Angel took Reece through each of his systems over the next few hours. He showed him how the systems worked, their quirks, and necessary maintenance. It was clear that Angel was extremely good at his job, yet there were a few things that Reece needed to double-check. They didn’t talk about themselves too much, Reece feeling that any friendship between them would be short-lived considering Angel’s imminent departure.
Angel did mention that. He’d departed in three days with Taylor, Solomon, and Aldo. The shuttle missions were designed to keep the right amount of people with the right skills aboard the station at any given time. In this case, they were swapping out a mission commander, an engineer, a biologist, and a pilot.
After they had finished, they made their way back to the mess hall. It was empty. Angel showed him where the station’s MREs were stored. They had just been replenished by the supplies that Reece and his crew had brought with them on their mission.
“Alright, where to begin…ahh,” said Angel. “Thomas may have already explained some of this to you. Hopefully, I’ll provide some new information.”
“So… the station has a waste processing plant that creates fertilizer and fresh water for a decently sized greenhouse that provides a bunch of different fruits and vegetables for when we start to get tired of the MREs, or to supplement them or whatever,” he explained while they prepped their meals. “We even have a small chicken coop with half-a-dozen egg layers, so say goodbye to powdered eggs. Luckily, the suits reasoned that these additions were renewable, unlike the MREs. They also saved money for the space programs run by each supporting country. The station is well stocked. We even have vitamins, a small pharmacy, and a fully stocked med lab.”
“Now, we get a limited amount of freeze-dried meat,” he continued. “Enough for a meal a week for each of us. And it’s not that Mutagenic crap the bio-scientists cooked up to increase protein production in our livestock. I mean, have you ever seen any of those animals? I can’t believe the government approved them for human consumption. You’ve got your giant cows with actual fangs, not to mention the man-sized, beakless chickens. But the weirdest ones are the four-thousand-pound hogs with human-like faces. I mean, that’s just freaky. Nope, everything we have here is one-hundred percent genetically unaltered.”
Reece decided he liked Angel and appreciated the man getting him up to speed with his last couple of days on the station. After the dinner… since they had worked through lunch, Angel showed Reece how to clean up after a meal. On a space station, there had to be a procedure for everything. Otherwise, chaos would inevitably ensue. That could become dangerous.
“Alright, Reece,” yawned Angel once they had finished cleaning up. “How about we get some rack? It’s been a long and eventful day, and I’m beat.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Reece, realizing how exhausted he was. “Hey, how long did you take to get used to living up here? I mean, the days don’t exactly follow the traditional sun and moon, day and night cycle.”
“Yeah,” replied Angel. “I hear ya. Honestly, I never did get used to it completely. The light of day and the dark of night are two things I miss most about being on earth. You may not have noticed, but a couple of years ago, one of the engineers adjusted the lighting system here to dim slightly at night. There are always people up and about. After all, someone must maintain the station. So, unfortunately, we can’t get too dark up here. But at least it gives us a familiar feeling of day and night. Better than nothing.”
“Yeah, I suppose so,” replied Reece. “And you’re right. I didn’t even notice the lighting difference until you just mentioned it. Yeah, it does seem a little dimmer than when we first got here and met everyone. On that note, please… lead on, I’m about ready to crash.”
They made their way to the men’s quarters. All the men slept in a single bay of cots, as did the women in their own bay. Some of the cots were occupied, light snoring filling the room. Reece and Angel removed their suits in the dark and hung them in the nearest empty locker. Reece grabbed an open cot, noticing that it was bolted down. Angel settled into his own.
“Goodnight, man. And welcome to the team,” said Angel as he rolled over. “Oh, and tomorrow we do a spacewalk. I’ll show you the rest of the systems you’ll be maintaining. Get some sleep. You’ll need it.”
“Goodnight, and thanks for the tour,” replied Reece as he lay down.
“And thanks for mentioning we’re doing a spacewalk tomorrow,” thought Reece. “Now, how am I supposed to sleep?”
Angel pulled the sheets over his head. Reece soon heard his soft snoring joining the others. It had been less than a minute since he had spoken. Reece tried his best to fall straight to sleep, but he tossed and turned as more thoughts coursed through his head.
“I’m in orbit around the earth, thousands of miles from everyone I know. I hope everyone is doing well down there. I finally made it. I made it to space. And tomorrow, I’ll be floating in it. Nothing between me and infinite emptiness but a simple suit.”
Reece contemplated the surreal nature of what he had just accomplished when sleep crept up on him.
He dreamed. It was about himself and something changing within him. When Reece awoke sometime later, everything felt just as surreal as when he went to sleep, and he couldn’t remember any more about his dream than the feeling of an internal change. It made sense to him. He knew that leaving earth and walking in space were life-changing events. He was sure that was all it was.
The last time he woke, he had been in his girlfriend’s bed back on earth. Well, his ex-girlfriend. He wasn’t about to take her back, but decided one last night with her would be nice before the mission. She was hot, after all. However, now he was in space. Waking from a regular bed, in a typical house, in a normal neighborhood, even with a hot ex… well; that paled to waking up in a space-station floating far above the earth’s surface. He lay there a moment and attempted to let it sink in.
“Yeah,” he thought, getting up. “It’ll take me a bit to get used to waking up in space. How long was I asleep, anyway?”
Reece noticed a clock on the outer wall that dimly glowed in the gloom of the bay. It showed a green “6:34 am”. Reece had no idea what time he went to sleep. He got up and started his day without giving it a second thought. He tried to figure out the daily routine on the station. He decided to try the small gym first, heading there for a workout. After that, he would get a shower and some breakfast. He would track down Angel later…if the short-timer didn’t find him first.
The gym was a small module. In addition to treadmills, there was a 4-meter square padded area, a heavy training bag for kickboxing, and a speed bag on one wall. The opposite wall held resistance bands. The bands could be affixed to loops on the floor and the wall opposite the training bags. Like everything else on the station, all the equipment was either attached to the structure permanently or well-fastened for temporary storage.
But the most noticeable feature was the large poly-resin window opposite the treadmills. It took up the entire wall section, nearly three meters across. The gym was immaculate, with the only indications that it was ever used being a few scuff marks here and there from normal wear and tear. It smelled faintly of cleaning solution. Reece was relieved it was unoccupied. Having just woken up, he wasn’t in the mood for company.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Deciding on a warm-up, he put in his earbuds and started his workout playlist as he mounted the closest treadmill. Starting the program for a brisk jog, the treadmill kicked to life just as the first notes of the first song on his playlist started drowning out all the ambient noises of the space station. Once he got his rhythm, Reece realized he could see part of the earth peeking through a corner of the heavy window directly across the room. The reality of where he was hit him like a sucker punch, a chill running down his spine. Trying to ignore it, he concentrated on the music and continued jogging.
After a bit, he sped up to a run. He was in the zone, though it wasn’t long before he no longer felt he was alone. A few seconds later, he noticed someone getting on the treadmill next to him. He stared straight ahead, but his peripheral vision told him it was a female with long dark hair. It didn’t take her long to begin jogging on the machine, and she set a pace a bit faster than Reece’s. Glancing over, he saw that it was one of the women he had met when he had just boarded the station.
He thought her name was Aika. She was concentrating straight ahead of her and wore a similar pair of earbuds to his. The attractive woman wore a tight white tank top and black shorts and was distractingly busty as she jogged, especially considering how toned she was.
“Oh well,” thought Reece to himself. “It was good while it lasted. I can’t expect to have the gym to myself all the time. She’s probably thinking the same thing, and I need to mind my own business before I get in trouble.”
Reece re-focused on finishing his run, allowing his music to spur him on. After another twenty minutes, he slowed the treadmill down to a nice walking pace to cool down. Aika continued her run as Reece hopped off the treadmill. Exiting the module, he heard a voice behind him.
“Hey, new guy…” called the woman.
Reece turned around and saw that she had suddenly stopped her treadmill and stepped off to approach him.
“What do you think of the station so far?” she asked.
“Aika, right?” asked Reece.
The almond-eyed woman nodded and smiled, seemingly pleased that he had remembered her name from the previous day.
“Well, it’s pretty early, and it’s going to take me a while to get used to it,” replied Reece, “but this is the most amazing experience of my life and I’m grateful to be a part of this crew.”
“Hmm, typical answer,” said Aika dryly, suddenly acting bored, “and what do you think of the crew?”
This took Reece a bit by surprise, not something you usually hear in a first conversation. Aika was trying to make a point or make up her mind about him.
“So,” replied Reece carefully, “I can’t say that I’ve gotten a good read on many of the people here, but Angel seems like a good guy, and Thomas is likable. You seem to be a straight shooter, but I don’t know anything about you. I’ve barely met the rest of the crew, although Naeva seems interesting. I just don’t know if it’s a good or bad interesting yet.”
Aika looked at Reece thoughtfully, “Well, you are right about me to some degree, but I’d like to think that I’m more than just a straight shooter.”
Reece immediately interjected, “I, um… sorry if I’ve disrespected you. That was not my intent. I’ll try to get to know you better before making assumptions.”
“Good. And as for Naeva, here’s some friendly advice. She’s the bad kind of interesting.” And having said her piece, she walked out of the gym module before Reece could respond.
“Real smooth,” thought Reece to himself. “Way to sound like a jackass.”
Reece stood there for a moment, trying to understand the strange comments. He also left the gym module for the showers as he contemplated the short meeting. Maybe spending all this time in space with only a handful of people to keep you company must change your behavior. He was no psychologist, so he forced himself to think about other things. First, he concentrated on the task at hand, quickly cleaning himself with minimal water and a few squirts of the foam soap they used in space. Once he finished that, he started thinking of the day ahead.
He and Angel still had a few systems to check over and get the rundown on…the external systems. These all required a spacewalk to access them, and spacewalks came with a certain level of danger. Therefore, there were numerous protocols that they would have to go through before, during, and after the spacewalk. Reece was both excited and anxious. He had always had a mild fear of heights, but this type of thing was the absolute epitome. Reece needed to bring his A-game to navigate his duties for the day. Reece finished his shower, dressed in his black and grey form-fitting under-gear for the upcoming spacewalk, and proceeded to the mess hall for breakfast.
Like everything else on the station, the food was stored in fixed containers latched into the overall structure. This minimized loose items flying or falling from changes in the gravity on the station. Changes in gravity could be triggered by anything from routine maintenance of the six-motor drive system that spun the ring-shaped station to various anomalies that could crop up. Things like a bad motor or motor/spin controller, problems with the ‘attitude’ control system, or even a malfunctioning GPS receiver. Any of these could cause problems with the artificial gravity on board. Reece suppressed a shiver as he inspected the breakfast choices.
For a space station, the selection wasn’t half-bad. Both fresh and reconstituted eggs, tea, coffee, apple and orange juice, freeze-dried sausage and bacon, rice, powdered milk, bread (a recent development), and even ‘old-school’ tang. But best of all, thanks to the onboard garden…a modern horticultural miracle, there were fresh fruits and vegetables. Even tree fruits had been developed to grow with minimal special requirements. Red and green apples, pears, oranges, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes all made up the astronauts’ fare.
Reece decided on an egg and sausage scramble, a red apple, and some tang to drink. After grabbing each item, Reece noticed a wall readout with his name; every item he took was listed below it. The automated rationing system was mainly a formality unless there was a catastrophe and they needed to do actual rationing. It also came in handy when they decided what to grow or have shipped up next, similar to an old-fashioned grocery list. He brought everything he had collected to the small kitchenette set into the wall.
He mixed the fresh egg and sausage in a bamboo bowl, added some water, and placed it in one of the microwaves built into the wall of the module. After ten seconds, he had a ready-to-eat breakfast. He grabbed an aluminum fork and headed to one of the large metal tables. No one else was in the mess hall, so he grabbed the nearest one. He detached a chair from its harness against the wall and sat. Just as he took his first bite, he heard a voice behind him.
[https://editor-cdn.reedsy.com/books/60330dd17ad8747238ff91c2/images/b92cc65e8b3debb597730aa9ca387d96.jpg]
Angel Hernandez
“There you are,” laughed Angel. “I was wondering when you wanted to get to it today.”
Reece finished chewing and swallowed his first bite. It was a bit bland, but not bad.
“As soon as I’m done here,” Reece replied before asking, “Hey, do we have any pepper on this station?”
“Sure,” smiled Angel,” I’ll grab you some and brief you on the walk today while you finish up.”
Angel went to another drawer that Reece hadn’t noticed before and opened it. Inside were several small aluminum containers labeled salt, pepper, cumin, and other spices that Reece had never heard of. Since it was an international space station, they needed foods that appealed to various nationalities.
Handing the pepper container to Reece, Angel grabbed himself a chair, setting it opposite Reece at the table. Reece added the pepper. It helped a lot. While they ate, Angel went through the EVA, or Extra-Vehicular Activity, safety briefing with him. Reece chuckled to himself over the odd term. The government couldn’t just call it a spacewalk. They had an “official-sounding” acronym for it instead.
Angel finished the briefing, telling Reece to meet him at the rear airlock of the station. He got up and returned his chair, leaving with a quick wave. A few minutes later, Reece finished as well. He cleaned up after himself, placing his tableware in appropriate containers and locations. Once he ensured everything was cleaned and replaced or disposed of, he returned his chair and left the mess hall to meet up with the engineer he would soon replace.
“Okay,” Angel greeted him at the airlock. “Are you ready for this? There is nothing like it. Come on, let’s get ready.”
Reece nodded and replied, “As ready as I can be. Let’s do this. Hoorah!”
Angel pressed the intercom button and spoke, “Control, we’re ready for today’s EVA. Can you prep the station?”
“Control here. Copy that, Angel. All personnel prepare for Zero-G and sound off.”
One by one, the entire crew reported their readiness for Zero-G. Everyone copied, and Control gave the final warning. “All personnel have reported in, deactivating artificial gravity. Zero-G in 4 minutes.”