Dreams Can Come True

A space walk and some music (Olivia)

It has been a couple of hours since the space junk collision and both the Roscosmos and NASA have pushed your spacewalk with Annie forward. Artemi, Ivan, Thomas and Akira are helping you and Annie get ready. It is a tedious process.

"So what do they want us to repair?" Annie asks.

"They want us to do what we were meant to do plus repairing some of the wires that were damaged," Thomas replies. You quickly get the comms cap on. Ivan gestures for you to hold out your hands. You do and Ivan makes sure that the gloves are secure around your wrists. Thomas does the same for Annie. You quickly adjust the microphones. The last bit of preparation is tense. You get the helmet on. You can only just hear the familiar click of the seal closing.

"Hey, Artemi how is the space junk forecast looking?" You decide that it would be a good idea to ask before you leave the ISS. He quickly glances at one of the nearest laptops.

"It's looking clear but I will let you know if anything changes," He responds with an enthusiastic nod. Thomas and Ivan double-check that the EVA suits are ready. They give you the thumbs up. Now all you have left is the comms check.

"Ground to station this is a comms check," The CAPCOM announces. You glance at Annie. She gives you a nod.

"Ground we read you loud and clear," You confirm. After another tense thirty minutes, you and Annie wrestle the airlock open. You quickly make your way up towards the damaged circuits. You are amazed at the fact that there isn't much else damage to the station. Annie soon joins you.

"We are going to need more than just duct tape for this job," Annie jokes. She is right. You realise a slight giggle as you get to work. It's a good thing that she isn't doing the spacewalk with the Russians. She passes you a soldering iron. You get to work on doing the repairs but something catches your eye.

"Artemi can you give me an update on the space junk?" You ask. You are a little worried that whatever it is could be heading your way.

"I wouldn't worry about it yet," Artemi responds. It makes you feel a little at ease. You pass the soldering iron back to Annie.

"Tom, how are the lights looking?" Annie asks.

"They have come back on. I think the repairs should hold for now," Thomas confirms. You and Annie get ready to move onto the next phase of the spacewalk. You notice that Ivan has got the robotic arm ready for you. Annie unclips your tether hook for you. You can tell that she is gripping tight for you. You quickly get yourself ready.

"Ivan. I'm ready to move when you are," You inform him.

"Roger that," He responds as he begins the process of getting you towards the solar arrays. Annie follows you close by.

"I'm amazed that the space junk didn't damage the arrays," You remark as you begin the process of making sure they are still working. Annie passes the tools that you need.

"Be advised that we have some space junk that has entered the keep out zone," Artemi announces. He is probably talking about the stuff you saw earlier.

"Thank you for letting us know," Annie confirms. You continue to work on the maintenance. The space junk whizzes by you harmlessly but Annie is a little less lucky. You throw her the duct tape that you had.

"I'll have to make sure I do a good job and it's a good thing that only the visor was damaged," Annie gives a quick report. You are relieved to know that she will be fine. That fact that there is a lot of space junk bothers you. You soon finish the task that you were supposed to do. You double-check the repair job. The comms crackle to life. It is the CAPCOM.

"The repairs are looking good but I wish to advise that Ivan is getting ready to replace Annie in case the damage to her suit gets worse," the CAPCOM explains

"Roger that. Annie, did you get that?" You double-check.

"I did," She replies. You can tell that she is saddened but it's a good thing that she will be doing another spacewalk in a couple of weeks. You decide to take out your frustration on your work. You and Annie are soon joined by Ivan. You are surprised at the fact that he is in one of the NASA EMU suits. He exchanges some words with Annie and she shuffles to the side. You assume she has done that so Ivan has enough room. You get back to work on the arrays. An hour later you have finished the stuff that you were supposed to do with the solar arrays and you, Ivan and Annie have made it to the next spot.

"How is she looking, Olivia?" Annie asks.

"Like someone pelted it with a shotgun," You respond. After six hours of maintenance and repair work, the spacewalk has come to an end. You still can't get over the idea that the earth is full of chaos. You carefully lift the helmet off your head and you pass it to Akira who then places it in the respective storage location. You are hit by a wave of hunger. Artmei passes you a pouch of food that he has prepared for you. He also passes Annie and Ivan some food as well. You dig in. the flavour of the macaroni and cheese hits your mouth.

"Thank you Artemi," Annie beats both you and Ivan. Thirty minutes later you have gotten the rest of the suit off. You decide that it would be a good idea to get some of the prescribed fitness stuff done. You soon get ready. You set yourself up. You start to whistle. At least the first spacewalk went well despite the damage to Annie's visor. Thomas drifts lazily towards you. You cease your whistling.

"What can I do for you, Tom?" You ask.

"Daniel was wondering if we could have a musical performance later," Thomas replies. You can tell that he is excited about it.

"Sure but I don't have much in the way of musical talent," You respond.

"I'm sure there is room for your whistling," Thomas tries to convince you that it will be fine. An hour later you have finished with the exercise and you are thinking about Thomas' offer. You can hear the sound of jazz music flowing through the station. You drift towards the sound. You find everyone gathered around Daniel and Thomas. You start to whistle along which captures the attention of Ivan. You can see the corners of his mouth form a smile. The piece soon comes to a close.

"That was some good whistling Olivia," Ivan comments.

"Thank you," You respond. You are hit by a wave of modesty because you don't often whistle with an audience. Thomas glances at Daniel and he starts playing some more jazz. Daniel joins in. You will have to record some stuff for Thomas later. At least it is easy to whistle along to the saxophone.