: All cameras show ramps and sides clear. No-one walking around. Looks all clear.

Helton picks up a mike attached to a spiral cord, pushes the button, and speaks into it.

Helton: All hands, hold on: prepare to rise on landing pads in five.

Stenson: Time. Let’s see if this Frankenstein can walk again.

He reaches for a small set of levers to one side.

Cut to outside the ship, near the leased shop building.

View of a large green box on the ground, a few feet from the building, labeled “D9 HIGH VOLTAGE”. In the background is the ship, not looking gleaming, but at least it doesn’t looks like an abandon derelict any more. Seeless stands next to the power box, with a small remote control unit in his hand. He watches the small crowd of recruits and various port personnel gathered to watch the first trial raising on pads. He looks WAY too happy to be up to any good. He points the remote at the box. He watches the crowd that appears to take no notice of him, being focused on the ship, and waits. The ship seems to make a soft but growing humming sound, then a slight shuddering groan, and like a sleeping giant awaking from a long slumber, it ever so slowly grinds and shudders up, a few centimeters at a time, lifting itself out of it’s shallow depression in the dirt. The crowd alternately holds it breath and gives short, ragged cheers as it slowly raises a bit unevenly, then more evenly and steadily. A growing gap beside it can be seen. Dust swirls into the vacuum created by the lifting hull. Seeless points his remote, and pushes a button. There is a solid THUNK of a breaker dropping open. The ship drops a short distance suddenly, then catches itself. The humming sound turns into a whining screech of protest, then stabilizes into a much more healthy note.

Cut to bridge

All the readouts are fluctuating wildly, with a lot of red showing up. Stenson is rapidly checking things and adjusting things. Allonia and Quinn hang on as the ship lurches down and a bit sideways.

Helton: What’s happening?!

Stenson: Shore power was cut!

Lag: Why are we moving, then?

Stenson: Sokolov got the auxiliary backup power-cells juiced up and on-line this morning!

Helton: So we DO have power?

Stenson: A bit. They kicked in automatically. Enough for some basic systems. For a little while.

Helton: Fuel cells?

Stenson: Yup. Redundant tertiary backups. Let’s stabilize things, then see where we really are.

Stenson’s hands dance across the controls. The ship stops vibrating, and sits at a slight angle. The hum drops off.

Harbin stick his head in the hatch to the bridge. He looks at Helton and Stenson.

Helton: (hands up, defensively, half-joking) Hey, I’m not touching a thing!

He nods, and pops back out to check on other things.

Helton: So, how long until main power is up? And, where do we hire a pilot around here?

Fade to black.

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