Luke Marusiak - Lifeboat Moon

Mark heard his doorbell sound its distinctive sing-song chime. Who could that be? He went to the door and opened it. Sally stood in front of him wide-eyed with her hair splayed on her shoulders. “Sally? What’s wrong?”

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.” Mark stepped aside and Sally entered. He closed the hatch and noted that his windows were still opaque. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m shook up.”

“Here, take a seat on my bunk.” Mark escorted Sally to the one area of his quarters that didn’t look like a science lab. Sally and Mark sat next to each other. “You look scared. What’s going on?”

“That cave-in and our struggle to get out. Do you realize how close we cut it with our air?”

“I do. You were great in there — fixing yourself to the incline and pulling me up.”

“A wave of fear hit me afterwards. I was in my quarters shaking in terror. We came so close to being nothing. It finally hit me. It’s not death we’re facing. It’s something much worse — extinction.”

“I know,” Mark answered. “The monstrous vacuum of space is everywhere, waiting to destroy us. After you pulled me in the hangar when I nearly suffocated… the vacuum of space was all I could think about.”

“Too much moon dust in a seam of our suit and we’re dead.” She shuddered.

Mark draped an arm across Sally’s shoulder and pulled her toward him. She melted in his arms and shuddered again. “I’m scared. I don’t know where this came from. I’ve never been scared of anything but when I realized how close we came…”

“The fear washed over you like a tidal wave.” Mark was acutely aware that this beautiful capable powerful woman was in his embrace. She sought comfort and his heart nearly burst at the thought he could provide it. “I know Sally. I know.” Caught up in the tenderness of the moment, he leaned down and kissed her. It was nothing more than a brush of lips but it sent an emotional jolt through him.

“Yes.” Sally wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. They kissed in earnest, suppressed passion was released by their fear.

The most human of all things, ridiculous in an unforgiving lifeless world — passion — overcame the couple. Resistance, rank, and consequences receded. Their passion led them into a near desperate quest for being fully alive in this moment where the only beauty and experience were what they could give each other by their bruised bodies.

Their coupling transcended desire and became an intense communion of spirit, a physical union of love against harsh loneliness. It was a defiant comfort, a life-affirming rebellion, a uniquely human experience.

Time turned from a measure to a moment. Sally and Mark extended this moment, its intensity, and the sweet relief it provided. They writhed in their wanton embrace oblivious to anything but each other. They rescued each other from despair and saved themselves through love. It wasn’t pleasure of relief they gained, it was exquisite proof they were alive and could feel as only humans could. The moment turned into an unspoken assertion that the future was worth fighting for.

Limbs still intertwined, Mark brushed a strand of Sally’s hair off her cheek. “I love you Sally Ride Henderson.”

“I love you too Major Mark Martelli.” She hugged him tight. “And only you.”

“Yes, that’s always the way it’s supposed to work.”

“What do we do now?”

“We love and we live. We show others what’s possible.”

She nodded. “And we beat back that airless monster called vacuum.” She hugged him tighter. “We use each other to combat our fear.”

The juxtaposition of love and fear hung in the air. There was nothing more to say. The embrace, the act, and what it meant were enough.

The klaxon sound of a hull breach alarm jolted both back to their awful reality.

Sally scrambled to her feet, naked, and picked up her jumpsuit. She saw that, in the heat of the moment, Mark had ripped the front. She watched Mark pull on his jumpsuit in one quick movement and held up her suit. “This is ripped.”

“Take one of mine.” He pulled a wrapped suit out of his cubby and handed it to her.

By the time the two got through the Nexus and into Habitation Tube Two, Manufacturing Pod’s Gitanjali Chatterjee had already assessed the situation. “That damnable seam is leaking again,” she said. “I’m going in to fix it.”

“We don’t know how bad it is,” Mark said.

“Jim’s in there. I’m going to get him.” Gitty moved in emergency mode as she’d been drilled countless times on earth. She pulled the portable helmet and air tank from a wall cubby, donned the gear, grabbed a large tube of sealant, and went to the Manufacturing Pod load lock. “I’ll only open one door at a time to preserve the Habitation Tube.”

“If the leak’s too bad, we’ll have to permanently seal it,” Doug showed up behind them and said what Mark feared most of all.

“I’m getting Jim. Procedure states only one of us risk ourselves. That’s me.” Gitty sealed her helmet, checked its pressure, and opened the first load lock door.

“There’s a point where risking isn’t a great idea,” Doug said.

“Let her go,” Mark said. “If we lose the Manufacturing Pod, we’ll be in trouble.”

Gitty entered the person-wide space between the habitation tube and Manufacturing Pod and sealed Habitation Tube Two behind her. Without the slightest hesitation, she opened the hatch to the Manufacturing Pod and entered. Zeke, Brexton, and Thad joined Doug, Mark, and Sally in Habitation Tube Two. All watched the inner hatch of the Manufacturing Pod close.

“Good luck Gitty,” Sally said.

Mark watched Gitty’s heroics through the hatch window. It was one thing to see crewmembers in training, it was quite another to see them act with courage in the moment. Gitty bounded to the back of the Manufacturing Pod and, in one arcing move, applied sealant from ceiling to floor of the leaking seam. She used the tool attached to the sealant bag and spread the sealant on either side of the seam with quick motions.

“She’s good,” Mark said.

“She’s in love,” Doug said behind him.

Gitty disappeared around the corner and seconds later reappeared carrying Jim Staid slung under one arm. Even knowing this was due to one-sixth earth gravity, the sight of her power struck awe. Gitty bounded to the hatch, opened the inner door, repositioned unconscious Jim Staid upright, and closed the inner hatch behind her.

“She’s got him,” Zeke said.

The moment the seal light of the inner door blinked, Gitty activated the habitation tube hatch. She pulled Jim into Habituation Tube Two and closed the Manufacturing Pod hatch.

“Help Jim,” Mark said the moment they entered.

Zeke appeared beside Gitty and Jim. “Lie him down,” he said. “I’ve got oxygen and a defibrillator.”

Mark turned to Doug. “Get the pressure data from Chuck. We need to see if Gitty was able to seal the leak.”

Doug bounded to the intercom. “I’ll do it from here.”

Zeke fixed the oxygen mask to Jim’s face and bared his chest. He affixed four charge pads and turned on the defibrillator. “Step back, we don’t know how long he was out.” The defibrillator’s screen show traces of an irregular heartbeat. “Good, this should work.” He pushed the button to start the automated defibrillation process.

“Manufacturing Pod is at 550 Torr,” Chuck’s voice came over the intercom. “I don’t know if we can get it back up to 760 or not with our current air supply.”

“We should permanently seal it like Habitation Tube One,” Doug said.

“No,” Mark answered. “We wait to see if the pressure’s stable.”