Morning all. I hope your week is going well. I woke up early and actually got a good hour writing in before I put the coffee pot on. Which means less that I was feeling productive and more like I was jumped by plot bunnies in the middle of the night and woke up knowing how to fix a plot hole I was worrying over yesterday. I suppose it is productive, but it feels ore like a lightning strike. regardless, here we are now. So timers set to fifteen minutes and let’s see what comes out of the above sentence.
I need to think about the actual situation, but I like the idea of suddenly failing (or destroyed) technology and improvisation using old half forgotten skills. I think it can lead to interesting situations and mistakes of course. Depending on where in the story this ends up being.
Tuesday, August 6th: We are going to have to improvise.
“We are going to have to improvise,” he said. Peter looked at him and then back down at the destruction of their gear.
“Improvise?” Peter replied somewhat shrilly. “I don’t think you understand Danny. This equipment was precisely calibrated. It took all of the guess work out. All of the figures and angles. The math was done. All w had to do was follow along.”
“We can do the math,” Danny replied. “I’m sure we all still remember the details and we still have the non-tech equipment. It will be just as it was before we got the equipment.”
Danny looked around and saw a few nods from a couple of the people in the group. Others, like Peter were exchanging dark looks. With a start he realized that only the three of them nodding were old enough to have made the run without the tech. All of the others were young enough that they were accustomed to the gear being there. ‘They might not even have learned the math and the principles behind it,’ Danny realized.
He took a deep breath. “It will be fine,” He assured Peter. “We are all there to double check each other.”
“We can’t do this without the equipment,” Peter said. He said the words slowly as though talking to a small and particularly dim child. ‘We cannot just improvise.’
“Look we have done this hundreds of times without the extra tech,” Danny said. “We can do it again.”
“If anything, it is easier when we don’t have to haul the heavier gear,” Mike added. “Extra clearance without the extra weight.” He nudged the shattered remains of the gear in question. Sparks were still dancing in its innards. “No point in taking it with us now.”
“We can’t…” Peter began again. Danny saw the rising panic in his eyes.
“What choice do we have?” Danny pointed out. “No one is going to come for us. We can either leave now when conditions are good, or we can stay here for all eternity.”
Peter opened and closed his mouth, but no words came out. There was nothing to say. It didn’t matter what Peter or any of the others thought about making the run without the tech controlling the variables. They had no other option. No one would be sent to retrieve them. New gear would not magically fall from the sky. They were on their own and at the moment conditions were optimum.
Tired of debating something that was pointless to debate, Danny picked up his pack and slipped his arms into the straps. He looked back and saw that the others in his age range were doing the same. Mike was already taking out a small sextant. Once they all carried them. Danny smiled and Mike shrugged.
Ten til Midnight 