Once Reece passed through the bulkhead into the garden module, he found Commander Rogers waiting for him. The man looked darkly at him. Reece was immediately on guard.
The commander narrowed his eyes and spoke. “I need you to be honest with me. Do you know or have any idea how that could have happened? Was Martinez acting strangely, or did he say anything to you? Do you have any information about what happened?”
Reece was instantly alarmed. Could Angel have been the one to cause the accident? Was it an accident at all? Or did Angel try to stop something that was happening on the shuttle? Reece kept those thoughts to himself. Still, he needed to offer Rogers something. Reece didn’t need the commander to become suspicious of him as well.
“He didn’t say anything that comes to mind, but he did seem out of sorts the last day. I figured it was just pre-mission jitters. Also, several of us thought we heard his voice at the end of that last transmission before the collision. It sounded like he and Taylor may have been involved in a scuffle. As for the accident, I can think of a half-dozen ways an explosion could have happened aboard the shuttle.”
“Like what?” pressed Rogers angrily.
“Well, if there was a struggle, they could have bumped the flight controls and rammed the shuttle into the airlock, which would have seemed like an explosion to us. Also, one of the thrusters could have been leaking and would have exploded on ignition if no one had noticed it. Or maybe someone brought an I.E.D. aboard and activated it. Someone with the right know-how could have assembled one from the compounds and materials aboard this station. Another way would be… ”
“Okay, okay,” interrupted Rogers. “Is there any way we can determine which of those things it could be?”
“Thomas and Aika could check the Hermes’s telemetry feed logs saved to the station. That could give us the last equipment statuses. f we’re lucky, that could provide a clue.”
“Alright, good thinking,” replied the Commander as he activated the module’s intercom. “Thomas, see if you and Aika can download the shuttle’s telemetry and call out if you find anything. Over.”
The Commander put his hand on Reece’s shoulder. “You’re a good man, Danielson. I’m going to check out the airlock. I need you to do what you can with the mess here.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do what assessment I can from here, but I’ll need to do an EVA to complete a true assessment.”
“Understood. Let me know what you find out. It’s good to know I can count on you.”
“Who’ll be my second?” asked Reece. “The safety observer?”
“Yeah, about that… We only had five EVA suits on the station. Yours, Angel’s, mine, Thato’s, and Naeva’s. Angel took his suit with him. The rest got sucked into space when the shuttle bay’s airlock was breached. Except for yours, because it was at the EVA airlock. So, unfortunately, you’ll be on your own. We’ll keep EVAs to a minimum and make sure the next shuttle brings replacements.”
“You’re kidding? I thought there was another one in the EVA airlock besides mine, even after Angel took his out.”
“Well, technically, you’re right,” replied the commander. “The problem with that suit is that it doesn’t have a working helmet right now. It’s in the engineering lab for repair. Last I heard, we need some parts from Earth to fix it. It was damaged a couple of weeks ago. There wasn’t time to get the parts on our shuttle mission. I wouldn’t be surprised if Angel sabotaged it. As I said, you’re on your own. Just follow all safety protocols. You’ll be fine.”
Reece sighed before nodding. The Commander patted him on the shoulder and nodded. Then he turned and headed for the damaged airlock. Turning back to the garden module, Reece noticed a dent in the outer wall, but the thick polymer of the station’s shell held together. It was designed to bend and not break in from a collision with space debris. Reece inspected the module from top to bottom. He wanted to be sure that the damage didn’t compromise the structural integrity of the module or the station in general. Once satisfied that the damage was mostly cosmetic, he spoke through the intercom.
“Commander, I’ve completed my analysis. I’m confident that the damage isn’t a threat to the station. These modules were designed for this type of thing. She’ll hold together,” explained Reece. “I’ll do an EVA at the next opportunity to check for any additional damage. Over.”
“That’s some good news, at least. Unfortunately, my news isn’t so great,” replied Rogers. “The damage to the airlock is extensive and doesn’t look fixable. It also compromised the airlock access module with which the two remaining shuttles, Wisdom and Sombra, are docked. The only airlock that is accessible doesn’t have a shuttle docked with it, which means we are stuck here until another shuttle arrives at the station. Thomas, have you informed Ground Control of our situation? Over.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Thomas. “They are awaiting your assessment. Over.”
“Go ahead and give them our preliminary findings. Tell them we need some time for our complete assessment,” ordered Commander Rogers. “Reece, you are cleared to prep for EVA. Everyone else, prepare for zero-G. Over.”
“Copy that. Over,” Reece responded before heading down to the EVA airlock and donning his suit, the only functional one on the station.
Like his first EVA two days ago, everyone affirmed readiness, and Zhengzhou Station’s spin slowed to nothing. Reece went through the airlock and into space one step at a time. Once outside the station, he used the rungs to pull himself over to the shuttle bay airlock. He made sure he was attached to a tie point at all times. The way the day was going, Reece wasn’t taking any chances.
From the outside, the damage to the airlock module was just as bad as he expected. A giant hole remained where the inner bulkhead once was. Wisdom, the closer of the two remaining shuttles, had a long scratch in the fuselage. The tip of the Wisdom’s passenger wing was missing about twenty centimeters from when the bulkhead had sheared it off. The other shuttle, Sombra, appeared okay. He figured three sheets of plate steel alloy and four hours of welding would be able to patch the hole well enough to get by.
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He approached the breach and checked the structure surrounding it for damage. Luckily, the support beams and under-structure to which the bulkhead had been affixed were mostly intact. When the airlock was torn away from the module, it had also ripped out most of the bolts. In several cases, however, the bolts must have held. Those had ripped out the surrounding sheet metal. This would never have happened with the new modules, Reece knew. However, the airlock module was one of the first modules used to make up the station. It was constructed using old manufacturing processes and even older materials.
There was a silver lining to the older construction methods, however. While they wouldn’t have a functional bulkhead, Reece could at least plug the hole. New modules were much more durable, but significant damage was usually impossible to repair in the field. He would need to beat some of the metal back into place and weld the plate steel over the gap. After the work, it should hold up under pressure.
While prepping his repair kit, Reece activated his suit’s camera and captured a few images of the damage for further analysis and reference. He also recorded a couple of pictures of the damage to the shuttle, Wisdom. With the materials available onboard the station, there wasn’t much more he could do for the vehicle. Not a repair in any reasonable amount of time, at any rate. Once that was complete, he contacted Thomas.
“Station Control, this is Danielson. Do you copy? Over.”
“This is Station Control. We copy,” answered Thomas with a touch of anxiety in his voice. “What’s your situation? Over.”
“I’ve finished my external assessment of the damage to the airlock module and Wisdom,” replied Reece. “The shuttle is compromised and will need a new wing and four to five body plates. We don’t have the proper materials on hand for those repairs. However, I believe I can patch the breach left by the damaged bulkhead and re-establish partial functionality of this airlock access module. I’m moving on to the garden module damage assessment. Over.”
“Copy that. Let us know what you find,” said Thomas. “Over and out.”
Reece was already on the move to the other side of the ring. The spacewalk was slow, but Reece made it there as fast as he could. As he approached the garden module, he saw where the bulkhead had gouged a chunk out of the module’s exterior armor. The bulkhead must have been moving extremely fast to do that much damage to the exterior. The thick coating around the newer modules was a foam-like material that could be sprayed on but hardened stronger than steel and wasn’t easily damaged. If the inner structure remained intact, the repair was easy.
Zhengzhou Station had a good supply of spray-on foam, and the stuff was designed for application under the harshest conditions. That included the coldness of space, and it could even harden perfectly fine under extreme cold. Upon reaching the long gouge, Reece breathed a sigh of relief. The damage was mainly cosmetic. Half a can of spray foam would fix it. He noticed a second gouge across half of the neighboring module. This was the module with the panel covering the horrific creature within. While the garden damage looked like a glancing blow, the bulkhead had scored a direct hit on the lab module. Reece could see atmosphere leaking from the wound that happened to be right next to Angel’s access panel.
Reece made his way over to the module and inspected the damage. A deep gouge about a meter long and twelve centimeters wide had been inflicted just to the left of the panel. The lab was constructed of the same material as the garden module, but the lab hadn’t held up as well. The foam was completely missing from a three-centimeter section over twenty centimeters long. The underlying alloy had at least three cracks that were leaking atmosphere. Those indicated that the inner wall must have also been breached. Since the panel was so close, Reece decided to check inside for additional damage. Remembering the rat from before, he didn’t want to but did it anyway.
With the panel open, two things were immediately alarming. First, the rat creature in the terrarium was a different rat. This one was more or less complete, and unlike the first rat, this one’s fur was black. Second, it appeared to be completely frozen solid. The lab looked to be frigid. That meant that the life support systems were off. So why had Commander Rogers not mentioned this? He had checked both modules for damage. Clearly, the lab had significant issues. He filed this all away for later and looked for what had caused the inner breach and loss of life support.
Once he examined the gouged metal, both causes became instantly obvious. The outer plating was dented in about two inches directly on a support beam. That beam had punched through the inner wall. The flying bulkhead had acted as a hammer, and the support beam was the nail. Reece also noticed several wires that ran across the damaged area had caught on a crossbeam of the support beam and been ripped out of their connection points.
These were probably power lines for the module. They included the life-support systems, both primary and redundant. The wires didn’t look damaged, so Reece figured he could reconnect them with the proper tools. The more difficult question was how he would speak with Rogers about this without risking exposing his knowledge of the lab’s small occupant.
Reece finished his inspection quickly, not noting any other issues. He didn’t want everyone wondering what was taking him so long. Closing the panel, he took a few pictures of the damage. He spun around and returned to the EVA airlock, activating his comm system.
“Station Control, I’ve finished my assessment. Do you copy? Over.”
“I copy you,” replied Thomas. “What’d you find? Over.”
“Well, first, the good news. The garden module wasn’t badly damaged. I can repair it to as good as new,” replied Reece, trying to explain in an upbeat a manner. “The bad news is that the lab took a hit as well. From the outside, it looks petty bad, and it’s venting atmosphere. I’ll have to look inside to determine the cause of the leak and any other damage.
The outside should be repairable, though structural integrity has suffered some. If the module gets hit again, we may have a problem. Short of that, it should be just fine. I’ll cover the damage with an extra cocoon of poly-foam to shore up the weak points. I’m headed back now and nearly to the airlock. Over.”
“Copy that, Danielson,” replied Thomas. “Let us know when you’re inside and have secured the airlock. Over.”
“Roger that. Over and out.”
Reece reached the airlock after a few more minutes and went through the process of traveling back through the airlock. Once inside, he secured the airlock and took off his helmet. Collecting himself, he pressed the intercom button located next to the inner bulkhead.
“Station Control, the airlock is secured. Over.”
“Copy that. Everyone… prepare for gravity initialization. Over.”
The crew sounded off, and the station started spinning back up. Reece took the opportunity to remove the rest of his EVA suit and carefully store it. Once finished, he headed to the control module for a more thorough debriefing. On his way to the control room, he ran into Aika exiting the female bay. She had clearly been crying. Upon seeing him, she looked even sadder before returning to the bay. Reece didn’t have time to deal with her. Besides, she didn’t seem to want to talk to him anyhow. So, he continued to the control room module.
When he arrived at the module, Rogers was there to greet him. Thomas, Pasha, Naeva, and Stephanie were there as well. All of them seemed understandably miserable, but they still had jobs to do.
“Good work out there, Danielson,” commented Rogers.
“Thanks, sir,” replied Reece. “Any word from Ground Control?”
“Yeah, they were able to track Hermes’ trajectory to the ground. It crashed in the Florida Everglades. The shuttle seemed intact from the radar imagery they collected, but as far as they could tell, it was in complete free-fall. They’ve dispatched several search teams to comb the area. Unfortunately, the area is rather large. They have about sixty square kilometers of swamp and wilderness to canvas. It could be days or weeks before we know anything more.”
“What do you suppose are the odds of someone surviving?” asked Pasha.