I let out deep sigh. "I'm exhausted, Jack. I'm finding it an effort just to lift one foot after another," I said, taking a swig from my cup.
"The suits aren't helping." Jack regarded me with tired eyes. "I suggest we grab a couple of hours sleep, prior to moving on to the last one. It's going to be quite a trek. He's right over the other side of the deck relative to where we are now."
"Good idea, but how are we going to limit it to a couple of hours? I feel like I could sleep for a week."
"I'll get the kids to buzz us. There's an emergency alarm they can use to override our suit-to-suit coms. I'll just duck out and get my helmet." Jack got up, dumped his plate in the sink, threw his cup in the recycler and went outside.
I rinsed our plates, dried them with a couple of paper towels and stowed them away in the cupboard under the sink. By the time Jack returned, I'd pulled out the bunks.
"All organised. Tiani sends her love, Julian's asleep. They'll buzz us in two hours." He laid his helmet next to the bunk, grabbed a blanket and pillow from the cupboard and laid down. He pulled the blanket up over his head. "Night, Luke."
I followed suit and went to sleep almost instantly, only to be woken seemingly minutes later by the alarm. I sat up. Jack switched it off from somewhere inside his helmet.
"Okay," Jack said, "let's get moving." He stowed away his bedding, pushed the bunk back into the wall, grabbed his helmet and walked out.
I wanted to pull the blanket over my head, to curl up, and withdraw like a snail inside my shell. I took a deep breath and heaved myself off the bunk on leaden legs. As soon as I stood up, my head began to throb.
After I packed up the bedding, I joined Jack. He'd already suited up and stood waiting. He was talking to Julian or Tiani, so I quickly squirmed into my suit and jammed the helmet into place.
I heard Julian say in a defensive tone, "It was Ti's idea, not mine."
"I'm not happy, Julian. It could have waited until we came back," Jack said, angrily.
"What could have waited?" I asked, wondering what was going on.
"Jack hasn't searched our section, so Tiani went ahead and set it up. Your search had already finished, Jack, so it hasn't interfered with anything. She does know what she's doing." I could hear the tension in Julian's voice.
I tapped Jack's shoulder and he turned to face me. "Why did you miss our section?"
"You'd already checked it, Luke. I didn't think it was necessary." He had flicked on his helmet light to show me his face. I couldn't remember ever seeing him look so furious.
"I quickly checked through the photographs, Jack. You said later that they could have been substituted and they weren't reliable." I realised I'd raised my voice.
"Perhaps I didn't allow enough for your sloppiness, under the circumstances," Jack shouted.
"Uncle Jack––Dad––Please stop," Tiani pleaded. "I've located a person with two FBs in module one, your module. I'm just about to start the revival process." She sounded excited.
"Don't! You don't know enough about it. You wouldn't know what to do if something goes wrong. Wait until we get back." Jack said, struggling to keep his voice moderate.
"But…" Tiani began.
Jack interrupted. "I absolutely forbid it," he roared. "Do you understand, and that goes for both of you?"
"Yes," Tiani said. I knew from the tone, she was choking back tears.
"Julian?" Jack said.
"Yes, Jack. We'll wait, okay?"
"Okay, switching to in-suit com." Jack pointed to my wrist.
I sighed and pressed the button.
"You didn't need to shout at them, Jack." I had flicked my helmet light on so we could both see one another. Jack's face was flushed with anger.
"So, I should have just let Tiani go ahead?" His voice held a terse tone.
"No, of course not, but you know what Tiani's like. And Jack, I don't like to be blamed for your sloppiness. Why can't you just admit you made a mistake for once?" I put my hands on my hips.
"All right," Jack roared, "all right, I made a bloody mistake. There, satisfied now? Your Mr Infallible, Jack, who has to make all the decisions, has to fix everyone else's problems and come up with instant solutions, has made a mistake. I'm sorry, if for once, when I'm bloody exhausted and under pressure, I can't live up to everyone's usual expectations. Perhaps you'd like to takeover, Luke? Perhaps you'd like to try and stay calm while you make some difficult decisions, life-and-death decisions, would you?" He switched off his light, turned away and stomped into the airlock.
I kept quiet, still digesting what Jack had said. I realised that none of us had thought about, or even attempted to understand, the extreme strain and pressure Jack's responsibility had placed upon him. I had forced difficult decisions on to him. Decisions I should have made myself. He was right. Our expectations were unrealistic, and he obviously needed more support than we had given him.
I followed him into the airlock, "Sorry, Jack. Sorry for loading so much on you. You've done an incredible job."
He stood, silent and still with his back to me, his head resting on the wall. He raised his arm up in acknowledgement before letting it drop. I stood and waited patiently. Several minutes passed before he turned and spoke.
"Apology accepted. Now let's get on with it." He turned and pressed the button.
Chapter 36
Jack was right about it being a marathon trek to reach David Kariba, now our second last person with an FB. We trudged for over an hour through endless dark sections to reach the appropriate lift to take us up to section ten on deck thirty S.
David Kariba, GP, had the added qualification of psychiatry. African in descent, his, frizzy, black hair stood out in all directions. It made him look like he'd been struck by lightning. His FB consisted of a chip purported to contain a fragment of his wife's consciousness—salvaged after she'd sustained severe head injuries in a trans-car accident. Doctors had been unable to salvage enough of her consciousness to upload her.
Dr Kariba had never accessed the chip, but he'd found it an incredible comfort to have part of her so near. He told us his heartbreaking story, and I found myself wiping away tears by the time he'd finished. He was adamant he didn't want Jack to tell him what he found on the chip. He preferred the blissful ignorance of imagining that part of his wife's consciousness would be with him forever.
I watched Jack sit him in the chair and go through the familiar process of linking. Exhausted, I sat down on the floor next to Dr Kariba and waited. I must have dozed off because I woke with a start when Jack tapped my shoulder. Dr Kariba, still sitting, remained linked.
I pushed myself up off the floor. "Has something gone wrong?"
"No, everything is fine except…" His face held a look of anguish.
"Except what, what's wrong, Jack?" I reached out and touched his shoulder.
"Dr Kariba's chip––It's blank. The poor devil's been carrying it around inside him all these years, all these lifetimes, thinking it contains part of his wife's consciousness. I'm not sure I can pretend it does. It's all getting too hard."
Jack turned away from me, but I had already seen his tears. I reached out and went to put my arm around his shoulder, but he turned and, flinging both arms around me, held me in a tight embrace. I couldn't do anything but reciprocate, and I could feel him shaking while he wept silently. Awkward, but I guessed in some corner of his mind he still thought of me as Kiera. I held him and patted his back until he stopped.
Without a word he dropped his arms, wiped his face and cleared his throat. He went back to the other side of the console and sat down. I watched as his headband engaged.
About half a minute later, I saw Dr Kariba's headband disengaging. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for some serious lying. I laid my hands on Dr Kariba's shoulders and said, "Well, Dr Kariba, everything's fine." He stared up at me with such sad eyes. I had to look away. Jack got up and, as he came around to join us, managed to light up his face with a brilliant smile.
"
There's nothing to worry about, Dr Kariba. So, let's get you back to sleep." He laid his hand gently on Dr Kariba's shoulder.
"Thank you, Jack is it?" Dr Kariba said, smiling.
"Yes, Doctor."
Doctor Kariba turned to me and asked, "And your name is?" He gazed at me with gentle brown eyes.
I cleared my throat. "Kiera, Kiera Proud."
"It's been an honour to meet you, Kiera and Jack. I hope if you are ever in need of medical treatment of any kind, you will do me the honour. I thank you for treating me with respect." He turned to Jack. "Now, it's time for me to sleep and dream pleasant dreams once more. Shall we go?" He indicated with his hand that Jack should go first.
As we proceeded back to his capsule, my thoughts drifted to Kiera. She would have loved this warm and gentle man. He smiled happily as Jack reconnected the various leads to his sleep suit. When Jack had finished, he stepped back and we watched the canopy re-emerge. Just before it clicked shut, Dr Kariba gave a small wave with one hand and smiling said, "Thank you, both. Goodbye for now." The canopy closed, and once Dr Kariba had been put to sleep, the capsule slid back into place.
Jack seemed lost in thought and his face held an expression of sadness.
"Let's get back to our section. Perhaps my hiding in plain sight theory may be right. Finding someone with two FBs sounds promising. Don't lose hope yet, Luke." He patted my shoulder.
Chapter 37
After donning our helmets and checking our air supply, we stepped into the airlock. We switched to general com to let the kids know we were on our way back. Tiani answered the call with a bright and cheerful voice.
After a brief summary of our encounter with Dr Kariba, we switched back to in-suit com for the depressurisation process. Once it completed, Jack pressed the door open button. Nothing happened.
"What the hell?" he muttered, as he pressed the button several more times. The door remained closed. "I'm switching back to general com. Hi Tiani, we have a problem. We've depressurised the airlock, but the external door won't open. You can override it from where you are, but I'll need to navigate you to the ship's schematics.
"Is it in the ship's program list, because I know how to access that?"
"It will be quicker if I guide you through it."
"Okay. Julian's sleeping right now, Uncle Jack. Should I go and wake him up?"
"No, let him sleep, Tiani. You're a smart girl. You can handle it. Now, type 'external airlock doors' and our deck and section number into the search window, it should come up with a list. Found it?"
"Got it," Tiani’s voice sounded triumphant.
I registered a twinge of pride in my daughter as I listened to Jack guiding her through to the manual door override. She sounded calm, in control, fast and intuitive.
"It's come up with four choices, do you want me to select 'manual override'?"
"Yes, choose 'open' then 'activate now'."
We both waited. The door still didn't budge.
"Well, that's a no go, Tiani. Go back to the schematic screen. In the right-hand corner at the top there's a red RV icon. Have you found it?"
"Got it."
"Open it. Has it come up with a choice of two?"
"Yes, do you want me to enable the display, for both of you, or just you, Uncle Jack?"
"Both of us."
My HUD display was engulfed by the complex electrical schematics for the door. The various arrays were colour-coded, and my eyes were instantly drawn to a particular circuit, pulsing red.
"Thanks, Tiani. Okay, let's see how we can solve the problem," Jack said.
Tiani remained silent, while Jack and I concentrated on finding a way around the damaged circuit. Exhaustion leached my concentration; I strained just trying to navigate through the electrical schematic. During the next ten minutes Jack and I debated suggestions and batted around strategies while Tiani listened. We came to a conclusion. The only way around the problem was to open the door's control panel and bypass the damaged circuit.
"Jack, why can't we just re-pressurise the section and our airlock—and go back through to the next section with a lift?"
"Firstly, it takes an hour to depressurise the section, and it can't be interrupted. We're around half way through the process, currently. Secondly, it takes another hour to re-pressurise. Thirdly, the airlock won't open into an area unless the pressure is equal." He frowned in concentration. "It will be a lot quicker to repair the circuit, and besides I'm not comfortable with leaving an unrepaired fault, if I can help it."
"Okay, so what you're saying is, if we can't repair the circuit we’re stuck here for around an hour and a half?"
"Yes, so let's get on with it." Jacked turned back to the control panel.
"How are you going to manage a repair without any tools?" I could hear the strain in Tiani's voice.
"We have tools, Tiani," Jack replied. "All the suits are equipped with a tool pack; it's in the right leg pocket." I watched as he unfastened the Velcro flap and removed the pack. He pulled out a small screwdriver and began unscrewing one side of the panel. I followed suit and got to work on the other side. We were soon able to lift the panel clear, exposing the maze of circuits underneath.
"I need spot illumination to make sure I cut the right wires, Luke." He reached into his pocket and passed me his torch.
"Aren't those circuits live, Jack? Won't you need Tiani to isolate the board so you can work on it? "I frowned, it wasn't like Jack to be reckless.
"She can't. But don't worry, our gloves are insulated."
I switched on the torch and shone the beam into the panel.
"Direct the beam a bit lower, Luke. Great. Now, just keep it steady. I need silence because I'm going to talk myself through it, so I don't want any distractions, okay?"
"Understood." It took all my concentration just to hold the beam steady.
"Acknowledged," Tiani said.
In spite of my suit's ventilation system, sweat began to trickle down my neck.
"Okay, I need to pull out the damaged wires. Cut out the damaged sections then reconnect them," Jack muttered to himself.
I could hear his laboured breathing as he reached in to clip the offending wires.
"Zoom schematic––stop. Right, if I just snip this here…"
My hand began to shake. Forced to steady it with my other hand to keep the torch beam constant, I held my breath. A brief, blinding, blue-green flash erupted from the panel. An instant later, my right shoulder slammed into the side wall and pain shot down my arm. My helmet connected with a bang, and my head whipped-lashed sideways, wrenching my neck. I slid to the floor, winded. The airlock's lights had gone out, but almost immediately the emergency lights flickered on, emitting a dull red glow.
"Jack?––Bloody Zark. Jack?" Struggling to breathe, I pushed myself up on all fours. I crunched over the debris scattered on the floor and crawled over to Jack. He'd been flung backwards into the door opposite the panel. He wasn't moving.
"Dad––Uncle Jack––what's happened?" Tiani's anxious voice said.
"Quiet!" I strained, listening for the sound of Jack's breathing. I could hear some sounds; probably Tiani. "I'm switching to in-suit com," I barked. I listened again––nothing but silence. Bloody Zark! What should I do? I've got less than three minutes. If Jack isn't breathing after that, his brain will begin dying. Think. Think and stay calm. I crawled over to where I'd dropped the torch and picked it up. I returned to Jack and, kneeling, shone it on his chest––no movement. I gripped the torch between my teeth and, making a fist with my right hand, thumped his chest hard.
Jack still wasn't breathing. I put my ear to his chest but could hear only an ominous stillness. I placed the heel my left hand on his chest, put my right hand on top, interlaced my fingers, and began pumping vigorously up and down. After thirty I stopped and listened again––still only a chilling silence. I glanced at his opaque face plate. It had been peppered with debris yet appeared to be still intact.
The HUD ghost schemati
c blanked momentarily and was replaced by a brilliant red text––'Jack's com out'. I flipped back to gen com. "Thanks, Tiani." That explained the silence, at least. I shone the torch on his chest again, just in time to see it rise explosively. I gently placed my hands on his shoulders to prevent him from moving until I had checked him for injuries.
I suddenly remembered. Tiani. I had left the gen com on, and could hear her muffled sobs. She'd be frantic, wondering what had happened. "Tiani, Jack's okay."
"What a relief, Dad," Tiani managed in between sniffs. "What are you going to do now?"
"One thing at a time, Tiani. Let me think."
I turned back to Jack. He had switched on his helmet light, but the face plate was so scoured I still couldn't see his face. He raised his arms with his hands outstretched, but I put my hand gently on his shoulder and pressed. He understood, dropped his arms and laid still while I checked for broken bones.
I couldn't see any serious injuries, and nothing appeared broken, so I eased him into a sitting position with his back against the wall. However, I still worried about internal injuries and micro damage to his suit. I gently leant him forward so I could examine his neck and back, which had taken the brunt of his impact. I meticulously checked his air tanks but could see no damage other than a slight dent. I guided him back into an upright position while I examined his legs. Apart from some scorch marks around his chest and shoulders the suit seemed to be intact. A sense of relief rushed over me, and I realised I was shaking.
"Okay," I said, grabbing hold of both his hands, "Let's get you up," forgetting for an instant that he couldn't hear me. I pulled him upright, making sure I didn't let go of his hands because he was now, essentially, blind and dumb. That realisation sent a shudder sliding down my spine. Great Universe. What were we going to do next?
"Hi, Dad. Are you both okay? How can I help?"––Julian.
"Julian, good to hear you. We're both a bit shaken, and Jack's helmet has been damaged, so as well is not being able to hear us, he can't see either. Is Tiani okay?"
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