SFFS: Balance

Behold, my first snippet – plucked from my deep internal slush/ideas pile – for Science Fiction & Fantasy Saturday, an authorial web-ring I’ve seen here and there in the past, and thought I might contribute something to from time to time. Welcome to all new visitors from thereabouts, and do click through here if you’re not a new visitor, and take a look at the snippets of the other participants!

“Quadrant 45 primary ballast transfer booster pump, main and aux bus.”

“Check, check.”

“Quadrant 135 primary ballast transfer booster pump, main bus and aux bus.”

“Check, check.”

“Quadrant 225 primary ballast transfer booster pump, main bus and aux bus.”

“Check, check.”

“Quadrant 315 primary ballast transfer booster pump, main bus and aux bus.”

“Check, check.” The tech glanced down the row of warm amber lights on the newly installed panel, flipped the associated command switches into ‘auto’ with the flat of one hand, watched the lights flicker into blue-enable, and closed the wiring case. “What’s the deal, Cal? We’ve been behind on getting these things installed for three months, so what’s made ’em so urgent now?”

“Flash mobs.”

“Flash mobs?”

“Yeah. Scuttlebutt has it that Elalie Celestial’s coming here in a couple of weeks to do some filming. The spinmaster was very clear that if he couldn’t pump twelve thou soph-equivalent-masses to wherever on the rim she wasn’t faster’n her fans could storm the transpods, we’d all be on triple-shifts for a year rebalancing the bearings and tryin’ to clean up the mess.”