by Amanda Rose
Like a dear in the headlights, she froze, petrified, and seconds later it hit her, severing her fingers at the second knuckle. Even above all the other noise Gin heard the high-pitched anguished scream when it hit her. Her body was violently sucked out into space, blood spray and her fingers followed, and then the crate. Gin vomited violently.
While it hadn’t been long, it had felt like an eternity. Whether it was the adrenaline, or the lack of oxygen, Gin didn’t know, but seconds felt like minutes. The dizziness was beginning to set in, and Gin knew he would lose consciousness soon. He wanted to loop his hand around the holster again, but his arms felt numb. Then the blackness came.
Niko was about to lose consciousness as well. While the control room was walled in, it still shared ventilation with the Bay A, and the oxygen had been sucked out. Niko wanted to give it more time, to ensure his safety, but he knew if he didn’t do it now he might pass out, and then he’d very likely die. With great difficulty concentrating, Niko accessed the computer to turn on the outer forcefield and shut the exterior door.
Instantly the suction stopped. Gin, Seto, and Zavion dropped down hard onto the floor, all of them unconscious. Oxygen was now being fed back into the room, but it was a slow process to fill such a massive space. Niko fought the bitter fatigue and took his opportunity to escape.
|
Beep! Koji heard the low oxygen indicator in his ear. Instinctively he lifted his arm to check the read-out, only to see the broken screen. “Shit…” he muttered. It beeps when… 15% left? 5%? Fuck… I don’t remember… Oh cock, shit, piss, I’m going to fuckin’ die out here! Koji, panic ridden, began to hyperventilate. He had drifted further from the Saisei. He focused his eyes on it longingly. Then he squinted; the bodies and debris from Bay A were just becoming visible as tiny specs in the distance.
I’m seeing things… Koji thought. Hallucinating, great… oxygen must be really low… And I’m starving. I’d give anything for some food. A big bowl of spicy peanut noodles… Koji’s belly rumbled at the thought. Koji blinked hard, but he still saw the specs in the distance, and they were moving, and getting bigger. Is it real? He questioned, unsure of himself, and of his mind.
Koji floated there, staring ahead with wonder. After a minute the large crate that had been sucked out from the bay was close enough for his eyes to make out. It IS real! He thought, momentarily delighted that he wasn’t hallucinating. Then a sinking crushing feeling swept over him, What the hell happened? Koji tried to make sense of it. The attack on the drill, the ships flying off, and now the debris from the Saisei. Is it all related? It must be… too odd to be a coincidence.
Why would they vent out the hangar bay? Koji wondered. It seemed careless that they’d forgotten to tie down a crate before doing it. Was there something going on? A Fire? Contamination of some sort? There were too many possibilities for Koji to know.
He looked up, squinting, trying to get a better look at the smaller debris. A chill ran down his spine as the realization his him: he was looking at a person. Then he saw another, and another. Instantly he was reminded of his first day in pilot training when General Yamamoto had been going over safety basics with them…
“…More than anything, you must remember to check your suit before every use and be extra careful when clipping in your helmet. Ask a fellow pilot to check your helmet seals if you’re ever unsure. When the body is exposed to space, you must immediately exhale any oxygen from your lungs, or they will explode. The rest of the oxygen in your body will expand, and your body will bloat to approximately twice its regular size. Any moisture on the body instantly evaporates, meaning the surfaces of your tongue and eyes will boil. Without oxygen, you will lose consciousness within 15 seconds, and within 90 seconds, you’ll be dead from asphyxiation…”
Koji shuttered remembering the grim details of exposure, and retched, but nothing came out. A cold sweat broke out all over his body, and Koji could feel the thump! Of every beat of his heart. He couldn’t imagine the fear, the utter lack of control, or how it must have felt for all of those people now floating in space. Those 15 seconds must have felt like forever… he thought, fighting the lump in his throat.
|
“What the hell is going on down there?!” Norita demanded, her nerves frayed. There had been no response from the soldiers infiltrating Bay A for over 10 minutes, and their computers had shown them that the outer door had opened and that the forcefield had gone offline. General Yamamoto had continuously been trying to make radio contact, to no avail. Koi kept his head down, focused on his work, determined not to come under Norita’s line of fire.
“Well?” Norita asked again, her voice low, and guttural.
Takeo stood up straight and faced her, unafraid and not in the mood to placate, “You know as much as I do. If you have nothing helpful to say, sit down, and keep quiet, so I can handle this.”
Norita stood there, shocked. No one had ever spoken so bluntly to her before. While all her life Norita had always asked everyone to treat her like anyone else, no one had ever really done so. While she was overall a level-headed and practical woman, she found herself insulted by Takeo’s slight. Just as she was about to retaliate, she reminded herself that this wasn’t about her, that there was much more at stake than her ego, and to simply breathe. Biting her tongue, she turned her back to Takeo and walked over to the back wall and leaned against it. She focused on her deep breathing, trying to find her center, though she swore she was breathing out fire.
Takeo had seen the glint in Norita’s eye, and he’d wondered if he’d gone too far. She was, after all, the Empress. After Norita had walked away, Takeo let out a silent sigh of relief, and returned to the radio, “Gin?… Gin, report!” There was nothing but dead air. “Anyone from Alpha squad, come in!... Beta squad, what’s happening down there?” Still dead air.
The sound of Norita’s footsteps approaching stole Takeo’s attention. “Is there anyone we can send down there to see what’s happening?” she asked, no edge to her voice.
Takeo sighed, “No, everyone’s already down there…” The silence lingered.
“Oh my god!” Norita gasped.
“What?” Koi asked, the fatigue putting his nerves on edge. But Norita said nothing, and simply stood there as if paralyzed. Takeo caught her gaze and followed it; looking out the window he saw what she was looking at and was at a loss for words. The body of one of his soldiers from Bay A was floating past, then another, and another, then a civilian, and Takeo wondered if it was an insurgent or an unlucky bystander.
“Well, now we know why the force field went down, the only question is, which side did it…” General Yamamoto said grimly.
“What in the hell?!” Koi said, enraged. If only I’d had control of MY ship this never would have happened! Why didn’t we have better safeguards? How could they do this… he thought, the guilt panging.
Norita began to weep, feeling trapped and utterly defeated, “This is a nightmare...” she said almost inaudibly.
Then out of the silence, “…hello? ...repeat, this is… a squa… in…” the extremely distorted voice was barely audible above the static.
Takeo shot a hopeful look to Norita, who looked back at him with disbelief in her teary eyes. Takeo clicked in the radio then responded, “Repeat last transmission!” Again, an almost undecipherable message. Takeo waited a moment, despite his impatience, and then asked again for the transmission to be repeated.
“Command, this is Omega Squad, retur… base… reporting in,” Raiden’s voice was finally distinguishable above the static.
“Good to hear your voice,” Takeo said, his relief evident, “report, where are you?”
“Approximately 15 minutes out from the ice asteroid, 50 or so away from the Saisei. The gas giant has been interfering with our comms, we detected high levels of radiation. All Omega pilots returning safely, we have one enemy ship surrendered we’re towing back. All other enemy ships were destroyed, except for one…” Raiden explained in great detail
about the mega structure they’d found and what had happened to the ship that had flown to close to the center.
Takeo, Norita, and Koi listened, not believing their ears. Norita was brimming with questions, but there were more immediate problems at hand. “General, have them sweep the debris, collect anything valuable, try to collect our people for… last rights, and then immediately dock and investigate Bay A,” she instructed. Takeo nodded, glad to see Norita had regained her composure and sharp mind, which he had always respected.
Takeo began to relay the orders, “Come as quickly as possible, we’re dealing with a terrorist situation and need all hands aboard. Change trajectory by 1 degree starboard. On your return vector you’ll come into a debris field not far from the ship, run active scans and collect all valuables and bodies…” Before Takeo could continue, Raiden’s distressed voice cut him off.
“Bodies, sir?! Did I hear that correctly?”
“You did, Lieutenant. Once you’ve collected all you can dock in Bay E, and immediately proceed to Bay A to investigate. The terrorist cell was held up in Bay A, but we’ve lost contact with our troops for over 30 minutes. The safeties were overridden, the outer hatch opened, and the force field was lowered. That’s all we know,” Takeo explained.
“Roger that, we’re on our way, sir,” Raiden said, trying to keep his composure in the face of the morbid news.
“Cavalry is on the way,” Takeo said, trying to break the tension, but no laughed.
“It’ll be over an hour before they dock, at least,” Norita said, wringing her hands, “Koi, how’s overriding going?”
“Slow, but I have some minor systems back, lighting, hydroponics bay atmosphere control, that sort of thing,” Koi said wiping the sleep from his eyes. How long have I been awake now? 28, 29 hours? Koi’s mind was beginning to wander, too tired to concentrate. Chills and cramping had swept over him from time to time.
“Koi,” Norita said, snapping him back to attention.
“Hmm?” he asked.
“I need you to focus on getting control over the Bay E outer door. We need to be able to remotely access it to let Omega Squad in, roughly one hour from now, OK?” she asked, seeing how tired Koi was.
Koi nodded and then turned back to face his computer which just seemed to blur in front of his eyes. Focus, damn you! he demanded of his eyes. Koi worried about being able to gain access in time, and Norita could sense the man’s anxiety. “Let me bring you some coffee,” Norita said, happy for the excuse to do something, and needing a cup just as badly herself.
|
Hiroshi began to feel the weight of his eyelids. Things had been quiet for hours now, no footsteps in the halls, just silence. He had continued to communicate to Suki, for updates, but now there was nothing left to say. They were both trapped, all attempts to escape had been futile. All that was left was to wait. Wait for what? Hiroshi wondered.
He contemplated sleeping, there was nothing else to do, and yet, his survival instincts, engrained from some millennia of evolution, told him not to. Don’t sleep… but you might as well rest, he reasoned. Hiroshi sat down on the floor cross legged, facing his window with the great view of the asteroid and the stars, and placed his hands on his knees. Letting out a long exhale, Hiroshi closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
|
The flight back to the Saisei was a solemn one. Raiden had relayed the orders from command to his squad, and after the initial shock, no one had spoken. They were on approach to the Saisei, and Raiden broke the silence, “Active scans on, everyone,” he said, switching on his own. The rest of the team confirmed, and Raiden felt a pit knot up in his stomach, knowing what lay in store for them.
A few minutes later his computer began relaying feedback from the scans. Metals, polymers, biomatter, and a live life sign. Raiden squinted at his screen, “It can’t be?” He said, looking across the debris field. All of the bodies he could see had no space suits on. “Freya, I need you over here. I’m picking up a life sign,” Raiden said while rebooting his scanner.
“A live one? Shit, on my way,” she said and changed course. Freya’s scanner picked up the exact same reading. “Someone’s out there, man,” Freya said, shaking her head.
Raiden put his radio on a wide band frequency, “Hello? Is anyone out there? This is Lieutenant Saito, do you copy?” he said, then waited. There was no response. “Must be unconscious,” Raiden said, letting out a sigh, feeling the stress and pressure of having to work quickly.
“Guess we’re going to have to narrow in on their location,” Freya said.
“I’m here!” Koji was screaming at the top of his lungs. He’d seen the ships closing in, and when he’d heard Raiden’s voice in his ear his heart had nearly skipped a beat. Immediately, Koji had begun talking back to Raiden, only to remember that he had no way of turning on his headset with his busted control panel. Panic set in, swallowing him, and he began to hyperventilate again. Rescue was so close, and yet, if they couldn’t find him, he’d be just as dead.
Bleep! Bleep! Bleep! Koji’s O2 alarm began sounding continuously, which only added to his anxiety. “Fuck!” he cried, his voice hoarse from the dehydration, and riddled with fear. Koji waved his arm and legs and looked as if he was doing jumping jacks while suspended in the air, but in the vastness of space the movement was imperceivable.
The ships were following a standard search pattern. Koji was further away from the rest of the debris, and he wondered if they’d even be able find him. Then the lightheadedness began to set in. The oxygen reserves were dangerously low, and Koji knew he didn’t have much longer before he’d pass out.
Koji tried to focus, but it was getting harder to keep his eyes open. He wanted to breath slowly, but he couldn’t stop gasping. The ships were headed his way, but then, they turned. Time was running out, and Koji was getting desperate; that’s when the idea struck him to use the O2 tank as propellant. You’ve got, what? Minutes left anyways… They aren’t close to finding you, you’re too far from everything else. If you can get any sort of distance, maybe you’ll show up on the radar, or maybe they’ll see you, it’s your only chance! he reasoned with himself. The fear was palpable.
Pushing through his unease and sense of dread, Koji grabbed hold of the tube that fed the oxygen into his helmet with his good arm, then stared at the ships, waiting for them to face him. You’ve only got one chance… he thought and swallowed hard. The ships were beginning to turn his way, and he felt his nervous system revolt in a shiver. Now! Now! C’mon! “Now!” he yelled and yanked the tube out with all of his strength. It came loose, and while he aimed the tube behind himself in an attempt to propel forward, he simply ended up spinning in circles. Each time he swung around to face the solar system’s star it nearly blinded him.
The immediate oxygen deprivation hit hard, and Koji fought the encroaching darkness, trying to stay awake. The spinning slowed to a stop and the tank was entirely emptied. Koji desperately tried to look for the ships, but he was facing the opposite direction. Alone, floating in the abyss of space, Koji slipped into blackness.
“Did you see that?” Freya asked, “Something flashing?”
“No, but check it out,” Raiden replied.
Freya broke her search course to go and investigate. Halfway there, she saw the body in the spacesuit floating, vital signs fading. “Raiden, found ‘em!” Freya called out and rushed to get her ship aligned beneath the body. She double checked that her helmet was locked on properly, then opened the top hatch of her fighter ship’s cockpit entrance, and ever so carefully flew up until the body had landed in the back seat.
Freya closed the hatch and re-pressurized the cabin. Crawling out of her pilot’s chair, she made her way into the back seat, and pulled of the helmet of her rescue to discover it was Koji. “Holy shit, you’re alive!” she blurted out, still remembering the intensity of the drill explosion. Koji was pale, his lips blue. She checked his pulse to discover her didn’t have one. “No! Aw, fuck…”
Freya
scrambled to grab her first aid kit and unzipped it as fast as she could with shaky hands. She pulled out the bandages and gauze, and finally got to the medications below. She found the large needle sealed up in an anti-contamination plastic bag, that was prefilled with adrenaline, as well as a loose piece of rubber.
She set the needle and the rubber piece down on the pilot’s seat then as quickly as she could, unfastened the top of Koji’s spacesuit from the bottom, and pulled the top half off over Koji’s head. Then she removed her own helmet, and the gloves of her suit, to be able to work with the needle properly.
Once she’d set aside the top of his spacesuit, and her helmet, in the foot space where she’d been kneeling, Freya straddled Koji’s lap, the tight quarters leaving little other option. Quickly tearing off Koji’s uniform shirt underneath, exposing his left arm, Freya grabbed the needle again and held it between her teeth, and held the rubber band in her hand. Thinking back to her first aid training, Freya tried to remember practicing on the cadaver, but this felt much different. Grabbing his left arm, she tied the elastic around his bicep and then slapped the crevasse of his elbow to raise the veins.