Docking
(Written by Brian Webb, posted 11 December 2006)
When we weren't too far from Mars' orbit I was busy drilling holes in PVC pipes for the garden. I had my headphones on to block the sound system out. I like classical music, really I do, but there's only so many times in a row you can hear Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 before you go insane.
Photoelectric ivy may be cheap, and I sell it at a very reasonable price, but it likes music, very specific pieces of music, and it takes forever to enjoy them. It's not that bad now that Ari's figured out the minimum volume that's needed and I've got my headphones, but I still can't hear the name 'Ravel' with out curling into a little ball and whimpering.
Anyway, I was pretty much deaf to the world, so Ari' had to flash the lights to get my attention. She keeps insisting that I get a pair of bluetooth headphones so she doesn't have to keep doing that, but there are times I like my solitude.
Space was going to be getting relatively crowded soon, so I put down the drill and pulled of the headphones. "So, we in imminent danger of death or something?" I asked.
"Nothing that simple or pleasant. Our course is going to intersect that of some old and dear friends of yours in the next half hour, so I thought that, maybe, you'd like to say hello. If you must," she said.
There's only one group of people that gets that sort of reaction from Ari' so after I carefully stowed my tools, the pipe I'd been working on, and swept up the sawdust, I headed for the 'bridge'.
My workshop is at the back of the Elenchi so I had to pass through most of the rest of the ship. Above me and to the rear of the ship are the banks and banks of capacitors, some store bought, some scavenged from dead hardware, and some homemade in mason jars. Those scare me sometimes, as they each have a tiny, tiny drop of Handwavium in them as well as a distressing tendancy to glow in interesting colours. I'm half convinced that they are talking to each other, but Ari' says I'm just paranoid.
I pass through the living space and reached the aluminum ladders that lead down into the cockpit, and up to the library and observation platform. The rest of the ship forward of that is mostly empty space. There's the storage tanks, fresh water, black water, consumables, the beginings of the hydroponics setup and lots of white christmas lights which will eventually let the plants grow. Climbing down into what had been the airship's gondola I make my way forward to the controls.
I flick on the mike and give the navicomp's holotank a glance. I'd been right, it was the SSX Coherent Anit-Stokes Raman Scatterer. It's also the last thing Kale gets to name if Mab has anything to say about it. And she should, given that we got her a twenty pound sledge hammer for a wedding gift. Even had the word 'reason' embossed on the hammer's head.
The Coherent's an ugly thing, compared to a lot of what's flying around up here. I have no idea where they got the cash to pay for her, or found the time and space to assemble her. But she is just a little impresive. Although I may be a bit biased.
The heart of the Coherent is this massive bundle of pipes and culverts which house the engine and power plant. Arranged around that, connected by long, thinish struts and more pipes are four sections. Three of them are made up of 6 metal cargo containers arranged in two rows. The fourth, is four cargo containers, a mobile home, and a shed.
As I said, she's not the prettiest ship out there, but she gives us plenty of room, and there's always the possibility of expansion. I almost wish I hadn't sunk everything into the Elenchi, but then again it's good to be able to get some distance from Kale now and again. Plus the Chevette, 'George', that serves as the Coherent's primary shuttle is a little cramped for five people.
We do need the space though. The Coherent's full of mostly half completed projects, the giant robot being only the latest. There's Dru's recylcing center, which is actually working, mostly. There's the vats that are going to grow, and are growing the plasi-facient bacteria colonies. There's the mostly completed hydroponic garden, which grows the freshest strawberries and algae this side of Luna, and the fish and ant tanks. Fish and ants are decent sources of protien, and the ants make a pretty decent burger once you've ground up enough of them.
There's also any number of uncompleted projects in the various workshops, and our pride and joy, the only completed project so far. The brewery. We've got beer, mead, and wine all fermenting, and there's always something drinkable coming out of one of the stills. Mostly vodka-ish stuff. Potatoes are pretty easy to grow.
I placed a call, and got the answering machine. I left an annoyed message telling Kale to wake hell up, and tried to figure out who'd be more likely to be up at this time. I setteled on Kas. It would have been so much easier if the Coherent had had some kind of AI to handle incoming calls, but it had never developed one. There was an 'expert' system, whose expertise was questionable, but it was no substitute, plus it tended to listen to Mab almost exclusively.
It probably wasn't that much of a surprise that there was no AI on the Coherent. Kale's insistance that a computer intelligence would have to think and reason in ways so strange to humans couldn't relate to it might have had something to do with it. Of course, since Kas handles most of the computer stuff, it might have just chosen not to talk to Kale. I'll have to ask Kas or maybe Ari' sometime.
"This had better be good," Kas growls after the fifth ring.
"You're such a pleasant person to talk to in the morning. What happened, did you not get your pound of bacon for breakfast?" I asked.
"Furry! Where've you been man?" he said.
"What exactly is it going to take to get you to stop calling me that? People get the wrong idea. I've been floating out near Luna, trying to get this place finished."
He laughs, understandably. I've been trying to get the Elenchi finished for a long time now, and something always interrupts.
"Anyway, I'm about 15 minutes out. You guys got the docking clamps working again?"
He assures me things have been fixed since last time, and I sign off. A quarter of an hour later I'm coming along side the Coherent, engines on low burn to match velocity.
When I'm 20 meters out Kas launches the grapples. They slowly close the distance, simple reaction engines lining them up with the hard points on the Elenchi's hull. Once they've clamped on the winches start hauling me in and a minute later I'm clamped securely to the Coherent.
It's a bit of a walk across her hull to the airlock from where I am, but that's why we've got space suits. Mine's made from a pilot's pressure suit and helmet from the local Army-Navy store, some scuba gear my uncle had laying around in the basement and a few odds and ends for saftey's sake.
It's surprisingly easy to get into, all things considered, it's getting out that poses some problems. For no reason I've ever been able to determine the suit just doesn't want to come off. There's no AI in it, there's just not enough processing power, so it isn't like it actually has desires, but there's just no other way to explain it.
After I've sealed up and run the checklist I say goodbye to Ari', endure her comments about finally having time to read and step into the airlock.
