Prisoner Six

Part 16

Floating in the darkness of the asteroid's shadow, Sam sailed towards the landing module. She had hoped the remaining air escaping from the ship, along with her leap, would give her enough momentum to reach it. Then again, Sam had just enough time to worry whether or not the physics made sense... whether the bulk of the lander would carry it forward faster, leaving her alone in the darkness.

The growing size of the lander in Sam's helmet soon put those fears to rest. She braced herself for impact, preparing to grab a handhold on whatever she could. Hoping the thrusters wouldn't fire now and blast her into oblivion, she slammed into the lander's hull.

The impact was harder than Sam had expected, knocking the wind out of her. She scrambled to get a grip on something, anything, and found exactly what she was looking for: the outer hatch. Using her tool-axe, she scraped the side of the hull until her blade caught on the handle. Gripping tight, she hooked her feet onto the metal crevices of the hatch-when a deafening screech pierced her ears.

Sam dropped the tool-axe in surprise and was nearly startled off of her perch. Regaining her grip, the screech settled into static as her radio frequency was met.

"Stop!" cried Dave into her ear. "You can't open that hatch-"

"I can if you suit up and equalize," suggested Sam.

There was a brief pause before Dave answered grimly. "No... I mean you can't open it at all. We've sealed it."

Another lie, thought Sam. But as she turned the handle ruefully, the hatch remained shut. Somehow, the handle was jury-rigged from the inside. Stuck.

Sam cursed into her radio.

"It's no use," said Dave, but Sam wasn't listening. She had prepared for this. Detaching the drill from her belt, she applied it to the porthole and began to drill silently into the plastic.

"What are you doing?" asked Dave, real panic in his voice for the first time.

"You know what I'm doing," said Sam.

"But-if you breach the lander, you'll die too."

"I've been patching up this ship for two years. I like my odds, do you?" asked Sam as she continued drilling, determined.

In the back of her mind, Sam was momentarily surprised by how vengeful she felt. For the entire journey, the guilt and shame of transporting six prisoners to a death sentence had plagued her soul. Yet, somehow, she'd always known she would end up bargaining with them upon arrival. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine this outcome. Not after she had struggled so long with the choice. Not after she had agreed to help them...

Sam reminded herself that this wasn't about revenge. It was about answers. If Dave had left her to die, she wanted to know why.

"Okay-stop. I'm going to open it," said Dave.

"No! That's an order," cried a female voice. Sam decided this was Elsa, the Commander of Dave's crew. Peering inside the porthole, she could see Dave and the remaining prisoners scrambling into their spacesuits, securing their helmets.

"Sam, move back," said Dave, ignoring Elsa. Sam did as he instructed, preparing herself. There was only one move left now... and she had to be ready.

"No-" began Elsa, but her sentence was cut short. The hatch burst open with a violent rush of air. Sam held tight to the handle as Dave reached forward, in his spacesuit, to help her. Confirming that he was tethered to the lander, Sam hesitated. Could she really go through with this? Could he?

But she had to know. Nothing else mattered.

Taking his outstretched hand, Sam pulled him into a tight embrace in the hatchway. Blocking herself from the others with his body, restricting his movement away from the hatch, she stared into his sad, even gaze. But, he spoke first-