Andrew Morgan - Vessel

‘Tense your arms, slow yourself down,’ Gardner said.

She did so, squeezing her grip tight, trying to keep her breathing slow. The shimmering material flexed, its slippery folds sliding free of her grasp. Her dream of visiting space became a nightmare as the last few millimetres of foil slipped out from between her fingers. She tried to grab something — anything — but every brush of her gloved hand sent her that little bit further away from the module.

‘Help me!’ she screamed, flailing and kicking as she inched away into infinite space.

A sudden tug at her arm stopped her moving any further, and a strong grip pulled her back to the station.

‘I’ve got you…’

Sally grabbed hold of the first protrusion she could find and pulled herself in close and tight. Inside her helmet, a lone drummer pounded away, her limbs throbbing to its beat.

‘You gave me a bit of a fright there,’ Gardner said.

‘Thank you,’ she gasped, ‘thank you for saving me.’

‘No problem. We’ll go when you’re ready.’

Once she’d calmed enough to continue — or at least calmed enough to unlock her rigid fingers from the handhold — they moved together in single file, arm over arm along the station’s length.

‘Keep close, and tell me if I’m going too fast,’ Gardner said.

As they pulled themselves along, Sally tried to distract herself from the daunting chasm of space by reciting the modules over in her head as they passed them.

FGB .

Her arms ached already: holding herself flat against the surface of the module was asking a lot of her upper body. The moment she relaxed, even a little, she could feel her feet wanting to try and loop over the top of her. She gripped harder and moved on.

PMA One.

‘Are you still okay?’ Gardner asked. ‘You’re being very quiet.’

‘I’m fine. Let’s keep going.’

Muscles burned. Sally’s hands and wrists felt numb from gripping so hard, and she could feel her grasp weakening with each swing.

‘Alright, difficult bit coming up. Try not to catch your suit on any of the masts.’

Sally could see what Gardner was talking about. Ahead was the truss that crossed the station, supporting the great solar panels that grew outwards like wings. What was it called? Oh yes. S One .

S One had a gathering of tricky protrusions sprouting from it, and Sally relished the chance to let her arms recover as she watched Gardner negotiate them. He moved slowly, checking to his left and to his right, then back again, making sure nothing caught. When he’d cleared the truss, he waved to Sally, and she moved towards it. Manoeuvring her torso across the truss was easy; it was her legs she found hard. Trying not to let herself loop around, she lifted one leg up and hooked it over — clear — and then the other — clear. Gardner turned away to continue on up the station, and Sally went to follow when —

‘I’m stuck!’

Sally looked back to see what was stopping her moving forward. A small antennae had caught in her boot, tearing through and out the other side. She wriggled it, but the barbed nodules at the end of the antennae hung on tight. Gardner had paddled back to help, and was trying to look over her shoulder to see what had happened.

‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘It’s only gone through your boot. Your suit’s still sealed.’

As reassuring as that was, it didn’t stop Sally’s pulse rising up again. She tugged again at her boot, but it was stuck fast. ‘I can’t bend round without making it worse,’ she said, and Gardner nodded in his helmet.

‘I’m going to have to squeeze past,’ he said. ‘You’ll have to move over to let me through.’

The only way that was going to work was if Sally held on with one hand and leaned out to the side. ‘Are you sure?’

‘I can’t see any other way round that won’t take longer than we’ve got.’

That answered the question, but not in the way Sally wanted. She took a breath, preparing herself, then took another one. Then she held it for a bit.

‘Sorry to rush you Sally, but we really need to get a move on here.’

Sally breathed out slowly. He was right — she had to do it. With one gentle swing, she pushed away from the station with one hand while holding on as tight as she could with the other. Silver station gave way to black space and she dangled, holding on with one hand and one stuck boot, listening to her blood thumping around her body at a hundred miles an hour.

‘I’m squeezing past, so hold on tight.’

She felt Gardner brush against her, and already the strain on her hand, wrist and arm was beginning to show. ‘Hurry,’ she said.

‘I’m going as fast as I can.’

There was a tug against her boot, a gentle one, then another harder one. With each slight movement she could feel the tendons in her forearm scream in unison, each one betraying her grip a fraction at a time.

‘Almost there…’

Her little finger began to slip, weakening beyond her ability to control it any longer. She could feel her other fingers going the same way soon after. ‘Please hurry…!’

‘Almost… there…’

Her ring finger gave, then her middle finger. Her index finger pulsated with agony as she crushed it as hard as she could around the handhold; then it too gave way. She screamed, but before it had fully left her lungs she felt her boot snatch free and Gardner’s hand grab her suit. He pulled her back to the station, and she cowered against it, looping her weak arm around a handhold.

‘That’s twice you owe me now,’ Gardner said, his voice brimming with relief.

‘Not funny,’ Sally wheezed. She couldn’t believe how out of breath she was. And how tired she felt. ‘Let’s get inside the station before anything else bad happens.’

They moved on once again, and Sally noted in her head as they passed Z One and Node One to reach the base of Quest. By then not only was she physically exhausted, she was mentally exhausted, too: the concentration required was taking its toll, and she was starting to feel dizzy.

‘Nearly there.’ Gardner said. He sounded tired, too. ‘We just need to work our way around the underside of Quest.’

Quest, being as it was an entry and exit point for the station, bristled with an array of handrails, much to Sally’s relief. Together they monkey-climbed their way around the cylindrical module until they were faced with a flat white hatch. Gardner took hold of the long lever recessed in its surface.

‘Come on,’ he muttered. ‘Please don’t be locked…’

The handle moved, unhindered, giving Gardner cause to whoop. Sally couldn’t help but grin. Gardner lifted the hatch open, the flimsy disc wafting outwards.

‘You first,’ he said.

Resisting the urge to throw herself in, Sally moved from bar to bar and into the hole. Once in the airlock, she allowed her body to float to the other end. It was such a relief to be able to relax, to feel safe and not worry about drifting to a long, slow death. Gardner followed, locking the outer door behind him. Seeing him pull the lever home was almost delicious in its satisfaction.

‘Phew,’ Gardner said. ‘We’re in.’

He breezed over to her, tapping the walls and floor to guide his movement with expert precision. For some reason, the slippery motion made Sally’s grin even wider. Or perhaps it was the elation of being alive? She didn’t care which: the last time she had felt this relieved seemed so long ago.

‘I didn’t see it,’ Gardner said. ‘UV One, I mean. Did you?’

Sally’s grin faded. ‘I didn’t even think to look.’

‘Wait!’ Sean shouted down the corridor after Lev, who turned out of sight. He darted back in for his key card then slammed the door shut and sprinted after him. Dodging an elderly couple, he charged around the corner to see a pair of elevator doors closing and no Lev in sight.