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The text was from Lindsey Keating’s phone, and it was signedRoxanne.

* * *

30

ISS

Tumbling in Earth’s Orbit

“If we’re goingto try to save Michaela, we have to do it ourselves.”

They were huddled inUnityagain, the gathering point on the station. Phillipa had turned off all comms with Houston after General Duncan’s declaration of President Wall’s orders stranding them in orbit, cutting him off in the middle of an official pronouncement of martial law at NASA and a military lockdown across all NASA facilities.

“We don’t even know what we’re dealing with!” Joey floated in the hatch leading to theDestinylab, as far from Michaela as he could get. He kept eyeing her, unease and fear wafting from him, almost stinking up the module. Michaela lay strapped to the backboard, unconscious and intubated, with gauze taped over her eyes and loosely under her nose.

“This is some kind of outbreak.” Phillipa pushed on her temples, rubbing her forehead. “Something is making us sick. Roxanne said maybe it was from the Lunar Gateway since it was Jim and now Michaela that got sick. But maybe it came from that Soviet corpse we brought on board. They were sleeping next to the body that first night, and Jim was hit in the eye with the corpse’s blood. Michaela was at the autopsy, too. We all were, other than Joey, Mark, Sasha, and Sarah.”

It seemed like a wall descended between the crew as soon as Phillipa spoke, dividing them into uneven halves. Joey kicked away from Phillipa and Rafael, making his way into theDestinylab. Mark and Sasha clung to the far bulkhead near theZaryahatch. Between them, Rafael and Phillipa hovered over Michaela.

“If it’s airborne,” Sarah said quietly, bobbing in theIndependencehatch, “then it doesn’t matter who was at the autopsy and who wasn’t. Jim was the first one to touch the body when he brought the corpse on board. He was in his EMU, but was his suit contaminated? When Jim and Michaela spent the night onIndependencewith it, did it release… something when it warmed up?”

Rafael scrubbed his hands down his face. “I’m not sure if this is psychosomatic or if I’m experiencing an initial onset of whatever this is, but I’m not doing that great.”

“We need to define the symptoms,” Phillipa said. “We need to understand what’s going on, what the progression of this thing is. What do you guys remember from before Jim got sick.”

“He had a headache,” Mark said. “I remember from breakfast.”

“And his eyes were bloodshot,” Joey almost shouted from deep insideDestiny.

Rafael and Phillipa shared a long look.

Sasha swallowed. Everyone inUnitycould see Rafael’s eyes were streaked with red, the veins in his sclera inflamed and angry, turning his eyeballs into cherries that seemed about to burst.

“Approximately twenty-four to thirty-six hours later, Jim started seizing, and from there, he decompensated rapidly. He had massive internal hemorrhage and rising ICP. He leaked cerebrospinal fluid out of his ears and nose. For that to happen, his brain had to have swollen. Usually that happens following trauma, but an infection can cause cerebral edema, too.” Rafael sniffed and wiped his nose on his forearm. “The intracranial pressure might have amplified the liquefaction in Jim’s chest cavity, too. His heart must have been working overtime, and his organs just…”

“Where’s Michaela in that timeline?” Mark asked softly.

“We’re watching and waiting for her to begin seizing. There’s evidence of internal hemorrhage already,” Rafael said. “Her vitals are showing a slow and steady rise in ICP.” He shook his head. “There just isn’t enough equipment here to really understand what we’re dealing with or to treat her the way she needs.”

Mark pushed off the bulkhead and floated over to Michaela’s side. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The blonde strands were crusty with dried blood.

Sasha’s heart leaped into his throat. His skin crawled, the image of Jim seizing in a shower of weightless blood flashing behind his eyelids. Would Michaela end up the same?

“Is there anything we can learn from Jim?” Mark asked. “Anything from how he died?”

Rafael squinted. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m just a jet jockey engineer, but I know something about fluid dynamics. If there’s too much pressure, we’ve got to release it somehow. We’ve got to get the pressure in her skull down.”

“I’m not a doctor. I’m a scientist. I’m at the limit of my expertise here.”

“Can we examine the bodies somehow?”

“Absolutely not!” Phillipa’s voice rose, cutting off everyone else. “The bodies are sealed in the Japanese lab, andno oneis allowed in there for anyreason!”

“Michaela’s going to die if we do nothing!” Rafael snapped back. “Are you ready to give up on her?”

“I’m not going to start sacrificing more lives!” Phillipa shouted. Her glare burned into Rafael, and she breathed hard, one hand pressed to the side of her head as she grimaced. “I won’t allow anyone near those bodies. There’s something inside them.”