Dobbins watched him go for a while before saying, “Let’s head down to the Control Center to meet with Mr. Zhang and Mr. Sapens. We need to come up with something good, and the time is short.”
They re-entered the building and headed down the stairs to the Control Center.
When the arrived in the Control Center, they found Zhang and Leon had opened up one of the stations and were attempting to repair it. Zhang had crawled far underneath the station. Only his legs were visible outside of the station. Leon stared intently at the station, a bag of engineering tools in his hand. Both were so involved in their work that they did not notice the arrival of the others. The sound of a welder could be heard coming from inside the station. On occasion, sparks flew out from the innards of the station, and the smell of acrid smoke filled the room.
“Report, Mr. Zhang,” Dobbins ordered.
After one more burst of the welder, Zhang slowly worked his way out from inside the station. Handing the mini-welder to Leon, he said, “We were able to get in touch with the Hyperion, sir, and the shuttles are on their way. We also made sure that there were three slots available for the shuttles in the Docking Bay. While we were waiting, we noticed that the Navigation station appeared to be malfunctioning, so we took on the task of repairing it. I think I’ll have it up and running in a few minutes.”
“Very good, Lieutenant,” replied Dobbins. “Do you have any idea of when the shuttles will arrive?”
“Probably about 15 minutes, sir. I told them to come to the Town Hall, come in through lower-decks entrance, and assemble in the atrium on the main floor.”
“Good,” Dobbins said. “Resume your repairs, Lieutenant.” Zhang crawled back underneath the station and resumed his welding.
“Mr. Samuelson,” Dobbins ordered, “use the Communications station to open a channel to the Hyperion. I need to talk with Commander Brackers.”
“Aye, sir,” Samuelson replied as he walked over to Communications. After about thirty seconds of work, he had established a channel to the Hyperion and the ship’s First Officer.
“How did your meeting with the crowd go, sir?” Brackers inquired.
“Not as well as I would have hoped,” Dobbins answered. “We have an uphill battle ahead of us. Commander, would it be possible for the Hyperion to jump to Elysion with the Lethe in tow?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Brackers said. “Mr. Zhang would know, though. Ask him.”
Dobbins called to the Hyperion’s Chief Engineer, still buried deep within the Navigation station. After a pause, Zhang’s voice came from the large box, “Yes, Captain, I think it would be possible, but the Hyperion would have to close to within a few meters of the Lethe in order for both ships to be within the perimeter of the jump field. And it might take an extra jump or two to make the entire trip. Still, I think it is possible.”
“Did you hear that Commander?” Dobbins asked once Zhang had finished.
“Barely, sir. Where is Mr. Zhang?”
“Inside the Navigation Console,” Dobbins responded. “He is trying to bring it back online.”
“Of course,” Brackers said, a smile in his voice. “We’ll need you to slow down the Lethe some, sir, if we’re going to pull closer. We’re already moving at our maximum speed right now, and we’re barely keeping pace. Once we’re close enough, and once the shuttles have docked, we’ll do the remaining jumps to get as close to Elysion as we can. That may still put us a day or two out, though.”
“That’s fine, Commander. Make preparations. We’ll work on getting the Lethe slowed down a little for you. Dobbins out.” Dobbins closed the channel to the Hyperion.
Dobbins turned to Lieutenant Skylar. “Mr. Skylar, lower the Lethe’s speed to 0.85c.”
Skylar walked over to Helm Control. After trying for a minute, he reported to Dobbins, “Captain, the controls seem frozen. They’re not responding to my instructions.”
Leon spoke up. “That’s what we were seeing when we looked at the Navigation Station, too, Captain. I think that Desmond messed with the Navigation and Helm controls for some reason. I think I know what needs to be done to bypass the problem, but I’m not really capable of crawling around inside consoles the way I used to be.”
Suddenly, the Navigation console sprang to life. On the screen, the course of the Lethe was mapped out in its entirety.
Zhang crawled out of the station and stood up. “Well, Captain,” he said, “the Navigation system’s repaired. I had to bypass the primary controls, but with Navigation control restored, we should be able to plot an orbit for the ship, now, once we reach Elysion.”
“As always, Mr. Zhang, good work. Now, could you please see what’s wrong with the helm?”
“Oh, I know what’s wrong, Captain,” Leon said. “The same thing that was wrong with Navigation. Someone destroyed the main control circuit. We’re having to jerry-rig a solution to the problem by patching the auxiliary control override directly into the station’s main controls. Whoever did this didn’t want it to be easy to repair, but I think Mr. Zhang can get it fixed for you in about fifteen minutes.”
“Very well,” Dobbins replied.
Zhang opened the Helm’s access panel, grabbed his mini-welder, and again crawled inside the station. The station’s screen quickly went blank as Zhang cut and spliced various connections inside the device. After several minutes of work, the console came back to life as he slid back out. “I think it’s ready, sir,” he reported. “Have Mr. Skylar try it.”
Skylar ran his hands over the controls. “The helm is now responding, sir. I’ll slow us down once the shuttles are on board.”
Just then, Dobbins’ hyperwave sounded. Opening the device, he spoke into it. “Dobbins here.”
“Captain,” a confident male voice from the other side said. “This is Lieutenant Congdon. All teams are on board the Lethe, and we’re making our way to the Town Hall. We should be there in a few minutes”
“Very good, Lieutenant,” replied Dobbins. “Be sure to take the below-decks route to the auxiliary staircase. That will allow you to avoid being seen by the passengers. I think your presence right now might cause them to panic and think it was an invasion.”
“Aye, sir,” Congdon said. “We’re on our way. See you soon. Congdon out.”
Dobbins closed his hyperwave and spoke to Skylar. “Mr. Skylar…” he began.
“Already slowing down, sir,” the helmsman responded. “Speed now at 0.93c and falling. We should be at 0.85c in about twenty minutes.”
“Excellent. Let’s head up to the atrium,” Dobbins said. “We need to come up with a plan for convincing the passengers of their situation, and we’re down to about forty minutes to do so.”
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