I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-05-22 23:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | kaylee frye |
i_getdirty What happens when the turbopump don't work. [narrative - INTRO]
The buzzing of the comm in her bunk wasn't what woke Kaylee up. Nor was it the flickering of cabin lights on and off. The rocking didn't bother her much either. Instead, it was the shudder and rattle of the entire hull of the ship. There was something wrong in the engine room. Springing out of her bed, she pulled on a jumpsuit and scrambled up the ladder. Serenity was still rocking and shaking, making Kaylee's climb a little tougher. She pulled herself out of her bunk as Zoe and Mal ran past her to the bridge. The captain shouted something at her, but she wasn't listening. "I'm on it!" she responded automatically. Something was wrong with her Serenity and there was no way in the 'verse she was going to let this ship go down.
The engine room was aglow with energy. The center drive thrust was spinning rapidly. Glancing down to the bottom corner of the engine structure, Kaylee saw one of the problems. A burnt out synchronizer. Without that synchronizer, the port and starboard thrusts wouldn't function together. It not only made the forward propulsion of the ship unstable, but it also gave Wash a hell of a time trying to steer.
Climbing down onto the grating, Kaylee grasped the synchronizer with two hands. It wouldn't budge. She had to get it out and changed before they fell out of the sky. The garbled transmissions coming over the comm in the engine room said something about the entry angles and the starboard thrust and then something else about the rear drive feed being offline. A routine reentry had quickly spiralled into chaos. Kaylee didn't fumble trying to find her tools or her spare synchronizer. The trouble was, the old one was stuck. The couplings at either end had melted right into the main cylinder. There was no way she was going to get it out easy. As the ship gave another lurch, Kaylee clung to the synchronizer. Bracing her foot against the steel frame, she yanked again. But her fingers, covered in grease, slipped off the synchronizer.
"Gorram!" Kaylee needed to connect to the old wiring - but there wasn't enough time. The transmissions over the comm were more frantic now. The captain would be coming to yell at her soon. She was trying her hardest! The synchronizer was melted! What else could she do?!
"EVERYBODY BRACE FOR LANDING! KAYLEE, GET OUT OF THERE!"
"NO! No, hold together, girl. C'mon, you can do it..." Kaylee whispered to the ship.
With all of the pressure being diverted to the port thrust, the ship took on a spin. Steam was spitting from various locations. Electric sparks emmitted from bundles of wiring. There was too much for the port thrust to handle. Without the synchronizers, nothing was being distributed evenly. It was then that she noticed that the turbopump valve wasn't opening due to the overheating of the synchronizer malfunction. She couldn't reach in to unstick it. The shaft was spinning too fast. It'd lop off her arm! Without that valve, the oxidizer heat exchanger would muck up the fuel cell output...
Basically, it was one big mess. Because of that one malfunction of the old synchronizer, the entire engine was done for.
Serenity gave her last gasp as the wiring finally gave way. Kaylee barely had time to drop her socket wrench when she ran out the door. It slid shut with a slam behind her. Crouching down along the corridor, she could hear main thrust explode. The impact of the blast shook the entire ship. Shook was probably an understatement.
-----
So that's what it felt like to crash.
The next thing Kaylee knew, she was under a heap of twisted metal. Her face was streaked with engine grease, tears, and soot. She seemed to be in one piece physically. But her beloved Serenity wasn't. Parts of the engine - and the engine room for that matter - lay scattered around her. The wall of the bunk corridor had been bent over, which had been the only part to protect her as the ship crashed.
"CAPTAIN?! ...Zoe? Jayne? Simon?...Anybody?!"
Pulling herself out of the twisted steel, Kaylee found herself in the middle of what looked like a townsquare. There was grass and trees, but no people around at all. Just past the trees, she could see the tops of very tall buildings. But Kaylee wasn't fit for exploring.
The shock of the crash was still coursing through her system. She did the only thing she could think to do. Crouching down and hugging her knees, Kaylee sobbed. She was alone. Serenity had crashed. And now she had no one.
ooc: Okay - so, FINALLY, here's Kaylee's introduction to the City. She's in the middle of the park and she'll venture out soon. I'm guessing this takes place after the movie, so the mention of Wash in there is kind of casual. Sorry about the NPCing for those who have Firefly pups. Let me know if you'd like me to change anything.
btw - this is my fourth try for posting this. Due to...*ahem* operator error, I kept losing this gorram entry to the wiley depths of GJ. Fourth time's a charm, right? *G*