It tasted heavier today, the air not so fresh this time. Although it was never truly fresh to begin with. Samuel shook his head free of his thoughts and shuffled his way over to a small framed bench welded to the hull, it gave the usual creaking sounds as he relaxed the weight of his pressure suit onto the stubborn seat. Un-tucking a spherical helmet from under his arm, Samuel rolled it expertly between his hands, eyes scanning every inch for any defects or cracks.
Once he was fully satisfied with the safety of his equipment it was swiftly flipped over his head, twisted down hard, and secured tightly with a latch. Now he was stuffed into his portable tin can Samuel reached to his side, retrieving a hose-like tube from the wall, rubbing the sterile end-cap between finger and thumb. "Man... every time..." He tutted, clicking his tongue and glaring at the cap with murderous intent. Pinching the end tight, his suit threatened to let his grasp slip off of the cap, but a few small rolls later the sheath snapped off with a wet pop. A slow drip of acrid brownish liquid splattered onto the worn treadplate floor. "eughh..." Samuel groaned, he would never get used to the vile colour of the dreaded suit smoothie, it had no place looking like barely filtered sewer water. Thankfully he was already used to the taste after a good three years on the job. "They forgot to mention that on the job application, pricks."
No matter what he thought of the substance, it was sewer smoothie or death. So, as trained employees do, he let out a long heavy breath and plugged his suit in. It was fast, always uncomfortably fast, chemical soup flooded into his suit pushing the air out through the decomp vents with a ghastly hiss. Wetness slithered its way up his legs in an instant, past his chest before his breath was fully out and finally topping out his helmet all within a couple seconds. "Breathe Sam, breatheeeeee..." He tugged at his lungs, swallowing down the gloop into his now expanding windbags, fighting against the instinctual convulsions that naturally occur as a consequence of breathing in liquids.
A couple of twitches and shakes later, Samuel felt his breathing pace slow to as close to a natural rate he could manage when breathing in thick air before pausing to let the suit cycle the fresh fluid through its CO2 scrubbers. Deciding not to delay the inevitable courting of death, Samuel pulled back the collet of his umbilical and let it spring back into its sanitary hovel, and reached his slightly tainted gauntlet up to his commlink. On it switched with a static crackle, the quiet buzz of electrics getting a little louder as Samuel chewed the bubbles out of his ears.
"Hey hey Kandy, I'm fresh 'n' smooth, can you gimme a shower?" Sam spoke slow and dry as forcing goo to carry sound like it was air didn't come easy, now he had the trick down he felt like the world was his oyster. "heh, like that's never been said before."
The receiving end of his comm struggled less to get its delicate, ear-splitting, trademark whine to pass through the goo, prompting Samuel to re-tune his radio with a flinched slap to the side of his helmet.
"Can't wash your suit off Sammy, Cap' ain't given us the clear yet. In the meantime though, I see you finally got your diver's droll down pat, told you you'd be singing stale constantly once you found your voice." Kandy's ever-familiar taffy wrapperd Nigerian voice always made the dives better, even more so now that Sam could throw some shade back her way.
"You bet I'll be singing, gotta use it or lose it, pity Captain killjoy won't let you sing along." A dampened chortle almost made Sam cough, luckily he remembered not to swallow down any of his 'fresh air'.
"God, here I was starting to think you were cute but now I see you're as crass as the rest of 'em" Kandy's smooth jabs continued to flow forward, teasing Samuel's lips into a faint smile. Primed to have another crack at witty banter, Sam found his attempt cut incredibly short as Kandy spoke up again. "Okay Diver, all clear's been given, time to take a dip." His attention snapped back to the task at hand, sit still and hold on tight. Valves turned with a screech of complaint as a rush of pitch-black fluid sloshed into his steel nightmare cupboard. Sam didn't want to close his eyes, he always tried to keep them open til his helmet was submerged, but each and every time he couldn't shake the reflex. Damn the other divers who said they could, they were all liars he told himself, not sure if it was self-pity or self-comfort.
Thankfully his suit detected full immersion into the not-gas gas and flicked his R-hud to true, he didn't envy the divers who experienced a sensor break mid-dive and wasn't in any particular rush to know how many nights that would keep him awake. "All right Sammy, A.R.-H.U.D.'s looking nominal up here so as long as you're happy let's get going." Kandy's tone indicated that now was not the time for talk, much to Sam's dismay, clearly the boss must've overheard his 'killjoy' comment.
"Roger that Kandy, ready to go" Sam kept it short, hooking himself up to the safety rail before punching the big red hud-marked 'OPEN' button. He watched his poorly textured polygonal emulation of a big alloy door fold away into the walls before stepping through the three-foot-thick rubicon and onto his service catwalk. There was always a strange feeling to be had when looking into the dark, like something was watching him from the depths, the assurance of having a green mesh of triangles making up the submarine behind him eased his woes just a little. Felt like a little less today though, perhaps he was just thinking too hard again.
"Follow the Wayline to dish two, right on the bow, unfortunately. Looks like we'll be having a long chat today Sammy." Kandy's tone was back to its jovial state, if just a tad controled still. A blue line gracefully etched itself into the facade of the ship's hull, right past the embossed nameplate 'UP-SV Oystercatcher'.
Echoes of heavy composite boots striking against the griddle shivered up his suit, nothing but the repetitive tessellated representation of a faceless wall to keep Sam's eyes occupied during his desolate hike. "Good thing I don't get tired of your voice then Kandy, Think you might be the only thing keeping us SAT's sane down here. You know I realise I never asked you why you're down here in the first place, most of the lads are sending their paychecks home for family, same for you?"
Kandy seemed to think about that one for a little while, It wasn't a particularly hard question so Sam had some inclinations to not ask anymore questions involving family. "No." Kandy simply replied before continuing her silence. "No, I'm not sending anything home to any family, I've got myself and Greg to look out for down here and that's it."
Samuel felt his heart deflate a bit at that comment, surprising himself with how he reacted to the revelation that Kandy already had someone in her life, shaking the jealousy out of his head he decided to at least have a little jab at her about it. "You find him while you were aboard? or did you hire on as a package deal, sweeten the deal with the company by only taking up one bunk?"
There was a moment of snickering from the other end of the comm before Kandy responded. "Yeah, package deal, me and Greg go way back. It's good to have a bedmate to snuggle with, although I'd appreciate it if he didn't eat all my food while not paying for a penny of it."
She sounded oddly cheerful talking about having a boyfriend who didn't help pay for food, so Sam probed a little further. "Does he help clean up the quarters at least? I know ya'll have your own rooms on the other side of the bell, my god damned turn on the scrub rota when I'm done having a bath out here."
The snickering that had been present throughout Samuel's comment grew into almost uproarious laughter, but Kandy was quick to turn down her noise with an obvious fake cough. "Ahem... No, no he doesn't clean up anything, I have to take care of all his messes." She proclaimed with a smugness that made Sam feel her raising her nose into the air through the radio.
Nothing could have prepared Sam for the sudden cessation of every cog in his head, he felt the whole conversation derail so violently in such an abrupt instant and could only respond with the most well-thought-out response imaginable. "what?"
If Kandy was any less inclined to keep her job she very well would have burst out laughing for long enough, and hard enough, to trigger the asphyxiation warning on her health monitor. Thankfully she possessed enough professionalism to stifle her outburst, and soon she was calm and collected again. "I'm good, I'm good. Ahem." Coughing once again to bite back a relapse. "So, Greg. He's a cat."
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Sam was already stopped dead in his tracks from when his brain decided to perform several hundred leaps in logic, now he could stand and scream his embarrassment away into the void-like depths surrounding him, only Kandy had the pleasure of witnessing such a moment. Sam didn't wish to say anything for a little while, content to stew in his misunderstanding as he returned to trudging down the catwalk. "A cat. How in the majesty of Saturn's rings did you manage to get the captain to let you have a cat aboard?"
"Greg bribed him." Kandy spoke with that same air of smugness about her.
Sam's head spun just a tiny bit. "The cat did. Not you?"
"Well..." The shuffling sound of a microphone being manhandled scraped down the comm, followed by Kandy whispering into it. "Turns out Cap' has a fondness for loveable fluffy critters, but that's supposed to be a secret. He doesn't hide it well."
"Interesting... Gives me ideas for Leaving presents when I've done my time. What type of cat is Greg by the- Oh!" The blue beam faded from his HUD as the target of his excursion rendered into view. "I'm on-site Kandy, what's the issue with the receiver?."
"Nothing too bad, we've just been picking up odd signals for a couple of days now. Suspect it might just be some distant terrain or debris bouncing radiation from our survey equipment, just need you to confirm there's no electrical faults the ship can't detect." Kandy assumed a more clinical tone, which always made Sam a little soft in the belly. That feeling doubled as he came to the realisation that Kandy didn't have a boyfriend.
Distracting himself from the blood rushing to his head and the extra digit on his heart rate readout, Sam began his work. Once he had the panel open he plugged his suit into the L.D.R's data port, after a couple of seconds staring at a 99% complete progress bar it came up green. "No problems showing from the data port, I'll use a torch to see if there's any debris around here." Sam didn't need to wait for a go-ahead, taking some cautionary steps back he equipped a large rod with a bulky lens and sighted in his target. His HUD lit up bright as he flipped the safety switch on the torch, once his eyes had adjusted to the new light levels the rod burst into life, dimly illuminating the ship's hull. Not a moment was wasted as Sam's eyes darted over every possibly problematic location around the antenna, however as suddenly as the light had arrived it once again vanished, the torch having burned all its fuel.
Sam would have been annoyed by how short the torches lasted if it wasn't for the knowledge that they produced enough light to blind him a hundred thousand times over. He also wished he hadn't caught sight of something right at the last moment. "Damn, I think I saw something Kandy, lighting up another." Sam prepped a second torch, relinquishing his old one to his tool belt. Once again he lined up the torch with his target, a little more towards stern this time, and after prepping yet again he fired it at the wall. "Oh fuck." In the brief moment he had Sam saw a thin hair of black streaking down the hull, then the green simulated wall of his HUD replaced the dull grey hull yet again. "Kandy! Scan this section of the hull for fractures! Quick!"
Frantic tapping filled the silence as Sam felt a sudden desire to pray to any god that might be listening, he could see the appeal of religion now. "I've got no major fractures on scans Sam, check with yours." Kandy replied curtly.
Whipping out his portable scanner Sam slammed it into the wall and held firmly on its button. Tiny vibrations hummed up the sleeves of his suit, seconds passing for what felt like hours until the scanner threw a green light up on his HUD, prompting him to let out the heaviest sigh in his life. "Sorry for the panic, it's all clear Kandy, gonna burn another torch just to make sure. Could just be a scratch in the hull." Sam readied his last torch and shot the same spot, this time there was nothing, not a single speck of damage or debris. "It was there, clear as day it was there." Sam felt the un-nerving instinct to run, the hairs on every inch of his body were suddenly acutely aware of the suit soup swilling and swirling around him, unable to resist the fearful urge to swallow he regrettably gulped a mouthful. He would feel a little sick later, but right now he couldn't care less.
"Just... Just a scratch Kandy, hit a large chunk of debris perhaps. Heading home now." Kandy acknowledged his report with a short grunt, both of them were too high on adrenaline to have a friendly chat now. Sam steadily followed his guide-line back to the Airlock, fitfully checking over his shoulder to peer into the impossible darkness, not sure if having an extra torch would be a blessing or a curse. What if he saw more of those hair-like lines on the hull, what if he was walking on top of one right now, what if one was on him right n- *HISSSS* Sam jumped in shock and slammed his body against the inside of his suit, feeling utterly stupid as the soreness from his fresh bruises started to manifest. His suit had just compressed the goop a little, raising the pressure inside to hopefully prevent any sudden implosions.
The rest of the walk was painfully long, in a somewhat litteral sense as Sam's suit reminded him of his silly freak-out by rubbing on his bruises constantly. Eventually, the familiar embossment on the hull passed him by and the welcoming embrace of a PS1-looking airlock flicked into being on his HUD. Stepping inside and sitting down he felt not only the weight of his suit fall off his shoulders. A quick press of a button and loud echoey clunks signaled the separation of inside from outside, and soon after that light began to spill in through his visor. Sam watched the watery tar recede down his body until he could finally see his feet, paranoid about the hair things he scanned his suit for any signs of unwanted black lines and found nothing.
"Oh. Good. Nothing's there." He thought aloud.
"What was that?" Kandy spoke up with a twinge of concern. "Did you say something?"
"Nothing, Kandy. Can you authorize my suit to decompress please?" Sam got his response in the form of his suit beginning to patiently drain its swamp ooze onto the floor. Bracing himself for the worst part was a nice distraction from the shock, all the tiny hairs on his face felt the surface line of the goo slide down until it passed his lips, at which point Sam heaved out a mucus-filled breath. It was a bit painful, but apparently that was quite normal for hacking up a couple lung fulls of slime. Two more coughs later and Sam could breathe almost normally, and with a fully drained suit he was finally free from what he was sure would be a nightmare to remember.
Unscrewing his helmet with every intention to never touch it again Sam reluctantly reminded himself it was company equipment that cost more than he got paid in a year and placed it down carefully beside him. He glanced at the helmet again, swearing he heard some sort of whisper beside him. But he shrugged it off fairly quickly, assuming Kandy hadn't yet cut the comm. Once he had untucked his limbs from the suit, he heard it again, a bit louder this time. Checking the helmet, he found he had already turned off his radio, perhaps she was using the airlock comm for some reason. Stretching his unincarcerated limbs as he leaned over to the wall radio, Sam switched the mic on. "Kandy, did you say something?"
"What? No, I've been running through the mission report, do you hear something?"
"Uh. Maybe? I-" Something spoke again, he didn't understand it, couldn't even begin to. But it felt like it was coming from somewhere inside the Airlock. Sam turned to face it, focusing on his ears and walking towards the voice each time it spoke, his senses almost drifting away as his body more and more distant. Step after step his wet feet squelched against the remains of his suit smoothie. reaching a wall he pressed his ear up to it, the voice was louder through there. "I... I wonder what that is..."
A second voice murmured behind him, but it was distant and unimportant, but familiar. he heard the words but chose to ignore them. "Sam? What are you doing Sam? SAM!"
His cheek was fully squished to the cold steel now, he wanted to understand the voice, why was it behind this wall? Couldn't he let it in for just one moment, so he could talk with it, so he could listen to it more?
"CAPTAIN! IT'S SAM! HOW DOES HE KNOW THE OVERRIDE CODES!?" Sam heard it all once again, but he wasn't worried anymore, he just wanted to understand it, it sounded so lonely...
"Samuel!? Can you hear me?" The familiar voice broke his trance, her desperation made his heart pang. "Oh, Kandy, of course I can hear her. wait why am I at the door..." He moved his face away from the door, looking down at his hands, except they weren't anything like his hands. Black hairs as deep as the night sky snaked their way in thin lines down from his elbow, right to his fingertips, where his terminal was clutched in his grasp. Its display was halfway through an emergency access code labeled 'Airlock override'. Sam ripped the terminal from the wall, lobbing it to the other side of the room where it made a sickening crack as it struck a stray pipe before falling to the floor, shattering into hundreds of pieces.
"What the..." Samuel's entire body shook violently, the alluring voice was gone now, but he couldn't shake the desire to go back outside. The temptation made him wretch at the thought of exposing his bare body to the absurd pressures beyond that door. He glanced down at his shivering hands again. The lines were gone as if they never even existed.
"Samuel? Can you hear me?" Kandy's voice hummed.
"y-yeah I can hear you, Kandy... Can you open the interior door please..." Sam tried not to think too much, instead he just moved to the other side of the tiny cupboard of death, closer to safety.
"Sure Samuel, I've got you." Kandy's voice rang so clear in his head now, he knew he liked her, perhaps now was a good time to tell her. Move back to the main quarters for a bit to get looked at by the Doc, get some on-board therapy, and then quit this job, he'd earned enough money from it. Like hell he was ever going outside again anyway.
Letting his head fall backward onto the door, he waited as patiently as he could, a small smile creeping up his face. "Hey Kandy, I think love you." He spoke confidently as the doors began to creak open.
"I know, Samuel."