Kaylana chewed on her lip as her shoulders slumped. ‘I guess we’ll certainly know soon enough.’ Akemi turned her away from the window and together they glided down the hallway out of sight.
When it was just Aurora and Zane left in the corridor, she floated to the window and rested her head against it. She was willingly leaving Dr Shaffer in there to die. It didn’t matter that he’d locked himself in there on his own. If she really wanted to, she knew Zane could override the codes.
She placed her hand against the window.
Dr Shaffer nodded, like he was giving her permission to leave him there. Like Aurora, he must realize it was the only way to save the rest of them.
It still didn’t make her feel any better about it. What if Kaylana could help him? What if she was wrong? Questions plagued her mind.
Zane gently placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘It’s the smartest thing to do.’
‘It’s exactly what the Alliance did to us,’ she said defeated.
‘It is. And it’s still the right decision.’
Maybe Zane should be the captain? She was struggling to make the best decisions for everyone. No matter what she did someone wasn’t happy or could get hurt. Risking her own life flying was one thing. Now she had everyone else’s lives in her hands.
She pulled away from the glass to look at Zane; his stormy gray eyes comforting her. ‘I think it’s time to return gravity to the station. Do you think you can help me do that?’
‘Of course,’ Zane responded.
They turned as one in the direction of the command station only to stop a few seconds later when shouts stemmed from the sleep pod behind them.
‘What now?’ Aurora sighed. She pushed off the wall, floating as fast as possible toward the commotion.
The sight of Miles violently puking welcomed her.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Not another one. Why was this happening? For a moment Aurora froze as she watched the disaster unfold before her.
Vomit floated throughout the room as everyone yelled and screamed at one another.
‘We need to contain the sickness!’ Akemi shouted as he glided around the room with a sick bag, scooping up what he could.
‘We need the masks that are in the medical bay!’ Kaylana yelled.
Kylie began crying in the corner of the room.
‘I’m getting the fuck out of here!’ Quinn yelled before shoving past Aurora.
His shove pushed Aurora into action. Damn’t she’d been wrong. There was no way to contain whatever this was. There was no way the Alliance was coming back.
They were really alone.
Whatever virus plagued the station attacked them mercilessly, as they panicked, having no clue what the hell was really going on.
‘Zane, go unlock the medical bay,’ she shouted over her shoulder before she fully entered the room.
He grabbed her before she could move any closer.
‘Don’t go in there.’
‘But—’
‘You could catch it.’ His grip on her shoulder grew harder. ‘Not happening.’ He yanked her from the room.
‘We need you.’ Zane glanced toward Miles. ‘They need you.’ He set her down and leaned in so that his nose touched hers.
‘Unlock the door to the medical bay. We have to learn how this is spreading.’
‘You need to get to the command station and hail the Alliance,’ Zane replied.
Didn’t he know that was hopeless?
‘What about Kay and Akemi?’ If he was this worried about Aurora entering that room that meant they’d potentially been exposed. Exactly what she’d desperately tried to keep from happening.
‘I’ll get them in the lab. It’s the best we can do right now.’ His breath fanned over her face. ‘We need you to get us out of here.’ Zane pushed her toward the command center. ‘Go.’
Aurora listened because it was the only way she could help Kaylana and Zane. She had to convince them to send help.
In the meantime they were floating in space, alone, with an unknown virus that seemed to be spreading rapidly.
Chapter 33
Zane
An hour later Zane glided into the command center to tell Aurora that Kaylana and Akemi were helping Miles and Dr Shaffer in the medical bay. He’d broken the code forcing Dr Shaffer to let them in. He’d passed out masks to everyone too, but wasn’t sure at this point if they’d really make a difference.
There didn’t seem to be rhyme or reason to the sickness. He remembered Professor Fontaine’s lesson on a virus outbreak in zero gravity—there were no rules. No gravity or physics to keep it in check.
Aurora’s hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and her face was red in anger as she argued with the Alliance.
‘Give a detailed report.’
Aurora swallowed and proceeded to ignore their request. ‘Mission Control, this is Aurora Titon hailing from Aviary.’ She seemed to use her name often, reminding them of whom they were leaving alone up here. ‘Again, I’m requesting a shuttle transport from the station back to the Spaceport. We have cadets to get home.’
‘We’re aware of the situation. However, we will not be sending a rescue mission until we know what we’re dealing with.’
Zane watched in silence as she did everything in her power to convince them to come to their aid. ‘Listen, I understand you have rules you’re supposed to follow. But we’ve got Academy cadets up here that could die without your help.’
‘I understand. But we can’t risk contaminating the entire fleet.’
‘But you don’t even know what we’re dealing with.’
‘Exactly. And until we do, the Alliance won’t risk it. A few deaths verses hundreds.’
‘So you’re just going to leave us up here to die?’ Aurora’s voice cracked.
Zane took over, his voice cold, calm, and collected. ‘The Alliance will regret leaving the Academy cadets up here without help. What will Ms Lovell think? Collin Titon? Or the news? You think this won’t hurt the Alliance?’
‘I’m only following protocol.’
‘Is this a test?’ Zane asked. Aurora appeared shocked by his thought.
Apparently the guy speaking for Mission Control was just as shocked by the suggestion. ‘No, this is not a test. You find out what’s infecting your passengers and I’ll find a way to bring you home.’
‘Let’s just hope you’re not too late,’ Zane said, his voice tinged with a threat. ‘Get an Alliance doctor on this!’ he yelled, before ending the call.
Aurora banged her head against the communications panel. ‘We’re so screwed.’ Her head popped up like she just remembered something. ‘Where is Kaylana?’
Zane sailed toward her and held out a breathing mask.
‘She’s in the medical bay with Akemi, Miles, and Dr Shaffer. They’re all wearing masks.’ It had been easy to override Dr Shaffer’s attempt to keep them all out. At this point though he was too weak to do much about it.
‘I guess that’s the best we can do.’
Zane didn’t like how defeated she sounded. ‘Let’s take care of Aviary. We need to initiate the centrifugal spin and check on the systems.’ No one seemed to remember they were living in a huge artificially intelligent machine, a machine that needed to be maintained. Their lives depended on it.
‘You’re right.’ Aurora squared her shoulders. ‘What’s everyone else doing?’
‘After I handed out the masks, everyone else sort of disappeared.’ Believing they’d be safer away from people. Less risk for contamination that way.
‘We’re falling apart here,’ Aurora murmured. She swiveled to the control panel. ‘I’ve never done this before. Tor … he was going to teach us.’ She flicked a red switch upward. ‘Initiate centrifugal spin.’
‘Initiating rotation,’ Stella announced in an unemotional female voice.
When the station slowly began to rotate, Aurora sighed. ‘I guess that wasn’t so hard.’
It would take twenty minutes b
efore the slight gravity was felt. Maybe this would help get things under control?
Only time would tell.
‘Status report,’ Zane called out.
‘Running system check,’ Stella said.
He waited while the program checked the status of the station. The program would know if anything was wrong internally and if there was, he’d be notified and have to fix it.
‘Report complete. Two issues found. Would you like to address these issues now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Retinal lenses not detected.’
‘Shit,’ Zane muttered. He glanced around the control room. Where would they keep them?
Aurora pulled open a drawer and handed him two LED contact lenses marked Aviary.
‘Thanks.’ With his index finger, he quickly placed a lens over each eye.
Zane blinked a few times until they molded to his cornea. Wanting to know what they looked like in, he glanced down at the metallic control table. His distorted reflection stared back at him. His dark hair was a freakin’ mess, but his eyes were sick. These so beat the sim glasses everyone wore. Though they also cost a hundred times more. A neon blue halo surrounded Zane’s eyes. ‘Nova,’ he whispered.
Done messing around, he continued with his mission. ‘Retinal lenses in place. Continue.’
Statistics and a model of the station appeared before him. The lenses allowed him to see everything Stella saw, without anyone else having to know. Aurora would only see his lit irises.
A red dot appeared on the outside of the station. ‘Problem detected,’ Stella announced to Zane.
He knew what he was looking at, but wanted it verified. This was going to suck.
‘Explain the error,’ Zane requested.
‘A minuscule fissure has been detected on Aviary’s outside coating.’
‘Crap,’ Aurora breathed.
‘Cause?’ he asked.
‘Cause unknown.’
‘Probably a small meteor or something,’ Aurora volunteered.
Usually the hard metallic coating kept the station from getting damaged, so if that was the case, whatever hit the station would’ve been bigger than normal. This meant he needed to patch the opening. ‘How do I rectify the problem?’
‘Seal the opening.’
‘Right.’ He already knew that. That meant going outside. He popped the lenses out and placed them back in the gel container.
‘But no one’s been trained in EVA.’ Aurora tapped her fingers in thought.
‘That doesn’t really matter. If we don’t fix this problem the virus won’t even matter anymore.’ A hole in the station could mean de-pressurization.
‘I guess I’ll suit up.’ Aurora moved toward the outer hatch.
‘No.’ Zane grabbed Aurora’s shoulder before she could get too far. ‘I’ve got to be the one to go.’
‘But you don’t know how to operate the EVA suit.’
‘Neither do you.’
‘Yeah, but I have experience flying.’
‘Yeah, but do you know how to fix the problem?’ Zane raised an eyebrow.
‘Well, no.’ Aurora pursed her lips. ‘But how hard could that be?’
Great. She was going to be difficult. ‘Do you have experience patching holes on aircraft?’ he persisted.
‘No. Have you?’
‘I think the patch needs to be done by someone who has more experience with these types of things.’ Aurora scoffed so he continued. ‘The seal needs to be done right or we could all die. This is my job. I fix things. I’m going.’
They argued the entire way to the outer hatch.
‘Fine. I’ll come with you. Standard protocol on an EVA is that two astronauts go together,’ Aurora said indignantly.
Zane had no clue what proper protocol was, but was certain she was citing some rule from a checklist. He’d never listened to the rules before and wasn’t about to start now.
‘Aurora, we don’t need to risk both of our lives.’
‘What’s the difference? I could die in here or out there.’ Aurora pointed to the window, her eyes brilliantly lit by the stars that shined around them.
Zane sighed. She’d probably rather die out there than in here, but he wouldn’t be the cause of her death.
When she started to suit up, he realized he needed to use something other than logic to convince her. ‘What if Kaylana needs help?’
‘You said she was in the medical bay.’ Aurora glared at him as he hopped into the harder shell suits used for going outside.
‘She is. But what if she needs your help?’
‘What if you need my help?’
Zane dropped his head to his chest.
It was time to be honest. He looked up, meeting her deep green eyes. ‘I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you out there.’
‘But …’ Aurora’s gaze darted between him and the stars outside the hatch window. He could tell his words startled her, but she was too determined to give up that easily. ‘I’ve had more training with this type of stuff,’ Aurora sputtered. ‘There’s a reason standard procedure calls for two astronauts.’
Zane knew she was just going to keep pushing until she had her way. It was obvious Aurora believed she was right, that both of them going would be safer. And he’d agree if either of them had completed EVA training.
An idea popped in his head, one that would really piss her off. But Zane would rather she be ticked off than injured.
He donned his helmet and moved toward the airlock while Aurora continued with proper safety protocol. She didn’t notice when he pressed his finger across the identity scanner.
As soon as the door opened, he swiftly stepped inside.
‘Wait!’ Aurora bent down to grab a suit.
Zane closed the door before she had a chance to come after him.
‘Acclimate for EVA,’ he called out to Stella.
All the air in the room was sucked out leaving Zane in a vacuum.
Aurora pounded on the station door. Her furious green eyes peered through the small upper window.
Zane didn’t look behind him as the hatch opened to space; he stared into Aurora’s beautiful eyes. He pressed a gloved hand to the window, silently asking for forgiveness.
It took her a few seconds, but she eventually pressed her hand against his. A moment passed before he dropped his hand and turned into the black void awaiting him.
Chapter 34
Aurora
Aurora wanted to scream when Zane shut the door and locked her out. And when he pressed his hand to the window in goodbye she wanted to curl up in the corner for a well-deserved crying session.
She couldn’t live without him either.
Why was it that the guy always got to say that to the girl and she was just supposed to stay behind happily? As if it wouldn’t kill a piece of her if something happened to him too.
With Tor, Mercury, and Nathaniel dead. With Kaylana, Akemi, Miles, and Dr Shaffer in the medical lab. With everyone else hiding … damn. She felt so helpless.
Zane disappeared as he pulled himself out of the hatch.
Aurora floated back to the communications room. As she passed her fingers over the control panel they lit in sequence. She scanned the instruments and selected the one labeled EVA. She activated the mic and depressed the ‘talk’ button. ‘Zane, can you hear me?’ She released the switch.
A few seconds passed before Zane responded. ‘Please don’t be mad. I just didn’t want to risk it.’
She spoke into the mic again. ‘That was stupid.’
When he didn’t respond, she called out, ‘Zane?’
‘Yes?’
‘You didn’t respond. I got worried.’
Zane’s chuckle sent a shiver down her spine. ‘I didn’t say anything because it was true.’
‘So you’re admitting it was stupid?’
Again silence.
‘Zane!’
‘I admit to nothing.’
Aurora rolled her eyes. Of course, Zane
would never admit to doing something stupid. He was too smart for that.
‘How’s it look?’ Aurora asked.
‘There’s a small puncture in the outer coating, but it doesn’t seem to have made it through the inner coating.’
‘That’s good.’ All things considered.
‘There’s some black debris.’
‘From an asteroid?’ Aurora knew the station was hit by floating debris all the time. For one to puncture the hard outer coating of the station meant whatever hit the station had been bigger than normal. But not unexpected. The only reason Aurora was so worried about Zane was that they’d never done this before. Trying to be an astronaut without training was almost like trying to go in space without a helmet. Deadly.
‘Probably,’ Zane confirmed
‘How are you fixing it?’ Since apparently it would have been too complicated for her to figure out.
‘I’m going to patch it,’ was his smart-ass response.
Aurora rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, but how exactly?’
‘I have to spray liquid metal into the deformity, which will coat the hole as it freezes.’
He continued to work and she listened, comforted by his constant breaths coming over the mic.
When her necklace no longer floated in front of her, Aurora realized simulated gravity had finally come online.
Zane grunted and Aurora sat straight up. Her feet hit the ground. ‘What is it?’
Silence.
‘Zane?’ She heard the panic in her voice. ‘Zane? Tell me what’s happening.’
His voice sounded resigned when he finally responded. ‘I dropped the liquipen and like a dumb ass reached out for it.’
‘What’s your position?’ Aurora ran toward the hatch, hoping to see him.
‘I sort of lost my hold on Aviary. And with it spinning now …’
Aurora’s stomach dropped out from under her. With the station spinning there was no way for him to grab a hold of it again. This was all her fault. She should have remembered they’d initiated the centrifugal spin before he went EVA.
Stars. She grabbed the closest helmet and hard bodied suit she found and scrambled to the airlock.
‘I’m coming to get you. Can you tell me where you are now?’ If she didn’t get to him quickly, he’d keep floating away. It was possible he’d be pulled back into earth’s gravity if he went too far.
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