A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 8

I was replacing the air intake filter when I heard a faint beep from my Analyzer. Oh, please no... I held my breath as I checked the screen, but it didn't make the medium priority ticket disappear. The food heater had died again. For the 32nd time today. Over half of my day had been spent just walking back and forth to that dining area as it kept breaking.

This frustration is giving me a headache... Okay, truth be told, the dull pressure in my head couldn't even really be counted as a headache, just as an annoyance. I closed the air vent cover and went once more to the second level.

The cook scowled at me as I came in. He said, "That thing needs to remain running during supper."

"Sorry, sir. There are no replacement parts on the ship to fix it."

He went back to cooking as he muttered, "Likely story. Can't wait until Steve is back on his feet, at least the things he fixes remain fixed."

It was a good thing that the cook hadn't been looking at me or he surely would have seen the angry indignation on my face. I quickly concealed it, but I hadn't been this angry in a very long time. My rage simmered through me as I went to the food heater.

Of all days for this thing to keep breaking. I really wish that Steve had been up and responded to this ticket. I am also positive that this cook will mention the numerous tickets to Steve the next time he comes through here.

There wasn't anything to be done though. It was the connector that needed replacing, and of course, it was a special thing that was only used with this type of heater. Even the odd oblong fuses were unique; no other machine used them, nor were there any in stock.

I had even walked to the Medical Bay to ask Steve if there were any parts hidden on the ship that may not be showing in the inventory. There were not, and even my Analyzer didn't know of any way to safely bypass the connector and fuse.

I had even brought a small bottle of special cleaner for electronics and had scrubbed the connector, but it hadn't made any difference. I had tried dozens of things including swapping the fuses between two different connectors, but it was that one badly-corroded connector that was the problem. The worst part was that this connector was the main one, so if it went down, the whole thing died.

That gave me a small idea though. I quickly checked the logistics on my Analyzer before pulling out my screwdriver, wire cutters, and some other tools. It took me about ten minutes, but I managed to switch several of the connectors themselves around.

The troublesome one was now directly – and only – responsible for the big soup pot heater. I had jerry-rigged two of the other connectors together in its place to handle the higher level of power to the main heater, and they would also channel any excess power to the one smaller heater that now lacked its own personal connector. The bad connector was capable of handling more power than the others, which was why I hadn't switched it out earlier.

There. Even if it dies, the cook can just heat the soup on the stove occasionally. Steve may be upset since this is not 'proper', but if this jerry-rigging works, then it is better than coming down here every fifteen minutes. I turned the machine back on and used my Analyzer to check the temperatures for a few minutes.

I turned the soup heater down a tiny bit and its power reading stabilized somewhat. The smaller heater was only getting a low level of excess power, so it was less than half as warm as the others. How can I turn this to my advantage...

I wandered over to the cook. "I moved the worn-out part to the soup warmer and it is a bit cooler than before, but it seems to be working. A side effect is that the fifth heater is now just an appetizer warmer for things that are best served slightly warm."