[center][h2]My Friend Flicker…[/h2][/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xh9pIsH.jpg[/img][/center]


There it was again.

The overhead lights flickered.  This time, Yuri could also hear the tripping of relays, forcing the boat’s air handlers to cut and then spin up once more.  He turned away from the crew dining table that served as his waiting area to view the devices in the galley.  Sure enough, anything with an onboard timer or clock was flashing 00:00, the fresh start of a twenty-four hour day.

He’d been here, waiting for a moment of the captain’s time to apply for the mechanic’s post.  He now saw the wait as foolhardy, given whispered comments from the crew about a possible tryst between the captain and the boat’s lovely doctor.  Though he assumed she’d order him back to a bunk for rest, Yuri couldn’t abide the thought of all this empty time.  He craved movement; his mind was parched for stimulation…and his demons required a good tamping down.

There it was again.

The girl, Abby, bounded up the steps and into the galley, wearing shorts and a tee shirt that revealed her time out in the rising tropical humidity.    “Hey Yuri,” she greeted him.  “Ya doin’ alright?”

“I am, thanks,” he smiled as the girl slipped into the galley.  “Have you seen Captain Strand?”

“He ain’t showed?”  She stepped back from the open refrigerator, her brows knitted.  He could read the sudden transformation upon her face, the merge from curiosity to a sort of conspiratorial humor flashing just behind the eyes.  “I cotton that makes sense,” Abby shrugged before resuming her search.  “Ain’t seen tha doc nowheres this mornin’, neither."  The lights flickered once more, darkening the refrigerator before the compressor restarted.  “Yew seein’ that?” the deckhand asked as she pulled a bottle of Capt. Bob’s Cola.  

Yuri chuckled.  “Yes.  It’s been bothering the daylights out of me.”

”Playin’ Merry Hob with muh washin’,” she said.  “Conjure I might jest have tah find a good rock  down by tha creekbank.”  She popped the soda’s top.  “What yah figger it tah be?”

“Can’t be certain without tracking the circuit path,” the mechanic observed, “but my first guess is a faulty shore power coupling.”  He could see the girl’s mind working as she sipped at her drink.  “Abby,” Yuri offered, “while I’m sure the captain wouldn’t appreciate me putting hands to his boat without permission, I’d be glad to look over your shoulder as you did the work.”

The girl’s brows lifted.  “I think that’s shiny,” she nodded his way.  “Chance I’m gonna come away from this dirty?”

“Most like,” he grinned.  “I’d put on coveralls.  Expect a smudge or two on your face, to boot.  That’s your badge of office..”

“I been dirtier,” she agreed.  “Got coveralls in tha engine room.  We goin’ there first?”

“Yup,” Antonov pulled himself to his feet.  “We’ll backtrack connections, from distro to the transformer first,” he said as they moved aft.  “Need to double check the batteries and autorelays before we pull any power.”  Though something as simple as a power hiccup didn’t rate high on his personal challenge scale, Yuri found instant gratitude in both the opportunity, and more important, the distraction.  Surprising to think that something so simple might once again make him comfortable within his own skin.