Page 89 of Stars

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26

ISS

Earth’s Orbit

“Houston,the bodies are starting to pile up around here.” Phillipa rubbed her aching eyes. “The station only has two body bags. One is supposed to be a backup.”

Now both were in use. Twin shrouds of black rubber floated in the Japanese lab, drifting and occasionally brushing against each other, as if Jim and the long-dead Soviet were dancing.

“I understand,” Roxanne said. She’d taken over at CAPCOM and had been at Mission Control for the past twenty-eight hours without a break. Phillipa was about to drop dead. There wasn’t a part of her that didn’t ache, didn’t throb. How much worse did Roxanne feel, stuck in Mission Control and helpless, yet in charge of their lives? “We’re working on an egress plan now.”

“We’ve got to get these bodies off the station. One corpse was enough of a morale killer. Watching your friend and colleague die violently? It’s quieter than a tomb up here.”

“I understand,” Roxanne said again, her voice softer. “Is the extended rest period helping?”

NASA had ordered everyone to power down their work and rest as soon as they’d packaged Jim in a body bag and scrubbedUnityclean of his blood spatter and biological waste. Michaela needed a sedative, and Mark hauled her ontoIndependencewhile Joey, Sarah, and Sasha scrubbedUnitydown in silence. Phillipa had helped Rafael with Jim and then retreated to the cupola to call Houston.

Earth twirled below her, a blue marble rolling on the velvet of space. It seemed carefree, like a paradise she could cup in her hands. Sometimes Phillipa would come to the cupola and pick out places she’d like to visit, remote specks of islands in far-flung tropical seas or northern forests tucked in hidden reaches, far away from the touch of civilization. Anywhere on Earth had to be better than the ISS right now.

She squeezed her eyes shut again, shaking her pounding head. The headache had started a few hours before, after sealing Jim away.It’s exhaustion. Exhaustion, and when did I last eat?

Though would she ever eat again? The galley bulkhead inUnityhad been drenched with Jim’s bloody vomit.

They’d probably all be going home soon. For the first time in thirty years, the ISS would be empty. But that was needed right now.

For the first time ever, someone had died on the ISS.

“Not sure if anyone is getting any sleep, Houston,” she said.

“Phillipa, I’m going to put you on with Dan again, all right? Moscow is calling, and I have to take this.”

“Good luck,” Phillipa said. “Thanks for sticking around, Roxanne.”

“Anytime.”

* * *

Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas

Roxanne shutthe conference room door at the back of Mission Control and closed her eyes. She took a breath and tapped her headset, switching over to the call from Moscow. “President Puchkov—”

“What the fuck is happening up there?” Sergey roared. “Star City called me in a fucking panic! They heardeverything! We’re still looped together, Houston and Moscow,da? Why the fuck haven’t I been contacted about this?”

“Mr. President, we don’t know yet what’s happened up there—”

“A man isdead!”

“Yes—”

“How? How did he die?”

“We don’t know.”

“My engineers, they say it was gruesome. Barbaric. Was he injured? Was there an accident with his space suit? Why was this man bleeding out all over the station?”