Intersection by David M. Kelly

Author:David M. Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David M. Kelly
Published: 2021-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Darkness submerged me, as though I'd fallen all the way through the station's hull into the blackness of space. Drawing in a breath, I choked at the foul, dust-heavy cloud around me. I scrabbled to close the visor on my helmet, then wasted some of my precious air reserves purging the dust.

Switching on my suit's lighting, I still couldn't see anything except a slightly grayer cloud. Particles were falling around me, swirling in the air currents like wind-blown ashes. Activating an enhancement filter, I finally saw something other than featureless nothing.

I was lying on a bed of rubble and rolled onto my side before teetering to my knees on the shifting surface. I felt significantly heavier than earlier, which meant I'd either eaten too many muffins at breakfast or I'd ended up on a level of the station farther out from the habitat levels.

"How about a game of snakes and ladders," I muttered, not relishing another climb. Assuming there was something to climb.

Turning slowly, I cast my suit lights around. I assumed Paquette was somewhere down here with me, though what state she'd be in was anyone's guess. My suit radio crackled several times, then locked in on a signal.

"Joe! Are you there?" It was Dollie. "Damn it, you better answer me, Ballen."

I triggered my radio. "Don't write me off yet."

"I thought..." Dollie's breath was haggard. "You okay?"

"As good as anyone can be in a crater of what's left of a space station. You better head out of here. This place has all the structural integrity of a bowl of overcooked linguine."

"Jahmela?" McDole's rough tones came through the radio. "Are you with her? Tell me she's safe."

"She could be anywhere," I said. "I can't see more than about a meter with the dust."

"You have to find her, Joe. You have to."

"I can't promise. It's like the bowels of the underworld here."

I peered in all directions, looking for something that wasn't debris, but it was useless. The filter on my visor helped me see a little farther, but I still felt as though I were inside a storm cloud.

Dollie's voice came over a private channel. "Don't take too long, Joe. This place is barely holding together."

"Make your way back to the shuttle," I said. "Get out while you can."

I had an infuriating urge to scratch the back of my neck in a way that was impossible in a p-suit, even one as well equipped as mine.

"I don't think we can, even if I could persuade them," Dollie said. "We're cut off."

Unfortunately, that made all too much sense. The floor collapse would make retracing our original path impossible, and any alternate route was likely to be as treacherous. "Head to the closest airlock. See if you can get back to Bubbles. That might be your only hope."

"I'm not leaving you."

"No, you're not. I'll search for Paquette for fifteen minutes, then make my way to an airlock too—whether I find her or not. But I'll need you to bring the ship close enough that I can get to it.

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