16


"All I'm saying is we should get more information from Henshaw," Elise said. "We can still go, but the more we know, the safer we’ll be."
"You're not wrong," I said.
"I know I'm not wrong," Elise responded.
She was getting on my nerves again, so I did the only thing I could do. I pulled out the Starbrand cigar.
"I dare you to light that," she challenged.
Even the feel of it was amazing. Just holding one of the most expensive cigars in the galaxy gave me chills. I realized after smoking the first one that I'd stolen from Henshaw's mansion, that all previous Starbrands had been fakes. I’d never had a real one in my life.
There had been something almost spiritual about the aroma and even the way it smoldered. Without thinking about what I was doing, I put it back in the case Tom had made for me and slipped it into my jacket pocket.
Elise snickered. "I knew you couldn't do it. You might as well name that thing. You treat it like it's your child, not just a way to introduce poison into your system and annoy the hell out of everyone.”
We arrived in the equipment room and started unpacking the gear necessary. All of this could be put on rapidly, but since we were performing a recon mission and not in escape or vehicle evacuation, we took our time.
"Jelly, while we're doing this, contact the Lady Faith and see if we can get Henshaw on the line. I really need to talk to him, even if he doesn't want to show his face," I said.
"Making contact now," Jelly said.
"What do you want?" Henshaw asked, his voice even more pretentious than I remembered.
"Are you drunk?" I asked.
"I'm tired, okay. I haven't slept well since we left Roxo III,” Henshaw said. "What do you want from me?"
"I need to know what to expect when we get there," I said.
"Well, I imagine you will find part of a destroyed space station," Henshaw drawled slowly. I couldn't see him, but I thought he was reclining in a virtual reality beach environment sipping an alcoholic beverage.
"I need to know if there's something I can salvage, something to update my Reaper AI or tell me what the ghost images in my mask mean," I said.
It still felt odd that X-37 hadn't commented on our conversations about his possible demise, even though I knew the reason.
Henshaw had described what the mask could do for me but had omitted any clarification about the ghost images. He'd already made it clear that he didn’t believe I could see them. Supposedly, that took special instruments.
I still had mixed feelings about the mask. It basically amplified what X-37 already did. If it was so great, why had I emerged victorious over two consecutive mask-wearing adversaries?
All I wanted from it were answers. And to not have it dissolve my face or cause me to jump out of an airlock without an EVA suit.
* * *
"Since when do sword mystics become experts in extra vehicle activity suits?" I asked.
Path responded as calmly as ever, despite the tone I had used to bait him. "I told you I did service with the Union."
"What does that mean, a familiarization course and maybe one practice run?"
"I was like a pathfinder, sent out to scout new worlds and damaged ships. Basically, the exact mission you are embarking on now," he said.
"Sounds like he knows what he's doing," Elise said.
“He does,” I said, reconsidering my decision to bring Elise. “So it’s your lucky day. No space walk for you.”
"You're not leaving me behind."
“You’re going to drive me crazy, kid. You know you don’t want to go. It’s better this way. Path and I can handle it. You’ll stay here and keep the airlock ready for us,” I said, realizing I’d made a mistake. She was already glaring at me like I’d gone out of my way to insult her abilities.
I could see she was terrified of going into the darkness with nothing but a spacesuit to keep her alive. She had asked dozens of questions about the maneuvering systems, double and triple checking she understood how everything worked.
And then, because I’m an asshole, I pulled her from the mission. If I was her, I’d be punching something right now. From the look of her, she wasn’t far from doing the same thing. She was like a younger version of myself.
“Are you sure, Elise? You don’t have to do this. I’m not doubting you. There will be plenty of other opportunities to do it. Probably on this mission even,” I said.
“I have to do it now or I will lose my nerve,” she said with striking honesty.
“Okay. I understand that. Let's do a final buddy check and then get started. We don't know how long this is going to take or if we are on any type of time restriction," I said.
I checked Elise, then Path. He checked Elise and then me. Elise checked me and then Path. When we were done, both X-37 and Jelly also gave the thumbs-up that all of our safety equipment was set up properly and functioning well. Oxygen lines were fastened securely, back-up bottles clipped in place, comms functioning, and mag boots ready to be activated if we found a piece big enough to stand on.
“X-37 is our controller on this mission. Jelly will maintain communications with our suits,” I said.
Path and Elise each gave me a thumbs up.
“You should have an icon—a green diamond—in the heads-up display of your helmets,” I continued.
They both acknowledged they saw the icon.
“That’s what we think is the primary data recorder for the station,” X-37 said. “Jelly is tracking it. The closer you move toward it, the more accurate our estimation of its location will be.”
“We’re going out there based on the estimated location of what is possibly the device we need?” Elise asked.
“Yes,” X-37 said.
“Well, why,” Elise said, her apprehension evident.
I knew how she felt but wasn’t going to admit I was scared. That wouldn’t help her or Path.
With our suits sealed, we exited the airlock and drifted toward the debris field. The Jellybird could enter the junk cluster, but her shields would bump things out of the way and we would never find what we were looking for. What we were doing was infinitely more dangerous, but it was the only way to find valuable salvage in a cloud of such small pieces.
"Remember, it's better to use too little thrust than too much," I said. “We don’t want to go spiraling into a cloud of space dust. Or get tangled up in the tether. Don’t rely on it too much. If you go out of control into the void, the only thing the tether is going to do is drag me and Path with you.”
Elise nodded vigorously, something I was only able to see because we were still relatively near each other. Her helmet didn't move. She twisted within her oversized head gear that had a wide visor for maximum visibility. I checked my HUD and oriented my EVA suit toward our objective. Elise and Path did the same.
We steered into the field single file with a carbon fiber tether connecting us. The first ten minutes were spent navigating through obvious trash.
"What if we can’t reach the primary recording device?" Path asked.
"We take what we can get," I said. “Every part of the destroyed facility is a potential clue to what happened.”
We moved through the void in silence before Path responded, "It’s a big risk for information we’ll likely find on one of the other stations."
"We don't know if either of those facilities will have it when needed or if they’re even intact," I said.
Progress was slow. We spent almost an hour of the three hours of air supply we had just getting close enough to do something. Maneuvering through items that were big enough to enter or even large enough to house just a data recorder or other clues took time. Distances were difficult to judge, even with the laser and radar guidance systems Jelly used to assist us. The first large object we reached, I sent spinning away to the void when I attempted to grab hold of it.
A poorly timed touch had severe consequences in this environment.
"Two things," Elise said after a while. Something about her tone caught my attention. "One, I found something, and two, either my gauges are malfunctioning or I'm leaking oxygen," Elise said.
The warning alarm sounded in all of our helmets, drawing my eyes to my HUD to see whose it was even though I already knew. Some reactions were instinctive and automatic. Others were trained, like my immediate reaction to check my own levels and Path’s.
“X, turn off the alarm. We’re aware of the problem,” I said.
“Turning off oxygen monitors for Elise’s EVA suit,” X-37 said. “I recommend you inventory your back-up bottles.”
I maneuvered close and saw that she was low on her breathable air mixture. Without hesitation, I connected my backup bottle to her gear. A short time later, Path joined us, pulling himself hand-over-hand along the tether.
He gazed into her visor. "Look at me, Elise. I want you to count with me."
"We don't have time for that," she said, her admirable self-control slipping as panic crept into her voice. Before long, she sounded even younger than she was. “My HUD says your back-up bottle only has thirty minutes. I’m using it faster than that.”
"Elise. I will count. Don't look away from me. Count in your head and relax. It will slow your breathing and you will use less oxygen," Path said.
"Listen to him," I said.
"Okay," she said, already responding to the calming instructions. “I get it. Talking uses air.”
"Path, where's your extra oxygen bottle? Elise is going to need it," I said.
He finished counting and leaned away from Elise to avoid ruining what they just accomplished. Her heart rate was low now and her respiration was minimal.
"Can she hear me right now?" Path asked. "You and I need to have a private conversation."
“Don’t you dare, Cain! I’m right here,” Elise snapped.
"X, take Elise out of this discussion for now, but I want to be able to hear her," I said.
“You’re going to hear me all right!” Elise shouted.
“Stop it, Elise. Trust me,” I said. “Save your breath.”
She gave me the finger but said nothing more. The look in her eyes suggested she would have a lot to say to me when we reached safety.
"I have temporarily blocked her ability to hear your conversation," X-37 said.
"What is it, Path?" I asked, my instincts telling me I wasn't going to like the answer.
"When I saw that she was out of oxygen, I discarded my backup bottle," he said. "You should've done the same."
"Why the fuck would I do that? Why the fuck would you do that?" I said, my anger building.
Path looked at me, his eyes very serious through our visors. "In life, there are very few opportunities to teach perfect lessons. Elise will learn to control herself and master respiration or she will die."
I saw what he was doing. He was taking his mystic mentor thing way too far. "If she dies, you're going to learn a life lesson."
"Not a useful lesson," he said. "I imagine you will kill me. Or perhaps something worse."
"I'm taking Elise back,” I said, detaching the tether from Path. “Finish the salvage operation. We didn't come out here for our health. I need to know why this station blew up and if there's any way to accomplish our mission."
Without waiting for his answer, I took hold of Elise and guided her toward the Jellybird. It was a process that couldn't be rushed and it took all of my self-discipline not to dive through the debris field using myself as a shield to get Elise back to safety.
I towed her and she remained silent to conserve oxygen. I wanted to ask her how she ran out.
"X, can you tell me how she ran out of oxygen?" I asked. “Wait, can she hear me?"
"She cannot hear you, although I recommend that you change that. Too much isolation will cause panic." X-37 made some beeping sounds that I associated with data processing.
"Keep me updated on what Path is doing," I said.
X-37 reestablished my connection with Elise, and I reassured her we were going to make it. She didn't question me either because she had finally developed a blind faith in my ability and judgment, or she was smart enough to save her breath.
I turned around so that I could check on Path and saw him doing nothing. "X, what the hell is he doing?"
"He located a data storage device, not the primary recorder, but something from a system maintenance routine, and is now staring into space. His bio readings indicate he may be meditating or simply enjoying the view," X-37 said.