A.I.: Re-Genesis

Part 19

Chapter 18

The groaning continued as Spencer proceeded to the nearest airlock. On his way he had managed to override the gravity wheel's rotation from one of the consoles, buying everyone some time as that would slow the whole station's rotation.

"What's the situation out there?" The Sergeant asked as he quickly donned a spacesuit and one of the oxygen tanks.

"Mikey's losing oxygen fast! He's falling below 50 percent!" Came over the coms and Haddock directed them to meet him halfway from the airlock as he grabbed another attachable oxygen tank. The airlock opened at the push of a button and he glided out while being secured to a titanium tetter. He managed to land on the side of the station and he could see the others coming towards him. The guy was losing oxygen quickly so they would never make it back to their vessel nor to the ship's airlock itself. His colleagues were using the emergency thrusters of their suits to propel forward while trying to keep the leak closed with their hands but the cable had had enough force to cut a large gash through the tank. They could never stop all the air from escaping.

"Below 35 percent!" One of them said over the coms as Spencer was nearly there.

"Hold him. I'm going to switch the tank," Haddock ordered which caused a whole other set of chaos.

"Are you crazy?" the astronaut on the left said once they had met up. "You can't switch a tank in a vacuum!"

"Watch me!" Spencer said as he shoved the full oxygen tank at the man that had just commented. He grabbed Mikey's arm where the spacesuit's terminal was and ordered "Hold your breath. I'm going to eject the tank and close all valves."

Mikey's eyes widened as the man knew what that would do. Ejecting the damaged tank would cause all oxygen to be sucked from the suit through the open valves. Though there was a failsafe where the valves closed when depressurisation happened the oxygen in the suit would be gone in mere seconds. The switch had to happen in these few seconds otherwise he would asphyxiate.

Mikey nodded and took a few deep gulps of air before holding his breath. The sergeant wasted no time in ejecting the tank. You could see the strain even that small depressurisation caused on the man just before the valves closed and the spare tank was mounted with efficiency. Even in those few seconds it took to connect the new tank to the suit Mikey had already been turning a shade of blue.

"You are one crazy man, Haddock," One of the other men said over coms as the suit accepted the new tank and their friend was saved.

"Get him inside the station," Haddock ordered as he told the men he would go to survey the damage the cable had done.

"Alek can take Mikey while I help you," The other man said as both knew that even with the tools they had on hand this was not a one-person job. "Jacobson by the way," The man introduced as they surveyed the damage. On the outside it was more extensive than they imagined. The crack in the control center window was minor but it might still cause depressurisation over time if left unchecked. Luckily Spencer had sealed off that room from the rest of the station but that would mean they would have to use the backup systems to control the station until that window crack was fixed.

The sails however looked much worse than the crack. The fourth starboard solar sail had only two cables holding it causing it to flap in the vacuum of space. The loose cable had been wound around the station, but not before puncturing one of the traversing sails. There was no way they would be able to fix that sail so their options were limited.

In the end they decided to use their plasma knives to cut the wound-up cable into segments before it caused more damage and remove it like so. The damaged sails were also ejected and pushed to burn up in Titan's atmosphere. When Spencer and Jacobson were done they were met at the airlock by Alek who relayed to them another problem. With the solar sails they had now and the gravity wheel the station wouldn't have enough power to sustain them or the new modules they had added. They could evacuate to the ship they had arrived at the station with and return to Rhea with Haddock in tow but that would mean leaving the station in a decaying orbit around Titan. By the time a new mission could be sent out with materials the station might not even be there anymore causing them to lose precious materials and two years worth of work.

Getting out of the spacesuits was a hassle even if they were an upgrade from those used some decades ago. The oxygen tanks were connected to the station again where they would be filled to capacity by the computer system. For right now the men regrouped in the communal area of the station.

Mikey, who had some color back in his cheeks floated from the medbay module to meet up with the others. He gratefully gave Spencer a hug upon seeing him. "You are one hell of a space cowboy Haddock," The man grinned. "They didn't teach that in basic."

"Some things you gotta learn out in the field I guess," Jacobson laughed and then he got serious "But Haddock we owe you one. Mikey's mom would have probably killed us if something happened to her baby."

"Do you have to bring my ma into this?!" Mikey groaned.

"Yes, seeing as the woman marched into our basic training while brandishing a frying pan." Alek deadpanned. "No one in our graduating class is going to let you forget that." This caused Mikey to groan more.

There was laughter all around before things got serious again. All four men were floating in the communal area as they tried to think of a way to save the station. Jacobson was actually the highest-ranking officer on board, with Alek and Mikey both being Privates, but he deferred to Spencer in this instance.

"A Commander knows how to make use of all his resources and advantages and right now Haddock you are our best bet. You've been here the longest and know the station like the back of your hand. Is there any way we can save it?"

"The gravity wheel was enough to power primary systems but the solar sails were to be used to power the new modules and side thrusters. 35 percent of the sails are damaged so we can shut down unnecessary sections of the station to conserve power but it won't be enough."

"The thrusters won't engage?" Alek asked with a frown. "It would place us in a decaying orbit towards Titan.

"We are already in a decaying orbit but still in the safe zone," Spencer stated as he gave the men a tablet to show them the change in orbit since he's been here. "Titan only gets 10 percent of sunlight at this distance. There was never a chance to fire up the side thrusters until these new modules could have been delivered."

"And I'm guessing the time it takes to manufacture new sails on Rhea and ship them here to install will be tight." Jacobson muttered. "The station will most likely already be past the orbital point of no return."

"There is a way but you guys might not like it," Haddock stated as all eyes turned to him now. "Your ship's engine. If we hotwire it into the station we may have enough power to activate the thrusters and get the station back onto its primary orbital path. Once there we'd have another two years to fix the sails."

"But.... But.... our ship is a 1st Gen rust bucket. There is no way it would be compatible with the station's engines." Alek proclaimed.

"Not necessarily," Mikey spoke up. "We could supply the energy to the thrusters from our ship in small bursts otherwise the engine could overheat and we'd have nothing. It's a viable plan, the only problem is that it will take at least a month to get the station to its initial orbit if we do one to two bursts a day. The problem of food is now in play as we all will have to stay here until the job is done."

"Food isn't going to be a problem. The hydroponics module wasn't damaged." Spencer told them. "If it's for four people there should be enough food to last two weeks, three if we ration. By then I can have several more hydroponic banks set up and growing greens."

"Well then, let's get to work. We have a ship to hotwire and a station to save," Jacobson declared.