Craggy 2: Another Last Flight for Craggy (2 page)

'D
id I tell you about the time...' Dixon Cragg stopped himself. 'How did it come to this?'

Sixteen children between five and seven years old sat staring at him. There was often a period between their regular classes ending and when some parents could get to the school to collect their children, and part-timers filled that gap.

Cragg's story telling prowess had him in high demand for keeping toddlers entertained for a few hours each week, and he was forever having to remind himself about adult content and not to make his stories too scary. But the kids looked forward to Uncle Craggy's tall tales, and the pay was ok.

'Uncle Craggy.'

'Plasma.' Parents were coming up with ever stranger names.

'Tell us about the little people.'

'Ah! Well. I never actually met one. And no one else has, either. Well. That's not quite right. Korlyn Num Sedindra was chummy with a few on Earth until he...died. Now that is one space dude I would have a beer with. He was a true hero.'

A girl said, 'He was nice.'

'I think he probably was, Rocket. And I think we need to learn from that. Just because people are different from ourselves, doesn't mean we can't get along and like each other.  Always give people a chance. Don't judge them until you really know somebody.'

Cragg noticed the parents were standing by the door, waiting to collect their children. They were smiling, approving of Craggy's home spun philosophy, safe in the knowledge nearly ninety years of dealing with people from every walk of life had only increased his love of humanity, not diminished it.

'Okay. Your Moms and Dads want to take you home for a well earned feed. Time to go home.'

The children ran to the open arms of their parents and suddenly Cragg was left alone. He sometimes moaned about being the number one clown on Mars, but deep down, he enjoyed the look on the kids' faces as he told his stories.

'I think I've earned a beer.'

For a change, he didn't go straight home to Misty, instead heading outside to feel the breeze on his face. To him the planet was a mix of new and old, the green not quite reaching everywhere. In front of him to the south was the familiar iron oxide sand, and behind him to the north, the lush vegetation fighting a daily war to dominate the landscape. He had never thought he would be breathing in fresh air within his lifetime, but here he was, without a helmet. The oxygen level was still low, and people had to supplement their intake periodically. He crossed over to Base Three and went through the airlock.

To Cragg there seemed to be even more birds than ever, their various cries making a raucous noise that filled the air. From a nearby tree, a hairy individual dropped down and approached him.

'Oooh, Craggy. Oooh, Craggy.'

'Hello, Mango. Keeping busy?'

'Oooh. Mango. Daddy.'

'Again? We'll be up to our armpits in GenMops before long.'

'Not until we can all live outside,' said a voice behind him. It was David Foreman, son of Andrew, the pioneer of the GenMops, the genetically modified primates with the ability of speech. The Foreman's lived in Base Three, custodians of the creatures they had brought with them from Earth.

'Afternoon, David,' said Cragg. 'I thought I'd pop in and say hello.'

'You're always welcome. Dad and I were about to have a feed. Care to join us?'

'I'll say hi to Andy, but pass on the feed. Misty will have a meal waiting for me.'

He followed David to the small kitchen dining area. All the accommodation had been scaled back to allow more room for “jungle”. Andy was feeding his five dogs a mix of fish and chicken. The animals looked up at Cragg and then ignored him to eat their food.

'This lot do ok,' said Cragg.

'Hi, Craggy. Yes. They don't go hungry. Not exactly the best food for dogs, but one day we'll let the goats free outside and have meat for all of us.'

'That time won't be far off.'

David asked, 'You keeping busy?'

Cragg shrugged. 'Mostly as a part time children's entertainer at the school. I don't mind.'

'No more flying?' asked Andy, dishing up two plates of food. It was more of the chicken with salad.

'No more flying for me. I thought I'd go over and take a look inside that alien ship tomorrow. Might be interesting.'

Andy said, 'A pity Korlyn never got to see the place turning green. He'd have been quite proud.'

'Maybe he's with us in spirit,' said Cragg. 'Well. I'll leave you in peace to eat. Misty will be wondering where I am. I'll come and have a longer visit soon.'

'See you later.'

Cragg went out and as was his custom, he paused by the well tended memorial to Korlyn Num Sedindra, the brave little alien who had died so that humans could survive on Mars. After a moment's reflection, he walked through the airlock and made his way home.

M
isty told her husband straight. 'Don't you get interfering.'

'Fawn invited me.'

'You invited yourself, more like. And poor Fawn felt obliged to say yes.'

This was true, but he was sure he was welcome to visit the alien ship. Heck. If it hadn't been for him, there wouldn't be an alien ship.

'I'll just take a quick look around, then I'll let the girls get on with the job. Anything interesting for dinner?'

'Fish.'

'Naturally. I'll turn into a bloody fish one of these days. We should go visit the Foreman's one day. Might get a feed of chicken. Even their dogs get chicken.'

'Off you go. And don't get under their feet.'

He borrowed a buggy from the communal lot and made his way to the site where the alien ship had crash landed. It had created a furrow through some greenery and sustained some surface damage. Fawn Dillow had flown it in, using thrusters attached to the top of the ship. The bulky thrusters had made the ship unwieldy and she had done well to land in one piece and uninjured. The buggy the girls were using was parked outside and the ramp was down on the ship. Cragg walked up and called out, 'Hello? Anybody home?'

A door only four feet high opened up. It was Stella. 'Hi, Craggy. Come on in. Mind your head.'

Designed for people only three feet tall, Cragg squeezed through the door.

'They'd never had made basketball players.'

A pair of legs poked out from under an opening in a control panel. 'Hi, Craggy,' said the legs owner.

'Hi, Breezy. Found anything interesting?'

'Just figuring out the wiring. Weird stuff. Some sort of plastic filled with a liquid conductor.'

'Much different to our ships?'

Wendy Breeze wriggled out from the control panel. 'Same but different. Like the wiring's different, but it's still wiring, sending power from one place to work something elsewhere. What we really want to do is get the ship off its belly on a platform then we can work on the thrusters. With the thrusters running, we can have the ships generators running then really see what everything does.'

'Easier said than done,' said Dillow.

Cragg said, 'Let's take a look.'

They followed Cragg outside where they studied the huge ship. Nearly one quarter of it had buried itself in the ground.

'See our problem?' said Dillow. 'Making a stable structure and raising the ship will be a nightmare.'

'So don't,' said Cragg.

'How else can we work on the thrusters?' said Breeze.

'I'm just looking at the options,' said Cragg. 'I agree that lifting it will be a major job. So, why not leave it where it is, and dig a channel around it. Expose all the rear end and you'll be able to get to the thrusters.'

Dillow and Breeze stared at Cragg. 'How do you do that?' Dillow asked. 'So easy but we never thought of it.'

Cragg chuckled. 'I'm like that ship. My wiring's a little different to most people. Tell you what. You carry on, I'll go have a word with my old pal, Shamini Singh. We'll have a trench around this bird in no time.'

'Thanks, Craggy,' said Breeze.

'Glad to be useful again.'

Dixon Cragg got back in the buggy and set off to find Singh.

'O
f  course, when the girls asked me to help out, I was only too pleased to do it,' Cragg told Shamini Singh at the entrance to the new mine.  'So, I suggested they leave me to organize all that.'

Singh said, 'And you need to excavate around the base of the ship.'

'Easy for a man of your calibre,' said Cragg. 'A couple of days on a dozer and you'll be done in no time.'

'Hang on a minute. Freddie. Got a job for you.'

Freddie Morcurry was a short barrel of a man in his late fifties. He wiped the dust off his face and said, 'Yeah? Oh. Hi, Craggy.'

'Hi, Freddie. That alien bird. Needs a trench around it so we can get at the thrusters.'

Freddie thoughtfully scratched his chin. 'I took a look at that ship when it came down. The ground's pretty soft around there. Need it done right away?'

'As soon as possible,' said Cragg.

Singh said, 'Follow Craggy in the dozer. Don't take all week over there.'

'As if. Come on, Craggy. After you.'

Cragg hopped on the buggy and Morcurry rumbled behind in the multi dozer. It took half an hour to get to the ship. Morcurry jumped down and lit up a smoke as he contemplated the situation. Cragg joined him.

'You want a sort of trench dug around the entire ship?'

'Yep. So it goes a little way under it. Especially at the back, under the thrusters.'

Morcurry nodded. 'Shouldn't be a major.'

'Just don't you go scratching the paintwork. I don't think it's insured.'

'Consider it done.'

* * *

'I
told you not to interfere.'

'Misty. I'm just helping out a bit,' said Cragg, wishing the fish was chicken. 'I wonder what goat tastes like?'

'I'll take a slice off you and find out.'

'Highly amusing. I hope Freddie doesn't hurt that damn ship.'

'Then I suggest you go keep an eye on him. This was your idea, so
you
are responsible. Finish that and get going.'

'On my way,' said Cragg, pushing the half eaten meal away. 'That was very...fishy. See you in a few hours.'

C
ragg was amazed at the progress. 'You, Freddie Morcurry, are a star.'

'Soft as muck, this stuff. I've dug a trench to take any rainwater away. That's something I didn't think I'd hear myself saying on this planet.'

'Yeah. Weather forecasts used to be, windy, cold and dusty. Now it's watch out for showers.'

'I'll have this done in a few more hours. What I don't get done today, I'll have done in the morning. Right. Back to work.'

'I'm just going to see the girls,' said Cragg, heading up the ramp.

'Hello, Craggy,' said Stella. 'Is all that racket nearly over?'

'Freddie is going as fast as he can. Probably a few hours in the morning to finish off. Winning with the computers?'

'The backup power supply is running low, I think. The main generation system is still a bit of a mystery.  I'm laying off so I don't risk losing data.'

Cragg asked, 'What runs the power? Lights, that sort of thing? Solar?'

'It looks that way. There are what looks like solar panels in the outer surface. Energy is stored in some strange liquid in a tank. That converts it to power the ship's electricity supply.'

'But you don't think it's working?'

Stella shook her head. 'Engineering has looked at it. I don't think they understand it much.'

'And we can't hook up one of our own power plants?'

'I asked them that. They didn't want to risk it.'

'Bloody typical,' said Cragg. 'Did they at least establish the internal voltage?'

'About one ninety five, they said.'

Cragg chuckled. 'I'd be surprised if it was similar to our system. Mind if I take a look?'

'This way. Mind your head.'

Stella opened up a passageway that led to the business end of the ship. It was a large area, relative to the ship.

'At least we can stand up straight in here,' said Cragg.

'This looks like where we can gain access to thrusters, plasma modules and propulsion systems, too. But I'm fairly sure this is what harnesses the solar energy and converts it to electrical current to power the whole ship.'

Cragg studied the large cylindrical clear tank with the lime green liquid in it.

'I think you're right. Those look like power lines going up to the top. I think that's power in, at a guess. They connect to the solar panels in the skin of the ship, pretty much the way our ships work. They might be well ahead of us in technology, but there have to be some basic laws of physics we both use. The solar energy would be for when landed, like now. The system would be charged up by the thermal generators once in flight.' Cragg bent low to look under the tank. 'If the power is coming in from the top, then this underneath is the power outlet.'

'It goes in next to this hatch. No one has been down here, yet.'

'What,' said Cragg. 'Not even engineering?'

'No.'

'I'll be having words with that lot. Not very nice ones. Come on, ladies first.'

There were four securing mounts either side of the hatch and they slid those back so the hatch could be opened.

'Pretty basic, for an advanced ship,' said Stella, opening the hatch.

Cragg said, 'Keeping it simple. I approve of that. Less to go wrong.'

'It's dark as hell down there. Wait. There's a sensor here. Let me...right. It's all illuminated. Not very bright, but light enough.'

Stella wriggled through the hatch, but Cragg struggled, having gained weight and being over fifty years older. Once through, they found themselves in a no frills inspection tunnel, where banks of pipes and tubes were on every inch, apart from a narrow floor. The inspection tunnel went off in both directions with smaller spur tunnels branching off.

'See these? They are the same as the wiring, only a larger diameter,' said Stella.

'Yes. These should carry the power from the generating tank. Now, we use copper wire and filaments. This is a conductive liquid.  I'm no electrician, but I think electricity moves by the flow of electrons, hence electricity. It makes sense that current also flows in a liquid like this.'