Part 3

The following morning dawned bright and clear. A sleepy Cyrus made his way down to the engine room, hoping that he had the clarity of mind to be able to find and repair the fault which had shorted out all the power. He hadn't exactly had much sleep the previous night and without any electricity to boil the kettle for coffee, he was extra tired.

Saturn, Mars and Jupiter were on the deck, watching the sunrise. A beautiful golden ball of sun hung low on the eastern horizon, promising another fine day. Saturn and Mars were holding hands and Mars was resting her head on Saturn's shoulder. They both appeared perfectly content.

Jupiter was content too, although she would have preferred Cyrus to have been with her. She hoped that whatever the electrical fault was, Cyrus would be able to repair it quickly. Knowing his affinity for machines, this was very likely.

A moment later, there was a familiar rumbling sound from below deck. Saturn glanced down as he felt the floor vibrate beneath him. Mars and Jupiter beamed and high-fived each other.

"Yay, the engine's fixed!" said Jupiter.

Just then, Cyrus appeared on the desk, carrying something wrapped in tissue. Jupiter ran over to him, flung her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"You did it Boss!" she said happily.

"Calm down, Commander Jupiter," said Cyrus, making not even a teeny effort to escape from her. "Yes, the problem has been rectified. Do you wish to see what it was?"

"I'm assuming you're holding it in that tissue, huh Boss?" said Saturn.

"Yes," said Cyrus. He unwrapped the tissue, revealing a large fuse. The glass casing was completely black.

"That…doesn't look good," said Saturn.

"It wasn't good," Cyrus agreed. "That's the main fuse and it's burned out completely. However, the interesting thing is that when I removed it and examined it in detail, I could tell that it had been in terrible condition before I switched on the light which caused it to short everything out. The inner element was so badly corroded that…"

"Jupiter, kiss him again and shut him up, please," Mars begged.

"Oh, not yet. I'm trying to tell you about the problem with the fuse," Cyrus said, backing away from Jupiter.

His pleas didn't work, as Jupiter grabbed him and did exactly as Mars asked. Cyrus tried to concentrate on the fuse but his mind was still affected from the sunset of the previous evening and he found himself kissing Jupiter back once again.

Mars nudged Saturn. "Come on," she grinned. "Let's go and make a coffee and give the Boss some privacy".

A couple of hours later, Team Galactic arrived back at Sunyshore docks, where they moored the yacht and made they way onto dry land. Cyrus spoke with the yacht owner, showing him the dodgy fuse. The owner was shocked to see the state of it and shook his head.

"I am so sorry Mr Akagi," he said. "All of my fleet are regularly serviced and checked over by qualified marine mechanics. I have no idea how such a thing occurred. Please allow me to give you a refund".

"There is no need for that," said Cyrus. "I had a pleasant half hour searching for and repairing the fault. Or at least it would have been pleasant, if I had emotions". Mars rolled her eyes and Saturn smirked.

"Well, yes but still… I simply can't imagine how it happened.

"Perhaps the fuse was faulty from the start?" Cyrus suggested. "It could have had a weakness in the structure of the glass during the manufacturing process, which would have resulted in…"

"Oh look, Charon's here," Saturn interrupted, pointing towards the esplanade, where said Commander was heading towards them. "I wonder if he's brought us ice creams?"

"Ohh, maybe he thought the yacht had capsized and we had drowned and he was worried about us," said Mars.

"More likely he missed having somebody to moan at," said Jupiter.

"Ah, there you are," Charon said to Cyrus and the others. "Wherever have you been?" He sounded curious but not worried in the slightest. The yacht owner mumbled something about having to check that the potatoes weren't burning and hurried away.

Cyrus immediately launched into a technical and long winded description of what had happened. Charon nodded, pretending to listen. When Cyrus stopped to take a breath, Charon interrupted him.

"Well now, that all sounds very interesting, Boss. Now why don't we go and get some dinner and you can tell me the rest on the way".

"Alright then," said Cyrus. As he set off to follow Charon, Jupiter reached out and took hold of his hand. Cyrus's cheeks went slightly pink but he didn't try to move his hand away. Saturn gave Mars a shy glance and linked his arm with hers. Mars giggled and held Saturn's arm tightly as they followed the others.

"I was surprised when I saw the main fuse," Cyrus said to Charon. "Or at least I would have been surprised, if I had feelings. It was completely burnt out. The glass was black all over and you couldn't see the element inside. I opened it up and found…"

"Hmmm…yes, yes," said Charon, not taking in a word of Cyrus's monologue. He had something much more fascinating to pay attention to. Such as, noticing how Saturn and Mars were still linked together, giggling and whispering to each other. Also, Jupiter and Cyrus holding hands. Yes, that was very interesting indeed.

Charon was, if anything, perceptive. Although even somebody with jelly for a brain would have noticed (over the last few months), the obvious attraction between Saturn and Mars and Cyrus and Jupiter. The attraction that none of them had been doing anything about!

Yes, it had taken drastic action on Charon's part to arrange for the little overnight stay on the yacht. Because if them huddling up together in two beds wouldn't bring them together, then nothing would.

Charon smiled to himself as he felt the brand new fuse in his pocket. Switching it with a worn out old fuse had been the best and most successful thing he had done all week.

The End