— 66 Hours Remain —
As two dropped another metal box she’d found off at the workshop, she wiped her brow, leaning back against the box to take a quick rest. That’s when she noticed Five just looking down at the bench, a concerned expression on her face “Five?” she called.
Five held up a finger toward her. Then there was a quiet metallic groan that came from behind them. Two turned to look but just saw the sealed Engineering Bay door. “The station’s moving. It’s still slow right now, but the engineering bay is all twisted up, remember?”
Two nodded “Yeah, I thought we dealt with that problem by sealing it off though. If it breaks off in reentry, that’s fine.”
“No.” Five sighed and let her shoulders drop “It was fine when we were just in orbit. If it breaks off while we’re crashing through the atmosphere, it would send us off balance. It would send us into a spin, which would be… extremely bad. I’m willing to bet only one side of this place is heat-shielded, and the force of a spin would tear the station apart. There would be no surviving it, no matter how we prepare.”
“Then I guess we have to hope it doesn’t do that.” Two put a hand on Five’s shoulder to reassure her “We can only worry about stuff we can actually change now. If it comes down to that… then at least we tried.”
Five turned toward Two, but couldn’t bring herself to look at her “We can always try harder. Do something about it.” she spoke quietly “Something I could do.”
Two didn’t like how she was talking “Alright… what’s the plan then?” she asked, wanting to know where this was going before she endorsed it.
“When I was putting that… thing you captured in the airlock, I found that there were EVA suits in there.” she spoke quietly “They’re not made for people our size, and I definitely don’t have the tools to adjust them, but… well, they should still work as protection from the vacuum.”
“Are you…” Two started, eyes wide with concern “Are you suggesting that we actually go out into space and fix the engineering bay?”
“I’m suggesting that ‘I’ go out into space and fix the engineering bay.” Five sighed and finally looked Two in the eyes “I’m the only one of us who can. I’ve seen you using tools and you wouldn’t know what you’re doing with something that complicated.”
“And this has nothing to do with the fact that you haven’t had your chance to risk your life doing something reckless yet?” Two said quietly. Again she was left with no good argument against risking her life in this situation.
“I can’t say that hasn’t crossed my mind.” Five admitted, still not breaking eye contact “But I can say I’ve thought about the logistics. It’s gotta be me. There’s no other way. If we just let the engineering bay rotate like it does now, the chance of failure is too high. Way too high. And we’ve probably only actually got two days before it’s too dangerous to go out and fix it.”
“Been thinking about this a lot, huh?” Two sat down on the box and looked at the floor.
“For a couple hours, yeah.” Five nodded “I didn’t wanna just go off and do it though. Thought I should at least tell someone about it.”
“What about prepping for a safe landing?” Two asked, looking at the half-welded fixture she’d been working on.
“Had a better idea. It’ll be easier to implement too. I can have it together in a few hours. Just need those mattresses and some straps from the physics lab. And cloth for padding.”
“That’s it?” Two sounded surprised.
“That’s it.” Five nodded “There’s already embeded hooks in that lab we can strap things to, and they’re going to be sturdier than anything I can put together with the tools I got. Strap the bed against the frame, strap us to the beds, clear the area of anything that might fly around at us. That’s about as best as I can do. My time is better spent out there, fixing the bigger problem.”
“Five… I know you want your moment being the hero here, but you don’t have to-”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I do have to do this. If I don’t fix that thing, there’s more than a small chance this whole thing blows apart on reentry.” Five insisted “I agree with your methods. We need to rely on action, even reckless action, not luck and waiting for something to happen. So I’m doing it and that’s final.”
There was silence for a few moments as Five stared down Two, who looked defeated this time “You’re sure the suits are safe for you to use?” she asked.
“Hell no I’m not sure.” Five threw her arms out “They’re not meant for kids. But I know I filled an atmospheric tank at the other airlock and I can at least fit inside and use the arms of it if you excuse some clumsiness. I wasn’t just working on that arm of yours while you were out you know. This is dangerous, and Three’s probably right when she eventually calls this stupid, but it’s gotta be done.”
“I understand.” Two nodded sadly “I just wish there was something more I could do… to make sure you come back safe.”
“I did a little research on how to keep attached to the ship in a spacewalk. I should be able to get back in just fine if I do it right. The size of the suit is going to be my biggest problem, but I’ve thought of that too. I can do this, Two.”
Two shook her head and let out a dark laugh “I guess all I can do is say good luck then.” she finally looked her back in the eyes, a sad smile on her face “I just… I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t. I’m too tough. I’ll get back into this station no matter what.” Five smiled and held a thumbs up to her.
—
— 60 Hours Remain —
“Are you sure this won’t break our ribs?” Three said skeptically as she watched five tying cloth straps down to the mattresses they’d already attached to the floor “I feel like this is going to break my ribs.”
“Might.” Five admitted, pulling it tightly in place “That’s why we’re gonna be wearing as many layers of clothes as we can though. So there’s something between you and the strap.”
Two and Seven were sat down on top of the mattresses that were already set up, surrounded by all the shirts and even the other kinds of clothes that had no business fitting on any of them. “That’s reassuring.”
“Yeah, another point of failure in this convoluted mess of a plan. What’s next?” Three rolled her eyes.
“What’s next is… we wait. I got one more thing to take care of, then we just secure supplies and… and we wait.” Five took a deep breath and exhaled to calm herself “I’ll eat and then I’ll get to work on the hard part.”
“What’s the hard part?” Three asked.
“She’s gonna fix engineering.” Two said quietly.
“I thought she said she can’t fix engineering.” Three raised an eyebrow, looking up at Five who was still mentally bracing herself for what was ahead.
“I can’t fix it from inside.” Five folded her arms and looked toward the physics lab door.
“… You’re joking.” Three said flatly.
“Dead serious.” Five quipped.
“Don’t say dead serious.” Two groaned.
“If you haven’t noticed, Five, we’re still in space, did you plan to just walk out there and tighten the screw holding it to the station or something?” It was clear that Three was starting to become irritated at Five’s callousness.
Five started walking toward the door, still breathing heavily to keep herself calm “It’s a little more complicated than that. But yeah, basically.”
“You’re insane.” Three shook her head “And why can’t this wait until we’re on the ground?”
“Cause if I don’t fix it, we won’t get to the ground.” Five muttered “I’ve already talked this over with Two. I’m doing it. No buts.”
“She’s right, it has to be done.” Two admitted quietly.
As Five stood at the door, Seven finally spoke up “No matter what happens, we love you.” she said flatly and then returned to her silent stupor. It made Five stop for a moment, but she continued out the door before long.
“She’s actually going into space?” Three asked, a scared expression on her face as she turned to Two.
Two just nodded back “It’s all we can do. She prepped a suit as best as she could. She said there’s a radio on the inside, so we can talk to her at the helm while she’s doing it. We probably have about an hour before she’s ready.”
“Are we sure this is the only way we can fix this? Can’t we unweld the door and try to rotate it from the inside?” Three sounded desperate to find another way that didn’t risk their friend’s life.
“That’s got a fifty fifty chance of tearing the whole thing off right now.” Two muttered.
“And what are the odds that Five dies in a vacuum because she’s doing something that was already highly complicated and dangerous before we factor in that the equipment isn’t made for her!?” Three was becoming even more angry.
“I don’t know, Three! I don’t like it either! If I could, I’d be telling her off, but she’s right!” Two raised her voice back “I don’t know! I don’t have all the answers, okay? All we can do right now is try, and she’s got the best plan. It’s a stupid plan, but it’s a plan!” she pounded her fist ineffectually against the mattress she was on, and it was obvious she was on the verge of tears “All we can do now is support her. It’s her turn to be a stupid hero.”
“Don’t sign me up for that list.” Three sighed, her expression softening as she accepted that this was not something that she could change their minds on “I’m perfectly content cleaning up after the ‘heroism’ you three have. I’m not jumping into danger.”
“I feel like, if you were the only one who could, you would.” Two said quietly, staring up at the window above them and imagining herself in Five’s place “I think that’s just the kind of people we are.”
Three leaned back on her mattress as well, spreading her arms wide and releasing the tension she’d built up “Believe all you want, I’m not the one going to space.”