Thankfully, even if electronic circuitry was dead, physics still worked. Each of the suits had been equipped with magnetic holders on the boots to keep them stationary on the ship. That being said, walking out onto the surface of the ship was one of the most surreal experiences Bob ever had. Of course, there was no gravity and with only the boots keeping them in, Bob felt an indescribable insecurity. Also the suit he had on was a little too big for him, he felt like he was swimming in it.
Still, time was against them and they had to move fast. Ignoring the sudden nausea in his stomach, he swallowed his fear and continued forward, following the other three who seemed to have much less trouble than him.
Directly perpendicular to their bodies and parallel with the renegade was the ship. It filled practically the entire landscape with its hull. With it hovering so close above them, Bob was overwhelmed by its sheer enormity. Even more than the Arpeligo, to see such a construction and know that it actually once moved across the galaxy freely filled Bob with a sense of awe. Bob wondered what the ship did during its life.
Looking at it more closely, the giant ship looked more scarred and damaged than ever before. As big as it was, having the front starboard section broken like that meant that a space ta hundred times the size of the renegade had been gouged out and all that debris was floating around carelessly. Long streaks of black scorched hull ran down the ship like rivers down from a mountain. It was a ghastly sight and Bob wondered if there was truly anything still functional on a ship like that.
The space around them was littered with rubble from the disaster. Some pieces were only tiny pebbles floating around in a storm, but others were as large as the renegade itself. Even walking across the deck, Bob had to dodge the debris around him.
With the equipment in the suits non-operable, there was no communication available between the four members, only crude hand gestures barely distinguishable in in their suits. Jerall and Jalldrid seemed to be on the same wave length in that regard, but for Bob he couldn’t help but feel truth in the words of Fallin from earlier. If he died out here, it would be without hearing the voice of another soul again.
Jerall had picked their launching spot when they were inside yet. It was the best location on the renegade from which they were to conduct their operation. It was only a few paces up the hull of the renegade but in the suits in which each step was a chore it felt like and mile and with the oxygen ticking down, an eternity. Halfway there Bob felt a sharp tap on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Fallin guesting out with two of his arms. He looked to where Fallin was pointing.
Floating far beyond them and partially on the other side of the ghost ship sat an unmistakable space station. Little could be understood about it from the distance except one crucial fact. It too was dead.
The station had what looked like a spider web of columns around it making a soft sphere around a solid core. A section of the columns, however, showed similar damage that the ghost ship had, a huge section had been blown away and it was dark and wounded. If Bob had to guess, he would have said that the Ship rammed the station. Of course, there was no way to be certain. He turned back to the task at hand, ignoring the equally imposing but eminently insignificant structure.
A small sun was there as well; provide barely any extra light into the system. Its light was white and cold and Bob shivered looking at it and wondered why a station would be out in the empty system in the first place. He pushed his thoughts back and moved forward with the group.
At the launch sight, Jerall and Jalldrid set up what looked like a harpoon gun. It attached itself to the renegade’s hall in a way that would have made Rafel cry. This part of the plan wasn’t explained well to Bob, but then again time was short and he wasn’t going to helping in it all. Basically, the idea was to launch the harpoon like thing at the ghost ship above and have it attach to the hull using strong magnets and cruel looking claws. Connected to the harpoon was a long length of cable, or so it had been described. Looking at it now, it didn’t look adequate for its task. If Bob had a choice he would have doubled its length just to be sure the harpoon would make it to the ghost ship before ending. At this moment, though, there was no choice.
Within minutes, the harpoon was successfully set up. Apparently they had had some sort of training with this kind of set up before; otherwise Bob was certain it would have taken the whole half hour to get it prepared. What use was the harpoon setup beyond this unimaginable disaster? It didn’t matter anyway. Bob knew that if he had to help in the set up, he would only have screwed it up. He stayed back and waited patiently, trying his best not to breathe.
At some wordless signal, Jerall back away quickly from the harpoon gun, leaving Jalldrid at its base. Turning around, Jerall gathered Fallin and Bob and pulled them all back a ways, well clear of the harpoon gun. Then they turned around and watched Jalldrid at his work. With the way he was leaned over, it was impossible to see his face.
It was painfully obvious that they would only get one shot at this. If something went wrong, if the harpoon didn’t stick correctly at the other end, if they ran out of cable, if the firing mechanism malfunctioned, if a hundred other possibilities happened, it would be over.
A large chuck of rubble was floating overhead; right in the way of Jalldrid’s shot. It was moving away, but slowly and Fallin grew impatient threw all four hands in the air as if to shew the rubble away. Feeling only a little silly, Bob did the same but the rubble moved in agonizing slowness. Bob tried to think about how much time had passed since they started, then realized he had no idea. He felt that at any moment he would be out. He suddenly felt lightheaded just thinking about it.
Without warning, the harpoon suddenly shot off jarring Bob back into reality from the burst of light and the vibration across the ship. Bob realized he forgot to worry about the shot. Emerging from the small dust cloud, Jalldrid came forward, warding it away. All eyes were on the harpoon.
It took only seconds for the harpoon to reach its destination, but again, to Bob it felt as if it would never arrive. Whether it was by Jalldrid good timing or by the fates of the universe, the harpoon miraculously made it through without hitting any object, except one small piece that barely altered its trajectory. Looking at the cable as it disappeared silently, Bob saw the entirety of it go, then fall back slightly in the rebound. With all said and done, it looked as if only 5 feet was spared.
After the Cable stopped shaking violently, Jalldrid grabbed it roughly to hold it still. Looking up at the course of the cable he gave it a couple soft tugs and waited. Nothing happened so he tugged again, harder, and then again putting all his strength into it. Bob almost had a heart attack seeing Jalldrid look like he was trying to wretch the blasted harpoon free form the other side, but thankfully, nothing stirred. Releasing the cable with one hand Jalldrid turned to the group and gave the signal for success. A large smile played upon his face.
Next to Bob, Fallin threw his hands in the air again and, presumably, let out a loud yell of adulation. Bob just shook his head and Jerall strode forward without delay.
The next part of the plan was the most complicated and required the most technical effort on Bob’s part. Jerall synched up the cable, making it at tight as he could dare, securing the end to the base of the harpoon launcher. Each of the party had to then attach a particular cord from their suit onto the cable.
“We are really going to have to jump?” Bob had asked incredulously when he first heard the plan back on the renegade still. “I had said that jokingly!”
“You’ll be attached to the cable still, so you won’t go flying off into space, but essentially yes.” Jerall explained, showing off the specific part of the suit that was to connect to the cable. It was a hard metal that kept itself perpendicular to the cable so that the user could have some base to control orientation. “You’ll disconnect your boots magnetization and you’ll leap up at the ship, letting your inertia carry you over there. The cable will keep you on track. Landing will be the tricky part though; you’ll have to turn your body around while traveling so that you end up on your feet and then tighten the break line of the cable to slow yourself down so that you don’t crash into the ship.”
Looking at the cable now and watching Jalldrid help Jerall attach herself, Bob realized Jerall failed to mention the most important part of this. Doing this quickly. Bob had completely lost track of time already, but looking at the actions of Jalldrid and Jerall, he could tell that it was going to be expiring soon. There would be no time to wait for any shenanigans on the cable line.
With a small bounce, Jerall lifted off the renegade like was a rocket taking off from the ground. Looking at her, it was clear she had done something at least similar to this before. She kept her left arm strictly to its side with her right cuffed up next to her with a tight grip on the break line. Halfway there, she used her right arm to brace herself against her cord and slowly pull her body around so that she was facing them.
Within moments she started to slow down as she pressed her break line shut. He destination as rapidly approaching, but even as she threatened to smack into it, she slowed significantly and by the time she reach it, she only had to step off gracefully like she was ascending from a staircase. As soon as she hit the hull she quickly magnetized her boots and was ready to go. Bob wondered at her incredible control.
Fallin’s turn was next and for once his multiple arms proved a hindrance as their potential flailing could throw off his balance. Still, it was clear at once that he had had similar experience. He was able to orient himself correctly and landed at the other end if not with as much grace as Jerall, then with more definite footing.
Suddenly it was Bob’s turn and he was now sweating despite the chill in his suit. Jalldrid was beckoning him forward and suddenly he felt as if the magnetization on his boots had been turned to max. Striding forward, Jalldrid came and pulled Bob towards the harpoon. Bob suddenly regretted very much ever stepping on foot the Arpeligo where he had met Jerall and Jalldrid and came to this unfortunate fate.
Standing at the base of the harpoon, Jalldrid was hooking up Bob to the cable without help. After that was done, Bob and him stood still, Jalldrid waiting for Bob to step up and take hold of the cable. After a moment, Jalldrid forcefully thrust the cable into Bob’s hand and pulled Bob’s face up to his. He started yelling something at Bob, but Bob could only stare back. He could not read that species lips. After Jalldrid completed his speech, he smacked Bob across the faceplate. Perhaps it was meant to give Bob strength, but it only made his ears ring.
Bob was not a religious man, but looking up at the cable and then across to the other ship and seeing the two people waving at him with six arms, Bob prayed to God. “Jesus Christ, give me strength.” With that, and his heart pumping a million gallons a minute and surely wasting all his oxygen, Bob reached down and disengaged his magnetism and leapt up without thinking. It was the only way he could have leapt.
Bob felt that Jesus gave him too much strength. He was going faster across the stretch than he hoped he would. He tried to concentrate on what he needed to do, but the fast approaching hull of the ghost ship and little pieces of rubble floating by, threatening to knock him over kept distracting him. Still, halfway across by his estimation, he started to twist his body against the hard cable. He wasn’t as gracefully as Jerall and his left arm flailed wastefully against him.
He had successfully managed to turn himself horizontal at least and was starting to actually think he was going to make it when a piece of rubble floating by hit him. It was a small piece by any standard, hardly bigger than a soft ball, but it was hard and hit his outstretched feet and used leverage against him. In a moment he had lost control and lost his grip on the cable.
Bob started spinning out of control around the cable. The rubble had decreased his speed slightly, but the destination was fast approaching and Bob had lost all ability to tell when that would come. Spinning around the cable, Bob could only hear his own hard breathing and the soft “vrrr” from the vibrations of the cable. He wondered if that would be the last thing he would hear.
Letting go of all thought of righting himself or even trying to stop the spin, Bob struggled desperately for the Breakline. After flailing for a few minutes he secured it and tugged on it as hard as he could. With a sudden jerk, Bob felt like his suit was going to tear itself away from him. The force hurt him painfully as the suite scrapped and tugged against his side inside. He lost further stability as his body bounced around from the sudden change in force. Still, he did not stop immediately and within moments he felt his back slam against the unforgiving hull of the ghost ship. He was luckily in the rotation that slammed his back first and, but the hit knocked the air out of him and his shocked body was unable to grasp any support to keep him on the hull. He stated to float away again.
Four large strong arms reached up and snatched him before he could float away again. He felt himself get pulled down to the hull and Jerall grabbed his legs and magnetized the boots quickly. Only one activated, pulled his right leg down to the metal. The left remained where it was. Jerall gave it a quick look, but then turned, shaking her head, signaled for Fallin to cut him loose from the cable.
Back on solid ground again, Bob lay still on the plate, breathing heavily and trying to calm down from his experience. Jerall leaned over him with concern, trying to talk with him and shake him down. With an effort, Bob put up his hand, trying to say that he was okay, that his back didn’t hurt that much, that he didn’t think any bones were broken, and that what he really needed was a hug after his near death experience.
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Bob doubted she understood the whole message, but she pulled him close and gave him a big hug. Oddly, Bob thought he felt a little better.
In the end, fiasco with Bob didn’t really waste much extra time. Jalldrid hardly waited for Bob to be saved before he too took his turn up the cable. He too was in the trajectory of some rubble passing through, but he stuck out his left hand and struck it forcefully way before it could affect him. It looked cool and Bob scowled back at him, still lying down on the ghost ship hull.
Without any other incidents, Jalldrid made it across safely and disengaged himself with ease. He waived at Bob quickly but Bob scowled back and took the cue to slowly get up and get moving again. In a sudden shocking move, Jalldrid reached up and disengaged the harpoon form the ship and let it float away. Bob would have squawked more if he had the energy, but Jalldird just shrugged back. They couldn't leave to the two ship’s connected for long and potentially have the renegade get pulled and crash into the ghost ship. Bob watched sadly as the cable floated slowly away. There was no return to the renegade now.
Without any hesitation, Jerall continued forward towards the destination only she knew. With Bob’s left boot inoperable Jalldrid had to help Bob forward. Idly, Bob wondered if he was not rather a drag on this mission. Maybe they should have just left him behind. Not that he was going to argue with them. For the hundredth time, Bob wondered how much time they had left.
It looked like Jerall was heading for the nearest crater to them. It was a large black hole on the otherwise smooth surface of the ship they were on and it looking like the hole went deeply into the ship. As they approached Jerall got on her knees and bent forward into the hole trying to get a better view of what could possibly be inside.
By the time Bob made it there, she had already stood up. The look on her face was not hopeful. She immediately started signaling Jalldrid who let go of Bob to respond back. Bob took the opportunity to peer inside the crater too.
Bob understood immediately what Jerall was upset about. There was literally nothing to see. It was all darkness down there and upon retrospect; it seemed obvious to Bob that there should be. There was so little light other than what the millions of tiny stars afforded. None of that light reached down far into the crater and there was no light coming from it either. There could be the entrance they were looking for down there, there was no way to tell. Bob stood up and looked around. In front of him towards the destroyed section of the craft were dozens of similar holes, all presumably without any light in them. They did not have time to search them. The realization left him cold and he turned and looked at the leader.
The Captain and Jerall were having a very animated conversation using only their arms. Presumably they were discussing what to do now, but it wasn’t clear to Bob what they were saying. He shook his head and looked away, a dead feeling slipping into this stomach.
Fallin had actually taken his look into the crater a step further and had actually entered the nearly perpendicular drop. He was climbing slowly down, using all four arms expertly, but soon he was out of sight.
Bob looked back towards the station he had ignored before. He wondered what kind of people used to live there. Was it a large population such as what Arpeligo had? Did they live and walk on the station with trade and commerce? Where they all dead over there too, with centuries passing without any disturbance to their sleep? Then more practical questions came into his head, had this ship really rammed into the station? Why would it, with all its fire power, do that? If they were fighting, wouldn’t it rather use all its armaments to reduce the station to slag from a safe distance? And surely, a disaster like this would be catastrophic for a ship, but not fatal. Surely after the accident they could both call for help or rescue? Bob was left with unanswered questions.
Bringing his attention back to the task at hand, Bob noticed more craters behind him, away from the center of the catastrophe. Less of them certainly, and much more spread out, but there none the less. An idea suddenly sprang into his head. He got up and hit Jalldrid on the shoulder to get his attention.
Jalldrid turned to him and it was clear to Bob that he was not in the mood to be toyed with. He glared back at Bob. Bob swallowed and tried to convey his idea. Jalldrid stared back uncomprehending.
Bob struggled a moment, then tried again. “We should search in that direction!” He shouted uselessly, pointing toward the aft section of the ship, away from the giant hole. He gestured with his arms in exaggerated motion, “There is power over there, and we might find a hole we can actually look into! We won’t find anything different up here, much less oxygen. It’s all dead!”
Jalldrid didn’t understand what Bob was saying, but luckily Jerall was there right behind him and was able to get the idea from Bob. She pulled Jalldrid around and explained what Bob was saying, in their own strange language. Jalldrid was proving to be skeptical and held his ground. Frustrated, Bob sighed and looked back towards few craters behind him. Perhaps none of them would let them in in the end.
At that moment, Fallin reappeared from the hole he had crawled into. He looked angry and frustrated as well, he climbed out of the hole shaking his head. As soon as he got up he strode to Jerall and started yelling at her in an unheard voice, yet clearly understood intent. Jalldrid intervened, perhaps to defend his sister, but Fallin pushed him away angrily with his two left hands. Jalldrid fell over unsteadily. With his two right hands, Fallin grabbed Jerall and lifted her off the hull. He pulled her close as if to choke her.
Without hesitation, Jerall head butted Fallin in the helmet. No real damage was done it was more of an intent to get his attention and to calm him down. Regardless, Fallin held her up a few more seconds before letting her down again. He let her go and stood in silent agitation. Jalldrid was able to get up steadily after a moment.
Taking control, Jerall pointed out the craters further back and then without waiting for an answer headed in their direction. Anybody who stayed would get left behind. Bob followed her quickly with Fallin right after and Jalldrid taking the back. Whatever he was arguing about with Jerall, it looks like her lost.
In the direction they were traveling, there were about seven craters within reach of their location. Depending on how much air they had left, there was probably even less of a chance they would be able to get to all seven if the first few didn’t prove to be helpful.
Thinking on it, Bob wondered why they hadn’t put more thought into what they were looking for earlier. Sure, they were simply desperate and in a hurry to get out of there, but shouldn’t they have come up with a more reasonable plan? How were they expecting to get into the ship? Bob recalled what Jerall had told the group earlier.
“How to enter this ship is the most important part here, guys, “ She had told them as they were putting on the finishing touches of their suits. “Ships aren’t designed to simply be accessed from the outside by some scavengers. Furthermore, we don’t have the equipment to simply cut a hole and break in. The odds of finding an airlock that we would be able to work with are so against us; we are not even going to pursue it.”
“Why not?” Fallin asked, “On a ship that size, there must be hundreds of entry points that we could use!”
“Airlocks aren’t made to be opened simply from the outside.” Jalldrid explained, “Furthermore, this thing is a warship. It’s not going to be designed so that people can simply infiltrate it by putting on spacesuits and climbing over it. No, we will need to get in another way.”
“And what way will that be?” Bob asked, feeling exhausted already.
“Obviously, we’ll be going for the weakness in the ship,” Jerall said brightly finishing setup on their equipment. “All those holes over there are opportunities for getting inside the ship. It’s only a matter of finding the right one.”
Jerall was right about one thing. There were certainly a lot of holes on this corner of the ship. Unfortunately, none of them looked to be promising.
The first they had looked at was so dark inside that even with Fallin crawling inside it, he couldn’t see anything useful. There could have been an opening inside it that the four could get into, even if there wasn’t air immediately, which of course there wouldn’t be because it would have been all sucked out in the vacuum already, getting inside the stupid ship was the first step before they could even look for air in it.
Bob scowled in his helmet. This whole trip was his stupid idea; he was too naive when he suggested it.
Jerall arrived at the next hole, but only gave it a quick glance before leaving it behind as well. Bob, a little behind, took a little extra time to peer into it. It too was black as space inside it. Feeling disheartened, Bob looked up. They were looking for a hole in a section of the ship that was still alive, right? How far back would they have to go? Bob thought perhaps, there was no hole near them that would work.
Jerall was moving fast across the hull of the ship, recklessly not using her magnetized boots correctly. If she made a mistake in her movements, she could lose her balance and, at worst case, lose her grip on the hull and float way.
The third crater they made for was very wide, almost as wide as the entirety of the renegade. It was very shallow as well, and with its shape, it looked like a large bowl. If they decided to explore it, it would be relatively easy to get down into it. Also, with the wide open feel of it, there was enough light to be able to see around in it. Still, there was no sign of life in the crater, no flickering lights and exposed relays shorting out. Jerall stood at the top of the crater uncertainty and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
All together, the four of them stood atop the crater silently staring down into it. Judging by their demeanor, Bob concluded that they did not have much oxygen left. If the group did decide to explore this crater looking for an opening, they would not be able to get to any other ones before they ran out of time. After conferring with Jallrid, Jerall ultimately decided against this crater. They turned and left without looking back at it.
The walk to the fourth crater was long and strenuous. Especially with only one of his boots was working, Bob feared that by the time they reached it he would have used all his oxygen from his heavy breathing. On the way, they appeared to have crossed over into a different section of the ghost ship. Gone was the flat smooth surfaces that had been on before, instead jagged outcroppings and odd protrusions of some strange equipment littered the surface now, if it could be called a surface. There was no longer any conformity and when they did arrive at their crater it proved to be a very deep gouge into the ship’s hull. Looking at it, it appeared that what used to be there was a large turret of some sort before it got torn away, taking a section of the hull with it.
Jerall was there first as always and she looked down into the hole first. After a moment, she crouched down ever further, trying to get the best line of sight she could. Bob was there shortly after.
At first, the hole didn’t look any different than the others. It was completely black and impossible to tell how deep the hole was. Furthermore, it wasn’t very wide; only one person could fit down the hole at a time if they wanted to go down it. Bob shook his head at it and looked further across the ship. Only a couple more holes could they pursue if they wanted to, but the prospects were looking dim.
Jalldrid arrived a moment later and his face filled with disgust at the sight of the hole. He turned to move away when Jerall grabbed him by the ankle and pointed down at something Bob couldn’t see. They began to talk again with each other. Bob wondered, shouldn’t they be leaving already?
In a sudden motion, Jerall reached out a grabbed a chuck on debris from around them and threw it down the shaft. It quickly disappeared in the shadows of the hole, but only seconds later a blue shimmer appeared not 20 feet down, as if the rubble had hit a puddle. The shimmer spread across the width of the hole and then settled down and disappeared. It only lasted three seconds.
Without hesitation, Fallin came up and immediately entered the hole headfirst. Bob wasn’t too heartened by the sight, obviously not as much as Fallin was. He looked around again and shook his head as Fallin disappeared in the crevice. This was the last chance.
Right after Fallin entered, Jerall went down into the hole too, staying behind him and moving forward carefully. Jalldrid extended his hand forward as if to invite Bob first, but Bob shook his head. “Shouldn’t we wait until they return to give us news?” he tried to shout over to Jerall. He tried to gesture his words.
Jalldrid shook his head and pointed Bob down into the hole again and then tapped the inoperable chronometer each suit had attached to it. Clearly, they were running out of time.
With nothing else for it, Bob peered in again, just in time to see Fallin reach and slowly pass through the blue energy barrier. It lit up the corridor brilliantly as Fallin passed through, displaying the dirty damaged corridor. Was that the plasmic type barrier that kept air in and solids could pass through? Was there air on the other side? It was the best hope at the moment. The only hope really.
Bob entered in only after a slight hesitation. The inside was cramped; it significantly decreased in size only a few feet in. His sides were scrapping the rough surface of the ship and he felt suddenly claustrophobic. The fabric of his suit caught on a minor outcropping shortly in and after a slight panic he freed himself from it. At this point, it was completely black and he had to go forward feeling the slides of the tunnel.
Suddenly a blue shimmer lit up his way, signaling that Jerall had slipped through the membrane. In that moment he was able to see the inside more clearly but there wasn’t much to see besides the wreckage of a torn and gutted section of the ship. He stopped a moment halfway through and put a steady hand on the side of the tunnel. He tried to feel any life in the ship, but not a hint of any kind of vibration made its way to him. Maybe his suit was too insulated to feel anything, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread and the sense that he would soon die in this tunnel. Stealing himself, he moved forward.
He came to the membrane soon and he put his hand against it. It lit up brightly at his touch and offered a slight resistance to him. He pressed in and passed through.
He was immediately disappointed. There was no pressure against his suit on the inside of the barrier, just the vacuum of emptiness. Even though the emergency barrier was active, there was nothing inside to keep safe. As he passed through, the light from the membrane illuminated the small cave like structure they were in again. Fallin and Jerall were working furiously at something in the corner and Bob let his hand stay there to keep light up. Jalldrid appeared soon after, crossing through the barrier with similar disgust.
He turned to Bob with a questioning glance and Bob did his best to shrug. Leaving Bob to keep the light up, he went forward to see what the two were up to. Looking up, Bob saw the stars outside and wondered if there was still a chance they could get out and try another hole. Probably not. He kept his focus on the stars. If we were going to die here, he would prefer to be gazing at them rather than the ugly dirty metal around him.
There was a commotion up front, and Bob reluctantly returned his attention there. There was some sort of argument and Fallin violently shoved both Jalldrid and Jerall away with his arms and then he latched all his limbs upon the siding he was on like a spider on a wall. He then proceeded to do his best to try to tear it away, struggling vainly against the metal. It was a desperate attempt and Jerall and Jalldrid looked on for a second, and then turned to each other, talking again in their gestures again in the way only siblings could understand.
Was this all useless in the end? Well no, now that Bob thought about it, even if they died out here the four still on the renegade would still be saved. That was the whole idea of the plan, wasn’t it? They did their best until the end, but like Fallin had said, this was really just a sacrifice to save those on the ship. Somehow, Bob felt a little comforted. As he stood there, he thought he could feel his loss of oxygen coming on. He felt a little dizzy.
Suddenly, Bob felt the walls of the ship groan slightly. He looked back at Fallin who was struggling mightily with the siding. A moment later the siding came off in a fantastic burst of motion, and with it a blast of air came out as well, filling the space as the laws of physics demanded. Bob felt the warm air course over him and put pressure upon his suit. The pleasant feeling lasted only a moment though because a split second later the siding that Fallin had wretched off came flying it way towards Bob from the blast and smashed him on the side of the head in a horrendous crash.
The last thing Bob saw before losing consciousness was a pool of his own blood floating before him and Jerall working frantically above him, shouting his name and trying to tear off his helmet. With air back in their space, Bob could hear again but her loud words hurt his head. “At least it’s warm,” he thought carelessly before he faded out.