The Saga of Emiko Station - Complete

[GDJ]

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

Oh, can't he????????  

Well......unless he has the One Ring......

[Just Jim]

Chapter 29
The Doodlebug

 

A few days after Gem and Theo's first birthday, Gene Kerman held a briefing in the Admin building's main staff room.

First up was Dr. von Kerman, with a report from Emiko Station. "My friends, as you are already aware, a large drilling and ore processing pod was launched several days ago, bound for Emiko Station. The engineer in charge, Chuck, has just sent his report, and I am pleased to announce the docking was not only successful, the drilling tests have yielded some startling results."  

"We have drilled approximately 12.75 tons of rock, yielding 1000 units of refined ore. If our estimates are accurate, there is just over 3,000 tons of drillable rock available, which we think could yield just under 240,000 units of refined ore total. At a refining rate of 2:1, this could produce nearly half a million units of fuel."

Around the table everyone gasped, and Gene smiled. This was the best news they had received in a long time, and if the numbers were even close, it meant their refueling needs would be met for several years at least.

Next up was Linus Kerman, from the science department. "I am also pleased to announce our probes to Eve have arrived safely, and the lander has touched down...."

But he drifted off, leaving Gene to ask, "And?"

"Well, sir..... the landing was perfect. It's what happened the next morning..."

Linus chose his next words carefully, "Sir, the next morning we encountered an... anomaly."

"An anomaly? What sort of anomaly?" Gene asked.

Linus hesitated, "Well, sir, perhaps you should look at the images we've received."

Again the sound of gasps was heard around the room.

"Is that a..... a floating rock? Are you saying we landed right next to a floating rock? On Eve?"

Again Linus hesitated, "No sir.... that's the thing. This... object... wasn't here when the probe landed. It seems to have appeared during the night!" 

Once the room had quieted down, Mortimer from finance spoke up. "News here on the home front is good. I am proud to say, after weeks of intense negations, Experimental Engineering has agreed to sign a contract for a space station around Duna!"

As cheers rang out across the room Mort handed Gene a piece of paper. "The only other item is your signature..."

"Wait," Gene interrupted him, "What is this?"

Mortimer looked sheepishly at Gene, "Just a small requisition, nothing, really..." 

Gene read the order and looked at Mortimer suspiciously, "Two replacement XL solar panels?  And who needs two replacement panels, may I ask?"

Mortimer looked down and mumbled, "Emiko Station, sir."

"Emiko Station.... and why do they need two new panels?"

Mortimer hesitated again, "Well, it's like this, the kids were out in the Doodlebug..."

Gene stopped him there, "Wait... say that again."

"The kids were riding in the Doodlebug, sir, and had a slight... accident.... sir."
Gene dropped his head into his hands. "OK, from the beginning... what exactly is a Doodlebug?"

"Well, sir, the Doodlebug was a present Chuck Kerman constructed out of parts of the Kraken wreckage for Gem and Theo's birthday. Quite a clever little thing, if I might say myself." 

Mortimer continued, "But the first day they took it out, they got too close to one of the towers and collided with two of the solar panels. The kids are alright, and both feel terrible for what they did, but the panels are a complete loss."

Gene just shook his head and signed the requisition.

After the meeting concluded, von Kerman stayed behind and closed the door. "Gene, there is something else. But I'm not sure what to make of it, and I felt it best we keep this private, at least for now."

"What is it, my friend?" Gene asked.

"It has to do with the old Duna lander, the one we lost contact with before the Thompberry... incident."

"Ahhh, yes. The one that fell over. Embarrassing. What about it?"

Von Kerman hesitated, "Well... we've re-established contact. It appears to be standing upright."

Gene looked startled, "Are you saying it fell down that hillside and landed on it's feet?"

For several seconds von Kerman said nothing. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he answered, "No.... No... and that's the problem. It's now halfway across the planet, standing atop the highest peak on Duna!"

 

The Saga of Emiko Station is far, far from over....

Go to Chapter 30
Return to Index

Edited December 7, 2019 by Just Jim
forgetted a word... lol...

[Andem]

14 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Chapter 28
Doodlebug

 

My cats name is Doodles (Kids), and everybody calls him Doodlebug... 

[Just Jim]

1 minute ago, Andem said:

My cats name is Doodles (Kids), and everybody calls him Doodlebug... 

I have 4 cats...... and from one owner to another, Doodles is a great name!  lol  

[Andem]

13 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

I have 4 cats...... and from one owner to another, Doodles is a great name!  lol  

This post is a temporary replacement for a like until tommorow. then you will recieve a proper one, Jim.

[Crystal_Mace]

On 1/28/2016 at 7:23 PM, Just Jim said:

Yup... I am SO monologing at this point!   I feel so wonderfully evil just writing it all down.  

I hate to say, but the real campiness is still a few chapters away.  
However...  this will add at least 10 more chapters than I originally planned... Quite possibly more... 

Quoting a campy parody of "Star Wars" a college friend of mine and I once wrote:

[Gov. Tarkin:  That's right Princess, we're going to blow up your home planet!  Mwahahahahahahah!  Sometimes I'm so evil I can't STAND myself!

Lord Vader: (Contemptuously)  YOU can't stand yourself...?]

lol!

"The Saga of Emiko Station is FAR From Over..."....and with each passing day it gets FARTHER from over!  (....YaaY!....) 

 

 

 

[Mister Dilsby]

Love that Doodlebug! Am working on some RCS lander designs for Bop and Pol myself, might take some inspiration from that cutie.

[Crystal_Mace]

8 hours ago, Just Jim said:

More megalomaniac...

Thompberry didn't have a Napoleon Complex....
Napoleon had a Thompberry Complex!!!!  

Actually it was a more complex problem....His insecurity is indicative of an inferiority complex. One that he thought was bigger and better than anybody else's in the whole world.

[GDJ]

Doodlebug. I'm building myself one of those. WAY too cool!

And how fast do those kerbal kids grow!? I swear she only pooped out the lizards a few chapters ago!! WTheck!? Are they like Gerbils and they can reproduce in 28 days!?!?  

Edited January 30, 2016 by GDJ

[Crystal_Mace]

1 hour ago, GDJ said:

Well......unless he has the One Ring......

"Three for the elf-kings with auras that glow white.

"Seven for dwarves, like the ones who knew Snow White,

"Nine for the Nazgul, the ghosts of dead kings.

Spoiler

"These are a few of my favorite rings...."

 

[GDJ]

7 minutes ago, Crystal_Mace said:

Actually it was a more complex problem....His insecurity is indicative of an inferiority complex. One that he thought was bigger and better than anybody else's in the whole world.

Yeah.....or he's a born psychopath and just doesn't give a rats fart about other Kerbals.

[Crystal_Mace]

"...you'll want one for yourself."

That' so true! 

[KSK]

D'awwww!

Looks like you even found a way to melt Mort's heart!

[AccidentsHappen]

I don't think I've been this excited to read a story since I first read The Martian (current times read: 4)

[KSK]

9 hours ago, Crystal_Mace said:

"Three for the elf-kings with auras that glow white.

"Seven for dwarves, like the ones who knew Snow White,

"Nine for the Nazgul, the ghosts of dead kings.

  Reveal hidden contents

"These are a few of my favorite rings...."

 

Permission to groan, Ma'am?

[Just Jim]

9 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Love that Doodlebug! Am working on some RCS lander designs for Bop and Pol myself, might take some inspiration from that cutie.

I actually stole this idea from a picture someone posted on Steam ages ago. 
I would love to give them credit, but I can't for the life of me remember who it was.

And I'm also thinking of taking one to Minmus and the other lighter gravity moons.  Add some test equipment and it might make a really good biome hopper.

 

9 hours ago, Crystal_Mace said:

Actually it was a more complex problem....His insecurity is indicative of an inferiority complex. One that he thought was bigger and better than anybody else's in the whole world.

Yup, that sounds like Thompberry...  

 

9 hours ago, GDJ said:

Doodlebug. I'm building myself one of those. WAY too cool!

And how fast do those kerbal kids grow!? I swear she only pooped out the lizards a few chapters ago!! WTheck!? Are they like Gerbils and they can reproduce in 28 days!?!?  

Kids... one second they're crawling around the space station, the next thing you know they're piloting their own little shuttles.....
<Sigh>
They grow up so fast...  

 

9 hours ago, Crystal_Mace said:

"Three for the elf-kings with auras that glow white.

"Seven for dwarves, like the ones who knew Snow White,

"Nine for the Nazgul, the ghosts of dead kings.

  Reveal hidden contents

"These are a few of my favorite rings...."

 

OMG.... I have got to write that one down!  Beautifully bad!!!  

 

8 hours ago, KSK said:

D'awwww!

Looks like you even found a way to melt Mort's heart!

Yeah.... the kids have already won over pretty much all the KASA personnel, especially Chuck the Engineer. 
He's become a sort of an uncle to the kids, and is definitely one of their enablers...  

 

6 hours ago, AccidentsHappen said:

I don't think I've been this excited to read a story since I first read The Martian (current times read: 4)

Wow... thank you! 
I still need to read it, I've been told by more than a few people the book is actually much better than the movie. 

[Just Jim]

10 hours ago, GDJ said:

And how fast do those kerbal kids grow!? I swear she only pooped out the lizards a few chapters ago!! WTheck!? Are they like Gerbils and they can reproduce in 28 days!?!?  

OK, I had some coffee and gave this some thought.  I don't want to get into Kerbin biology too much... again... lol.... but I figure it something like this.

The kids are now 1 year old.  At this age a young pilot like Gem can handle something like the doodlebug, and she should be able to pilot her own real ship in 5 to 10 years..... more or less.  Depends on how I write her part in this story... 

 

[KSK]

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

Yeah.... the kids have already won over pretty much all the KASA personnel, especially Chuck the Engineer. 
He's become a sort of an uncle to the kids, and is definitely one of their enablers...  

Wow... thank you! 
I still need to read it, I've been told by more than a few people the book is actually much better than the movie. 

Go, Chuck, you big softie. Enabling is what being an 'uncle' is all about.

And yeah, I would say The Martian works better as a book but the film did do a very impressive job of translating what's essentially a diary, to the big screen.

[GDJ]

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

OK, I had some coffee and gave this some thought.  I don't want to get into Kerbin biology too much... again... lol.... but I figure it something like this.

The kids are now 1 year old.  At this age a young pilot like Gem can handle something like the doodlebug, and she should be able to pilot her own real ship in 5 to 10 years..... more or less.  Depends on how I write her part in this story... 

 

Oh! So they are like dogs then.

Humans at 7 can ride a bicycle with some proficiency
Kerbals  with Doodlebugs at 1.

.....So she'll be between 35 to 70 (in human years)before she can pilot a Spaceship. That's not totally off the mark actually. Most of the current astronauts are between 35 and 55 right now.

BUT....Kerbals can only live to, say, 20 human years? That would make them rather old using the analogy I posted (that would put them at 140 years old human equivalent).

Edited January 30, 2016 by GDJ

[Just Jim]

39 minutes ago, GDJ said:

Oh! So they are like dogs then.

Humans at 7 can ride a bicycle with some proficiency
Kerbals  with Doodlebugs at 1.

.....So she'll be between 35 to 70 (in human years)before she can pilot a Spaceship. That's not totally off the mark actually. Most of the current astronauts are between 35 and 55 right now.

BUT....Kerbals can only live to, say, 20 human years? That would make them rather old using the analogy I posted (that would put them at 140 years old human equivalent).

Yeah.... but I don't really see a need to compare them to humans at all. They're little green folk from another planet.  They may look more or less like us, but they're physiology is probably vastly different.

So to simplify things, in my little corner of the multi-verse they grow up very fast, but can live incredibly long lifespans...

If they don't blow themselves up, that is. 

Edited January 30, 2016 by Just Jim

[Alchemist]

Kids raised on a space station will most likely learn to pilot jetpack (and similarly controlled small crafts) before they learn to walk (not that they have any place to practice walking around there). Let's just hope they don't continue to run into every corner and panel for too long (of for too much damage)

[TopHeavy11]

Those darn kids! Give 'em a good spankin', that's what I'd do...if they weren't in 0-g.

[Just Jim]

4 hours ago, TopHeavy11 said:

Those darn kids! Give 'em a good spankin', that's what I'd do...if they weren't in 0-g.

 

Awww, but look at their sad, widdle faces... how could you stay mad at them???     

[TotallyNotHuman]

On 1/30/2016 at 11:13 AM, Just Jim said:

Mortimer continued, "But the first day they took it out, they got too close to one of the towers and collided with two of the solar panels.  The kids are alright, and both feel terrible for what they did, but the panels are a complete loss."

Sounds like the Progress M-34 docking incident to me.

Anyhow, I love how the story's progressing! Have you figured out how to complete the ridiculous challenge that you ahem, drunk-Gene accepted?

Edited January 31, 2016 by TotallyNotHuman_

[galaxyguy]

7 hours ago, Just Jim said:

 

Awww, but look at their sad, widdle faces... how could you stay mad at them???     

Awww So CUTE!!!!!!