Chapter 22

“Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is Pony Express CF 4947 bound for Pluto.”

A sudden voice boomed from the speakers, and the flashing red light flooded the command centre, indicating that the station's computers were trying to triangulate the transmission’s source.

Eva turned to me, fear in her eyes, and whispered,

“It’s our supply ship.”

I nodded and looked at the screen. The computer had finally confirmed their position. They were 36 hours away from the station.

“Pony Express CF 4947, this is Osiris station, we read you.”

I used the 158 seconds of delay in the long-range communication to ask Eva to wake up Amin before I brought my focus back to the transmitter.

“Osiris station, this is Pony Express CF 4947. We suffered an explosive decompression and lost the main drive…”

His voice faded, leaving the command centre in silence.

“Pony Express CF 4947?”

There was no response. Eva returned, and she whispered something, but my systems were too busy to catch her words.

“Did you pick up their SART?”, I asked her.

“No”, she shook her head.

Amin ran in and looked at the screens.

“Status?” he asked, looking at me.

“We lost contact, but their SATR was not activated, so there is a 98% chance their lifeboat isn’t launched.”

He nodded quietly and put his hand on Eva's shoulder.

“Keep scanning for the beacon, okay?”

“S-sure..”

The rest of the crew made their way to the command centre one by one and took their places at their stations.

“Spectrum is clear”, Raul said after a few tense minutes. “We didn't pick up either heat or radiation.”

“So… They are okay…?” Nhi asked quietly.

“We don’t know, but the ship didn’t explode, so there is a chance...”

Sven sighed and looked at Amin.

“What shall we do, captain?”

“We should look for them, right?, Nhi suggested.

Amin leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath.

“Rea, what are our chances?”

I had already calculated it, knowing that he would ask about it as the procedures dictated.

“They should be in range if the accident did not alter their course. We can reach them with a fuel reserve of 182 minutes, the margin required by the protocol.”

Amin nodded quietly and looked at us.

“Any objections?”

“Who will go?”, Nhi asked.

“Rea and I.”

I nodded. It was the most optimal choice considering the fact that I didn’t need oxygen, so I wasn’t limited to 2 hours during my search in the wreckage.

“No.”

Eva’s firm voice surprised everyone. Amin looked at her.

“But she is...”, he began, but Eva didn’t let him finish.

“She is second in command, so you cannot both leave the station.”

I looked at her, surprised. I had never expected she would pay so much attention to the rules or even remember them in a situation like this.

Amin took a deep breath and nodded.

“Fine, go with her.”

Eva relaxed and looked at him with a smile.

“Thank you.”

“I detected their EPIRB”, Raul said, looking at his screen. “We have their position!”

“So they restored some power?”, Nhi asked hopefully.

Sven shook his head.

“Not necessary, the ship’s beacon has an independent power source.”

“But there is a chance they are fine”, Eva said.

I tried to call them on the radio once again, but didn’t get any reply. There was an 81% chance that their beacon had activated automatically, but those long-range ships were designed to preserve human life even when they suffered catastrophic damage, so there was a possibility that some crew members were still alive.

I set up the automatic transmissions, letting them know we were coming. If they were alive, their suits should pick it up, and even if they didn’t have any way to respond to it, it would help them to hold on until we arrived.

I saw Eva walking up to Amin, putting her hand on his shoulder and whispering something. He smiled and said something back that made Eva blush. He motioned for me to come, and we sat together and briefed our mission while the rest of the crew went to prepare our shuttle for the upcoming flight.