by Scott Baron
The women looked at one another, sharing an unspoken thought. That was weird.
“Okay, thanks, Mal. We’ll keep plugging away at this.”
There was the slightest of clicks as Mal exited the comm channel.
“So, could it be a leak through one of the conduit gaps between pods in the Narrows?” Daisy pondered.
“No, those should all be triple-sealed.” Sarah pulled one of the emergency oxygen rigs from the wall and looped it over her shoulder. “Just in case,” she said, noticing Daisy’s look. “I’m seeing a sort of pattern emerging here, but I can’t quite figure it out. The readings from a pair of Main Level Starboard pods near Tamara’s botanical units were also off.”
“Wouldn’t want to interrupt her gardening—there’d be hell to pay.”
“Tell me about it. Thing is, there’s an oxygen deficit in the starboard pods, and if anything, her plants would cause a slight bump in O2, not a drop. It just doesn’t make sense.” A worried look flashed across Sarah’s face. “Unless we somehow missed a slow leak.”
“But it’s been months since the impact. We evaluated the ship and ran full damage control. It was the first thing we did. Unless it was a weakened spot that took until now.”
“Yeah, who knows what it is. For now, how about you use that big brain of yours and run a quick airlock seal cycle between the pods down here. I think, I hope, I found the issue, but it’d be good to have another set of eyes confirm it.”
“Ah, yes, the rare instance where your life-support specialist skills and my grease-monkey training overlap.”
“There’s no grease on wiring, Daze.”
“You know what I mean. Get moving. I’ll meet you up starboard side as soon as I run the diagnostic cycle. Should only take a few minutes.”
“Sounds good. I’m going to run a basic integrity check through the starboard pods, then, while you’re cycling these.”
“Meet you up there when I’m done.”
Sarah headed off at a quick trot, leaving Daisy to her task.
“Mal, I’m going to power down and reboot the doors in sequence between numbers ten through thirteen, then cycle them individually through their locking phases. Please monitor the air pressure in those pods for any changes.”
“Very well, Daisy. I shall monitor as you requested.”
“Okay, starting now.” Daisy began manually powering down and rebooting the door systems. A few minutes later, all of them had flawlessly cycled through their sequences.
“Any pressure variances?”
“Negative, Daisy. I believe you have addressed the problem. Perhaps it was just a minor connection seating issue between the pods, resulting in a bad seal and pressure shifting from one pod to another.”
“Maybe. As long as we’re not losing air, that’s all I care about for now. I’ll let Sarah crunch the numbers later when we’re done. Thanks, Mal. I’m heading up to the main level to give her a hand.”
Daisy saw the emergency oxygen tube resting against the wall in the corridor when she arrived, but no sign of her friend.
“Sarah?”
“Hang on a minute,” a muffled voice called from a tiny open panel. Moments later a pair of feet slid into view. Inch by inch, Sarah backed out of the tight crawlspace between Starboard Six and Seven.
“Everything good down there?” she asked when she had finally crawled free of the particularly claustrophobic section of Narrows.
“Taken care of,” Daisy replied. “I cycled the doors, and Mal says there are no leaks. She thinks it may be the sealing boots between the pods that had somehow slipped a bit, making pressure shift from one to the other.”
“But between four pods? Even if things shook loose at these speeds, that still shouldn’t happen.”
“Hey, I’m just the messenger.”
“Do you think you can re-run that door cycle on the lower port pods again from up here while we’re working on these? Something just doesn’t seem right to me.”
“Yeah, I should be able to tap in to that level from here with no problem. I’ll just open a parallel terminal so it doesn’t interfere with what we’re doing on this one. What’s the deal up here, anyway? More of the same thing as down on the lower deck?”
“Yeah, air pressure levels aren’t matching up. I’m wondering if Starboard Pod Eight might have developed a leak in its outer door. It would be a shame to have to seal it off.”
“I just did an EVA out of that pod yesterday to fit the new linkage to the comms array, and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it.”
Sarah shrugged. “Just a thought. Anyway, I’m going to go through each one of the pods in this block and give the internal seals a good once-over while I’m checking pressure and oxygen levels for any sign of the culprit behind this pressure drop. Once we figure which one the leak is coming from, we can focus on plugging it.”
“Look at you, all efficient with your plans.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sarah laughed. “Okay, I’m gonna get started. While I’m at it, how about you pull the panels in the starboard passageway and double-check all the regulators and power supplies?”
“No problem. I’ll get on it, and then run the cycle down on the lower port pods again.”
“Cool. I’m gonna head in.”
“Be careful, Sarah.”
“Hey, we’re perfectly safe in here, it’s not a big thing. We just need to get this leak sorted before it actually becomes one.”
For the next hour, the duo moved from pod to pod, Sarah slowly inspecting each one from the inside, while Daisy shifted from access panel to access panel out in the passageway, checking each bundle of circuits and relays one by one.
Okay, I’ve leapfrogged far enough ahead, Daisy thought as she paused to tap into an unused terminal. She double-checked her readouts, then began the process of overriding the pod-to-pod airlock doors on the lower port level again. While she was at it, she also remotely adjusted the sensors without Mal’s assistance, to restrict their reading for just the specific areas she was testing.
“Hey!” Sarah gleefully called out over the comms. “Winner, winner! I found a big stash of Mylar. Looks like Vince is going to get a bunch of balloons to go with that birthday cake after all!”
“My sister from another mister, saving the day again!”
“Damn straight!” Sarah giggled. “And as an extra special bonus, I’ve just cleared the first two pods. Making good time now that I’m not stuck crawling around in the Narrows. All the data so far is coming back clear on the internal pod instruments, but my portable reader is still acting kind of odd. Could you verify the readouts on your end?”
“Sure thing, send them over.”
“Coming your way.”
Moments later a flurry of data arrived on the wall-mounted terminal beside Daisy. Code flashed brightly as both ship-run and portable readouts flew by on the screen.
“Can I be of assistance?” Mal asked abruptly.
“Jesus, Mal, you startled me,” Daisy said. “Thanks for the offer, but we’re fine on our own. Your redundant systems somehow didn’t pick this up the first time through, so now we’re doing it the old-fashioned way.”
There was a brief silence. Daisy almost felt bad, hurting the ship’s feelings. Then she remembered, it was just a machine. Sure, a self-aware machine, but a machine all the same. Its calm voice spoke again.
“I am most sorry I did not detect any leak. I fear some of my sensors may have functionality issues. I have tasked Barry to help resolve the issue.”
“Fine, whatever you need to do. Just stay out of our way for a bit while we track this down.”
“As you wish, Daisy,” the AI intoned. She could have sworn it sounded a little upset, but the mood-stabilizing software hardwired into her base code was there to ensure against such emotions.
Moments later, a confused voice crackled over her comms.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Sarah asked with a concerned tone. “Not funny, Daze.”
“What do you mean? I�
��m just cycling the pods like you asked.”
“You’re supposed to do Lower Deck Port Ten through Thirteen only. Main Deck Starboard Pod Eight just locked me in.”
“The EVA and supply transfer pod? That’s not me. I’ve got the code working on a completely different part of the ship, just like you asked me to.”
“Well, the freakin’ doors to pods seven and nine keep cycling between locked and unlocked.”
“That’s not right,” Daisy said. “Maybe it’s the fail-safe?”
“But there are no leaks in here. The alarms wired to the external airlock would have—”
A shrill alarm sounded, resonating through the passageway.
“Sarah, what’s happening?”
“Shut it down! Shut down all power to Starboard Eight!”
“But the doors will seal you in!”
“Just do it! Hurry!”
Daisy’s fingers flew over the keyboard, executing commands as fast as she was able.
“Come on, Daisy!”
“Almost there!”
Sarah looked in horror as the green light to the external airlock flickered ever so slightly.
“Hurry up!”
The inner of the two doors cycled open. Only one separated her from the cold vacuum of space.
“Daisy! Hurry!”
Daisy entered the last sequence. “Got it! Power is down, doors locked,” she called to her friend over the comms. “Now would you mind telling me what the hell is going on? You scared the shit out of me.”
“You and me both,” Sarah said, a hitch in her voice. “The external airlock,” she continued. “It started to cycle open.”
“But that shouldn’t be possible. There are safety protocols. Multiple safeties.”
“Yeah, well, so much for those. The inner door is still open, Daze, so I’m not sure how much I trust those safeties at this point.”
“Sarah, get to the lockers and grab an EVA suit. I don’t want to take any chances, okay? There’s no way I’m going to power that pod back up until you’re safe and sound in a suit.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
“What the hell is going on down there?” the captain barked over the comms. “I’m reading a power outage in starboard pods seven through nine.”
“There was some sort of malfunction in starboard pod eight, Captain. I had to shut down the linked pods in order to isolate it in time.”
“In time for what?” he growled.
“It’s me, Captain,” Sarah chimed in. “I had her do it. I’m stuck here in Starboard Eight. I was checking some fluctuations in air levels in this block of pods when the connecting doors failed.”
“Tell him the other bit.”
“What other bit?” the captain asked. “And what’s that rustling noise?”
“Sorry, Captain, I’m putting on an EVA suit while we’re talking. The external airlock door was malfunctioning. Shutting down power was the only way to stop it—”
The lights flickered.
“What was that?” Sarah asked. “Don’t power back on yet! I’m not ready!”
“It wasn’t me, Sarah,” Daisy said, trying to understand the blips on the readout screen in front of her. “Just hurry up and get into that suit.” Daisy had a bad feeling building in her gut.
“One step ahead of you. I’ll be suited up before you can—”
The ship lurched slightly as the airlock door blew open, jettisoning Sarah into the void in a rush of air and debris.
Alarms sounded as the ship’s AI hurried to compensate.
“Decompression in starboard pod eight. Environmental danger on Main Deck. All crew, don emergency oxygen masks.”
Even in an emergency, Mal sounded calm and collected.
“Starboard Eight airlock door now re-sealing,” the computer’s voice informed the crew a minute later.
“It is now safe to remove emergency oxygen apparatus.”
“Crew, report to your stations for damage assessment. I want a full systems check. All non-essential compartments are to remain sealed until I say so. Stay sharp, and note anything out of parameters. You will each be called individually for a debrief once this situation is under control,” the captain called over the intercom.
Daisy felt disconnected from her body as it somehow ran through the emergency protocols that had been drilled into her on autopilot.
Deep inside herself, Daisy’s mind was in shock. Overcome by a state of disbelief as she envisioned her friend’s smiling face. But that wasn’t her anymore. The reality was undeniable. Her best friend was frozen and drifting away deeper into space. Alone in the vacuum.
Sarah was gone.
Chapter Eleven
“We should get her body.” It was Reggie who floated the idea. “It’s not right to just leave her out there.”
“If we could, I’d agree with you, but that’s just not possible,” Captain Harkaway replied. “You know I don’t want to leave any crewmember behind, but we just lost a lot of air, sustained unknown damage, and the hopper can’t reach her given our trajectory. Our shuttle is the only thing with enough speed to catch her now, and even then it would burn through all of its fuel chasing her the opposite direction the ship is moving in. At these speeds, it just can’t be done.” He paused, casting a gaze across the assembled crew.
“We have to move forward, assess the damage, and figure out what our status is. Sarah is gone, and she wouldn’t want her crewmates jeopardizing their lives over her corpse. We took a hit, and lost a friend, but we all still have jobs to do.” He paused and looked over his dejected crew. “One more thing, and this goes for all of you. Doctor McClain is here to offer counseling and support to anyone who needs it. We just suffered a great loss, and there’s no shame in needing to talk about it. I encourage all of you to utilize her services. That is all. Now get to work, people.”
The captain lurched through the galley’s double doors and headed back to Command, while the crew slowly rose to return to their tasks. Daisy, eyes and nose a fierce red, pulled herself together as best she could. She kept turning Sarah’s environmental scanner over in her hands. Clipped to the rack as she’d tried to don her space suit, it was the one thing that hadn’t been blasted into space.
‘Don’t be a pussy, Daze,’ Sarah’s voice teased her. ‘You’re tougher than this. If I knew dying would slow you down so much, I never would have done it.’
“Very funny, dumbass,” she muttered.
“What was that?” Vince asked, studying her as she rose to her feet.
“Nothing.”
“You need me, you know where I’ll be, okay?” He rested his hand on her shoulder and pulled her closer. “Come see me tonight. We can talk, or just sit. Whatever you need.”
“Thanks. I think I just need to get moving and put my mind back on a project, ya know?”
“Yeah.”
“Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later.”
Vince let his fingertips slide from her shoulder as she left. Sarah’s loss was a blow, but for now, they had jobs to do.
“Captain.” Daisy caught up to the limping man as he made his way down the passageway. “I’m not the life-support expert, but from what I can tell by the data Sarah was collecting, it looks like the secondary air scrubbers had possibly shorted out. My guess is that’s a new problem, though, and not what she was originally tracking down. It was most likely the force of the vacuum hitting the unprotected systems without a proper compartmental seal prior to decompression that caused a shear to a supply line. At least, I hope that’s all it is.”
Harkaway looked at her, waiting for Daisy to get to the point.
“Anyway,” she continued, “until we figure out what exactly needs to be done to repair them, we’re going to need to be running on a low oxygen protocol, just in case. It could be nothing, but we can’t risk it. I recommend we do what we can to reduce excessive physical activity as much as possible while we work through this problem.”
“And what does
Mal think about this?” the captain asked.
“I haven’t discussed it with her yet, Captain. Some of the anomalies weren’t showing up on her readings, and Sarah noted several discrepancies in the oxygen consumption data, and—”
“My environmental systems are functioning at near-optimal levels, Daisy,” Mal interrupted.
Always listening, aren’t you?
“Maybe so, Mal, but you still have some sensor outages, and now we have lord knows what kind of damage to track down in the Narrows.”
The computer thought a moment. “This is a correct assessment. However even after the loss of oxygen, I can assure you, the crew is in no danger.”
“Tell that to Sarah,” she muttered.
“What was that?” Captain Harkaway asked.
“I said we need Sarah,” Daisy said. “We’re down to just one Narrows worker, and on top of that, she was the environmental and life support expert.”
“Just do what you can. I don’t expect you to fill her shoes, Swarthmore, but knowing how stubborn you can be, I won’t be surprised if you try.”
“Thank you, Captain. I think.”
“All right, then. Mal, I want you to figure out how much air we have currently, and if our consumption can be sustained.”
“I will verify the figures and have them for you immediately, Captain.”
“Gustavo,” he said into the comms.
“Yes, Captain?”
“Plug into the ship and double-check our course. Given the glitches of today, I’m not entirely confident Mal has plotted the most efficient trajectory. It’s probably nothing, but I want a second set of eyes on it.”
“Copy, Captain.”
“I can assure you,” Mal chimed in, “the trajectory is ideal for mission parameters, Captain.”
“Nothing personal, but I want it double-checked anyway. And Daisy, that goes for environmentals too. Figure out what Sarah was working on and check our oxygen consumption. We need true readings, and if there really is possible damage to the scrubbers, we need the most accurate data possible.”
“I’ll get right on it, sir.”
“One more thing. Your replacement communications array, how powerful is it?”
