Eagle X, Mission 20: Quantum Bonds(Editing)

Part 15: Liam

Liam ran the scan again just to be sure.  Ivory sat in the copilot seat going over the ship's systems.  After the first two scans Liam had asked her to check the scanner itself.  Taylor-06 sat behind them watching the ship computer analyze the data.  Scott was in the cargo hold pacing.  His anxiety put everyone on edge, and it was in all of their best interest if he kept his distance.  By Dr. Ho's timetable they had a day at most to get back home if they were going to save Patricia.

The shipboard computer beeped.

"The scan confirms it.  That's Breadcrumb."

Liam looked through the viewport at the wreckage floating outside.  It had once been a small buoy.

"I'm confused.  Is it working or not?"  Ivory punched a few keys on the small keyboard beside her, and the computer returned an orange display of the buoy's schematics.

"It's transmitter is still working, but everything else is slag."

"Shit... what are we gonna do, boss?"

"Do about what?" Scott growled as he entered the cockpit.

He plopped down in the remaining empty seat.  His eyes were closed, and Liam could see the signs of fatigue.  They'd been operating nonstop without rest or reprieve for almost a week.  The R.Nano could only do so much.  Liam swiveled his seat around so he could face the big blue cat.

"Breadcrumb is down.  We have no way of getting back home."

Patricia had designed a simple system.  Breadcrumb transmitted a low frequency beacon on rotating channels.  Anyone who stumbled across it would think it was an anomaly, but those looking for it could follow the signal back to the buoy where they could download an approach vector for Homebase.  Without the download Homebase was impossible to detect with standard surveillance devices.

"I don't accept that."  Scott opened his eyes and leaned forward.  His voice was calm, the look in his eyes intense.  "We've come too far.  I refuse to let her down when we're so close to saving her.  Liam... you have to fix this."

Liam felt the weight of everyone's gaze.  They were waiting for him to come up with a plan, for him to solve the puzzle and save the day.  He studied their faces, his friends, his people, his team.  Patricia's family.  Liam didn't need any encouragement.  He needed to save Patricia because she was his sister, and the backbone of Eagle X.  Without her they'd fall apart.  Liam furrowed his brow, and turned back to the controls.

"Taylor-06, I need your help," he said, pointing towards the copilot controls.

He ignored the shuffling beside him as she and Ivory switched places, instead focusing on recalibrating the foci of the ship's scanners.  It always looked easier when Pepper handled such things.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to adjust the scan parameters to detect patches of tiny debris."

"Tiny debris?"

"Yeah.  Scalpels, bedpans, linen.  Little things."

"This ship isn't designed for that, boss," Ivory said over his shoulder.

"Not individually, but maybe it can find a bunch of it."

"Like the stuff jettisoned out of the infirmary during the accident!" Taylor-06 understood where he was going with it.

"Exactly.  Can you do it?" he asked.

"I think so."

Taylor-06 typed while Liam reshaped the the scanners cone from short and wide to long and narrow.  It would take longer but they'd be able to search a further distance.  Scott sat quietly for nearly five minutes, two minutes longer than Liam had anticipated.  He took mental note of the impact the mission had on improving Scott's temperament.