Evangeline Anastasia McDowell

[Bazza]

Entry#: 113
Date: 04 - 08 - 818 AS @ 15:19 SUT
Title: Beached as.

Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming. The air recirculator of a Hercules is simply too small to maintain the atmosphere of a ship the size of the Alsatia without being overloaded. Overloaded is what it was, and fail is what it did.

Fortunately for us all it crapped out in the wet-dock of Vieques Shipyard shortly after mooring. The dashboard warning lights lit up as the oxygen levels in the ship fell below a safe level, alerting me to the problem. I had all of us, including Hector the cat, removed from the Alsatia and installed into the Maelstrom before the oxygen ran out completely.

The old girl is a bit dusty, and was absolutely freezing when we boarded, but she was otherwise how I left her and, more importantly, where I left her. Security isn't exactly tight around these parts.

Getting the main generator online proved rather annoying; the ship had been sitting idle for so long in a deep freeze the battery went flat; I ended up having to jump-start the Maelstrom using the Alsatia's battery banks and some really long jumper cables, the girls returning in their suits to get the lines hooked up. It's a good thing I keep them on board both of my ships otherwise I might have had to use the "facilities" of Vieques itself for one or more days... not a pleasant proposition.

I now need to set about tracking down a replacement recirculator. Another Hercules unit would be the easiest to fit in since all the "after market" modifications to the Alsatia's loom and structure to accept one are still there; but I know it'd fail just like the current one. So the best solution is to find a modular unit out of a bigger ship. From what I know of other transports A DL-series and the Liberty Mammoth are both worth investigating. I just don't want to have to do much reworking of the system... I can't really fit into my overalls to weld anything with a baby bump.

Of course there are no intact and operational units that suit my requirements in supply at Vieques so it looks like I'm going parts shopping...

... in a destroyer...

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