Logan went to check on the electrical systems, having devised a work schedule for the crew. Overall, it was the most prone to damage.
Back on earth, there were a series of reports generated and the status of the system. More often than not, the engineers carried each stage of its build twice. The Repair Specialists worked on it regularly too. Besides the fuel tank, the electrical system needed the most maintenance.
That was why Logan felt the need to check up on it after babysitting his boss.
All passengers were to sleep in the accommodation area. It was located at the mid-deck of the space shuttle and way bigger than what one would usually find in an average spacecraft. Then again the Inter-Galactic GG-20 was no ordinary spacecraft, was it?
The accommodation cabin was larger than the size of a bathroom stall, with comfortable sleeping bags on a propped-up bed ledge.
Usually, a sleeping bag would have two straps to hold the passenger firmly on the bed and keep them from floating away while they slept. However, that was not necessary at this altitude.
The presence of gravity in the Inter-Galactic GG-20 took care of that. Everyone could sleep the same way they did back home. Each ledge was labeled with the name of whom it belonged to.
Dr. Foxxman was not an unreasonable man. Studies have shown that the health, focus and morale of astronauts were chiefly dependent on work overload or the lack thereof.
He made it a point to keep the crew's work schedule conducive. 6-hour workdays for 7 days per work week, making it a total of 42 hours of work weekly. That left plenty of time to retire for the day.
Logan booted up GIO now as he worked on the highly-vulnerable system. The GIO tool gathered and applied data on every aspect of repairs, from methods and guidelines to a vehicle's troubleshooting history. GIO used this data to generate repair instructions and post-repair paperwork, largely automating the procedure.
At the moment, GIO had forty years' worth of operations to draw upon for continuing maintenance tasks.
"Hello. My name is GIO. How may I help you?" the computer-generated voice asked him.
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"I need you to run a logistics test on the electrical system of the spacecraft."
The AI got to work. It beeped frequently as it projected various arithmetic values of what it was doing.
GIO, as a discrepancy resolution program, automated many of the tasks required to determine the best course of action for a specific repair.
The software was supposed to provide a decision tree with a list of predefined actions, tools, parts, and materials appropriate for a given problem. It accomplished this by using a pre-approved library of repair procedures. Logan was watching the numbers projected on the wall in front of him in silence until the calculations finished.
GIO spoke again in its monotone robotic voice. "The electrical system of this Inter-Galactic GG-20 is currently intact. All three fuel cells are in prime condition. It–"
The computer didn't finish. A tremor went through the spacecraft all of a sudden, disrupting her information flow. She instantly powered down.
Giovanni spun around. "What was that?"
Nobody answered. The two co-pilots were desperately trying to maneuver the vehicle away from whatever it was.
"Strap up, everyone!" Logan yelled to the crew as he jogged over to the pilots. Something was out there and that was not the last of it.
"How are we in the asteroid belt already?" Dr. Donald said to no one in particular.
"Asteroid belt? What the hell?" one of the pilots muttered. He started to man several controls all at once. A massive asteroid was in front of them and they were heading right into it.
"Code Red!" he said aloud. "Commander, you need to strap up as well!"
Logan did. But they still hit the damn thing. Everyone held on to the edge of their seats for dear life. The shuttle shook and jerked this way and that, as though caught in the eye of a tornado.
When the turbulence finally ended twenty minutes later, all the passengers struggled to gather their composure. Not Logan though. He called on three other crew members to get ready for an EVA immediately.
He did not bother calling on GIO. A hit that big would have definitely left some scars on the shuttle.
Clad in spacesuits, all four of them exited the vehicle for their first Extravehicular Activity.
"GIO?" he called out as they floated to the nose of the Inter-Galactic GG-20. "What's the extent of the damage?"
"The electrical system of the Inter-Galactic GG-20 is faulty. One fuel cell has been penetrated. If not repaired in the next hour the space shuttle will lose all electricity."
Logan sighed. "Go on. What else?"
"The Radioisotope Power System will not be able to use the temperature difference between the heat from the unstable atoms and the cold of space to power electricity anymore. Therefore, the vehicle will be freezing cold by nightfall."
The four of them held on to different parts of the spacecraft to keep them in place while GIO listed off more of their predicament. That asteroid did a number on the Inter-Galactic GG-20.
When the AI was done, Logan looked to the three engineers beside him. They looked paler than death.
"Well… crap."