Read Online Interzone 244 Jan - Feb 2013 by TTA Press - Free Book Online

Manager
Caldwell. What did you want to talk about?”
    Angela Caldwell gave Murray a level,
assessing look. They were about the same height. Murray didn’t
speak. I hadn’t seen her intimidated before. Diego arrived during
the silence, realised something was going on, and kept his mouth
shut. The Gaffer prompted Murray.
    “ Come on girlie, speak up.
You’ve got something to say about the build order?”
    Murray could speak nicely when she wanted
to; she’d learnt to smooth out her accent.
    “ It’d work better if we did
steps eighteen and nineteen first, then went back to step one,” she
said. “We’d get the biggest section bolted into place early,
meaning we could separate into two teams after that. We could get
five steps ahead of the day’s programme.” She looked away. “Plus
we’d be able to use two lines for the full shift.”
    Diego rolled his eyes.
    “ Is that what this is
about?” asked the Gaffer. “You’re going to have to get used to
working with one line. It’s perfectly safe.”
    “ It wasn’t safe for
Batukhtina.”
    They’d shown the same training video back
when I apprenticed. Batukhtina was an early casualty; she’d been
doing a solo repair on ISS-2 when her line snapped.
    The video is silent. For the first few
minutes Batukhtina’s visor reflects the space station. Look closely
and there’s a face at the viewport: her
colleague…watching…helpless. Then, Batukhtina stops reaching
towards him, turns away, and relaxes, facing the Earth, arms and
legs spread-eagled.
    She had floated gently away with sixty-nine
minutes of oxygen and no way of getting back. It gives all of us
the shivers. Just thinking about it reminded me how much I wanted
to go home. If I found someone I could trust to take over my work
I’d be on the next shuttle back to Earth. Sure, I’d miss the view,
but I could live with that.
    “ We have stronger lines
now,” I said, “checked and replaced regularly. Two lines is fine
for tourists, but it slows us down.”
    “ My way’d be quicker
though, even with secondary lines.”
    Caldwell took over. She didn’t appreciate
the implication her site was dangerous.
    “ Interesting idea, Murray,
but you’re thinking like an Earthworm. There’s not enough
manoeuvrability in your spacesuits to be able to work with the main
steelwork in the way. Plus, I designed this order to keep you near
the others. Your inexperience is much more dangerous than working
without a secondary line. You’ll do everything as a full team until
I say otherwise.” Caldwell turned to the Gaffer. “That clear,
Rasmus?”
    “ Perfectly, Construction
Manager.”
    “ Way to go,
nearly-nineteen,” said Diego once the door hissed closed behind
Caldwell.
    * *
    Two weeks on, we finally split the
team. The Gaffer and Diego went off to fit struts at the hotel end
of the truss, while Murray and I checked and tightened nuts along
its bottom chord. It was real monkey work.
    I took a brief break to admire the Earth.
Vivid patches of blue showed through heavy cloud cover. Murray
didn’t stop. She was working steadily, using her podger like a pro,
movements well adapted to the lack of gravity. Even Diego no longer
doubted she’d done construction work before. I was beginning to
think she was made of the right stuff.
    “ Must have been hard for
you, getting made redundant,” I said, on a suit-to-suit channel for
privacy.
    “ Yeah,” she said, not
breaking her rhythm. “Mum’d lost her job too. Granddad looked after
us, but he died last year…” She faded out. I turned to look at her,
giving her the chance to continue if she wanted. She
didn’t.
    “ Something’s bugging me,”
she said, full-volume again. “These are Boltefast nuts and bolts.
The construction models spec SureEng.”
    “‘ SureEng OEA ’.
That’s Or Equal and Approved. These are approved.”
    “ Who picked Boltefast?
Would it be the Gaffer?”
    I didn’t hesitate. I’d faced tougher
questioners than this kid. Plus, I