been little to no help if they hadn’t discovered the damage to this gate as they had begun referring to the black objects.
Six hours later, they were back on the Gliese. Josh shook his head to push away the fatigue. He sank down in the seat across from where Mei and Julia were retrieving the cameras.
“We were worried when we lost contact with you,” Ash muttered, coming to sit next to him. “The only thing that kept me from coming out there and retrieving your ass was the fact that I knew you wouldn’t die without saying goodbye.”
Josh gave a dry laugh and smiled as he leaned his back against the wall. “You are all heart, Ash,” Josh said wearily.
“So, what was it like?” Ash asked.
Josh’s eyes slowly opened and he looked into the expectant faces of Ash, Julia, and Mei. A grin curved his lips when he met Sergi’s gaze. He had to agree with the Russian, it was both amazing and incredible.
“You aren’t going to believe it,” he finally replied. “Let’s get something to eat and we’ll tell you what we found.”
*.*.*
“So, you think you can repair it?” Mei asked, staring at Sergi in disbelief.
Sergi waved his hand as he lifted the fork to his lips. “Yes, I think so,” he mumbled.
“This is…,” Julia’s voice faded as she sat back in her seat. “We aren’t really sure what it is.”
“This is one way of finding out,” Josh said.
“Whoa! If you are willing to do it that means we are going to be in deep shit, aren’t we?” Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
Josh’s mouth tightened and he looked around the table. He stared at each person sitting around looking back at him. Drawing in a deep breath, he carefully chose his words.
“On the contrary, I’ve received orders to proceed with caution, but for us to fully explore the gates,” Josh stated. “We’ve been given the go to see if it can be repaired, but not to actually do it unless we feel confident it doesn’t pose a danger to Earth.”
“And if it can be, what then?” Ash asked with a frown.
“We are to send out one of the ROSV’s,” Josh said. “We collect as much data as we can before… if anything happens.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Julia replied in a thoughtful tone. “How long do you think it will take to repair it, Sergi?”
“I don’t know,” Sergi admitted. “It depends on how bad the damage is and if I can replicate the parts with what is on board the Gliese. I will need to study the video we brought back some more. The last thing I want to do is blow us up.”
“I will help,” Mei said in a quiet voice, staring at Sergi.
“I’ll help Mei with the video,” Julia added.
Josh looked around the table again. Each person was quieter than they were earlier, but there was a charge in the air. They all wanted answers to the list of questions that were growing daily.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
Chapter 7
A week later, Josh watched as Sergi disappeared into the damaged gate again. This would hopefully be the final spacewalk. He passed the section of repaired cabling up to Sergi.
“Two minutes,” Sergi said into the microphone. “This should complete the final connection. Whether these things have a built in power supply that is still working is another matter. I’ve gone through this one and it looks like it’s linked to the one before it and the next one, but I never found an actual power source.”
“We’ll deal with that when we get to it,” Josh said.
Josh watched as Sergi struggled to get the cable into place. Releasing his hold on the bar, he floated upward to lend the other man a hand. He was almost to him when Sergi snapped the cable into place.
“What the…,” Josh muttered when the interior suddenly lit up with a series of red lights. “Sergi, we need to get out of here.”
“Just a minute,” Sergi responded, reaching for the tools he had strapped to the bars.
A feeling of dread filled Josh and he turned as the walls began to move.
Six hours later, they were back on the Gliese. Josh shook his head to push away the fatigue. He sank down in the seat across from where Mei and Julia were retrieving the cameras.
“We were worried when we lost contact with you,” Ash muttered, coming to sit next to him. “The only thing that kept me from coming out there and retrieving your ass was the fact that I knew you wouldn’t die without saying goodbye.”
Josh gave a dry laugh and smiled as he leaned his back against the wall. “You are all heart, Ash,” Josh said wearily.
“So, what was it like?” Ash asked.
Josh’s eyes slowly opened and he looked into the expectant faces of Ash, Julia, and Mei. A grin curved his lips when he met Sergi’s gaze. He had to agree with the Russian, it was both amazing and incredible.
“You aren’t going to believe it,” he finally replied. “Let’s get something to eat and we’ll tell you what we found.”
*.*.*
“So, you think you can repair it?” Mei asked, staring at Sergi in disbelief.
Sergi waved his hand as he lifted the fork to his lips. “Yes, I think so,” he mumbled.
“This is…,” Julia’s voice faded as she sat back in her seat. “We aren’t really sure what it is.”
“This is one way of finding out,” Josh said.
“Whoa! If you are willing to do it that means we are going to be in deep shit, aren’t we?” Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
Josh’s mouth tightened and he looked around the table. He stared at each person sitting around looking back at him. Drawing in a deep breath, he carefully chose his words.
“On the contrary, I’ve received orders to proceed with caution, but for us to fully explore the gates,” Josh stated. “We’ve been given the go to see if it can be repaired, but not to actually do it unless we feel confident it doesn’t pose a danger to Earth.”
“And if it can be, what then?” Ash asked with a frown.
“We are to send out one of the ROSV’s,” Josh said. “We collect as much data as we can before… if anything happens.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Julia replied in a thoughtful tone. “How long do you think it will take to repair it, Sergi?”
“I don’t know,” Sergi admitted. “It depends on how bad the damage is and if I can replicate the parts with what is on board the Gliese. I will need to study the video we brought back some more. The last thing I want to do is blow us up.”
“I will help,” Mei said in a quiet voice, staring at Sergi.
“I’ll help Mei with the video,” Julia added.
Josh looked around the table again. Each person was quieter than they were earlier, but there was a charge in the air. They all wanted answers to the list of questions that were growing daily.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
Chapter 7
A week later, Josh watched as Sergi disappeared into the damaged gate again. This would hopefully be the final spacewalk. He passed the section of repaired cabling up to Sergi.
“Two minutes,” Sergi said into the microphone. “This should complete the final connection. Whether these things have a built in power supply that is still working is another matter. I’ve gone through this one and it looks like it’s linked to the one before it and the next one, but I never found an actual power source.”
“We’ll deal with that when we get to it,” Josh said.
Josh watched as Sergi struggled to get the cable into place. Releasing his hold on the bar, he floated upward to lend the other man a hand. He was almost to him when Sergi snapped the cable into place.
“What the…,” Josh muttered when the interior suddenly lit up with a series of red lights. “Sergi, we need to get out of here.”
“Just a minute,” Sergi responded, reaching for the tools he had strapped to the bars.
A feeling of dread filled Josh and he turned as the walls began to move.
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