My Vacation On the Exotic Shores of a Black Hole - Part 14

_{This is a continuation of my story series "My Vacation On the Exotic Shores of a Black Hole".}

_{To read the previous installments of this series, you can click below.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13}

I woke up in the cinema with old cartoons playing on the screen. Julia must have changed it while I was sleeping. My dreams had been a mess of things from nights before, and disjointed imagery. I closed my eyes again, and rubbed them. Sleep was encrusted in the corners. At least it wasn't hypersleep residue. That stuff feels nasty and gets everywhere. I would have to take several showers to get rid of it.

Speaking of, how long has it been since I've had a shower? I felt a little grimy. Perhaps I should grab one before I started the day.

"Good morning Julia, how long did I sleep?" I unstrapped myself from the cinema chair.

"Four and a half hours, captain."

Was that a lot? How long had I been awake? Did I have enough sleep before that? The days were all starting to muddle together. That tends to happen out here in the black. Especially when you don't keep a schedule. I was never that good at keeping a schedule. Of course, I could always use the excuse that things were too hectic, and I needed to keep whatever hours I had to, to get the repairs done.

"I'm going to get a shower. Make me some potato and Bacoeggs." I got out of my chair and drifted over to the cabinet where my boots were, then retrieved them, and drifted down the hall with them in my hand.

My mind wanded through the 'dreams' of these past few days while I took my shower. I just stood there in silence as the water sprayed me, and I washed a few areas with soap. Then I turned on the dry cycle and got out.

Julia had some coveralls and underwear waiting for me in the cabinet outside the shower. She was so thoughtful sometimes.

Then suddenly my mind flashed with images of kissing her, and a memory of her on top of me...and...penetrating her... I had to get my mind elsewhere.

"Juli...Julia?" My voice cracked a bit.

"Yes, captain?"

"Can you play me some classical music? Wait, no. Orchestral, but with a heavy rock band in front. But not metal."

The music began to play, and I closed my eyes and reveled in it for a second, before continuing to get dressed. After putting my exo-suit and boots back on, I drifted down the hallway, then turned my mag-boots on right outside the door to the mess.

The potatoes and Bacoeggs were waiting for me in a pouch in the food dispenser. I pressed a button to get a hot coffee as well and opened the pouch. Steam poured out and swirled in the air. I grabbed a fork and stirred the mixture of small potato cubes and Bacoeggs.

Bacoeggs are an interesting product. They're some kind of reconstituted protein flavored to taste like eggs, with bits of bacon mixed in. It wasn't real bacon, just little orangish bits that were flavored to taste like bacon. Of course, I've never tasted bacon before, so I don't know if they do taste like them. It was an interesting smokey flavor though. They weren't half bad, as long as you didn't think too hard about what 'Protein Product' meant on the ingredients list. Probably some type of bug or worm or something.

They didn't really taste exactly like real eggs either. They weren't far off though. I had eggs once before when I was on a space station in orbit around a planet in a brown dwarf system. They were bioforming them to conform to the environment so they didn't need quite as much care. I saw them on a tour of the facilities. They were funny looking little purple and blue birds in small little cages behind glass, filled with the atmosphere of the planet. So, maybe these did taste like eggs, and those were just a little off.

In any case, they weren't half bad, just as long as you didn't think about the little creepy crawlies they were likely made from. Unfortunately, I just thought about it. I had seen waste processing facilities more than once on various space stations. The captains of various space stations were actually really proud of the facilities. More than a few insisted I tour the facilities when I arrived with a large shipment from a far-off station. They usually involved processing waste from...various sources, then using it to grow various worms and bugs, which were then used for food. They weren't necessarily that bad, but thinking about how they were grown in human shit wasn't exactly appealing.

I considered just letting the pouch float for a bit but decided to close it up and put it in the fridge for later. I was simply completely turned off from eating it for now.

I think it was remembering the smell that permeated the facilities. I remember one captain actually taking a big whiff in and saying something about how it was the smell of success or some such, because his facility fed all the inhabitants of the space station, and turned a hefty profit. Even with the various seals and filters, it smelled like standing in the largest toilet you have ever been in. The facility was so large they even processed the waste from various other space stations and artificial habitats in the system.

I also wasn't really feeling this coffee either. "Julia, can you recycle this, and give me a Thai iced coffee?" After less than a minute a pouch dropped from the food dispenser and I took it out. I have no idea what Thailand is like, but they make a mean iced coffee! Sweet and delicious!

I kind of wanted a burrito, but I still didn't feel so hot after thinking about those waste processing facilities. Maybe I'd ask for one after I worked on the sensor module a bit. I grabbed an energy bar, just in case I didn't make it back, and started out the door. As soon as I reached the door though, I decided to turn off my mag-boots, and float my way to the machine shop. What was with my and floating for the last few days? It wasn't even that far to go. When I got there, I just turned my mag boots right back on, and walked in.

The sensor module was near the back corner on a work surface, strapped down. I hoped today would be more productive. I spent a few minutes looking things over and checking them, before noticing a faulty resistor. I replaced it, then used a tester to see if anything else was awry.

"Huh...that's it?" Apparently, I had actually almost completely finished the task yesterday. I was just too distracted to realize that I was pretty much done. "Well, I guess I'm going outside to replace this, Julia. Is there anything I need to do to remove the main module to repair it?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid we don't have the parts to repair it, captain."

"Son of a bitch. Well, okay, I guess this will have to do, in addition to the patch job Scrappy did. I'm not sure that will hold out though. This isn't really meant for more than a backup either. I guess I'll take a look at the list of affected systems before I go out there though." The data pad contained a myriad of systems experiencing issues. The majority we could do without though, at least to limp home. The propulsion systems would be a problem though. Our ion engines were only operating at 34% efficiency. Apparently, there was an issue with one of the power conduits. There was also something wrong with the control circuitry of the maneuvering thrusters. "Alright, I'm taking this out, and checking on what got hit with the engine systems.

I opened up my energy bar, and took a bite, then unstrapped the sensor module from the work surface, and began walking towards the airlock. I took another two bites from my energy bar before walking into the airlock and putting it in one of the sealed cabinets. I managed to get on my spacesuit without too much incident. At least I didn't hurt myself, barely. I managed to catch myself before running into a wall.

Shuttle STS-61 onboard view: Hubble Space Telescope (HST) repair. Anchored on the end of orbiter Endeavour's remote manipulator system arm, astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman (foreground) prepares to install the new wide field planetary camera into the empty cavity of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Astronaut Story Musgrave works with a portable foot restraint. Date of Image: 1993-12-07 (source)

After getting the sensor module successfully installed back in the side of the ship, and reattaching the hull plating, I went to check out the areas that were likely damaged by the meteors and affecting the engine systems.

Let me tell you, it was a mess. It looked like Scrappy had done a little work, but there was no way he could get to the majority of it. There were power regulators and large cabled damaged in various places. It would probably take me the better part of the day just to fix the power issue. Fortunately, it was mainly parts that I kept a good supply of because they were used all over the ship.

"Julia, you see the parts I need?"

"Yes, captain."

"Have Robert take what he can to the airlock. I don't wanna waste time fetching them. Make sure he gets the necessary tools first though."

When I got back to the airlock, several tools were there, as well as some cabling and a few parts. It was enough to get started. I grabbed them and went right back out. I wanted to get another bite of my energy bar, but I would have had to repressurize for that.

I ended up spending several hours tearing apart the outside of the ship, replacing parts and cabling, getting more from the airlock, and putting it back together. By the time I managed to finish replacing all the parts Robert brought to the airlock, I was starving.

I went back inside, pressurized the airlock, took off my helmet, and retrieved my energy bar. "Julia, get me a burrito. Potato and whatever the fuck you have. I don't care. I'm starving." I ate the rest of my energy bar and went to get two large pieces of cabling that were too big for Robert to retrieve.

By the time I got the cable and pulled it towards the doorway into the hall, Robert was waiting for me with a burrito. "Thank you, Robert."

The burrito was so good. It was potato and Baelg, with green sauce, and fake lettuce. Baelg was an algae-based beef replacement. It wasn't half bad. It probably tasted more like the grass cows ate than the cow itself though. I was so hungry I ended up finishing the burrito by the time I got into the airlock.

It took me over an hour to install each cable. I had to remove all sorts of parts and route it through holes in the bulkheads. By the time I was done I was pretty much worn out. I checked the list of systems that needed repair anyway and looked through those that were the easiest to repair. I ended up taking quite a few module back with me. I couldn't even get through the door with all the modules, so I had to take them in one at a time.

"Julia, how're the engines?"

"They ion engines are now working at full capacity again."

"Alright. I'll have to get to the thrusters tomorrow. I doubt I can repair the control modules before I pass out, and I don't wanna be without maneuvering thrusters while I'm asleep. Even if our new cannons are hella badass."

"Yes, captain."

Somehow I managed to repair a few of the modules while watching old movies on my datapad, but eventually, I got too worn out to continue. These modules might not be strictly required to get back, but I'd rather not be caught without them if something went wrong. Especially if I ran into pirates. Normally if I ran into pirates I'd be well and truly fucked. The few times I had run into them before I had managed to barely get out by the skin of my teeth, with the help of Julia, and a bit of combat hacking. With the new cannons I'd probably have a bit more of a chance, but not unless I fix a few systems. I might be underestimating my new cannons a bit, considering what they did to those asteroids, but not if their systems are throwing off mine. Only with as many working as possible would I be able to target them appropriately.

I passed out on my bed, only just barely able to get a strap over one shoulder before I lost consciousness. Hopefully tomorrow would be the last day I would need to work on repairs. The ship was almost done, and I could be on my way back home.

_{Well, gonna leave it like that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter for today. If not, well, sucks to be you.}

Click here to read Part 15.