<USS Avalon> =/\= What Needs To Be Done =/\=

=/\= What Needs To Be Done =/\=
By Tavi
 
 
 
There was an emergency locker at the junction of the lift tube and the next  
J-tube; Tavi looked over the contents of it while she chewed thoughtfully on 
one  of the ration bars she found there.  There was a tool kit -- not a full  
one.  There was an environmental suit, far too big for a small girl, so she  
left it.  Antigrav buttons -- she already had two in her pockets, but took  
more.  They were always handy for jumping up to get into ceiling level  grates. 
 
And... there.  A plasma cutter.  She could cut through  the emergency hatch.
 
Back at the stuck lift car, the stowaway laid her toolkit down and  carefully 
checked the plasma cutter.  The cutting length couldn't be too  short or it 
wouldn't go through.  It couldn't be too long, or it might hurt  the Engineer, 
especially if he was still trying to get out.  The power had  to be enough to 
cut, but not enough to melt the surrounding metal.
 
It was hot in the shaft, suddenly much hotter than it ought to be, and Tavi  
was having trouble breathing.  She sat, trying to catch her breath, and  after 
a little while the temperature seemed to become normal again.   Doggedly, she 
finished setting the cutter and began to cut.  Lights  flickered and dimmed, 
but didn't go out.
 
It occurred to Tavi that someone should have missed the Chief Engineer by  
now.  But no one had come looking for him.  And he often worked alone  for many 
hours, so it was possible that not even his wife would think anything  could 
be wrong.  But the sounds from inside the lift had become fainter and  fewer.
 

Tavi shivered.  Now it was colder than it should have been.  The  air seemed 
a little thin, but not intolerably so; Tavi had spent her entire life  on 
stations and ships where the air varied from soupy to barely breathable, and  
she 
was adapted to thin air.  But the cold -- she stopped cutting for a  moment 
while she sat very still, feeling with the skin of her face for the sort  of 
air 
movement that would mean a hull breach.
 
Long moments later, she relaxed and returned to cutting the hatch.   And then 
it was done; the three separate pieces of the hatch came away, one in  her 
hand and the other two falling into the lift as the interlocking notches  came 
apart.  Her breathing was labored, but she ignored the  discomfort.  It was 
more important to complete her task.  She backed  away, ready to run when the 
Engineer came climbing out.  But he  didn't.
 
Peering into the lift, dim with emergency lighting since she'd disconnected  
the gel packs, Tavi saw the Chief Engineer -- lying unconscious on the  floor. 
 Which was more important -- to stay hidden, or to save him?   The answer was 
clear.
 
Before she could twist around to lower herself into the lift, Tavi was  
struck with dizziness.  She paused, clinging to a handhold... and slowly  slid 
into 
darkness.

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