Ruptured

J. L. Stowers

Cara stared out the airlock’s viewport, struggling to ignore echoes of her shaky breath within her helmet. Goosebumps spread on her clammy skin as the destruction rotated into view. The airlock was always cold, but the sight outside truly chilled her to the bone. “Wow,” Devin’s voice rasped through her earpiece. “When they said an asteroid collided with IODS, they didn’t mean a glancing blow.” “Guess not,” Cara answered, her mouth dry. The Interstellar Object Delection System was Earth’s defense against asteroids. And, while it had succeeded in redirecting the latest threat, it did so at great cost. “I thought they were just nudging it.” “Maybe they hit it a little harder, just to be certain.” Devin turned to her, his experienced eyes ofering little reassurance. “We must be careful. Anything in there could easily rupture a suit, or worse. But we have to succeed. Just because Earth is safe for now it doesn’t mean there won’t be another threat.” She took a deep breath. “This isn’t a job I was expecting.” “I don’t think any of us expected this. The ion beam should have worked.” Their ship neared the wreckage. The asteroid had demolished the crew section. Bits and pieces drifted away from the corpse of the space station. Bodies of the crew tumbled sluggishly among the debris. “Are we supposed to just leave them there?” She forced herself to look away, as though seeing their bodies in this state violated their privacy. “Our mission is to get the data recorder and get out. Another crew is coming to… clean up.” “This is as close as we can safely get. Take the ponies and proceed with caution. We’re too far out for a tether to reach, so be careful.” Control announced. “Copy that, control,” Devin replied. He turned to Cara. “You ready?” “No tether? Take the ponies? It’s a graveyard out there! I collect samples from asteroids. I’m not a irst responder. I don’t have the ield experience you have.”

Devin pursed his lips. “Yeah, it’s dangerous… but we’re the only ones here. As it is, it will take a year to get back to Earth with this thing. Who knows how long it’ll take them to analyze the data? Sometimes, you have to take big risks for big rewards.” “I don’t want a reward. I want to live.” Her voice cracked with the last word. “You aren’t listening to me. Earth needs us. Trust me, I asked about every alternative. They wouldn’t send us in there if there were any other options.” She knew he was right, but it didn’t ease the dread nestled in her stomach. Devin strapped one of the small thruster packs onto the front of Cara’s suit before attaching one to himself. He then clipped his tether onto her suit. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.” With a clumsy, gloved hand, Devin pressed the large red button, which triggered the lashing light both inside and outside the airlock. Thirty seconds later, the door hissed open. He grabbed the front handle of Cara’s pony and kicked out into open space. Her pulse raced as he dragged her from safety of their research ship. They glided toward what was left of IODS. “Kick on your pony, ive seconds, now,” Devin ordered. They accelerated toward their target. As they neared, Devin maneuvered to face Cara and kicked on his pony booster to slow them down. The jagged maw of the breached hull engulfed them like a whale scooping up a feast of krill. The ocean of stars yielded to twisted fragments of the once-mighty space station. “Grab that pole up there.” Cara fought to push her fear aside as she reached out with both arms to grab the pole. Devin hooked his secondary tether around the pole and clipped it to itself, but despite their slow approach, the inertia was too much for Cara’s grip. “No!” Bracing himself, Devin grabbed the tether connected to Cara and pulled hard. Cara felt the jerk, but it only slowed her down. She scrambled to grab onto something, anything, before she hit the jagged wreckage on the hull’s other side. Finally, the line went taut, and she stopped short of a mangled mess of metal. “See? I told you I’d keep you safe.” Devin forced a nervous laugh.

Staring at a broken pipe that would have impaled her had she gone another half meter, Cara said, “Can we just get the thing and get out of here?” Devin unclipped his secondary tether and pushed of toward a hallway. “It should be in here.” She followed cautiously through the twists of metal that jutted out every way she turned. At the end of the hall was the IODS engine core, and the resting place for the space station’s black box. The consoles were lit up with warning lights. Devin removed a wrench from the tool bag around his waist and started loosening the bolts, each tumbling away once freed. Cara snatched up a bolt somersaulting toward her helmet. “You shouldn’t be so careless. One of these, at the right speed, could take out an entire ship.” “The clean-up crew will account for every nut and bolt. That’s their job. Mine is getting this” — Devin grunted as he heaved the black box free — “out.” The box slipped loose, and Devin clung to it as it tumbled. The tether went taut and then tugged Cara again. As she grabbed a pole for support, a sharp pain stabbed her palm. “Shit!” But she didn’t let go. Not until Devin had stopped. “Sorry, wasn’t expecting it to ly out like that.” He gestured. “We’re done. Let’s go.” “My suit’s breached.” She released the pole, droplets of blood bubbling around her hand. “What?” Devin straightened. “How bad?” Cara ripped a repair patch of the front of her suit and slapped it on her palm, but the blood continued to seep out. Droplets loated into her line of vision inside the suit. Devin braced himself at the opposite end of the hall and yanked the tether to pull her toward him. Cara loated toward Devin, ramming into him. Their combined force dislodged a sheet of metal, causing it to silently bounce out of the hull. Devin winced as he grabbed her hand. “The patch isn’t holding because of the blood. Shit.” He ripped the patch of his chest and slapped it on Cara’s glove where hers didn’t seal. As he applied pressure, droplets of blood rose behind his head. “Devin!” she

gasped, realizing that it wasn’t just her blood orbiting them. “I told you I’d take care of you.” He ofered a half-smile. Her eyes fell to where drops of red and green lowed freely from his ruptured suit and his pony’s fuel line. “No…” she muttered in disbelief. “Here.” He strapped the black box to Cara’s secondary tether. “Get it back.” “Not without you!” “We won’t have enough thrust to get all the way back and slow down. Not with a ruptured fuel line.” “I’m not leaving you here.” Cara felt a surge of power as she pushed her way through the rubble. The tear in his suit was too big to patch. They had to get back, now. “I’m losing life support.” His breathing grew labored. “You’re getting back on that ship with me.” Cara unsheathed her knife and cut Devin’s secondary tether, angling them toward the open side of the ship, and kicked on her pony. A few seconds later, Cara was towing Devin at full speed as he fought to remain awake. “You better hang on.” No reply. He was unconscious. She lipped herself around to brake, but her pony didn’t have much fuel left. It didn’t slow them enough. They were coming in too hot. She maneuvered Devin around and kicked on his pony. It sputtered a partial burst. Still not enough. Cara wrapped herself around Devin, the black box between them, and tucked her head as they sailed through the airlock door. On their way through, she slapped the red button just before they slammed into the opposite side. Cara’s arm crunched, and Devin lailed. She untangled herself to reach up and slap the button to close and repressurize the airlock. By now, her own vision was fading fast as darkness invaded. Something wet ran down her face, stinging her eye. The metallic taste entered her mouth. Blood. She squinted at Devin’s blueish face before the dark overcame her. * * * Cara woke in sick bay. The ship’s doctor stood over her. “You’re awake. Good.” “Devin?” She tried to prop herself up. “When you hit the interior airlock door, you fractured your collar bone

and got a concussion. But you should make a full recovery.” Her voice ratcheted up. “And Devin?” “He’ll be alright. Thanks to you. The black box is safe too. We’re on our way back to Earth.” She fell back on her pillow, happy to be safely aboard the research ship.