~~~~
My ship hummed as it flew further
into space, travel had been smooth so far, but that was about to change. I had
at least two more light-speed jumps to make, but only enough fuel for half of
one. My visit with Fredrick will have to wait, I needed to make a stop for
fuel.
Whether by luck or happenstance,
there was at least one space station in the area. The problem was that they
didn't respond to any of my attempts to hail them. As the station came into view
I understood why. It was derelict and long abandoned. The station was so
decrepit that making the stop should have been out of the question. However,
with such little fuel left, I didn't have a choice in the matter. Besides if
it's abandoned that means everything I find there is free.
I carefully docked my ship in the
remnants of the station's hangar. Then I tried to connect remotely to whatever
systems were still active. Thankfully I could still interface with the station,
I was even able to get a basic atmosphere active. The problem was the station
was running dryer than my own ship power wise. Even the most basic systems
struggled to function.
At the very least there was a
reserve of fuel left, just barely enough to get me somewhere safe, maybe. The
real issue at hand was how the fuel was stored. It was some strange pump design
that could transfer fuel straight into the ship through a nozzle. However, it
was all automatic so it required power on the station's side to function. Apparently,
they were so proud of this automatic pump design they made it impossible to
access the fuel manually. At least not without special tools (which I didn't
have), or breaking open the fuel storage tank (which I didn't want to risk).
Between the power needed for the atmosphere
and the pump, the station's reserves are inadequate. If I wanted to keep the
atmosphere up at a livable level, the pump would be left with so little power
it'd be painfully slow. It'd take days to extract all the fuel at that rate. On
the flipside, I could drop all the power into the pump. However, then I'd be
forced to shelter in my ship and burn more precious fuel to keep an atmosphere
up in there.
My choices were to sit in the
station for days with the risk of suffocation, or try the fast way and break
something. If I actually succeed, in the former case I'll be slightly short of
enough fuel to make it somewhere safe. In the latter case, I'll have barely any
more fuel than what I started with. The right choice was obvious, but still no
less painful.
I kept the atmosphere up and put the
little remaining power into the pump and started to refuel. I slunk out of my
ship, sat myself down in a safe corner of the station and kept an eye on the
refueling process. I kept my breath measured and tried to use as a few
movements as possible.
As I made myself comfortable I
continued to measure my options. I could set up a distress signal, but out here
the only people who'd respond would be more likely to rob me then help me.
There might be some long distance communication tools in the station I could
use. However, even if I had those tools, the station doesn't have enough power
to support them.
'All this for Fredrick,' I thought
to myself, 'he'd better be happy to see me or I'm going to punch him in the
mouth.' I continued to mumble about Fredrick as I slowly drifted off into a
daydream. I had hope in my heart that I'd return to the waking world, but I
tried my best to temper my expectations.
~~~~
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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