Mechanic Jackson

“Come on up!” a voice said from the intercom.

The intercom buzzed and the solid metal door opened to a generic looking elevator like he had seen numerous times before. Jackson took one last look behind him. His black pickup truck stood alone, surrounded by rolling hills of sand and covered by the shadow of the imposing ship he was about to enter. Jackson entered the elevator with his toolbox in hand, ready to take on the challenge set for him.

Inside the elevator, the button panel was dangling by a bundle of wires and sparks flew out of the opening. Jackson put his toolbox down and pulled out a flashlight. He shined the light inside the dark recess to see a spider web of cables going in different directions. Moving some of the cables aside, he found the source of the sparking. A red wire was dangling above a metal prong, causing it to spark every time it swung into it. Jackson rummaged through his toolbox and found a needle-nose pliers. He reached in blindly with the pliers and reattached the red wire to the metal prong, causing more sparks and zaps. Smoke pumped from the panel opening and Jackson retracted his arm.

He waved the thick black smoke out of his face and lifted up the panel. The buttons were all lit up and he tried to put it back in place. Once he got it lined up close, the panel was ripped from his hands and stuck to the opening like it was a magnet. Jackson reviewed the buttons and they were not in any language he had ever seen. He pressed one that looked like an upside down lowercase H. The elevator lurched up and down for a second like it was stuck and made a low whining sound. Jackson was about to press the button again before the elevator shot up. He tried to brace himself and was forced into a squat from the upward force. It stopped just as fast, shooting Jackson into the air, hitting his back against the ceiling before falling back down. His tools crashed next to him, scattered all over the floor. Jackson laid on his stomach, holding his lower back while he groaned. He watched the doors open from the ground, while his client stood at the entrance to greet him.

“Hey you fixed the elevator! You really are a full service mechanic,” the green humanoid said.

Jackson pushed himself up to his knees and wiped off his grey jumpsuit.

“Are you Mr. Gorsen?”

“I sure am. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Mr. Gorsen said, kneeling down and extending his blotchy green and black hand.

Jackson shook his slippery hand and began picking up his assorted tools. Mr. Gorsen went over to the corner to help him.

“So what is all this?” Mr. Gorsen asked, inspecting a phillips head screwdriver with a yellow and black handle.

“Some of my tools. I didn’t know what I needed for a job like this. I usually work on vehicles.”

Mr. Gorsen put another tool in the toolbox. “This is a vehicle.”

“Earth vehicles I mean.”

“I can’t imagine it is too different. This vehicle has a hyperdrive unit, three command consoles, and two main engine thrusters.”

Jackson shook his head. “Did you see what I drove here with?”

“No. My scanners have been fried for ages and my windows are dirty.”

“I drove a truck.”

“I don’t know what that is. Is it fast?”

“Not compared to this I imagine.”

“No wonder you took so long. I was wondering if I contacted someone on a different planet.”

“You landed in the middle of the desert, fifty miles from any town. Hard to get here fast without flying.”

“You’re truck can’t fly?”

“...No…”

“Sounds like you need to fix your stuff first. I can wait.”

“Let’s take a look at what you need fixed first.”

Mr. Gorsen escorted Jackson down a narrow, rounded corridor. The white walls were smooth like glass, while the floor was a textured grey. They went up to a white door with an orange outline along the edge that opened once they got close. The room contained only one item: the hyperdrive. It looked like a twelve foot long and five foot tall car engine. It had a row on each side with twelve pipes coming from it that ran to the ceiling. Jackson could see his reflection in the silver body. In the middle, the hyperdrive had three circular pistons on top about the diameter of his toolbox. Jackson ran his hand along the cool steel, amazed by it’s design and the roar of the wind going through the pipes.

“Who made this?” Jackson asked, still admiring the pristine metal.

“I’m not sure. It came with it. You act like this is the first time you have seen a hyperdrive.”

“This is the first time I have seen a hyperdrive.”

“Your vehicles can’t fly and don’t have a hyperdrive. What’s next? You’re gonna say your people still drink water?”

Jackson did not respond.

“Wow. Just wow.” Mr. Gorsen shook his head. “Whatever, can you fix it?”

“I’m not sure. What’s wrong with it?”

“The middle piston won’t go back down. The other two do, just not the middle one.”

Jackson plucked a large wrench from his toolbox and climbed on top of the hyperdrive. The middle piston was stuck in place and made a light grinding sound that he only heard when he put his head next to it. Jackson banged the top of the piston with the end of his wrench and it came alive, moving in sync with the other two pistons. The hyperdrive beeped three times and continued humming along like normal.

“You did it. How do I acquire one of those magical hammers?” Mr. Gorsen said, pointing to the wrench in Jackson’s hand.

Jackson jumped off the hyperdrive. “You can have it. I can always buy another one.”

Jackson threw him the wrench and Mr. Gorsen caught it with two hands. He stared upon it like it was a sacred treasure. The cold metal turned his skin to a darker green shade.

“Thank you. Now let’s get you paid.”

Jackson followed Mr. Gorsen back down the hallway and down the newly fixed elevator. The door opened to whirling sand blocking their view of the Jackson’s truck.

“Just over here,” Mr. Gorsen pointed to his left.

They walked out in the sand along the ship to a retracting door that resembled security doors at shopping mall stores. Mr. Gorsen clicked a button on the side of the ship and the doors retracted up, revealing a crate of gold bars stacked taller than Jackson. Jackson picked up one of the hefty bars with both hands. Smooth to the touch, except for the few sand particles that slipped in-between his hands.

“Is this enough? I don’t know how much $3000 is.”

Jackson smiled still looking at the mountain of riches. “Oh this is enough.”