FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It took an extra 4 days to stop by the station and pick up Spark’s new pressure suit. Klixxt had insisted on getting a new scan and after finishing the base suit, had even installed special retractable claws for Spark, as well as designing a tool belt that would keep her equipment from floating away in null gravity. For her part, Spark was in good spirits, scampering around the ship, running on her track in the cargo bay and even taking a test spacewalk to repair one of the exterior sensors. Rick had told her that they could fix it when they landed but she had insisted that she needed to experience the suit before an emergency forced her to use it. Rick had insisted he accompany her, and so the two of them had gone EVA and managed the repair. Now they were once again approaching Drakon and Rick was ready to stretch his own legs.

He had sent a message to Drakon before beginning the trip from Earth, so they were aware of the delay. Minutes after arrival a pair of Twills came to unload and found Spark and Rick playing by the open cargo bay, Rick chasing after Spark only to have her dodge away at the last moment, spinning around in the air to face him as she landed, her laughter audible even at a distance. The two Twill exchanged glances then proceeded to unload the ship, a human bringing over a grav sled and watching Spark and Rick as the unloading progressed, staying well out of the way of the Twills. Once the unloading was finished, Rick escorted Spark inside the space port, Rick heading over to Admin and Spark proceeding through to where their transport was parked.

Spark immediately continued where she left off, familiarizing herself again with the systems in the cargo holds, galley, and shuttle bay. She paid extra careful attention to the door of the shuttle bay, deciding that she would copy the design into the cargo bays to protect against loss due to sudden vacuum exposure. She also wanted to set up a force field around the secondary main relay station so she could operate the entire ship from cargo bay 3 in case of an emergency without having to run all over. Next on her list was the crew quarters, she had estimated that there would be around 20 on her initial assessment, but had only been able to locate 10 of them, the one nearest the engineering bay housing her small blanket nest and the one nearest the cockpit beside medical housing the temporary cot Rick was using while they were planet side.

Pulling up a schematic of the transport on the small data pad Rick had given her, Spark traced the hallway on this side of the ship. From the diagram, there should actually be two floors, but she had yet to find any stairs or ladders that would suggest a second level. Lost in thought she was surprised when Rick suddenly reached down from behind her to touch the pad, the image zooming in on the shuttle bay. She glanced at Rick, who grinned back at her. “Just a hunch, but you are looking for the captain’s quarters as well as crew quarters, correct? Well Twills like their privacy so the access to those rooms is off the upper level in the shuttle bay. I know you haven’t been up there yet because I was watching on the monitor and you seemed only interested in the main door, not the catwalks that ran around the upper range of that particular room.”

Spark stared at the image, a now all too obvious stairway leading up to a second floor above the main floor easily visible on the diagram. She had been looking on the wrong side of the ship the whole time! Giving Rick an embarrassed mewl she none the less nuzzled his leg in appreciation for his help a moment before scampering away as was her style to explore the upper level of their home. Rick called after her that the door was probably password coded but he had changed the passwords to allow them easier access and to check her pad. She did so, noticing a list of passwords had been uploaded each one giving access to various parts of the ship. Engineering had a password, though the door had been left open the whole time she had been working there, or had Rick just been opening it for her? She shrugged that off and continued down the list, noting that the shuttle bay had its own password for each of the two levels as well as a password to access the bridge. Looking at the list it appeared that the cargo bays too could be password protected but at present they were all set to null to allow full access.

Making her way up to the second level, Spark entered the hallway, surprised to find not only an additional 20 empty cabins, one larger than the others situated by the main entrance, obviously the captain's quarters, but also 3 more large storage rooms. Once again everything had been removed from all the rooms, and to her despair Spark found upon inspection an additional 12 grav plates that would need to be replaced. She checked her tally on the pad, adding the new 12 plates to the list. 35 plates were now needed to be able to start the structural field, the last task that would be required before launch to the new landing site. She had checked with Rick and a new grav plate of the quality they required would cost 5,000 units, a used salvaged one would generally run around 3,000 to 4,000 units and if she did the work, she could expect to have to pay 2,500 to 3,500 units for each plate. Even if Rick could negotiate the best estimated price, she would still need to spend 87,500 units. That was almost half as much as Rick’s ship though still a far cry from the staggering 175,000 units to buy them new. She shuddered at the thought and wondered just how long it would take them to pay off that big a deficit to their budget, having just finished a course in economics before their arrival the subject was still weighing on her mind.

After giving each room a cursory inspection, Spark returned to the captain’s quarters and gave it a thorough examination. The room was easily twice the size of the room she shared with Rick on his ship now, with a slot for a food replicator and even a private stove. She decided that since it was just the two of them, she would focus on getting this room furnished first, then worry about the galley and other rooms that would only be truly useful if they took on passengers. She made a few adjustments to her checklist then went back to the cargo bay. She had already assessed the loaders and grav sleds, of the 9 loaders five were inoperable. One had a blown engine but the other four could possibly be repaired if she were to scavenge parts from the one most damaged. The sleds were in better condition though some of the grav units would need servicing and one sled needed its surface refinished, the grips slick from wear.

Rick watched Spark scamper off to the upper level, marveling again at her energy and the meticulous way in which she memorized every detail of their soon to be new home. He walked back to the cockpit and again put on the visor attached to the navigation station, the menu for the simulator popping up in his vision inside a three-dimensional plane. In one corner of his vision a screen showed him where Spark was exploring, the system set to follow her motions so he could keep an eye on her, for safety's sake. Keying the simulation to start, Rick again immersed himself in learning everything there was to know about piloting this ship, how fast he could raise or lower the shields, what the transfer rate was for rerouting power to critical systems and all the emergency procedures he would need to know to keep them safe when they finally left the federation behind.

14 simulations in, after a rather stressful simulation involving a deflector shield cascade failure following a solar flare eruption Rick turned off the simulator. He checked his messages and noticed that while he was working a new mission to transport a load of produce to the lunar base around Earth had been scheduled, the trip allotting for 11 days round trip though it should only take them 6 even with delays. He noticed that the delivery was ready to be loaded too, and the request had been marked as urgent so he tapped into the intercom and called for Spark to meet him at the main airlock so they could get back to work.

The trip to the lunar base took them three days, an extra 6 hours being added when a federation frigate demanded they stop and allow an inspection team aboard, the team not only inspecting the cargo bay but every room in the ship. While they worked, Rick and Spark were forced to wait in the cockpit under guard, the federation officer glaring at Rick and eying Spark with a look she couldn’t identify but didn’t like one bit. After a 4 hour search the officers declared that they were in fact not carrying the contraband that had been reported and that they were free to return to their previous course. Rick bowed to the officers as they left, thanking them for keeping the space lanes safe for honest folk. Once they were gone, he set the ship to return to their prior heading then spent the next half hour doting on Spark, brushing her fur and telling her how brave she had been with the scary men on board.

Upon arrival at the lunar base, Rick lodged a complaint with the federation about the treatment given them during the encounter and then supervised the offloading of the shipment. He had to explain to the head of the receiving team as well as the buyer later why the containers had been unsealed and opened in route and though he hadn’t been given any paperwork for the search, the entire incident had been recorded and that the recordings would be made available to them should any issues arise from the search. The return shipment, a small container filled with enhanced grain products meant to replace those which had been found to have molded at one of the farms was loaded into the now cavernous cargo bay and Rick again headed back towards Neptune to revisit the salvage yard.

Rick docked the ship at the small station, the two of them heading to the desk where the same merchant was seated. He recognized them as they approached, scowling a moment before resuming an air of indifference to his features. “I thought that was you, still going to insist the creature there is your engineer?” He glanced at Rick, his expression showing that he didn’t have time for games today. Rick shrugged and motioned to Spark who bowed to the man as she had seen Rick do earlier to the officers. “Sir, I would like to examine the freighter currently moored at slot A5C11. Here is a list of items we are hoping to recover. I am also looking for a few other items, but these are the ones that we are most interested in at this time.” She tapped at the pad she had pulled from the long pocket Klixxt had added to her outfit once he learned of the use it would be performing and handed it to the merchant.

The merchant looked over the list, angrily at first then with more attention. He glanced at Spark then back to the list, tapping one of the items. “I think we can find most of this over there on the ship you selected, but the recycling unit for that ship won’t work on the one you have and neither will the grav plating, it draws too much power.” Spark smiled, her tail flicking behind her as she replied. “The recycling unit as well as the grav plating are to repair damages caused by a pirate raid to a transport that is currently docked at our next destination. We really only need a few parts from the recycling unit, but are willing to purchase the whole unit so as not to leave you with an non working unit when we leave. Also, we will be looking to purchase additional grav plating to use in other areas should we find sufficient quantity available.”

Rick was impressed, Spark had really done her homework and had even studied up on the local news enough to know that pirate raids were becoming more prevalent even within the federation and no merchant would turn down the opportunity to sell a whole unit over a few spare parts. The merchant too gave Spark an appraising look before nodding slowly. “Ok, I assume you have your pressure suits on your ship. Grab them and meet me at platform 3, we will take my shuttle over to evaluate what is available. Bring your tools, I charge for rentals.” He stood up and started down the corridor, whistling to himself though a bit out of tune. Spark looked up at Rick as he ruffled her ears. “Good work, I think he actually likes you a bit now. Let’s go get suited up and meet him at the shuttle, don’t want to keep him waiting, or he may charge us for the delay.”

Spark and Rick arrived at the shuttle, each wearing their pressure suits and carrying their helmets. Spark’s suit had been designed so that the helmet once attached could be locked into two different positions, one that was comfortable when she was upright, and another for when she was moving around on all fours. Special lights had been added on either side of her helmet to provide wide area illumination, more than the standard single headlamp that was common on pressure suits. Magnetic pads had been added to both hands and feet and could be activated independently as well as a magnetic wire cable attached to her right wrist that would act as a grappling hook should she ever find herself floating without any safety line. Her oxygen canisters as well had been custom made to fit comfortably on her back while still allowing her a surprising range of motion. Klixxt had done an amazing job and Spark wanted to thank them for their considerations, and possibly even order a spare suit for the transport.

The shuttle trip was smooth, the merchant also having put on a pressure suit joined them as they stepped out onto the platform before the giant hulk of the freighter. Spark pressed her face plate to Ricks, telling him to turn his transmitter to channel 22 then repeating the process with the merchant. She then fastened her safety line to the guide rail before unclipping from the shuttle and heading to the door of the large craft. The merchant transmitted an access code, the door opening as Spark approached. She headed inside, again attaching her safety line to the bar just inside the airlock before disconnecting from the guide rail on the catwalk. Rick watched her go, glad that she had taken the safety lessons seriously and not tried to cut corners even in such a safe environment. He too took extra care to lock on his secondary safety line before removing the first, though the merchant seemed content to only use a safety line on the guide rail for expediency, his suit apparently equipped with a small thruster system if the extra canisters and nozzles were any indication.

Inside, Spark took advantage of the freefall to propel herself around the ship, examining the various rooms and taking note where she thought she could get some of the best grav plating as she explored. Rick watched her lights moving around in the darkness, staying back near the merchant as Spark worked. The merchant nodded his approval as he too watched Spark moving about, noting that she wasn’t just going for the first pieces but was instead giving the full ship an examination before making any decisions. While she worked, Spark asked questions of the merchant about the history of the vessel, why it was decommissioned, and when she found a spot where pieces had been removed, how many others and what sort of things were already stripped from the vessel. To her delight, the merchant casually answered her questions, the ship having been decommissioned when the model was retired some 40 years prior and there had already been 3 groups that had removed items from engineering and some of the cockpit stations though the recycling unit was to his knowledge still intact and operational and nobody had been interested in the deck plating.

After an hour and a half Spark headed to one of the cabins and began to disassemble the washroom facilities, a unit comprised of both a conventional water activated commode and sink as well as their freefall variants that could be concealed behind a panel. She also removed a water charged shower unit similar to the one Rick had on his ship but of a larger size more suited for an adult human than a young kit. She also removed two bed frames, 6 tables, 24 swivel chairs and 2 of the reclining chairs meant for heavy acceleration. Moving from the crew cabins, she then made her way to the cargo bay and meticulously began disassembling the grav plating, taking up the entire floor over the course of an hour and collecting an impressive 120 plates. Each of her removed items she placed carefully into one of the storage lockers or the empty room just inside the airlock, bolting each item to the floor using magnetic locks to keep them from floating around and getting damaged, or causing damage to other items on the ship.

The merchant kept a tally of what Spark was accumulating, having watched her carefully at first but after seeing her meticulous work and the great care she used in handling even the most worthless items he had stopped crowding her and let her work with a minimum of supervision as he talked with Rick, their helmets pressed together to transmit sound waves between them privately. Spark headed to the engineering section, one of the large ships drives and two of the reactors were missing, though she did manage to find a crystal regrowth chamber still attached to a wall. She removed it, carefully extracting the old cracked crystal shards and discarding them in a nearby locker. Locating the recycling unit, she first examined it to make sure it was compatible with the system already installed on the freighter then connected her suit power to the unit and ran a diagnostic. The readout was promising, though the water tank that would have gone with the unit was missing and the console flashed a warning that there was no water connected to the system. She disconnected from the device and carefully disconnected it before returning it to the growing pile at the entrance to the transport.

Rick glanced at Spark as she brought the last pieces over, locking them down before turning to the merchant. She gave Rick a smile, though he could tell she was exhausted. Focusing on the list the merchant gave her, she looked over his asking price for the lot. She keyed up the communication band they had opened earlier and began haggling, quoting the age of the parts and the lack of power to properly test the units as well as the years they had been in disuse. She managed to talk him down to 1,000 units each for the 120 grav plates, and reluctantly agreed to 30,000 units for the recycling unit though she knew fair well that getting the unit from a second-hand dealer would have cost her at least 40,000. She managed to get most of the furniture at bulk rate since it was out of style and was very low demand, along with the various linens, pots, pans, and utensil sets she had found in the galley of the old ship. The compact cooking and refrigeration unit she had found in the captain’s quarters was the next item, and she let the merchant talk her into paying 12,000 units even though the device would need to be charged with coolant and the heating coils replaced before it could be used. Spark had found replacement coils in the galley, and those she managed to talk down to 15 units as they were the spare coils from one of the cabinets, not the industrial coils that had been installed in the galley itself. Finally, the crystal regeneration chamber was shaken on at 10,000 units, a bit high in Spark’s estimation but the lowest the merchant was willing to go.

Rick looked at the final tally, 212,015 units and 6 hours of time spent on board. The merchant had been impressed with Spark’s handling of the collected items and waived the usual hourly fee that would have been charged for his presence to supervise the extraction, stating that it was a first-time buyer promotion and that he would of course be willing to bring their purchases over to their ship for a nominal fee of 100 units. He also told them that if they had any more need of parts that he had another transport of the same style further back in his lot that had more options as the previous owners had fixed it up for use as a cruise ship back before it was decommissioned. Rick paid the delivery fee then he and Spark returned to their ship, recharging their suits at the station, again for a nominal fee, as they headed back.

On the way back to Drakon, Rick watched on the monitor as Spark ran about the cargo bay, powering up this and that and testing all her newest toys. She even fell asleep in one of the acceleration chairs, after dividing the grav plates into three piles, one for working, one for repair, and one for salvage. The pile of working plates was the largest, with only 6 of the plates unable to be recovered and scrapped for parts to repair the 11 damaged ones. Rick noted that there would be over 50 extra grav plates, a cost of 50,000 units and not cheap by any means, though he wouldn’t have been able to get them at even twice that price himself so he decided to let the matter drop this time.