“Just wait until you see what I can do with a wrench! You’ll be having nightmares all the way back to Earth,” Sergi promised.
“Quit bragging, Sergi,” Mei interjected. “His wrench isn’t all that special.”
“How would you know how special it is, Mei?” Julia asked in a teasing tone, surprising Josh as she usually stayed out of the banter. “I didn’t know you were checking out his toolbox.”
“Great! You have officially corrupted Julia, Sergi,” Mei growled in a dramatic voice.
“It was a piece of pie, Mei,” Sergi chuckled. “You owe me a kiss.”
“Cake,” Mei grumbled in discontent.
“A kiss? This is sounding more interesting,” Ash broke in. “She lose a bet with you, Sergi?”
“I never kiss and tell,” Sergi replied with a cheeky grin.
“Let’s cut the chit-chat for now,” Josh ordered as they neared the third circular gate. “Mei, are you getting this?”
“Yes, commander,” Mei replied in a calm voice.
“It looks like it is about three meters across,” Julia said, staring at the image.
Josh didn’t reply. Instead, he focused on Sergi. They had jumped the tethers from the Gliese to him, then to Sergi. From there, they had set up a second tether system to the first gate. They had discovered during their research that each gate was connected by a series of cables. They would use those connections to pull them from one gate to the next.
He didn’t bother turning to look at the Gliese 581. It was small in comparison to the massive devices and would be shielded from view at the moment. Instead, he gripped the thin tether and pulled himself along. He and Sergi had a propulsion pack on, but they would only use it in case of an emergency. He followed Sergi as he moved slowly up the first gate to the cable connecting it to the others.
An hour later, they were approaching the third gate. There was a large section ripped open at seven o’clock. He and Sergi worked in tandem as they pulled themselves down the side to the section that was torn open.
“This is incredible, commander,” Sergi murmured. “The metal looks different from anything I’ve ever seen. If I can find a fragment small enough to carry, I’d like to bring it back for testing.”
“Agreed,” Josh responded. “Be careful as you enter. It looks like there are some sharp edges. The last thing you want is to puncture your suit.”
Sergi gave a dry laugh. “That would not be good,” he agreed, before he grinned. “I’m sure Mei would bring me some duct tape.”
“In your dreams,” Mei replied. “Chewing gum, maybe.”
“She loves me,” Sergi teased with a loud sigh. “I’m going in.”
Josh watched as Sergi carefully entered the damaged section. He waited a few seconds before he reached out and gripped the thick edge and pulled himself through into the dark interior.
The lights on his helmet cast an eerie glow. He turned in a slow circle, making sure that Mei captured what he was seeing. Glancing up, he saw Sergi pulling himself deeper into the interior.
“This is amazing,” Sergi kept muttering under his breath. “The technology is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, but in some ways familiar.”
“What do you mean familiar?” Josh asked.
Josh watched as Sergi turned partially to look at him. For the first time, Josh saw a completely serious expression on Sergi’s face through the visor. He gripped one of the cross bars to keep from floating off.
“In the laws of physics and mechanics, some things can only work in a specific way. While this is all alien, it still has to be put together with nuts and bolts,” Sergi replied. “The circuitry has to work the same. Power comes in, power goes out, whether it is wired in either parallel or serial, it still needs a ground and a complete circuit to function. If an open, or short as many people refer to it, occurs, the power is cut and the connection won’t work.”
Josh looked at the damaged section. Deep down, he suspected he knew what Sergi was telling him. He glanced sharply at the Russian. He could see the silent question.
“You can repair this,” Josh murmured.
“Probably,” Sergi replied, turning to look around him. “I need to study the images and see if I can re-engineer what was done. If the power used to work these things is still viable, it’s possible I could repair the damage to this and complete the circuit.”
“Mei, are you getting this?” Josh demanded. He frowned when he didn’t receive a response. “Mei, come in. Shit!”
“It is the metal,” Sergi said. “It is probably preventing a signal from getting through.”
“Record everything that you can,” Josh ordered. “We’ll review it once we are back on the Gliese and make a decision then.”
Sergi nodded and turned back to start a slow, methodical review of the interior. Josh gritted his teeth and started moving downward. There was no way they would ever be able to bring something this size home. The only thing they could do was document as much as they could and send it back to Earth. Even that would have been little to no help if they hadn’t discovered the damage to this gate as they had begun referring to the black objects.
Six hours later, they were back on the Gliese. Josh shook his head to push away the fatigue. He sank down in the seat across from where Mei and Julia were retrieving the cameras.
“We were worried when we lost contact with you,” Ash muttered, coming to sit next to him. “The only thing that kept me from coming out there and retrieving your ass was the fact that I knew you wouldn’t die without saying goodbye.”
Josh gave a dry laugh and smiled as he leaned his back against the wall. “You are all heart, Ash,” Josh said wearily.
“So, what was it like?” Ash asked.
Josh’s eyes slowly opened and he looked into the expectant faces of Ash, Julia, and Mei. A grin curved his lips when he met Sergi’s gaze. He had to agree with the Russian, it was both amazing and incredible.
“You aren’t going to believe it,” he finally replied. “Let’s get something to eat and we’ll tell you what we found.”
*.*.*
“So, you think you can repair it?” Mei asked, staring at Sergi in disbelief.
Sergi waved his hand as he lifted the fork to his lips. “Yes, I think so,” he mumbled.
“This is…,” Julia’s voice faded as she sat back in her seat. “We aren’t really sure what it is.”
“This is one way of finding out,” Josh said.
“Whoa! If you are willing to do it that means we are going to be in deep shit, aren’t we?” Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
Josh’s mouth tightened and he looked around the table. He stared at each person sitting around looking back at him. Drawing in a deep breath, he carefully chose his words.
“On the contrary, I’ve received orders to proceed with caution, but for us to fully explore the gates,” Josh stated. “We’ve been given the go to see if it can be repaired, but not to actually do it unless we feel confident it doesn’t pose a danger to Earth.”
“And if it can be, what then?” Ash asked with a frown.
“We are to send out one of the ROSV’s,” Josh said. “We collect as much data as we can before… if anything happens.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Julia replied in a thoughtful tone. “How long do you think it will take to repair it, Sergi?”
“I don’t know,” Sergi admitted. “It depends on how bad the damage is and if I can replicate the parts with what is on board the Gliese. I will need to study the video we brought back some more. The last thing I want to do is blow us up.”
“I will help,” Mei said in a quiet voice, staring at Sergi.
“I’ll help Mei with the video,” Julia added.
Josh looked around the table again. Each person was quieter than they were earlier, but there was a charge in the air. They all wanted answers to the list of questions that were growing daily.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
Chapter 7
A week later, Josh watched as Sergi disappeared into the damaged gate again. This would hopefully be the final spacewalk. He passed the section of repaired cabling up to Sergi.
“Two minutes,” Sergi said into the microphone. “This should complete the final connection. Whether these things have a built in power supply that is still working is another matter. I’ve gone through this one and it looks like it’s linked to the one before it and the next one, but I never found an actual power source.”
“We’ll deal with that when we get to it,” Josh said.
Josh watched as Sergi struggled to get the cable into place. Releasing his hold on the bar, he floated upward to lend the other man a hand. He was almost to him when Sergi snapped the cable into place.
“What the…,” Josh muttered when the interior suddenly lit up with a series of red lights. “Sergi, we need to get out of here.”
“Just a minute,” Sergi responded, reaching for the tools he had strapped to the bars.
A feeling of dread filled Josh and he turned as the walls began to move. A sense of urgency filled him. Something told him that they needed to get out of there – now!
“Leave them,” Josh ordered, reaching for Sergi’s foot and pulling him down. “We need to get out of here now.”
Josh saw Sergi glance at the walls that were beginning to shift. Sergi nodded and motioned for him to go first. They both turned and used the railing to pull themselves down to the opening. Using their feet, they pushed off and exited through the gaping hole.
“Josh, look!” Sergi muttered, grabbing his arm.
Josh turned in time to see each of the sections light up. He glanced up at the thick cables. Each one was lit a bright red. His gaze narrowed on the second gateway. It was moving as well.
“Josh, we need you to get back to the Gliese now,” Ash ordered in their helmet.
“What’s going on?” Josh demanded, grabbing the tether they had secured when they first began working on the gateway.
“Those things are lit up like a Christmas tree and are beginning to do some weird shit. I’d feel better if you and Sergi were back inside the ship,” Ash replied.
“Can you please define weird?” Josh asked in frustration as he and Sergi pulled themselves along the tether.
“Josh, it looks like the gates are opening up,” Julia’s calm voice came over the headset. “I think the Gliese being so close to the gate has activated it. We can’t move as long as you and Sergi are outside.”
“I’m going to have to burn fuel to keep it from being pulled in,” Ash’s muttered voice echoed in the background.
“No!” Josh ordered. “We barely have enough to get back as it is.”
“Josh, if we get pulled in, there won’t be any going home,” Ash stated in a grim voice.
“Try to keep it steady, we are coming in as fast as we can,” Josh ordered. “Sergi, use the Jetpack.”
“I won’t argue with you on that,” Sergi said, reaching to unhook the tether attached to him.
“Watch out!” Josh yelled as the rotating gateway ripped the tether out of his hand just as he unhooked it.
Josh felt his body rotating at a crazy angle for a moment before he fired the Jetpack and regained his orientation. He slowly turned to see where Sergi was when he heard a muttered curse in Russian. Horror gripped him when he saw Sergi being reeled toward the massive gateway as it turned. Tilting his body, he focused on using the propulsion system to push him toward the twirling figure.
“I can’t get the tether undone,” Sergi bit out in frustration.
“Hold on, I’m coming,” Josh replied.
Sergi’s nervous chuckle echoed in his helmet. “I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere,” he replied. “Though, I would appreciate it if you can hurry.”
Josh pushed forward, working each thrust to move him closer. He didn’t want to overshoot Sergi. If he did, he wouldn’t have time to turn back around for a second try before Sergi was crushed.
He reached out for the other man as he drew closer. His fingers brushed the back of Sergi’s Jetpack. Gripping the controls of his unit, he calculated when Sergi would rotate again. Pressing the button, he sent a long burst of nitrogen into space and shot forward. This time, he was able to grab the back of the pack.
“Josh, you need to put a move on,” Ash warned.
“I am,” Josh replied through gritted teeth.
“Josh,” Sergi muttered. “Commander, leave me.”
Josh ignored Sergi, working on the clip that held the tether onto him as they both twirled closer and closer to the second gateway. With a loud curse, he forced the metal back and slipped it off the belt attached to the Russian.
“Brace for impact,” Josh ordered as they bounced into the turning gate.
The impact tossed them in separate directions. Josh was thrown outward while Sergi was pushed up into the glowing cables. Josh saw a flash before a loud cry escaped the other man and his body stiffened.
“Sergi! Josh, I received a spike in Sergi’s life support. He flat lined for a moment,” Mei said in an urgent voice.
“I’m going after him,” Josh replied, gripping the controls to the Jetpack. “How long does he have?”
“I’m getting a weak signal, but his respiration is low,” Mei replied.
“I’ve got him,” Josh said, reaching for Sergi’s foot. “We are coming in. Mei, be ready.”
Josh had a brief moment to see the gateway from a different angle as he turned Sergi around. They were above the first one and each was lit up and turning. It was both an incredible sight and one that scared the hell out of him. Julia’s words from almost two years ago came back to him as he turned back to the Gliese, Sergi’s limp body in his arms.
Would you still go if you knew you might not come back?
*.*.*
Josh tore off his helmet and hooked it to the shelf near the service bay door. He fumbled with the gloves and shoved them into the net next to his helmet. His right hand instinctively shot out to grab the edge of the shelf as the Gliese violently shook and groaned, even though he was floating.
“The force of the pull from the gate is going to rip the ship apart,” Julia informed him with a worried glance in his direction. She had braced herself to hold Sergi’s unconscious form steady for Mei. “What happened?”
“His lifeline caught and he was pulled into one of the gates,” Josh replied, pulling himself around Julia. Mei was placing an oxygen mask over Sergi’s nose and mouth. “I need to get to the command center.”