The Fall by J.L. Wood

Author:J.L. Wood [Wood, J.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-01T22:00:00+00:00

– 15 –

Lerner 4d

The repetitive system alerts from Carrie blasted throughout the Pitch’s cockpit. “System unstable. In-in-inoperable. Assistance needed, Dr. Wolf. System unstable. Oxygen levels depleting. In-in-in—”

Donald Wolf let out a low grunt as he rolled over on his side, confused and disoriented. As he fully opened his eyes, he could feel the sting of sweat as it dripped from the side of his face onto the inner rim of his eyelids. His entire body ached, as if he’d been hit by a freight truck, but he was unable to identify what part of him hurt the worst. The simple act of rolling over was a surprise, as he wasn’t sure his body still had the capacity for any sort of movement.

Don attempted to push himself up onto his knees. In doing so, he heard a crack from his left arm and fell back onto the metal floor of the cockpit, writhing in pain. “Of course,” he muttered to himself as he rolled over again, this time holding his left arm steady and pushing himself up with his lower body. He tried not to think of the pain, to focus only on the continuous alerts from Carrie. But the pain clouded his judgment, and the heat of the cockpit wasn’t helping. He stumbled through the clouds of smoke that billowed from the command board, forcing one foot after the other in his heavy spacesuit to the first-aid kit firmly affixed to the wall near the hatch door.

As he clumsily fumbled through the kit with his working hand, a task made even more difficult from the heavy gloves of his suit and the need to support his broken arm, he pulled out a thick bandage roll. It had been a while since he took a first-aid refresher class, and he could not remember how to make a sling for his arm. Using the back of the commander’s chair as support for his left arm and his teeth to hold the edge of the bandage, he made several loops around the side of his neck and forearm until he was comfortable that it would hold steady. The sling was sloppy, but he managed to tie a knot in the loose ends with his teeth.

“That should do it,” he whispered.

“Carrie, what are the oxygen levels currently at? Are you able to identify the source of the leak?”

“Oxygen levels a-at sixty-five percent, Dr. Wolf. Leaks identified in quadrants four, quadrant four, quadrant threeee.”

Don wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Carrie, close the hatches to all quadrants and shut off the oxygen. What about the air in the cockpit? Can you get it cooled? And what about comms?”

“Quadrants closed. Oxygen disconnected. Air-conditioning mal-malfunctioning. Inoperable. Communications down. Satellite detached.”

Don knew to be cautious of Carrie’s data. He was unable to gauge how the crash damaged her and if her reports were accurate. Instead of taking her word for it, he made his way to the command board and picked up a headset. “This is Donald Wolf to base.

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