Station Breaker

68 Breaking and Entering

Well, this sucks. I can't seem to catch a break lately.

My body begins to dangle away from the station and I have to remember to pull myself back in, lest someone looking up from their nuclear device sees me chilling out here.

Okay, so Markov says I have to return. He's obviously very certain that his operative is not going to be able to let me inside. Without their help, I'm in a bit of a bind here.

There are only two EVA airlocks on this station. There's the one a meter from my head and the other one on the bottom of the station, adjacent to the airlocks where spaceships dock.

Both of the EVA airlocks require someone on the inside to depressurize them and unlock the hatch.

While they both have an emergency release — in case someone gets trapped outside, there's no way I can use that and not send the whole station into an alert causing all the sections to seal. At best, I would make it into the upper module and not any further before they caught me.

The whole point of an inside man was to let me inside discreetly. Without that element of surprise, there's not much I can do.

Alright, David, is there another way inside?

Think outside of the box.

With some tools I could take apart a window and go inside one of the modules… except the explosive decompression would send the station spinning and let everyone know they have a visitor. So, dumb idea.

Okay, is there a way I could get them to let me in?

Maybe knock on their door and trick them into an EVA?

Okay, no Bugs Bunny techniques. What if I take out their communications antennas? Would the commanders decide to send someone out here?

Put that on the "maybe" list.

What other options are there?

"OPS, what's the condition of the docking module?"

"Have you returned to the DarkStar yet?" asks Baylor.

"Negative. I'm weighing other options."

"What other options? Markov says you should return."

"I understand that. But he's also not an astronaut. I repeat, what is the status of the docking module?"

"From what we understand there are two Russian craft berthed there. The third dock is damaged from the Unicorn incident and the fourth one is empty. But you can't open the hatch without causing the inner module to decompress. It's not intended for hard vacuum."

"I understand that. Hold on."

"Hold on for what?"

"I'm thinking of something."

"David, you should be planning your return. You don't want to be up there when the nuke goes off."

"No shit. I don't want to be anywhere when that goes off."

"Hold on. Markov wants to speak to you."

"David, I appreciate your bravery but it's time to come home."

"Hold up. There might be another option."

"Perhaps. But if you blow their airlock we believe they'll suspect an intruder and move up their plans to use the device. It could be… counterproductive."

"Yeah, I get it. What if I could get in without them knowing?"

"You would be a miracle worker."

"Well, put my helper on the line, I think I have an idea."

"What are you thinking?" asks Laney.

"I once saw a documentary where Stephen Hawking explained that as a boy he found seventeen ways into his house while his sister only knew of twelve."

"I guess boys are biologically programmed to figure out how to sneak through windows," she replies.

"Well, I did it with yours…"

I think I can hear the sound of her blushing.

"Anyway… I got to thinking. I think I know another way to get in."

"You can't open the docking airlocks to vacuum."

"Yes. I know. I also know that I can't blow the EVA airlock either. Noted. May I continue?"

"Sorry. What are you thinking?"

"I think I know another way inside."

"Go on…"

"The Russian spacecraft docked below, is it standard procedure to leave the hatches open or closed to the inside of the K1?"

"Closed, but not locked. If the station decompresses it's easier to get into. If one of the ships gets a leak the air pressure from the station will keep the hatch… HOLY SHIT DAVID! You're smarter than you look!"

I hear her yell to everyone in our command center. "David figured out a way inside the K1! I'm going to put you back with Baylor while I pull up some manuals of the Russian ship. AFI 12 if you pull it off."

"Baylor here. What is this madness that has your groupie all flustered?"

"First, I think I'm her groupie. Second, I have a plan. I don't go through the K1. I go through the side hatch on one of the Russian ships. I think I can do this without sending the K1 into full-alert."

"Hmmm… Yeah, with the other docking ring damaged they probably shut off the emergency alarms on that section. And if you go through the hatch on one of their birds and seal it back up, you can open the inner lock to the K1. Good call. Here's Markov."

"David, how certain are you that this will work?"

"Not at all. But it gets around the concern we had with using the EVA airlocks. The ships are on a separate system. As long as the K1 has hull integrity it won't cause a problem."

"Alright. Proceed with your plan. But if there is any complication, return to the DarkStar immediately."

"You got it."

Great, me and my big mouth. I had a perfectly good opportunity to go home and I just blew it.