Spark in the Void: a 1980s-tech space RP (IC)

[Congreveopia]

OOC thread.

Liberation III space station, 250 kilometers above Earth, June 17 1967:

“Mission Commander Jacob L. Perry,” Jake turned the phrase over in his mind. “Station Commander Jacob L. Perry; Largest-Man-Made-Structure-in-Space Commander Jacob L. Perry; chief-of-the-only-living-humans-not-bound-by-gravity Jacob L. Perry.”

Right now, he was “person-responsible-for-making-sure-we-don’t-all-suffocate Jacob L. Perry.” He pulled the velcro straps apart on a bundle of supplies inside their LOMV and pulled out another lithium-perchlorate canister. The soup-can sized cylinders were currently the supplemental oxygen factory that allowed six people to briefly live aboard a station designed for three. He quickly inspected it for visual signs of damage, and, seeing none, re-secured the rest of the supplies.

He pulled himself up through the LOMV and stuck his head out into the core of Liberation III. “Beneath” him (the lights were “up” and heavy equipment was attached to the “floor” generally to make the environment a little less strange), Jedsey Kerman was getting acquainted with the central control console of Liberation III. If the new crew had any questions about the station, it would be a lot more convenient to ask the old crew while they were still around. Tomorrow, all they’d have would be encyclopedias worth of instruction manuals, and the radio to ground control.

Jake glanced left and right. Gregor Biermann was still in the science module checking out all of the equipment presumably, but Jake could only see as far as the transfer corridor from where he was floating. Over to his right, the baffle separating the living area from the x-ray telescope was set up, and the Mission 1 crew were having their final sleep aboard the station before returning to Earth.

He casually flipped around into the middle of the work module above Jedsey, and pulled the ring on the lithium-perchlorate canister to start the reaction.

There was a bright flash, and Jake closed his eyes and let go of the canister, shielding his face. He heard a loud quick hiss, like a train letting off steam, and forced his eyes back open to see what had happened. The canister was on fire; a golden jet streamed from one end of it and splattered against the wall next to the LOMV hatch -molten metal, maybe; it looked like a massive sparkler. Smoke began pouring out of the canister and filling the air.

Jake thought quickly. There had to have been something wrong with the canister, but he couldn’t think exactly what in the moment. Regardless, the intensity of the fire told him that whatever was going on inside the can right now wouldn’t stop anytime soon on its own; it was probably making its own oxygen and had plenty of fuel, and there was certainly enough heat. All three elements of the fire triangle.

Just glancing at the smoke, Jake could tell he couldn’t breath that. It was thick and black, and even if it wasn’t toxic, which he guessed it was, it was certainly going to either choke him or burn his lungs, probably both. His training on the mock station on the ground flashed back before him, and in half a second he had remembered where the oxygen masks were. The master alarm aboard the station was blaring now. He glanced over, and Jedsey had already reached the masks compartment and got it open. He tossed a mask at Jake. Jake grabbed the mask, and glanced towards the science module. He saw Dr. Biermann looking at him, holding the hatch between the science module and the transfer corridor halfway closed. Jake couldn’t remember if there were masks stashed in the science module too, but if there were, Gregor wasn’t wearing one yet. Jake made a split-second decision and gestured for Gredor to close the hatch, then the smoke closed over Jake's head, and he lost sight of the hatchway.

His eyes burned from the smoke, and he held his breath as he pulled the mask on. He checked it was secure, and inhaled. If felt like trying to breathe through a sponge, but clean air filled his lungs. He blinked several times, his eyes watering, and then felt a tug on his leg. Jedsey was holding a water spray fire extinguisher and a chemical foam one. Jake took the chemical foam extinguisher as Jedsey held him steady, and then began attacking the fire.



The former station commander, Dr. Oran Nielah, woke up the second the master alarm went off. It didn’t always signify an emergency. Sometimes it signaled something as mundane as oversleeping, but on the offchance that it was critical, there was no time to be slow.

Oran took one glance past the sleeping baffle, and saw smoke in the work section of the station, and moving towards them incredibly fast. There was no heat convection in space to move air, but the station’s air circulation systems, usually needed to prevent carbon dioxide pooling around working astronauts, were apparently capable of filling the station with smoke at an astonishing pace.

Oran was out of his sleeping bag and shaking Nemone awake before Charlotte Wegener was even fully up. Then he pushed off to a container of oxygen masks as fast as he could. He grabbed three, tossed two at Charlotte and Nemone, then secured his and grabbed a fire extinguisher. He pushed forwards into the smoke. There was near zero visibility, and he had to navigate by memory and touch. He was pulling himself past the x-ray telescope when he heard coughing above him that quickly turned to gasping and choking.

“Nemone didn’t get his mask on fast enough!” he heard Charlotte call from above. “It’s on now, but he doesn’t look good!”

“Get him to the LOMV!” replied Oran. He was still looking for the source of the fire, but could barely see his hand in front of his face in the smoke.

“Can’t get him out of his sleeping bag,” said Charlotte. He pushed off the floor and bumped into the ceiling near Nemone. Charlotte was wrestling a stuck zipper.

“I’ve got it,” said Oran as Charlotte moved aside and accepted the fire extinguisher from him. He grabbed the sleeping bag on both sides beside the zipper and pulled with all his strength. The slider snapped with a faint *ping* sound, and bounced off the ceiling beside him. Charlotte began pulling Nemone towards the LOMV.

Oran took the fire extinguisher back, and began to move for the work compartment, but Charlotte grabbed his ankle.

“I can’t seal the LOMV while I’m…” she began and stopped. Oran knew she had meant to say “while I’m trying to keep Nemone alive.” He reluctantly let the fire extinguisher go, and helped Charlotte get Nemone into their LOMV and away from the fire.



Dr. Biermann sealed the hatch to the transfer corridor, but he knew he was still in trouble. The science module shared air circulation systems with the main module, and there weren’t any masks aboard the science module. He could already see thin wisps of smoke coming from the vents, and from what he’d seen of the work module, that would only be the tip of the iceberg.

He knew the science module systems inside and out. If it was severed from the station, or the pressure dropped in the transfer corridor, it would switch to a backup life support system. A holdover from the days when the heavy cargo vehicle that the science module was built inside was meant to be a fully independant spaceship. It was a holdover that could save his life, but he couldn’t activate it without disconnecting the science module from the rest of the station, and he couldn’t fly the science module. Once it was detached, he wouldn’t be able to re-dock on his own.

Smoke was continuing to filter out of the vents, and he could feel his eyes beginning to sting. Ventilation in the science module had always been poor; the first crew complained of headaches when working in there for too long. Now that poor ventilation was buying him a precious few extra seconds to think before he choked to death.

He couldn’t see another way out. The main section of the station had to be filled with smoke already, and even if he could hold his breath, there was no telling which oxygen masks had been taken. There were three in each cabinet, normally enough for one to always be left over, but not with five people aboard. He spun the locking mechanism on the hatch fully closed and pulled down the manual disconnect handle. He felt the module shake slightly as the latches connecting it with the station retracted, then he heard the sound of valves popping shut as pressure disappeared on one side of them. The lights went out. The emergency lights went on, and he felt the cool breeze of fresh clean air from the vents.



Jake felt sweat pooling in globs on his forehead. He was holding the extinguisher steady and releasing a steady stream of chemical foam at the canister as Jedsey held him steady, but the fire showed no signs of abating, and the foam wasn’t sticking to the canister. A few more seconds, and the extinguisher was drained. He tossed it away, and grabbed the water spray one from Jedsey. He hit the canister with a hard jet of water mist. If he couldn’t smother the fire, maybe he could cool it enough to stop the reaction. The canister took the full spray of water, but the fire didn’t go out, and the canister floated back away towards the “ceiling.”

Jake lost sight of the canister in the smoke. He called for Jedsey to let go of him, and pulled himself up in the direction the canister had gone. He saw small flames licking at the insulation around the hatch to the LOMV they’d just arrived on, and realized with horror where the canister had drifted. He pulled himself into the empty LOMV, and saw it between the pilot’s seat and the control console. He tried to maneuver to aim the extinguisher at it, but then saw the wiring underneath the control console catch fire, and realized he couldn’t use the water extinguisher without risking electrocution from any of the many high voltage lines that snaked around the cockpit of the LOMV. As he paused for a moment to try to remember how to shut down all power in the LOMV, he saw the padding on the pilot’s chair catch light, and realized the LOMV was doomed. He shoved his way out back into the main module, and slammed the hatch closed over the LOMV. Jedsey was waiting beside him, and grabbed the manual disconnect handle. Jake nodded, and Jedsey jettisoned the craft that was supposed to return them home.

Small flames were still dancing around where the canister had bounced off the hatchway into the LOMV, but they wouldn’t be a problem to extinguish, except for the danger posed by the high voltage line to the hatch that they were crowded around. They weren’t an immediate threat, though. The LOMV was still the biggest danger.

“Jedsey, you’ve got to move us away from the LOMV,” said Jake. “The fire in there might reach the fuel lines, and the explosion could take the station with it.”

Jedsey pulled himself back to the control console and Jake followed.

“I can’t move us!” said Jedsey. “The RCS won’t respond; we’ve got multiple failures and warnings in the fueling system, all around the science module!”

Jake wondered where Dr. Neilah had gotten to. He’d expected him to be in the thick of things a lot sooner based on his reputation, but suddenly put two and two together and realized he must be in the first LOMV. Jake grabbed the radio.

“Liberation III calling mission one LOMV,” said Jake “Oran? Charlie? Nemone? You there?”

“This is Oran,” the radio replied “Nemone's got a smoke inhalation injury and we retreated to our LOMV for some clean air while Charlie checks it out. Are you okay in there?”

“The fire’s under control here,” replied Jake “But we had to jettison the other LOMV, and it’s burning. We need to get away from it before the fuel tanks go, but the RCS won’t fire.”

“We’ve got full control of our systems here, but it’s all on manual,” said Oran “I can get you away, but I can’t keep you stable at the same time.”

“Do it,” said Jake “That LOMV is a time bomb.”

The station shuddered as the thrusters fired aboard the first LOMV, pulling the main module of Liberation III away from the burning spacecraft. The station banged against the science module with a loud clang, then drifted free, leaving the science module and the second LOMV drifting side-by-side.

“What was that?” said Jedsey, as the clang echoed through the station. The smoke swirled in front of Jake’s mask as Liberation III drifted away and began to spin, the small thrusters on the LOMV insufficient to keep it pointed in the same direction and move it at the same time.

“No time to wonder,” said Jake, pulling himself back towards the small fires still onboard. “Kill the station power.”

“Backup batteries on the science module will activate after a few seconds,” said Jedsey.

“I only need a few seconds,” replied Jake, readying the extinguisher. Jedsey killed the power, and the station plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the windows and the small fire. Jake hit the fire with the extinguisher, and the flames vanished. The station orbited into the shadow of Earth, and all light vanished.

“Why isn’t power coming back from the science module?” asked Jedsey.

Jake’s felt an icy chill plunge through him as he realized the truth and hoped he was wrong. He pulled himself into the transfer corridor by feel. Behind him, he heard Jedsey fumbling for a flashlight. The seven windows in the transfer corridor gave an almost 360 degree view. He looked around as the station rolled in a random drift, then saw the lights of two spacecraft’s windows shrinking away.

“Gregor detached the science module,” said Jake. “He’s still over by the second LOMV.”

[Sovreignry]

Doctor Gregor Biermann

---

As Gregor drifted he attempted to take stock of his situation. He was currently drifting freely around the planet, alone, with a limited supply of oxygen. Oh, and the science module was currently producing a miniature simulation of gravity through centripetal force. In short, he was probably screwed.

I didn't even get my poster signed. he thought as the station drifted. He quickly looked around, trying to see if there was anything he could do to help his situation. He had some plants from his experiments, but nothing sufficient enough to actually produce enough oxygen. Besides, he would probably starve even if he could keep the oxygen up. He looked out the window to try to see where the station ended up, since that was probably what hit him.

Ah, there she is. He turned from the window and went to the emergency radio. "Liberation III this is the Science Module come in. Liberation III this is the science module are you reading me?"

[Blorbs]

Jedsey Kerman, eyes burning and covered in pools of water, carefully felt for the wall and slowly made his way over to a nearby window. Pressing his face up to it, Jedsey could just barely see about half of the detatched LOMV, the windows glowing faintly from the fire raging inside.

"Can you make anything out?" Jake questioned

"Yeah, I can just about see the LOMV. It doesn't look like the fire has reached-" Jedsey was interrupted by a sudden, bright flash of light

"AGHHHHH! My eyes!" He yelled, his voice nearly overpowered by the sound of debris bashing against the side of the station. After the flash ended, Jedsey peered back at the window. There was a web of white fractures on the window, but it appeared to have only penetrated the outside panes of glass, leaving the final unbroken interior pane air tight, albeit vulnerable.

"As far as I can tell..." Jedsey said, his voice wavering "We are in no immediate danger of explosive decompression from the window."


ooc: congreveopia you took too long to respond so I'm just posting this anyway, tell me if I shouldn't have

[Merni]

Nemone wakes up after some time in the LOMV. "What the heck happened!? Oran, what happened? Is everyone OK?"
Oran said "Nemone! Finally! You remember the lithium perchlorate canisters we were supposed to burn? Well, one of them exploded. You didn't get your mask on quickly enough. The LOMV from Mission 2 just exploded, as Jake tells us, but no-one's on board. Gregor is on the Science Module, and he survived. Liberation's got no power right now. Jake and Jedsey are on-board Liberation"
"What the hell... Has anyone contacted Mission Control yet?"
"No, no, no-one has."
"Hey, wait... Gregor can't fly the Science Module! How'll he survive?"
"There's a life support system, but that's not our main concern right now. So what do you say Charlotte and I try to bring Jake and Jedsey back here, out of the smoke and you radio Mission Control?"
"Ok, I'll do that."
Oran un-seals the LOMV, and smoke begins entering. Nemone slips on his mask at once.
"ISF Mission Control, this is Liberation III, LOMV one. Come in. ISF Mission Control, come in..."
Just then the radio crackles. "Liberation III this is the Science Module. Come in"
Nemone rushes to the radio. "Science module this is LOMV one. Gregor, this is Nemone. Are you all right?"
"Nemone! Thank God. I'm fine, the emergency system is working. Do you not have power? Where's Oran, Charlotte, Jake and Jedsey?"
"No, they killed it thinking that your batteries would activate! Oran and Charlotte just left LOMV one to rescue Jake and Jedsey, who are in the main module. LOMV one was sealed all this while 'cause I had inhaled the smoke, so it has cleaner air than the rest of the module."
"Ok, did you radio ISF?"
'I did, they didn't answer. I was about to try find the problem when you came in."
Just then Oran arrives, followed by Charlotte, Jake and Jedsey.
"OK, the others have arrived. Over."
Oran escorts the others into the LOMV.
Nemone says: "Oran, Gregor is still alive on the science module, the life-support system saved him. I just talked to him on the radio. And Mission Control didn't answer."

[Blorbs]

"Hello? Jake? Jedsey? Are you two here?"

"Oran? Are you okay? Where are the others?" Jedsey blurted through the smoke

"Fine, fine, just get over to the hatch."

Jedsey forcefully pushed himself off of the side of the station, and floated over to the hatch, clumsily hitting it with a bang. "Agh... can't see anything through this damn smoke."

Jake soon followed, and the three of them opened the hatch and quickly moved through it, closing it as fast as they could to keep the smoke out.

"Is everyone alright? What happened over here?"

Nemone speaks "Oran, Gregor is still alive on the science module, the life-support system saved him. I just talked to him on the emergency radio. And Mission Control didn't answer. Oh, and I'm fine Jedsey, and obviously Oran is too."

"Alright. Thats great. Did the explosion do anything to the science module? It did a sizeable amount of damage from as far away as we were, and the science module was much closer..."

Nemone replied "We made radio contact after the explosion-"

Jedsey interrupted, breathing a sigh of releif "Oh, good, he must be fine then. Any damage to this LOMV?"

[Guadalupador]

0730 Hours: Divouga Space Center, Divouga, Guadalupdador. (14/8/1967)

Mission Control Flight Director for Liberator III, Lysandre Deregitsa sat down at his station with his cup of piping hot coffee and a lit cigarette in his ashtray, waiting to be smoked. He leaned back in his chair and put on his headset. Just another day, just another day, just another day... He repeated in his head. As soon as he put his cigarette to his mouth, the master alarm went off aboard the Liberation III. "What in the..." muttered in Dorian. Smoke sensors were triggered less than a second later. The entirety of mission control looked around at one another. Lysandre stood up and told them to sit back down and mind their consoles. What the hell is going on? Lysandre thought. "CAPCOM. Try to get in contact with L3." Lysandre ordered.

The operator nodded, and began comm check. "Mission Control to Liberation III. Do you read? Mission Control to Liberation III Do you read?"

"FYI, the second LOMV and Science Modules have just been detached from the station. We just lost telemetry from them." Another Operator reported on Lysandre's headset.

"Say again?" Lysandre couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"The LOMV and Science Modules have been detached from the station, uhh I don't see any pressure alarms being triggered though. Could be a manual detachment."

"Give me a visual." Lysandre said, getting up and walking over to his colleague's console. "Turn on the external docking cams."

"Here they are." The small black and white screen switched views between the external cams showing the modules floating outward and away from the station.

"Alright, turn those off. Get the internal cam online." The screen switched view to the transfer corridor to see Jake moving in before going offline. "They killed the power..." Lysander surmised. "CAPCOM Keep doing comms check, something just happened."

[Mewsland]

0730 Hours Station Time | June 17, 1967 | Low Orbit Maneuvering Vehicle I

Oran swore. The LOMV trying to control the station was like trying to fly with a dead elephant on his back. The craft would sometimes barely respond to the RCS, and other times it would seem like it was about to careen out of control. "Liberation, shut off your thrusters. I'm trying to null out this damn lurch," he somewhat calmly intoned, though inside he was full of rapid-fire thought, almost all of it focused on what he had to do to save the station - and her occupants. "I can't go pick up Gregor until we have you somewhat stable, so let's make it quick."

A few careful taps of various buttons had him using both sets of RCS thrusters to maintain control, when finally, the comms on the LOMV crackled to life with comms checks from Mission Control. "Here we go. Divouga, Liberation 3 orbital vehicle 1, Oran here. We have a fire aboard the station. I'd hazard a guess one of the solid-fuel O₂ canisters decided to celebrate Founders' Day a little early."

"The science module has been jettisoned, likely with Mr. Biermann still aboard, the second LOMV has been destroyed by an explosion, and I'm doing my best to try and stabilize the main module before I can go and retrieve Gregor - and the science module, if I can."

[Congreveopia]

“No unexpected warnings, the first LOMV looks fine.” said Jake, twisting around in the small spacecraft to get a view of the control console. “It’s the only vehicle we can probably be confident is safe right now. Without the computers back online, we won’t know if the debris hit anything serious on the main module. The science module is the most in danger, though. It was right alongside when the second LOMV blew. We need to get Gregor off it as quickly as possible. We also need to save the main module of Liberation III, though. Without it, we’re not all going to last long enough for a rescue mission.”

The different priorities twisted around each other in Jake’s mind. If he restarted Liberation III’s power, he didn’t know if the positioning system would work properly after the detachment of the science module. If the computer used up the battery power spinning the gyrodynes in the wrong direction, they’d freeze. The station couldn’t generate power unless it was stable, and they would need the station to stay online until a rescue mission was mounted. Without a second LOMV, abandoning the station wasn’t an option, like it usually was. Nemone was the station expert. With enough time, Nemone and ground control could get the station back under control for sure, but they only had the LOMV radio until it was safe to switch the station on. And until they could get the station to refresh the air, they only had the LOMV air too. Also, the station could be leaking or there could be critical structural damage, or any number of other ticking time bombs. They wouldn’t know without power. Restoring power was so important, but they needed the LOMV radio to talk with ground control to get the station configured correctly when they turned the power back on, and that LOMV had to go and retrieve Gregor. There was no question. He couldn’t leave him aboard the Science Module over there. That would mean moving Nemone back to Liberation III to free a seat on the LOMV, though, and for that, Nemone would have to get back into a mask. Would that interfere with breathing?

If only they could restore power without risking the station blowing it all on the gyrodynes…

“Oran, Jedsey!” Jake had an idea. He reached over and grabbed one of the LOMV’s headsets so that ground control could hear him as he briefed the crew “Take the LOMV and retrieve Gregor. We don’t know how long the science module’s got, and we have to assume the worst. Charlotte, get Nemone into the station and make sure he’s actually fit to get back to work. I need you two ready and able as soon as possible, but not at the cost of Nemone’s health. I’m going to sever the power to the gyrodynes, then turn on the station batteries. Once I do, the top priority is to make sure the station is still spaceworthy, then get it back in a condition to generate power. Ideally, we'll do that in forty minutes, before the sun rises again, but the only hard deadline we’re racing is when the batteries will be drained.”

[Western Weyard]

Charlotte had been thrown around quite a bit when Oran tried to stabilize the station, but had managed to avoid any injuries. Now she was looking over Jake and Oran's shoulders at the status displays, coming to pretty much the same conclusions as the others. They had to move fast.

"Got it, Jake", she nodded. "But I'd like to check him out here in the LOMV, since we got breathable air and light. Over there, there's going to be smoke all over the place. I don't mind getting all touchy-feely, but in this case I think it's better to see what I'm doing." Even better would be to get Nemone to a hospital as fast as possible, but that wasn't an option right now, wasn't it? So she had to make do with the medical equipment aboard the station...

Grabbing the medkit that had been floating around in the cabin, she continued: "Give me a few minutes while I give him a lookover, then we can go over." Then she turned to Neome and said while she opened the bag: "Okay, listen: When we're over there, I want you to stay where I can see you. If you begin to feel dizzy, you tell me immediately. Understood?"

[Sovreignry]

Doctor Gregor Biermann

---

Gregor looked around. He had to figure out something to keep him alive while people tried to come get him. But first, he had to do something about that hissing noise. He paused. There wasn't supposed to be a hissing sound in space. Hissing was bad, very bad. Especially in space. He quickly looked around trying to ascertain where the noise was coming from. He eventually found where a couple holes had been punched through by the exploding LOMV. He thanked Gunarr and all the gods that he had been over at the end farthest from the LOMV when it had exploded. He quickly went to work trying to find the emergency patch kit. As he looked he grabbed the radio and spoke into it.

"I don't wish to alarm anyone, but I am currently losing air. I am attempting a patch." He set the radio down as he set to work with the patch kit.

[Guadalupador]

0740 Hours: Divouga Space Center (14/8/1967)

"Director Deregitsa, I've got contact with L3." the CAPCOM operator announced.

Lysandre jumped up from the station he was at, and ran over to CAPCOM. "Let me talk to them." He put on an extra headset next to CAPCOM, and plugged it in. "Liberation III, this is Mission Control. What's going on up there?"

"Here we go. Divouga, Liberation 3 orbital vehicle 1, Oran here. We have a fire aboard the station. I'd hazard a guess one of the solid-fuel O2 canisters decided to celebrate Founders' Day a little early."

Lysandre cursed under his breath and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "Mission Control to Liberation III. We detected that LOMV 2 and the Science Module had been ejected, do you have a status on those?"

"The science module has been jettisoned, likely with Mr. Biermann still aboard, the second LOMV has been destroyed by an explosion, and I'm doing my best to try and stabilize the main module before I can go and retrieve Gregor - and the science module, if I can."

As if things couldn't have gotten worse, Lysandre was proven wrong: "Mission Control to Liberation III. Alright, Oran. Is anybody injured, and how far away do you think Gregor is right now?" As soon as he asked the question, Mission Control could hear Jake over the headset announcing the next action. Lysandre then tugged the sleeve of an operator passing by: "Get a meeting together in twenty minutes." Lysandre then tried to contact Jake: "Mission Control to Liberation III. Do you have a time frame for when your batteries will be drained? We lost most of our recording equipment and telemetry when the station's power was shut off, let alone we lost all telemetry with the science module. Needless to say, we're essentially blind down here." Lysandre then turned to CAPCOM: "Try to get to Gregor on the Science Module."

"Already done." the CAPCOM Operator said, patching Gregor in.

"I don't wish to alarm anyone, but I am currently losing air. I am attempting a patch."

"This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" Lysandre blurted out.

"L3 Science Module, this is Mission Control, how long is it going to take for you to patch up?" The CAPCOM Operator asked as Lysandre walked over toward a boardroom near the back of the Mission Control center.

[Merni]

Nemone says "Our first priority is to check for any bad structural damage or leaks, especially around the second LOMV's docking point. Then we have to fix the solar panels, and get them generating power. All this in about two hours."
"I don't think there'll be any major structural damage from the debris. This craft is built very strongly. However, there probably will be some air leaks, and the solar panels will definitely be damaged, unless the debris missed them completely. Probably only the left array will be badly damaged, since it was closest to the second LOMV.

Mission Control to Liberation III. Do you have a time frame for when your batteries will be drained?

"Liberation III, LOMV 1 to Mission Control. Nemone here. We estimate about two hours, or 1.5 orbits. Did you get any status update from Gregor?" Nemone says into the radio.

"I don't wish to alarm anyone, but I am currently losing air. I am attempting a patch." That's what he said.

"Liberation III, LOMV 1 to Mission Control. Thank you for the info. Over." he says.

"Okay, listen: When we're over there, I want you to stay where I can see you. If you begin to feel dizzy, you tell me immediately. Understood?"

"Sure, sure." Nemone says. After a few minutes, Charlotte finishes checking him. She says, "I think you can wear a mask and go out. I'd like to take you to a hospital so that we can fully treat whatever lung damage you have, but right now it seems OK to go ouT."

"OK, great. Now, I'm going to tell Gregor about our plan." says Nemone.


Nemone puts on a headset, and contacts the Science Module on the radio. "Gregor, are you there? This is Nemone. We've decided on a plan. We're going to disconnect the power to the gyrodynes, so that the computer doesn't waste power spinning them. Then we'll restart power to the main module. Myself and Charlotte will stay back and try to restart power generation. Oran, Jake and Jedsey here will detach the LOMV and come rescue you."
Nemone slips on his mask and tightens it securely; he doesn't want any more accidents with it. He says, "Jake, disconnected the gyro-dynes' power? Good. Switch on the batteries, and unseal this LOMV. Good luck."

[Sovreignry]

Dr. Gregor Biermann

---

Gregor finished with the patch, the epoxy starting to set as soon as he set it around the hard plastic square. The hissing sound started to sound lower until it eventually stopped altogether. Well, that's one problem fixed. he thought as he drifted away from the wall. As he drifted he heard the radio crackle again.

"Gregor, are you there? This is Nemone. We've decided on a plan. We're going to disconnect the power to the gyrodynes, so that the computer doesn't waste power spinning them. Then we'll restart power to the main module. Myself and Charlotte will stay back and try to restart power generation. Oran, Jake and Jedsey here will detach the LOMV and come rescue you." he heard before he pushed himself back over to it.

"Thank you Liberation III. Standing by for the LOMV." he said, releasing the button. "And Mission Control? Patched affected, air leak sealed."