The High Five

Spacewalk

Rock climbing—if you say so.

"Come on, you need to get moving."

Trying. Leg is stuck. These things are stronger than they look. Grrr—come on leg! The perspective jerked and reeled. Got it. Whoa. Didn't mean for that to happen. All right, looks like we're doing it this way. She began walking on her wrists in a dog-paddle motion. She glanced forward at the thruster. When she glanced back, there was only empty hull. Her legs were floating free.

"Wait, are you walking with just your hands?" Milo asked.

Don't judge. It's working, okay. You can lecture me on two points of contact later.

Milo's stomach lurched, but he couldn't deny that she was going faster, even making up some lost time.

I'm here at the thruster. I thought it was going to be bigger than this, honestly. It's only the size of a toilet bowl. Being out here really messes with your sense of perspective. What am I looking for again?

"Seventeen minutes and counting," Bobby gave the callout.

Milo kept it to himself. "See that circular depression at the base? Look for something like a piece of dish scrubber." The rim cast a blade of shadow over the sunken interior. "Try shining your helmet light down there."

Let's see, spotlight, spotlight—here it is. A glow like concentrated starlight illuminated the hemispheric depression. Cool—would you look at that!

"I see it!" Milo exclaimed. Maybe this hacked-together plan actually stood a chance of succeeding.

Hold on, planting my legs so I'll have my arms free.

"You can latch onto that hook there."

Oh, right. Which tether should I use? She held out both.

"Either one," Milo gulped, only now realizing she hadn't reclipped to the end post. She had hull-crawled seventy feet on her hands without a safety line! Was she out of her mind? It didn't matter now. They needed to focus on the next task. "Now use the hand-torch to burn it off."

Hand-torch—where would I—oh, just kidding. Toolbelt, of course. I'm guessing it's this blow dryer looking thing? I mean, that must be it. What would you need a blow dryer for in space? A gloved hand entered the view gripping the blowtorch.

"There's a release on the front," Milo anticipated her question. "Then you just hold the trigger to—"

Whoa, it's got a bit of a kick, Tayen said as the bright blue flame appeared. Like holding a tiny rocket.

Whatever was making Tayen loopy clearly wasn't wearing off. If they could just get through this next part... "Now aim and burn."

This part was simple enough that Tayen could manage it on her own. When she held the bright blue flame up to it, the scrubber turned shades of ultraviolet and magenta, the crosshatch pattern lighting up like live wires. But the effect was localized, and the heat quickly dissipated as soon as the flame moved away by even a bit. Come on, hand. Stay steady. Ever so slowly, a fingernail-sized portion of scrubber began to blacken and curl inward. Tiny, glowing flakes drifted away like ashes from a campfire.

"Why'd you stop?" Milo asked as the flame went out. The scrubber's edges were already fading back to gray.

It's not going to work, Tayen said.

"We were making progress. You just have to keep going."

Milo, Stop. It's taking too long, and there could be more scrubber under the rim the flame can't reach. How much time have I got?