The Final Expedition

Day Three

We all gathered together in the middle of the Zvezda Command Module.

“I think you can guess why I’ve called you all together.” Karpov began. “We have still had no contact from Earth whatsoever.”

“They really are all dead aren’t they?” I said quietly.

“Not necessarily.” Karpov replied, narrowing his eyes at me. “As Morrison mentioned before, a nuclear detonation releases an Electro-magnetic pulse that knocks out all electrical circuits within its radius. They may simply be unable to contact us at the moment.”

“Perhaps we should evacuate?” Aki suggested, looking at Karpov. “We have protocols in place for an emergency evacuation in our two Soyuz capsules. We can just get back to whatever’s left of home.” Karpov shook his head.

“The protocol is in place for an emergency evacuation from the station only if the station is catastrophically damaged. The station is not damaged.”

“Surely this is an extenuating circumstance?” Morrison said. “I’m all for doing my duty, but our survival has always got to be top priority.”

“I understand both my duty and my responsibility to this crew, but this is not the time for snap decisions.” Karpov replied testily. “You know as well as I, that even with the support of Mission Control, re-entry and landing is fraught with danger. Without them, we could burn up in the atmosphere, crash land, land in the middle of the ocean…”

“I’m not saying it would be easy.” Morrison interrupted, his eyes blazing, but maintaining a level tone. “But we have both been trained for this eventuality.”

“And if we do manage to survive a return to Earth, what then Lieutenant Colonel?” Karpov returned Morrison’s steady gaze. “We don’t know what the conditions are or what the level of fallout from the nuclear blasts has been. Do you really want to risk a hazardous journey home just to die of radiation sickness?” He paused for a moment looking at each of us in turn.

“This is not a democracy.” He said slowly and deliberately. “I am the Mission Commander and my decision is that we carry on our duties and wait for Mission Control to re-establish communication.”

“What do we do if everyone down there is dead or dying?” I asked. “They may never re-establish communication. We can’t stay up here forever.”

“Actually, we can stay here longer than you might think.” Flynn told me. “We can regenerate oxygen and water from air conditioning and waste. We have food not just for this expedition, but some left over from Expedition 78 and some for future expeditions. We have the hydroponics experiment to set up in Kibo, which we could adapt to give us some sustenance. We’re lucky in that it’s only two weeks since the last automated resupply vessel docked with the station. We have plenty of water, oxygen and food in there. If we’re careful, then we could survive here for over a year.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“Then we suffocate, die of thirst or die of hunger.” Flynn snapped.

“We still have the Soyuz capsules.” Aki mentioned. “If we still haven’t heard from Mission Control, we could evacuate as a last resort once our supplies run out?”

“I agree.” Karpov slowly nodded. “But in the meantime, we will continue our duties. I will continue to monitor communications.” He paused for a moment, his steely gaze passing to each of the others before settling on me. “Don’t lose hope. It’s only been three days. I’m sure that Mission Control is working around the clock to re-establish communication.” Perhaps it was my own pessimism, but Karpov’s words sounded hollow. I couldn’t hear any belief in his sentiment at all.