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“Have any of you any salvage experience,” he asked, once he had their attention again.
To Jack’s surprise, Sergeant Strasser saluted and spoke. “I served on a first-entry crew for Chapham Recovery, off Sirius, then on a sweep team for Coventry, eventually leading an S team myself.”
“I see,” said Jack, to whom none of this made sense. “Well, I suppose this is a first entry mission, so why don’t you start your remarks there - for those who may not have been on a mission of this type, before.”
“Plastite,” said the sergeant without hesitation. "The plastic thermite cuts right through the hull, just like butter. You preload it onto a forced-entry sleeve, stand back, and ‘boom,’ you’re in. Assuming, of course, that you can’t just access an airlock - ‘try before you pry,’ you know. Then, once you’re in, it depends on the nature of the catch,” he went on, falling back into the jargon of his old profession. Stephen noticed a certain relaxation to his posture, too, which somehow made the marine seem more dangerous.
“If it’s a strait RA - roadside assistance - then the crew typically let you in and show you what’s needed. Coveralls’d be all you’d need, and work boots and a hard hat. Dead ships, they’re fairly straightforward, too. Everything has to be started up, perhaps repaired, but it’s all balanced, and of course you’re in survival suits until you have the life support back up. The half-dead ships, those are the widow-makers. Some of the compartments are pressurized, others aren’t any more, see. You get these pressure differentials across the bulkheads, and they can blow out without warning. That can be deadly no matter which side you’re on,” he said with a grim smile. “Survival suits, of course, though that isn’t always enough, if a blow-out catches you."
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