Station Breaker

80 Last Stand

CRACK!!! A bullet grazes the top of my helmet and my head jerks backwards. It's so goddamn loud I'm positive it split my skull. Nope. Still here.

Thank god these things are designed to deflect micrometeorites.

I pull myself into a ball behind Domnin so I'm a smaller target. The nuke is drifting to the side, still in his grasp.

Maybe I should reach for it?

THWACK! THWACK! His body jerks back and forth like a puppet being yanked around.

Blood streams out of his chest and shoulder.

Christ. Yablokov is trying to hit me by shooting straight through his friend!

"David, what's your status?" asks Baylor.

"Fucked? I'm floating around out here and Yablokov is shooting at me. Fortunately I have Domnin's dead body and his EVA pack to use as a shield."

"Did you say you're using him as a shield?"

"Yes. But Yablokov is still taking shots."

"David, that's not good."

"No shit."

"I mean you'd be better off using the nuke to block the gunfire."

"Well, it's out of reach." I glance at Domnin's death grip on the strap. "Um, my reach."

"What I mean, is that those EVA suits use a monopropellant that could be set off by a bullet-strike."

"Oh. So I should just turn myself in? Great idea."

"No. Sorry. Just be aware of that."

"Yeah. Got it. Thanks."

Okay, the crazy Russian is shooting at you and it turns out the nuclear device is a better shield. Maybe if I reach over and grab Domnin's arm I can get it to swing the pack back at me…

The moment I grab his triceps a bullet hole emerges a centimeter away from my fingertips.

I pull my arm back in and try to ball up as small as I can again. The EVA hits me in the visor as bullets strike the corpse over and over. How much ammo did they bring up here?

The K1 is getting smaller, but that doesn't mean much. If Yablokov has a good scope, he can shoot at me for miles. There's no air resistance and the actual gravitational effect on the trajectory is insignificant.

Making matters worse; he's got the sun behind him, making it hard for me to spot him.

I notice there's a bulge in Domnin's thigh pocket. It's a gun. Stainless steel, and specially designed with a wide trigger and some kind of funky recoil suppression, you'd almost think it was a tool. I guess it is, but for putting holes in people.

Alright, David, go for it.

I reach a hand down, trying to keep it concealed behind his body as long as I can and snatch the grip.

THWACK! A bullet goes through his thigh and grazes my knuckle. A trail of blood shoots out like a geyser then freezes into small drops.

Okay. We have a gun, but Yablokov has a space rifle. This isn't quite fair.

You know what? Don't give him time to think about it either. I snake an arm around, grab the controller for the rocket pack and push the forward button.

Flames erupt right next to my helmet and the EVA suit hurtles towards the K1.

The nuke drifts backwards and I grab the handle with my left hand, not letting it drift away.

I straighten my body out as much as I can so I have a tiny profile.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

I feel the vibrations as Yablokov unloads into Domnin as we fly towards him.

I can't even imagine what the corpse looks like now. The droplets of blood are like tiny red comets flying away from him.

The K1 begins to dominate my field of view and I spot Yablokov floating over the top of the EVA spire in his own pack. He's got a long silver rifle in his hands.

I raise my gun and fire at him. It's a wild shot, but he sees the explosion of gas from the cylinder and knows he's now a target.

He presses a button and his rockets send him downwards, behind the top of the spire.

I've got a few seconds before he takes up another position.

Move fast, David. Any moment now and he's going to come creeping around the side of the station from a remote position and start shooting at me.

But which way?

Out of the corner of my eye I spot a shadow moving across the solar panels to my left. That slick bastard. He went way the hell out from me to do that.

I yank the nuke off the strap and clip it to my remaining tether. I then turn Domnin's body towards the direction his pal is heading and push the forward thruster.

Flames lick around me as the rocket pack shoots forward and upwards towards the trajectory of the shadow.

Using a rail, I pull myself around the spire, to the opposite side of Yablokov, cutting off his sneak attack.

As I reach the other end, Domnin's dead body is floating right towards the other commander.

Confused, and thinking with his gun and not his brain, Yablokov momentarily starts firing rounds into the already ripped apart cosmonaut.

Yablokov decides he'd rather take the shot at me than Domnin and brings his rifle to bear on me.

I only have a second to get my shot.