on the other side of the bulkhead, none that she could see.
Elena had been inside this hatchway when the explosion had struck, when it had slammed shut. It had probably come close to cutting her in half.
She felt for the panel beneath the monitor, and ripped it open to reveal a bright yellow circular handle. Elena grabbed it and twisted it to one side. There was a hiss as the bulkhead unsealed, and a thump as Ikenna landed on top of it. His arms were filled with firefighting gear and medical kits. He handed the extinguisher to Elena without a word.
Elena knew better than to contact the bridge and demand a status report in the middle of a crisis. They were all highly trained officers up there, and didn’t need distractions. Until she was in that seat, it was Vijay in command. She would just have to help wherever she could.
They opened the door together.
She felt a wind at her back as the atmosphere rushed from one compartment to the next. The smoky air swirled into ribbons and cyclones, twisted by the currents. There was a hull breach somewhere ahead that had blown part of the atmosphere into space.
Elena and Ikenna plunged into the corridor. They stuck to the ladder—there was no shame in it now. Here the smoke was even thicker, like swimming down into an oil well, but the damage was still visible. Her faceplate briefly fogged with moisture from a burst water pipe. Between the tendrils of smoke she could see an eerie flickering light up ahead from a torn electric cable. The sparks fanned out in every direction, like tiny fireworks in the middle of the corridor.
She toggled her intercom circuit.
“Engine room, Captain speaking. Cut power to Compartment P-11, but keep the bulkhead circuits running.”
Chief Officer Gupta answered.
“Aye, Captain. One second.”
A few moments later the sparks from the cable died along with the main lights. Elena and Ikenna were bathed in a ghostly green glow. Each compartment was lined with tubes of luminous tritium gas. Otherwise a power outage would have plunged them into perfect darkness.
“Cap—” Gupta hesitated on the line, then returned. “Engine room out.”
“She wants to know what the fuck’s going on,” Elena said. There was no need to manually transmit. Their suit radios automatically activated in the presence of another crew member.
Ikenna nodded. She heard him cough over the intercom, bent at the waist.
They continued forward, towards P-10. She could see the next atmo panel now—its edges were lined with a bright, pulsating red. The safety systems had automatically locked down the compartments on either side as a precaution, meaning that at least five had been sealed. The breach had to be right outside her bridge—or inside it.
Elena reached out to grip the next rung of the ladder, and grabbed someone’s hand. The stranger began to float away into the smoke, and Elena had to lock her own arm behind the elbow to keep it still. Elena pulled the body up alongside her and motioned to Ikenna, who cracked the medical kit open.
It was Third Officer Makarim. She wasn’t wearing a helmet, and her pale bloodless face was smudged black by smoke and water. Ikenna shoved an oxygen mask onto her face and wrapped it around the back of her head while Elena pressed two fingers to Makarim’s neck, just under her jaw. Her bloodied eyes were half shut and staring at something that wasn’t there.
Elena could feel a faint pulsing beneath the fabric of her glove. The inside of the oxygen mask fogged slightly.
“She’s alive,” Elena said.
She patted the other woman down quickly, searching for tears in her suit, or other obvious signs of injury, and found nothing. It must have been a concussion, or smoke inhalation. Makarim hadn’t been able to find the emergency helmets in the darkness.
Elena handed Makarim off to Ikenna. Even as small as the two of them were, they could handle the woman’s dead mass easily.
“Get her to medical, I’m going forward.”
Ikenna
Elena had been inside this hatchway when the explosion had struck, when it had slammed shut. It had probably come close to cutting her in half.
She felt for the panel beneath the monitor, and ripped it open to reveal a bright yellow circular handle. Elena grabbed it and twisted it to one side. There was a hiss as the bulkhead unsealed, and a thump as Ikenna landed on top of it. His arms were filled with firefighting gear and medical kits. He handed the extinguisher to Elena without a word.
Elena knew better than to contact the bridge and demand a status report in the middle of a crisis. They were all highly trained officers up there, and didn’t need distractions. Until she was in that seat, it was Vijay in command. She would just have to help wherever she could.
They opened the door together.
She felt a wind at her back as the atmosphere rushed from one compartment to the next. The smoky air swirled into ribbons and cyclones, twisted by the currents. There was a hull breach somewhere ahead that had blown part of the atmosphere into space.
Elena and Ikenna plunged into the corridor. They stuck to the ladder—there was no shame in it now. Here the smoke was even thicker, like swimming down into an oil well, but the damage was still visible. Her faceplate briefly fogged with moisture from a burst water pipe. Between the tendrils of smoke she could see an eerie flickering light up ahead from a torn electric cable. The sparks fanned out in every direction, like tiny fireworks in the middle of the corridor.
She toggled her intercom circuit.
“Engine room, Captain speaking. Cut power to Compartment P-11, but keep the bulkhead circuits running.”
Chief Officer Gupta answered.
“Aye, Captain. One second.”
A few moments later the sparks from the cable died along with the main lights. Elena and Ikenna were bathed in a ghostly green glow. Each compartment was lined with tubes of luminous tritium gas. Otherwise a power outage would have plunged them into perfect darkness.
“Cap—” Gupta hesitated on the line, then returned. “Engine room out.”
“She wants to know what the fuck’s going on,” Elena said. There was no need to manually transmit. Their suit radios automatically activated in the presence of another crew member.
Ikenna nodded. She heard him cough over the intercom, bent at the waist.
They continued forward, towards P-10. She could see the next atmo panel now—its edges were lined with a bright, pulsating red. The safety systems had automatically locked down the compartments on either side as a precaution, meaning that at least five had been sealed. The breach had to be right outside her bridge—or inside it.
Elena reached out to grip the next rung of the ladder, and grabbed someone’s hand. The stranger began to float away into the smoke, and Elena had to lock her own arm behind the elbow to keep it still. Elena pulled the body up alongside her and motioned to Ikenna, who cracked the medical kit open.
It was Third Officer Makarim. She wasn’t wearing a helmet, and her pale bloodless face was smudged black by smoke and water. Ikenna shoved an oxygen mask onto her face and wrapped it around the back of her head while Elena pressed two fingers to Makarim’s neck, just under her jaw. Her bloodied eyes were half shut and staring at something that wasn’t there.
Elena could feel a faint pulsing beneath the fabric of her glove. The inside of the oxygen mask fogged slightly.
“She’s alive,” Elena said.
She patted the other woman down quickly, searching for tears in her suit, or other obvious signs of injury, and found nothing. It must have been a concussion, or smoke inhalation. Makarim hadn’t been able to find the emergency helmets in the darkness.
Elena handed Makarim off to Ikenna. Even as small as the two of them were, they could handle the woman’s dead mass easily.
“Get her to medical, I’m going forward.”
Ikenna
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