94
95
“It’s ok. I have the kit. Where am I going?”
“Oh thank goodness. The EVA airlocks. 
Kiran is hurt. They’re bleeding! Get there as quick as 
you can.”
Josef cuts in. “Take a breath, Sasha. Calm down and 
think. We need to talk to Devon now, right? Tell 
them that Kamari is ready to go.”
Sasha does so and then puts her head in her hands. 
She breathes deeply for a minute or two, trying to 
gather her thoughts.
“Ok,” says Josef, “everything is falling into place 
now. Kamari is out repairing the array so that we 
can use it to jam the spacecraft’s signal. Devon is 
helping them. Skylar is looking after Kiran. The 
flight surgeon has just told me they’ve managed 
to stop the bleeding. We’ve got about five 
minutes left for this to work and save the lives of 
the adult crew. It is going to be close. The thing 
is, we’re going to have to flood the signal with 
so much power that you’re not going to be able 
to talk to us here on Earth. We’re going to be in 
“Well, that’s it,” says Sasha, “they don’t know. It 
could be a hostile country, or a company, or even 
aliens. Whatever it is, they’re treating it as a threat. 
They’ve got the military involved. There’s a woman 
from the UN who needs someone and you’re the 
only one free at the moment. I’ll put her through to 
you, ok?”
After a moment’s silence Chen agrees.
Sasha takes a deep breath. So many things 
happening at once. Then Kamari comes on the line, 
screaming “Sasha! We need a medic down here. 
One of the crew attacked us with a screwdriver. I’m 
ok but Kiran got a deep stab wound in the arm. The 
crew woman is locked back in the airlock.”
“Ok, Kamari. Just a sec…”
Sasha jabs the call for Skylar and shouts for help. 
For what seems like ages, there is no reply. She calls 
again, “Skylar, are you there? We need a medic!” 
She feels relief as this time she’s answered almost 
immediately.

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