“Sam! It’s party time in here” she exclaims.
“So I’ve gathered.” He replies, sitting down and taking one of the many drinks on offer.
“A lot of people feel weird Sam. Are you poisoning people?” Choi jibes, poking him in the ribs.
“It’s the ship” a voice interrupts. Symone enters the canteen, sitting across from Samuel.
“Oh?” He asks. She waggles a datapad.
“There’s something wrong with the P.D. and there’s a list of small issues that have all flared up” Symone gripes, slumping back against the chair and wiping the sweat from her forehead. Samuel notices the dark matted streaks through her long thick hair. At least he’s not the only one working hard. As soon as she puts the datapad on the table, the canteen lights start flickering. Symone groans loudly for several seconds, before hauling herself out of her chair. A couple of the crew chuckle at her misfortune, causing her to make obscene gestures. The hilarity stops instantly as rapid-fire thudding sounds cannon through the room. Symone instantly sprints for the door.
“That’s the engine!” she shouts as she bursts out of the room. Samuel is quickly behind her. The corridor lights flicker on and off all the way as they run towards Engineering. As they approach, shouts can be heard coming from inside. Symone runs straight in, heading to the nearest console, frantically running through readings. Samuel glances around, looking for any injured crew. There are lots of engineers and tech support opening wall panels and carrying equipment around but thankfully no-one looks hurt.
“Zhang! Are you in here? What’s going on?” He bellows. Zhang appears from the far side of the elongated dome-like Paris Drive casing that dominates the centre of the room.
“Sam, my man, what’s happening in the medical world? Are you lost?” he asks with his standard smirk. He saunters over to Samuel, apparently unaffected by the building chaos around him.
“Zhang, are you blind? The lights? What is that thudding sound?” Samuel says, failing to hide his exasperation which isn’t helped by Zhang’s relaxed shrug.
“Don’t worry about it. Just some minor power regulation issues” Zhang replies, tapping the massive casing next to him.
“It might be more than that, doll” Symone pipes up. She calls up a hologram projection of the Boomslang, showing the skeletal structure of the ship, with numerous glowing lines and sections across the various levels. The specifics of the visual escape Samuel, but the basic outline of the decks with several flashing sections would imply numerous problems.
“The energy modulation network is malfunctioning for one thing. Some of the conduits need replacing urgently. Which I believe I had mentioned in the last staff brief” she says.
“We’ll get around to it Symone” Zhang replies sharply. Samuel notices that the din has died down in the room.
“When?” she eventually retorts, softly jabbing her finger at one of the flashing red sections. Zhang sighs in an overblown fashion, doing a mock bow.
“Okay, fine, do it now! Take…uh…Sabir and install some new conduits” he moans. Symone just grunts her annoyance before motioning to Sabir, one of the newest crew members in the team, to follow her. They leave Engineering just as Nemmy and Amira enter.
“Could someone in here please explain why the damn ship is shaking?” Amira growls. Zhang perks up at the arrival of the women, coming right over.
“Welcome Major. Captain, of course, you are always a welcome visitor as well. We are working-“
“Drop the waste talk. Explain in detail what is going on. Now” Amira cuts him off. Zhang’s radiant smile dims for only a second. He performs another exaggerated bow. Why does he always bow to women, Samuel wonders.
“As you wish. The modulation network is causing the lights to go on and off, Symone is away to fix that now. A couple of P.D chambers are having problems cycling. I’m going to look at that later. I was in fact just about to go check out the AirGen system, one of the back-ups is blocked and Santiago has been moaning about it constantly” he says.
“You’re going now? Do you mind if I come along and watch? I might learn something” Nemmy jokes. As expected, Zhang is thrilled by the idea.
“Of course, Captain! I will give you the benefit of all my hands-on experience” He quips, picking up a nearby pack, filled with a basic scan and repair toolset.
“The only thing you’ll learn from him is how to waste time” Amira grunts at Nemmy. She sticks a finger towards the innocent-looking Zhang.
“Just get these things fixed!” she commands, not waiting for a response before leaving. Zhang extends an arm towards Nemmy.
“Shall we go, Captain?” he asks with a smile and a wink. She returns his smile but refrains from taking his arm.
“I’m sure you’ll need all your energy for the repairs” she jokes, leading him out the door and towards the nearest turbo tube. They get in and sit down, Zhang dropping his pack on the floor between them. He sets them off towards the back end of the ship. He leans over to say something, but a horrible grinding sound fills the pod. It is quickly followed by a loud bang and the pod shudders for a couple of seconds.
“We’ve lost power,” Zhang says quietly. Almost as if he’s embarrassed. Nemmy tries to open the pod door, but the lock won’t respond.
“It won’t do any good. We’re in between openings, even the manual release won’t help” he says. She glares at him.
“Are you saying we could be stuck in here?”
“I’m saying we ARE stuck in here”
What a wonderful situation. She leans back, or as much as she can in the cramped little chair. The pod is less than two metres across, and Zhang’s tool pack isn’t helping. The light is working at least, despite dimming below optimal standards. Suddenly the rest of the ship pops into her mind. She hits her Strap.
“Ravaan, it’s the Captain. We’ve had a power outage in one of the turbo tubes” she says.
“Yes Captain, I am aware. There are massive power shortages all over the ship. The emergency system is not operating fully for unknown reasons. Oxygen, gravity and most lighting systems are functional enough. However, the grooves are offline as are the weapons and shields” he informs them. Nemmy gives Zhang a worried glance, and his expression does nothing to settle her nerves.
“Do we expect trouble?” she asks.
“We did not detect any vessels nearby, and I have already taken the liberty of preparing the shuttles to launch. An issue may arise if we cannot repair the manoeuvring grooves, as we are relatively close to the nearby star” Ravaan says. Even Nemmy doesn’t need more explanation. The heat alone might cause problems before anything else.
“Okay, do what you can, keep me informed” she answers. She looks at Zhang, hoping he can at least explain the situation.
“Why is the emergency power not working properly?” she asks him, trying not to sound accusatory. He scratches his head and twitches about in his seat.
“Well, that thing with the energy modulation network, it basically distributes power throughout the ship, and the emergency power goes through the same network”
“You mean that thing that you said was broken earlier?”
“Uh, yeah. I meant to fix that earlier. But don’t fret your pretty little face about it; the Uni-Panels will start to collect solar energy as an automated response to a power shortage. It’s the standard setup for ship Panels” he says hopefully. But his face falls as soon as he realises the consequence of this.
“Although, without any way to regulate or expend the incoming energy, it might just heat up the ship faster,” he says. Nemmy’s mouth drops open a little.
“This sounds like a massive design flaw”
“Yeah”. He waits a few seconds before continuing. “I meant to fix that earlier”
“I swear if you say that one more time, I will personally launch you into that star” Nemmy blurts out, befor
e falling into silence. She wipes her brow. It’s already getting hot in here.
Symone wrenches another broken conduit out of the wall and drops it with a grunt. Her ever helpful companion Sabir dutifully scoops it up and chucks it onto a nearby tray, loaded with other burnt out circuitry and equipment. He pulls up his shirt and scrubs his face with it.
“Excuse me for interrupting, but do you know why it is so warm?” he asks. Symone closes over the panel. She marks some information on her tray and moves to another panel before answering.
“That blue giant out there is cooking us, and with the energy network problems, we can’t dissipate the heat correctly,” she says, shifting the panel open with some effort.
“I understand. Thank you” Sabir replies. Symone chuckles. It’s not often she gets treated in this way. Shipmates are the lowest ranks on the ship, but even the greenest of the chicks wasn’t this polite. The poor fellow clearly doesn’t like the heat. His shirt is soaked through already.
“You know, if you are too hot, you can take off your clothes” she quips. With an eager nod, he complies, stripping down to his underwear with impressive speed. She stifles a laugh. He’d probably follow any command she gave him. Poor rookies are too scared to know any better. Although looking him up and down, she reasons she might as well let him cool down a bit.
“Am I interrupting something?” Ravaan says, appearing suddenly from around the corner. Symone shakes her head, but Sabir instantly scoops his clothing up. His dark skin under the stuttering lights shades his face, but Symone can imagine the flushed cheeks, and happily does so.
“Not at all Commander. We’re removing the malfunctioning conduits. I’ve got a couple of people installing replacements as we go” she says. Ravaan motions over to Sabir.
“You require half naked staff to complete this task?” he asks. Symone isn’t sure whether he is joking or not.
“I felt that, with the increasing heat, Sabir or anyone else, of course, should wear fewer clothes. For health reasons” she says, a little flutter of guilt washing over her. Ravaan replies only with a murmur, before inspecting the contents of their hover-tray.
“It appears the damage is more extensive than we first assumed. A team is working on the Paris Drive now, but we will require these conduits to be completed before the emergency power gives us the ability to leave the gravitational field of the nearby star” he says, tapping a particularly damaged conduit with his knuckles.
“We’ll fix the problems, Commander, I’m certain of it,” she announces, and she means it.
“I have no doubt we will be safe. However, I am disturbed that section management has become as lax as to put us in this position at all. Has Lieutenant Wei not been completing the required maintenance rounds?” he asks loudly, for both to hear. Sabir displays wisdom far beyond his years and says nothing, looking to Symone. She feels an entirely different type of guilt. Zhang’s lackadaisical attitude to his work does infuriate her at times. But he is so charming and fun to be around; it’s hard to stay angry at him for long. She assumes he couldn’t have known about the extent of the structural problems with the ship.
Of course, if he checked more often, they might have discovered it earlier. She shakes her head. No, they were a team, and they were all equally to blame.
“Commander, I think perhaps we have all been slack. We should have noticed this level of damage during regular operations” she finally says.
“Yes, I imagine you should have” Ravaan quietly replies, before leaving. He seemed surprisingly calm for someone who was told staff weren’t doing their jobs correctly, Symone mused.
“Should I put my clothes back on?” Sabir asks.
Nemmy can barely move with the oppressive heat filling the pod. Her skin is sticky with sweat, and she has already tugged her hair into a high ponytail. Zhang, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the situation, as he spread out on his chair with a relaxed grin on his face. The intense warmth did create a sauna-like feel to the pod, with the heat massaging their muscles. Despite the situation, Nemmy also found it pleasantly relaxing to just sit and embrace the temperature.
“It’s quite nice in here, don’t you think?” Zhang asks her, leaning back with his eyes shut.
“Considering the situation, it could be worse” she agrees.
“The situation, you mean being stuck in here with me?” he probes, keeping his eyes closed.
“No, that’s not what I mean!” she snaps back defensively.
“So, you like being here with me then?”
“Yeah. No. You know what I mean. I don’t like being stuck in a metal tube. You’re the lesser of two evils” she says with a grin. He opens his eyes and smiles back at her.
“I knew you liked me” He jokes. He stands up, pulling his shirt off and revealing a surprisingly sculpted upper body. Nemmy can’t help but stare, and Zhang isn’t slow to notice. He traces his fingers over his ab muscles with a grin. At least he works hard at something.
“Amira’s always saying if you want a real body you have to do it the old-fashioned way, and she’s right. But don’t ever let her know I agree with anything she says” He jokes, sitting down and taking off his boots. Nemmy finds herself doing the same.
“She’s also in wonderful shape” she drawls. Zhang smiles wider at the inadvertent compliment. He sits back down, leaning over to pat her on the thigh.
“I’m sure she’s not the only one” He utters.
“You’re always flattering me, Zhang. It’s almost like you want something” she jokes, feeling her cheek. It is unbelievably warm in the pod. Zhang strips down to his underwear, before pressing the back of his hand against Nemmy’s forehead.
“You look really hot. You should probably undress. You don’t want to be dehydrated too badly. I’ll try not to look” he smirks. Nemmy makes a dismissive face, but her clothes do feel uncomfortable and restrictive.
“It’s only you and me in here. It will be our little secret. Plus, you’ve already had an eyeful of me!” he quips, drawing an amused gasp from Nemmy.
“I have not!”
“See, you can’t keep your eyes off me! I’m not just a piece of delicious flesh for you to enjoy” he booms, waving his hands backwards in feign surrender. She slaps him on the leg, failing to control her laughter.
“Don’t forget who I am, I’m your Captain, and I’m in charge” she says, wrestling out of her now sodden shirt. Zhang fails in his attempt not to look, as she continues to undress.
“I do like having women on top, Captain” he retorts, causing Nemmy to chuck her trousers at him. As the laughing subsides they both slump down on Zhang’s side of the pod. The heat is so draining…
Nemmy leans into Zhang, too tired to sit up straight. He puts his arm around her, and she finds his shoulder a perfect spot to relax her head.
“Zhang, what is it with you and women?” she murmurs.
“I just love women. The way you move, the way you look, the way you smell” he says.
“I can only imagine what I smell like right now” she jibes, and he laughs softly at her joke. They sit silently for a few moments.
“Women make me feel worthwhile” he reveals quietly. The surprise gives Nemmy a small jolt of energy. She lifts herself up to look him in the eye.
“What do you mean?” she asks earnestly. The pod isn’t well lit, but Zhang’s face clearly betrays his embarrassment. Nemmy worries that he will clam up. She twists her body so she can wrap a supportive arm around his waist.
“It’s alright Zhang, you can trust me,” she says, smiling warmly. He smiles weakly and strokes her arm.
“Only because it’s you. My dad…he mistreated my mum horribly. He didn’t really love either of us. My mum hid it as well as she could, but I could tell he was abusing her. She stopped him from hitting me more than once. I looked up to her so much, she was incredible. When he wanted to be
at me for whatever reason, he would hit her instead. But she never blamed me or made me feel bad, she treated me like I was the most important person in the galaxy”
“Oh, Zhang”
“Yeah. She was my hero. I always wanted to cheer her up and make her happy. Making jokes, giving her little gifts, whatever I could. Making her smile was the best feeling. When she died…I couldn’t bear it. I wanted to die myself. Most of my time in school was a complete waste. My relationship with my father didn’t get much better. But one day, I met this girl. She smiled at me. That beaming smile that women have, and it blew my mind. It was the same feeling as before” he continues. Nemmy starts to understand.
“You wanted to make her happy as well,” she says, finding herself softly rubbing his belly. He nods.
“I discovered I needed that validation. It was the only thing that made me happy. When I say women make me feel alive, I’m not exaggerating. Without women in my life, I’d be better off dead” Nemmy tries to shove him, but she can only muster a feeble nudge.
“Zhang don’t say things like that!” she whispers.
“I’m serious. I know plenty of the crew think I’m making excuses or I’m just a creepy moon-slug. But I just can’t help myself. I just need to feel that energy that only women can provide for me. It totally controls me. Pleasuring women is my life” he says, his natural bravado finally reasserting itself. Nemmy thinks back to the trader ship, where his dalliance with the female engineer endangered their lives. She still considers it extremely inappropriate behaviour, but at least now she kind of understands. He is handsome; there is no doubt about that. Pressed against his body, their limbs entangling one another, her skin tingles with pleasure. She gazes at his dark eyes, his glistening skin and finally, his soft lips. He has this hidden pain behind all his bluster, his confidence. Her eyelids feel heavy in the oppressive heat, but Nemmy finds Zhang incredibly attractive at that moment.
Unknown Earth Volume 2 Page 4