Astronomicon: Behemoth

Chapter 4 - E.V.A.

"Walter, Aron! Talk to me!!" Megan screamed into the microphone.

Again, she was met with nothing more than the terrifying hiss. She waited for a few painful seconds and was about to hit the transmit button again when there was a click through the speakers followed, thankfully by Aron's smooth voice.

"Sorry, Megan. We're fine – just a little winded."

"What happened down there?" she asked, her voice returning to a more normal level. "The lights on this door are showing that the airlock is repressurised?"

"That's correct, Commander," came Walter's reply, sounding a little breathy.

Aron explained, "The pressure outside was the same as in the ship. We shouldn't have depressurised the airlock at all."

"Are you both unhurt?" Megan asked.

Aron chuckled, "No injuries here apart from our pride."

Walter's voice spoke next, "When the seal broke, the atmosphere outside exploded into the airlock, throwing us upwards."

"Yeah, Walter hit his head on the inner hatch," laughed Aron.

Megan laughed herself in response, mostly because of the sense relief, then she asked, "How can there be pressure out there?"

"I have no idea," Aron replied, "Safe to say, we're not in space anymore."

"The airlock is reporting an almost identical gas configuration as inside this ship! How is that possible?"

"You mean we effectively have air out here?" asked Aron.

"It's saying seventy-nine percent nitrogen, twenty percent oxygen, and a mix of other trace gases but nothing toxic. That sounds like air to me."

"That should be breathable then!" said Walter.

"I wouldn't risk it," Aron replied. "You have no idea what microbes might be floating about in it."

"What can you see outside the airlock?" asked Megan. "I've got the feed from your suit cameras and that's not picking up any light out there."

"Nothing," replied Walter.

"Nothing? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing except for the top of drive one," replied Aron.

"Can you see anything on the outside of the ship?"

"It's going to take me a few moments, Commander," said Walter. "These suits don't help our flexibility."

"They're not designed for nearly full gravity," added Aron.

There was a pause, then much rustling against someone's microphone. Megan could no longer see anything on Walter's suit camera beyond a close up of the deck plates. Eventually, the view on the screen turned from the dark grey of the floor to the almost black of the view through the open hatchway.

"As far as I can tell, Commander, the hull is clear," Walter reported.

"At least on the underside of the vessel," added Aron.

"I was hoping you could explore more of the exterior," replied Megan, immediately realising that was going be very difficult in gravity.

"I can climb down the ladder to the top of drive one," suggest Aron. "It's only a two-metre drop but that would allow us to get a fuller view."

Megan was keen to make this a more comprehensive investigation. "There are two ladders leading down from there to the bottom of engine one, aren't there?"