because it was so cold. People only left the ship when they had to.
Jimbo discovered that now that they had an atmosphere, the maintenance suit could be used to greater effect. They removed the destroyed Shuttle Transport Unit (STU) from the flight deck. Ibenez and Kuss worked on removing the main cpu from the shuttle for possible use in the Memphis .
They also discovered that both Hammerheads were fully functional. These were small, Courier-class shuttles that were specifically designed for atmospheric transport. Their engines were three simple hyper-turbines that only required water for fuel. Two engines in the front and one in the back. They were two-seaters, one chair behind the other. They had the latest grav-foils and excellent comms gear, with massive local storage for the secure transport of data when transmission was impractical or insecure.
Jimbo walked into the dock and noticed, immediately, that Kuss had on her idea face.
“You wanted to see me?” Jimbo noticed the grav-plate in the dock didn't work. It was .18G in there. His nose already itched.
Hume, Kuss, Weston, Tyrrell and, oddly, Sarah Wood stood around the Hammerheads.
“Kuss has another idea, sir,” Hume began.
“Hammerheads no have pressurized cockpit. And, turbines don't do shit in a vacuum. Grav-foils are different.” She reached inside the first Hammerhead and flipped a switch on the console. A series of antennas deployed.
“We load both Hammerheads up with portable sensor gear. Greg has very nice toys. Maybe solar array and batteries. Even have small optical observatory.” Kuss indicated how much room the second seat and storage compartment had.
“Two go. Set up sensors. Configure Hammerhead as relay. Two come back in the other Hammerhead. We spy on bastards,” Kuss finished.
Worthington looked from the Hammerhead to Kuss to Hume and then to Sarah Wood.
Sarah answered his silent question. “I can fit in the pressure suit and I know how to fly a Hammerhead on just foils. I had one back home.”
Decisively, Jimbo said, “Do it.” And, then he walked away.
“You forgot to mention we can get the Hammerheads out the small airlock,” Kuss said.
Tyrrell added, “You're all talking past the sale. Kuss, this was your damn idea. Get to work. Sarah and I will need to be thoroughly briefed on setting up all the gear.”
Three days later, everything was ready. The Hammerheads were loaded and moved to the airlock when reactor number one came online.
Weston had already sorted out how to interface the reactor with the base. The hangar was already equipped with heavy-duty power cables, normally used to power ships while in the hangar for service. These were repurposed in no time.
Hume and Wood suited up and headed out.
***
As the base fell away into the distance, they drove into the quiet, accelerating at a steady rate, floating about 100 meters above the surface.
“How long have you known Jimbo, Hume?” Wood asked her over HUD comms, as they sped along.
“I was reassigned to the Ventura just over four months ago. I came in with the new staff rotation. Jimbo had been on the command staff for over five years. The third shift command crew.”
Wood could hear the sadness in her voice. Hume was always such a badass all the time. Her heart went out to Hume.
“I expected to be rotated out on the ship you arrived in. It didn't happen. No idea why. Just my luck.”
“Jimbo should have rotated out as well. You know he's married and has two adopted girls back on Earth?” Hume said.
“I have been on the Ventura for seven years. Today was the first day we met. Command crews and med techs on the lower decks don't mix, I guess,” Wood said with regret in her voice.
“Jimbo's not like that. He used to take me to Peck’s Halfway on the Ventura . Ever go there?”
She heard the smile in Hume's voice.
“I have been there, but I’m not much of a drinker. Plus, I just can't eat that kind of food. It's so loud sometimes,” Sarah