THE TITAN EXPERIMENT

CHAPTER 39 - Pitch Black

"Seriously?" Phoenix said, trying to see Sarah in the dark, who was standing a foot away. She exhaled loud enough for him to hear in the pitch-black room, but he couldn't make out her face or even the outline of her body. The words of his college astronomy professor rang out in his ears. Darkness doesn't exist, it is simply the absence of light. Professor Harper had a point. Phoenix couldn't see his hand in front of his face, literally. He still recalled the man's salt and pepper goatee. He also remembered the professor's penetrating eyes and his bifocals teetering on the end of his nose. Since Phoenix was in unfamiliar territory with a predator lurking somewhere in the station, the darkness put him on edge, similar to the way he felt moments before the great white shark appeared through the murky gloom.

"Whatever happened to the lights, will it affect life support too?" Callisto said, his words rushed and clipped. "Because we left our spacesuits back in the memory lab."

Fragments of glass clashed together, pieces scattering across the floor. Phoenix assumed Sarah was attempting to find her way around in the dark. The sound grew louder, higher, waist level, stopping and then starting again. Her movements were calculated, determined, searching for something in the gun cabinet.

"Whatcha looking for, Doc?" Phoenix asked, a slight tension in his voice. "You have any ideas about what to do next now that the lights are out?" He bit his lip, his mind running in circles, contemplating their next move.

"I'm not looking for anything because I can't see anything."

"Since you know this place so well, can you navigate it in the dark? You said it was easy once you had it mapped in your mind."

"No, Commander Drake, we need flashlights."

"Snap... that hurt. I thought we were on a first name basis."

"Don't take any of this personal, Phoenix. We have a mission to complete, and to do that, we need to see. The station is a big ring, a circle. Without light, we would never have a reference point to identify Sector A from Sector B. We would just walk around, never knowing where we are."

"So," Nova said with a raspy tinge of irritation, "what do you think happened to the lights?"

"I have my suspicions, but I'm uncertain at this point."

A loud rattle of metal on glass, and then a clang in the black void. Bits of flying debris stung Phoenix's forearm. Bits of glass.

"Hey, Doc, you need some help—"

A beam pierced the darkness and stabbed his dilated pupils with brilliant light. Phoenix pushed Sarah's hand aside, redirecting the light away from his face. "Thanks for the warning."

She turned her back to him, refocusing on the cabinet. "There are three more in here."

Sarah tested the additional flashlights. The second one worked. She cut it off and tossed it to Phoenix. He fumbled for a grip, latched onto it, and flipped the switch, playing the beam off the floor, catching sight of boots and legs, and Ariel. She offered a weak smile, which he returned without thinking. Phoenix moved the light a few feet beyond her and saw Nova, then Callisto, and then Luna.

"We could use one of those things too," Luna said, her Viper pointing down at her side. "I'm itching to fire this laser rifle at something, but I'd like to know what I'm shooting at first."

Sarah tossed a flashlight toward Luna, the black stick arcing across the room. Luna tried to catch it with her free hand but didn't react quick enough. The torch ricocheted off her chest, slipped through her fingers, and bounced off the floor. She kneeled and scooped it up.