Traveler in the Dark

39

"You can't! We haven't run a practice walk in six months. We've got no help if anything goes wrong—" Al Jahi lowered her voice to a low hiss, "you know I can't call for assistance."

"It will be fine, Chione," said Liu, snapping on his thermal suit. "It's not like we've never done it before. And it has to be done. We could be bleeding fuel or air or water, I have to check and make repairs so we can get home. There's no way an explosion like that didn't have some effect on the hull."

Al Jahi crossed her arms. She glanced out of the lock to be sure they were alone. The others were all staring toward the ruined lab. "And what if something happens to you, hmm?"

"Nothing's going to happen. It's routine. Been doing it almost every mission until we had to start training for this. You've been out with me. You know how they go. Find Titov and make sure he's okay. Calm everyone down. Check the labs. I'll be back in an hour, two if I need to weld."

"No. You aren't going, that's— it's an order."

Liu sighed. "What do you think is going to happen? You think I'm going to get eaten by space sharks or something?" He elbowed her, but she didn't laugh.

"If something does— look, it's not just you. That would be bad enough. But nobody else knows how to fly this thing. Not without communications to help. We're aiming at one tiny ship— no, we're aiming at where we think the Keseburg will be in all this emptiness. Even if I could figure out how to steer this damn thing, we could blow past it by hundreds of miles and not even realize it without you."

"But there isn't anyone else, Chione. You and I and Leroux are the only ones trained for this. And whether you like it or not, you're the captain. You have to stay. So that means I'm the one to go." He snapped on a leg piece. "So you can arrest me when we dock, okay? Right now there are six other people that need you to tell them what to do to get through this."

"It should be me then," said Al Jahi, yanking a thermal sleeve from his hands. "You're acting captain while I'm gone."

"What? No, you've done this how many times? Five? I'm more experienced."

"Yeah, okay, you are. But you're also more valuable in here than out there. I can weld a plate just like everyone else. You can talk me through it over the feed."

Liu started to protest but Al Jahi stopped him. "Look, I'm a communications officer on a ship without long range communications. I got unlucky enough to be senior officer and so now I have to make all these shitty decisions about whether we live or die or condemn people to a life on a dying ship or risk annihilation on a strange planet— I'm going Gang. That's my decision. I'll take someone with me." She peered out of the lock again. "You'll need Leroux if Titov is hurt. I'll take Emery. At least she paid attention during the training, none of the rest of them did."

Liu shook his head. "She'll just be a liability, someone else you have to look out for when you should be taking care of yourself."

Al Jahi shoved the helmet over her head and twisted it into position. "If it isn't dangerous, then why are you worried? We're going. She's better at maintenance than I am. Without her, it'll take twice as long and I'll probably do it wrong. I can't send her out alone her first time, so we go together. Get out of that thermal and go find her. Check the others and then get to your console, I'm going to need help."

Liu's local feed flickered and images of the infirmary slid past his eyes as he guided himself through the long corridor to where the others were standing. He saw the blanket darken at Titov's feet and watched as the chemist swore and switched on the glowing incubating cube before crawling under Oxwell's station. Titov's hand shot out from beneath the counter just as the incubating cube flashed white hot and the image blanked. Liu's heart sank. Dead then. He pushed it aside, a grim ache that would return later, when all was quiet and he had time to examine the uncomfortable pressure in his chest. Just then, he had a ship to save. "Emery," he called.