Clone Earth : MELVIN

Light on her feet, Ari’s thick black boots shuffled her down one of the more quiet corridors. Trying to be inconspicuous her mind wandered to escape plan A, plan B, and plan C. Always prepared in case she got caught. She couldn’t risk someone retracing her steps and finding the one place on this large hunk of space metal, that she could be left alone. Thus Ari took extra care not to be discovered until she was a good distance down the corridor.

Her mind was about to return to the task at hand when a beeping behind her managed to break through, just in time for Ari to dodge clear of a transport unit loaded down with containers. She threw her body to ground, a safe distance from the machine, but an awkward landing rolled her body over her left hand sending a sharp pain through her wrist and fingers.

“Next time I flatten you!” The driver shouted.

“Looking forward to it!” She yelled back, grinning as she gave the fading man a double thumbs-up. A motion that she regretted instantly as more pain shot through her tissue.

Favoring her injury, though happy it was her left hand, she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. Cursing through her teeth she set into a dead sprint down the corridor.

“Sorry I’m late!” she exclaimed, skidding into the maintenance hub for the mess hall. The extra heat and moisture in the room made the processed air sticky. Ari quickly looped her hair back in a knot to keep it from frizzing out of control.

The room was filled with seven members of the usual mess hall staff, each several years older than she was. They went about their business washing dishes and collecting trays from the discard containers. No one acknowledged Ari’s presence, though she had to get someones attention in order to get credit for her time served.

“I could have skipped the last half of class but that’s kind of what got me this death sentence.”

Traeger, the maintenance chief for the section, shook his head as he threw one of the heavy-duty aprons from the rack, at Ari’s head. “You did skip class,” he drawled. “I received the penalty notice thirty minutes ago. Now, I have to use you for three more hours today.”

She grinned. “You mean you get to?” Traeger didn’t flinch, she didn’t expect him too. It never worked on her when her brother used that positive rephrasing trick, why would it work on a full grown, overweight janitor, with no sense of humor?

Using mostly her left hand she tied the heavy apron around her waist and followed Traeger to a row of deep sinks, lining the back of the hub. It was crowded with personnel using pressurized hoses to clean off trays and utensils. Traeger pointed his thick finger to the one vacant sink, that is vacant of people, the sink itself was piled high with soiled trays.

“Seriously, we’re hand-washing today?” Ari looked back at the large contraption that filled the center of the hub, unusually silent for the time of day. “I thought you were getting the washer fixed this week.”

The old man chuckled dryly. “Shut up and start washing, Kana.” Ari opened her mouth to protest but Traeger was no stranger to her attempts. “It’s a punishment, Kana. Wash with your hands; it’s not gonna kill you.”

“It might kill you when my punishment is over and you have to wash these dishes.”

“With your reputation, your punishment will never be over,” mumbled one of the personnel members.

Traeger’s glare cut off his snide remark, as well as the reply about to snarl from Ari’s mouth. “Start washing. And feel free to get some of that water on your face. Without that grease you might look a bit human.” He said lumbering back through the cluttered heaps of metal.

Ari looked down at her hands. They were clean, until she ran her fingertips over her cheeks. Traces of black and gray residue transferred onto them. Her eyes rolled before she set to work with the pressurized sprayer. With the accelerated speed the water hit the trays, bouncing back into her face and she shuttered at the feeling. Though it looked clean, it wasn’t clean water. It was processed and filtered through the same drains that also carried the waist they cleaned off of the trays.

Setting the tray down on sink counter, she stared at the pooling water on top of it. It sloshed back and forth until it calmed to a mere ripple, responding to the hum from the Stations machinery. The ripples reflected light back into her eyes, and the sight sent her mind wandering. What was it like to be submerged in water?

The idea brought to mind a strange image, where the clanging sounds of the mess muffled. She felt her head floating, her body sinking, as if she were swimming. Something she had never done and yet she knew this feeling …

“You’re not authorized to leave.” The man’s voice boomed through the strange silence which had taken over. Its sound waves rippled up her arms until it shook her center. The usual sounds around her rushed back so suddenly her hands swiftly covered her ears.

“Leave?” She muttered. Catching sight of Traeger, his arms folded across his body, as he watched her from the opposite side of the room. “Who’d wanna leave this luxury job?” She added sarcastically, earning her the expected sarcastic smirk from her overseer.

However the sink was no longer in front of her. She had somehow unintentionally left it at least five yards back and was headed towards the door. Ari quickly returned to her post, picking up her discarded tray, she continued washing.

Swimming? Ari’s brain pondered as her good hand kept working. Why was she thinking of swimming? There was no need for the skill on a space station like Meckam, but even more she’d never bothered imagining the sensation.

She could only conclude that she wasn’t made for manual labor. Her mind needed something more challenging to focus on.

After six trays Ari glanced behind her. No one was paying attention to her anymore. Just like no one was paying attention to the big contraption that sat dormant in the center of the room.

She dropped to her knees and removed the front panel of the massive central dishwasher. Station appliances were supposed to be top of the line, but this particular model was out of date by a long shot.

’Like everything else on this floating piece of scrap,’ she thought.

She scanned the internal machinery for damage. There was a valve that was broken, but there were several valves with a similar function. Which made her instantly question its importance in the actual function of the machine.

Ari reached as far back as she could, retrieved the tuning wand from the back wall, and plugged in the BUS-cord.

As expected, the machine’s computer system knew what was malfunctioning and gave troubleshooting options. Ari snorted as she scanned the list. Traeger hadn’t a clue; if he was waiting for a part to fix it, he would be waiting for a long time. The only part that would fix a corrupt operation drive would be a completely new drive, and they stopped making those for this model over twenty years ago.

However, rewriting the function codes would work as a temporary fix to a corrupt drive. Grinning, Ari started tapping in new strands of code.

Something swatted her in the butt. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Give me two more minutes,” Ari lied, still tapping furiously. “I’ll have this thing going yet. They really should just upgrade this blasted thing.”

"Get up!" Her boss growled.

Ari allowed herself to be hauled out from the machine, smug smile beaming as the contraption groaned back to life. “It’ll probably break down again, but this will last at least three more months.”

For the first time since she’d been pulled out Ari caught sight of Traeger’s expression. She hadn’t ever seen that shade of brown turn so bright red in her life. His brown eyes as well appeared to be on fire. Not at all the expression of gratitude Ari had expected to see for making life easier for him.

“Great. That just means in three months when it breaks down you will have to fix it again. And when it breaks down after that you will have to fix it again. Congratulations, Kana. It’s a good thing you’re not allowed off this station, because you just earned yourself a life sentence of fixing the dishwasher while we’re out on the outer rim. A place where we can’t get the parts needed to upgrade or fix it permanently because you were too stupid to simply wash the dishes by hands like you were asked.”

“I was just trying to help. The broken valve it completely unnecessary …”

“It wasn’t the valve that we needed replaced! It was an upgrade on the entire contraption and a main systems drive replaced before we left for the Regatta sector. Now, in one hour, the repairman who was going to approve us for the grant, is coming to see a perfectly functioning dishwasher instead of the hunk of junk it is! Do you think he’ll approve us for anything now?”

“No. Nothing is wrong now.”

“Exactly. But you even said it. Your bypass, is only a temporary patch. Eventually, it’s going to malfunction leaving us high and dry in a location we cannot get basic fuel let alone a specialty item. I repeat, the specialty item we could have gotten approval for, if you hadn’t done what you weren’t asked to do!”

“Well, why didn’t you say something before?”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you that! You’re just a kid. A kid who should learn to keep your hands to yourself!”

Ari couldn’t move. She wasn’t sure what to do. Should she deprogram the machine? It wouldn’t be as easy as hitting the undo button on someone’s homework assignment, which she’s done many times, but she could figure out how to undo it.

Ari flinched as Traeger’s hand shot up, pointing past her at the sink she had been assigned to. Though everything in her told her to protest, fight back, or break the equipment if that’s what he really wanted. But without another word, she swallowed the heavy lump in her throat and returned to the pressure sprayer.

For what it was worth, work went smoothly after that. No one bothered her or tried to talk to her. She was able to load the rotating racks for three peaceful hours before the lights flashed, signaling the end of the shift and the ensuing rush for the pay console.

Despite her attempts to squeeze through the crowd, Ari still ended up third in line. She swiped her card through the console like the regular personnel. Though it was punishment for her, law stated anyone who worked had to get paid. Something about human rights and a law against slave labor. Whatever it was, her brother cared about it, so she didn’t need to.

At the moment, all she really cared about was if there were any tatter tots left in the vending machine.

CHAPTER END