Life on the ship was uneventful for the next few days until Beatrice and Yogabala, who had become firm friends, were fiddling with what looked like a tiny wall panel. Bea accidentally opened it and was startled when she noticed a pipe inside the wall was hot. The two found the panel could be widened. After a whispered conversation, she and Yogabala asked the day’s cook for a can of creamed rice. They tucked it beside the pipe, kept checking it for a while and then took it back to the cook in triumph to be opened.
“This is steaming hot!” said Helene, startled. “How did you heat it?” The girls giggled and wouldn’t tell her but Tasha got it out of them. They took Tasha to the panel.
Two days work from Dan, Con, Tue and Nial, plus a cut up tent for the floors, two deck chairs that had been made of plastic pipe, some craft glue from Harsha, and a few other bits and pieces and they had two showers, with tepid water, hot water for coffee and tea, hot water to heat food and a celebration was held. The other holds quickly searched, found the same hot pipes and duplicated the feat. This was more civilized!
Sarah set up a roster for showers. Everyone could shower every two days (she was still on Earth time). One pipe, the hottest (they had found four in each hold), was reserved for hot drinks and was virtually a boiling water tap. Two pipes were used for heating food, by running hot water through a laundry tub with the pots in the tub. It took a while for the food to heat but the food was all pre-prepared and heating was all it needed mostly. The rice took nearly two hours to cook but was delicious. One pipe was used for the two side by side showers. The showers were contained in a toilet tent, with a second tent beside each being a dressing tent. This increased waiting time for the toilets by pinching four of the toilet tents in each hold but no one minded.
The taps were the most difficult things to make. The first attempts resulted in large leaks and minor burns. The final product used a combination of plastic from a redundant toilet, some string, parts of two thick copper bracelets courtesy of Rani and Harsha and an idea from Akira. The copper needed heating for several hours before it was malleable enough. The coffee and tea addicts had to wait. But the finished product was effective although it did leak. The leaking hot water was channelled and used to wash clothes.