Using the power pack, he gently glided over to the comm room outer airlock door, arriving about fifteen seconds later.
Entry to the squat building was almost the opposite of what he had just done at the ship, except that he was putting air into the airlock this time, not venting it. As he closed the outer door, the artificial gravity and the lights in the building slowly came on, so that he slowly drifted towards the floor. As the inner door opened, he was quickly into the lobby just inside the airlock. He checked that there was breathable air. Having confirmed there was, he removed his helmet, power pack and space suit and hung them on the hooks near the airlock door. It was still somewhat cold but the heating would soon sort that out, so he didn’t mind.
In front of him was the door into the comm room. He hit the “door open” button to the right of the door and walked into the room. He immediately wished he hadn’t. His eyes and nose instantly recognised that the problem was a lot more than despatch had said — in two or three places around the room, there were sparks flying and the strong smell of burning electronics and insulation and he could see small flames at the far end of the room. As he turned to his left to hit the equipment master power switch, a piece of equipment on one of the racks next to it exploded and threw him across the aisle. He was thrown so hard that he hit his head against the door frame, knocking him out. Unfortunately, he hadn’t managed to hit the switch before the explosion, so the fire continued unabated.
Billy Hunt idly scratched his stubble–covered chin and then ran his hand through his neatly cropped hair. A few hours ago, he’d had a strange call from the office, asking if he could go have a look at the communications facility on ‘Roid 2 (they used to call them Asteroid but that had been shortened years ago to ‘Roid). Apparently, the self-monitoring system there had reported that movement had been detected within the equipment room, activating the artificial gravity or agrav, lights and heating. Despite his 20 years’ experience in the field, this was a first and he wondered what had happened to cause the system to report such a thing, especially as there was a security system for the external door, to stop, or at least discourage, the theft of expensive equipment from the base.
Ten minutes out from the ‘roid, he started to ready himself for landing, putting on his EVA suit. As he landed his ship, he couldn’t see anything that would cause the report — he had thought that maybe someone had crash landed or had needed to land in a hurry and needed the sanctuary of the base but there was no sign of a ship on the ‘roid’s surface.
As he left the ship, he was still at a loss as to what might have happened but decided that he would find out in a few minutes anyway.
As he left the station’s inner airlock he found that he wasn’t alone. On the floor of the communications room, he could see a pair of legs, sprawled on the floor. As he entered the room, he found they belonged to a man, about his height, lying on his back on the comm room floor. He had blood on his left temple and a dried rivulet of blood down his face, caking his somewhat bushy beard and some of the hair that partially covered his face. He was wearing a navy blue coverall with a company logo on the left side of the chest. It was a stylised picture of the galaxy, with the words “Galactic Comms” running around the outside. Just below it was the name “HUNT”. Whilst Billy worked for Galacticomm, the logo wasn’t one he recognised. He was intrigued by the name, though, being the same as his own.
He removed his helmet and bent down to check whether the man was breathing.
Whilst his breathing was fairly shallow, it was regular. He shook the man’s shoulder gently and said “Hey there. Are you OK?” There was no reaction, so he tried again. The man reacted, albeit sluggishly.
Billy decided that, as the man was alive, he would give him a few minutes to come to. Whilst waiting, he decided to strip off his EVA suit, revealing his company uniform underneath — it was warm in the equipment room, so he didn’t need the suit for now. He then sat down to wait.
After about five minutes, the man stirred, his left hand moving slowly to his forehead, feeling tentatively at the dried blood there. His eyes slowly blinked open but he clearly couldn’t focus as yet — there was no reaction from him as to his surroundings, or at the sight of Billy watching him intently. Over the next few minutes, his vision returned and he realised he wasn’t alone.
“Where am I?” he mumbled.
“You’re in the Communications Centre on ’Roid 2” replied Billy.
“Where the hell is that?” grumbled Will “Never heard of it. Last I knew I was in Commbase 3.” He managed, after a bit of struggling, to sit upright on the floor, with his back to the wall.
“OK, I think introductions are called for. My name’s Billy Hunt. I work for Galacticomm as a Senior Repair Operative. This is one of the company’s Communications Centres. As there was no ship on this lump of rock when I got here, I’m intrigued as to how you got here.”
“The handle’s Will Hunt. I’d been called out to sort out an electrical problem at Commbase 3, which provides hub comm services for the Aquarius system and on to the rest of known space. When I got inside, there were sparks everywhere and I got thrown against something. From the way my head feels, I guess I got knocked out.”
“That doesn’t explain how you got here. You obviously didn’t walk, ‘cos we’re on an asteroid in the middle of nowhere. There’s no sign of any transport, you’re not wearing a suit and there’s nothing I’ve seen anywhere to suggest you have one. You look kind of familiar, though. Ever shave that thing off or have a haircut?”
“Funny, I was thinking the same about you. You look a bit like my brother. I like the beard and the hair. Where I come from, most of the men have them outside of the Navy. It’s easier than shaving every day, especially when I’m on a job.” He paused. “My suit’s in the lobby, along with my helmet and power pack. My ship, a Rook class transport called Bella, is parked outside. Surprised you didn’t see them.”
“I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but the only ship outside’s mine and there’s no suit, or anything else wearable out in the lobby that I didn't put there. Never heard of the Rook class.”
“This gets odder by the minute. Before we carry on, any chance I could clean up and have a drink? This floor’s not getting any warmer or any comfier. Are there any chairs in this place we could sit on?” With that, he managed to get himself on his feet, although Billy wasn’t convinced at first that he was going to make it, or that he would stay upright for long.
“Yeah, over in that corner” said Billy “Through that door is a small washroom where you can pretty yourself up. If you need a medkit, there’s one on the wall in there. If you need a hand, I’ll be out here. Fancy a drink? Nothing alcoholic, though. The Company doesn’t want anyone in here having had any booze inside ‘em. Who knows what damage they could do?”
Will moved unsteadily in the direction of the washroom door “A coffee, white and no sugar would be great if that’s possible.”
“No problem. It’ll be ready by the time you’re out of there.”
Will closed the washroom door and turned to face the mirror. It was only then that he realised how much blood he had on his face and matted in his hair. Whilst there was also a fair bit of blood on his shirt, there wasn’t much he could do about it just now. He ran some water and sluiced it over his hair, face and beard, so that he could remove as much as possible. It made a big difference to his appearance, as well as made him feel a little better. He looked back at the mirror, and saw he had a one inch gash on his forehead, as well as a graze below it and a developing bruise on his left cheek, just below his eye. He was amazed how much blood could come from such a small cut. He then rewashed his face, this time using some cleansing liquid from a wall dispenser. This made the wound sting but also cleansed the remaining blood from his face and beard. All that was needed was something to seal the wound. He walked over to the medkit on the opposite wall, opened the door and saw a can of spray-on skin repair. The brand wasn’t one he had heard of but that wasn’t surprising, as he had no idea where he was. That done and feeling slightly better, he made his way out to see Billy putting the finishing touches to a couple of hot drinks.