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No Way To Treat Two Ladies
Agnes and Lori were shaking more than a little when they arrived back at Suzanne's suite.
"I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Lori, the Fluffy one. The one who had asked Erhard for the suits.
"Shush, I'm trying to remember what the farmer does with the scorpion!" Agnes, the unflappable, confusing two fables.
"We pee in the suits, I know that much from television." Lori, sporting a Miami of Ohio sweatshirt.
"Oh, please, can we not explore that issue any further?" Aggie, alumna of Maryland, a Terrapin rampant.
"Do I look okay?" Lori, pinning her hair back away from her face.
Aggie needed Lori to settle down. "Compared to what we'll be meeting in those four pods, yeah, ya look fine."
Lori sat down on the end of the bed. "We're more prepared for that than most people."
Aggie sat beside her. "I looked it up while you were in the washroom. We had two calls to those pods. Both were successful, they lived."
"We're gonna make it, Agz."
"I know."
Lori's vox buzzed.
Erhard's voice, low & clear. "Pettigrew is on her way to 316. She and Manny Tilueia will suit you up there. Get moving."
Lori answered. "On our way."
Click.
Aggie looked at her. "We on?"
"We're going straight to 316, Eileen will be there with Manny Tilueia."
They exited quickly, secured the suite & headed for the stairwell.
Noises below them, boots, lots of them, moving down.
"What the hell is going on?" Lori, ever inquisitive.
"Dunno." Aggie, quick silent feet on cold stairs.
"Aw, shit, I hope they're not going down the ramp."
"I hear that!"
They reached sublevel 3, and heard the boots exit to the laundry room.
"So much for that." Aggie, knowing trouble lay ahead.
"Yup." Terse. Lori sensed what her partner did.
Mouths were for breathing now, talk was over. They hit the lowest wheel, exited to the concourse & ran to the sled to the last bank of pods installed on L5.
They jumped into the first empty sled, ducked down, slid the canopy over and held each other for the trip.
When it docked, unseen hands slid the canopy back and Tilueia's sallow features appeared.
"Out you come, heroes. Pettigrew is down in 316."
Lori and Aggie negotiated the mass of humanity between them and Eileen quickly, Tilueia in trouble keeping pace.
Right at the far end of 316, the welcome figure of Sergeant Eileen Pettigrew struggling to get the suits hung up so they could climb in.
"Glad you came, these things are awkward rather than heavy." She looked at Tilueia. "Manny, gimme a hand."
Tilueia pitched in.
In turn, Aggie & Rails each backed into their suits, far too large for Lori, only slightly too large for Agnes. Where the helmet connected seemed spacious, roomy. When the helmets were in place, and the gas mix started to flow in, they felt like festive Michelin women, with small lights illuminating their faces, heads tiny in the fishbowl.
Nothing claustrophobic about it, yet. Eileen switched on the comm units. "Hear me okay?"
"Fine" from Lori. "Yep" from Aggie.
Both seemed relieved the process was over.
Pettigrew knew better. "Good, because here come the gloves, the bulkhead wrench & the tethers."
The two women felt the gloves go on. Far too big, no alternatives.
Pettigrew kept talking. "You'll begin to get the feel for the gloves, and the things you need to feel are the bulkhead wrenches and the tethers. First, I'm tethering you together. First thing you do is tether one of you to the rail on the strut. When you slide along each strut, you'll get to the strut supports every 18 feet. The one of you who's untethered floats beyond the support & tethers on. Then, your partner untethers & you move along to the next support. Got it?"
Both women nodded.
"Don't nod, I need to hear you."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"When you get to the bulkhead, whoever's not tethered deploys the wrench. You turn it three rotations counter-clockwise to open it. Never untether yourself from the wrench."
"Got it."
"Once the bulkhead is open, whoever opened the door will find a tether point at the same height up the door as the wrench socket on the left side. Make sure you're tethered, then signal your partner to untether and pull her into the airlock."
"Okay."
"Once you're inside, realize this: you just descompressed that airlock. Somewhere outside that airlock is a red light that tells everyone exactly that. Punch the blue button as soon as you're both in and the airlock will repressurize in about 45 seconds."
"All right."
"I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Lori, the Fluffy one. The one who had asked Erhard for the suits.
"Shush, I'm trying to remember what the farmer does with the scorpion!" Agnes, the unflappable, confusing two fables.
"We pee in the suits, I know that much from television." Lori, sporting a Miami of Ohio sweatshirt.
"Oh, please, can we not explore that issue any further?" Aggie, alumna of Maryland, a Terrapin rampant.
"Do I look okay?" Lori, pinning her hair back away from her face.
Aggie needed Lori to settle down. "Compared to what we'll be meeting in those four pods, yeah, ya look fine."
Lori sat down on the end of the bed. "We're more prepared for that than most people."
Aggie sat beside her. "I looked it up while you were in the washroom. We had two calls to those pods. Both were successful, they lived."
"We're gonna make it, Agz."
"I know."
Lori's vox buzzed.
Erhard's voice, low & clear. "Pettigrew is on her way to 316. She and Manny Tilueia will suit you up there. Get moving."
Lori answered. "On our way."
Click.
Aggie looked at her. "We on?"
"We're going straight to 316, Eileen will be there with Manny Tilueia."
They exited quickly, secured the suite & headed for the stairwell.
Noises below them, boots, lots of them, moving down.
"What the hell is going on?" Lori, ever inquisitive.
"Dunno." Aggie, quick silent feet on cold stairs.
"Aw, shit, I hope they're not going down the ramp."
"I hear that!"
They reached sublevel 3, and heard the boots exit to the laundry room.
"So much for that." Aggie, knowing trouble lay ahead.
"Yup." Terse. Lori sensed what her partner did.
Mouths were for breathing now, talk was over. They hit the lowest wheel, exited to the concourse & ran to the sled to the last bank of pods installed on L5.
They jumped into the first empty sled, ducked down, slid the canopy over and held each other for the trip.
When it docked, unseen hands slid the canopy back and Tilueia's sallow features appeared.
"Out you come, heroes. Pettigrew is down in 316."
Lori and Aggie negotiated the mass of humanity between them and Eileen quickly, Tilueia in trouble keeping pace.
Right at the far end of 316, the welcome figure of Sergeant Eileen Pettigrew struggling to get the suits hung up so they could climb in.
"Glad you came, these things are awkward rather than heavy." She looked at Tilueia. "Manny, gimme a hand."
Tilueia pitched in.
In turn, Aggie & Rails each backed into their suits, far too large for Lori, only slightly too large for Agnes. Where the helmet connected seemed spacious, roomy. When the helmets were in place, and the gas mix started to flow in, they felt like festive Michelin women, with small lights illuminating their faces, heads tiny in the fishbowl.
Nothing claustrophobic about it, yet. Eileen switched on the comm units. "Hear me okay?"
"Fine" from Lori. "Yep" from Aggie.
Both seemed relieved the process was over.
Pettigrew knew better. "Good, because here come the gloves, the bulkhead wrench & the tethers."
The two women felt the gloves go on. Far too big, no alternatives.
Pettigrew kept talking. "You'll begin to get the feel for the gloves, and the things you need to feel are the bulkhead wrenches and the tethers. First, I'm tethering you together. First thing you do is tether one of you to the rail on the strut. When you slide along each strut, you'll get to the strut supports every 18 feet. The one of you who's untethered floats beyond the support & tethers on. Then, your partner untethers & you move along to the next support. Got it?"
Both women nodded.
"Don't nod, I need to hear you."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"When you get to the bulkhead, whoever's not tethered deploys the wrench. You turn it three rotations counter-clockwise to open it. Never untether yourself from the wrench."
"Got it."
"Once the bulkhead is open, whoever opened the door will find a tether point at the same height up the door as the wrench socket on the left side. Make sure you're tethered, then signal your partner to untether and pull her into the airlock."
"Okay."
"Once you're inside, realize this: you just descompressed that airlock. Somewhere outside that airlock is a red light that tells everyone exactly that. Punch the blue button as soon as you're both in and the airlock will repressurize in about 45 seconds."
"All right."