The Space Between

Chapter Eight: "Space Station 01"

Mark tensed watching the lights on the shuttle flicker. That was really bad. Over the speakers of the shuttle, Hiro asked the crew in a panic. "Mark! Wanda! Why am I losing power?!" Wanda floated over to a speaker box, rushing out in a heavy Russian accent. "We're on it! Stand by!" Mark followed her through the hatches to get to the engines. Dropping down into the last hatch, Wanda screamed as the pipes turned on to spray icy air over the overheated engines. Rushing to a speaker box, Mark yelled into it over the engine's warning alarm. "Captain! Something is overheating the engines!" Hiro's voice came through the speakers, yelling back. "The controls are not responding! I'm not getting any readings up here!" Wanda floated through the narrow space between the heated engines, going down to the engine controls as she yelled out fowl curses in Russian. When she reached it, she yelled back to Mark in a commanding voice. "We'll have to cut the power!" Mark shot her a perplexed look, snapping out. "Are you crazy! We may never get them back online!"

Wanda pointed a wrench at him, snapping back. "If we don't, they'll melt, and we can't replace them! DO IT!" Mark groaned but couldn't argue with her. She was right. Wanda began turning metal levelers to shut down parts of the shuttle. Without a way to know what was drawing so much power, they just had to shut it all down. Right before shutting down the engines, she called out to Mark. "Take the wheel and open the vents!" Mark grabbed a face mask to strap tight to his face and closed the engine hatch to lock it down. Making sure she had put on her emergency mask; Mark grabbed the wheel used his strength to turn the wheel as hard as he could. The engine vents along the sides of the ship opened to vent the heat. The protective grates over the narrow vents kept the pressure level enough that only the air was sucked from the room. They only needed to open them for a few seconds. After that, the icy freeze of space would set in. Mark felt the cold over his exposed hands. It was like plunging your hands into artic ice water. Immediately Mark started to turn the wheel back to close the vents before he lost feeling in his hands.

The engine alarm shut off, stopping the icy air. The icy air had allowed the cold of space to frost over the engines before the vents were shut. When the vents shut, Wanda cut the power for the engines to let them sit for a minute. Mark began to rub his hands together to warm them, watching Wanda go over her checklist as fast as she could. Floating over, Mark looked it over with her. None of the lights were turning back on. Everything was down. Mark flicked the reset button, but still not even the red lights came on. Taking a shaky breath, Mark uttered out. "That's not good... If we can't get that up, we are going to lose our air..." Wanda's hands were shaking as she went down the line of control switches, muttering out in a slight panic. "Yes... I know that. Thank you..." Wanda started removing the panel and cursed when she saw the problem. Mark huffed, grunting out as he saw the frozen condensation in the circuits. "Got a hairdryer?" Wanda huffed sarcastically in return, snapping back. "Airtight, my fucking ass!"

Wanda moved to the side of the box, bracing her back to the wall and taking her frustration out by kicking the side of the large control box. As she kicked the hell out of it, she yelled out bitterly. "Cheap fucking piece of shit! You're as airtight as a fucking cheese grater! Whoever built you should be taken out and beaten in the streets with your low-quality parts!" Mark hovered as still as possible in the air. He didn't want to be the next target of her aggression. She suddenly stopped her heavy rubber boot in mid-kick to ask him in a much calmer tone. "Try it now." Not daring to argue with her, he simply flipped the switch. She was the astronaut engineer after all. Maybe she knew something that he didn't. When nothing happened, he flipped the switch off and meekly told her. "Nothing." Wanda groaned, resuming to kick it as she yelled out. "I am not dying up here! You're going to take me home so I can kick the asshole that made you!" Mark watched frost float out of the control panel with every kick. Helping to brush the frost out, he tried the switch again and the lights came back on. Wanda tossed her hands up, stating with joy. "Eureka!"