A walk in the park
Rai waited impatiently for Miyazaki to meet him at the port side air lock. “How long does it take for her to put on the EVA suit?” He thought aloud. Finally she came clamoring down the corridor aft of the mess hall. “This thing is a nightmare!” Miya exclaimed as she approached Rai. “Are you ready?” Rai asked as he keyed in the security code for the airlock. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” Miya replied. The inner door of the Airlock opened and the two stepped inside. Just as soon as the inner door closed, the air in the chamber evacuated in seconds and the outer door slowly opened revealing open space. The two crew members floated out utilizing the handles that led out to the fuselage of the ship. The exterior lighting bouncing off the hull of the Shusake brightly contrasted the absolute pitch black of the surrounding space. Once they were able to, they pressed a button on the built in tablet that was located on the right arm of the EVA suits which energized the magnetic boots. This allowed them to walk slowly down the side of the Shusake as the made their way to the Jian Seng.
Captain Hirota’s voice began to transmit over the speakers inside the EVA’s helmets, “Radio Check..”. “I can hear you Cap.” Rai replied. “Me too.” Miya confirmed. “Ok team, keep an open comm channel, and at the first sign of danger, get your asses back to Shoebox.” Hirota monitored closely as Rai and Miya made the journey to the point where both ships met.
“Rai, how long have we known each other?” Miya asked.
“Three years, six months, and fourteen days” Rai replied sure of his answer.
“Ok….i’m not sure how you knew that exactly, but in those three years, six months, and fourteen days; how many spacewalks do you think I have done?” Miya asked again.
“I don't know, like three?” Rai responded.
“Zero! The answer is zero. I am terrified of spacewalks. All it would take is one microscopic meteorite to fly in and puncture this suit. Bam! I'm dead. Or these mag boots fail and then im soaring into space for all eternity.” Miyazaki exclaimed, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
“Relax Miya, it’s just a walk in the park.” Rai said reassuringly.
As Rai and Miya approached the collision point, Rai radioed in to the captain; “Damage isn't as bad as we originally thought Cap’. I'd say three to four weeks in dry dock and she'll be brand new.”
“Understood Rai, can you make it to the other ship?” Hirota asked, relieved about the lack of severe damage to the Shusake. “Yes sir, just a small jump and we are there.” Rai acknowledged.
Rai and Miyazaki slowly made it to the starboard side airlock of the Jian Seng. To both of their surprise, the security panel outside the door still had power. “What do you think the code is to get in?” Miya enquired as she studied the panel. “Well, the same company that owns the Shusake owned this ship, and all of our ships use the same code…” Rai replied as he keyed in the code.
1-2-3-4
The lighting around the door lit up, and the locks began to disengage. Miya looked at Rai in disbelief, “Really? Our entire fleet is secured with 1-2-3-4?”. “That's a company secret, don't go around telling people that!” Rai joked. Miya entered the airlock first. This airlock was far more cramped than the Shusake’s. As soon as she oriented herself in the chamber Rai floated in and re-energized his magnetic boots. The outer door closed leaving them in complete darkness. Sound started returning as the room began to pressurize with oxygen. “Looks like life support might still be online” Rai stated as he also felt the artificial gravity beginning to ramp up. The sound of whooshing air filling the compartment almost started to feel deafening until the valve shut off and once again the two were in complete silence. The inner door locks started unlatching. The door began opening from the middle outwards and a piercing light started shining through. Miya and Rai were momentarily blinded. As soon as their vision started to recover, their eyes focused on something that neither of them were prepared for; The entire ship was a jungle. Plants and foliage were overgrown everywhere. There was even a large healthy tree towards the middle of the deck. In the distant corridors they heard a melody of birds singing back and forth to each other. It was as if they stepped into a portal leading them back to earth. An artificial sky on the roof of the ship gave the illusion that they were indeed standing in a jungle on a planet. Miya and Rai were both speechless as they tried to understand what they were seeing. Miya broke the silence: “A walk in the park, huh?”
Captain Hirota’s voice began to transmit over the speakers inside the EVA’s helmets, “Radio Check..”. “I can hear you Cap.” Rai replied. “Me too.” Miya confirmed. “Ok team, keep an open comm channel, and at the first sign of danger, get your asses back to Shoebox.” Hirota monitored closely as Rai and Miya made the journey to the point where both ships met.
“Rai, how long have we known each other?” Miya asked.
“Three years, six months, and fourteen days” Rai replied sure of his answer.
“Ok….i’m not sure how you knew that exactly, but in those three years, six months, and fourteen days; how many spacewalks do you think I have done?” Miya asked again.
“I don't know, like three?” Rai responded.
“Zero! The answer is zero. I am terrified of spacewalks. All it would take is one microscopic meteorite to fly in and puncture this suit. Bam! I'm dead. Or these mag boots fail and then im soaring into space for all eternity.” Miyazaki exclaimed, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
“Relax Miya, it’s just a walk in the park.” Rai said reassuringly.
As Rai and Miya approached the collision point, Rai radioed in to the captain; “Damage isn't as bad as we originally thought Cap’. I'd say three to four weeks in dry dock and she'll be brand new.”
“Understood Rai, can you make it to the other ship?” Hirota asked, relieved about the lack of severe damage to the Shusake. “Yes sir, just a small jump and we are there.” Rai acknowledged.
Rai and Miyazaki slowly made it to the starboard side airlock of the Jian Seng. To both of their surprise, the security panel outside the door still had power. “What do you think the code is to get in?” Miya enquired as she studied the panel. “Well, the same company that owns the Shusake owned this ship, and all of our ships use the same code…” Rai replied as he keyed in the code.
1-2-3-4
The lighting around the door lit up, and the locks began to disengage. Miya looked at Rai in disbelief, “Really? Our entire fleet is secured with 1-2-3-4?”. “That's a company secret, don't go around telling people that!” Rai joked. Miya entered the airlock first. This airlock was far more cramped than the Shusake’s. As soon as she oriented herself in the chamber Rai floated in and re-energized his magnetic boots. The outer door closed leaving them in complete darkness. Sound started returning as the room began to pressurize with oxygen. “Looks like life support might still be online” Rai stated as he also felt the artificial gravity beginning to ramp up. The sound of whooshing air filling the compartment almost started to feel deafening until the valve shut off and once again the two were in complete silence. The inner door locks started unlatching. The door began opening from the middle outwards and a piercing light started shining through. Miya and Rai were momentarily blinded. As soon as their vision started to recover, their eyes focused on something that neither of them were prepared for; The entire ship was a jungle. Plants and foliage were overgrown everywhere. There was even a large healthy tree towards the middle of the deck. In the distant corridors they heard a melody of birds singing back and forth to each other. It was as if they stepped into a portal leading them back to earth. An artificial sky on the roof of the ship gave the illusion that they were indeed standing in a jungle on a planet. Miya and Rai were both speechless as they tried to understand what they were seeing. Miya broke the silence: “A walk in the park, huh?”
Коментарі