Offline (Patreon)

Here's a short follow-up when Daskatoma realizes that the Sailor's Gambit I is offline.

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“Commissioner Daskatoma?” the red geroo on the display screen peeped in surprise. “Can you give me just one moment? Let me find the captain, and I’ll put you right through.”

“No need,” said the black krakun with a wave of his claw. “I just have one question… Commissioner Troykintrassa was scheduled to inspect the Lonely Steppe II this afternoon. Was he running on schedule?”

The geroo’s ears fell low. “Well, no sir,” she said. “The captain’s been waiting at the shuttle bay, but this is the first call we’ve received all day. I thought surely you were Commissioner Troykintrassa calling to tell us he was inbound.”

“Ah, I see,” sighed the krakun. “Carry on,” he said before disconnecting the transmission.

Daskatoma sat in silence a moment. Standing on his desk, the suited ringel turned to him. “So, that’s it, isn’t it?” asked Sutzir.

The krakun nodded and tapped the agenda displayed on his communicator. “It must be,” he said. “He left the Rocky Desert I on schedule. The Sailor’s Gambit I is offline without explanation, and he never arrived on the Lonely Steppe II. He must have been aboard the Sailor’s Gambit I when the trinity went offline. I suppose he’s just waiting for it to come back online, so he can come home. Not like I can call them while the gate is closed.”

Sutzir grabbed one of his friend’s talons with both of his gloved paws and gave it a tug. “Would you like to wait a little while longer? See if they come back online?”

“Not much point,” said Daskatoma. “If the trinity goes down, it has to stay offline for seventeen hours to discharge fully before they can safely bring it back online again. That means he’s stuck there until at least the morning.”

Sutzir slumped against the krakun’s claw. “Why do you suppose they went offline?”

“Hard to say.” Daskatoma scooped up the tiny ringel and set him down on the krakun’s snout. “The trinity is comprised of thousands of components working together. Engineers are supposed to test them all regularly so that nothing fails unexpectedly, but I suppose nothing’s ever perfect. Something crucial must have burned out during the visit.”

“What if they can’t fix it?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” he said. “Those ships keep backups for all the important stuff, and they have machine shops where they can make new components if they need to.”

Sutzir stroked the black scales in front of where he sat. “Are you scared?”

“For my uncle? Nah,” chuckled Daskatoma. “Though I feel bad for all the geroo aboard the ship with him. Can you imagine how humiliating it must be for something so important to break during an inspection? And I’m sure he didn’t pack a dinner or breakfast!”

The ringel’s eyes opened wide. “You don’t suppose he’d … eat…?”

Daskatoma laughed. He cupped his claws to either side of his muzzle but was gentle enough not to shake Sutzir from his nose. “Don’t be gross, Sutz. Of course, he wouldn’t do that. I just mean that he’s going to be extra cranky. Most of those geroo hadn’t even been born the last time my uncle visited that ship, and he’s grumpy enough when everything goes perfectly.”

The ringel sat in silence for a long moment. “Hey Dask?” he asked. “You don’t suppose he was going through the gate at the moment it went offline, do ya? I mean, what if he was and…” Instead of putting words to the thought, he stacked his gloved fists one beside the other, then pulled them suddenly apart to indicate half of the shuttle being stranded on either side of the gate.

“Oh, no, I don’t think that can happen, little buddy,” said Daskatoma, taking a moment to gently stroke his friend’s back. “I think that’s why the gate’s designed to store so much charge, so there’s always enough juice to squeeze a ship to one side or the other without anyone ever getting stuck in between.”

Sutzir’s head hung low, a far cry from how the cocky little mammal usually held himself.

“Hey, don’t be sad,” said Daskatoma. “I tell you what: There’s a bunch of company ships that patrol the gates in orbit around Krakuntec. I’ll radio one and have them swing by the gate that leads to the Sailor’s Gambit I. When they verify that there isn’t half a shuttle floating nearby, we’ll call my aunt and warn her that Uncle Troykintrassa’s stuck on a gateship until morning.”

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Reviewer's link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O8NImikvoDeSGEvt8ywzKUDEpA80Xp7A3LWRB_cXm8Y/edit?usp=sharing

Thoughts?