Intergalactic

Valarie was happy to be called away from the scene. She could describe the location of the third body, she didn’t want to see it again. She had known the man.

She hurried along the empty hallway, the chief technician walking briskly beside her. „There’s an airlock with a few suits down here.“, Baer said, „Intended for maintenance. Rarely used. Better double-check the oxygen tanks.“

Valarie nodded and walked faster. Baer was a head taller than her and his steps were longer. She had to almost run to keep pace, but Nico had stressed the „urgent“ part of his request. She gave her pistol a quick check while walking. Baer noticed it: „You think we’ll need that?“ he asked, worried.

„I hope not. But in case we do, it’s better working.“, she answered. In her three years as a guard she had never had to use it. She had to draw it twice, but never fired it outside target practice.

Just like everyone else on Bloom, they had no idea what had just happened outside the station. Once they were in the suits they might have radio contact again, if the electronics had survived the EMP.

These parts of the station were almost deserted. They consisted of halls carved out of the alien husk, most of them used as warehouses or small factories. There was a little bit of industry on Bloom, mostly 3D printing and assembly. It gave the station some more independence if not every small item or spare part needed to be imported. Needless to say, most of the spare parts made here were not licensed from the original manufacturer.

„What’s your story?“, Baer asked. It took Valarie a few seconds to realize that this was his way to start a bit of small talk. She considered her answer for a second, then tried to be concise given that Baer appeared to prefer that: „I’ve always admired police and the like. Keeping society running smoothly, making sure everyone is safe, that kind of stuff. But back on Dangorod everything is too strictly organized. It’s more about enforcing the rules than helping people. Besides, you have to study for two years, followed by two years of being a trainee.“

They were getting close to their destination now. Valarie concluded her short recap: „Not my thing. I’ve got a light case of ADHD, mostly short attention span and not being good at organizing my day. In school I was good, I had my timetable and one hour of a topic I can do. In university you need to manage yourself. And lectures can be two or even three hours. Just the thought of that scared me. On Bloom, a girl can become a guard just by showing up and convincing Nico that she’ll be a good choice. Which is basically what I did.“

Baer had a slightly worried look on his face that he quickly forced away. He glanced sideways at the pistol in her holster: „You good with that?“

Valarie nodded. „If we need it, you can count on me.“

„Good“, Baer grumbled, then fell silent again.

After a minute or so they reached the airlock. An afterthought crammed into an unused space between two warehouses, almost at the end of Bloom. Beyond the end of the hallway which they could already see, there was open space to one side and unexplored alien space station ruin to the other. Given enough time, Bloom would eventually expand into it, as it had done for a few decades.

They got into the airlock and into the suits, picking two which had full oxygen tanks. Baer made a quick node to replace one suit which obviously had a leak in the system, its tank was half empty. Valarie attached her weapon to the suit’s tool belt and adjusted the grip so she could hold and fire it with gloves on. Then they both got into the suits. They were quick-access suits, so getting in meant opening it with zippers from top to bottom, including both legs, stepping in and letting the suit mechanics close the zippers back up and seal them.

„Test, 1, 2, 3“, Valarie heard in her helmet. She acknowledged. The radios had survived. Whether it was because of the thin shielding it had, or because the airlock was an enclosed space within the station, or because it was far enough away was a question for another time.

Baer pressed a button and contacted Nico: „Nico, ready for spacewalk. Do you copy?“

A few seconds later, Nicodemus acknowledged and sent coordinates to their suits: „This is an approximate location. Look around in that area. Be careful. We have hostile ships inbound and our smugglers already shot at Micah.“

Valarie froze, her eyes wide open. Baer jerked up: „Come again?“

„They shot at…“ - „I know. The part about ships.“

Nicodemus could almost be heard through the radio collecting his thoughts. Then he said: „Unknown ships near the station had a short battle with the Erulas battleship. I don’t know who they are or what they want. Must assume they aren’t friendly.“

„You’re not saying.“, Baer mumbled, „Right, we better get this done.“

He moved forward and gestured Valarie to follow. It took her a while to get moving, and when she did, she asked the older engineer: „Shouldn’t we get back inside? Who knows what will happen next?“

„Nah.“, Baer said, „If the shit hits the fan, we’re no worse off here. Maybe better, even.“

They pushed off and drifted over a gap in the superstructure towards the section that Binary Bloom had not yet expanded into. Seconds passed in silence. Neither of them said anything and being in the vacuum of space meant no other sounds reached them. The distance was less than fifty meters, but it seemed like an eternity to Valarie. She had been on a few spacewalks before, but never freely drifting. Her rational mind told her that the suits had small thrusters and she didn’t need a tether, but she felt insecure and overwhelmed nonetheless.

They reached their destination in less than ten seconds, objectively. Valarie would’ve sworn it was at least half a minute. Space had that effect on humans. Without references, the perception of distances and time became messed up.

They hit the wall they had been aiming for at some speed, despite using the suit thrusters to decelerate. A clanking noise echoed through the suits as they activated the magnets in their boots and the wall became a floor as they turned. There was a jagged hole not far from where they had landed, most likely the result of an impact of some kind long before Bloom was founded. They had never figured out what had happened to the original alien station. It had already been abandoned and drifted through space, possible for decades, when humans first found it.

They carefully moved through the hole, avoiding the sharp edges as best as they could. The suits were sturdy and wouldn’t cut open easily, but better safe than sorry. Once inside, Baer radioed Nicodemus: „We’re inside. I’ll keep y…“ a loud screech interrupted him as the connection went dead. The status light in the helmet’s heads-up-display went red. No connection.

Valarie saw him turning around and moving his mouth, but heard nothing. She, too, had that short burst of static in her ears as the connection switched off. The metal-on-metal sounds of her boots were the only sound in her universe right now.

Baer gestured her to stay put and pulled out a cable from its place in his suit. He stepped forward and pushed it into the same place in Valarie’s suit. „Right“, he said, „Looks like we’re back to 20th century tech for now. Good the suits still have the wires for cases like this. You ok?“

Valarie nodded.

„Great. Let’s go. Stay close. That cable is only five meters.“

For the second time during their short journey, Valarie wanted to turn back. To the safety of the station. She shook off the feeling. Bloom was not actually more secure. Baer was right. They had a job to do.

On a map, they had to cover only a hundred meters. Inside the corridors, rooms and whatever else everything was, the actual distance they had to walk was at least twice that. It took them about three minutes and seemed much, much longer than that. The inside of the alien husk was utterly dark except where their lights illuminated bare metal, alien plastic and fragments of other materials that Valarie couldn’t identify. No atmosphere meant no light scattering. They moved wherever they could, their boots allowing them to switch from floor to wall to ceiling as necessary. Outside the gravity field of the station, orientation was strictly relative. After six or seven changes, Valarie would not have been able to tell which way her current „up“ was relative to the upwards direction on Binary Bloom.

„We should be in the right area.“, Baer finally remarked after they had crossed a large hall whose roof was missing. Or maybe it was the floor. Baer pulled a measurement device Valarie hadn’t seen before out of the bag he had slung over his shoulder and adjusted various dials, holding it this way and that.

„Something’s here.“, he said after a while, „But it’s hard to… wait… maybe… yes. I think I’ve got it. This way.“ And he pointed towards their right. His light fell upon a small airlock. Barely taller than Valarie, he would have to duck to get through it.

They glanced at each other, then shrugged and pressed the one large button besides the airlock, clearly meant to be operated while in a suit. The door opened and indeed revealed an airlock, slightly larger than the door and deep enough for three or four people to cram inside. They did that, finding and pressing another button on the inside. The airlock closed and their suits showed pressure returning.

It also showed no oxygen. Baer fiddled with the controls, while Valarie stood nearby, feeling useless. She didn’t know these suits well enough. She watched the pressure increase and the indicator for breathability remaining at the zero mark.

Valarie could hear something in her helmet speakers but couldn’t make out any words. She looked at Baer but he didn’t seem to notice her, staring at his heads-up display. She nudged him and asked: „What?“

She heard him through the speakers again, more clearly this time: „I said it can’t be. Let me check.“

Endless seconds later, he said with a breaking voice: „Nitrogen, carbon dioxide, Hydrogen sulfide. Keep your helmet on, this is toxic.“, and then he added: „To humans.“

The pressure gauge now showed about 40% of standard atmospheric pressure. It stopped there.

Baer finished: „I remember this from basic training. Back when the war was going badly and we got ready for invasion and all-out defense. Never saw the war, but I got basic training.“

Valarie understood what he was implying. He said it: „The hydrogen sulfide gives it away. We’ve got a Qyrl base hidden right next to Bloom. Explains the small door. They’re shorter than humans.“