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<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1393411" data-attributes="member: 6294">&quot;Blast Off!&quot; - Part 27&quot;Life support disabled, Captain.&quot; Archie punches in the necessary commands.&quot;Zat sounds bad.&quot; Gustav stirs, slowly opening his eyes. &quot;What happened, leibchen?&quot;&quot;We've turned off the life support to divert more power to the shields.&quot; S'Ondra waves vaguely in the direction of the shields' diagnostic display. &quot;Something went wrong.&quot;&quot;Ah, zat would be why it is so hot in here.&quot; Gustav goes to wipe his face, and his hand collides with the visor of his helmet. &quot;Captain, what are ze radiation readings for ze cabin?&quot;&quot;They're -&quot; Fury breaks off and gives a low whistle, &quot;- over three hundred percent of normal and still climbing.&quot;&quot;Ja,&quot; the Doctor nods, &quot;If ze shields and ze life support have both been disabled around ze cabin, zere is no limit to how high ze radiation could climb.&nbsp; How long will it take us to reach ze Earth?&quot;&quot;Too long, the way that counter's going up.&quot; Fury taps some buttons, surrounding worried. &quot;Even if I run the engines way into the red the whole way, we're looking at two and a half hours.&quot; He gives Archie an aggrieved look, &quot;You didn't mention this when you suggested turning off the life support.&quot;The robot shrugs as a light blinks slowly on the side of his head,&quot;Would it have changed the decision?&quot;&quot;Well ... no.&nbsp; But it would have been nice to know.&quot; Fury sighs and leans back in his chair, &quot;Any ideas, Doc?&quot;&quot;Vell, if ze barrier of ze shield is gone, we must replace it.&quot; Gustav glances around the cabin, his eye alighting on a fire extinguisher, &quot;Ah!&nbsp; Ze very thing!&quot;&quot;Hot as it is, we're not actually on fire, Doc.&quot;&quot;Ja, I know zis, but without ze shield our only way to reduce ze radiation is with a physical barrier.&quot; The Doctor gestures at the clear canopy at the front of the cabin, &quot;More zan ninety-nine percent of ze radiation will be entering through ze viewscreen.&nbsp; Ze extinguisher foam is designed to retard ze spread of heat radiation, and will assist to protect us from ze ozzer forms, as well.&quot;Gustav pulls the extinguisher from its socket in the wall, and nearly falls as the heavy metal cylinder bangs into the floor.&quot;My.&nbsp; Zis is heavier zan it looks.&quot;&quot;I've got it, Doctor.&quot; S'Ondra scoops up the extinguisher with one hand and unsnaps the nozzle with the other. &quot;Just tell me where I need to spray.&quot;Fury's eyebrow quirks.Following the Doctor's instructions, the Princess quickly coats the inside of the canopy with a layer of purple foam, which rapidly congeals into a substance that looks somewhat like half-melted polystyrene.&nbsp; Fury, with his view completely obscured, falls back to flying entirely via the navigation systems.&quot;Another hour and a half.&quot; He reports, &quot;How does the radiation level look, Archie?&quot;&quot;Holding steady at four hundred and seventeen percent of normal, Captain.&quot; The robot reports, &quot;Prolonged exposure to levels such as this may cause sterility and impotence.&quot;&quot;Like hell it well.&quot; Fury mutters, somehow eking a little more power out of the engines. &quot;One hour nineteen -&quot;His console explodes.Fury is thrown back, out of the pilot's chair, to land on the cabin floor.&nbsp; He groans, and stirs for a moment, then slumps back with a second moan.&quot;Captain!&quot; S'Ondra tries to go to Fury's aid, but clouds of acrid black smoke are pouring out of the console, and showers of sparks keep spraying across the cabin.&quot;Wait here Princess.&quot; Archie blocks the Princess' path with his arm, then strides into the billowing clouds.&nbsp; A moment later he emerges once more, with a limping and smoke-blackened Fury leaning against him.&quot;Is he alright?&quot; S'Ondra winds one of her feather-like locks around her fingers.&quot;I'm fine.&quot; Fury coughs, and wipes some of the soot from his faceplate, &quot;But the console just got fried.&nbsp; We lost most of our atmospheric control, and the navigation relays are shot.&quot; He sighs, &quot;While we're in space, we can fly okay, but we've got no way of knowing where we're going.&quot;&quot;Shut off ze engines, Archie.&quot;&quot;Won't stop us, Doc.&nbsp; We'll keep on drifting.&quot;&quot;I know, Captain.&nbsp; I am a physicist, after all.&nbsp; But it will give us more time to plan our next move.&quot;Fury nods his agreement, and the constant thrum of the engines cuts out, leaving an almost eerie silence in its wake.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 1393411, member: 6294"] [b]"Blast Off!" - Part 27[/b] "Life support disabled, Captain." Archie punches in the necessary commands. "Zat sounds bad." Gustav stirs, slowly opening his eyes. "What happened, leibchen?" "We've turned off the life support to divert more power to the shields." S'Ondra waves vaguely in the direction of the shields' diagnostic display. "Something went wrong." "Ah, zat would be why it is so hot in here." Gustav goes to wipe his face, and his hand collides with the visor of his helmet. "Captain, what are ze radiation readings for ze cabin?" "They're -" Fury breaks off and gives a low whistle, "- over three hundred percent of normal and still climbing." "[I]Ja[/I]," the Doctor nods, "If ze shields and ze life support have both been disabled around ze cabin, zere is no limit to how high ze radiation could climb. How long will it take us to reach ze Earth?" "Too long, the way that counter's going up." Fury taps some buttons, surrounding worried. "Even if I run the engines way into the red the whole way, we're looking at two and a half hours." He gives Archie an aggrieved look, "You didn't mention this when you suggested turning off the life support." The robot shrugs as a light blinks slowly on the side of his head, "Would it have changed the decision?" "Well ... no. But it would have been nice to know." Fury sighs and leans back in his chair, "Any ideas, Doc?" "Vell, if ze barrier of ze shield is gone, we must replace it." Gustav glances around the cabin, his eye alighting on a fire extinguisher, "Ah! Ze very thing!" "Hot as it is, we're not actually on fire, Doc." "[I]Ja[/I], I know zis, but without ze shield our only way to reduce ze radiation is with a physical barrier." The Doctor gestures at the clear canopy at the front of the cabin, "More zan ninety-nine percent of ze radiation will be entering through ze viewscreen. Ze extinguisher foam is designed to retard ze spread of heat radiation, and will assist to protect us from ze ozzer forms, as well." Gustav pulls the extinguisher from its socket in the wall, and nearly falls as the heavy metal cylinder bangs into the floor. "My. Zis is heavier zan it looks." "I've got it, Doctor." S'Ondra scoops up the extinguisher with one hand and unsnaps the nozzle with the other. "Just tell me where I need to spray." Fury's eyebrow quirks. Following the Doctor's instructions, the Princess quickly coats the inside of the canopy with a layer of purple foam, which rapidly congeals into a substance that looks somewhat like half-melted polystyrene. Fury, with his view completely obscured, falls back to flying entirely via the navigation systems. "Another hour and a half." He reports, "How does the radiation level look, Archie?" "Holding steady at four hundred and seventeen percent of normal, Captain." The robot reports, "Prolonged exposure to levels such as this may cause sterility and impotence." "Like hell it well." Fury mutters, somehow eking a little more power out of the engines. "One hour nineteen -" His console explodes. Fury is thrown back, out of the pilot's chair, to land on the cabin floor. He groans, and stirs for a moment, then slumps back with a second moan. "Captain!" S'Ondra tries to go to Fury's aid, but clouds of acrid black smoke are pouring out of the console, and showers of sparks keep spraying across the cabin. "Wait here Princess." Archie blocks the Princess' path with his arm, then strides into the billowing clouds. A moment later he emerges once more, with a limping and smoke-blackened Fury leaning against him. "Is he alright?" S'Ondra winds one of her feather-like locks around her fingers. "I'm fine." Fury coughs, and wipes some of the soot from his faceplate, "But the console just got fried. We lost most of our atmospheric control, and the navigation relays are shot." He sighs, "While we're in space, we can fly okay, but we've got no way of knowing where we're going." "Shut off ze engines, Archie." "Won't stop us, Doc. We'll keep on drifting." "I know, Captain. I [I]am[/I] a physicist, after all. But it will give us more time to plan our next move." Fury nods his agreement, and the constant [I]thrum[/I] of the engines cuts out, leaving an almost eerie silence in its wake. [/QUOTE]

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