They were approaching three potentially habitable moons orbiting a large gas giant. One in particular had caught their attention. The tectonics were a little unstable, with a few active volcanoes, however plant life on this particular moon was flourishing. "Wow! Look at all that foliage… " Pacifica said, browsing the images Braddon was sending to the screens. "We just have to go check it out!" She swiveled to face one of his cameras making that puppy dog face that was known to occasionally sway his judgment.
He paused, focusing on a volcano in the southern sea that currently had a slow moving river of lava protruding from the top. "I agree it does look interesting," he admitted, withholding enthusiasm, no need to hype her up more, "but let me take some more readings first. Those volcanoes are a cause of concern. There is significant quantities of ash in the atmosphere."
"You know I am always suited."
"One of them is currently expelling a river of lava!"
"Then we can land on the other side."
"The ambient temperature is quite high… Currently over 70 deg C in some areas."
"The suit can cool as well as heat you know."
"The ground might be unstable."
"What do your sensors say? I am sure we can find a section that can withstand a landing. How about here?" She had zoomed in on a rocky plateau, close to the opposite side of the moon from the lava spewing volcano. It was near the edge of one of the forests and away from the larger peaks. The area was relatively flat compared to the rest of the jagged moon. The nearest mountain was about 20km away, which was about as far as possible on its small surface.
Braddon hesitated, "That seems to be a reasonable choice." he finally said with some disappointment.
"But?" she was starting to get irritated.
"But what?"
"But, you don't think we should go, do you? I can tell you aren't nearly as excited as I am."
"Well, quite frankly it seems to be a huge risk for minimal gain. This is obviously a highly unstable moon that no one in their right mind would settle on. There are no signs of intelligent life, and mining companies would much rather go for situations where their machinery is less likely to be melted by a river of lava!"
"You don't get it do you? Whatever this forest is, it is managing to thrive in extreme conditions. This could be a huge advantage for settlers of less than ideal planets as well as desert communities, if it really is that hot down there. These extreme conditions are what make it worth going!"
Braddon started going through all the data they had collected so far, comparing it with the limited information about volcanoes that he had in his memory banks. He was displaying some of it on the screens so she could see what he was doing. Pacifica had crossed her arms and was tapping her finger impatiently. He was no geologist, but the landing location she had suggested did seem to be the most viable option.
"Well?" She demanded.
"I still think it is too dangerous," anger flashed through her eyes, she opened her mouth to speak, Braddon quickly interrupted. "BUT! You have provided a valid reason for going, and the landing site you suggested should be suitable for a SHORT visit."
Pacifica leaned back in her chair, her face now showing a triumphant grin. "Well of course, in and out, just grab some samples and leave."
A few hours later they made their descent. Pacifica had suited up beforehand and after they touched down she immediately unbuckled and went down to the cargo bay. She was going to take the anti-grav sled to speed up the process and help carry any samples she would collect. She had activated her optical and audio implant so Braddon could see and hear exactly what she was up to. "You better be careful out there." He warned.
"And you better not delay me with needless interruptions." She said back jokingly. "You know I am not as good at multitasking as you are."
"Ok, fine, just holler if you need anything."
"Roger that." She said cheerfully, giving a quick salute as she took off on the sled. Braddon had directed a servo outside to collect an air sample for analysis when the bright orange ground started to shake. His thoughts jumped to Pacifica and he directed his full attention to her, she hadn't even noticed the hovering mechanism of the sled protecting her from any vibrations. They stopped only moments after they started.
"We just experienced an earthquake." He informed her.
"Huh, really? Must have been minor, can you tell where it was centered?"
"I don't have enough information to triangulate it, but I don't think it is unreasonable to expect more."
"Well, thank you for the warning."
She was in business mode, no time for idle chatter. Braddon went back to retrieving the servo and started analysing the air sample. It didn't contain anything overly toxic, or immediately deadly, but there were high levels of sulphur and carbon dioxide as well as oxygen. There was also some pollen that he couldn't identify, dust, ash, and some other trace elements. They had decided against using the coring machine, as it takes too long, and they didn't want to disrupt an already fragile surface. He had however taken a surface soil sample with the servo at the same time as the air and started to perform an analysis. For whatever reason, there weren't any plants in this particular area, so he wasn't sure how useful that analysis would be.
Pacifica had reached the forest, unloaded her gear, and was heading in on foot. "The growth is too dense for the sled." She reported when another small tremor hit. "Whoa!" She stopped, but didn't lose her balance. It subsided after less than 10 seconds. "Was that one larger or smaller than before?" She asked calmly.
"About the same." Braddon replied. "How far in do you need to go?"
"Just a little further, it is best not to take samples right from the edge as they are often not representative."
"I know, I know. But it is also best to survive to return these samples to the researchers back in central."
"Point taken, picking up the pace."
Braddon was going over her video feed, analysing the greenery. The main species seemed to be more similar to a vine than a tree. It was hard to tell where one ended and the next begun, in fact it was possible that the entire forest was made up of a single plant. It was huge! With some of the 'trunks' having a diameter of around 2m, and the canopy reaching to at least 20 meters. In between the roots on the ground, a type of fern sprouted up wherever light filtered down. A few were displaying a single bright yellow flower almost as big as Pacifica's head. The 'branches' forked frequently, looping around never going in a straight line, and they occasionally had large pods hanging from them.
"Here will do." She said, and got to work. She took a core sample out of the nearest 'trunk' and put it in a vac bag. Then she got some of the sap that the large plant had started to ooze into a vial and sealed it. She took a soil sample, and cut off some leaves of both plants. After she squeezed one of the large flowers into one of her biggest sample bags she looked up and said blandly, "I can't reach the pods."
"I can't imagine you leaving without one."
"I am going to have to climb up to it."
"What? What if another quake happens?"
"It is a risk I have to take." She was already walking over to a low hanging 'branch'. "The grav is much lower here, I doubt I will injure myself too much if I fall. I could come back with a ladder, or a grapple, but that would take way too long."
"I hope you are right."
She proceeded swiftly, showing incredible dexterity despite the bulky pressure suit, and had soon reached a pod. The mass of 'branches' made for easy climbing. Brandon watched as she was cutting the pod free when the earth started shaking violently. Pacifica gripped the branch tightly but alarms brought his attention to the ship. The sound of a distant eruption echoed across the plain. Rocks were whistling through the air and a smaller one bounced harmlessly off Braddon's hull. Everything was still tied down from landing, but not only was the ground shaking, it was opening up! A fissure was heading right for him, he considered taking off, but hadn't been through any of the pre-flight procedures.
"Shell-crack! Pacifica, HELP!"
He couldn't do anything other than shut the cargo bay door as the ground opened up beneath him and he toppled over. He heard Pacifica scream, but it was cut off as he impacted the side of the new ravine. He was trying desperately not to panic. Curse this fardling moon! How could everything get so bad so quickly! Argh! The shaking had finally stopped, and Braddon took stock of his situation. He had partially fallen into the ravine, and was wedged at a 45deg angle. He didn't know how stable this position was, but at least he was wider than the ravine, so unlikely to fall further. His main communications array and a positioning thruster had been damaged in the fall. All other systems seemed operational. The cargo bay door was currently inaccessible, but Pacifica could make it to one of the access hatches… Pacifica! She had screamed. It took him a couple of minutes to switch over to the backup communications array and find the frequency of her implant.
"Pacifica! are you OK?" He couldn't help yelling, when he finally made contact.
She was coughing. He had an audio link, but no visual. "Braddon? *cough* I'm fine, what about you?" She obviously wasn't going to tell him anything without him first giving an update.
"The ground opened up and I fell over, currently stuck at an angle, why are you coughing?"
"Oh, well, *cough* I fell too, when one of those rocks came whistling past. Ripped my suit. *cough* I applied a patch, but I don't think it fully sealed. Nothing too toxic in the air I hope?"
"High levels of carbon dioxide and sulphur, but otherwise no known toxins. A few unidentifiables, and a significant amount of ash. You are not otherwise injured from the fall?"
"A few bruises is all, I am just loading the sled, it appears undamaged" She was panting, "Also, it is getting kind of hot."
"When you get back you will need to enter via an access hatch, the cargo bay is looking down into the ravine."
She had a small coughing fit. "How are you going to take off?"
"I will have to get back to you, running some simulations. Oh, shoot!"
"What now?"
His sensors had just picked up an interesting heat pattern.
"That nearby mountain caused the eruption, and lava is currently oozing into that ravine I am stuck in."
"How long?" Pacifica wheezed.
"Dunno, probably hours? But I don't want to stick around to find out."
"Coming now." She was coughing again. Talking seemed to be getting more difficult for her. There was a lot of ash in the atmosphere now, starting to settle on and interfere with his sensors. He turned his attention back to simulations. He had taken detailed scans of the surrounding rock face and was trying to figure out the best way to launch. Launching at an angle was possible, but fuel intensive, and 45deg was way too steep. He had a small laser for blasting meteorites, and considered blasting the support on the high side to try and make him level out. Too risky, he didn't know exactly how it would respond, it could end up causing an avalanche and make him fall in further. No, better to use the positioning thrusters to momentarily get himself near enough to upright in order to start blasting the main thruster. At least he had the low gravity on his side. This procedure was going to burn through a lot of fuel, there was no other way. But damnit! The positioning thruster in the most beneficial position was the one that was damaged! Could it be repaired easily? He ran a diagnostic. It was below the cliff face, inaccessible to servos, Pacifica would need to use magnetic grapples to even get to it. The control circuit was damaged, without it he couldn't tell if the thruster itself was intact. He had spare control circuits, but would probably not be able to fix the thruster in time if it was also damaged. Without it he was unlikely to be able to correct the angle enough before the fuel ran out, or they overheated.
He could see Pacifica's sled speeding towards him, she must be going all out. She was still coughing periodically and her breath now sounded like more of a wheeze. "You doing alright?" He asked. There was no response. "If you are nodding or something I haven't been able to restore a visual, the communications array was damaged." She made a groaning noise before coughing again. "OK, I am going to assume it is difficult for you to talk, I am hoping that once we get you a clean air supply, your breathing will improve. I am preparing some medicines for you now. I have some bad news, so please listen. One of the positioning thrusters has been damaged in my fall, it needs to be repaired if we are to have any hope of a successful launch. The control circuits need replacing, and you will need to use magnetic grapples to reach the area. I am sorry, I can see that you are hurt, but…" He hated this. Feeling useless, unable to help his brawn when she was in trouble, but still relying on her to help him.
"OK" Pacifica said before coughing again. The sled came to a screeching stop gently bumping into Braddon's hull. She was normally so precise, she must be really struggling. He could see the poorly applied patch on the back of her left shoulder. She was covered in a thin layer of ash. She clumsily rifled through the sled until she found the pack that contained her samples.
"Leave it!" He begged, "There is no time! You need medicine NOW!"
She shook her head as she swung the bag over her shoulder. She was gasping for breath as she climbed up to the service hatch, Braddon had it open and waiting. She all but fell in, landing with an awkward thump in the strangely orientated chamber. He started to cycle to hatch, with a leaky suit it wasn't wise to expose her to full vacuum, so he settled for replacing most of the air, as there was going to be contamination either way. When the inner door opened, a servo greeted her on the other side and she popped her helmet and reached for the medications. She was shaking as she removed the cover of an inhaler. She took a few gasping breaths through it before reaching for an adrenaline laden stimpad which she slapped on her neck. "Oxygen… mask?" she gasped.
"In the black case" he replied.
She pulled the case towards her before again fumbling with the clasp and then pushing the mask over her face. She then closed her eyes as she slumped into an awkward sitting position half way in the airlock, breathing as deeply as she could. She looked exhausted. Her breaths were becoming more even and less wheezy, however he was starting to get worried that she had lost consciousness when the ground started to shake again. There was the screeching sound of rock on metal and Pacifica's eyes sprung open as she stuck her arms out to steady herself. Thankfully, it stopped before Braddon fell further. "Um, as much as I don't want to rush your recovery, this moon seems to have other ideas. Can you stand?"
"Yes" came her hoarse reply, followed by some coughs, though less intense than before. She started shoving the oxygen cylinder inside her suit.
"What are you doing?"
"No time to change." She was now reattaching her helmet. "What do I do?"
"I think it is just the control circuits that were damaged. I have put some spares and the necessary tools in the tool belt hanging on the servo. It is designed to be accessed while in a suit, so no problems there. Getting to the fault might be a problem as it is just under where I am wedged against the cliff face. I can't get a visual, but scanners show there is enough space."
She had removed her bag of precious samples and swapped it with the tool belt on the servo. She pulled herself up into a standing position and was breathing more evenly. Her hands were still shaking a little, a side effect of the adrenalin. "Which entrance?"
"Cargo bay, going to open the door a crack, and then you can climb out with magnetic grapples. Just 4m up."
As soon as he mentioned the cargo bay she had started heading down the corridor. Walking sometimes on the floor, or walls due to the tilt, and bumping into corners like someone who is a bit drunk. She occasionally paused, trying to catch her breath and having small coughing fits. He hated seeing her like this, and he hated that he couldn't help. She eventually made it to the cargo bay door and he lowered it as she crawled up, along? the door. This ship wasn't designed to be at this particular angle, well, at least he wasn't upside down…
The magnetic grapples looked like 2 large hand held suction cups that contained electromagnets that could be turned on and off. They were both tethered to the user's suit with safety lines and were designed to be moved one at a time. When in safety mode, the second would not deactivate until the first had been placed and reactivated in order to prevent a spacer from getting mixed up and drifting into space. They were designed to be used in vacuum, so Pacifica was going to need a fair amount of upper body strength to pull herself up, even with the low gravity. The cargo bay door folded downwards, so at least she was able to start at the top of the doorway. More and more ash was entering the atmosphere and visibility was dropping. Pacifica engaged the grapples, set them to safety mode and started her ascent. It was painfully slow. The slope was not to her advantage, and with not much to use as footholds she looked like a child hanging from some monkey bars, going backwards, and uphill. At least the gravity was a lot lower than standard.
"You going to be OK?" Braddon asked nervously.
"Yup." Came the terse reply.
Now that she was closer he had been able to restore a visual feed from her implant, not that it was helping much with all the ash. After an agonisingly long time she made it to the access panel. She parked the grapples above the panel and let go, hanging on the safety lines in order to free up her hands. The panel had been damaged, and was dented and warped. The booster itself was a bit scratched, but appeared unharmed. Good. She went through removing the bolts with the electric screwdriver, but after they had all been removed the panel still refused to budge. The dents had caused it to become wedged. She tried shoving in a mechanical screwdriver and using it as a lever, but dropped it when a gust of ash came through, making her swing on the lines.
"Gah! Why didn't you include a crowbar?!"
"I didn't want to weigh you down too much, sorry, I should have anticipated this!" The panic was clear in his voice. What to do, what to do? If she couldn't fix the booster, they were both dead.
"Wait, I have an idea." She had reached back up to the grapples and disengaged the right one. She then attached it to the panel she was trying to remove. "This should give me some leverage." She braced her feet against the hull, awkwardly hanging upside down, while grabbing onto the right grapple with both hands and pulling with all her might. After a few grunts and a coughing fit, the panel came free and she fell tugging dangerously on her one remaining line. With the panel out of the way, she let it drop, as it was tethered to her suit, and went about replacing the circuit which was thankfully a simple plug and play. Braddon immediately ran diagnostics, and reported enthusiastically "All systems green!"
She retrieved the panel and went about trying to replace it before too much ash got in. She had managed to bang the panel back into place, and put in at least 4 screws when Braddon told her "That's enough to protect it from the worst of the heat, you should start making your way back down."
"Roger that" She had disengaged the left grapple to start making her descent when the ground started shaking again. Braddon's hull screeched against the cliff face loosening some rocks which fell towards Pacifica. She yelled out in surprise and then started cursing as the shaking stopped.
"Fardling heck! Braddon, I dropped the left grapple, and the line has been cut. Also my suit might be leaking more." She proceeded to have another coughing fit.
She couldn't come back down with only one grapple. Even if there were enough handholds for her to grab onto while she moved it, the safety could not be disengaged without both units, and so the right grapple would not disengage until the left one was activated. There was really only one option. "You're going to have to jump." He said solemnly. "I will open the cargo bay door further and catch you, but even with it fully extended you will need to swing a little before releasing so that you fall closer to me. I don't have time to lay out cushions, but hopefully in the low grav it won't hurt too much."
She groaned, "Just get me inside. And launch as soon as you can! I will strap into the cargo nets if I can. If I am incapacitated, you still launch, OK?"
There was no use arguing. "Understood."
She disconnected the remaining safety line from her suit and practiced swinging back and forth on the grapple. "Ready?"
"Ready."
With all the grace of a gymnast she swung back and released at the perfect moment, falling directly for Braddon's open door. This grace disappeared as she hit the ramp tumbling head over heels before colliding with the wall. Braddon immediately started to close the door, prepping the main engine for launch and double checking his calculations for the best way to utilize the maneuvering thrusters. At the same time he was calling out to Pacifica, "Pacifica! Pacifica! Are you ok?" A groan told him she was conscious. "You have 1 minute to launch!" She crawled over to an empty cargo net and strapped herself in as best she could.
"Go!" She said, firmly.
And go he did. The maneuvering thrusters were able to make him upright for the split second needed to engage his main engine. They still launched at an angle, but a much more minor one that didn't leave them stranded in a low orbit and plummeting back towards the moon. And then finally! Blissfully! He was back in space, floating free and not trapped in some fardling shakey ditch with lava flowing towards him.
A coughing fit brought his attention back to Pacifica. She was floating, tangled up in the cargo restraints.
"Pacifica, it worked! You did it! You saved us! How can I help you, are you OK?"
She gave a small chuckle. "Can I remove my helmet?"
"Um, let's see, the air in the cargo bay is the most contaminated, a lot of ash got in when the door was opened wide to catch you. I am filtering it out, but it is probably best for you to go to another area before removing your suit. Should I engage gravity?"
"No, I hurt my foot in the landing, best to leave it off for a bit. I will head over to the medical bay."
"OK, good plan. I will complete a full maintenance check."
Once out of her suit and in the medical unit, the automated machine took blood and ran tests determining that her breathing issues had not been caused by the ash, as had been suspected, but by the pollen of the giant flower she had found. It had triggered an allergic reaction, even in a very small dose. Antihistamines had been administered, and she was soon sleeping soundly, with an oxygen mask strapped firmly to her face as the machine continued to monitor her vitals. She had also started to develop a rash in a few places, but it had stopped spreading at least when the proper drugs had been administered. The coughing however, as opposed to the wheezing, was mostly caused by the ash. She also had a sprained ankle and many other bumps and bruises that were turning the most interesting colours. At the advice of the medical program Braddon had restored half gravity for the time being.
As to Braddon's health, the problematic panel had come loose during launch, after the main engine was online, burning out the control circuits and rendering that particular thruster inoperable once more. His main communications array was severely damaged, requiring many hours of delicate repairs. His hull had been scraped, and dented in places, but thankfully not breached. However the most pressing issue was the contamination. He had flushed out the air as best he could, but ash and pollen particles still lingered everywhere. His filtration systems were mainly for scrubbing CO2, and not all these fine particles. Even exposing areas to full vacuum wouldn't solve the problem, as the particles clung to everything! It wouldn't be so much of a nuisance if Pacifica wasn't severely allergic to the pollen. Either way their next stop was Vega base where he could get patched up proper, and fully decontaminated, but that was at least 2 weeks away and he didn't like the idea of confining Pacifica to the sick bay, particularly with her previous experience of medical confinement. Even that area was not completely sterile, so there was probably no harm in letting her roam the bridge and her quarters. Her quarters had remained sealed the whole time so were probably one of the best places for her. Braddon queried the medical program, which recommended that she wear the oxygen mask as much as possible until the arrival at Vega base.
When pacifica woke, it was with a groan. Braddon had never stopped watching her, feeling terrible about the state she was in. "Good morning." He said gently, more out of courtesy to let her know she had his attention.
"Food…" she said hoarsely.
"Oh, right! Of course. Stew?" He asked, giving the nickname for one of her favourite food programs. She grunted in approval and he set the food synthesiser to mixing the appropriate proteins and other components to produce the warm meal. He also dispensed a cup of water which she reached for as soon as she had pulled herself into a sitting position. Braddon adjusted the bed to match.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a bus." She was rubbing her temple. "Painkillers." She barked at the medical unit, and it dispensed some pills without further questioning. By the time she had taken them the food was ready and she reached for it eagerly, no longer shaking he noticed. "Braddon, catch me up."
As she ate he told her where they were at. The time back to Vega, the state of his systems, the reasons for her symptoms, and that she should wear an oxygen mask for the remainder of the trip, only removing it to eat, preferably while she was in her quarters.
She lay back in the bed, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow in concentration. It was only after a few minutes that Braddon realised that she had fallen back asleep. She deserves all the rest she wants, he thought as he slowly lowered the bed back into a horizontal position. He was relieved that she was going to be OK.
Over the next few days Pacifica was much more subdued than normal. She had wanted to repair the communications array ASAP, but had agreed with very little argument when Braddon suggested that she wait at least a day. She mostly stayed in her cabin and asked that Braddon respect her privacy. She used the spare pressure suit to perform the repairs, and was able to get the main array online, although the tight beam was still inoperational. Good enough for now.
After 4 days of sulking in her cabin, Braddon was starting to get quite worried about her mental well being. "Request permission to enter?" He said softly over her room's speakers, listening out for a response.
She sighed, "Go ahead."
He took a look around the room. She was lying awkwardly on the bed, face down among the tangled sheets. "What do you want?" She snapped coldly.
"Um, well, I was wondering if you had decided on a topic for our next debate, it is your turn to choose after all…"
She rolled over in order to look at one of his cameras. "You still want to do that?" She asked with surprise.
"Of course! why wouldn't I?"
"You should hate me right now! After what I did..."
"What you did, what are you talking about?!" Braddon was confused, she had acted splendidly during that little disaster.
"Fine, you want a debate? The topic is whether we should have landed on that moon. I am affirmative, you are negative, and congratulations, you win, because I forfeit!" She threw her hands up in the air. He couldn't believe how dense he had been, of course she would be feeling bad about pushing her desire to land.
"Now hold up." He said, "I want to be affirmative, and if we both want the same side we must let chance decide." She shot him an angry surprised glare, "The computer says I am affirmative." He said without even running the random number generation subroutine.
"You fixed it!" She accused.
"Prove it! Now the affirmative side gets to go first. We had ample reason to land on that moon. The samples you collected could be extremely valuable to biological research. The fact that they thrive in extreme conditions is proof of this, and in order to obtain such samples, extreme conditions must be endured."
"You can't seriously be saying that you want to argue in FAVOUR of landing on that lud forsaken rock? You were very firmly against it when we were deciding! We KNEW the moon was unstable, we KNEW there were many currently erupting volcanoes, and we should have been able to guess about the quakes before landing!" She had definitely regained full use of her powerful voice, he turned down the volume slightly.
"We were simply unlucky, we could not know that that particular landing site was going to be problematic, that mountain could have just been a regular mountain for all we knew. We could have easily landed 50 meters to the west and avoided the whole 'stuck in a ditch' fiasco. We made the right decision with the information we had available at the time."
"I almost got us killed!" She hung her head in her hands, and started to sob.
"No!" He said sternly, "You saved our lives!"
She looked up tentatively, sniffling unattractively under her oxygen mask.
He went on, "You were so brave, running all over the place while suffering from a severe allergic reaction. Putting up with heat and dust pouring into a leaking suit with a small medical oxygen cylinder shoved inside. Meanwhile I sat there like the useless chunk of metal that I am, unable to help you, and unable to help myself. You saved us, you saved me, and I am thankful…"
"Oh Braddon, I don't deserve you…" she sniffled.
"Don't say that!" He snapped, "I picked you! I wanted you as my brawn, and I still do. You are incredible, if anything, I am the one who is undeserving…"
She chuckled at that. "You are not useless." She whispered.
"Huh?"
"You said you were a useless chunk of metal."
"Oh, right." He chuckled too. "An exaggeration."
"Thank you Braddon."
"Um, sure."
"I'm gonna get some rest now." She said while lying back down, and turning away from the camera.
"I'll see myself out." He said before cutting sensors. She was going to be Ok, he thought.