"It can talk?" Adam said.
"This little thing's way ahead of Earth technology, thanks to Will and Zoe," said Nick.
"Back home making this kind of thing would be a child's exercise," Zoe commented.
Ruth was thinking about something else. "GilBot?" she said. "That's terrible."
"Well, we did think of SullivAndroid, but GilBot sounds better," David said, grinning.
"What can it do?" Adam asked.
"It performs most functions of a computer," Nick said, "It can calculate equations, both simple and quadratical; it stores knowledge, for example the battles from Marathon to Waterloo in order categorical. One eye is a camera, so it can see, and the other's a microphone so you can give it verbal commands. The ears are both speakers. And it has a USB attachment in its nose, so it can connect to the main ship's computer. Hopefully it'll sync up and be able to access all the information it contains wirelessly. Assuming it has a big enough hard drive, which I'm not sure about. There's also a USB port here." He indicated the opposite end of the GilBot from the nose. There, under where the tail would be if it had a tail, was a USB port.
"Interesting place to put it," said Charlotte.
"Whose idea was that?" asked Ruth in her resigned, boys-will-be-boys, I-don't-expect-anything-better-from-you kind of voice.
"Me again," said David. "So was programming it to speak in G&S quotes wherever possible, and to sing choruses in public."
The others laughed- or groaned.
Suddenly an alarm sounded somewhere in the building. Others alarms soon followed it, and the communications bracelets they wore began beeping too. Will and Zoe looked at each other in fear.
"Fire!"
Everyone hurried downstairs. As they passed the doors to the backstage area they could see small wisps of smoke drifting out, and could smell burning.
"Will! Get down to the bridge and see what's going on!" Zoe shouted. "You guys- in here!" Some people went on downstairs with Will, while others followed Zoe in to the backstage area. Smoke was pouring from the box on the wall above the stage manager's desk containing various electrical switches. Coughing, Zoe grabbed a fire extinguishers and sprayed foam over the box, but by now the fire had spread into the space between the stage and backstage. The wall here, which was composed of wooden panels, was alight and other electrics had been affected too. Lights were going out, and the ship was being plunged into darkness. Looking around, trying to find something to smother the fire with, Ruth's heart began to beat faster. If the ship's electrics were destroyed, what would happen to the life support systems? How could the ship fly?
Downstairs on the bridge Will was struggling with the computer. "The fire's spreading," he said urgently into his communicator. "A few more minutes and the main computer will be irreparably damaged."
"It looks like it's spread via the ventilation ducts," Zoe said. "We can't get in there to put it out, and with the dragoon useless we'd struggle anyway."
"We'll have to do an oxygen drain," Will said. "It's the only way. There's no time for anything else."
Zoe paused a moment, considering. "You're right. Get everyone down to the bridge and seal it off." She turned to the others with her. "Come on!"
Quickly they made their way down to the bridge, joined by everyone else from across the ship. "Everyone here?" Zoe asked, making her way to join Will at the control desk. "Then close the doors and seal us in. Quickly! And make sure the doors are sealed properly or you'll die!"
The lights flickered and dimmed, alerts sounded from the computer, and flashing coloured lights showed that the danger was very real and getting nearer by the second.
"What's happening?" Emma shouted.
"We've got to open the air seals and drain all the oxygen out of the ship," Will said hurriedly. "Otherwise the computer will be destroyed and we'll loose control of the ship. Fire needs oxygen to burn, so if you take away the oxygen the fire will go out. The bridge can be sealed off separately, so we'll be ok here, and once the fire's out we can re-oxygenate the ship. But it's risky- if there's a problem with the seals and they won't close properly..." He bent down to read the screen. "We're ready to go."
"One minute till the fire reaches the computer banks," Zoe said. "We've got to go now."
"Are the doors sealed?" Will shouted.
"Yes," replied Nick, David and Tom who had been checking them.
"Then- external seals being breached," Will said, pressing keys. "I only hope the seal controls haven't been destroyed already..."
There was a tense moment of waiting. Zoe and Will were bent over the screens.
"Seals opened," said Will, with evident relief.
"The fire seems to be dying down already," Zoe said.
"If the air seals are broken, will everything in the ship get sucked out into space?" asked Agnes.
"No, the safety vents are covered with mesh, so the air can get through but stuff doesn't get sucked out," Will said.
"Don't they get clogged up?" Tom asked.
"There's a thing like a windscreen wiper that clear debris away," Will replied. "It's ok, nothing should be lost."
"Fire's gone out," Zoe said. Will looked at a dial. "No oxygen left upstairs."
"Will we be able to re-oxygenate it?" Tom asked. "Do we have enough?" Zoe looked looked at another dial.
"There's enough for a few days," she said.
"A few?" Will said. "How many?"
"Three," she replied. "But that's ok- we should be able to reach Bognor in three days." Everyone looked concerned.
"Doesn't leave much room for error," said Nick.
"It'll be fine," Zoe said.
"I'm not sure," Will said. "We should probably land and pick up some more, and get some repairs done on the fire damage-"
"We could be stuck for days!" Zoe burst out. "We had enough of that after the pirates. Will, we've got to get home- you know what they said about our father..."
Will looked wretched. "I know, Zoe, but...well, it's not going to help if we get ourselves killed trying to fly a ship that's not space-worthy. It's the sensible thing to do. Just essential repairs- we should only loose a day or so..."
"Don't we get a say in this?" Ernest cut in. "It's our lives you're risking too. We may not know much about the workings of this ship, but since you guys shanghaied I aboard I think we have the right to a say in what happens. If what you're saying is it's not safe to fly, and that our oxygen supplies are running low, I think most of us would say we should land for repairs."
Will looked at Zoe. "They're right," he said to her.
"Alright then," she said. "But just essential repairs. We can give her a full overhaul when we get home."
The story continues...
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