Station Breaker

66 Touch Down

The DarkStar makes one tiny little course adjustment and I come to a stop, 100 meters directly over the K1. We're still on the dayside, so the K1 is a brilliant gleaming cross in the middle of four iridescent blue squares of solar panels.

On my display panel the K1 sits perfectly in the middle like a cross-hair over the earth. In a few minutes we'll pass over the horizon into the nightside and the K1 will be a giant black square against the glittering lights of the cities below.

I check my suit to make sure my life-support is working then call in to my fellow outlaws below.

"What's the word?"

Captain Baylor is on the comm. "So far we haven't detected any unusual radio signals from the K1. It looks like you're a go for EVA."

"Okay… what's the status of Markov's man or woman on the inside? Will anybody be there when I come calling?"

"We're checking on that…"

"Checking? It's kind of important."

"Hold on."

I finish inspecting my suit and get ready for my EVA out the hatch behind me.

"Baylor here. Markov says to proceed. He's sent a message to the operative."

"But there hasn't been a reply…"

"Affirmative. They may not be in a position to do so. We think it's best if you head to the airlock and wait there."

"Sure." I mean, what else am I going to do?

I lower the seat back and attach the EVA strap to a clip on my waist. It's basically a giant fishing reel I'll use to keep me tethered to the DarkStar until I reach the K1, where I'll attach it to a clamp there.

The nice thing about modern space stations is that they've got more hand rails than an old folks home. The challenge is going to be getting from here to there.

The thing about zero-gravity is that although it looks like you're Superman flying through the air, he gets to change his mind about what direction he wants to travel mid-flight. I don't.

To train for this, iCosmos has a huge blacked-out warehouse with a very smooth floor and a robot arm that glides around on an air cushion, supporting you. You kick off replicas of the Unicorn and US/iCosmos modules and fly through the air with nothing to stop you except another surface.

You get a deep appreciation for Newton's First Law of Motion very quickly. All you have to do is misjudge where you plan on landing by a few inches and you'll watch your intended destination whiz past at the same velocity you kicked off.

In real space there's no padded wall to run into. You just eventually burn up in the atmosphere and cremate yourself.

While my spacesuit has jets that fire compressed gas, this is very limited. With nobody out here to lifeguard me, it's important I get it right the first time.

I turn the vent valve and the DarkStar releases the air inside the capsule in all six directions at once so it doesn't start shooting around like a balloon.

This was a clever feature I noticed in the manual. On a ship this small, venting just 20 cubic feet of air would send it flying and defeat the whole "stealth" thing.

The front of the ship is pointed down at the K1 and Earth like the pointy tip of an ice cream cone. When I open the hatch at the back, my eyes are greeted by thousands of stars. The sun is directly behind the door and the DarkStar, true to its name, doesn't reflect any light.

I give myself a few seconds to appreciate the view then push myself out of the compartment. Once I move outside the shadow of the DarkStar I'll be visible to the K1's radar, so moving quickly is important.

There's no way I'll be able to completely avoid detection in my suit, but if I'm just a quick blip, I should be okay.

I think.