Fast Cars and Intergalactic Speed Dating

25: An Interesting Problem

Dr. Das arrived a short while later. Garth was already fast asleep, curled up in his nest with a blanket pulled completely over his head.

"Should we go somewhere else?" she asked softly, looking at the swaddled shape with concern.

"He'll be okay. If he wakes up and we're not here, he'll throw a tantrum." Richard settled into one of the cushioned chairs, and Dr. Das sat across from him. She was carrying the thinnest laptop Richard had ever seen.

"Aialo-El will be here in a moment," she said, opening the laptop. "They're bringing their First Officer to help us with coordinating our construction efforts. We'll need a lot of hands, I imagine."

"We will. And materials, too."

"That much, I can manage. I took the liberty of ordering the materials specified in your schematics." She frowned at the screen, scrolling on the track pad for a moment and clicking a few times. Then, she turned the laptop toward him, displaying a very familiar draft of a very familiar photovoltaic cell with its components labeled. "Is this the most up-to-date blueprint? Anything missing?"

"That should about cover it," Richard said, hoping he didn't sound as annoyed as he was to see his life's work casually appropriated by this near-stranger.

"I have a vendor sending a supply of materials for the absorber layers, which should be here tomorrow. The coating is coming from California, unfortunately, so it's going to take another day. But the contact materials should be here..." She glanced down, checking her watch. "Momentarily."

"Wow. Okay." Richard ran through his mental checklist again. "What about tools?"

"Basics are en route," she said, "but if you need anything special, speak now—and we might have to improvise. It's not safe to go back to your place." She turned the laptop back toward her. She hit a couple of keys and scrolled.

"No, of course. Do you have a list?"

"Absolutely." Click, click.

"I'll look over what you have and we can determine if there's anything critical missing."

"Excellent. Now, take a look at this and see what you think."

This time, Dr. Das passed Richard the laptop. He set it in his lap and adjusted the screen. It took him a moment to realize that he was looking at the blueprint for the very spaceship within which they sat.

"Wow," he said. "Now I'll be able to find my way to the cafeteria."

She laughed. "Focus! I want you to see what we're dealing with. It's not a small ship. The life support system requires a significant amount of power. We can redirect some of it, I think, when we're taking off, but we'll need to manage the flow carefully."

"What can you tell me about the fuel they used before?"

Dr. Das was about to speak, but a chirp at the door alerted them to someone's arrival. The door whirred open and there stood Aialo-El, accompanied by another Karran of a similar height and build. They were wearing the same type of clothes as Aialo-El, a sleek black suit that fitted them closely. The newcomer's skin was grayer, though, and their tentacles were much longer.

"Richard Arthur Campbell," said Aialo-El as the pair approached the humans, "this is my First Officer. They are called Ol-Maran. Ol-Maran, you may address Richard Arthur Campbell as Richard. It is his preference."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Richard," said Ol-Maran, marking themself out immediately as the owner of the only other universal translator on board. They looked Richard up and down with apparent curiosity, then turned their attention to the laptop he held. "I see that you and Dr. Kavita Das have already begun to discuss our next steps."