Astronomicon 1: Inception Point (Finished)

46 - Race

Chris cranked open the outer airlock doors, then clambered inside. Kate followed him and the others passed the boxes of supplies they had ferried from the buggies into the Hatch Room. Fletcher passed in the extra heaters too. It was a squeeze to get everything into the small room and also the six of them too. Fletcher wound closed the outer door, as best it would. Just as Chris was about to open the inner door, when the crank handle spun by itself.

As soon as the inner doors parted enough to see through the split, they saw Hugo and Rebecca there to greet them. The returning team and others from the Command Module formed a human chain to transfer the supplies from the Hatch Room into the storage room. Other members of the crew ferried the boxes and bags deeper into the ship. The moment the last item left the hatch room, Chris followed in and cranked shut the inner airlock doors.

Every muscle in his body ached deeply, and it was only the imminent reward of warming up which kept his arms working on the crank. As soon as the indicator window beside the doors clicked to green, to show that the bolts had latched, he slumped, sliding down the wall until he sat on the fronts of the lockers which served as a floor.

Hugo returned from delivering a box to the next room and said, "Come on, Commander. Let's get you further inside to warm up."

Hugo heaved him onto his feet and half-carried him towards the next hatch. Climbing up and through it used up the last of his energy and he ended up seated on the end of a thin mattress placed on the lower part of the curved wall. There were four of them lined up in two rows, one on either side of a thin central walkway at the bottom of the curve.

The room, that he knew as the Medi-Bay, was barely recognisable. The piles of medical equipment and supplies which had lain in a jumble at the bottom last time he passed through, were gone. There were other people sitting or lying around in the room and some of them were opening boxes which had just arrived.

It took him a moment to realise that everyone in the dimly lit room was looking at him. He recognised all the faces but struggled to put names to all of them.

"That's all secure, Commander," Hugo reported after sealing the hatch between them and the storage deck. "The extra heaters you brought back are going to be most welcome. It's been a struggle to keep this place warm and some heaters we brought back from Supply Module 1 are showing less than fifty percent power left now."

"What else has happened since we left?"

"Well, no-one else has died, so I'm taking that as a win," he smiled. "As you can see, we've chucked a lot of stuff outside. All the broken stuff, exercise machines from the gym, stuff from this room, it's all stacked up along the side of the ship. We needed the space. We've used mattresses from the cabins and this room to make as many beds as possible."

"That's good," Chris replied

His skin still hurt from the cold, but it was improving. Just then, Kate returned from deeper in the ship with two small cartons of fruit juice. She passed one to Chris.

Hugo continued, "We stripped the padding off most of the seats in both seating decks to make more beds. Dan rigged up some hammocks using curtains and sheets in there too. With all the people we brought back from Supply Module 1, we've been a bit cramped in here at night."

"And the six of us arriving won't help," Chris chuckled before sucking some juice from the carton.

"We'll find room," Hugo nodded. "Actually, we kept the Control Room clear, so you can use that. The supplies you've brought back are going to be a big help, but I'm still concerned about our water reserves."

"There're more supplies still on the buggies, about double what we brought in just now, but we can't really help with the water situation yet. That's going to take another expedition to sort out. At least we have some sort of path through the rocks to make it easier next time."

"I don't relish getting any of the buggies back over that ridge," said Kate.

"On the subject of an expedition, what happened this time?" Hugo asked. "I can't help noticing that not everyone has come back."

Chris briefly described the events of the previous few days, but missed out any mention of the saboteur amongst them. For now, he was happier than only Lucy knew. He still believed they would have more luck catching whoever it was if the guilty party was unaware that he knew about them.

The account of Supply Module 2 saddened Hugo. He mentioned that he had lost two close friends in that, and it surprised him to hear about the sphere and the mushrooms.

Hugo suddenly seemed to have heard enough He clapped his hands together and announced that it was late and he would try to organise some padding for the six of them to set up in the Control Room. Chris told him not to worry as they were used to lying on hard surfaces in their H.E.P.O.s now and he was sure they were all so tired they would have no problems sleeping anyway.

"One thing, before we go to sleep: Has anyone had a look at the external antenna array?" Chris asked.

"Yes, Dan and some others had a look. It's pretty badly bent up; it smashed into rocks when we came down, but he reckoned it was still connected. They also said that the box at the base, where all the electronics are for it, was intact. There's no power to it all, of course!"

"If the circuitry is intact, I'll get Fletcher to look at powering it up in the morning. We have to make sure that the other vessels can find us."