“Is it just us?”
“No, the whole system is going down.”
The radio chirped and a brief silence followed.
Anika looked out the window to the shards of red mountains jetting up from the frozen landscape.
Kyvin grabbed the microphone. “Do you have a timeline?”
“Should be just for the day. We were told 20 hours. Maintenance said they can’t do the parts replacements while things are live.”
The two officers exchanged a reluctant glance.
“Is the supply run coming in first?”
Another brief silence crackled over the comms.
“That’s a negative. One of the repairs is to the navigation system on the Orbiter. But it will only be for the day. We are reading your supply to be sufficient. And you do have authorization to open the emergency stock if needed. Just let us know if you do and we will send down another back up kit with the resupply.”
“Sir, you are aware of the storm coming in.” Kyvin handed the radio off and started tapping at a screen.
“Yes. Our current radar puts the leading edge at about 3380 kilometers away moving 70 kilometers an hour. More than enough time to get everything back up and running.”
Kyvin stared at the satellite imaging and the projected path, adjusting parameters to find variable outcomes.
Anika keyed up the radio. “Riiiight. But part of the supply drop was new transformers for the heat panels. Without them we’ll be buried in the storm.”
More silence. “Uhh… I was not made aware of the malfunction. Do you have spares?
“These were the spares.”
“…Hold on.”
Anika dropped the radio and put her hands on her head. “If we don’t get those transformers… I don’t know.”
The radio toned. “Apologies, there was some confusion with Station 199 who is also supposed to get a resupply today. There are new transformers in your supply crate.”
“You said there are?”
“That’s affirmative.”
Kyvin knocked the mic on the control panel with an anxious tick, trying to settle. “Great, but if we are buried under… hold on.” He tapped on the screen running some calculations. 70 km/hr, 4000 km wide based on radar images, average 6 in/hr. “18 feet of snow, then it doesn’t really matter does it.”
More silence.
“Yeah… we just got the same out here.”
“Can they not push these repairs back a couple days? Just till the storm passes? It can’t be more than a couple hours to fix the Orbiter? Fix that, send the transformers so we can at least keep them running during the storm, and then you can shut it down.”
“That’s a negative, headquarters said they prefer to do everything at the same time. Said it would be easier since the system will already be down.”
“They prefer?”
“Affirmative.”
Anika pulled up a map and scrolled through the other stations.
Kyvin set the mic on its stand, letting the control center figure out their mistakes on their own and turned to Anika. “What’s the move?”
“Umm… Station 74 might have spares but that’s a 10 hour drive one way towards the storm. And it’s through the mountains.”
Kyvin scrolled through their supply levels. “The resupply was supposed to come today which would have given us another two weeks of primary. We have enough food and water for another two weeks if we crack the back up. The filters on the oxygen concentrator are good for another maybe three weeks and we have back ups of those, plus the liquid tank.”
“They're gonna have to send a team to dig us out.”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
The radio chirped. “122, Control.”
Anika grabbed the mic. “122.”
“I just spoke with headquarters. They said they are continuing on with the repairs. Our system says you should be good on supplies until after the storm. We will send a dig team as soon as possible. The good news is, in the meantime, you guys can take the day off while the system is down.”
“Yep.”
Anika released the transmission button. “Why delay by a few hours when we can spend a few more million dollars in resources to come dig us out?”
“Over six thousand stations across the galaxy and somehow we always get the shit end of the stick.”
Anika stood. “I’m gonna tie down the antennas. Can you suit me?”
“Yeah. Let me call Zaion at 74. He’s gonna love this.”
If you dig this story, check out my book The Captain of the Crew here.