Dying isn't an option, unfortunatley. Pt.3

Posted on Sun Dec 25th, 2022 @ 3:36pm by Lieutenant M'Tuuri Sh'iss [S'hib]

Mission: Season 6 : Episode 1: Circinus
Location: Deck 15 - Hull breached corridor.
Timeline: MD3 - 02h30 - 02h45
583 words - 1.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The deck was pulled apart. Thermal insulation and wall panels exploded out from the ruptured section of the Elysium's hull, spewing atmosphere out of the corridor and pulling M'Tuuri with it.

But If she was going to be spaced it was going to be on her terms whether the Elysium liked it or not.

So she leapt forward, using the explosive force of the decompression to traverse the length of what should have been more corridor.

This was the worst part, the part that could go wrong the most, but it had to be done. So she exhaled, expelling as much oxygen as she could before they expanded and ruptured.

One...

Now the timer had started.

She had fifteen seconds or less until she passed out, and then she was dead, what she did with each of those seconds would only change one outcome, whether she lived.

However, to M'Tuuri, dying wasn't an option.

Behind her, chaos ensued as the rest of the hull section she was in violently detached, blowing two more thankfully empty crew quarters into space.

Two...

Her outstretched arms grappled with exposed cables, desperately trying to slow down and stay attached to what remained of the corridor.

Three...

Her ears rang, hearing nothing but her own terrifying heartbeat thumping in her throat as the exposed rectangular frame of the Jefferies tube rapidly approached.

Four...

She hit the side of the Jefferies tube, her ribs cracked and she screamed in pain, no sound left her lips.

Five...

Momentum tugged at her body, dragging her under the exposed service corridor, but her claws found purchase in its underbelly, digging in deep to exposed tubed pipping. Tendons strained to breaking point and fingers dislocated but she held on.

Six...

Her vision was clouding, a red haze enveloping her view as blood vessels ruptured, Regardless she pushed on, pulling herself towards the exposed entrance.

Seven...

Her heart was beating faster than it had ever done before and she was choking on nothing, muscles desperately trying to pull in the air that didn't exist.

Eight...

She couldn't see anymore, but she could feel the Elysium around her, feel the vibrations every time her clawed hands grappled further along the grated floor of the Jefferies tube.

Nine...

A hatch, her hands fumbled about, fingers swollen and puffy, hitting at the controls with no way of knowing if it was working or not.

Ten...

The saliva in her mouth began to boil as she gasped, unable to find the correct button to the hatch.

Eleven...

A rush of air buffered her violently as the hatch opened, threatening to pull her out as she held onto anything she could until the atmosphere vented from that compartment.

Twelve...

One gasp of air was all she got before being forced to expel it, but the temptation to hold onto that one breath was beyond measure, a visceral need to survive almost being her undoing as she wrestled the muscles in her chest to compress.

She fell inside, finding herself back within the gravity field of the Elysium before scrambling up and hitting the hatch controls once more.

As soon as she did she passed out, collapsing against the wall before hitting the floor.

Thirteen...

Fourteen...

Her back arched as she gasped violently, the vacuum within her lungs flooded with ice-cold pressure that burned against her cracked ribs.

Desperate gasps turned into coughs and then into sobbing, And she wondered how many lives she had left after all of that.