“Carter.” Karpov finally groaned hoarsely, seeming to regain his senses. I moved closer, relieved to hear him speak. “Carter. Flynn’s had some form of a break down and I fear for Dr Varennikova’s safety. Help me into a spacesuit. I’ll spacewalk between the Poisk airlock,” He nodded to the hatch in the ceiling of Zvezda leading to the Russian airlock, “And the Quest airlock on the American segment of the station. We’ve got to get that hatch to the Unity Node open again and stop Flynn before he does something we will all regret.”
“No way, commander.” Aki told him. “You’re concussed! You’re not going out there!”
“I’m fine.” He growled. “Quickly, now! Time is of the essence!”
“How many fingers am I holding up?” Aki asked him, holding up three fingers.
“I haven’t got time for…”
“How many fingers!” Aki repeated firmly. He sighed and squinted for a moment.
“Four.” He finally told her with no conviction.
“I’ll go.” Aki told him. “I’m trained for E.V.A. I’ll go.”
“No.” Karpov growled. “I appreciate the offer, but you are only one and a half metres tall and of a slim build. You simply won’t fit in the big Russian Orlan type spacesuit. I have to go.”
“I’ll go.” I said quietly, feeling the blood train from my face the moment the words left my lips.
“What?” Karpov replied, knitting his brow.
“I’ll go.” I repeated.
“I appreciate the sentiment, Carter, but you haven’t been trained.” He told me.
“We don’t have a choice.” I replied. “We can’t wait for you to stop seeing double! We’ve got to get that hatch open. God only knows what kind of danger Natalya and Wes are in.”
“Very well.” Karpov said doubtfully. “If you’re sure you’re up to it.”
“I won’t let you down.” I told him with as much confidence as I could muster.
“You’re a braver man than I gave you credit for.” He smiled grimly. “Now, let’s get you suited up. Time is a luxury we don’t have. Remember, when you reach the Quest airlock, just open the hatch in Unity to let us through. If Morrison’s still locked inside the Tranquillity Node, let him out too. Don’t be a hero. Flynn’s got military training and will break you in half if you try to take him on alone.”
“I told you before that you might get another opportunity.” Aki reminded me with a smile. I laughed humourlessly at the irony as I climbed through the opening in the back of the Russian Orlan spacesuit. We were inside the Poisk airlock connected to the top of Zvezda. The Orlan spacesuit was a little different to the American version I had worn previously. This one comprised of a solid torso and helmet, with flexible arms and legs and a hatch through the backpack. I squeezed myself through the hatch, stretching my arms and legs into place. I felt nauseous, torn between my terror of venturing out into space and my desperation to reach Natalya, knowing her life was in danger. While I felt ashamed for thinking it, I wished to God that it was Karpov or Aki climbing into the spacesuit. Aki knocked on the back of the helmet and I turned around to face her.
“Remember, you’ll be tethered to the station, so you won’t be in any danger.” Aki told me. “You’ll be fine. Try to keep your eyes on the station at all times. You can do this!” I raised my gloved hand and gave her the thumbs up. “Communications are still out, so we won’t be able to contact you once you leave the station. Good luck Max!” Aki closed the hatch behind me, locking it into place and sealing it. I felt like I was in a coffin and it was being nailed shut. Aki pulled herself out of the airlock, gave me a wave and closed the inner airlock door. Exhaling, I swung around and with a feeling of dread, waited for the airlock to vent and for the outer airlock door to open. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling a cold sweat forming all over my body, my skin tight inner suit soaking most of it into the fabric. Feeling the airlock vibrating through the handhold, I opened my eyes to find the outer hatch had opened and once again I was staring into the infinity of space. Feeling the panic that I had experienced in the Quest airlock well up inside me, I gritted my teeth and steeled myself.
“You can do this.” I told myself, reminding myself that there was no choice and that Natalya’s life lay in the balance. I had to bury my fear in the back of my mind. I pulled myself to the open hatch and attached my tether to the outside of the station and unhooked my short tether to the inside of the airlock. Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself through the hatch, grabbing hold of a yellow handle on the outside of the station and spinning myself around. A moment later the airlock hatch closed behind me. I gripped the handle for dear life, feeling like I would fall off, tumbling away into oblivion. Despite Aki’s advice, I looked away from the closed hatch of the Poisk airlock. The endless void of space stretched out all around me.
“Shit!” I gasped, feeling small and insignificant in the vastness of the universe. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Closing my eyes, I turned back to the hatch. My breathing was rapid and I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. I just wanted to crawl back into the airlock, but I just had to get to the American segment, had to get to Natalya. Gritting my teeth, I looked around, heeding Aki’s advice and keeping my eyes fixed on the station. It looked enormous from outside, the core of metallic cylindrical modules arranged in a line with a few modules like the Columbus and Kibo labs jutting out of each side at the far end of the station. A long truss stretched across the station, the huge solar arrays extending out above and below the black solar panels glowing a brilliant burnt orange as they reflected the sunlight. On the underside of the truss on the left hand side, I could see the twisted remnants of the two solar arrays that had been torn off when the debris had hit a few weeks back. I concentrated on my route to the Quest airlock. I needed to drop down the outside of the Poisk airlock onto the dorsal side of Zvezda and make my way across the top of the adjacent FGB module. Then I just needed to cross the short distance between the Russian and American segments over the top of the narrow tubular Pressurised Mating Adaptor to the Unity Node. From there, I simply had to clamber over to the Quest airlock and I was there.
“Easy.” I muttered grimly. So near but so far. Taking a deep breath, I peered down the outside of the protruding airlock towards the top of the Zvezda module. Concentrating on staring straight ahead at the silvery grey metallic skin of the station, I slowly and deliberately began to pull myself over the outside surface of the Poisk airlock, working from handhold to handhold, like a climber scaling a rock face. For a moment, I couldn’t help myself and glanced at the surface of the Earth beyond the station. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me and squeezed my eyes shut, my hands gripping the hand holds as firmly as I could, frozen by fear.
“For fuck’s sake Max, pull yourself together.” I told myself, forcing my eyelids to flick back up. Turning my gaze back onto the surface of the station, I did my best to ignore the Earth to either side of my peripheral vision. I reached out an unsteady hand for the next handhold and began to move again. Though still terrified, from then on every time my fear threatened to overwhelm me, I remembered Natalya at Flynn’s mercy and the thought galvanised me. I reached the end of Zvezda and then crawled across to the top of the FGB module. Making my way across the cylindrical surface, I become a little more confident and passed quickly over it. I reached the end of the Russian segment and peered over the edge of the module. Before me was the Pressurised Mating Adaptor which linked the Russian and American segments of the station together. It reminded me of a section of industrial air venting with its flared ends connected to the FGB module on one side and the Unity node on the other, with a narrow tube between them. I realised with a start that there were no obvious hand holds on this section. I nervously dragged myself down onto the tube and hugging it with both arms, I slowly pulled myself along the surface. I was nearly to the Unity node, when something stopped my forward progress. I shuffled around to one side and glanced behind me.