A Flash of Fiction - untitled, installment #1

Hey all. here is a little something I did in the last 20 minutes of work today. My prompt came from the song that was playing at the time. I counted to 15 and the next two words were "broken again". Then I started writing. This is what I came up with Enjoy.

“The accursed thing is broken again.” Joplin said tossing the rag he was using to wipe grease off his hands atop the cart of tools that stood next to the digger.

He was alone but for the hundred folks in the control center some ten thousand miles away his communication with them through an earbud type device linked to the rover’s internal communications system.

“What now?” Caprees asked looking at the data on the screen. “Diagnostics look good here.”

“That is because it is stuck in a feedback loop reporting the same hours’ worth of data over and over again. It shut down because it is shoving incoming data into the RAM and doing nothing with it. Tell that slacker Phillipe to check the receive acknowledgments and that problem will be clear.”

Phillipe looked up from his display, a puzzled look on his face. “I’ve checked it according to protocol and made my reports. It is only now showing the problem; and yes that would cause the digger to shut down but what is broke? You said it is broken again, and you have opened the lower access panel. That has nothing to do with data reception and communications links.”

“That is why you’re a desk jockey and not an onsite Maintenance Control Teck.” Joplin spat onto the ground.
“Fu ….” Phillipe began.

“Enough.” Caprees spoke tone elevated glaring at Phillipe. Pointing she said “Fix it.”

“Jops what are we looking at give me a visual and a time line.”

Joplin grabbed a set of high-tech looking glasses put them on, clicked a button on the right ear peace, he received an audible tone indicating the visual device had connected and was communicating he stepped over to the digger went to his knees and peered into the lower access panel.

“What the hell.” Those in the control center that knew what they were looking at on the large screen sat staring in awe.
Caprees walked to her private office, on the way she pointed at Stan who was studying the image on the screen head tilted to the side, and motioned come here. As he entered the office, Caprees shut the door behind them and touched the controls next to the door. The windows faded from transparent to opaque. “Jops switch to the supervisory channel.”

A second later the image screen in the control room went back to its default of several different diagnostic data windows. The image reappeared on the screen in Caprees’ office.

“Caprees, I’m here.”

“Jops I know you’re not dense, tell me you see what I see.” She looked at Stan who sat in the luxury high back leather office chair, the look on his face quizzical. Furrows coursed across his forehead.

“What are you suggesting Caprees?”

“Show me the access panel Jops.”

“you’re not going to like what you see.”

“How the fuck, are you so calm?” Stan broke in.

“No choice.” Joplin replied.

The screen flickered. The access panel appeared the white background paint tinted red by the thin layer of dust, the blue of the NASA symbol prominent in the center, the lower left corner bent upward the latches broken from the forced entry.

“Oh my.” Caprees said.

“Shit.” Stan hissed between his clenched teeth.