Dusters FIVE

Aidyn wound up figuring out the problem with some of the collectors not releasing what they had gathered. While monitoring the readouts of a mobile assembler doing inspection, he noticed small scratches on the surfaces that had trapped the debris. They needed to patch up the scratches, which should be an easy task for the assemblers.

Gildo and Taquir continued construction and testing of Two. They had daily meetings with Dinah and Aidyn to review the progress and test results. Dinah had a virtual 3D model of Two and would highlight parts of the ship that had completed checkout, so she could visually track the overall project.

Aidyn became suspicious when the progress on Two seemed to leap ahead and called Taquir into a one on one meeting.

“Taquir, this progress is a little amazing, don’t you think?”

After a brief pause, Taquir answered “Yes, a little”. He was avoiding eye contact.

“Can you explain it then?” Aidyn asked.

Looking directly at Aidyn, he answered, “The extra assemblers are making up time.”

“I’m talking about the testing Taquir, not assembly.” His voice was slightly harsh.

Taquir had no emotion in his expression, “Are you implying something Aidyn?”

“Yes, I think you are fudging some of the results.” He said.

“Then I resign my position, I will leave immediately”. Taquir stood and left the room as Aidyn tried to explain his concerns.

Aidyn told Dinah about the meeting and she went back and compared some of the recent test data and found some of the array section results were identical, which was impossible. They were all slightly different, thus unique.

“Let him go” She told Aidyn, showing him her findings. “We need to retest all of the Arrays.”

“Geoff is going to be pissed.” Aidyn said, scanning the documents on the tablet.

“Screw that, he’s the one who sent Taquir.” She said

Dinah talked to Gildo and explained what had happened. He was surprised and told her there would be no conduct like that from him. She believed him. She was starting to like him and really enjoyed their meetings and other interactions.

Geoff messaged Aidyn from Earth;

Sad news about Taquir, he is a good employee Aidyn. You are too harsh and protective of this program, so is Dinah. Make an effort to improve your progress on Two and get One certified sooner rather than later. We already have some lanes mapped out to begin operations.

No hello or goodbye. Aidyn read the message on the screen in his room and said out loud “He probably told Taquir to do that. He’s gunna get someone killed.”

They didn’t get a replacement for Taquir, so the construction and testing on Two slowed. The next test of One was set to start in two more days. The mobile assemblers were clearing any remaining debris and patching the scratched arrays. The schedule would be met this time.

The crew was analyzing the data collected from the first run and looking for ways to improve operations. Several field fluctuations on the port side troubled Moonshot, even though they didn’t seem to effect the end results. He talked to Dinah about his concerns and wanted her opinion of the risk.

“If the field becomes at all unstable, it will shut down and we will figure out what went wrong.” Dinah told him.

“What if it doesn’t shut down?” he asked. “What happens then?”

“If there is an imbalance in the field, the ship could wind up attracting and repelling debris, it just wouldn’t work right..at capacity. We are simulating a small moon here.”

“I know that and I hope that’s all…I hope you’re right.” He said.

Dinah was spooked by the talk and ran some random field failure simulations when Moonshot left, which all resulted in a shutdown. The systems should operate nominally.