She could smell gas even before she opened the door. They'd prepared her for this. Asteroid mining was dangerous work, but it paid well. Shelly's training came back to her, and immediately she remembered to power down her suit to essential functions only. Anything extra running could risk sparking, which meant ignition in this scenario. . .
With her suit powered down, Shelly proceeded with her gas leak checklist. First was to check her surroundings. That was easy. She was on the "night" shift, so there shouldn't be anyone else down this corridor right now, but protocol is protocol. No one was in sight, as she expected. Next, she initialized the manual indicator system. The gas hadn't leaked fully to trigger the autonomous system, so this was just advance precaution.
After ensuring the sector was evacuated and the alert system was initialized, she hooked an emergency oxygen tank to her suit and isolated the corridor from the rest of the mine's ventilation. She opened the door to the mine, and a chartreuse haze filled her vision. Next on the protocol list was to vent the gas to the vacuum of space before isolating the mine itself so the repair crew could access it and fix the leak.
With her suit powered down, Shelly proceeded with her gas leak checklist. First was to check her surroundings. That was easy. She was on the "night" shift, so there shouldn't be anyone else down this corridor right now, but protocol is protocol. No one was in sight, as she expected. Next, she initialized the manual indicator system. The gas hadn't leaked fully to trigger the autonomous system, so this was just advance precaution.
After ensuring the sector was evacuated and the alert system was initialized, she hooked an emergency oxygen tank to her suit and isolated the corridor from the rest of the mine's ventilation. She opened the door to the mine, and a chartreuse haze filled her vision. Next on the protocol list was to vent the gas to the vacuum of space before isolating the mine itself so the repair crew could access it and fix the leak.
Warning lights spun as the air lock opened, and Shelly traversed to the other side of the room to lock the mine down. With the current lack of atmosphere, there was no audible "click" when the door behind her closed and locked her out.
Shelly made it to the mine entrance and made it inside to seal it from the rest of the facility without a problem. She exited, and when she was halfway across the platform, with the expanse of stars rotating above her, she noticed the door was shut. Panic filled her immediately, and when she arrived at the door, she peered through the window and began banging on it. It was still the "night" shift though, and the next shift wouldn't begin for six hours. Coincidentally, that's exactly how much air she had left in her reserve tank.
Training slowly kicked in as she forced the panic down. "Six hours. I can wait six hours. If I can slow my breathing, and movement, maybe I can stretch it." Shelly thought. So, she sat against the door and waited.
Just over six hours left, muffled voices could be heard scrambling through the corridor. Shelly was lying unconscious, so when the crew members opened the door, she fell right back. They pulled her in, locked the door again, and unsealed her suit. Shelly gasped for air.
"Thank you, guys!" She wheezed
"Oh my gosh Shelly, that was close! You were entirely on CO2, I'm glad we didn't get here any later!" Ramone, the lead for first shift, said.
"Looks like we need to add a couple entries to our emergency protocol." Shelly said, catching her breath.
"Looks like it." Ramone said, chuckling.
The first shift members contacted the repair crew, and while the leak was being fixed, Ramone and Shelly reviewed what happened, eager not to let a mistake like that happen again.
Shelly made it to the mine entrance and made it inside to seal it from the rest of the facility without a problem. She exited, and when she was halfway across the platform, with the expanse of stars rotating above her, she noticed the door was shut. Panic filled her immediately, and when she arrived at the door, she peered through the window and began banging on it. It was still the "night" shift though, and the next shift wouldn't begin for six hours. Coincidentally, that's exactly how much air she had left in her reserve tank.
Training slowly kicked in as she forced the panic down. "Six hours. I can wait six hours. If I can slow my breathing, and movement, maybe I can stretch it." Shelly thought. So, she sat against the door and waited.
Just over six hours left, muffled voices could be heard scrambling through the corridor. Shelly was lying unconscious, so when the crew members opened the door, she fell right back. They pulled her in, locked the door again, and unsealed her suit. Shelly gasped for air.
"Thank you, guys!" She wheezed
"Oh my gosh Shelly, that was close! You were entirely on CO2, I'm glad we didn't get here any later!" Ramone, the lead for first shift, said.
"Looks like we need to add a couple entries to our emergency protocol." Shelly said, catching her breath.
"Looks like it." Ramone said, chuckling.
The first shift members contacted the repair crew, and while the leak was being fixed, Ramone and Shelly reviewed what happened, eager not to let a mistake like that happen again.
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