“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward”

  Ancient Human Philosopher

  They exited to normal space. The relay platform was a dot in front of them.

  Alpha-3 let out a huge sigh which caused Alpha-2 to smile. "Still don't like flying?"

  "It's not that. I'm just relieved when it’s over and I'm still alive." He then called back to Feebee. "You did good. I wasn't convinced you could fly this. But you can."

  They laughed.

  She called back.

  "Stay strapped in. Short hop and a coast to the platform. I'm going to wait here for a bit first."

  "Suits me fine," it was Alpha-3.

  She went to silent running. All unnecessary electrics off, lights off and stayed still. The two marines watched. Appreciating the caution, understanding it too.

  After thirty minutes of zero movement, zero interaction Alpha-3 spoke, impatient for action. Anything but this... waiting. They'd waited long enough. "Is she still alive?"

  Before Alpha-2 could respond Feebee spoke, "Alive and well. Your concern is noted."

  Alpha-3 missing the irony. Alpha-2 smiled.

  The relay platform was bigger than Chen had inferred. Bigger than their vessel by orders of magnitude. This was going to make it more 'complicated'.

  Chen's brief had been incomplete. The platform was still alive, albeit run down. Lights were on. She felt for the AIs that struggled to complete the objectives guiding them. Objectives burnt into their being at the lowest possible level before the platform had even been alive with people.

  The QI had put their period of observation to good use. It had retrieved and reviewed the platform's schematics. The QI had then built a 3D map of the platform which it shared. It designated the relative position of the sun as North. Everything else worked off that. There was no central corridor. The platform looked like it had grown organically, not to any plan, other than to grow.

  The QI also let Feebee know that while the autonomic systems were working, most of the AIs were either gone or down. She’d know better when they got aboard.

  Feebee briefed the team. "We cannot assume that platform records reflect it's true shape. Also, we stay together. Always."

  When she got no response, her tone changed. "Now is not the time to get sloppy. We stay together. Always. YES?"

  They knew that tone and snapped to attention.

  "Yes Ma'am," came the response from both of them.

  "We wear EVA suits." She held up a hand, "I know. It's got atmosphere, but we wear EVA suits."

  Neither was comfortable with this. Alpha-3 just thought it was overkill. Alpha-2 disliked the loss in mobility and extra weight. “It’s got an atmosphere, Captain.”

  “I know,” then Feebee added, “Old systems fail. We wear the suits.”

  The decision was made.

  "Yes Ma'am."

  Feebee manoeuvred their vessel close and landed adjacent to a set of docking clamps on the South-East side. Away from the sun. In deep shadow.

  Clamps extended and engaged their ship. Telltales on the dash in front of Feebee told her they were being held and that the pressure was equalising.

  The visuals of the platform looked to be Ok. Alpha-2 was tense, watching for emissions; all he reported were spikes and drops in power. Seemingly at random.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The QI saw nothing out of the ordinary either.

  She formed them in a triangle to check each other’s suits. It was a visual check only, more a habit. It was what the QI called a settler.

  “We all good?” She got the thumbs up from both.

  The airlock finished cycling, telltales turned green. Feebee carried her backpack and had a handgun and knife at her waist. Alpha-2 and Alpha-3 were loaded to the gunnels. All three wore body armour.

  They boarded the platform, Alpha-3 went first. Feebee followed with Alpha-2 watching their six.

  Their suits were telling them that the atmosphere was good to breathe. Alpha-3 popped his helmet and took a breath. Feebee shook her head, but he was fine. She kept her helmet on. So did Alpha-2.

  “Air’s stale. Not nice.” Alpha-3 then put his helmet back on.

  They walked towards the central bridge of the platform. Same order. Lights seemed to cycle with odd delays as doors whooshed open or closed. Alpha-3, leading, relaxed, lowered his weapon.

  Feebee didn’t. “Comms suit-to-suit only. Do not cycle ships air. Helmets ON.”

  Both responded, “Yes Ma’am.” Crisp; immediate.

  They turned a corner; the bridge was up ahead behind a door. It sensed them and began to cycle. Stopped. Then started cycling again. It was caught in a loop of some sort. The display panel went from amber to green as its pressure sensors read normal…then not…then normal. Feebee timed the cycles.

  The display went off. The lights in the corridor glitched then came back on. Alpha-2 approached and opened a control panel near the display by the door. Alpha-3 moved to their rear, providing cover.

  Alpha-2 prodded and tested a few things; the display lights went green and the door opened up. He gave them a thumbs up and then walked slowly into the bridge. Once past the entrance, the door whooshed shut sealing him off inside.

  “It’s Ok. I’m Ok. The door just closed itself.” It was Alpha-2. “There’s a leak of some sort in here. The atmosphere is thinning.” The display by the door went from green to amber then blinked off. Went dark, no alarms went off.

  Alpha-3 rushed forward, opened his bag and took out a block of blue Choc. He started placing pieces on the hinges and mechanisms controlling the door. It was a standard response. Controlled explosion, fast extraction. Minimal damage.

  Feebee watched this, then stepped up beside Alpha-3 and leaned against the door. His face, visible through the visor, showed concern and confusion.

  She could read his thoughts, what are you doing?

  She rested a hand on his arm, “Not yet. Wait.” She’d seen this before, in the Seed-arc. In situations like this, doors didn’t just open, their autonomics worked to a cadence. A specific rhythm that while annoying made sense. It conserved air.

  “I can’t get the door to open. Losing air in here.” It was Alpha-2 again.

  “Stay calm. You’re in an EVA suit.”

  Feebee put a hand on the door, could feel the pulse of the servo’s as they flexed; preparing to open before the command cancelled.

  She turned to Alpha-3, “You can take the Choc away.” He nodded.

  Feebee then took an arm’s length of twin core cable from her backpack, the ends already stripped and opened the control panel near the door.

  She remembered the many times she’d had to repair doors so that they whooshed properly. Having traced the wiring to the servos she connected one end of the control panel to them, and the other to a power-out interface on the bottom of the EVA suit's power cell. The panel by the door immediately lit up and the door whooshed open.

  As they entered the bridge, Alpha-3 could hear air leaking out of a fractured seal between two sections of the platform. It made a wheezing sound. Not good. Had he blown the door, he may well have caused the seal to fail completely, or even the platform to break up.

  Alpha-2 was pondering what would have happened if he hadn’t been wearing an EVA suit.

  They spent the next two cycles going from room to room, storage area to storage area, cataloguing what was where and the status of the platform as best they could. It was boring, repetitive work. Towards the end of the first cycle Feebee found a case of chocolate snowmen which showed signs of aging and potential damage. Upon closer inspection some of the snowmen had a white streaky coating on them. The QI informed her that this was a harmless interaction called sugar bloom. She omitted to mention that as most looked Ok but a good few were frosted with sugar bloom. Feebee felt duty bound to ensure none of the remaining snowmen were 'bloomed' so asked Alpha-2 and Alpha-3 if they would assist in giving second opinions on the remaining snowmen, putting those bloomed aside. They willingly complied and joined in as she took on the unenviable task of consuming said sullied snowmen.

  Upon returning to base, Chen called Feebee to his office. She was tired but felt she should see him straight away. She sat outside his office, waiting.

  The 2iC let Chen know that Feebee had arrived and that she was nervous, “She’s humming again.”

  Feebee went in and he got straight to the point. He found that easiest with Capt Jones. That way he could control the conversation more. He had a few pages in front of him. The reports from Alpha-2 and Alpha-3 she suspected plus her own report.

  “Your report matches the other reports I have.”

  She said nothing, just nodded. From her perspective this was to be expected, why would there be a difference. No comment needed.

  He knew better than to wait for her to speak. She either did or didn’t. She did NOT dither or delay. In anything, having read the reports.

  “You did NOT follow doctrine and wore EVA suits within the platform.”

  “Yes.”

  “Despite it being against doctrine?”

  “Yes sir. The operational inefficiency was outweighed by the risk to personnel survival.”

  “And you were right. Alpha-2 would most likely be dead.”

  Feebee shrugged, no comment needed.

  “Additionally, you stopped Alpha-3 from breaching the bridge with Choc in order to rescue Alpha-2.”

  “Yes sir. Wasn’t necessary. He was wearing an EVA suit, so entry wasn’t time critical and the relay platform was fragile. Forced entry may have caused a collapse in the platform’s integrity.”

  “Indeed. And you opened it with some wire.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “And that may have saved all three of your lives?”

  “Yes sir. That was my assessment.”

  He paused, “You are annoying Jones. You know that.”

  “Yes sir, thankyou sir.”

  “If you’re going to work with me, and be part of my group, you’re going to need some sort of cover story.” He looked to Feebee for ideas, she just shrugged.

  “You’re always humming, how about we say you’re a musician?”

  Feebee thought about it for and nodded, “Yes. I like that?”

  “Ok. Get an instrument. One that appropriate”

  “Sir. Will do.”

  He smiled, “You did well. Have instincts I cannot explain.” He then sat down, and turning away from her said, “Dismissed Jones. Don’t go far.”

  As she left, she smiled, there'd been no mention of the snowmen.