“We’re stuck,” said Space Janitor (074).
“We’re stuck? What do you mean?” Spenglactic asked. For a machine, it conveyed a lot of emotion.
“The treads are turning, but we’re not moving,” said Space Janitor. The treads were indeed in motion. The transport vibrated in place. “I think we’re frozen in place,” said Space Janitor. He looked over the side. Saw there was a small yet thick bridge of ice that tethered them to the side of the freezer.
“You know what you got to do then,” Spenglactic insinuated. The machine had not completed audiblising its sentences. Space Janitor already had the nozzle pointed at the ice and giving it full blast.
Out the corner of his eye Space Janitor noticed Shep had slumped over again.
“Sit up straight, Shep,” Space Janitor commanded. Shep registered the instruction and complied. “Spenglacti this isn’t working. It’s too slow. Shep’s going to be frozen before we even move off,” Space Janitor was desperate.
“Computing,” said Spenglactic.
“Yes,” said Space Janitor. The cold throttled Space Janitor. He saw the warm mist of air squeezed from his lungs. Soon he would be rung dry.
“Right we’re going to go for a Particle protocol blast,” Spenglactic said.
“How do I do that?” asked Space Janitor.
“You have to shut everything down on me. I got to warn you, it’s risky, and you might not survive it,” Spenglactic warned.
“At this point, what choice do we have?” Space Janitor said to Spenglactic.
“OK. I’ll talk you through it,” said Spenglactic. At the same time, a little control jutted out the side. “Take the control and shut it all down. You have to go through everything on the manifest. You have to check off everything. It’s called the Check-Off Protocol,” Spenglactic continued. “You hear me?”
***
Would you mind reading from the beginning because it’s a fantastic place to start. You can find the first instalment of Space Janitor by clicking here.
Space Janitor 074 Space Janitor 074
