Orphans of Apollo - S3 E6
Rover Surgery
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Previously: Kevin Valenti is furious when he walks in to find that Owen has activated the battery heater on the rover without his permission. The crew is alerted to this, but before they can deactivate it, Owen does so, further confusing them.
October 2056
Aiden let out a sharp breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.
“Ok, just pull it back a little so I get a wider field of view,” he said to Lana.
Aiden was lying on his side in the aisle of Rover 1 so he could reach through the access hatch in the floor. He had buried his right arm up to the shoulder deep into the rover’s bowels. Lana was lying next to him, her left arm also extending into the innards of the rover. In her right hand, she held a screen with a thin cable running into the hole. She shifted her body to get comfortable as she moved the unseen tiny camera at the end of the cable. The object they were looking at became slightly more recognisable. Although Lana admitted to herself, she only recognised it because she had studied the engineering drawings for the battery compartment the night before.
After Rover 1 had returned from its curtailed first expedition, it had not taken long - much to the consternation of the engineering team back at FASS headquarters - to figure out there was indeed no way to easily disconnect the battery heater. Although the problem could not be recreated, it was decided by Mission Control that “out of an abundance of caution” the expedition should set out again, this time in Rover 2.
Since those left at the hab had relatively light duties while the expedition was away they had been given the go-ahead from Mission Control to remove the battery heater control unit and see if they could find out what had caused the failure a few days earlier.
“That’s it, hold it there. Wouldn’t it be great if I had a tool that would fit perfectly over that connection so I could pull it off…Oh wait, here’s one I prepared earlier, specially made for that job.”
Lana smiled. The end of a tool appeared from the side of the image and fitted over the end of the connector where half a dozen wires plugged into the box. Aiden pulled the connection free.
“Well, that was easier than I thought.”
“Don’t say that,” Lana protested.
Aiden pulled his arm out and put the tool - which he had printed earlier in the morning - down next to the toolbox on the floor of the rover.
“See if you can find the first screw holding the box in place while I find a long screwdriver.”
He rummaged in the toolbox while Lana manoeuvred the end of the borescope so they could see one of the screws in the corner of the box.
“Perfect, hold it right there.”
For the next few minutes Aiden worked to remove all but one of the screws holding it in place. He positioned the screwdriver into the head of the last screw.
“Ok, you can pull that out now. I don’t need to see any more. Can you reach in and hold the box while I remove this last screw.”
After Lana had set aside the borescope, she reached back in through the access panel.
“I can’t quite reach it from here.”
Aiden moved so he was lying further over on his side, allowing Lana to get her shoulder closer to the hole. It was barely big enough for both their arms. There was no way one person could get both of their arms in at the same time. Lana shuffled and turned so she was lying facing Aiden.
“Ok, I think I can get it from here.”
She reached and her hand brushed against Aiden’s. They looked at each other, their faces inches apart. Lana moved slowly towards Aiden. He moved slowly towards her and stopped.
“Hold that thought,” he whispered gently. “I’m kinda getting cramp in my finger.”
Lana smiled. “You should hurry and take that screw out,” she whispered back.
Aiden removed the screw and pulled his arm from the access hole. A few seconds later, Lana removed the box, which had been the focus of all their effort, and placed it gently down by the toolbox.
Aiden sat up and rested his back against the wall of the rover, his legs bent at the knee in the tight confines of the rover’s central aisle. He picked up the heater control unit and turned it over in his hands.
“Even if we can’t find anything wrong with it, I’m glad we found a way to remove it.” He held it up to examine it more closely. “They won’t have my special tool, so they might damage the connector pulling it out, but at least they can remove it. That makes me feel a lot better.”
Lana reached up and grasped the control unit, gently prying it from Aiden’s hands. She placed it back down by the toolbox. Then she shuffled closer to him and he reached across and grasped her hand, fingers intertwined. For a moment they looked into each other’s eyes, then he pulled her closer, Lana’s eyes closed in anticipation.
There was a chime from Lana’s tablet, which was on the floor next to her. It was Joanna.
“Hey guys, how are you getting on? I’m getting hungry. You going to be coming back over for lunch soon?”
Aiden sighed and lowered his head in resignation. Lana cleared her throat and picked up the tablet.
She paused. “Hey Jo, it’s fiddlier than even Aiden thought. We’ll probably be another twenty minutes.” She looked at Aiden. “Maybe half an hour. You go ahead without us, we’ll grab something when we come back in.”
“Ok, see you later,” Joanna replied jovially and cut the connection.
“So, where were we?” said Aiden softly.
“I think this is the part where you kiss me,” replied Lana. Her mouth drew into a soft smile, barely perceptible dimples formed in her cheeks.
Aiden leaned in and kissed her, softly at first, but Lana pulled him closer. After a few minutes, Lana broke off.
“Remember, we’ve only got half an hour,” she said as she caught her breath.
“Half an hour now, but the others are going to be away for a couple of weeks. I’m sure Joanna is too polite to say anything if she hears me sneak into your room.”
“And why would you be sneaking into my room?” said Lana with a mischievous smile.
“Well, you could come to mine if you want - but yours is bigger, Commander.”
Lana slid her hand softly behind Aiden’s neck and pulled him closer. “I’ve still got the same size bed,” she whispered as their lips met again.
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Elseware
I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of Orphans of Apollo.
I often write about looking to the future but it is also really important to remember our past. This weekend we went for a walk around the lake here to have a look at the TSS Earnslaw. We are lucky to have the last commercial passenger carrying coal fired steamship operating in the southern hemisphere right on the doorstep. She is out of the water now on survey. Every other year, this requires her to be taken out of the water. This year, however, is a big one. The Earnslaw was launched in 1912 and from what I can find out, her steam engines were reconditioned in 1954 and this was the last major work done on them. This year they are being overhauled for the first time. If you look closely at the picture, you can see where a hole has been cut in the hull towards the stern. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any closer as the area was cordoned off. I wonder what her original designers and builders would think of her still in commercial operation over 110 years after she was built.
Have a great week.
Thanks for reading - the future belongs to the optimists.
Alex
