Free Transplant by D. B. Reynolds-Moreton Page B

diary and replaced it on the shelf, and before he realized it, he was hurrying along the maze of corridors towards the living quarters, eager to tell Arki of his astounding find.
    As he passed the equipment room, four men burst out and ran off down one of the corridors, each laden with tool boxes and one struggling and cursing under the load of a large and heavy coil of convoluted tubing.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Glyn called out, but they were out of ear shot before he could hear their reply, if there was one.
    He hurried on towards the eating room and bumped into Arki as he came running out.
    ‘Where’ve you been? There’s an emergency call from the Captain, two of the hydroponics rooms have gone down, and there’s a leak in the water recycling system.’ he panted.
    ‘I’ve been in the book room, and discovered something which you will find hard to believe, in fact I’m not sure if I do.’ The corridor lights dimmed a little, and then came back on.
    ‘I really don’t like this, things seem to be breaking down at an ever increasing rate these days, and I sometimes wonder if we shall ever reach our destination, wherever that is.’ It was the first time Glyn had seen naked fright on Arki’s face, and he felt it too.
    ‘My story can wait,’ Glyn took Arki’s elbow and guided him back into the eating room, ‘have all the teams been sent out? I saw one rushing off as I came here.’
    ‘Yes, three teams have gone to attend the breakdowns, but you were asked for in person by the Captain, so you must have made a good impression somewhere along the line.’
    Glyn wasn’t sure if Arki was being sarcastic or really meant it, when the lights dimmed again, flickered, and then came back on.
    They looked at each other, both realizing that things were taking a turn for the worse, and there was probably little they could do about it.
    ‘Now that you’ve convinced me that the Captain is in the same league as Teacher and the dreaded Medic, I’m beginning to wonder what will happen if he goes the same way and can no longer be relied upon to give coherent information. Also, as far as I can see, he runs the whole ship. What happens if something breaks down, and he doesn’t tell us, or release the lift doors so that we can reach the other levels? Only he can issue tools and materials from the equipment room, so what do we do if he fails?’ Arki blurted it all out in one go. Just then the lights dimmed again.
    Glyn looked thoughtful for a moment, his brow furrowed,
    ‘I’ll take a chance on it and put our concerns to the Captain as soon as he comes on the audio circuit again, I don’t think there’s any other way of getting through to him, that I know of. Somehow, we must be able to take control if the worst happens and the Captain blows the proverbial fuse.’
    ‘We may as well stay here now; it’s not long to mealtime.’ Arki said, and they did, talking over their concerns about the ship and what they could do themselves in an emergency, which didn’t amount to very much, and that worried them.
    The others, in ones and twos trooped in, to be followed by a group of four looking more than a little dishevelled, and not at all happy with their lot in the greater scheme of things.
    ‘How did it go?’ asked Glyn. ‘Not very well, the video link was down, the Captain didn’t seem to know what he was talking about, or his mind was on other things so we just had to do the best we could and try and figure out what the problem was with the water recycler.’
    ‘Did you fix it OK?’ Glyn was looking worried.
    ‘Yes, I think so, we at least stopped the leaks by changing one of the pumps and several gaskets, and we could hear water circulating so I think all’s well, for now that is.’
    ‘What do you mean, for now?’ Arki was now showing an interest.
    ‘Well, the whole system is showing signs of corrosion and there must be a limit to the replacement parts available.’ The man looked glum and without much hope for the