The Edge of the Knife: Book 8 of the Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival Series: (Surviving the Fall Series - Book 8) by Mike Kraus
Author:Mike Kraus [Kraus, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-11-15T07:00:00+00:00
Chapter 10
International Space Station 2 (ISS-2)
Four Hours After the Event
Commander Palmer’s brow wrinkled as he stared through the viewport of the small reactor housed in one of the ISS-2’s habitats. An experimental small-scale fusion reactor, the device provided the station with more than enough power to run all of its systems twice over. The solar panels that the station periodically deployed were originally intended for use as the primary source of power, but the unparalleled success of the reactor meant that the solar panels had been relegated to act as an emergency power source.
That was, at least, until approximately two hours ago. Palmer scans the logs that Jackie Frey pulled from the reactor’s computer just before it went offline. The results are not pretty.
“This command has no source. How is that possible?” Palmer looks up at Jackie. “Is that even possible to do?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I guess it’s possible that ground control could have gotten in through a back door and initiated the power-down sequence but we lost communications a couple hours before the command was issued.”
“So then it had to come from on board the station?”
Jackie shrugs. “I don’t know. These records don’t seem like they tell the whole story.”
“What’d I miss?” Ted Wilkins floats into the reactor room and glances between Jackie and Commander Palmer.
Palmer tosses the printout through the air before turning to look through the viewport at the interior of the reactor chamber. “A power-down command was issued to the reactor around two hours ago. At the same time the solar panels were extended, almost like whoever issued the power-down command wanted it to go unnoticed.”
“Is that where the computer problems came from?”
Jackie shakes her head. “I thought so at first, but now… no. I don’t think so.”
Palmer is about to ask a question when a deep shudder runs through the length of the station. The groan of metal and crack of materials that should not be cracking while in space echoes through the room and the three astronauts look at each other with wide eyes. Several alarms go off a second later, each of them a different tone and frequency. The worse, by far, is accompanied by a bright orange light that flashes from the corner of each room in the station.
“We’re losing O2! Get your suits on now!” Commander Palmer doesn’t hesitate to bellow out the order even as the station shakes again as it lurches to one side. Ted reaches out for a handhold on the wall and looks at it with a horrified expression.
“Did someone turn on the thrusters?”
Palmer kicks against the exterior of the reactor, pushing himself toward the nearest wall. He grabs hold, feeling the vibration of the station’s thrusters and shakes his head. “Negative. What’s going on here, some kind of computer glitch?” Before either Jackie or Ted can answer he waves them off. “It doesn’t matter; first we get in our suits then we’ll see what’s going on!”
The three astronauts sail through the rooms of the station, quickly reaching the area where their suits are stored.
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The Edge of the Knife: Book 8 of the Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival Series: (Surviving the Fall Series - Book 8) by Mike Kraus.azw3
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