“I did not mean to imply that. Richer does not equate with easier. In many ways, our newfound success increased our internal problems. In fact, there were so many decisions to be made that really important issues tended to be lost in the shuffle. Some decisions I made in haste-assuming them to be minor-came back later to haunt me mercilessly.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Coffee, love?” Ramona asked, poking her head into Tambu’s cabin.
“Thanks, I could use a break.”
“We finally found our problem.” Ramona gave him a steaming cup and curled up in a nearby chair. “It took three rounds of check-inspections, but we found it.”
“Where was it?” Tambu asked curiously.
“There was a flaw in one of the circuit boards in the Emergency Life Support Override System. It took only three minutes to replace-once we found it. Could have been nasty if we hadn’t caught it, though.”
Tambu frowned.
“Isn’t that a sealed system? When was it last inspected?”
“Two years ago,” Ramona recited. “During its scheduled preventative maintenance cycle.”
“Then the problem’s been with us that long?” Tambu winced.
“No,” Ramona insisted firmly. “It’s a recent development.”
“You seem awfully sure of that.”
“I am, for two reasons. First, it was triple-checked during that inspection. I know the crewmembers whose initials were on the seal. They aren’t the kind who would fake an inspection or miss a defect that obvious.”
“And the other reason?”
“The other reason is the tapping started only recently.”
“I thought so.” Tambu smiled. “You know, sometimes I wonder if superstitions would survive if we didn’t force feed them.”
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