Things left behind
22 Dec 2022Prochaska
Julie and Zoe, in Maverick Suits with Extravehicular Mobility Units strapped on, floated toward the black and lifeless wreckage of the Corvette floating in space before them. The scenery was illuminated by the glow of the dull light of the distant red dwarf through the fine green mist. The wreck's engines and tail were covered with traces of corrosive substance. "They were still trying to escape," Zoe's voice broke the silence. "Obviously to no avail," Julie's laconic reply sounded through her earpieces. Part of the side fairing was doing its eternal pirouettes at some distance from the wreckage. Zoe headed for the forward boarding hatch. Once at the spot, she positioned herself by the hull so she could work on it. She eyed the corrosive substance stuck to the hull next to the hatch. "Would be good if we could tell if the substance is still infectious," Julie mused aloud. Zoe looked at the substance thoughtfully, then shifted her position slightly. "Here's hoping," she said as she picked up the cutting torch and slowly sliced open the bulkhead. Then she waited a moment for the incision site to cool back down from the freezing outside temperature. Zoe held onto one of the handholds next to the bulkhead. "Ready?" she asked Julie. After Julie's confirmation, they tried to move the bulkhead to the side, but it didn't budge an inch. Julie looked up. "No way, it's hopelessly wedged," she stated the obvious. "Let's try the SRV bay." Zoe pointed with her chin in the direction of the hatch, further back on the hull. Julie nodded in agreement. They pushed off from the shell, fired their thrusters briefly, then slid slowly along under the massive hull. The beams of their headlights probed across the dull reflective metallic surface. When the SRV's bulkhead came into view, it was free of corrosion all around. They slowed their flight and got into position to work. Zoe pulled out the arc cutter and applied the device to the hatch.
"Careful, if there's any residual atmospheric pressure in that shipwreck, the bulkhead might blow right up in your face," Julie commented warily. Zoe paused for a moment, looked up, and prepared to say something. But then she just exhaled for a moment, corrected her position sideways to the bulkhead, and applied the cutting torch again. When the latch finally gave way, the bulkhead didn't move an inch.
"Okay, no atmosphere left," Zoe stated with a raised eyebrow. Then her gaze wandered over to Julie. "Better to be careful than to have the damage afterwards," Julie countered with a stiff expression. Zoe simply turned away and went to work on the bulkhead. "Better stop being a smartass and give me a hand here," she etched over the radio. "Aye aye, Captain," Julie returned in an exaggeratedly formal manner.
Together they pulled the bulkhead apart until the opening was large enough to fly through. They paused at the edge of the opening and shone the beams of their searchlights into the motionless darkness. Flickering shadows danced across the ceiling of the room. They eyed the Scorpion that hung askew in its moorings above them. "Have the damaged suspension checked. I don't want to find on the way out that the SRV that broke loose is blocking our way out of here," Julie said. Without waiting for a response, Julie started moving, past the hull of the vehicle. Zoe followed her.
They checked the suspension, and found that the SRV was completely hopelessly wedged in it. The vibration that had caused such a permanent connection between the rack and the rover had to have been pretty significant. Having made sure of that, they floated down to the ground level and activated the Magboots. Because the power plant had failed, they still had to cut through all the other bulkheads with the cutter on the way forward.
Then they finally entered the vast cockpit. The room had been hit several times. The empty left co-pilot's seat hung crookedly into the room, and a large hole gaped in the control panel in front of it. Black burn marks stretched all along the wall. The cockpit glass was missing altogether. Zoe walked forward to the pilot's seat.
Still strapped into the front seat was the pilot. His arms were thrown to the side and his head was craned back. His posture looked like a dynamic movement, but his body had been frozen completely stiff for a long time. She stepped closer and looked at the pale gray face frozen in grotesque distortion under the Remlok's visor. The open mouth still formed a silent scream, and the empty gaze of the eyes stared into infinity. A splinter had pierced first his torso and then the seat. Blackish-red bubbles still hovered at the splinter's ruptured entry point.
Julie's voice broke the silence. "I found the panel." Zoe turned around. Julie was crouched on the right side in front of one of the panels. She had brought out the blowtorch and was using it to cut open the frozen shutter. She turned to face Zoe. "Give me a hand here, please, I can't cut here and unscrew the cover at the same time," she said. Zoe walked over to Julie. Once there, she used her cordless screwdriver to unscrew the cover from the flight recorder one screw at a time.
As she continued to work with the cutter, Julie asked, "What are the others doing? Janos, for example?" "He's still working for Reedings, out of LHS 3447. Told me something the other day about some criminal he took down." Julie screwed up her face. "Janos as sheriff? Is he serious?" Zoe shrugged. "He'll do anything to get the adrenaline pumping anyway."
When she was done cutting, Julie put the arc cutter aside and looked over at Zoe. "It didn't escape my notice that you removed your old squadron emblem from your ship. What made you do that after so long? I was beginning to think it would stay in place forever."
Zoe set the screwdriver down for a moment and stared ahead. As she continued to screw, she related, "The last time I flew through Cemiess, all kinds of memories came flooding back to me. It kept me busy for quite a while, and after that I decided it was time to put the memories behind me and continue on my way. And that's when the decision was made, and in the next spaceport I grabbed that can of solvent and went to work." Julie looked at her questioningly, but said nothing. "When you launch from a planet, you leave a shadow on the surface. The shadow eventually gets smaller and smaller until, in the end, it disappears altogether. Then, finally, only the memories remain," Zoe continued.
"Was that supposed to be poetry now?" Julie's comment was flippant, but she studied Zoe's expression carefully. Then her eyes suddenly widened. "Look out!" shrilled Julie's voice over the reverberating radio. There was a noiseless explosion in the wall to Zoe's right. The loose paneling flew just past Zoe's helmet and bounced off the walls several times before slamming into one of the cockpit's glass panels and sticking there. Julie cursed under her breath, "The fucking torch must have damaged the emergency supply oxygen tank underneath when it burned the cover off."
Zoe grinned, "You wouldn't believe how glad I am that didn't happen to me. I'd have to listen to another sermon from you now about the usefulness of safety regulations," she said. Julie looked at her with a wary eye, "Are you sure you're all right?" "Yes. I'm fine. Let's just finish up here and then see about moving forward," Zoe said. "Agreed, I want to get out of here too," Julie nodded back. Her attentive gaze remained fixed on Zoe, who turned back to her screwing.
Finally, she loosened the last screw. She then pulled the flight recorder out of its holder. "There, that's it, now we can get out of here." As she said this, she stowed the box in one of the pockets of her suit. Then the two walked back down the hallway to the SRV bay.
Once there, they floated out through the hatch. Outside, they accelerated away from the wreckage using the thrusters. In flight, Zoe turned and looked back. In the red light of the high-standing star, the green mist was glistening, and bright reflections of light danced across the metal of the Corvette. As the distance grew, the ship behind her slowly grew smaller. She lost herself in the sight of the color gradients in the fog and the flickering light dancing across the hull.
"Hey, no dilly-dallying back there," Julie's voice broke through her reverie. "Yep," Zoe confirmed. She turned in flight, toward Julie and the waiting Icarus, and accelerated out of the green mist.