A trail of debris preceded E.S. #1, then the deserted space station gradually became visible on the monitors. Ava marveled at the forbidden dark appearance of it. Gigantic gravity stabilizing rings were angled around it. They appeared clumsy and awkward compared to those surrounding Orionis. Some had apparently snapped off in the middle or at the bottom, leaving the station tilted slightly to one side. The ship slowed and the Andromeda sent a signal to the still functional computer on E.S. #1 to open the air lock. Ava could hear it groaning open and visibly see the escape of oxygen as she watched it in the monitor. The ship proceeded slowly into the eerie black hangar, the air lock grinding shut behind them. The ships navigation system would assist them to land, Naomi explained, as the floor of the hangar was difficult to visualize in the darkness. The Andromeda had a few outside lights that provided a little bit of light, just enough for Ava to see a large amount of dust rise up as the ship touched down.
“We’ll wait a few minutes for the dust to settle and then we’ll go out and start the repairs. Don’t worry Ava, everything is going to be fine.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Not really, but we appreciate the offer. You don’t even have to leave the ship if you don’t want to. We shouldn’t be here for more than an hour.”
They left the observation deck and joined the others near the flight deck. The ship’s computer gave a satisfactory reading of the oxygen level in the hangar. They would not need to wear oxygen masks. Wesley gave instructions on what needed to be done and who was responsible for each task. Everyone except Ava was assigned something to do.
“Wesley what can I do? I want to be useful.”
“That’s sweet of you to offer to help Ava, but there really isn’t much to be done. You could even stay on the ship and catch up on some sleep if you like.”
“I don’t want to stay on the ship if everyone else is going to be in the hangar.”
“All right, take this flashlight. You can have a look around if you like. Watch where you step, you may have noticed as we pulled in that the station is disintegrating because it has not been kept up. Be alert for falling debris. Not many people get an opportunity to see an abandoned space station, just promise me you will be careful and stay close to the ship.”
“I will.” She smiled as she put on one of the heavy crewmembers jackets. He seemed confident that nothing would go wrong, why not take a look around?
They lowered the ramp down to the floor. Ava could hear its echo bouncing off of the walls when it touched down. Wesley, Ash, and Andre left for the flight deck to climb a ladder that allowed them access to a hatch that opened on the top of the ship. Justin and Rowan went down the ramp into the darkness first, followed by Mia, Ava, and Naomi. Ava coughed a little as the dust stirred when they started to walk. Their footsteps created the only sound in the massive silent hangar. Everyone pointed their flashlights in different directions, trying to locate a launch terminal.
“There it is,” Naomi announced, pointing her light to a small console towards one wall off to the right. The small group made their way to the terminal where Justin pried the rusted cover off of the control panel. He located the controls for some of the overhead lights nearest to the ship and switched them on. Since they did not know how much power was left on the station, they decided only to turn on the lights nearest to the ship. Several of the lights had burned out or were broken, while a few flickered eerily in a strobe-like effect. At least Wesley and the others will have a little more light to work with, Ava thought. Despite the new illumination, a vast majority of the hangar was still pitch black. The group made their way back to the ship. The air leak was on the side of the rear of the ship. The two men would have to hang off of the side of the ship to seal it. Wesley and Andre were already on top of the ship, small figures strapped into harnesses, allowing them to keep their hands free to begin their work. Ash appeared with two heavy welding masks, handing one to each of them. He went back down into the ship to grab the welding equipment as the two men put their masks on. Ava observed that they would seal the oxygen leak by welding the defect closed until more permanent repairs could be made on Orionis. Justin, Mia, and Rowan were assigned to repair some of the other damage from the attack closer to the bottom of the ship. Naomi’s job mainly consisted on going back and forth between the two groups to see if anyone needed help. Ava decided to have a look around as the welding began. The sparks flew wildly and created more light for the two men as they worked to seal the leak.
Ava’s flashlight allowed her a nice wide field of vision as she walked towards one wall of the hangar, observing some of the outdated equipment. The minutes passed quickly and she could see her breath in the thin chilly air. Ava had never heard of E.S. #1. It must be over 200 years old, she thought. The station creaked from time to time, and small bits of rusty metal fell here and there occasionally, adding to the spookiness. She continued to walk around the perimeter of the hangar nearest to the Andromeda and kept going. As long as she could still see the ship and hear the others, she would be fine. She saw a small heap of equipment piled near the wall about fifty feet further down near the corner and continued on to check it out. The heap turned out to be a bunch of random parts to anything and everything from consoles to ship controls, circuit boards, and personal care items. Ava found what appeared to be an old first aid kit and dug it out, fascinated. She opened the old once white large metal box with a barely recognizable red cross on it and found a few severely yellowed paper packets containing gauze. The paper nearly disintegrated as she touched it. Next there were a few small packets that once had most likely contained an antibiotic ointment, now all dried up. Ava held up an old sticky round object that appeared as though it might have been a roll of tape. She noticed that a few other items were missing from their respective slots. Ava read the faintly visible names of the medications on tiny dried up vials but did not recognize them. She guessed they might have been antibiotics, epinephrine, or antihistamines. Ava’s light flickered slightly as she held both the box and her flashlight. As she continued to look at the kit, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.
Ava froze. Her breathing and her pulse quickened. She looked again and didn’t see anything. Slowly she bent to put the first aid kit down, keeping alert. She turned to shine the light where she had seen the movement. Ava flinched as the light from the flashlight bounced directly back into her eyes. She raised the light a little higher and saw what was moving. It was her own reflection in the dusty broken glass of what had once been designed to be an office. She sighed. The air in here is kind of thin she thought to herself. It had been almost twenty four hours since she had any sleep. Ava began to realize how cold and tired she felt. The stress of the events over the past day had crept up on her, now she was seeing things. Just as she decided to call it a night and started to turn back to the ship she noticed something on the floor. Footprints in the dust. She aimed her light directly at them. She saw a trail of clearly visible large footprints, at least more than one set of boots. Judging from how clear they appeared, Ava believed they must be fresh. That’s odd Ava thought. Wesley had said the station was abandoned and that they were there many months ago. There’s no way that these footprints are eight months old she thought. A chill ran down her spine. What if they were not alone here?
Ava turned and started walking quickly back towards the ship, it seemed so far away. She needed to tell the others what she had seen. She couldn’t believe how far away she had wandered. In the distance she could see the crew still working at the base of the ship. Wesley and Andre had finished welding and were standing on top of the ship removing their harnesses. Suddenly they all looked up towards Ava, as if they sensed her fear. She watched as they then looked sharply to one side. Out of the shadows came the piercing sound of shots being fired. The red laser bursts were directed at Wesley and Andre. Andre fell flat on the ship, the shots barely missing him, Ava gasped as she saw Wesley fall, taking a hit in the flank. Ava stopped
and crouched to the ground. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion but her mind was racing. She fumbled with her flashlight and turned it off, and tucked it inside of her jacket, trying to make herself less visible but the assailants had already seen her. Ava watched as more shots were fired towards Wesley and Andre, and then towards some of the crew underneath the ship. Wesley wasn’t moving. Andre carried a small laser handgun and began firing back in the direction the shots had originated from. All she could think about was getting to Wesley, she needed to see how badly he was wounded, she had to try and help him.
Ash and Mia appeared at the entrance ramp of the ship, firing towards the attackers as Naomi, Rowan and Justin positioned themselves under the ramp for cover. Ava stood and started running towards the ship. The assailants saw her and fired a few shots towards her. The shots landed a few feet ahead of her, causing her to stop. The shots kept coming, some narrowly missing her. She had to turn around and run back into the darkness away from the ship. Ava nearly choked from breathing all of the stirred up dust as she ran. She tried to muffle the sound of her coughs with her hands to avoid calling even more attention to her location. The disintegrating floor almost caused her to trip, she struggled to keep her balance. She paused in the darkness, invisible for the time being, she needed to get to the ship. Wesley was wounded, he could be dying for all she knew. She felt her face become flushed and her vision began to blur from the tears she could not suppress. The attack continued. It appeared as though there were two assailants, one person firing upon the ship and the other one assisting while also firing at Ava. The clamor from the battle produced echoes and subtle vibrations causing large amounts of debris to fall from the high ceiling.
Ava turned and took a deep breath, determination building inside her to reach Wesley. He can’t die! She thought. No, not again. I can’t go through this again she promised herself. As she started to run back towards the ship, a sudden snapping sound followed by deep groaning sound rang out in the hangar. A whoosh of air hit Ava as an enormous support beam fell from the ceiling directly in front of her, punching a massive hole in the floor. The darkness made it impossible to see anything. The impact knocked her backwards off of her feet. The battle between the crew and the assailants continued. After a few moments, Ava slowly rose to her feet, picking up a long steel rod she miraculously found on the floor beside her. She realized she could use it to help feel her way on the floor so that she would not fall down into the large hole that had just been created. This is how the blind sometimes find their way around she assured herself. She dared not turn her flashlight on, she would definitely be seen. She watched the continuing battle near the ship for a few seconds. If she could just find the wall she could follow that safely back to the lighted area of the hangar where the Andromeda was. Quietly she walked away from the direction of the Andromeda towards the wall, feeling the floor with the rod in the darkness. Suddenly, she sensed she was not alone.
“Hello sweetheart,” a male voice she did not recognize said behind her. Ava stopped and quickly turned her head in the direction of the voice and in the dim light barely made out the shape of a man, armed and pointing his gun at her. “Turn around nice and slowly” he commanded. Ava’s mind raced. Three attackers at least, not the original two she thought. Who knows how many more there are. She knew she had to act if she was going to get out of this alive. She did not want to be anyone’s hostage, or worse. She tried to think of her self-defense classes with Elaine. An idea suddenly came to her. Ava gripped the steel rod tightly with both hands and quickly spun around. She swiftly struck the man powerfully across the face with it. He apparently had not seen that she had a weapon and grunted with the impact. Ava flung the rod with her swing and ran into the darkness. The sound of the rod hitting the floor echoed loudly. She ran blindly and wildly with her arms outstretched until she hit the wall. Then she ran along the wall feeling it erratically with her hands in order to follow it. Although she didn’t hear any footsteps behind her she could not be sure she wasn’t being chased. The wall gave way to an opening and without thinking Ava ran through it. Immediately she sensed a change in the flooring. It was no-longer the firm stable, solid flooring of the hangar. It seemed brittle, cracking as she ran as if she were on thin ice. Just as she was about to stop, the floor gave way and collapsed underneath her. Ava’s scream echoed chaotically as she fell into the darkness.
Ava plummeted for what seemed like an eternity, bracing herself for the impact. Her legs hit first, followed by her left hip, left arm, and finally her head. The blow stunned her. A minute passed. She opened her eyes slowly to the pitch black floor she was laying on. A few more moments passed. The pain in her left leg was almost unbearable. Carefully, she lifted her arms to her face, feeling her head. She did not feel the warm, sticky presence of blood. She did not think she had a concussion. Her arms ached but were moving all right. Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position with her legs outstretched in front of her. She leaned back on her arms as the pain in her left lower leg intensified with the slight movement. Her breathing and pulse were erratic. Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm, she thought. Ava concentrated on taking a few deep breaths. She bent her right leg up, using her hands to feel it because she could not see it very well. It’s okay she thought. She tried with her left leg. Any tiny movement caused a severe flash of pain. Beads of sweat ran down her face. She bent down to feel her leg, grunting in pain with the effort. She pulled up the sleeve of her pant and ran her hands over her leg. The pain intensified and the bone did not feel solid towards the middle. No, this can’t be happening she thought; as she realized that her tibia, the strongest bone in her lower leg, was fractured. No blood though, she was grateful it wasn’t an open fracture, but now what? She pulled the pant sleeve back down over her leg and fumbled in her jacket, pulling out her flashlight.
“Ava! . . . . . . Ava!” She recognized the faint voice as Rowan’s.
“Rowan!” Ava croaked, choking on the dust. “I’m down here!”
A stream of light appeared over her. Ava switched on her flashlight and aimed it up. “Ava!” Rowan’s voice was louder, right above her now. A beam of light shone down and then Ava saw her. “I’m coming Ava!” Ava watched as Rowan casually stepped off of the edge of the floor above, keeping her flashlight pointed down towards her. What is she doing! Ava estimated it to be at least a twenty foot drop. Words failed Ava as she witnessed Rowan float serenely and slowly down towards her like an angel. Ava did not see that Rowan was attached to any harness or cable, what was going on? Rowan landed lightly on her feet next to Ava and knelt beside her.
“Rowan is Wesley okay? Is he hurt badly? Is he . . . .”
“Wesley is just fine Ava. Don’t worry. . ”
“But he was shot, I saw it!” She exclaimed, her voice wavering.
“He’s not hurt Ava, I promise you. Everyone’s okay. We need to get you out of here before you go into shock,” Rowan remarked quickly.
“Rowan, . . how did you do that?” Ava asked, pointing to the ceiling, referring to her descent. Ava was now shivering and shaking with pain and from being cold.
“Ava, that doesn’t matter right now, how badly are you hurt?” She brushed the dust and debris off of Ava’s face and hair.
“I think my left leg is broken.”
Rowan reached down and gently ran one of her hands down Ava’s leg, being careful not to cause Ava any more pain than she was already in. “Yes, it’s broken,” she said softly. “You’re going to be all right Ava, we’re going to help you.”
At that moment Rowan looked quickly to her left. Ava followed her gaze. A tall man approached holding a gun in his hand, pointing it towards the two women. Ava gasped, not again! As he entered the field of light Ava saw that he looked thin, dirty, disheveled, unshaven, and desperate.
“What have we here?” He said menacingly as he moved closer.
Ava couldn’t move even if she wanted to. Rowan rose slowly and turned to face the rogue pirate. “You don’t want
to mess with us,” she said harshly, her eyes glaring at him. Ava’s heart hammered in her chest. The pirate laughed, apparently amused by her comment. Ava couldn’t believe it. Petite, sweet, little Rowan standing up to this criminal. Ava admired her courage. At that moment Wesley silently materialized out of thin air behind the pirate. Ava’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened in disbelief. She knew she wasn’t seeing things but the things she saw were not making sense to her. The pirate saw the shocked expression on Ava’s face and turned around. Wesley moved quickly and punched the pirate fiercely in the face once. The pirate fell down and did not get up. Wesley didn’t bother looking back at the fallen man as he quickly ran to Ava’s side.
“Wesley! How did you . . . what just happened?” Ava managed to say.
“Ava, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry you are hurt. This is all my fault.” He wrapped his arms around her, warming her a little and holding her steady in her sitting position. “You are going to be okay. We need you to stay calm and take some deep breaths.” He kissed her forehead. Then he and Rowan immediately began removing her cold, dust covered jacket. He quickly took his own off and they helped her into it, Ava felt grateful for the heat. She looked at him in his dark t-shirt. Not a scratch, not any visible sign of injury, however she observed a small scorched hole on his side. Ava heard the clatter of boots running down a staircase nearby. More light appeared with the flashlights of Andre, Naomi, Justin, Ash and Mia. Everyone came running towards the small group on the floor. Ash eyed the fallen pirate carefully on the way over, he seemed satisfied with his assessment that the pirate was not moving and caught up with the group.
“Ava! Oh no! Don’t worry, we’re going to help you!” Naomi exclaimed. She rushed to Ava’s side and then positioned herself behind Ava letting her lean on her to keep her head up. “We never would have believed there would be some marooned pirates here, but we’re okay, they’ve all been dealt with now.” Naomi looked down at Ava’s leg.
The Solar Wind Page 12