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.”
“ ‘ SureEn g OE A ’. 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 was interested to see if she’d follow up.
“ Probably. He’s answerable for costs once a project’s on site. Or it could have been Head Office.”
“ And who approved it?”
“ Angela Caldwell,
“ 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.”
“ ‘ SureEn g OE A ’. 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 was interested to see if she’d follow up.
“ Probably. He’s answerable for costs once a project’s on site. Or it could have been Head Office.”
“ And who approved it?”
“ Angela Caldwell,
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