Not-yet-titled sequel

Part 3

"Best of both worlds, then."

"Indeed, but enough car talk. It's bad enough I have to be reminded of city council meetings, I don't want to think about haggling with a car dealer."

Rebecca took a moment to contemplate the poor salesperson who had to sit across the table from Amira as she turned and started walking slowly back towards the group, clearly expecting the girls to follow.

"I hear you two had a lot to do with the new additions." Amira waved her hand regally again, this time towards the dozens of new solar panels ringing the roofs around the courtyard and shading some of the workbenches.

Rebecca felt like she was getting called on in class to explain a report, when she'd only designed the cover graphics. "Oh jeez, all I did was spot them on a map. Sam's the genius who actually makes it all go." She dropped back half a step and smiled apologetically at Sam...

...who glared and mouthed a silent "Oh, thanks!" at her before starting to talk aloud. "We've added a ton of generation capacity, but that's a double-edged sword. I'd feel a lot better if we found an electrician, because I'm often having to puzzle through what should be safe based on science and math, and they'd know what construction standards would have been."

The group they joined was mostly unfamiliar faces, but Rebecca picked out Ronnie and Epstein off to the side and sidled over to the familiar faces. Meanwhile, Sam continued...

"Before, we had more storage than we could fill even on a sunny day. That gave us a super easy safety margin and the wiring could be simple, it was basically just a matter of extending what the early residents built. Now... "

Sam actually sighed. "Now there are tons of possibilities, but it's all gonna be really complicated. I've been trying iterate bite-sized chunks, sometimes using the micro inverters attached to each panel, like for workbenches over there that got 110v for bigger power tools, and sometimes bypassing them for direct DC applications like some new lighting on micro grids and more charging stations for AA's and USB packs..."

Rebecca had absorbed all of this just being around Sam, and her attention returned to Amira's entourage. She really wanted to ask Ronnie who they were, but didn't think it was the right time yet. None of the strangers were female, so that ruled out Captain Tierman, and she'd recognize Fairbanks if she saw him. A couple of enlisted men, plus two guys in unlabeled tactical gear over outdoorsy clothing... not carrying the firearms their gear suggested they usually might. A security measure on "our" part, or a courtesy on theirs?

The tour continued past their cold storage pantry where Sam pointed out the portable AC units they were hoping to connect before the weather warmed up, and then up towards the battery room where she began explaining to Amira and the other guests how she'd tried to organize them by age, type, and fully charged amperage so that series of them could be somewhat treated as aggregate units. The entryway was tight though, and as Rebecca trailed back to the rear of the group, Ronnie nodded towards her before entering the room, also speaking to Epstein.

"Hey, why don't you two talk about the work that needs to be done on your hybrid?"

Rebecca glanced at Epstein — who shrugged amicably — then nodded at Ronnie. "Okay. Cover Sam's back in there while I'm busy, okay?"

"You know it, kiddo."

Rebecca and Epstein moved a few steps down the hallway and leaned on opposite walls, and he spoke first.

"So... just because a guy knows how to fix a bunch of military vehicles means he's qualified to work on hybrid powertrains now too, huh?"

Rebecca chuckled. "I mean, if it makes you feel any better, it's the gas side of things that's acting up. Remember Allie, our asian friend who's having the baby? She said the last time they used it, the engine was stalling and stuttering. They got it home on the battery, but it was rough going. Ronnie thinks it's probably old gas, given how little we had on hand."

"That makes sense, if it was sitting for a while. All the ethanol they were putting in fuel for the last few decades adds a ton of moisture that separates out of the gas within a few months. Sometimes it's so bad your fuel pump is only sucking water." He paused to scratch his chin contemplatively. :Might be spark plugs or the coil, but I bet a hybrid isn't old enough for that to be a problem. It probably has a beefed up ignition system for all the stop-starts anyway. Short version, Gunny's probably right as usual, and the gas is a good place to start."

"Thank you for not dumbing it down like some shade-tree mechanic 'girl-talking' me. Do you think you can fix it?"

"Probably. Might be able to just mix in enough fresh gas or an additive from an auto parts store. If it's really gross, we can just drain the tank, dilute it across several jerry cans, and feed it to a Humvee or generator, something less picky than some fancy high-compression computer controlled eco-mobile."

"That sounds kind of judgmental. Don't tell me you're one of those guys who likes 'rolling coal' on Priuses and all that shit, please?" Rebecca was slightly concerned, he'd seemed pretty likable so far.

"No, don't worry." He grinned. " Look around at what I drive all the time. Trucks are supposed to get dirty. Not be shiny underneath with stupid mods that make them worse at actually being trucks."