The day they left orbit

[Shiomizu]

Colin awoke to the hot florescent bulb above his head flicking on and off. He slowly raised his head from the plow followed by his arms, then legs. He looked at his clock to see that it was 7:00. A groan escaped his mouth as he glared at the time. It was not often that he woke up before noon, and even then it wasn't much earlier then 11:00 at least. Fingers scratched at messy blond hair as he pondered why in the world he was still sitting up. He slapped at the bulb, unleashing it from the ceiling and sending it falling to the floor. The annoying light gone, Colin fell back to sleep.

Colin went about the normal checks about the school. Halls, clean…ish. Heater, running. Air system, pumping. Everything seemed to be going as it should be; the school mainly looked after itself if you kept it clean. Serenity Academy for the Advanced, or S.A.A. Although the name was the butt of many a joke, the school was well know for greatness; and even though Colin was around the age of most of the students, he was not one himself. Janitor and mechanic. That was his title, that was his life. He dragged his feet down to the lower levels of the school, enjoying the sight out the large windows. The view always seemed better each time he saw it. Before him was the earth, sitting in it’s bed of stars and light. He paused and stared out into the black, thinking about far away places he had never seen, nor ever would. A sigh fell from his lips and he continued on to check the orbital engine.

The time was 17:00, an hour before dinner, something Colin won’t miss for the world. He pulled a grease rag out from his back pocket and rubbed his hands vigorously in it, succeeding in only pushing the filth on his hands around, forming an even coat. Whistling a song, the words lost to him, Colin dropped the rag in a box on top of the orbital engine. He could clean it up later; after all, he had the night shift tonight. He kicked a leaver that switched the control from the back up generator, mainly used when the larger of the two engines needed cleaning, to the more powerful main engine. Although both machines were what kept the school where it was, Colin had grown used to cleaning them and switching the power back and forth. Still whistling the same tune, he headed for the kitchen, perhaps to get a quick bite in before the meal started.

18:00 hours. Deep within the school, the orbital engine chugged away as always did, or so it seemed. First a slight wobble could be seen from side to side. Then the wobble increased to a violent shaking. Steal groaned in protest as it bent and shook, finally giving away with a loud crack. The engine spite metal and wires through the air, leaving large scratches along the walls, ceilings and floors. The second back up engine started to roar to life, but was cut short as a box filled with tools and rags landed on it, pulling wires off of important gears. All noise stopped then, eerie quietness filled the room that moments ago would have made ears bleed from sere sound. From the windows in the halls above, earth, the mother world that had fed and supplied the school, slowly shrank into the distance. They had left orbit.  

[Alex the cyborg]

Rai Lexington, known as the principle's aid, felt the shake and stood up from his bed where he usually meditates before dinner. He then threw on his black shirt and ran to the engine room. As he was running he looked through the thick glass window and stopped, he then realized that the earth was becoming more distant with each passing second. "What in the hell is going on?" he said. Rai began to continue his run to the engine room pushing through the students as it was almost time for dinner.

All the students were in an uproar, all wondering what had happened. "Calm down everyone, head down to the mess deck, I will get this straighened out right now." Rai said.

He saw Colin, the school's mechanic and janitor. "Colin, what's happening?" he said in panic.  

[Shiomizu]

"I don't know, sir. Follow me, we need to see whats wrong with the orbital system."
Colin started running towards the engines, the halls becoming less populated the further down into the school they went.  

[Darkside_Heartless]

Ra, a regular student waiting patiently for whatever happens, so when he sees Colin and Rai he trails behind them and asked, "Whats goin on?" and the deeper they went.  

[Alex the cyborg]

"We're not completely sure ourselves. We're going to see what's the problem soon." He said. "Hopefully it's nothing big, especially since the principle and some of the school's staff went back to Earth to pickup supplies like tools, food, and other essentials." Rai said with a distressed tone of voice.  

[Crazy_Munkay]

Kaski sees rai, ra, and colin. "WTF! shouldn't we still be on earth waiting for the teachers and principal."  

[Shiomizu]

The group finally arrived in front of a large steel door, the entrance to the engine room. Colin ran over to a key pad placed on the wall near the door and hit the buttons in rapid order. A green light flashed on the key pad and the door started to open, but stopped after moving only a few inches to the left.
"The door's jammed. I can get it open, but it will take time."
He said, pulling tools out from his pockets as he spoke.  

[Alex the cyborg]

"That might be time we don't have, here, let me try," Rai wound up his mechanical arm and tried to punch through the door. Unfortunately his attempts at punching the door to bust it open were foiled as the door was two feet thick. "Well, that didn't work. All I left was a dent." He said in disappointment. "Sorry to ask Colin, but can't you get that door open just a bit faster.  

[Crazy_Munkay]

"Huh, what are we going to do."  

[Shiomizu]

"What we are going to do, Kaski, is open it faster."
Colin cracked the key pad open with a hammer off his tool belt, revealing the presser pad. He then removed the under pad, pulling the wires free. Placing the wires together, sparks fell from the copper tips, the door moving slightly. The door yet again stopped for a moment, the lights dimming, before opening at normal speed the rest of the way.
"See, good as new."
Colin said with a grin of his face. That smile was short lived though, as the sight of the engine room came into view. The main engine was in pieces, the back up engine was cracked with wires hanging loosely on the floor, deep marks ran along walls and floors and ceiling alike, a small fire even burned in what was left of the main engine. Colin slowly entered the room, as if in a dream, or a nightmare.
"Sir. I think we have a problem."  

[Alex the cyborg]

"This is horrible. With the tools and equipment we have on board the school we won't be able to get this fixed." He said with a nightmarish expression. "Until someone looks for us we won't be able to get back home, but worst of all, how are we going to tell the students?"

Rai stared wide eyed and realized that the students were still in the cafeteria, eating lunch, and probably wondering what was going to happen.  

[Darkside_Heartless]

"This is no easy task. Colin, what if we are able to smold all the electrical wires back together simultaneously?" said Ra looking at Colin with a serious eye.  

[Shiomizu]

Colin moved over to the back up engine, the better of the two and pulled out a tool box from inside of it, the force of the blast throwing it into the metal. He pulled other pieces of trash from the small engine before looking over the wires. He scratched his head and then turned back to the others.
"Well, the wires are riped and crushed, the gears are bent, and two cylinders are blown. I could use wires from other parts of the school, though we would lose power at times in some parts. The gears can be hammered out if we have a heat source. But I have no clue where we could find extra cylinders and I don't think the main engine is going to be any help."
He said pointing at the larger engine, still on fire.  

[Crazy_Munkay]

"um well, i guess i could use my powers but........I was told not to"  

[Darkside_Heartless]

"I think this is a good enough reason to use your powers. Colin do you think this will work?" Ra said anxious to see Kaski's power.