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Re: The NeverEnding Story
Posted By: YossarianDate: 4/3/05 9:46 a.m.

In Response To: Re: The NeverEnding Story (D-M.A.)

Not though these mishaps were totally unexpected; this particular CRIST vessel was reaching the end of its useful life. There are only so many maintenance overhauls you can perform on a ship before the original structure is gone and all that's left of it is a bunch of patch-ups. Good shipmakers know by gut when a bird can still fly and when its time to clip her wings, and Ralph knew this ugly bird still had a few trips to make, though it was likely her last major overhaul.

He knew this not only because the CRIST was getting so old, but because there had been talk around the shipbuilding circles that the UESC had something big planned for Mars. He'd heard the rumors same as everybody else, but he didn't pay much attention to them. There was no point believing it unless it came from UESC brass themselves, and even then it had a spin to it. Some of the possibilities he'd heard were pretty far out there: that the UESC wanted to make a "super-CRIST" for a colony ship, that there were plans to construct orbiting "pacification devices", or that -ridiculosuly enough- they were going to hollow out one of the Martian moons and turn it into a colony ship.

He didn't enjoy always guessing what his next assignment would be, and had he been running his own shop that wasn't something he'd ever had to worry about. But at least with the UESC there was stability, and the success or failure of his career didn't depend on the sensitive economy of Earth's fledgling colonial period. As long as there were CRISTs and they were breaking down, he'd be just fine. Maybe that was the difference between Ralph and his dad: one was more buidler, the other more businessman. Plus, the CRISTs were necessities for the Martians; he'd rather be working to keep the Martian lifeline alive than constructing yachts for rich spacefarers or maintaining the useless Martian orbital guard.

Metal screeched and sparks flew high above him as several bolts strained and snapped. The main crane assembly was failing. Luckily no one had overlooked erecting the secondary clamps, and the panel slowed and stopped. Immediately other cranes starting moving into position to support the clamps.

"Shit" Ralph whispered under his breath. This would set them back a couple of days. "All right, let's get this mess cleaned up. Eddie, as soon as it's safe get the metalworkers checking the panel. Frank, I want to know what the hell is wrong with that number one crane. Anika, get an order cut for some more bolts, I don't want to have to wait any longer for spares from the depot." Ralph learned you can't act fast enough when trying to get anything done. Indecision took too much time, and that wasn't something they had. Each day the CRIST wasn't cruising was a day Mars was going without resupply.

"You got it chief." "Sure thing Ralphie." "I'm way ahead of you boss."

They were a good crew, they just needed to learn to pace themselves a little better. The radio chatter increased as the platform supervisors barked commands to their techs.

Ralph took off his helmet and rubbed his forehead. He was going to have a hard time explaining this to the Admiral.

"Chief Engineer Cameron?" a voice asked behind him. Ralph turned around to face the attractive young technician. "Yes?" he asked, trying his best to look suave smiling. She didn't smile back.
"There's a UESC man waiting in your office, sir." Speaking lower she added, "I think he's an officer, and he doesn't have a rank insignia."
Ralph's smile diappeared. Officers without patches. Spooks.

Ralph broke into a slow stride towards his office. The door slid open to reveal a UESC spook sitting comfortably in the corner chair, looking clean and professional in his black uniform, sans insignia.

Before formalities could be exchanged, the spook spoke. "Mister Ralph Cameron. Have a seat. We have a proposition for you..."

: Ralph was an experienced engineer. His father had started his own
: work-n-repair shop for space cruisers and smaller vessels. By the time
: Ralph was born his father's company had grown to become very successful
: and well known.
: It was a a running joke in his family, that he had learned how to replace a
: cruiser engine well before he even had learned how to walk. Ralph had a
: burning interest in cruiser engines and vessel design, and he always tried
: hard to impress his dad in everything he did. He had worked daily in his
: father's shop since he was five years old. His family had always assumed
: that he would of course some day take over the family business when his
: dad retired.
: But when Ralph was in his mid-twenties he had decided that he wanted to make
: his own luck. His father didn't say a word the day Ralph told him he had
: decided to take a job offering working for UEG's own space division. He
: didn't have to say anything for Ralph to know that he was furious. His dad
: had always seen the U.E.G. as a rival.
: Things hadn't been good between Ralph and his dad since that day. They hardly
: even spoke with eachother anymore, something his loving mother had a hard
: time tolerating. Never the less, Ralph was, as his dad very successful at
: his work, and only five years after having started working for the U.E.G.
: Ralph had his own team of engineers to supervise.
: Despite Ralph's good reputation and success, these recent mishaps had him a
: bit nervous...

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

The NeverEnding StoryD-M.A. 4/2/05 9:55 a.m.
     Re: The NeverEnding Storyblake37 4/2/05 11:05 a.m.
           Re: The NeverEnding StoryD-M.A. 4/3/05 4:49 a.m.
                 Re: The NeverEnding StoryYossarian 4/3/05 9:46 a.m.
                       Keep going! I'll post this to the MaraFF in awhile *NM*Blayne 4/3/05 3:31 p.m.
                       Re: The NeverEnding StoryD-M.A. 4/4/05 5:33 a.m.
                             Re: The NeverEnding Storyblake37 4/4/05 11:50 a.m.
                                   Just a reminder about pre-FTL communication *NM*Steve Levinson 4/4/05 12:31 p.m.
                                         Opps, your right.... Erm, crap :-\ *NM*blake37 4/4/05 1:10 p.m.
                                               Re: Opps, your right.... Erm, crap :-\D-M.A. 4/4/05 8:00 p.m.
                                                     Correct - wanted to be sure others didn't slip up *NM*Steve Levinson 4/4/05 8:19 p.m.
                                                     Re: Opps, your right.... Erm, crap :-\blake37 4/5/05 10:33 a.m.
                                   Re: The NeverEnding Story•M 4/4/05 9:45 p.m.
                                         Re: The NeverEnding StoryForrest of B.org 4/5/05 8:02 a.m.
                                               Re: AMB•M 4/5/05 8:13 a.m.
                                         Re: The NeverEnding StoryYossarian 4/9/05 8:11 a.m.
                                               Re: The NeverEnding StoryForrest of B.org 4/10/05 5:48 p.m.
                                                     Re: The NeverEnding Story - noteBlayne 4/11/05 3:38 p.m.
                                               Re: The NeverEnding Story•M 4/13/05 1:42 p.m.
                                                     Re: The NeverEnding StoryD-M.A. 4/18/05 5:25 a.m.
                                                           Re: The NeverEnding Storyduality 5/21/05 12:02 a.m.
                                                                 Re: The NeverEnding StoryBlayne 5/23/05 5:41 p.m.
                                                                       Re: The NeverEnding StoryD-M.A. 5/23/05 7:55 p.m.
                                                                             lazy baztardoz! *NM*Johannes Gunnar 5/24/05 6:22 a.m.
                                                                             did itduality 5/24/05 1:51 p.m.
                                                                                   Re: did itBlayne 5/26/05 12:34 p.m.
                                                                                         Re: did itduality 5/27/05 3:11 p.m.
                                                                 Re: The NeverEnding StoryYossarian 6/1/05 7:40 p.m.
                                                                       Wow! Great job, Yoss. *NM*Steve Levinson 6/2/05 3:56 a.m.
                                                                             Agreed! *NM*D-M.A. 6/2/05 7:21 a.m.
                                                                       Re: The NeverEnding Storychotinai 6/22/05 9:07 p.m.
                                                                             Re: The NeverEnding StoryYossarian 6/22/05 10:19 p.m.
                                                                             weirdest spam eVer mb?! :P *NM*Johannes Gunnar 6/23/05 2:26 a.m.
                                                                             Re: The NeverEnding StoryEnkidu 6/23/05 4:20 p.m.
                                                                             Re: The NeverEnding StoryBlayne 6/26/05 12:03 p.m.
                                                                       Re: The NeverEnding StoryD-M.A. 12/2/06 9:52 a.m.

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Pre-2004 Posts

 

 

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