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14
In the Mood
Marina watched Lev with newfound respect. He moved with purpose. Their last ditch, long shot to power the jump engines just failed, and before anyone had even acknowledged the failure, he had already had a plan. He had some sort of unflinching, indomitable spirit. Without blinking, he was already moving forward. He had messages chief engineer Konstantin and started preparing equipment while the Captain and the Chief were still deliberating about what to do with Governor Peter.
Unable to watch in silence, she had to ask him. “Lev, what are you doing? Sure, it was your idea, but there’s no official plan yet, orders haven’t come down, how can you be getting space suits ready already.”
Lev’s movements never faltered as he unpacked two pressure suits from storage crates. “Because I know I am right. What other option is there, Mar?”
Marina didn’t answer, he cast a glance over his shoulder to where she floated in the corner of the compartment outside the airlock before he continued. “Marina, you are a smart girl, you have many degrees, more educated than me. But I have been working on stuff for a long time. And almost every time, if it’s a hard problem, it involves some poor sap, usually me, in an uncomfortable and sweaty, awkward place with hand tools making something that doesn’t work, work again. I just know Mar, that’s all. If it’s the thing I want to do least, that’s the thing I am going to have to do to fix it. Simple as.”
His flat, matter-of-fact delivery left her speechless. She clung to the handholds dangling from the ceiling. His casual acceptance without regard to his feelings, his absolute determination without any dimming of his mood. She shrugged at his frank assessment and shoved off from the wall, quickly drifting across the compartment to help him. Ripping open the storage crate to unpack the second pressure suit. “Your acceptance in commendable. I am impressed you have kept your spirits up, kept moving forward, so steadfast.”
He shook out the lower part of the pressure suit, trying to fluff out the legs after so long in storage. “No use getting upset. My feelings don’t matter, the broken reactor doesn’t give a shit if I feel bad about it or not. So no point in feeling bad about it, nothing but to do it and get it over with. Sooner it’s done, sooner I can find something else to feel good about.”
Marina held his gaze as she mindlessly pulled out more accessories from inside the storage case. “That’s an interesting way of looking at it. I never considered it that way. Deeper than I expected from you.”
“Deeper than you expected from me? What’s that supposed to mean?” he scowled at her as he fished the last baubles for the pressure suit from the bottom of the storage case.
“Don’t take it like that.” She backpedaled. “That’s not how I meant it, and you know it. It’s just a perspective I had never considered. Box me in as impressed.”
“Impressed, huh?” he said as he shot her a smirk while pulling off the booties from his jumpsuit.
“Maybe a little bit.” she answered.
He pulled off the top half of his jumpsuit. “Only a little bit?”
Marina looked away, her face flushing with colors she didn’t want it to as she pulled more components from the pressure suit’s storage trunk. As the silence drug on, Lev started dressing in the pressure suit he had already unpacked as Marina continued working on the other one. Toya arrived just as Lev cinched the clamps down for the waist joint where the top and bottom halves of the pressure suit meshed together. She had two kits of basic hand tools. Marina looked at her in confusion. “What are you doing?”
Toya’s reply was just as confused, “I’m going with Lev on the spacewalk, we’re the two senior technicians on shift.”
“I assumed I was going with him.” Marina answered, her indignant pushing her voice up an octave.
“After your smoke inhalation injury, no way.”
“What? Says who?” Marina protested.
“Says me. I asked her to come with me. I don’t want you getting hurt, Mar. I know you have found your voice again, but who knows what breathing the dry air from inside the pressure suit will do to voice box. I would hate for you to have a reaction, for something to go wrong, if you’ve some trouble breathing, out there, while we can’t help you, while we’re trying to do something as important as this.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, Toya let the tools go, allowing the cases, despite their mass, to drift weightlessly in the compartment near the hatch as she moved to the mostly unpacked second pressure suit.
“You think you get to make decisions for me, Lev?” she asked, not angry at him, because logically he was right, her potential reaction was a risk they couldn’t afford to take right now, the risk to herself notwithstanding. Instead, she was angry with the situation, with herself for having gotten hurt and becoming a liability. As the senior assistant engineer, she would have loved to direct the work personally.
Lev spluttered indignantly, and Marina’s smile slipped out onto her face despite her efforts. “I’m just teasing, don’t worry. I get it. It hadn’t occurred to me, and you’re not wrong. Sorry, I’m just offended by the delivery.”
He pulled the gloves on, cinching clamps down to the wrist cuffs, and Marina cut him off as he inhaled to speak again. “That’s not a you thing either, don’t take it personally, anyone giving out bad news is bound to hurt someone’s feelings. I don’t want to stay behind, I trained for this like everyone else, I don’t want to be left out. I’m here to do my part, but you’re right, I might be a liability to the mission.” She handed the next piece of the suit she pulled from the storage crate to Toya. “So take good care of my man out there.”
“Your man?” Toya paused, her hands outstretched but not yet grasping the offered piece of the pressure suit.
Lev looked up sharply, “Your man?” he echoed.
Marina shrugged nonchalantly as Toya took the pressure suit from her. “Why not, isn’t that what you wanted?” Marina asked.
Toya glanced between the two of them quickly. “You two need some alone time? Get yourselves straightened out?”
Swept up in the moment, Marina grinned wolfishly. “No. He came on to me, and I told him I’d think about it.” She held his gaze as she finished, “I’ve had time to think about it.”
Lev squared his shoulders as he maintained eye contact with Marina, drawing out the silence long enough for Toya to clear her throat and then make her way back to the hatch.
Marina snorted and put a hand out to catch her shoulder. “No need, the mission comes first. We know a spacewalk is going to happen, but what are you going to do out there, to fix this problem?”
Update 39: Developmental edits for Book III of The Descendant Saga called Knowledge of Gods are completed. Unfortunately, we’re looking at a delay. The planned release date of August 21st 2026, has likely been delayed until September 4th. The artist is still working on the hand painted water color that will be the cover of the book. After which it’s a matter of formatting. Also the line editor has had some personal stuff come up and they’ll need more time too. Please subscribe below to keep informed and not miss the release announcement for Book III: Knowledge of Gods, or any other updates from Tight Beam, and our serial novel Pending Pending Receipt.
-Featured image credited to NASA
The Descendant Saga 