Gaining entry to the ship had not proven very difficult. Its reactor was powered down and the batteries were all but drained but there was sufficient power left to accept an entry code for
the airlocks, although the doors had to be manually opened. Inside, the ship was a terrible mess. It was clear that the crew never took proper care of the ship when it was their home, and in the process of leaving it they were not gentle.

Grim had managed to make friends with the starving animal, and the creature seemed to have taken a shine to him. He did his best to keep it out of the way of Taeva, now walking wounded (and fully armed), who from time to time cast dark glances at the creature.

Inside the ship virtually every access panel was open, the covers were off everything that has a cover and there were components strewn all over the deck. Putting it all back together would be a big job. Fortunately, some of the components could be bypassed or replaced with the gear the had carried with them up the mountain. The resulting lashup wouldn’t be pretty or safe for people walking past but would probably suffice to get the ship to the spaceport. Grim and Taeva sighed and set to work.

The first job was to be fix up the power, life support and flight systems and then to run some simulations with the ship’s software. This was a job that really could not be rushed: a
problem with the ship’s control electronics at the wrong time would be disastrous.

Meanwhile the others explored the crater, and sorted out the discarded survey gear the former crew had obviously completely ignored.

In the meantime there were two other jobs that need doing. The first was making the ship habitable. The general electronics systems dispersed throughout the vessel dealt with things like life support, recycling and lighting, but there was also a fair amount of filth and mess that needed to be cleared, and the others set to work on this. A number of filters were also missing and needed to be hunted down, and it was a task to return various scattered objects to their correct places. Setting the ship in order would take 2-3 days.

As they settled around the table for supper they also discussed the matter of the seismic survey which needed to be carried out. They decided that the following day Taeva, with her knowledge of explosives would work with Will, to try to get this additional task out of the way.