and stood. Andrew was shocked, he couldn’t speak, and it he could have he couldn’t think of any words to say as she slowly undid the cord tie; opened the front and let the gown slip off her shoulders. As it fell about her ankles she was naked: Andrew stared at her stunned.
His assumption at the meal was wrong, she was more by far better than his imagination had imagined. As his eyes feasted on her body his brain had begun to work. “What are you doing here?” he stuttered.
The smile didn’t change it seemed almost painted on her face. “You wanted me to come?”
“No… No…I didn’t mean…I?”
The smile was slipping; it was still a smile but less genuine, as if the pleasure it had promised was replaced by anxiety. She moved seductively towards him as the false smile returned. “I surprised you?” She said softly. “I have more surprises that you will like?”
Andrew stepped back, as he did the smile slipped again. “I think you had better leave?” he said, not sure he wanted her too but knowing it was what he had to ask.
She hesitated, the false smile came back again and she held out her hand. “I won’t bite… not unless you want me to?”
Andrew breathed deeply as he stepped back to the cabin door. “Please…” his voice firmed. “Tell your husband that my decision has been made and will not be changed.”
There were only traces of the smile now as she looked at him as if she didn’t know what was happening.
“Please… Now…take the gown,” he said quickly before his resolve failed. “I’ll have your things brought to your cabin.” The smile had completely gone as she stooped down to pick up the gown. As she passed him Andrew thought he saw she was crying.
Andrew spoke to no one about the woman’s visit, even so the following days were strained; not only was he fielding complaints from almost all the visitors who demanded that’s as they had paid exorbitant sums of money they should get preferential treatment, there were also problems from the permanent crew who should have known better. In reality his decisions were quite simply made, and the slowly diminishing planet seen though any window emphasized that whatever their grievance no one had any choice or alternative. Earth was gone and they were on their own: like it or not.
One by one the reports and estimates were delivered to him. He had already begun rationing, though food itself was not the greatest worry they had. Running out was a well prepared for problem, mainly because the weather on the surface could be unpredictable and as a precautionary measure the arrays provisions were always kept at a maximum. Every shuttle arrival brought replacement supplies and indeed the St Louis with the knowledge that the next flights could be delayed had brought even more than its share, though none had envisaged that the supplies would have to last quite as long as they would now.
What really concerned Andrew was water; it was one of the few items that were not actually brought up. It was a very heavy and non-transmutable product so they relied on producing it from the hydrogen cracking plant; besides some from recycling, but now there would be no continuing supply of hydrogen gas delivered, and the system would be put under continual pressure. What the effects of un-refreshed and repeatedly recycled water would have on their mental morale, never mind their health was yet to be determined. Likewise there would be no replacement oxygen or scrubbers; the same air would be used over and over in the months to come. Neither was a pleasant thought: but they would have to make do.
The only good news was from the construction staff. Most of the hardware and materials needed to get the hotel rooms functioning was already stored around the station.
The situation seemed to be settling down when Houston confirmed that the next time they would see the Earth would be in seven months and thirteen days. As Andrew read the communication he was filled with gloom, and the words ‘See the Earth’ appeared to leap off the reader. When they arrived at the meeting point the Blue and White sphere would be no more than a bright star in their sky, as they would in actual fact arrive eighteen days after the planet had passed by.
The good news: if there was any, was that there were plans underway to leave three unmanned shuttles; full of supplies, to help them through the following months; until the planet caught up with them again, and on that distant day return them all to the planet’s surface.
Andrew took a deep breath; it was something everyone on Earthrise should know, but moral was just beginning to rise. Knowing they would be marooned for far longer could set the feeling of hope back; maybe even destroy it; and he couldn’t afford for that to happen. Andrew dragged the message across the screen and into the encryption folder
He leaned back in his chair feeling very weary with the knowledge only he had. They would live but that was the only good news they would have for possibly two years of routine; broken only by the perihelion with the Sun and the picking up of the three shuttles: or so he thought…
It was day thirteen when the first body was found.
Until the moment the body was discovered, it had been a normal day, well at least what passed for ordinary in the extraordinary situation they were now in.
When Andrew arrived at the induction pod both doctors were in attendance. Carl Voit, the stations doctor was writing a report while the hotels specialist Stephan Poyne was inspecting the body.
Carl looked at him. “The deceased is a cadet James Bryan. He joined INASA eight months ago, and this was his first time off Earth. It was originally meant to be for one-week: up on one shuttle; back with the next as a kind of orientation to appraise his suitability for longer space-time.”
Andrew spoke to while looking at the youth. “What happened?”
“Most likely electrocution: it appears he was replacing high amp cables.”
Andrew looked at Carl in surprise; he had an idea of every crewmember’s duties but something didn’t seem right. “Shouldn’t he have had a supervisor?”
Carl shook his head. “I’m told he shouldn’t even have been in the compartment.”
Andrew looked back at the body. “Then why was he?”
“That I can’t answer, his supervisor did tell me he’d probably been instructed on how to do the work as part of his college studies; maybe he wanted to help; maybe he was trying to prove something. It’s an unfortunate accident that was regretfully one the youth apparently brought upon himself.”
It was a problem that had never occurred to Andrew; what was he to do with human remains? Under normal circumstances they would be returned to Earth, but there was nothing in the manuals about what was to happen if they couldn’t be. “I’m not entirely sure what happens from now on,” he said truthfully.
“We need to inform his family.”
“Of course; but what I meant was how do we dispose of the body?”
“Dispose it?”
“Funeral arrangements then.”
“There can’t be a funeral without a cause of death.”
“You said he was electrocuted.”
“Everything points to electrocution, yes; but there may be causal factors?”
Andrew looked at Carl in surprise, “You suspect something else?”
“No; on the contrary, but any unexplained death, especially a death on the station requires an autopsy before cause of death can be certified, without that document the remains cannot be disposed of.”
“Then I suppose we had better.”
“Actually we can’t, I’m not a registered pathologists.”
“Then what do we do with the body?”
“I’m a doctor, my job is to save lives not dispose of them; I imagine that unpleasant task comes under your jurisdiction.”
Lacking the documentation Andrew could not dispose of the body; his only option was to use a section of a waste storage pod as a makeshift morgue. It did cause murmur of ‘lack of respect’, especially from the stations visitors as normally these units; once full, were discarded and let to fall and burn up in the atmosphere. But as was explained there was no suitable refrigerated area, and
as the waste pods were not connected to the station services they could be left to cool to the temperature of ambient space and preserve the corpse.
To say Andrew was not happy with the situation was an understatement. Not that he was sure what he would have done with the body even if he could have done anything, but he was faced now with having to keep it for long into the foreseeable future.
His annoyance at the situation was increased when four days later doctor Voit had a seizure and died. It was a double blow; losing his skills was to be more than just a disadvantage.
Following the two deaths Andrew was keener than ever to keep those on the station occupied. He decided to do an inventory, and put all the experiments that had been suspended back into full operation. The theory being, that the work would keep at least the science crew busy.
More troubling was that crew morale had fallen again; even so he decided that rather than increase the workload, it was more prudent to rationalize the stations use and create what would be almost two separate areas. One half, including the old crew facilities would be cut off and used for storage: in the hotel area they would work and live in the best comfort possible.
By day twenty-seven things were close to something like they had been before the asteroid was first discovered. Seven separate scientific experiments were back underway. There were two each of astronomical observations, and chemical reactions. The other