Freight Line Rho

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. With her face pressed hard against the viewport of the HAB module, Amelia could have sworn she could hear the muffled scream of Creed, his face too pressed against a viewport. The swollen chunk of ship drifted away from Amelia, rotating slightly, before being swallowed by the engulfing darkness of space. She had just killed a man, an honest, hardworking family man who had landed her this job, sure, he wasn't dead right this second but in a few hours, a day at the outside, he would suffocate inside that module. Her Stomach knotted tightly at the thought but she couldn't peel herself away from the viewport.

"Amelia" A soft monotone voice called out behind her rousing her from her deepest thoughts.

"Amelia" The voice came again in the same tone and timber "Course correction is required" the cloud of tears that had formed over her eye on a sleeve Amelia spun around in a labored and sluggish movement causing her black hair to fan out around her. Kicking off the wall her hair crashed around her head like a cresting wave, at the other end of the cylindrical room she found hand holds and began making her way through the hatch. Being weightless had never bothered her before but with the new tightness in her stomach and the thoughts of Creed drifting out into the abyss caused waves of nausea to hit her as she reached the command module. Pulling herself into the pilot’s chair awkwardly, Amelia sniffed loudly as she entered a short sequence into the Navi-Comm, it showed her a dotted blue line, the Rho-Periaps Transfer route, then, below that a red solid line that followed the first quarter of the route, then, deviated towards the bottom of her screen. The Green circle showed her current position in relation to the Transfer Route and the projected path in another almost angry solid red. "CERIS, how much do we need to correct by?" Amelia's voice cracked as she spoke

"Current Delta-V Requirement is one thousand, two hundred and six Meters per second" The automated voice replied matter-of-factly

Amelia's eyes drifted to the bottom of her Navi-comm to the Delta-V read out, the knot put there by Creed's expulsion into space was replaced immediately with a stone "CERIS, confirm Delta-V requirement?"

CERIS Replied with the same number as before, a second stone was added to Amelia's stomach, her heart left to her throat racing as though trying to escape her body. The read-out showed Delta-V Rmn - 449 m/s, Amelia pawed at the display in a state between panic and foolish hope, maybe something had been smeared on the screen, maybe there was a crack?

"CERIS, show projected course with current Delta-V" Amelia's Hands shook as she held onto the side of the monitor, her hair floating around her again as a feeble green line came from the position indicator, it was hugely off the required adjustment, she knew it would be but seeing it on a screen made it more real. Her breath became ragged and the tips of her fingers dug into the sides of the cold plastic of the monitor. Pausing for a moment she glanced around the control hub. “CERIS, Show projection using maneuvering mass to increase Delta-V”

CERIS Replied in her typical voice “Warning, it is not recommended to use maneuvering thruster mass for thrusting” Amelia Scoffed and repeated her command, CERIS obliged her and showed the maneuvering thruster addition. It was still way off where it needed to be. Amelia thought for a moment before grasping a laminated manual from besides the console, it had seen better days and some of the lamination had begun to crack and fray, the binding rings were doing a less than adequate job of keeping it together but it was at least all there. Leafing through the manual Amelia began to drift to the top of the module, instinctively raising a hand as she got near enough to stop from hitting her head, finally she reached the page she was looking for. “CERIS, how much of the cargo pod is still attached?” She asked, her eyes not lifting from the manual

“Cargo containment is at 65%. Pylon Charlie has been detached, Pylon’s Alpha and Bravo are still attached”

Amelia Shrank, Pylon Charlie had been the one she had pulled the emergency separation on which sent Creed to his death, it had also removed 35% of the cargo. When a micro meteor had breached the Pylon hull Creed had been working in the HAB module, the heater had been on the blink and Amelia had complained at how hot it was when she was sleeping. She tucked the manual under her arm and pushed off the ceiling to the Mass Management System, leafing through a few of the screens showing weight distribution of the ship. “CERIS, Inquiry, If we detach remaining pylons, what is the Delta-V requirement for course correction?” Amelia looked up towards the ceiling as she spoke this time, waiting for the response, it came a few moments later “Delta-V requirement after Pylon D…” CERIS cut off abruptly as she spoke

“WARNING, PROXIMITY ALERT” A male voice boomed loudly over the intercom as a warbling siren began to alert, with eyes wide Amelia flung herself across the command module and into a chair and pulled up the radar screen it showed several small contacts on an intercept course with the current course.

“CERIS, Emergency course adjustment, avoid incoming objects” Amelia shouted at her screen as she pulled her grav harness on

“Course adjustment confirmed, stand by for thrust” CERIS Spoke in her calm tone as Amelia was pushed hard into her chair , the rattle of engine thrust filling the cabin. It lasted several seconds then stopped abruptly. CERIS spoke again as the quiet hum of the module returned, “Amelia, Course Correction is required”

Panic stricken, Amelia’s hands reached out towards the Navi-Comm again, she looked at the remaining Delta-V, it now read 387 m/s.

“No…no no no… please, this cannot be happening. CERIS show projected route” Amelia’s face was inches from the console as she spoke, the two lines that the screen showed offered he little encouragement.

“CERIS, Detach Pylons Alpha and Bravo” Amelia spoke as her feet drifted up towards the roof

“Warning, Pylon detachment is not recommended unless in an active emergency. Confirm pylon detachment”

“YES! Jet the damn things!” Amelia exclaimed as CERIS began to talk again “Warning, Pylon detachment is not recommended unless in an active emergency, second confirmation for pylon detachment required.”

“Confirmed, detach Pylons CERIS” Amelia spoke, more calmly this time.

“Pylon detachment confirmed. Error, Pylon Bravo has not detached, Error, Pylon Charlie is detached”

Looking at the MMS Amelia saw Pylon Alpha had now been correctly detached but a red warning band illuminated the connection point between Pylon Bravo and the rest of the ship.

With a cold and clammy hand Amelia reached across the control room and picked up the manual that was floating nearby and began leafing through it, stopping on a red trimmed page near the back “CERIS, define fault in pylon detachment” She read aloud, CERIS replied “Detachment charge failure. Automatic detachment not possible.”

Amelia again read out aloud from her foxed manual “CERIS, how do I detach the pylon?” a slight tremble had come to her voice now, she was sure she knew what was coming. “Manual detachment required. CAUTION, Detachment charges may still be active. CAUTION Manual detachment may engage detachment charge. CAUTION Manual detachment may cause Mass Management Fault”

Amelia looked up from the manual and across to the EVA locker, her suit stood beside Creeds, both like lifeless mannequins with their heads slumped forward, she looked at the manual and around the room, not even sure what she was looking for at this point. With a resigned sigh she let go of the manual and drifted towards the suits hanging within the locker, she hated EVA.