The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link by Daniel Hanks Page B

warp. We don’t have the equipment to align them any other way. Captain, we can’t leave warp for any reason. We have to align the emitters or this mission will fail.”
    A three dimensional drawing was displayed on the wall. Jack walked over to it, pointing at several emitters that turned red.
    “These are the emitters in question. We—Bob, Drake and I—will go out to each emitter and align them. This will be an extended spacewalk. I expect it to take up to sixteen hours.” He looked at the audience.
    Captain Ramone nodded. “Thank you, Jack.”
    “We’ll station emergency responders at airlock C-two,” Sandra said. “Let your AIs know.”
    “Does anyone else have anything to add?” Captain Ramon asked. “We’ll have a double watch on the bridge, and be standing by for manual control.” She looked around the room. “Everyone stay sharp, keep your cool and don’t knock us out of warp. Good luck. Take your stations.”
    As the meeting broke up, and we started leaving, Sandra grabbed my arm. “Be careful. Don’t get hurt.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek. Puzzled about our relationship, I followed Jack and Bob to maintenance.
    As we entered, Bob said, “You should let me tell her. It’s a warning. The spiral cross shouldn’t be ignored.”
    “What can we do, Bob? Tell me and we’ll do it,” Jack said.
    “Turn around, go back to Mars and have our ring aligned there.”
    Jack laughed. “We can’t do that. We have to fix the ring ourselves and continue.”
    “Are you two going to keep fighting all day?” I asked.                          
    Jack scowled at me. “Shut up and push that cart of tools to the lock. Get ready. We’ll be along.”
    I started to get changed when Margret chimed. “Hi, I just wanted to apologize for last night and wish you a safe walk,” Kathy said. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were all puffy. It looked as if she hadn’t slept a bit.
    My first thought was to hurt her for what she’d done to me, but it looked as if she’d suffered enough already. “Okay, thanks,” I said. She looked as if I’d slapped her. Maybe she needed more. “Kathy, I’m not at a place where I have the time for a girlfriend. Maybe on our way home I can, but not now.”
    She smiled. “Still friends then?”
    “Of course. I’ll talk later, okay?” She blew me a kiss and closed the communication. What the hell, I thought. Is that woman crazy or what?
    I’d just finished putting on my first layer when Margret chimed again. “Hi, I just wanted to wish you a safe walk,” Sandra said. “I’ll buy you dinner tonight.”
    “I’d like that. Thanks,” I said.
    She smiled. “Good. Be safe.”
    “Of course,” I said. She blew me a kiss and closed the communication.
    Jack and Bob showed up. Both were still in shitty moods and grumpy as hell, but they looked better. As I waited for them at the airlock, I went over my tools—an impact driver, several wrenches and the all-important hammer. I remembered Jack’s rant about suggested tool kits for jobs and how no one ever suggested a hammer. Son, the very first tool man ever made was the hammer. Everything else owes its existence to it. It has, and will always be, the choice of any good mechanic. When other tools fail, a good hammer will solve the problem. See this list? The people who wrote it never fixed anything. Kid, if I can teach you this one thing, I’ll consider myself a good journeyman. Always keep a good hammer at your side.
    Jack, of course, had been hammered during his rant, but we always brought a hammer, even though no one had ever used one.
    “Ah, a good hammer,” Jack said, interrupting my thoughts.
    “Yep.”
    Jack took it and looked it over. “I carry it for intimidation. Machines know I do and don’t give me any shit. Did you ever wonder why they won’t fail when we’re around?” He gave the hammer a gentile swing and smiled, then handed it back to me.
    It occurred to me that Jack wasn’t