The Finch: Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Three
Hugo and Georgia made their way to the Ptarmigan, which took about an hour. It was upside down. Georgia and Hugo had towing chains for a situation like this in their utility storage area and brought them out. It took them about three hours. They had to do it in two stages, using flashlights and the headlights of the Finch, and they broke one of the chains, but by using the Finch they were able to turn the Ptarmigan, first on its side, and then right side up.
Georgia and Hugo surveyed the ship. It was severely damaged, although the cockpit area seemed to be alright. They tried to turn on the fields to see if it would fly, but neither would work. Hugo opened the panels and looked over the engine. It was severely damaged. He said it would take weeks to repair, and that it might be better to rebuild it.
Georgia had the idea to hover the Finch above the Ptarmigan, reconfigure the field one of the Finch to encompass the Ptarmigan, and then be able to fly it to where the Flying Fish was. Hugo thought this was a very good idea in principle, but that they didn't have the testing equipment with them to reconfigure the field.
Georgia asked, "How hard is reconfiguring the field and then setting it back the way it was?"
Hugo answered, "It's not really hard, but it is a lot of precise steps. It takes hundreds each way. It's really procedural though."
Georgia thought about doing hundreds of steps and said, "Alright, we turned it over. No matter what, they would need to do that. Could you maybe write out the general idea of how to pick it up with a ship's field and then set it back? Maybe in less than in hundreds of steps? Just the idea?"
"Yes Captain, I could. I could probably generally describe what to do in fifty steps or so."
Georgia said, "Good. You do that, while I fly us to the Flying Fish and fix its cannon. We will have given them the idea of what to do, some basic instructions for it, and saved them the trouble of setting the Ptarmigan upright. Even once they take it back to their base with a field, it still would have been upside down. I feel good about what we've done."
"Alright Captain. By the way, what about the holes in the Finch?"
"Well, everything seems to be fine. If something is wrong … I currently prefer to ignore it."
"Yes Captain."
Hugo then went into the common area and got supplies and started to write the general procedure of carrying the Ptarmigan with the Flying Fish's field. As he did, Georgia flew the Finch to the Flying Fish.
Georgia turned the Finch toward the Flying Fish's front, had Hugo land, and then she went up to the Flying Fish. In the light of the headlights, she could see where the tube of the cannon was crumbled in on itself. She hoped that just the tube was damaged and not the particle canister or the firing mechanisms. She went back to the Finch and got some tools.
Georgia then came back to the Flying Fish and looked on the outside. She couldn't see panels to access the cannon. She went inside it, turned on the lights and checked under the cockpit. There were panels there for accessing equipment. She opened them until she found the cannon. She saw how it was installed and disconnected it and removed it. It was heavy, but Georgia was able to lift it up and carry it out of the ship.
Georgia looked over the cannon in the light from the Finch and saw that the front of the tube was caved in on itself and there was more damage toward the firing part of the cannon. She figured this happened after the Flying Fish tried to fire it after it was damaged.
Georgia took a saw and cut the entire length of the tube off. Georgia called Hugo from the Finch. She said, "Alright, I want to see if this still fires at all. I have a feeling it will kick back a lot, so we need to have a way to set it and then fire it."
Hugo thought a moment and then said, "Well, we could dig a hole and set it in it pointing up. Then we could run wires from the connection in the Flying Fish to it. We could then fire it from the Flying Fish."
Georgia thought and said, "Alright, I can't think of anything better, let's do that."
Hugo got a shovel and dug a hole for the cannon near the Flying Fish. Then he ran wires from where the connection had been in the Flying Fish to the cannon and then set the cannon pointing up in the hole. He told Georgia to check outside and tell him if it was clear above so he could fire. Georgia did and Hugo fired the cannon.
There was a very loud pop sound as a small blue ball left the cannon and the cannon pushed into the ground. It flew up into the sky and seemed to disappear.
Georgia said, "Great, at least it works. Now all I have to do is repair the tube."
Hugo said, "I don't think we have any spare pipe. We used it to repair our engine."
Georgia said, "I'll cut off the damaged sections, cut them open, flatten them out, bend them back into tubes, weld them, and then weld them back into one tube. It's going to take a while."
Hugo said, "Wait, Captain. There may be storage on the Flying Fish. They may have spare parts."
"Let’s see Lieutenant."
Georgia and Hugo went onto the Flying Fish. There was a storage wall to the right of the door in front of the engine. Hugo hadn't noticed it when he had first gotten on board. Georgia and Hugo went through the drawers and found lengths of pipe in one. Georgia said, "I think one of these should work. Very good idea Lieutenant."
"I am glad Captain. I will finish writing the short field towing procedure and you can weld one of these tubes onto the cannon. Let me know when you are done, and we can test it again and see if it works, I can help you carry it back inside."
"Very good Lieutenant."
Hugo and Georgia left the Flying Fish and lifted the cannon out of the hole and disconnected it. Georgia started to work on repairing it and Hugo went back to the Finch.
After about half an hour, Georgia told Hugo she was done. Hugo came out of the Finch, helped reconnect the cannon and set it in the hole. He and Georgia tested it again. The pop was quieter and the ball seemed to fly higher than before. Georgia had Hugo test it again with multiple shots. It seemed to work.
When they were done, they both reinstalled the cannon into the Flying Fish. Georgia and Hugo then took it up to test the cannon in flight. It seemed to fire well. They landed and checked it over and as far as they could tell, everything was fine.
Georgia said to Hugo, "Good Lieutenant. We got this done. You get the procedure you wrote and we'll leave it one of these chairs. We'll also write the coordinates of approximately where the Ptarmigan is and a note saying the cannon was repaired, and leave that too. After that, I think we're done."
Hugo got the procedure and wrote the Ptarmigan coordinates and a note about the cannon and brought them to the Flying Fish. Georgia and he looked everything over and then went back to the Finch.
Hugo and Georgia made their way to the Ptarmigan, which took about an hour. It was upside down. Georgia and Hugo had towing chains for a situation like this in their utility storage area and brought them out. It took them about three hours. They had to do it in two stages, using flashlights and the headlights of the Finch, and they broke one of the chains, but by using the Finch they were able to turn the Ptarmigan, first on its side, and then right side up.
Georgia and Hugo surveyed the ship. It was severely damaged, although the cockpit area seemed to be alright. They tried to turn on the fields to see if it would fly, but neither would work. Hugo opened the panels and looked over the engine. It was severely damaged. He said it would take weeks to repair, and that it might be better to rebuild it.
Georgia had the idea to hover the Finch above the Ptarmigan, reconfigure the field one of the Finch to encompass the Ptarmigan, and then be able to fly it to where the Flying Fish was. Hugo thought this was a very good idea in principle, but that they didn't have the testing equipment with them to reconfigure the field.
Georgia asked, "How hard is reconfiguring the field and then setting it back the way it was?"
Hugo answered, "It's not really hard, but it is a lot of precise steps. It takes hundreds each way. It's really procedural though."
Georgia thought about doing hundreds of steps and said, "Alright, we turned it over. No matter what, they would need to do that. Could you maybe write out the general idea of how to pick it up with a ship's field and then set it back? Maybe in less than in hundreds of steps? Just the idea?"
"Yes Captain, I could. I could probably generally describe what to do in fifty steps or so."
Georgia said, "Good. You do that, while I fly us to the Flying Fish and fix its cannon. We will have given them the idea of what to do, some basic instructions for it, and saved them the trouble of setting the Ptarmigan upright. Even once they take it back to their base with a field, it still would have been upside down. I feel good about what we've done."
"Alright Captain. By the way, what about the holes in the Finch?"
"Well, everything seems to be fine. If something is wrong … I currently prefer to ignore it."
"Yes Captain."
Hugo then went into the common area and got supplies and started to write the general procedure of carrying the Ptarmigan with the Flying Fish's field. As he did, Georgia flew the Finch to the Flying Fish.
Georgia turned the Finch toward the Flying Fish's front, had Hugo land, and then she went up to the Flying Fish. In the light of the headlights, she could see where the tube of the cannon was crumbled in on itself. She hoped that just the tube was damaged and not the particle canister or the firing mechanisms. She went back to the Finch and got some tools.
Georgia then came back to the Flying Fish and looked on the outside. She couldn't see panels to access the cannon. She went inside it, turned on the lights and checked under the cockpit. There were panels there for accessing equipment. She opened them until she found the cannon. She saw how it was installed and disconnected it and removed it. It was heavy, but Georgia was able to lift it up and carry it out of the ship.
Georgia looked over the cannon in the light from the Finch and saw that the front of the tube was caved in on itself and there was more damage toward the firing part of the cannon. She figured this happened after the Flying Fish tried to fire it after it was damaged.
Georgia took a saw and cut the entire length of the tube off. Georgia called Hugo from the Finch. She said, "Alright, I want to see if this still fires at all. I have a feeling it will kick back a lot, so we need to have a way to set it and then fire it."
Hugo thought a moment and then said, "Well, we could dig a hole and set it in it pointing up. Then we could run wires from the connection in the Flying Fish to it. We could then fire it from the Flying Fish."
Georgia thought and said, "Alright, I can't think of anything better, let's do that."
Hugo got a shovel and dug a hole for the cannon near the Flying Fish. Then he ran wires from where the connection had been in the Flying Fish to the cannon and then set the cannon pointing up in the hole. He told Georgia to check outside and tell him if it was clear above so he could fire. Georgia did and Hugo fired the cannon.
There was a very loud pop sound as a small blue ball left the cannon and the cannon pushed into the ground. It flew up into the sky and seemed to disappear.
Georgia said, "Great, at least it works. Now all I have to do is repair the tube."
Hugo said, "I don't think we have any spare pipe. We used it to repair our engine."
Georgia said, "I'll cut off the damaged sections, cut them open, flatten them out, bend them back into tubes, weld them, and then weld them back into one tube. It's going to take a while."
Hugo said, "Wait, Captain. There may be storage on the Flying Fish. They may have spare parts."
"Let’s see Lieutenant."
Georgia and Hugo went onto the Flying Fish. There was a storage wall to the right of the door in front of the engine. Hugo hadn't noticed it when he had first gotten on board. Georgia and Hugo went through the drawers and found lengths of pipe in one. Georgia said, "I think one of these should work. Very good idea Lieutenant."
"I am glad Captain. I will finish writing the short field towing procedure and you can weld one of these tubes onto the cannon. Let me know when you are done, and we can test it again and see if it works, I can help you carry it back inside."
"Very good Lieutenant."
Hugo and Georgia left the Flying Fish and lifted the cannon out of the hole and disconnected it. Georgia started to work on repairing it and Hugo went back to the Finch.
After about half an hour, Georgia told Hugo she was done. Hugo came out of the Finch, helped reconnect the cannon and set it in the hole. He and Georgia tested it again. The pop was quieter and the ball seemed to fly higher than before. Georgia had Hugo test it again with multiple shots. It seemed to work.
When they were done, they both reinstalled the cannon into the Flying Fish. Georgia and Hugo then took it up to test the cannon in flight. It seemed to fire well. They landed and checked it over and as far as they could tell, everything was fine.
Georgia said to Hugo, "Good Lieutenant. We got this done. You get the procedure you wrote and we'll leave it one of these chairs. We'll also write the coordinates of approximately where the Ptarmigan is and a note saying the cannon was repaired, and leave that too. After that, I think we're done."
Hugo got the procedure and wrote the Ptarmigan coordinates and a note about the cannon and brought them to the Flying Fish. Georgia and he looked everything over and then went back to the Finch.