As Paul got stronger, he was able to get further and further away from the pods and hospital. Dr Tshene said he could get an automated chair but said manual ones were far better for building strength and independence.
He picked up a few small jobs rewiring things here and there. Paul was amazed that uncle's toolkit could be useful in outer space. Initially he felt uncomfortable dealing with alien beings but realized it was something he would have to get used to.
The first big job that Shige led him to was to help fix Shane's vibrobike. Shane was over the moon, the only piece he ended up having to buy new was the speaker unit that had been savaged by cactus spines. They had to find a replacmet circuit board for the bike, to do that Shige took Paul to the recycling yard in a transporter he borrowed from work.
Paul enjoyed traveling further out into the station than he had been before. Shige did his best to describe everything they went past even though he only had 21 earth days of experience to draw from. Fixing Shane’s vibrobike was a turning point for Paul. In a world he didn't understand or feel that he was able to be part of he was comforted to find a circuit board was still a circuit board even if they were connected to a few unfamiliar parts.
The yard was at the far end of the Red Scar. It had enough of a shell around it to stop the brown sands of Borgon from blowing in and to maintain an atmosphere but not much more. It was hotter than the main station and the air was drier. It hit you like a wall when you came through the doors.
“This place is epic, how are we going to find a circuit board and this lot,” said Paul.
“That looks like the reception, let's start there” said Shige pointing to a rough looking container building.
At the office they met a Xanthian, He was a short humanoid about half Shige's height. His leathery brown skin rolled around his generous body, topping it off his rounded face was set with large bright green eyes, and he sported a thick black mohawk. He called himself MacGyver from his favorite earth TV series.
“If those of you want any duct tape the only good supply on Borgon is I am.” he stated proudly.
“Thank you, we will keep that in mind” said Shige.
“What we want today is a circuit board like this.” He produced a picture of the circuit board from the bike.
“Hover bikes down end there.”
He whistled and a group of multicolored Guinea pig like creatures appeared through a small hole (basically a cat flap). They stood on their hind legs staring expectantly at Paul and Shige with their four beady eyes.
“Show them of your image” he gestured to the small creatures.
Shige showed them the picture on the tablet, they studied it for a moment then squeaked and disappeared through the flap.
“The Grums will expect a finder's fee on top of my charge if they are finding your board, that is their way” said MacGyver. “You try the hover bikes first.”
“Thanks MacGyver you are a champion,” said Shige.
There were machines, spaceships, broken and crushed pods, shipping crates, piles of hydraulics, generators and everything in between, all broken dusty and in various states of dismantling. About halfway down the yard was a weirdly shaped spaceship, they both stopped when they saw it. The broken BETA24X7 had a pile of wings and boosters leaning against it but the odd shape jumped out immediately to both of them. It was tall and wide and not so long, the two-tone brown body was rounded at the front like a Boeing 747 crossed with a pug. It had ALBATROSS written back from the main windows in large white lettering.
“It's even got retro stripes down its sides, What does Albatross mean? Do you think we could use it for our accommodation?” said Paul.
“An albatross is a sea bird from the south pacific that makes epic journeys across the southern oceans, it’s a prefect name. Let's take a look, I can help get your wheelchair up the loading ramp,” said Shige.
He was stoked, not just because of the ship, but because he hadn't seen his friend look so excited since they left on their road trip. With a run up he managed to push Paul's wheelchair up the ramp, just managing to stop before he sent Paul into a great hole in the floor. Paul's front wheels were in the air, and he lent his weight back to stop himself being tipped into the hold.
“Look there's storage under the loading bay see how the floor is folded back” said Paul casually pointing to the sides once Shige had him back on safe ground.
The ship was huge, not like the big, long range jump ships, but big enough, especially when they compared it to the pods that they'd been living in. Shige ran around checking upstairs while Paul wheeled himself around the ground floor. He found Paul and the captain's chair pushing buttons.
“This ship is awesome, do you think we could get it?”
“There's a major blast hole in one side at the top and the ship looks like it hasn't been moved in decades. Other than that, in my expert opinion, it seems great. There's a bunch of bedrooms upstairs and the full kitchen and lounge.”
“There seems to be bedrooms downstairs too, but I could only get one of the doors open,” said Paul.
Let's go and check the bikes before we make any rash decisions” said Shige.
Paul reluctantly gave up the captain's cheer and wheeled himself out. The bikes had been well stripped, Shige took photos of what was there for future reference. They made their way back towards the Albatross. They were nearly there when one of the Grums came out squeaking at them. They followed it to a large drill and looked at its control panel. Unfortunately, the parts were wrong.
“Sorry little fella, but not this one” the wee creature kicked the dust and then took off under a heap of metal arms. A second and third Grum intercepted them a moment later. The third circuit board they checked was the right one, well close enough. The Grum followed them happily back to the office where MacGyver gave him a price for the unit (2 credits) and a protein bar (½ a credit) for the Grums. Two Grums hoisted the protein bar over their head and marched out the office through their tiny door chattering triumphantly.
“Can I help you fixers with anything else?” ask MacGyver.
“There is one other thing, that BETA24X7, how much do you want for that? asked Paul.
MacGyver burst out laughing and slapping the desk. “What, they don't think, it is no engines, bad electronics and blast hole in wall.” he laughed.
“Scrap worth maybe 2000 credits but 40,000 to get it to fly again”
Shige did some quick math. Combined they had five week's worth of pod accommodation paid up at around 300 credits in value. He had savings of 200 credits and together they had 2000 pounds and not much else. He put it to MacGyver.
“Earth pounds not worth much here 2000 equals 500 credits, so you still 1000 credits short crazy friend.”
“Could we take it now and pay the rest as we can, I could come here and fix electronics, Shige has a good job as delivery driver, and our business partner also works in a loader suit at the docks.” proposed Paul.
MacGyver laughed again “Come back in 20 hours and show me fixing, then we can talk, OK, you are all funny.”
That night they showed Amataya pictures.
“Anything but these bloody pods” she answered “Let's do it, I think the name is a sign, my ancestors we're navigators of the pacific, maybe I will become a navigator too.“
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The following day Shige dropped Paul out to MacGyver’s yard. “Make this work Paul, it will be awesome.”
Paul set himself up at a desk with his toolkit in easy reach while MacGyver bought him various bits of machinery and appliances to try to fix. He managed to get an electric heat gun and a hand vibrolifter working and fixed MacGyver's intercom as well. He was working on a robot arm when MacGyver slapped him on the back.
“Good news human you work at mine for 50 credits a day until paid up, you are like MacGyver too, fixing things good” he said laughing.
“Your friends can pay too of course. Make sure all is paid, or I become angry” he added.
“No, we won't muck you around, we will need parts from you later,” said Paul.
“Yes, you will ha ha ha, yes you will. Good work today.”
Paul was still playing with the robot arm trying to make it work when Shige arrived.
“We got it” he said with glee giving Shige a high five “MacGyver said we could pay it off. I will work here, and we can all chip in.”
“You too, fast boy” said MacGyver coming back from moving the wings away from the Albatross with his now working vibrolifter.
“Fix robot arm next time Paul.” he laughed.
They managed to negotiate a space for Albatross down the end of the main hanger where long-term ships were parked. To move her they hired one of the big ice moving units. It had to go outside the station and back in through the hangar doors because it was too large for the main internal corridor.
“I hope it is not falling apart on you, no discount for broken ship” said MacGyver laughing again.
Paul insisted on sitting in the captain's chair for the trip, he wore a small portable breathing unit, there was oxygen in the Borgon air but it was mixed with toxic gases. Shige took a ride in the ice shifter. There was no roof on the unit just an oxygen mask each.
“Let's get this job done as quick as we can its going to be hot out there.” said the driver, “Still it makes a change from carting ice all day” he smiled.
As soon as the vibration from the ice lifter started up dust filled the ship, it came out of every corner. Paul heard things crashing in the depths of the ship, the dust got so bad he had to take his shirt off and use it to stop his oxygen mask from blocking up. Still, it was his greatest moment since he arrived on the station, in some ways one of the greatest moments in his life.
The driver of the ice unit cracked up, “Do you think your friend will be alright in there?” he asked as billows of dust came out of the half open loading bay.
“He needs a bit of adventure,” replied Shige, flinching as another loud crash came from the depths of the ship.
It was his first time outside the station and the landscape was as stark and dry as he had imagined, even so it was beautiful. Large dark stone formations rose out of the sands. They had been sculpted by thousands of years of wind-borne sand wearing away their hard edges. It was an exciting moment when the ship came though the giant air lock and into the hangar. Amataya was there with Ruth to guide the ship to their allocated spot. When the internal hanger door opened it gave them their first view of the Albatross.
“She's beautiful, bigger than I expected,” said Amataya.
“Your baby can have a gymnasium in there” said Ruth approvingly.
As they guided the Albatross into place Amataya was impressed by how gently the ice carting unit could put the huge ship down.
“That is some amazing technology” she said to Ruth. Shige thanked the driver.
“Ice carting will be boring after that,” he said wiping the dust from his forehead.
He handed Shige an invoice and a card, "these guys do commercial spaceship cleaning, they might be useful.” He grinned then drove off.
Where is Paul” asked Amataya.
“In the captain's chair of course, he insisted,” said Shige.
“Oh shit I hope he's OK,” said Amataya.
Shige climbed up on the ramp using the chain that was holding it in place then disappeared into the settling dust. He found Paul stuck in the captain's chair, his wheelchair had disappeared across the room and he was covered in dust from head to toe. Fortunately, the captain's chair was well sprung so he wasn't too badly vibrated, only dusty.
“How did the rest of the ship fare, I heard some mighty crashes.” he asked excitedly.
In truth the vibration had been good for the ship, it freed up doors, leavers and mechanisms they hadn't moved since the ship was packed up decades ago.
On the first floor the Albatross had four sleeping quarters, the cockpit and a medbay all spread around the large loading bay. Upstairs it sported three more bedrooms, a bathroom, a large open kitchen/ dining area and lounge. Shige released the chain lifter and the loading ramp slapped the floor with a bang.
Amataya strode up into the ship, “It's a mess Ruth,” she called back.
“You get what you pay for love.” said Ruth walking up the ramp behind her, “still, she’s got a good feeling to it don't you think, that one there will be the captain's room, why didn't you grab it before the boys do it'll be the biggest room in the ship.”
“Ruth you're a genius.” said Amataya approvingly. They swung on the door and it creaked open. The room had been stripped but had a built-in desk, bed frame, shelves and cupboards as well as a good amount of floor space.
“Awesome this will work well, I can set us up nicely in here." She said, feeling satisfied. A dusty Paul rolled past her door.
“Hey Amataya, what do you think?” he asked.
“I think it's great to see you smiling and I think it's going to take a month to get all the dust off you. And I'm having this room too.”
Paul laughed, “for sure, can you help me open the other rooms, I think I might do well with a ground floor room as well.” He smiled at his first wheelchair joke.
The middle two bedrooms rooms were messed up by the blast from above. It tore through the wall between them and carried on down through the floor. The final room at the end opened with only a small amount of persuasion. It was smaller than the captain's room but still far bigger than the pod that Paul had been staying in.
“Superb this will be great I don't even have to dust off before I come in,” he laughed.
“You can check out upstairs if you like, I'm good here for now, thanks for your help.” He felt strangely at home in the ship which he saw as a good sign. taking a deep breath of the musty air he wondered what it would take to get the power systems going, whatever they were in a spaceship.
Upstairs Shige had chosen a room. One of the other rooms smelt like something had died in it. The other he couldn’t open. So it was an easy choice. Excitedly he made his made his way downstairs to find the others.
“Sue said she could bring dinner over after her shift, our shout, to celebrate the arrival of your new the new home,” said Ruth. “I think I think she wants an excuse to come and take a take a look.”
“That that's great,” said Shige.
“Has anyone seen the power generation system is. It would make sorting this ship out much easier,” said Paul wheeling out of his room.
“I think I saw some power looking thingamies under the bedrooms where the blast went through.” said Amataya.
With Amataya’s and Shige's help Paul was lowered down into the loading bay. Sure enough, the generator room was right under the bedrooms where the blast had gone through. The main generator looked fried, even to Shige's untrained eye. There was a backup generator on the other side of the room that looked fine.
“I think we need a TX4824 plasma core,” said Paul.
“How do you know that, you can't have amassed that much space geek knowledge in the time we have been here.” said Amataya from back in the loading bay, she wasn’t much of a fan of small spaces at the best of times.
“There is a sticker that said TX4824 plasma core just below a large empty looking socket. That was the main clue.”
“Well at least our parking place comes with an atmosphere and a roof, not that it ever rains on this planet” said Amataya.
While they mucked around with the power Ruth explored the medbay. It had an old acoustic unit, a scanner and a hibernation pod all in unknown condition. Shige suggested if they focused on the rooms that they were going to use then they could get a bigger refund on the time left on their pods.
“They have a two day cancellation policy on our rooms, do you think that will give us enough time to clean up?”
“It might have to, but I might need a hand” said Paul.
“Or a leg” said Amataya, checking if it was ok to make such jokes.
“Two would be even better” replied Paul putting Amataya at ease.
They found a cleaning cupboard with some extremely non space age rags and brooms and worked on the bedrooms while Ruth straightened out the dining area. Dr Sue arrived with a dinner of rice with fried tofu-like substance and mushroom's. It was so exciting to eat something that they could chew that it felt like a feast. Over dinner all three of the original crew got a message from Tracy and Pip asking how their trip was going if the car was running ok.
“If only they knew” laughed Shige once he had explained the message to the others.
Everyone had work the next day and dragged themself away from their new toy/home. MacGyvre seemed genuinely pleased that they had made it to the landing bay in one piece.
"They are tough ships built to explore, good having the room too in my space." he told Paul in the morning.
"You can fix this before fixing arm, then you can use the machine for the dust at ship of you."
He had bought in an industrial vacuum cleaner into the office that looked like it had been dropped from the top of the station along with some random batteries of the right voltage. Paul worked on the electronics for a bit tidying up wires and inspecting connections. He made a rough connection to the batteries and started the machine up. About two seconds later smoke started pouring out of the top of the machine. Quickly he unclipped the battery but not before a smoke alarm started ringing.
"Not good yet" MacGyver laughed heartily and turned on an extraction fan.
Paul found the burnt wire and followed it to the motor. The housing on one side had collapsed against it. Using a large screwdriver, he managed to force the housing away from the engine.
This time he thought. “Ye ha!” The vacuum cleaner burst into life, Paul powered it down.
“Good, now you can test on office.” said MacGyver laughing.
“The body is still broken, its compactor will tear the machine apart if we run it now, If I can get it home then Shige could repair it for you."
“Ok good, carry on with arm.”