Open Space
#1 of Open space
It has been a while since I have posted anything new but here is to try and make up for my negligence of late. This is a bit of a longer works and I will be posting this by chapter over the next few weeks. This work was inspired by a good friend on SL and of a desire to write a Sci-fi peace. The time sequence is a bit out of line but then so is my character, I will be returning to the more familiar store line in the near future. Even though this first chapter is for the most part clean it is rated Adult for it's language, later chapters will live up to the rating. I promise! As usual your comments are invited as I do value you the reader and your thoughts.
_ Open Space _
_ Our destination and our home. _
By Puma Concolor.
A fan work done for my good friend.
Angelita Pierterson
Her character used with express permission
and is copyrighted only to her.
Editing by Dasher Cheetah, My personal Thanks.
Chapter One.
Here I stand...Years have passed, centuries as a matter of fact. Most of the people I have known over my immense lifetime, have either died or scattered themselves to the stars. They have done so because Earth has become, for the most part, uninhabitable. The air must be treated and the sulfur dioxide processed out in order to retrieve the oxygen left in it. Due to global warming, the worlds oceans have become so saline, no life can exist in them. Man had to go underground, in order to live. Now, the only inhabitants are those who cannot afford to get off planet or have such a financial investment, they don't dare leave. Yes, mankind could not bring itself to save our beloved planet and has long given up any hope of doing so. So they mine it for it's last remaining resources before it dies, a useless hulk.
Yet here I stand, aboard a space freighter. It is a huge ship, made up of modules linked together much as trains of old. Each module contains it's own special environment, suited for it's particular load. Some contained ore, some filled with dry goods and food. Still others transported colonists held in stasis or suspended animation. That is a science I don't completely understand or condone. A living breathing being was not meant to be frozen and shipped wherever, like a slab of meat.
And that is where I come in. I am a cargo specialist for the USC Sequoia. I chuckle a bit as I think back. My life has not changed so much, really. I have made a living of bringing what is needed to those who need it, for most of my time. The only thing that has changed is, I have traded my little back pack for a star train that stretches out over thousands of kilometers. Today, I was processing a load of food. Beans and grains, some meat substitute and other perishable items. The container had been delivered by tug and placed on board, in order of the destinations we had to travel to for delivery. This load had come pressurized and warm from the planet surface but needed to be frozen to prolong its quality. All together, we have over a million metric tons of food on this module alone to freeze down and the best way to do so is slowly reclaim the atmosphere and allow the extreme cold of space do the job.
I was standing in the middle of the cargo bay in my armored pressure suit watching to make sure the freight reacted properly to the depressurization. Trapped gases can be very dangerous if they overcome the bindings and blow a container across the hold. My armored suit was the only barrier I had to protect me from the growing vacuum as I walked about the containers, watching for signs of pressure build up. This was going to be a slow painstaking process taking several days for the bay to completelydepressurize. It was the Cargo Crew's job to make sure all went well. Not a job I looked forward to as the suit was bulky and the visor making the world around me distorted. Not to mention the thing was uncomfortable for some one born with a tail. Space suits were not built for Cougars and I refuse to have mine removed to just to accommodate. However the job was mine and at least for the next six days, I was trapped in it.
The vents had been open for just over twenty-four hours and the atmospheric pressure was slowly dropping. There was still enough oxygen to maintain life but just barely and only if that life was accustomed to very low pressure. I was walking around checking gauges and shaking the binding straps to make sure every thing stayed where it was supposed to.
I was just about to drop and secure my visor as breathing was getting a bit labored when
I heard something. It was weak and barley audible over the steady hiss of the air being evacuated from the hold. I dropped my visor a moment as my suit compensated for the low O2 level then raised it again to go find the source of the sound. This would have been easier without a helmet covering my ears but safety protocol dictated it be in place. I heard it again as I rounded a container and approached several pallets loaded with bags, held down by cargo webbing.
As I walked around the load, I was just about to write off the groan as gasses escaping from the sacks. That was when I noticed a corner strap dangling free and the tarp underneath pulled loose a bit, like some of the bags had been tampered with. I dropped my visor again as oxygen levels continued dropping dangerously low. Approaching the loose strap. I stooped to check under the tarp before fastening the strapping back down. There, just under the tarp, was a small fur covered foot sticking out of a gap between the sacks.
"Oh great, someone dumped a body off in my cargo hold.", I grumbled. But again I did hear something that sounded like a groan. Could it possibly be??
I reached down and pinched a small toe hard but there was no reaction. I pinched again just to confirm my findings. It curled! It curled on its own, showing there was yet life there.
"ABORT THE VAC! ABORT THE VAC PROCESSES NOW!", I screamed into the com link in my helmet. "F. E. R. S. NOW DAMMIT!" *Full Emergency Re-pressurizationSequence*
I could hear the venting gates close and the pressure tank valves slam open as the system reversed itself violently in response to an emergency call usually reserved for massive container breach. The result was like a huge tornado as I griped the webbing, to keep from being blown about the cargo hold.
"What the hell is going on down there Concolor?", I heard the control operator say over the link. " I don't read any container activity?", he continued.
"We have someone down here.", I said. grabbing the leg and pulling what ever it was out from the under the pile of sacks. It was a small mouse creature, all white and very female, scarcely over a meter in length. I lay across her small body to keep her from being blown away, my helmet with visor up and my O2 generator on full manual, placed very close to her muzzle in hope the increased oxygen would help sustain her until I could get her to sick bay for proper medical care.
"No shit dumb ass, you and two other crewmen are down there. Randy was able to secure himself but Mary is stuck against a vent grill. Get your ass up there and get her down. NOW!", I heard the control op say through my com.
"Chief, we have a stowaway down here. Possibly more than one!", I said, knowing that in situations such as this, there was possibly several others hidden among the bags.
"They're dead! O2 sat was under 6%. Nobody but you can survive at that low a pressure and you're a freak!", I heard him say.
"Thanks chief, I love you too. I have one that is still breathing but in bad shape. I haven't had a chance to look for others yet.", I told him.
"Pressure is almost at nominal level. Rescue team is on their way to your location. You get your ass up to that vent and get Mary down before she falls!", he shouted.
"I'm down Boss. Randy is still trying to untangle himself. I'm on my way to Concolor to see if I can help.", I heard a feminine voice report.
I could now see her doing the best she could do at running in her rather balky pressure suit. They were heavily armored to protect the wearer, should they get trapped between shifting loads or blow outs. This made running even in low G, very awkward. As she came up on where I was hunched over the little mouse, she paused a moment to look over the situation and asked, "What have we got Puma?"
"Stowaways. I'm not sure how many. Tear this pallet open and check for others. Careful not to collapse it just in case there are more survivors ok?", I told her.
"You got it. You going to be ok by yourself?", she asked as she began her task.
"Yea. I have my O2 generator on full. I think it's helping.", I told her.
By now, Randy had come clomping up and started to help unstack the pallet. As I set there with my muzzle just millimeters from hers, I looked as best I could down at her chest as it rose and fell unsteadily.
"We have bodies here!", I heard Randy shout as they broke through the last layer of sacks, uncovering a plastic lined hollowed out cavity in the center of the pallet.
"How many?", I asked into my suit's intercom.
"One, a male Mouse and not in any better shape that the one you have. He's not breathing and I can't check for pulse through this damn suit." Mary complained. She then said, "Wait, I've got an idea..."
She bent over and pressed her lips to the little beings' jugular vein. "Yes! I knew that would work. I could always feel my girlfriends heart while I was giving her a hickie. I'm going for mouth to mouth.", she exulted.
"Careful Mary, I'm not sure if it will bite or not or is possibly contaminated.", I cautioned as I looked up just in time to see her lips lock over the mouse's and his chest rise with the first inflation.
A small wheeze brought my attention back to my victim. She had stopped breathing as well. This had escalated to a 'do or die' situation, so like Mary, I clamped my lips over her muzzle and started to breath for her.
"That's it for this one. I'm going to start on the next pallet!", I heard Randy report.
"What's the situation down there Concolor?", I heard control ask through my comm.
"Puma's busy Chief. We have two so far. Not in good shape. Puma and Mary are doing their best to keep them alive but we are going to need Medical down here right now!", Randy answered for me.
"They're on their way. ETA 4 minutes. Keep checking for more. How the hell did they get on board anyway?", control wondered to us.
"Working on it Chief. They came in on pallets loaded with sacks of food pellets.", he replied.
"Do you have the freight ID numbers? I'm going to have somebody's' ass for this one!", control grumbled.
"Not sure of the exact load numbers but it's all Feezal Foods. Wait... I've got more! Looks like six. Aw shit... It's too late for this group. They're already in rigor. I'm moving to the next.", Randy somberly replied.
I could tell Randy was rattled at what he was finding but his training had already kicked in, He wouldn't stop now until every possibility of finding anybody alive was exhausted or he was.
By now, I could hear the air lock at the far end of the bay slam open as the medical team came rushing in.
"Hang in there little one, help is almost here... just hang on..", I whispered...
The med team consisted of two nurse/paramedics and a magnetic gurney, a sort of floating stretcher with first aid supplies built in. As we had two small victims, we loaded both on the gurney. The device was only meant for one vic. and had only one respirator. The first on was Mary's male and so he got the respirator. Mine was loaded and a manual ambu bag applied by one of the two medics. I took over the bag as the nurse started her assessment, taking vitals as I continued to pump life giving air to the little female.
"Heart rate is erratic, O2 sat. is low. We gotta go if we're going to save this one. It takes two of us to run this stretcher and I can't stop the vent. Can you run alongside and keep it going?", the young medic asked looking up at me.
"Sure, I'll do my best but running in there suits is a bit hard.", I answered.
"It's ok, you set the pace. Just keep that bag going! We'll need both of you to make the transition to the crew gangways as this thing isn't designed for two passengers.", she said looking quickly at Mary.
"If it gets me out of this tin suit quicker I'll run on my hands if I need to.", Mary groused.
"Ok Mary, your with me. If anybody starts to scream at you, just send them to me. Ok?", I told her.
"You got it big guy. Lets roll! I don't want my little mouse here to quit ticken' on me.", she replied distractedly.
"Chief, have all my cargo team report and go through every one of those pallets. Also have my support team meet us on the way to Med bay to get us out of these suits.", I radioed back up to comm.
"Hey! Who the hell said you could leave the bay! I need your worthless ass to get....", he began until I shouted.
"CHIEF! IT'S MY CARGO BAY! DO AS I TELL YOU OR SO HELP ME I'M GOING TO CRAM THAT DATA PAD OF YOURS UP YOUR ASS SO FAR, YOU WILL NEED A THROAT SPECIALIST TO REMOVE IT! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT, YOU GO TELL THE CAPTAIN!", I shouted into the comm as we turned to leave the bay. Mary, wide eyed with a half grin just stared at me...