Dating : Contagion — A Short Story Part 1

The power shuts off unexpectedly and flicks back on dimmer than before. Alarms are going off everywhere. Adam manages to silence a few of them when the monitors begin to flash bright green. “Life support is out.” Lucia hurried to try and figure out the cause. “It looks like something struck the hull taking out the thrusters and electrical systems with it.” She took a quick look at the secondary display. It reads eighty-four percent on one of the graphs. “Shit! We’re losing O2. Head to Capsule B. I’m going to need you there when I get outside.” She speeds down a narrow tube-like corridor into the exit chamber. Damp with sweat she gathers some gear and puts on her suit.

Outside there is nothing except the stillness of night. Vast empty space. She makes her way to the outer electrical module. That’s when she spots it. “There’s a breach in the hull. I’m going to try and repair it.” “Don’t you think you should fix the electrical module first?” “If I don’t fix the hole first we’ll lose more oxygen than the backup systems can generate. What’s our O2 at?” Through the sound of alarms into his comms, “79 percent.” “Okay, backup power should hold for another hour. Be on standby for when I start electrical. I’m going to need you to reset the power systems.”

Their mission was already off to a bad start. It had only been a few days into their voyage and they had already experienced one of the worst scenarios imaginable for space travelers. A breach in the hull. Luckily they had the experience between the two of them to handle a situation like this. The power systems were back online and the hole in the ship had been repaired. They were a few days away from their destination even though the space between it and them seemed wider.

Adam sat in the cramped kitchen quarters eating rehydrated eggs and sipping on a yogurt pouch. The troubles of the day before were behind them. He scrolled through the briefings some more on his tablet while finishing off his yogurt. Lucia had just woken up and entered the kitchen to make herself some coffee.

“So why do you think they chose us to come up here? I mean, the Coalition doesn’t usually take missions like this do they?”. Lucia sat down and added some sugar to her coffee. “Not really. Maybe the military didn’t have the resources to deal with whatever’s up there.” “They could’ve given us some heads up though.”, Adam said. “To pull me away from my research without much to go on seems a little absurd.” Lucia sipped her coffee some more while wondering about Adam’s question. “You used to be military, right? You know more than anyone no one understands why they do what they do.” Adam put his tablet down. “Yeah, and that was a long time ago. Things have changed since I’ve was a part of the Complex. Besides, haven’t the Coalition for Peace and the Complex been at odds with each other for years now? It seems strange they would ask the Coalition for help.” Adam got up and threw away his leftovers while Lucia grabbed his tablet to take a look at the briefings. “Look at what we know. There is some kind of contamination on a scientific base outside the asteroid belt on Io. They haven’t heard from the base in about a week. It sounds like they are out of resources and need someone who knows what they’re doing to find out what exactly it is we’re dealing with.” She gulped down the rest of her coffee. “Once military, always military.” He takes the tablet from her and shuts it off. “That’s exactly why I left. I switched sides so I wouldn’t have to deal with the Complex’s authoritarian absurdities. And why have a base of operation outside the belt. It’s uncharted waters from here. Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?” Lucia thought about it for a moment. “Well we’re here now and on the behalf of the Coalition so let’s make the most of it. You’re the best in the field of virology. Hopefully it’s nothing we can’t handle. Let’s make this short and sweet and then get back home.” “Weren’t you working on the second iteration of the warp gates.” “Yes, and that’s exactly why I would like to get back home as quickly as possible. I owed a favor to the council so they’d better consider us even after this.”

They arrived close outside of Io’s orbit. Ready to take care of the task at hand, they spent the next few hours checking system statuses and preparing for potential docking. After all systems were optimal they entered Io’s orbit and made their way to the station. The station was two parts. One base inside Io’s orbit and another base on the surface of the moon. They reached the orbital base and were in range for communication. Adam attempted to connect to their comms.

“This is Eagle with CFP reaching out to Io Orbital Base. Do you copy?” There was no answer. After a few moments, he tried again. “This is Eagle with the CFP. Io Orbital Base, do you copy?” Lucia checked the display readings. “Looks like communications are working fine.” Adam gave her an unpleasant look. “Well that’s not good.” Lucia checked for other signals on different communication ranges. “Do you think it’s safe to dock? We have the equipment to keep us ventilated from airborne contaminants.” Adam gave her another worried look. “Yeah, let’s dock and see if we can contact anyone with the onboard comms. They may have had the same problem we encountered on our way here.”