Profit & Peril

by Charissa Dufour

  Bright stars dotted the expanse of sky spreading out above them. Bit gasped as she eyed the darkness. She had never seen anything so enormous, or so frightening, before. Through the cameras on the ship, the vastness of space didn’t register, at least not to her. She knew space was enormous. Everyone knew that, even those who had never flown before. But knowing something is large and seeing it spread out before you while knowing only a thin layer of duroglass is all that separates you from it are two very different things.

  “Bit?” called Oden through the comms. in their helmets, sounding as though he had been calling her name for a while.

  “Yeah?” she asked, finally dragging her eyes away from the blackness.

  “I’m going to hook you up before we head back out.” Oden locked a carabiner onto the belt of her suit.

  “Out?” she asked.

  Forrest nodded, making his helmet wobble. “We first have to fix the breach in the outer airlock. Then we’ll fix that one.”

  “What airlock? I just see space.”

  Both men chuckled before Oden said, “See the large hatch, swung open to your left?”

  Bit tried to nod inside her suit.

  “In that large hatch is an airlock.”

  “Why open the hatch?” she asked, the large opening still making her nervous.

  “It makes it easier to get to both sides,” Oden replied. “Let’s go.”

  Bit mimicked their every step as they used their magnetic boots to climb up a metal ladder to a tiny ledge that ran along the width of the ship-sized hatch. She glanced back at the cable attaching her to the ship. It was still securely latched to her belt. They reached the ledge, standing in a row and holding onto a metal bar that ran about shoulder high on Bit.

  “What now?” she asked, wondering how they had managed to repair anything in these conditions.

  Forrest pulled a strange tool from a tool box connected to the ledge with electromagnets. “See how the door is only partially open?”

  “Yes.”

  “We can’t fit through it into the airlock. The door is jammed on its old tracks. We need you to slip into the airlock, grease the track, and wrench the emergency release mechanism,” Forrest said as he handed her a long metal tool with what looked like a mouth on one end.

  “Okay,” Bit said.

  She positioned herself in front of the narrow gap and began wedging her suit-clad body through the gap. “I can’t fit,” she said as the carabiner on her belt jabbed her in the gut. “Unhook the cable.”

  “No. That’s not safe, Bit,” Oden responded.

  “I’ll be inside the airlock.”

  “Fine,” Oden agreed as she continued to struggle with the gap.

  Bit extricated herself from the doorway. Oden unhooked the carabiner and looped it onto their handhold.

  “Don’t make me regret this,” Oden ordered.

  She returned to the door and slipped in, the width of her suit scarcely fitting through the gap. She tumbled forward, her boots barely keeping her attached to the metal floor as she fell to her knees. The tight grip of the boots pinched her ankles and she scrambled to right herself.

  When she turned around, she found Oden was already holding out the strange tool, along with a little tube of what she assumed contained grease.

  “I never thought we’d resort to using the manual controls,” Forrest said over their comm. units.

  “Okay, Bit, spread the grease across the tracks at the top and bottom of the door. Do you see it?” Oden asked, ignoring Forrest’s comments.

  “The row of teeth?”

  “Yes, that. Spread the grease, but remember you need it for both top and bottom.”

  “Okay.”

  Bit fumbled with the thick gloves of her suit, wishing she could take them off. She battled through, finally getting the lid off the tube. She squatted down, her boots pinning her feet to the floor and making it impossible to kneel comfortably. Finally in place, she ran the opening of the tube across the row of teeth, putting a little extra on the old-fashioned gear attached to the door. She repeated her actions on the top of the door—having to use her magnetic boots to climb halfway up the wall so that she could reach the ceiling of the airlock. She spread the goo again.

  “Okay, finished,” she announced.

  “Good. Use this wrench to release the manual gear. You see… there,” Oden said as he pointed before tossing the wrench.

  The normally heavy tool coasted through the air and landed in her outstretched hand. Had there been gravity, Bit would never have managed to catch the sailing object. Staying pinned to the wall Bit slipped the wrench over the release control and pushed with all her might, shoving off the wall of the airlock. She could only imagine what she looked like, hanging off the wall and pushing against a wrench with all her might.

  Suddenly, the old door flew open, the grease she had used doing its job. At the same moment, the control spun, rotating the wrench she gripped so tightly. The momentum pulled her magnet boots free from the metal wall and sent her sailing out of the now open airlock. Bit gritted her teeth as her gloved hands tore free from the wrench, the old metal tool gouging into her glove and biting the flesh of her hand.

  “Ouch,” she said as she unwittingly floated away from the ship.

  Forrest lunged for her, his own boots detaching from the narrow ledge. He missed her and sailed off in a different direction, his tether catching him and bouncing him back toward the ship.

  “Bit,” Oden and Forrest both called simultaneously.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Not to make a bad situation worse, but my EV suit is leaking oxygen.”

  Oden tried to strain his neck to catch a glimpse of Bit’s retreating form, but the restrictions of the EV suit kept him from seeing anything other than their own damn ship.

  What does she mean she’s leaking oxygen? he wondered as Forrest cried out in surprise while simultaneously dragging himself back to their ledge. How has she damaged her EV suit?

  Oden scuttled across the narrow ledge, a plan taking shape in his mind. The magnetic boots made it difficult to go anywhere in a hurry. As he shifted, the comm. device began to crackle, indicating Bit had floated out of range of their comm. devices.

  Shit, shit, shit, chanted Oden as he reached the catwalk lining the wall between the skiff storage and the cargo bay.

  He reached the far end and began the careful climb down the ladder. The rungs of the ladder were narrow, providing little space for his magnetic boots to attach. He began to float away from the wall. Oden gripped the ladder, using it to guide himself down toward the skiff. He reached the small catwalk next to the skiff and, using his core muscles, forced his feet down onto the landing. As his boots neared the metal, the magnets took over, planting his feet on the catwalk.

  “Oden, what are you doing?” Forrest demanded just as he reached the little ledge on the enormous hatch.

  “Only one way to get her back,” Oden replied.

  “That won’t work. You can’t get her into the skiff, even if you wore your EV suit.”

  “I don’t need to get her into it,” Oden replied as he opened the skiff’s cockpit shield.

  With the door open, he unhooked his own tether and stepped into the cockpit, wedging himself into the seat. It wasn’t designed to be flown with an EV suit on, but he didn’t have time to strip. If Bit was running out of oxygen then he would just have to make do. Thankfully, the skiff—like most space ships—didn’t require the pilot’s feet. Had there been pedals for him to use—like in a land vehicle—he never would have managed it with the enormous boots.

  Half the crew knew how to fly the skiffs in case of an emergency, but none of them are me, Oden thought as he took hold of the controls.

  He ignored the straps of the harness—knowing they would never fit over the bulk of his EV suit—and punched the panel to lower the cockpit shield. It dropped down over his head, gently bumping the top of his duroglass helmet. Oden hunched his neck to allow the shield to latch in
to place.

  Oden released the clamps and flipped the little skiff backwards, right out of the hatch.

  The skiff raced outward, away from the Lenore. He couldn’t see Bit, and the tiny skiff didn’t have any sort of biosensors. He took off in the direction he had seen her floating, doing his best to keep his speed down to a minimum. The skiffs were designed for quick, confined flight, not slow scanning of the skies. It wanted to zip forward, but Oden wrangled it to his will.

  He slowly began tracing the skies, his gaze focused outward rather than on his controls. He could fly this little thing in his sleep. As his eyes ran over the skies, he finally spotted a glint. He turned the skiff toward the small reflection of light and battled it into an even slower speed.

  Sure enough, the small glint was Bit, floating helplessly in the vacuum of space. She spotted the skiff and crossed her arms. Though Oden couldn’t see her face through her duroglass helmet, he had no doubt she was glaring at him.

  He turned off the main engines to the skiff, his heart accelerating at the idea of being in a ship without their engines on. His hand hovered over the engine ignite button. Oden clenched his fist and forced his hand back to the throttle.

  “Engines off, engines off, engines off,” he chanted to himself as his skiff glided toward Bit. He switched the landing thrusters on and gave them a tiny burst. The ship slowed slightly, but not enough. He gave the thrusters another tiny burst, slowing the ship yet again. It continued to glide forward at a crawl until it bumped into Bit.

  She saw it coming—moving at a snail’s pace it would have been hard to miss—and frantically fought for hand holds on the exterior of the ship. Finally she found two places to dip her fingers into. Oden watched her adjust her body as she looked down towards her feet. He could only assume she was working to get her magnetic boots securely attached to the exterior of the ship.

  Finally, she looked up at him and nodded. Even through the cockpit shield and her helmet, he could see moisture streaming down her cheeks. She was crying. The sight wrenched his heart, but he turned his gaze away. If he kept looking at her he’d end up doing something stupid like opening the cockpit shield. His best chance of getting them both back to the Lenore alive was with her strapped to the skiff like a hood ornament.

  Oden continued to use the thrusters, carefully turning the skiff around. When it was pointed carefully toward the Lenore, he gave it a timed burst. The skiff shot forward. Bit wobbled on the front of the skiff and increased her hold. Oden pulled back on the thrusters until it was nothing but their own momentum pushing them toward the Lenore.

  As a modern day pilot, he had never used timed bursts without navigation or main engines, but he had heard of it being done in the very early days of space travel, back when NASA existed.

  What country was that? Oden wondered. Thinking on the past distracted him from the excruciating wait. He had never traveled so slowly in his life.

  They slid forward, like a paper airplane tossed by a child. Oden caught Bit’s eye. He held his hands up where she could see them and squeezed his fingers in a tight fist. She nodded.

  Oden took ahold of the controls again and ignited the thrusters, using their power to turn the skiff until the nose pointed up. Bit slid across the top of the skiff, scrambling for new hand holds. Oden wanted to watch her, but he knew his job was the get the skiff into the ship. It was up to her to hold on.

  Slowly he guided the ship into the docking position.

  Oden finally allowed him the luxury of looking at Bit. She hung from the edge of the ship, glaring up at him.

  “Land, dammit,” she mouthed to him.

  Oden turned back to the controls and carefully eased the skiff into the forward hatch, the nose of the ship still pointing up so that it could latch onto its dock—the Lenore’s grappling hooks connected with the bottom of the skiff. The second the skiff was latched to the Lenore, Oden released the cockpit shield. It snapped open and glided upward.

  “Bit?” Oden called, hoping her comm. device still worked.

  “I’m here,” her voice came over the comm. system.

  Oden breathed a sigh of relief and climbed out of the skiff. Bit sat on what would be the bottom of the small area designed for the skiffs. Oden reached over the edge of the platform. She glared at him for a second before climbing to her feet and reaching up for his hand.

  He grunted as he pulled her free from her magnetic boots and onto the landing platform. There really wasn’t space for both of them, but Oden didn’t mind.

  “Oden, did you get her?” came Kat’s voice from the Lenore’s bridge.

  They must have seen what happened, Oden thought to himself.

  “Yes, ma’am. She’s on board. Forrest, can we get the forward hatch closed?”

  “Can do,” replied Forrest.

  Oden rolled his eyes before he noticed Bit’s eyes drooping and her body going slack against his chest. “C’mon Bit, we got to get you in the ship.”

  Bit blinked and nodded. They climbed out of the skiff and onto the catwalk. Oden shoved the old hatch leading into the cargo bay open and Bit toppled into the cargo bay. With a quick glance, Oden noticed the enormous doors to the cargo bay slowly easing shut.

  “She’s almost out of oxygen,” Oden announced over the comm. system. “Unhook your mag boots.”

  Bit flipped the little switch on her leg and she began to float.

  “What…?” she asked, trailing off.

  “Trust me,” Oden ordered as he pushed her toward the other end of the cargo bay.

  Oden deactivated his own mag boots and launched himself off the railing of the catwalk. He sailed through the air after Bit. She collided with the far wall and bounced back toward Oden, he caught her and the railing of the far catwalk at the same time, dragging them both down toward the metal walkway. Careful not to push himself away again, he activated his boots.

  Oden dragged her into the airlock and scrambled for the controls. He pressurized the airlock and began prepping to remove her helmet. The minute the airlock dinged, he jerked the duroglass helmet off. Bit gasped, her eyes fluttering open.

  The door to the living quarter’s end of the airlock popped open revealing Jack, Randal, and Blaine.

  “Ow,” Bit groaned as Oden, with the help of Jack, pulled her into the ship.

  “We thought we’d lost you, Little Bit,” Jack said with a smile.

  Oden, unable to take it another moment, stomped forward, grabbed Jack by the collar of his EV suit, and slammed him against the door of the infirmary.

  “Are you really making a joke about this?” he demanded as he slammed Jack against the door one more time for good measure.

  “Stand down, Oden,” Jack ordered as a large hand landed on Oden’s shoulder.

  Oden glanced over his shoulder to find Randal standing behind him, ready to pull him off if necessary. He released his captain and stepped back, noticing Bit had pushed herself into a sitting position and leaned against the wall of the life-support encasement. She glared at him.

  “Oden,” continued Jack. “Put your feelings away. What we do on this ship, our survival, does not have time for your feelings towards Bit.”

  “Stow that sexist crap, Jack. This is not about Bit being a woman, or any feelings of mine, but about one of our crewmates nearly dying and you acting like it’s no big deal!”

  Bit stood up, cutting both men off as they watched her sway on her feet. “I don’t feel so good. I think I’m going to go lie down. If you two could keep your shouting to a minimum…”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Two days after Bit’s unintentional escape attempt, she took a deep breath before rapping on the captain’s door.

  “Go away,” came Jack’s response.

  “Jack,” she sighed, calling him by his first name.

  “Fine. Come in.”

  Bit hit the release panel for the door and it slid open. She stepped inside and the door slid shut behind her.

  “What do you want?” Jack asked with a
glare.

  “We need to talk.”

  “No we don’t. You should be resting.”

  Bit returned his glare. “I’m fine. But you’re not… we’re not.”

  “We?”

  “The crew, Jack. You have some of the best people in the galaxy under your employ, and you seem to have forgotten it.”

  “You’re out of line.”

  “I know, but you can’t fire me so I’m the only one who’s gonna tell you what a jackass you’re being… all pun intended.”

  Jack’s glare darkened.

  “Did you even thank Oden for saving my life? Did you congratulate him on some truly spectacular flying? The Jack I know wouldn’t hesitate to honor any crew member who did something above and beyond what’s expected. Oden is your best employee, and you know it, but lately you’ve been treating him like garbage.”

  “That’s enough, Bit.”

  “When did it change?”

  “When did what change?” he asked, looking pointedly at his door.

  “The game? When did it stop being us against the world? Now it’s just us against each other.”

  Jack’s glare softened as he considered her words. “I don’t know. Go back to your room.”

  Bit turned to leave. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jack climb to his feet. He followed her out. As if she had planned it, Oden stood in the central area of the living quarters talking with Kat. Jack glanced at Bit, his look saying it all. She shrugged.

  “Don’t look at me. He wasn’t there when I went to talk to you.”

  Jack grumbled something under his breath and marched over to where Oden stood. “Bit has scolded me like a child.”

  Bit crossed her arms over her chest as Oden grinned. Don’t grin, idiot.

  “She’s done that to us all, sir. I think she even managed to chew out Randal once.”

  To her amazement, Jack appeared to thaw. “Glad to hear it. Anyway, she was right about one thing: I had never stopped to thank you for your quick thinking and your damn-good flying. You saved one of the crew, and I never thanked you.”