19

The hull breach and subsequent loss of pressure in the storage pod set off a slew of alarms, and the entire ship descended into chaos. Responding, the crew met a breathless Back, raving that Flinders was dead and that the ship was breaking apart.

Greenstockings and Richards worked to calm Back down, while Ge Ge, Lu, and Akaitcho went to the galley and investigate the damage.

At this distance, communication between the Investigator and Earth required roughly half an hour, with an equal increment for the reply to return. They had no hope of guidance for at least an hour. They quickly determined that the ship was not breaking apart and Back was eventually calm enough to relate more clearly what had happened.

‘We’re going to have to go in there,’ said Ge Ge.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Hood.

‘We have to get the food out of there, and put it somewhere accessible.’

‘And we can’t just leave him in there like that,’ said Lu, referring to Flinders.

‘What are you thinking?’ asked Akaitcho.

‘We can use the access tube as an airlock. Lu and myself will put on suits and go collect whatever we can salvage.’

‘I don’t think we should do anything until we hear from Earth,’ said Richards.

‘Half our food is in there,’ said Ge Ge.

‘Where’s Franklin?’ asked Akaitcho. ‘Isn’t he in charge now?’

It was true that Franklin was to take command in the event that Flinders was incapacitated. While everyone was aware of this fact, no one—including Franklin—had given it much thought.

At the time of the accident, Franklin was taking a nap in his bunk. The many alarms had woken him, but in his haste, he had become so tangled in his sleep straps that he was only now making his way up the ship. He was still unaware of the demise of his cousin, or of the potentially dire implications of the catastrophe.

He came upon Trim in the long central access shaft and when he saw the cat alone, his mind was instantly filled with apprehensions regarding his cousin, for the two were rarely apart. Indeed, the storage pods were the only part of the ship where Trim was not allowed. Upon entering the galley, Franklin’s apprehensions were confirmed immediately by Richards’ melancholy communication of his cousin’s demise.¹

Franklin received the news quietly, and the others hastened to present their dilemma. Lu and Ge Ge were joined by Akaitcho in insisting on rapid action to move the food stores out of the depressurized storage pod. Richards, Hood, Greenstockings, and even Back wanted to wait for instructions before doing anything. Franklin had no idea which was the proper course to follow, and said they would wait for orders from Earth.

The fears of the two astronauts now entirely mastered their prudence, and they were not restrained by Franklin’s presence from giving loose to a free and sufficiently rude expression of their feelings.²

When the instructions from Earth finally reached them, they directed that they salvage what stores they could from the storage pod, and report with an inventory when finished. Lu and Ge Ge were already in spacesuits and waiting at the door of the access tube. Their sense of urgency was indeed prescient, for, when they at last entered the storage pod, they found it crowded with bits and scraps of food, jostling about with frozen blobs of blood and bone from Flinders body.

The loss of pressure in the chamber had caused all the sachets of food to rupture their seals with so much force that much was ejected into the chamber.

The two astronauts were immobilized for a moment, staring at the horrific sight in front of them. Ge Ge was the first to move, pulling himself along the wall into the pod. He began sifting through the many floating sachets, looking for any that were still sealed. Lu soon joined him, and together they collected several handfuls, which they stuffed into bags they had brought with them.

They left the storage pod, and repressurized the access tube. They were downcast when they reentered the galley.

‘How’d it go?’ asked Franklin.

Neither Lu nor Ge Ge said anything. Instead, they showed them the meager contents of the bags.