Elite: Dangerous

EVA

A fierce hissing sound was the harbinger of death. Aisling looked in horror as a small crack made a path through the canopy, the hissing ever louder. The crack branched into many, and with morbid fascination Aisling admired the beautiful pattern that emerged on the glass. When the cracks merged at the top of the glass dome, she braced for the inevitable. With a loud bang the canopy shattered, and Aisling felt how she was blown out into the emptiness of space.

Aisling sat up abruptly, listening to the echo of her scream. It took a while before she realised where she was. She looked around. The cockpit of the Merope was engulfed in the soft orange glow of the heads-up displays, and a quietening, friendly hum from the consoles filled the room. The canopy was undamaged, and the glare of the super-giant that reflected in the cockpit’s frame seemed less blinding.

Aisling took a deep breath. Her mouth was bone dry, and behind her forehead a hammering pain made almost impossible to think. She stared through the windows. Maybe it was the headache that made her slow, but it took a while until she realised the familiar streaks of rainbow-coloured light flying past the windows, indicating that the ship was in frame-shift. Slowly, she stood up, and looked around. The pilot’s seat was empty, and the consoles told her that ASTRA was in control of the ship.

“ASTRA?” She asked.

“Yes, your highness?” The computer’s soothing voice answered.

“What’s going on? Where is Anwen?”

“Commander Hunter is in the cargo bay, she will be back on the bridge shortly.”

Aisling sat down again and moaned.

“Are you in need of medical attention?” ASTRA’s voice asked.

“No, I just need some water.”

“Water level in the freshwater tank is at 0.0%” ASTRA informed her.

“Yeah, tell me something new.”

“I am sorry, I have insufficient data for that request. Please specify a topic and a time-span, on which you require information.”

“Ah, forget it. Are we in frame-shift?”

“Positive. Frame-shift-drive operates at 31.3% capacity.”

Aisling was impressed. “Wow that girl really did it!”

With a hissing sound the cockpit door opened. Anwen entered. She looked exhausted, and oil and dirt was smeared across her face. But there was a glow in her eyes that yelled enthusiasm across the bridge.

“Ah, you’re awake!” She stated. “Do you feel any better?”

Aisling shook her head. “To be honest, I have a splitting headache. And I my throat aches.”

Anwen nodded and handed her a plastic bottle. “Here, this is the last one. Drink it slowly.”

Aisling took the bottle, and wrestled down the impulse to down the entire bottle in one gulp.

“Sorry that there isn’t more.” Anwen said. “I drank two during the repairs, and I needed some of it for fixing the ship. We have some water left in the space suits, but we need that for later.”

“Thanks.” Aisling said, while she enjoyed the cool water running down her sore throat like a soothing balm.

A moment later, she felt strong enough to talk. “What’s the situation?”

“As you may have noticed, I reconnected the computer to the main engines. All a bit improvised, but it will allow us to jump. While you slept, I repaired the damage to the water tanks, so we are ready for a refill.”

Aisling nodded. Some of the commander’s excitement found it’s way into her own feelings. “You weren’t lying when you said you’d fix the ship. But the tank is still empty.”

“This is why we haven’t jumped yet. We need a refill.”

Aisling shook her head. “There isn’t a single world in the habitable zone in this system, or is there?”

“No, but who says water has to be liquid? Beyond the snow line, there is enough water ice to fill a thousand oceans.”

“Snow line?” Aisling asked.

“That’s how you call the point around a star from which the temperature is below the freezing point of water. Worlds beyond that point usually contain lots of water ice. We’re on the way to one of the moons of the fourth planet now. Scanners indicate it’s surface contains more ice than rock.”

Aisling looked at the commander. “And how do we get it into the Merope?”

The space adventurer grinned. “You care for a little EVA?”

Anwen was fully concentrated when she tried to set down the Merope on the moon’s surface as gently as possible. Luckily, the moon was comparatively small and not very dense, so its surface gravity was only a few percent of standard gravity. But the terrain was rugged and Anwen tried to land the ship as close to a deep crack in the surface as possible.

With a thud the ship touched down, and when the engines shut down a scary creaking sound echoed through the battered ship.

“I’d not say, I wanna do this every day.” Anwen leaned back into her pilots chair, and wiped the sweat from her brows.

“Alright then, let’s not waste anymore time, we need water, and I want a shower.” She got up from her seat, and headed for the exit. Aisling reluctantly followed her.

In the cargo bay, they prepared for the EVA. In the hours before their approach, they had already been packing lots of material onto the small Scarab vehicle. Equipment that, for most part, Aisling couldn’t even name.

It was clear that Anwen was the boss around here. When they began work she had started giving orders to Aisling. Always in a polite manner, but in a way that allowed no objection. Not that Aisling wanted to object; she actually discovered she was kind of enjoying it. Usually everyone expected her to make the decisions and to be strong willed and unforgiving. She couldn’t afford to show weakness at her court. Here on the other hand, the commander had taken full responsibility. Although not to be in charge was a weird feeling for her, it gave her solace. Just do what she says, and you’ll be OK.

As if to proof that the trust put in her was justified, Anwen was extra careful when she helped Aisling put on a space suit. She checked everything twice and patiently explained every detail of the suit; more than once, if she thought it necessary. So Aisling was nervous, but felt prepared when the two women rolled the Scarab off the platform and into the open.

“Wow, this is amazing!” Aisling whispered into her intercom. The Scarab was rolling along the edge of a white cliff that glittered in the bluish-white light of the distant super-giant, and above the Scarab’s glass dome, locked in the sky, was the enormous crescent of a Jovian gas giant. Hypnotising bands of clouds where moving slowly across it’s surface. The rest of the sky was entirely black. The sunlight, and the shine of the planet outshone any distant stars.

A few hundred yards from their landing site, Anwen stopped the vehicle. “OK, this is it. Let’s get on with it.”

She opened the door and climbed out of the Scarab. Aisling had a few problems getting out, struggling with the unfamiliar space suit. She had thought moving around in low gravity was easier than in normal gravity. It turned out the opposite was the case, so she nearly fell out of the carriage.

“I’m sorry.” She said embarrassed.

Anwen tried to lighten the mood with a joke. “Say,” she said, putting her hands on the hips of her space suit. “How does this fare as haute couture?”

Aisling managed a smile. “A bit clunky, maybe. And too large for me. I look ridiculous.”

Anwen shook her head. “Nah, you could wear a coal-sack, and you’d still look great!”

Aisling was happy she wore the helmet, because otherwise the other woman would have seen her blushing.

For the next two hours, they worked alongside each other, putting into place the parts they had brought. When they were done, Aisling’s water reserves were used up, and her back and her head ached. But in front of them stood a water distiller that melted ice from below, distilled it, and ran it through a bio filter, so all that was left was pure H2O.

A small filter-like device used the rocks to dissolve some minerals, enriching the water with life supporting minerals, while keeping all the poisonous stuff out.

“Almost done.” Anwen said. “We need to connect the hose. Wait here.”

She made her way to the Scarab, and backed it up in front of the distiller, got out again, and pulled a long hose from a drum. “Here, help me connect this.”

With combined efforts they managed to connect the hose to the distiller.

After a short break, Anwen showed Aisling how to operate the system. “I’ll take the Scarab, and connect the hose to the ship. Stay here, and watch that connector. If it gets tangled, and the hose breaks, we’re in deep trouble.”

“OK. What do I have to do?”

“Just keep an eye on the hose, and tell me immediately, if there is any strain on the hose, especially near the connector!”

“Got it, boss!” Aisling tried to sound more enthusiastic, and less exhausted, than she was.

Anwen made her way back to the Scarab, and began to drive slowly towards the ship. Aisling carefully controlled the strain on the hose. The hose lifted from the ground, and started tugging the connector.

“Stop! Too fast!” She shouted.

Anwen immediately slowed down the Scarab, and the hose sank down again.

“Better.”

It took what felt like an hour to Aisling, until the Scarab finally reached the ship. She could see the commander disembark her vehicle, and carrying the other end of the hose to the ship’s fuel neck.

Aisling suddenly felt the last of her powers run out. She had do sit down. Several lights in her suit flashed up, as she dropped to the ground. She fell on her back, suddenly seeing the giant planet floating overhead. It was beautiful. She could make out the swirling cloud patterns, and a giant storm that looked like giant volcanic lake, she had once seen in the mountains of Cubeo.

While she drifted off into her memories, she faintly heard Anwen’s voice through the intercom.

“Radiation …stronger. Coming back …Don’t look”

Aisling suddenly was sure that this was it. She wouldn’t be able to get up anymore. And, did it really matter?

“Just let me look at it for a while.” She moaned into the intercom.

“…ground is 58K. Too cold for the suit. So get the fuck up and move your arse!” Anwen’s voice became louder now.

“I can’t. I won’t make it. Just, …just leave me here. It’s a beautiful place to die.”

“If you say that one more time, I’m going to kick your royal backside back into orbit. Get your lazy arse up!”

Aisling felt herself sinking deeper into the nitrogen snow that covered this world. The cold slowly crept into the suit. She couldn’t read the temperature gauge in her suit, because her eyes were too dry. The colours of the planet overhead whirled in her mind. So beautiful.

When she came to again, she felt a warm air surrounding her. The planet was still overhead, but the visor of her helmet was gone. Instead, she looked through the dome of the Scarab’s passenger cabin. A regular beeping sound came from behind her, and she was put on a drip.

“Hey! Welcome back!” Anwen looked at her. She still wore her space suit, but without the helmet.

“Why didn’t you tell me, you couldn’t go on?” She asked. “Never endanger yourself on an EVA. Safety first!”

Aisling tried to speak. It took several attempts for her, until sounds actually came from her sore throat.

“I thought I had to. I mean, you couldn’t give me any water, and we needed to do this, otherwise we both die!”

Anwen looked stern. “Always listen to your body, when your out there. And always, and I mean ALWAYS, tell me when you’re not feeling well. We abort then, and think of something new.”

“Did it at least work?”

“You’re just getting the first water we made.” Anwen pointed at the drip. “Fully automated medical field kit. Even selects the right medication for the injury. You just need to add water.”

Aisling managed a smile. “Thank you.” She whispered.

Anwen smiled back, and carefully placed a bottle of water on Aislings lips. When the water ran down her throat, she suddenly knew, they had made it. They had survived.

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