"More medication?" he asked.
61 "Just a little more pain killer," the Doctor added. "You'd better
get up to the command deck."
62 North hurried off. He was glad the Officer's quarters were so near
the command deck. The Number Two automatically stood and removed his
corn as North entered. North sat down, plugged in his com, and said,
Command on deck. Let's have those orders, Communications!"
63 The small screen by North's left hand lit up. The orders were
simple. "Commander Northern Star, you will leave orbit immediately and
proceed by the most direct route to Colony 5. The situation will be
explained to you by the Governor there. This mission has top priority."
64 "Navigation," ordered North, "set course for Colony Five. Helm, as
soon as you have vectors, move out!" Almost immediately the ship began
to move. "Navigation, how long to leap?"
65 "Two days one hour, sir. We can make a direct to Colony Five. Though
it's a little tricky, from that point it would be about three days in to
the Colony."
66 "Good," continued North, "we don't know what we're up against so I
want the ship in top running order."
67 After a few hours they were able to shift over from their system
engines to their star drive, and a few hours later, to apply full
power. North checked the readings then pressed the code for engineering
on his board. "Engineering," he asked, "we're only putting out
seventy-eight per cent of maximum. Why?"
68 "That's the best we can do, sir," the Chief Engineer replied. "A
little over factor six is the best we can do. We have a bad converter
in number two, and we don't have enough funds in the reserve account
for a replacement."
69 "Great!" thought North. He'd been assigned to a ship with financial
problems! It wouldn't be the first time Command had put a rich Officer
on a ship with financial difficulties. "Engineer," continued North.