In The Orbit (Part I)

25. Harold

We were on our fourth bomb when Karma screams.

"What? What's wrong?" I ask.

"LOOK!" Karma points at one of the screens on the dashboard.

WARNING! TRAVELING OXYGEN SUPPLY HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED

Oh no. Azalea is going to stop getting air. And that was her only connection to the ship.

"DRIVE!" I yell. "Get her in the ship!"

"HOW?!" screeches Karma. "The door is in the ship's belly! She won't be floating up!"

"This is space! Don't you understand?! THERE IS NO UP AND DOWN!!!"

"Jeez, calm down!" yells Karma.

"YOU CALM DOWN!" I yell.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!" screams Fifi through the phone. We both fall silent.

"So... uh... we have a bit of a problem," Karma starts. "Azalea's oxygen hose disconnected. And that was our only connection to her."

"OH MY GOD, WE TOLD YOU TO PUT A ROPE AROUND HER!" yells Khan. He is not good under pressure, I figure.

"Well, that was our rope to her. And we didn't know how to attach it so that it would be airtight," I reply, trying to keep my cool.

"OH MY GOD! HURRY UP OR SHE'S GONNA DIE!!!" Karma screeches.

"What are we going to do?" asks Fifi.

"Can you send Khan out to get her?" asks Karma.

"Are you sure? We have twenty minutes left to get the last four bombs," Khan replies.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT! HOW COULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER LEAVING HER OUT THERE JUST TO DIE?!!" roars Karma.

"Fine, you're right, I'll get her. I'll bring her back to your ship." Khan's voice is static-y through the phone.

I can hear Fifi and Strom discussing something and then suddenly their podship is in view.

"We used the gas pedal," explains Fifi. "You know, the one you use only to go super fast?"

Karma shifts in her seat. "Who cares, you're here now," she says. "Let's go, Khan."

I watch as Khan comes zooming out of the ship towards Azalea. Azalea is floating around, not moving at all. She has the plastic bag that I found on the ship hooked around her arm. The bomb is hopefully securely in the bag.

"Ooh, the bag," says Fifi. "Good idea."

"Khan, hurry up," whispers Karma, scared. We both watch as Khan grabs her leg. He stops zooming and it becomes a slow float in the direction of our ship.

"Uhh, what do I do now?" asks Khan through the phone.

"Ok, I'm going to drive close, you pull her onto our ship. Then they can drive close and you can push her as hard as you can into their ship," replies Fifi.

"That's a good idea if the doors weren't at the bottom of the ships," I remind Fifi.

"Ohhh. Maybe we can do the same thing from the top of my ship?"

"There's no gravity, Fifi. It's not like Khan can stand on top of your ship," I say.

"I don't see any other options," says Karma anxiously.

"She's probably dead by now!" snaps Khan. "How long has she been without air?!"

"Three minutes," Karma replies. "THREE MINUTES HOLY-"

"DRIVE OVER US, KARMA!" interrupts Fifi. Karma swerves and flies directly above them, and opens the door.

Soon we hear Khan yell, "Close the door before she floats out!"

Karma pounds the screen to close the door and fills the air-seal room with oxygen. We look at each other, wide-eyed.

"You go," I say. "She knows you better."

"She might be dead," Karma whispers back.

"Hurry up, then, if she's alive she might need like CPR or whatever!"

Karma takes a deep breath. Then she leaves her seat, opens the trapdoor, and descends into the tiny room. I make sure the ship is on autopilot and then I poke my head through the trapdoor to watch Karma.

She takes off Azalea's helmet. Azalea is pale and her eyes aren't completely closed. Karma strips the space suit off and checks her pulse.

Karma gasps. "Ok, it's really faint, but it's there."

I nod and continue watching. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Oh, yeah. I was a lifeguard for two summers. I have only done this once and it wasn't totally necessary." Great job Karma. Don't kill her please.

"Get to it!" I say. "She could die any minute!"

Karma checks for Azalea's pulse again and then starts giving ventilations. It's crazy. And scary.

"Harold!" Karma pants after a minute or so. "Go drive. Tell the other team we're going home."

I hop into the pilot's seat.

"Hello?" says Strom through the phone.

"Hey," I say. "Karma's trying to get Azalea conscious again. I'm driving back home now."

"Alright," says Strom.

"What do you mean alright?!" Khan yells in the background. "They have to finish the test!"

"Someone is almost dead here!" Strom snaps. "We'll get the rest of the bombs. Get Azalea home."

I plug in the coordinates of the satellite and the exact port we have to go into. I am immensely glad that I don't actually have to drive.

"Azalea!!!" Karma yells. My heart drops. "You're alive!!!"

I hear Azalea rasping and wheezing. I let out a breath and it comes out in a little whistle. Then I up the speed and check the fuel. We still have half the tank left, plus hopefully extra in the storage units.

We arrive back at the satellite five minutes later. At the port, all of the officers and Hammond are there.

We climb out of the ship and Karma helps Azalea out. She is practically carrying her.

"Where's the other one?" demands Kesselhof.

"They are getting the last few bombs. We only came back early because of Azalea. She-"

"They will be late. There are ten minutes left."

Karma tells them what happened to Azalea. Azalea sits on the ground with her head in between her knees.

I go to the bombs and pull them all out. We have four bombs. I dismantle one of them and Karma helps me. We can't figure out how not to set them off and diffuse them.