Turn it Over (Otherwise Untitled)
#93 of Short Stories
A hyena sticks to her training, while slowly suffocating in the dark.
~ The hyena floated her way down the long corridor of the derelict ship, which itself was somewhat freshly set adrift by whatever went awry between the engines and deep space debris. She counted the doors aloud to herself as she slide through the hard vacuum, "Dorm five... dorm six... power juncture...", waiting for the door she knew would be worth dismantling. Alongside her verbal tracking, her suit echoed softly with the rasp of an open radio link and knackering sound of the suit's onboard respiration and generator functions.
~ "Okay, coming up on the secondary drive chassis. I should be on site in less than...", suddenly cutting her report short when the illumination of her suit's several lamps cut out abruptly. With a slow exhale, Mac could hear her own breath, her own heartbeat, and soft creaking from the suits joints. Nothing in the dead ship seemed motivated to shed any light on the situation.
~ Seeing only the soft purple spots from when she'd glanced into that fiber optic line years ago, Mac blindly slipped into her training.
~ Tucking her legs up against her chest, "Four...", right arm reaching back and down until fingers found the end of the kick-jack handle.
~ A sharp half rotation and gentle sliding pull further down, "Three...", and the handle was fully extended. In a slow arc, she pulled the lever up to the ready position.
~ The air of her suit was starting to taste a bit stale, "Two...", shoving down into the handle with all the force she could muster. The suit echoed deeply with the grumbling klacks of the rumble engine trying to turn over. For several moments after the handle had reached the end of its movement, the popping and knocking sounds continued as the reactions tried to find purchase.
~ Mac kept her eyes closed.
~ As the generator slumped back into service and the odors of the respirator flooded the suit the hyena lifted her left arm to bring the control pad within view. Opening her eyes, "One..", tapping the offered 'Auto-Link?' command to request her suit reach out into the radio void to entangle with her waiting ship.