Blake woke up in bed. The light from the Mess shining in to his room.
He used the toilet, but not the shower. Not yet.
Not till he got the power up and running. Who knows what drain a simple shower might have on the emergency power supply.
He couldn't take the chance that a simple shower would use a full day's emergency power.
He drank the rest of the water in his bottle then went to have breakfast.
What to have this morning?
Eggs benedict perhaps.
Or bacon and sausage today.
You know, what I really feel like is Emergency Rations! Perfect!
While ordering his Rations and water, he checked the Emergency Power Status.
Emergency Power 167hrs Till Depletion.
What! So 167hrs of power available at current usage? So I could sit on my ass for months if I wanted.
"And go insane while I did it. You know you couldn't cope with thst level of boredom Blakie-Boy"
Blake sat down to eat at a table by the door, the opposite side of the Mess, in the far corner was the Dead Spaceman Storage area.
After eating his Ration Bar and grabbing a couple more he decided to take the Passageway heading North today.
The first interesting thing he found, besides closed doors was a steel stairwell spiraling down.
Heading down for a quick look showed him a much smaller passageway than the Main Passageway. 2 metres by 2 metres was his guess.
He headed back up the stairs to continue.
That goes on my to-do list.
He continued for another 10 minutes before he reached a closed hatch similar to the Engineering/Cargo Bay Hatch. With an identical airlock on the East side.
Symmetry is a big thing I guess.
Touching the hatch controls, he jumped back when the door slide across in to the wall.
Almost needed to strip some new pants off a skeleton then. My first freebie eh?
Inside was clearly the Bridge of the ship.
Blake froze in awe. Space! In all its glory spread across the viewing screen in front of him, curving at the edges to follow the form of the ship.
Never had he seen the stars this way, the very atmosphere of earth had tainted the remarkable sight in front of him.
He stood for minutes before taking in the rest of the Bridge.
Four seats in front of four control panels at the North end of the Bridge, Two pair West, two pair East.
A identical set-up in the South end of the Bridge.
Two pair and two pair.
In the centre sat what could only be the Captains Chair.
That would be my seat. But how likely is it I can fly this thing by myself.
Blake walked over to the chair and sat down.
A Holo-Screen appeared in front of him, similar but not the same as the System screen.
The Holo-Screen showed the status of the ship systems. All besides life-support, which was green, were marked red
Engines
Hull integrity
Communications
The list went on. Each had a subcategory showing more damaged equipment.
Until one caught his eye.
A.i Assistant.
This one had no subcategory. With a gesture he wasn't sure would even work, he touched the screen words.
A.i Assistant malfunction. Repair Yes/No
Don't know how big a Repair this might be, so I better load-up on energy.
He chugged the water, ste a Ration Bar and initiated the repair.
The glow from his hand went straight into the screen then spread to the ceiling above the chair.
Blake could feel the energy draining from his body.
At 60 seconds he ate another Ration Bar.
At 2 minutes he ate the last Bar he had with him.
As 3 minutes came he was about to bolt from the bridge when the glow ceased.
" Greetings Captain. I am your A.i Assistant. You may address me as Aubrey."
The voice was male, with the accent of an English Butler. It certainly leant an air of trust to it.
"Hello Aubrey. My name is Blake Fisher. My title is Repairman. I was transported here from another place at my death. I arrived in a Stasis tube"
Blake felt he had little chance if confusing an a.i system, and hoped blunt honest was the best way forward.
"Thank you Mr Fisher. If you are indeed a Transmigrated Individual, with a Repair Skill, I will endeavour to make myself available to your needs. My first suggestion is, since we are currently running on emergency power, that I transfer myself to my more power efficient remote unit"
The right arm of the Captains Chair opened, a small earpiece rose up from it.
" Please use the remote for further communication" and went silent. No lights gad appeared when the conversation started, so there were none to ominously wink out.
OK then. Next step seems to be thst I push some creepy random alien a.i tech into my ear. That's never lead to anything bad.
But he did it anyway. His choices were few or none. And the few were not as good as do it.
The earpiece really just hooked over his ear. It fit snugly, surprisingly so. A quick shake of his head proved it wasn't likely to fall off.
"We can proceed with my suggestions if you are sufficiently satisfied with the fit of my remote unit Sir?"
Blake jumped at the clarity of the voice that he heard inside his head. He assumed it would work something like a radio headset.
He was wrong.
" Uh excellent quality unit this. My first plan is to return to the Synthesizer unit. My repair skill works off my energy levels in some way. I need food to recharge"
If the a.i could nod, Blake imagined it would be right now.
"Very well Sir. Your explanation does answer some anomalous readings I am getting from your body. Mainly concerning what you refer to as "energy", which I see is very low"
Blake, who hand been walking back to the Mess while the a.i spoke, stopped in his tracks.
"You can measure the energy levels I use for my repair skills?"
"Oh yes Sir. Would you like me to display it for you?"
Not being sure how it would be displayed, Blake assumed some kind of Holo-Screen like on the Bridge.
He was wrong.
A number appeared in is vision, at the top right, with a percentage next to it.
It currently said 10%.
Wow. The a.i repair used up almost 300% of my energy. I'll have to find out if I can halt a repair halfway. Otherwise I'll be carrying a ton of Ration Bars around with me.
"So what happened to the ship? What killed everyone?" Blake really hoped it wasn't some killer virus or bacteria that was still hanging around.
" Massive Solar Flare. Quite the surprise. Certainly for me. Had I not been shutdown for a rare high-level diagnostic I could have offered greater warning. Without a bridge crew present, all the automated systems could do was to attempt to shield the ship as best it could"
"That was just over 100 years ago"
That would explain the condition of the bodies. Even the relatively clean environment of the ship can't hold back bacteria doing their work.
Blake nodded at all he was told as he arrived at the Mess. He loaded up on Ration Bars and water, topping up his energy reserves.
"What we're the suggestions you had for me? I have what I call System Quests telling me to repair the Main Reactor Core."
"I have limited confirmed information about individuals such as yourself. Mostly rumour and legend. One in several trillion with unexplainable abilities. On this though, this System and I agree. Power must be restored"
"Do you have an estimate of what the failure to the Reactor Core may have been, given the circumstances of the Flare event?"
"Most likely the Reator Core was not sealed via Reactor Shields, physical Shutters used in just such circumstances as these.
Blake, already wearing his Pressure Suit headed for the Engineering Bay.
"Anything you can tell me about this Suit that I should know?
Like basically everything
"The Suit has a reel of Spider-wire, anchor points on either side of the Engineering/Cargo Bay Hatch are available.
This model of EVA Suit is rugged and durable if maintain well. In your own case, this is not an issue, you may choose to forgo the lengthy inspection process in favour of a simple repair.
EVA maneuver attachments were available in the ships inventory before the Flare.
Hardware Malfunctions between the Engineering Bay and Bridge prevent the manual closing of pressure doors"
"And what's the solution to that for us?"
"At the moment you open the Engineering/Cargo Bay Hatch, an emergency pressure will come down, sealing the main Passageway approximately 10 metres from the hatch. Once the hatch closes, or the breach in engineering or cargo bay is sealed and air pressure equalises, the pressure door will open automatically"
Simple enough I guess. If I can't fix the breach in one go, I'll have to return here and repeat the process.
"OK then. Let's get this hatch open"
Repairman Skill level [White] 80%
Wow. The a.i repair gave me over 20% towards my level, whatever that means.
Blake onwound a length of Spider-wire from the reel at the small of his back and attached it to the Anchor Point, after checking the points repair condition.
"The reel will prevent being pulled out of the breach, it will automatically brake when sudden unwind pressure is exerted.
He pressed the hatch sensor and waited for the hatch to activate.