***

When I stepped through the hatch, Diane and Brill were there examining one of the oxygen scrubbers. I overheard them talking. “It looks like we’re going to have to change out the matrix, I guess.”

Diane nodded with a grimace. When she saw me, she grinned. “Just in time. You here to work or flirt?”

I chuckled. “Both if I can get away with it.”

Brill smiled as well. “Well, you’ll have to flirt with her. I’ve got quarterlies to finish.”

“What’s up?” I nodded toward the oxygen scrubber.

“This matrix is starting to die out and it needs to be replaced.”

Brill sighed. “It really is a two person job, but I have got to finish this paperwork today or I won’t be able to get off the ship tomorrow. Unfortunately, Diane is alone this watch.”

“How long will it take?”

Diane shook her head. “Not long. Two stans if we work hard.”

“I got two stans before I have to be back in the galley. Let’s get cracking.”

“Thanks, Ish.” Brill chucked me on the arm. “You’re a peach.”

“Yeah, soft, fuzzy, with a hard wooden core, I know.” I grinned at her then turned to Diane. “Okay, I’m at your disposal. Where do we start?”

The time went by really fast. Diane was as good with the scrubber as she had been in the booth the day before. The work consisted of stripping out the old algae matrix from the frames, washing them down, stringing up new material, and re-inoculating it. It would take about half a day before the algae settled in and started producing oxygen so it was important to do it as soon as one started to die off. Diane told me it was one of the least favored jobs in environmental, made worse by the fact that every scrubber had to be reworked about once a month.

The process wasn’t difficult. A metal frame sandwiched the matrix foundation and held it taut. This film gave the algae something to adhere to. We pulled each one out of the scrubber, released the clips that held the front and back together, separated the halves, and rolled the old material out like a kind of slimy, brown jelly roll that was a meter long and half a meter thick. Then we had to wash the frame down and roll in fresh matrix material then stretch and smooth it down before locking them together again. Diane used a sprayer to coat it with new algae in a uniform layer. The completed assembly was then ready to load into the scrubber. While the process wasn’t difficult, it was time-consuming with forty-eight units that needed to be replaced. We had to prevent cross-contamination, so we stripped and washed everything down before we started re-assembling and hanging the fresh frames. It was tedious, wet, and slimy work for the entire duration. When we were done, I was soaked, filthy, and exhausted. What’s more, I needed to get back to the galley to help Cookie.

Diane and Brill both thanked me repeatedly for helping out, but I had to admit it was really kinda fun. Diane is what my mom would have called good people and had a wicked sense of humor that made even a boring exercise like changing out algae matrices enjoyable. Besides, she looked good in a mucky, wet shipsuit. Who could argue with that?

I was a little late but Cookie waved it off. “Brill called to explain you might be delayed, young Ishmael.” He smiled in his understanding way. “If you can spend your free time helping out in another department, then I can forgive your being four ticks late to fix dinner. One thing, though—”

I finished for him, “Let me guess…we’re out of coffee?”

He smiled beatifically. “Just so, young Ishmael, just so.”