Tethered

Chapter 7 - Stowaway #3

The officer titters. “It would be expedient to give us carte blanche.”

“I understand, officer,” Tanisira says. “But I can’t do that. I’m happy to approve the relevant requests as they come up.”

My eyebrows rise all the way up my forehead. But before Tanisira can get into a dick measuring contest, another officer I didn’t know was in the room calls out.

“Barker, look.”

A sharp inhale. Then, “We said, bring everyone to the bridge. Who is that?”

It suddenly feels like all my oxygen has been rerouted through my ears. Me. They’re talking about me. And of course they are, the airlock is hardly a great hiding place.

“Everyone onboard. That’s our engineer, and she’s on a spacewalk outside the ship fixing urgent damages.”

If I weren’t vibrating with nerves, I’d laugh. Officer Barker makes a series of noises that can only be him trying to be diplomatic.

“Call her in now, please,” he grits out.

“Like I just said, she’s fixing urgent damages.”

“Call her in immediately.”

Tanisira sighs like this is the biggest inconvenience she’s ever had to suffer. “Kit, please tell Mabel to report to the bridge.”

“No,” Barker says. “Tell her to return and stay where she is. We’ll meet her at the airlock.”

Tanisira doesn’t argue. I listen carefully as they wend their way through the Midas with who I can only assume is Officer Barker stomping along like a bull.

I shake out my arms, fingers numb with anxiety and roll my head on my neck.

If I weren’t anchored in zero gravity, I think that little move would have snapped it.

Kit speaks directly into my ear. “As discussed, the depressurisation of the main airlock is now complete. Please do not attempt to remove any part of your EVA suit until informed otherwise.”

“Thanks, Kit.” It feels weird to talk to her like she’s a person, but the rest of the crew does, so I’ll happily follow suit.

Even referring to her as a ‘she’ is something I find strange.

Yes, she learns from the constant stream of data, but it’s so interesting that everyone speaks to her like she’s sentient.

The AI that we utilise at TGE isn’t this conscious, and certainly no one treats them so familiarly. Then again, it’s Dominik’s ship.

I approach the airlock’s inner hatch, take up my stance in front of it and glance up at the obscure camera.

“Approaching in ten...”

Kit counts down while I start banging on the hatch with everything I’ve got. Thank Gaia these gloves are made to withstand some serious shit because each pummel sends a jolt through me that would break my bones on a normal day.

“Mabel?” Tanisira calls over the banging. Per our plan, I know that the screen outside the airlock is playing the live feed.

“Captain Sekmith!” I cry, panicked and a little relieved.

“What happened?”

“The airlock won’t repressurise. I can’t get out,” I yell. I step back from the door, turn my face towards the camera, and channel all the fear I’ve ever felt in my life. Most of it was centred around Vee’s safety.

Tanisira swears loudly and gracelessly, and in Tellurian for the benefit of the officers.

“Kit, status report.”

“It appears that the damage we sustained in the micrometeoroid swarm has had adverse effects that we were not aware of. Upon trying to repressurise the airlock, I encountered failure messages from the system. This will require fixing before Mabel can enter the ship proper.”

“Oh, my God,” I groan. “Get me out of here. Please.”

“I will,” Tanisira says firmly. Something in her tone makes me think she’s talking to me, Marlowe, not ‘Mabel’. I sag against the bulkhead, and I don’t even have to pretend to do it.

“Officers, I’m sorry, this is an emergency.”

“We’re not going anywhere until we can confirm that your colleague is who she says she is,” Barker replies.

Tanisira—even though this is a totally contrived scenario—has real fire in her voice when she snaps back at him.

“And you are more than welcome to do that, but I have a shit show to fix and no time to babysit you. In the meantime, you should start your search of the ship. You’ll just get in the way otherwise. ”

“How long will this take?” The other officer asks.

“I don’t know. First, I have to locate the malfunction and repair it. Then the airlock will need to repressurise, which can take up to half an hour even when there isn’t any damage. After that, we’ll have to get Mabel out of the EVA suit. I don’t have an estimate for you.”

“Where did this malfunction come from?” Barker asks.

“We hit an unexpected swarm. There were a lot of injuries as a result, and we’d only just started to collate the damages to the ship when you docked. Hence, Mabel’s spacewalk. Would you like to see the logs?”

Barker sounds like he’s at the end of his rope. “Please.”

But in the face of uncertainty, all the officers can do is leave Tanisira to locate the malfunction. As soon as they’re out of earshot, she lets out a curse. Her words, soft and emphatic, comes to me through the speaker. “Marlowe, are you okay?”

“Fine.” I can’t hide the way my voice quivers. More than one adrenaline spike in such a short period has made mincemeat of my nerves. Hearing her say my name helps, though, and I decide not to examine that too closely. “Are you okay?”

She snorts and it’s so undignified, for her, that I even laugh a little.

“What a saalé,” she grumbles. And I have to agree, Barker is a bit of a bastard.

“You’re doing so well.”

Her praise shouldn’t do such complicated things to me. I squirm a little, gather what’s left of my wits, and clear my throat. “What now?”

“Now,” she murmurs, “I pretend to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.”

“I hope they get bored soon, I’m getting thirsty.”

“There’s an in-suit drink bag—”

“I’m not drinking in this thing,” I cut in. “Because I refuse to pee in this thing.”

Her laugh bursts from her, almost like I surprised her into doing it. It seems such a rare thing that the sound of it is thrilling, and I soak it in. After a moment, it trails off.

“Look up at the camera.”

So I do. There’s a beat of silence, and then, “I’ll do what I must to get you out of there. And don’t worry about Vee; he’s safe where he is. Beau is keeping a close eye on him.”

It’s a weak, wavering smile that spreads across my face, but it happens unbidden. I shouldn’t, but I trust that she means it.

In the end, the officers finish searching the Midas and come back to find Tanisira elbow-deep in the control panel beside the airlock hatch.

Kit had warned us they were on their way and Tanisira proceeded to unscrew the panel and start pulling cables out.

Lest she scare the absolute shit out of me, she assured me that she was merely pretending to fiddle with the wires.

So, when Barker’s heavy footsteps come to a stop behind her, I know she looks hard at work.

“It’s been an hour, Captain. How much longer will this take?”

“I already told you. I don’t even know if this will be fixed tonight,” Tanisira says.

And then, to emphasise the point, she yawns.

The airlock is illuminated like the inside of a disco ball, but the rest of the ship is dim to reflect Tellurian time.

It’s late, and the officers must be tired, especially the newbie on her first off-planet call.

“—chasing real criminals.” One of the officers grumbles under his breath.

I hear a susurrus of lowered voices, possibly a confab where Tanisira can’t hear specifics. It goes on for a few minutes, with Barker’s aggravated tone punctuating his objections. Eventually, the officer with the deep voice—Moore—approaches Tanisira.

“Unfortunately, we can’t wait that long.

The rest of the ship is clear of intruders, and Harvey Rose is unharmed.

He feels safe to stay on board, and his father is happy with that.

It was probably a trick of the light that showed up on the CCTV.

We’ll need to see the legal documents you have for Mabel, but then we’ll leave you to fix your ship.

Hopefully, you can get her out of there before she sustains any injuries to her person. ”

With intense relief, I collapse awkwardly onto the bench. My whole body is shaking, down to my knees. Now it’s only a matter of waiting for the officers to alight and their cruiser to undock. I immediately start thinking about bed, and the kind of deep sleep I’m going to fall into.

But I notice that the noise of receding footsteps changes. They seem to be returning, boots ringing out against the deck—though it sounds like only one person coming back.

“Captain. A word please?” It’s Barker, and he sounds about as unimpressed as before.

Goosebumps ripple across my skin. This is where I get caught, and Vee will have to watch his mother get arrested. I’ll lose custody and maybe Dominik will eventually turn him against me. He’ll go to a private school where all the kids will make fun of him for having an inmate for a mother—

“How can I help?”

Tanisira sounds calm. How can she sound so calm right now?

“I’d like to talk to your colleague in there,” Barker says.

My heart feels like it’s going to escape from its confines.

“Mabel?”

“Yes. Can you patch me through to her and give us a moment, please?”

Oh, my—

I gag a little, literally sick with nerves. Maybe he wants me to flip on Tanisira. Maybe he just wants to drag my arse out of here because he’s having a bad day. There’s a noticeable pause where I imagine Tanisira giving the officer a scathing look.

Then she answers, “Sure. Let me ask her—”

“No, don’t worry about that. She’ll want to talk to me.”

I scream inside my head. But there’s no way for Tanisira to deny his request without arousing suspicion. We were lucky enough the officers were willing to walk away earlier. I listen to the sound of her footfall with dread. I don’t think she’ll go far, but it makes me feel hot and irritable anyway.

“Do not say anything. Pretend to be so inconsolable that you can’t speak.” Tanisira’s whisper is even quieter in my ear.

Assuming the airlock intercom is active, I don’t reply. The door taunts me, and I brace myself for the unavoidable.

Barker calls through the intercom and it filters through my helmet. “Mabel, can you hear me?” His voice is also quiet, as if he doesn’t want Tanisira to overhear. Strange. “My name is officer Barker.”

I suck in a breath, and I don’t even have to pretend to be anxious. It’s shallow and wheezy, echoing behind my visor. I suck in a few more, trying to restart my lungs. It worries me that he came back alone. Maybe he thinks he can lure me into a false sense of safety and catch me out that way.

“Are you okay?” he prods.

Closing my eyes, I wish he would just put me out of my misery.

I could speed up the inevitable but I’m frozen in place.

It’s fine—I can start brainstorming my prison nickname.

Depending on where they’re picked up, a lot of prisoners get sent to Venusian labour camps.

Terraforming isn’t cheap or fast work, and many private companies have contracts with the prisons.

If that happens to me, I will have no chance of seeing Vee.

Barker interrupts maybe my second spiral in as many minutes. “Mabel, I need to check that you feel safe on this vessel. You sounded very panicked, and I don’t like that I can’t see you face to face.”

Yeah, sure. I almost snort, despite myself.

“I know what people get up to on yachts like this when young women are around and far from home. People like Dominik Gryphon and his friends. Officially, I can’t do anything unless you say something, but I can get you off this ship, right now, either way.”

What? My eyes snap open. I’m so shocked that I make a sound in the back of my throat. It seems to spur Barker on. “Is that a yes? If you’re unsafe here, we can line up the ships and you can board through our airlock. You won’t have to see anyone.”

Oh. He doesn’t suspect me… he thinks I’m being taken advantage of. My heart, which had been pounding, skips a little beat at this unexpected turn. Sometimes, humanity does surprise me.

Tanisira, perhaps just as amazed as I, stays silent in my other ear. I inhale deeply, because I think a shaky voice right now would only convince Officer Barker than I’m scared and in an abusive situation. And though it’s sweet, I really don’t want to encourage his overture.

“Thank you, officer, but I’m just really bad in confined spaces.” I have to clear my throat halfway through, and I still sound a little scratchy.

There’s a long silence, which only makes me want to scream.

If he insists on waiting until the ‘damage’ to the airlock is fixed, just to make sure I’m okay, it’s all over.

I force a nervous laugh. “I know it’s silly to be in this career with claustrophobia, but I normally keep a tight ship, and doors always open when I tell them to.

Blame it on my mother, who said I could never be an astronaut.

Proved her wrong, didn’t I? Well, kind of. ”

Tanisira titters and it brings a real smile to my mouth. The audacity of her, after that performance she gave earlier.

But then, miracle of all miracles, Barker’s voice is less strained and at a normal volume when he replies. “Yeah, you proved her wrong. You’ll be okay; your captain seems really determined to get you out. Have a good night, Mabel. Captain, we’re all good here.”

Barker believes me. Somehow, we made it work.

It feels like a thin victory, but Dominik didn’t win this round.