“Incoming call from…Kevin Chantek”
Macey Chantek held her breath and
maneuvered the screw in her heavy gloved hand around the back of the strut and
into its spot. Three twists seated it firmly enough for the power drill to
catch and spin it through the rest of the way. She released her breath with a
loud sigh. “OK, open channel, thanks.”
“Macey? When you comin’ in?” her
brother’s thin voice quavered.
“Kiddo, I’m kinda busy out here
right now. What’s going on? You okay?” She reached for the next screw and brushed
it with the seam of her glove. It spun across her field of vision, and she
caught it in her left hand. She shook her head. Getting tired was slowing her
down, and she had to get these all done before she went in. 103 down, 17 to go.
She knew better than to try it left-handed; she leaned out of the alcove so she
could bring her gloved hands together to grip the screw with her right glove.
“Gramma’s here,” Kevin whispered.
“Please come home quick, Macey. She stinks!”
Macey sighed again. “I know,
kiddo.” The air filters could not keep up with their grandmother’s thick,
hand-rolled Turkish cigarettes. Actual cigarettes. “Okay, I will finish up as
soon as I can and come in. Promise. But you remember I showed you the screws in
the relay panel? I still have 17 to go. If it takes me three minutes to do each
one, how long is that?”
“Fifty one,” he answered without
hesitation.
“Good job.” Macey worked the next
screw into place while she spoke. “And how long to come in the locks?”
“Six minutes in, four to get out
of your suit, ten to clean up…71 minutes. That’s one hour and 11 minutes,
Macey.” She heard the pride in his voice.
“Good job, there, kiddo. I’m going
to put you to work in navigation if you keep that up.” It was an old joke
between them. When they first came on board three years ago, Kevin was sure his
big sister was in charge of the whole space station. “Is Gramma cooking
dinner?”
“Yes, she already has cabbage
boiling.” Macey could see his wrinkled face and almost laughed aloud. She
coughed instead and steadied herself to reach for the next screw.
“I know you’re looking forward to
that,” she teased. “Tell you what. I will stop at Adie’s and trade for three
squares of chocolate if you behave.”
Kevin whooped with glee. He was an
easy kid, really. So many people had tried to discourage her from bringing him,
but she had never regretted it. They were family, and she couldn’t bear the
look on his face when she suggested he’d be better off staying with their grandmother
while she was gone. “Okay, kiddo. I’m going to finish this up and get inside as
soon as I can. You behave for Gramma and finish your homework.”
“Kay, Macey. Ex, oh, ex, oh.”
“Ex, oh, ex, oh, Kev. Macey out.”
She seated the next three screws without a hitch. Then the station buckled,
knocking her out of the alcove. She fell backwards and upside down, watching in
horror as the screws spun out around her.
A flash of light filled her right eye,
and she turned to see the explosion blast open the passageway connecting the
Dorm and Rec pods. She felt the panic flooding her system; it took all her will
to force herself to calm down. She had to think! The explosion would have
slammed all the ports into lockdown mode. She couldn’t get back in the way she
came out. Where should she go?
Only one thing mattered. Kevin.
|
Dogs in house
|
Houdini, Brindle
|
|
|
|
|
Time writing:
|
~35 minutes, interrupted
|
|
|
|
|
August word
count:
|
11,202
|
No comments:
Post a Comment