Meltdown Ophilion - Book One

36_REN-CELOR

"It'll take a while to get used to this again," Fel said, squinting his eyes against the noxious atmosphere.

Orion nodded his agreement, the feeling he had was the same as when he decided to take the Twister, or when he boarded the ship bound for Portos-Caas: if he didn't do it now his fear would get the better of him; cage him; he might not have the guts to go through with it. He swallowed hard and started down the plank followed by Fel, then Jenna then Celli. "We better get a droid going on the plasma relays," he said in a hesitant voice, once they had reached the end of the plank and stood on the greasy dock.

Orion walked to the ship and pressed a sequence of buttons on the keypad beside the control panel. The small covering slid upwards revealing a screen and another set of buttons. The pilot pressed the red one and the docking plank began to retract, then the door closed and sealed with a hiss.

Orion walked back to where his friends stood, looking up at the main hatch of the Elen-Tron. He watched the door along with them, then said: "Well, I guess this is it." The others nodded, still staring at the door.

They waited in a huddle beside their ship, feeling vulnerable, wondering where to begin. Somebody brought up the plasma relays, but nobody knew where to go to get it started. It was difficult to start moving away from the Elen-Tron: it was their safe haven; their escape route; their way back.

Two minutes passed when a sinewy older man who looked like he had spent the better part of his life in this metallic underworld approached them. "You guys need some help?" he asked smartly. Orion nodded mutely. "Well, you're not going to get it standing there," he walked past them, clearly pressed for time, "you gotta check in with the control droid," he called out and pointed with his thumb to a large orange block, two meters square, which sat twenty meters behind him, "it's that one over there." He picked up his pace, disappearing behind a shower of sparks from a welding machine.

The four Ophilion stared at each other for a few seconds, then turned in the direction of the orange block. Not at all like Tur-Lam, Fel thought critically.

Checking in with the orange box was easier than they had anticipated: Orion placed the request and received a message – pink on black – on the small dirty screen; repair droids would start work replacing the power conduits for the life support system – which were not in need of replacing – in three hours. The work would take about six hours to complete.

By then we'll be who-knows-where, Orion thought, offering his shoulder to the blue laser scanner which automatically deducted the credit from his account. Paying for something so expensive gave him a peculiar feeling. Jenna felt even stranger having a com-chip for the first time in her life. She unconsciously rubbed her shoulder as Orion finished the transaction.

They turned and headed west in search of the nearest transport to the far side of the field. They hadn't gotten far when a loud buzzer sounded behind them. They spun around to meet a large transport droid which barked an order for them to stay clear of the trans-way. Moving aside, they almost bumped into another droid which was repairing a spent gravity repeller.

"How can we cross to the west side exit?" Fel asked over the din. The droid looked down at him with its three eyes and replied with technical jargon they did not understand. "It's a whole different word!" said Fel, throwing up his hands in frustration, "The droids at our plant aren't like this; I don't understand these things!"

A human mechanic glanced over at the young people who were clearly lost. "You guys look lost," he stated amusedly. "Where you headed?"

"West side sorting belt," Fel said as confidently as he could, but he still sounded lost.