Construction Manager Caldwell set the build order. If she says it’s safe, it’s safe. We work without a secondary line all the time.”
“ But what if it breaks, or comes loose? Safety handbook says – ”
“ Safety handbook? Not so tough now, are you, nearly-nineteen?” said Diego.
Murray shut up, and pulled herself into the airlock with the rest of us. We exited on the off side of the space station. Diego and the Gaffer headed to their positions. I kept Murray near the airlock door. If she panicked I wanted to be able to stuff her back inside straight away.
“ This is freaky,” she said, floating a step away from the door. She didn’t sound scared any more, she sounded awed. I could remember my first time well enough to know what she was experiencing. Space is different from the neutral buoyancy lab. Sure, the suit floats in the pool, but in space…
“ I’m floating inside my suit!”
“ How’re you feeling? Any nausea? Headaches? Dizziness? Anything strange happening to your vision?”
She brought her legs up and pushed off, drifting until her line pulled taut. Over the radio, I could hear her laughter: bubbling glee rather than hysteria. Looked like she wasn’t going to pass out on me. Next step, dealing with the view.
“ Murray, pull yourself back in now.” She didn’t obey immediately, still caught up in the sensation of floating. I raised my voice a notch. “Murray!”
“ Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” She remembered enough of her training to grab hold of the line rather than using her legs to manoeuvre; I’ve seen plenty of apprentices floundering as they kicked off against nothing at all. Murray’s return wasn’t elegant or fast, but it wasn’t bad. She had promise.
“ We’re going round to the Earth side. Use the green grabrails, hand over hand like this.” I demonstrated. “Don’t try to float. Stay behind me.”
She kept up, until the Earth rose in her vision. I heard her indrawn breath. She stopped dead. I’d been expecting it – the view from Earth-Moon L5 is something special – and carried on moving steadily.
The planet was the only colour in the sky. There wasn’t much cloud that day; big banks of white over the Americas, but vivid blue elsewhere, with the landmass of Europe clearly visible. I always liked being able to see England. I missed home.
“ Beautiful, isn’t it?” I said. “It’s a real challenge to ignore those visuals. This is where you have to remember your training and focus on the job you’re here to do. Can you do that, Murray?”
She reached for the next grabrail and hauled herself forward. She’d almost caught up when she spoke. I swear I could hear the shrug in her voice.
“ Where’s the big deal? Seen it a million times.”
She seemed to mean it. I stopped.
“ Seeing it on a screen’s hardly the same as being here.”
She took her right hand off the rail and brought it up to her helmet. “Nah,” she said, cheeky. “The view was better in the movies, without all this Head Up Display crap getting in my face. Are we starting work or aren’t we?”
I got moving. I’d noticed a similar attitude in the last apprentice. The way these kids took space for granted made me feel ancient. It was time I moved Earthside, if only I could find the right successor. If the company had had a decent pension plan, or I’d managed to skim enough, I’d have taken retirement years ago.
Diego was plugged on to Roboarm-2 when we reached our work point. The Gaffer got us started, steadily talking us through the build, step by step, reinforcing our HUD visuals, keeping everyone together.
The three of us worked well as a team. The Gaffer and I had been on the same crew for eleven years. I knew he’d make sure we got the job done, and he knew I’d deal with the paperwork without bothering him. Diego was into his third year with us and the Gaffer was training him well. Still, a fourth pair of hands – even clumsy hands – came in
“ But what if it breaks, or comes loose? Safety handbook says – ”
“ Safety handbook? Not so tough now, are you, nearly-nineteen?” said Diego.
Murray shut up, and pulled herself into the airlock with the rest of us. We exited on the off side of the space station. Diego and the Gaffer headed to their positions. I kept Murray near the airlock door. If she panicked I wanted to be able to stuff her back inside straight away.
“ This is freaky,” she said, floating a step away from the door. She didn’t sound scared any more, she sounded awed. I could remember my first time well enough to know what she was experiencing. Space is different from the neutral buoyancy lab. Sure, the suit floats in the pool, but in space…
“ I’m floating inside my suit!”
“ How’re you feeling? Any nausea? Headaches? Dizziness? Anything strange happening to your vision?”
She brought her legs up and pushed off, drifting until her line pulled taut. Over the radio, I could hear her laughter: bubbling glee rather than hysteria. Looked like she wasn’t going to pass out on me. Next step, dealing with the view.
“ Murray, pull yourself back in now.” She didn’t obey immediately, still caught up in the sensation of floating. I raised my voice a notch. “Murray!”
“ Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” She remembered enough of her training to grab hold of the line rather than using her legs to manoeuvre; I’ve seen plenty of apprentices floundering as they kicked off against nothing at all. Murray’s return wasn’t elegant or fast, but it wasn’t bad. She had promise.
“ We’re going round to the Earth side. Use the green grabrails, hand over hand like this.” I demonstrated. “Don’t try to float. Stay behind me.”
She kept up, until the Earth rose in her vision. I heard her indrawn breath. She stopped dead. I’d been expecting it – the view from Earth-Moon L5 is something special – and carried on moving steadily.
The planet was the only colour in the sky. There wasn’t much cloud that day; big banks of white over the Americas, but vivid blue elsewhere, with the landmass of Europe clearly visible. I always liked being able to see England. I missed home.
“ Beautiful, isn’t it?” I said. “It’s a real challenge to ignore those visuals. This is where you have to remember your training and focus on the job you’re here to do. Can you do that, Murray?”
She reached for the next grabrail and hauled herself forward. She’d almost caught up when she spoke. I swear I could hear the shrug in her voice.
“ Where’s the big deal? Seen it a million times.”
She seemed to mean it. I stopped.
“ Seeing it on a screen’s hardly the same as being here.”
She took her right hand off the rail and brought it up to her helmet. “Nah,” she said, cheeky. “The view was better in the movies, without all this Head Up Display crap getting in my face. Are we starting work or aren’t we?”
I got moving. I’d noticed a similar attitude in the last apprentice. The way these kids took space for granted made me feel ancient. It was time I moved Earthside, if only I could find the right successor. If the company had had a decent pension plan, or I’d managed to skim enough, I’d have taken retirement years ago.
Diego was plugged on to Roboarm-2 when we reached our work point. The Gaffer got us started, steadily talking us through the build, step by step, reinforcing our HUD visuals, keeping everyone together.
The three of us worked well as a team. The Gaffer and I had been on the same crew for eleven years. I knew he’d make sure we got the job done, and he knew I’d deal with the paperwork without bothering him. Diego was into his third year with us and the Gaffer was training him well. Still, a fourth pair of hands – even clumsy hands – came in
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