Rebbecca woke before the dawn, and breakfasted heartily. As she did every morning she made her way down the street to the engine room in the cool pre-dawn light and walked and walked amongst her charges. Everything was normal as she checked pressure gauges and nodded to the skeleton crew working out the end of the night shift. Satisfied, she went looking for the night foreman.

“Miss Pannicot,” Robert straightened up as she approached, “Sarah tells me things didn’t go so well with the council.”
“About as well as I should have expected, really,” she gave a small smile. “There is a meeting called for tomorrow, do you mind working these hours for another day?”
“Not at all, Miss. Sarah and I have already arranged it.”
“Thankyou, Robert. I’ll make it up to you two, or see that the council does.”
“It’s not like I have a wife or kids to get back to. Besides, you’re always here twice as long as we are.”
“Ah yes, well I don’t have a wife either,” she laughed. “I’m not sure how long my errands today will take, but I’ll stop by a couple of times if I can.”
“There’s no need, everything should be smooth sailing. There’s not even any maintenance planned for a couple of weeks.”
“I know. I’m on edge with this whole situation is all, just indulge me.”