Free Over the Darkened Landscape by Derryl Murphy Page B

hand, twirling it into a tight knot around her fingers. Her mother got up from the chair, came and sat on the side of the bed, put her hand on Jackie’s knee.
    “There’s been an accident, love. Davey’s been killed.”
    “Oh my God,” said Jackie. “Poor Andrea. Oh God. I have to call her.” She reached over to the night table and grabbed a tissue, dabbed at her eyes and then her nose.
    “I was there too, Jack. With him at the time.”
    “Jesus, Allen! What happened? Were you hurt?”
    “No trauma to the suit, if that’s what you mean. But there were other problems.”
    “ Don’t do this to me, Allen! Stop fucking around and tell me what has happened to you !”
    “I’m sorry, love.” More breathing. “I wasn’t tethered at the time, Jack. I had my MMU on, so that I could maneuver between where Davey was working and another spot on the solar array we were trying to fix. I was down beside Davey when something happened to the MMU—they figure it was hit by a loose screw that’s probably been in orbit for a few decades.”
    Jackie closed her eyes, tried to remember what Allen had told her about his suit. Her eyes snapped open. “The MMU? The unit with the nitrogen gas you use for jetting around between sites, right?”
    “Right, love.”
    “Then what?”
    “Just before they patched me through to you, Wesley told me they figure the screw was doing something like a hundred thousand kilometers per hour. It blew right through the MMU. The releasing gas sent me spinning.” There was silence for a second. “I guess it was me that knocked Davey into the path of the laser. Don’t know how or why he kept his hand on the dead man’s switch.” His voice was quieter now, more distant.
    She took a deep breath. “Where are you?”
    “About seventy kilometers away from the station right now, maybe even more.”
    “Christ.” It was a whisper. Her mother reached out and took her free hand, eyes wide and fearful. “Please tell me they’re sending the shuttle to pick you up.”
    Allen was silent, only his gasping breaths coming through right now.
    “Damn it, Allen, tell me!”
    “They tried, Jack. But Mission Control stopped them before they could even close up the airlock and push away from the station. There isn’t enough fuel to safely pick me up. They’d lose the shuttle and everyone on board as well.”
    “As well.” Jackie repeated the words. A sob welled up from deep inside her, escaped before she could cut it off.
    “I’m sorry, love. I wasn’t sure where this conversation was going to go once it came out, and there were some things I wanted to make sure I did. For your benefit as well as for the baby.” More distant breaths. “Shit. Only so much time and so much to say, I don’t want it screwed up by crying the whole time, making so much noise we can’t hear each other.”
    Jackie closed her eyes for a moment, fought to regain control. She was an astronaut’s wife, damn it! Part of her had always been prepared for this.
    She tried to speak but her voice choked inside her throat. She coughed, then said, “I’m all right now.”
    “Good. I knew you could handle this. Wesley didn’t think this call was a good idea, but thankfully they called Morris. He cleared it right away. Man knows what’s important.”
    A thought came to Jackie, of her husband floating through space forever, lifeless body wrapped inside his tomb of a suit. She bit her lip. “What’s the view right now?” she asked. She knew her husband could rave for hours about all that he saw when he was in orbit.
    “Great.” Allen laughed. “A little unsettling, to tell you the truth. But still great. Just wish it was constant.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I’m spinning crazier than a top, love. It’s worse than the first time I jumped from a plane, when I forgot to arch my back. Earth-space-Earth-space-Earth-space, on and on. At least I had a chute to straighten me out back then.”
    She smiled. “I remember that