Chereads / The Last Year of the USDS Explorer / Chapter 4 - DAY #3 [Are we going to make it?]

Chapter 4 - DAY #3 [Are we going to make it?]

When we wake up I check the time and see that we have slept through most of the day as it is now after two pm. This is mostly due to not sleeping for 2 days straight. I start by having the others work on getting the rest of the engineering bay repaired as best as possible. I start by working on the main computer array in the hopes that I can restore some of the emergency systems or at the minimum get a better damage report. Almost as soon as I get the M.C.A. repaired and ready to power up the main lights in the engineering bay come online making it much easier to due repairs. I set the computer to reduce the light power by 50% to help save some power (which gains me a few dirty looks from the others) and start trying to get the auxiliary and emergency computer arrays up and going. After almost 8 hours of work and using all of the spare computer boards I manage to get all of the computer arrays online. I then put the two extra systems into low power mode in hopes that I am not drawing too much power. I check the damage report and find that even though the gyroscopes are not sending a response signal to the computers they are still intact and functioning properly so I suspect a damaged data cable under the engineering deck plates and start digging around. I end up having to get the others help as I have found the damaged cable but it is much too far for me too reach as I stand 6ft 2in tall, weigh 220lbs, and have a 36in waist. Arrica being the smallest of us is just barely able to squeeze through the opening between the floor plates and into the maintenance duct to reach the cable but ends up getting stuck after passing me the cable. So I go ahead and fix the cable while having her check the remaining cables and pipes below the floor in the various maintenance ducts so we don't have to repeat the entire process again. While Arrica is making her way through the maintenance ducts I start expanding the hole in the floor to make it so she can get back out. Once Arrica makes it out of the hole she hurries over to check her tablet almost as though she is a school girl checking for messages from her crush. After giving her a curious look and her making a few faces at her tablet she brings it over to me. I take a look and find that Arrica has been running some numbers on her tablet and has found that only the number 4 o2 tank is able to retain pressure at a maximum of 70% capacity without leaking so I program the computer to max that tank out at 65% so we can reduce our o2 loss. This is the best tank out of all of them we have so far as the number 3 o2 tank can only hold about 30% which I then program for 25% to slow its leak rate as much as possible without losing too much air storage capacity. I also set the computer to treat the best tank as the main tank and the other as a backup so it won't try to fill the worse of the tanks. The other tanks are mostly junk at this point so I program the computer to ignore them and seal them off from the rest of the system. Abbie has managed to stabilize the main power reactors and checked our remaining fuel levels, while not looking good we still have enough power to last us about 4 weeks so I am hoping to get most of the repairs done by then to bring the structural integrity back up to a minimum of 50%. Abbie then starts working on the auxiliary and backup power systems hoping to get them stabilized as much as possible. George has been working on the air recycling system most of the time and has managed to get it working at 96% so I set the computer to run it at 95% so we are not over stressing the system too much. As midnight approaches I go over to check on George and find that he has been trying to fabricate a sort of temporary airlock around the main door of the engineering bay so we don't have to depressurize the entire bay and risk losing more air from our already damaged tanks. I then decide it would be a good idea to have everyone take turns in recharging our suits while also refilling all of their supplies just in case the worst possible thing happens and we get another breach or we end up having to live in our suits for awhile. Once we finish the temporary airlock and everyone has refilled their suits I manage to get everyone's suits setup to cycle the air from inside the room through the suit so we don't have to leave them open nor do we have to worry about using our internal supplies. We then go back to the seats and get strapped in for the night and go to sleep after about two am.

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(Damage report)

Main hull breach

Cockpit integrity 5% (leak detected)

[cockpit pressure 0%]

Hangar integrity 5% (door missing) (leak detected)

[hangar pressure 0%]

Production integrity 20% (leak detected)

[production pressure 0%]

Medical integrity 5% (leak detected)

[medical pressure 0%]

Cryo integrity 5% (leak detected)

[cryo pressure 0%]

Airlock 1 integrity 5% (leak detected)

[airlock 1 pressure 0%]

Airlock 2 integrity 5% (leak detected)

[airlock 2 pressure 0%]

Airlock 3 integrity 5% (leak detected)

[airlock 3 pressure 0%]

Engineering integrity 98% (unknown item detected)

[engineering pressure 95% and stable]

Engine Status

Main ION engines not responding (not enough power)

Maneuvering ION engines 40% (dependent on power level)

Main Hydrogen engines not responding (no fuel available)

Maneuvering Hydrogen engines not responding (no fuel available)

Gyroscopes OK (hot-dog roll / passive ship cooling mode)

Jump Drive 10% remaining power (jump not possible at this time)

Power Status

Main power 2.75% and stable (approximately 4wks remaining) (requires nuclear fuel)

Auxiliary power 39.75% and stable (port solar array lost / starboard solar array damaged)

Backup power 39.75% and falling (no external fuel available)

Emergency power not responding (battery status unknown)

Vapor Gas Status

Total o2 capacity (3 days remaining due to unknown leaks)

Total h2 capacity (0 remaining please seek ship yard help)

o2 tank 1 0% (offline)

o2 tank 2 0% (offline)

o2 tank 3 30% (damage detected) (starboard solar array damaged)

o2 tank 4 70% (damage detected) (starboard solar array damaged)

o2 tank 5 not responding (port solar array lost)

o2 tank 6 not responding (port solar array lost)

o2 farm 1 not responding (port solar array lost)

o2 farm 2 not responding (port solar array lost)

o2 farm 3 leaking (starboard solar array damaged)

o2 farm 4 leaking (starboard solar array damaged)

o2/h2 generator offline (no ice available)

h2 tank 1 0% (leak detected)

h2 tank 2 0% (leak detected)

Sensor/Data System Status

Main sensor array not responding (unknown status)

Auxiliary sensor array damaged (max range 50m)

Backup sensor array offline (unknown status)

Emergency sensor array offline (unknown status)

Main computer array 90% capacity (running systems check)

Auxiliary computer array 10% capacity (low power mode active)

Backup computer array 10% capacity (low power mode active)

Emergency computer array 10% capacity (low power mode active)

Production System Status

Refinery 1 damaged (reduced capacity) (leak detected) (offline)

Refinery 2 damaged (reduced capacity) (leak detected) (offline)

Assembler 1 damaged (reduced capacity) (leak detected) (offline)

Assembler 2 damaged (reduced capacity) (leak detected) (offline)

Recycler damaged (low power)

Other Systems Status

Weapons offline (damage detected)

Welding drone (unknown)

Recycling drone (unknown)

Relay drone 1 (unknown)

Relay drone 2 (online)

Scout drone 1 (unknown)

Scout drone 2 (unknown)

Combat drone (offline)

Mining ship (unknown)

Asteroid anchor (online)

Cargo system (online)