Derek had a point. Velo-Paks were personal propulsion devices but largely ignored by flight teams across pilots on Earth and Magnus Prime. They were rushed through testing as space flight went commercial and were largely seen as a check-box on corporate flight insurance. When they worked, they did so a little overzealously, preferring to send the wearer careening off into space.
Amanda smiled mischievously. “The Velo-Paks aren’t for us. We can attach them to the sides of the ship, time the bursts to stop the pitch-roll, and get us out of this orbit. Then the space walk to my ship will be easy.”
“Nothing is easy in space.” Derek sighed. “Do any of you want to help me with just one thing? When are we going to talk about the captain? What the hell happened to him? Some kind of virus?”
“What kind of pulla virus gives someone tentacles, makes them rip their own face off, and gives them superhuman strength?” Martin said what the others were thinking. They weren’t trapped in the crew quarters; they were attempting to protect themselves. Amanda was last to arrive, and the captain--that creature--was waiting for her in the air lock. She ran blindly through the ship and only stopped at the back of the ship near the crew bunks. Luckily, Derek and Martin were there waiting. They were out of breath and just as confused as she.
Amanda turned her back to the door to address the others, hoping to keep their nerves in check. For a soldier, Martin seemed skittish.
“What about the cosmonaut?”
Derek shook his head. “I haven’t seen him since he locked me out. I bet that thing got to him.”
“We can’t assume he’s gone. Look.” Amanda pulled the keyboard away from the console and pointed at a chart showing three bars, each one a different length. “I don’t need to read Russian to know what these are; oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. All three levels are dropping, meaning there’s a leak. We need to fix the leak to give us more time, then use the Velo-Paks to adjust our orbit long enough to line up.”
“And the captain?” Martin looked at Derek this time and Derek fingered his weapon.
“If you’re asking me to shoot it, I did twice after it threw a console at me. I ran until I couldn’t anymore.”
“Did you see the Russian on the way?”
“No.”
“What about you, Amanda?” Derek asked.
“No. If he’s smart, he’d barricade too. Hold on. Let me check something.”
Amanda turned and pecked at the keyboard again. The computer beeped twice. “Aha. Look. Here’s where we are. Here’s the captain’s quarters at the front of the ship, just off the bridge.”
Derek and Martin stood up and peered over her shoulder. On the screen was the ship’s layout. It was divided into three parts. Engine bay with crew rooms, storage and the central hall, and the bridge with the captain’s quarters. It was the Russian equivalent of a Bora Bora, an island ship, capable of long distance space travel before needing refueling. Many of the parts used were common on Earth, which explained sending an American communication expert to fix a Russian ship.
“Look. See this moving dot? That’s a bio life scanner. See that?” She pointed to another dot in one of the storage compartments in the middle of the ship. “That’s another life form. It hasn’t moved. I think the cosmonaut trapped the captain there.”
Derek backed away. “All I see are two dots. We’ve got a fifty-fifty shot the thing is there. Did you see a porthole? There’s no way to check without opening the door. We still need the Velo-Paks that are in there with either the captain or the Russian. So who’s gonna check?”
Amanda and Martin instinctively looked toward Derek. Derek looked behind himself. “Oh, c’mon. This is dumb. Just because I have a gun, right?”
“Well, you’re security forces, aren’t you? You have training and experience.”
“I’ve been out of boot camp for three weeks. I got assigned to this mission because it was supposed to be a cakewalk.” He made air quotes with his fingers.
“Interesting,” Martin said.
“What is?”
“My commander used the same term. Cakewalk isn’t something we say on Magnus. What about you, Amanda?”
“We don’t use the term on Opus Prime, either. But my supervisor said it. This is concerning.”
“What is?” Derek asked.
“Two planets, one moon, three nations. All with the same notification.”
“What do you think it means?”
Amanda stopped, as if choosing her words carefully. “I don’t think they sent us all by accident.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means I think there’s a commonality between us. We just need to find it.”
The three sat in silence, pondering for a moment before a furious pounding drove them to their feet and against the back wall of the room. A man’s voice came from the other side of the door. Amanda ran back to the porthole and peered through.
“It’s the Russian! Open the door!” she blurted.
The man’s face was coated in blood; his blue eyes wide with panic. Though he was screaming and she could only understand every few words, his message was obvious. Open. Please. Monster. Coming.
“Derek! Martin! One of you, open the door! It’s just him. C’mon!”
Derek was frozen; his eyes wide. One hand rested on his pistol and the other on the wall behind him. Martin rushed to the console.
“I don’t speak Russian, Amanda! You need to do this!”
Amanda forced herself away from the door, resulting in the Russian yelling even louder, his hands smearing blood over the window, obscuring the view.
“Jesus! This dude is really messed up. Hurry, Amanda!”
“I’m trying, but I’m locked out! What the hell did you do?”
“Nothing! The door closed on its own when I came through.”
“You must have done something, because it’s not opening. There must be an override. Hold on.”
“Tell that to the Russian! Oh my god!”
The Russian stopped screaming. Amanda heard Martin gasp.
“What is that? What the fuck is that? Run! Run, man! Don’t stay there.”
Amanda ignored him, furiously pecking
