DATO - Cinematic Audiobook (Deep Space Survival Horror)

Narrator:

With an infuriated yell, he drilled his foot into the workstation

again, flipping the table over on its side. Artie’s eyes opened to see Patrick kicking the table over with a loud bang on the steel floor. Artie hopped up from his place on the floor, and rushed over to Patrick. He grabbed him by the collar and slammed

him into the full metal crate behind him. Artie glared at him

through his pale, sickly stare.

Artie:

(Scolding him)

“You lose your temper like that again, and you’ll bring that thing right to us.”

Patrick:

“If it’s going to kill us all, it should just get it over with,”

Patrick replied, not bothering to fight back.

Artie:

(Scolding him)

“So, what? You run yourself out of smokes and now you’ve decide your life’s not worth living anymore?”

Patrick:

“It knows we are in here. It’s probably already trying to find a way in to us right now.”

Artie:

(Scolding him)

“The only animal in here right now is you,”

Artie replied letting go of Patrick.

Narrator:

Stepping into the cargo bay, Artie swiftly picked up the space heater from off the table. The power cord resisted against him, reminding him it was still tethered to the heavy Schooner battery next to the workstation. He placed the heater back down and thought to himself. He glanced back at the crates lining the cargo bay, and rushed over to them. Lem ran in after him and stopped at the workstation.

Lem:

“Wait! We could use this!”

shouted Lem over to him.

Artie:

(Hurrying, hollering back to her)

“It would take too long, and it’s attached to the battery!”

Narrator:

Artie replied, grabbing a crate wrenching tool to open the each

of the cargo containers.

Lem:

“What’s your plan then?”

asked Lem running over to

him.

Artie:

(Quickly searching)

“Don’t know yet. Start cracking open these crates and tell me if you find anything useful,”

Narrator:

Artie said to her. Splitting up, Artie and Lem one by one began opening the crates in the room. Crate after crate was filled with processed ore or broken drilling tools from the station.

Lem:

“We have a ship full of drilling supplies, and yet none of

it works. Ironic,”

Narrator:

Lem said, opening another crate.

Lem:

“They are all filled with the same thing. All except this one.”

Narrator:

Lem reached down into the crate and picked up a small, closed, white container. She read the label out loud.

Lem:

“Ammonium nitrate. Still of no help.”

Narrator:

Artie lowered the lid on the crate he was opening and hurried over to her.

Artie:

(Stopping his search)

“Wait! What did you say?”

Lem:

“Ammonium nitrate. This crate is filled with bottles of it.”

Narrator:

Artie ran back over to the crate he was opening and picked up one of the boring heads, examining the surface of it.

Artie:

(Quickly ordering her)

“Get back to Patrick and tell him to start making a hole in the wall,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Lem:

“What? Why?”

Narrator:

asked Lem.

Artie:

(Ordering her)

“Just go!”

Narrator:

shouted Artie.

Lara:

“Art!”

shouted Lara over the console speaker in the living quarters. Artie opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment. He had just fallen asleep. Artie jumped up from his bed and walked over to the console in the room.

Artie:

(Waking up)

“Yeah?,” 

Narrator:

he said back to her as he sat up.

Lara:

“They are ready for us,”

Narrator:

Lara replied.

Artie:

“All right. I’m on my way up.”

Narrator:

Artie rubbed the sleep away from his eyes as he reached over to the foot of the bed to grab his flight jacket. Slipping an arm into his jacket, he suddenly felt the whole ship change course, gently rolling him back onto the bed. He stared at the wall for a moment with only one arm in his jacket, his eyes were wide and alert. The cabin lights went dark. The ships red alert light began flashing followed by the master alarm wailing across the ship’s PA.

Lara:

“ART!”

Narrator:

shouted Lara again over the console.

Artie put his other arm in his jacket, trying to hurry over to the console near the door.

Artie:

“What the hell was that?!”

Narrator:

 He shouted.

Lara:

“I don’t know! Engine four just stopped responding!”

Narrator:

shouted Lara over the alarm.

Artie:

“Shut it down then!” 

Narrator:

Artie replied.

Lara:

“I tried already! I can’t! Something’s wrong!”

Narrator:

Artie shook his head at her, continuing to just to watch the ships traverse their way to and from the station. He wasn’t going to get into an argument with her when all she was going to do was twist his words. His mother had always told him to keep his mouth shut when conflict arose in marriage, knowing once tensions had been lifted, then was the time to talk. Lara watched her husband refuse to reply to her, knowing what tactic he had chosen to deflect their argument, one which seemed to work almost flawlessly.

Lara:

“We’ve been out there for almost five years now. You know how many trips

we’ve made?”

Narrator:

argued Lara. Artie shook his head and walked away from her. He

couldn’t stay quiet this time.

Artie:

“No, Lara. Please, remind me.”

Lara:

“Fifty-six! We’ve made fifty-six trips since we started! That’s one thousand four hundred and fifty-six days we’ve been on that ship traveling between stations, and not once have we made a trip down to Earth!”

Narrator:

Lara said still standing at the window.

Artie:

“Guess you can add another thousand on to that,”

Narrator:

Artie replied sitting back down on the couch. Lara stood staring at him, a scowling look on her face.

Lara:

“You said seven years. After seven years, we would both get back to the way things were and try again.”

Artie:

“I know what I said. But shit happens.”

Lara grinding her teeth in anger at her husband.

Lara:

“When do we leave?”

Artie:

“Two days if the repairs go as planned. Full cargo with extra passengers to make up for the repair costs,”

Narrator:

Artie replied. Lara stomped back into the bathroom, and slammed the

sliding door with a loud bang.

Narrator:

Lara’s aura of tension subtly softened by his words. She stared down at the computer with all the cargo listed on it, trying to keep her rock-hard composure.

Artie:

“I know I’ve not been the best at this relationship since we started this whole thing,”

Narrator:

said Artie stepping over toward her.

Lara:

“You weren’t very good at it before then, either. Night after night coming home late from the base, leaving me to go to family events alone.”

Artie:

“I was trying to start something for us.”

Lara:

“And then we started something together. And just when I thought you would finally start spending more time with me and playing your role, God punished us both for no reason.”

Narrator:

Artie glanced down at the bracelet on her wrist, reading the name on the plastic hospital tag.

Caitlyn Emilia Glenn

DOB: May 4, 2183

6.2 Ibs Dr. C. Becker

Artie:

“Tomorrow’s her birthday,”

Narrator:

said Artie. Lara wiped the water away from her eyes, staring at the

computer screen.

Lara:

“Why do you think I can’t sleep?”

Narrator:

Artie reached out and grabbed Lara by the arm and pulled her over toward him. She stood in front of him, sniffing.

Artie:

“Look at me,”

Narrator:

said Artie to her. Lara looked up at him, brushing the tear from her

cheek.

Artie:

“You and I may never know why, but what we’ve been

through has made us a couple capable of getting through

anything. Life has already beaten us down for us to get back

up again, and now we know there’s nothing worse that could

happen. Once we are finished, I promise that’ll be the end of

it.”

Narrator:

Lara laid her head on his chest, as he wrapped his

arms around her. She felt like she could just fall blissfully

asleep in his arms.

Narrator:

Lara came running back into the cargo door, just in time to see Cliff and Lem walking in with the other passengers. Artie and Patrick walked in the doorway behind her, both carrying arms full of supplies from the infirmary. Patrick broke away and tapped on the control panel to turn of the master alarm again.

Artie:

“Hey, what’s the rush?”

questioned Artie. He stared at his wife’s horrified expression, noticing the blood across her chest and arms.

Lem

“Oh my God! Are you all right?”

Narrator:

asked Lem, hurrying over to her.

Cliff:

“Is that blood?”

Narrator:

asked Cliff staring at her from across the room. One of the passengers whimpered with fright and covered her mouth. Cernan sat up in his chair, worried by the frantic atmosphere in the room.

Artie:

“Everyone just calm down and take a seat somewhere,”

Narrator:

he shouted at everyone else. Artie set his supplies down on the workstation and grabbed his sobbing wife by the arm and led her over to a small stack of crates, away from the other passengers. The rest of his crew followed, while Cliff stayed back, watching from a distance. Lara sat down on the boxes, desperately trying to gather breath as she wallowed in her own tears and hysteria.

Lara:

(Hyperventilating in pure fear and panic)

Artie:

“Lara, take a breath, hun. What happened? Are you hurt?”

Narrator:

asked Artie in a calming voice. Lem reached over and grabbed a set of bandages and

cleaning pads from Patrick’s arms. She bent down on one knee and started wiping the blood away from Lara’s arms.

Artie:

“Are you cut?”

Lara shook her head, repeatedly gasping trying to take a decent breath.

Artie:

“Lara, look at me!”

Narrator:

said Artie grabbing her hands.

Artie:

“What happened?”

Narrator:

Lara’s breathing finally settled.

Lara:

“Ther-there’s something down there.”

Narrator:

Everyone looked down at her, petrified as they listened. Cliff felt a chill run through him.

Lara:

“It kill-illed Piendrazi (Pen-dra-zee), and Annie, an-an-and… Rupert.”

Narrator:

Artie stared into his wife's eyes. She was telling the truth. He had never seen her this shaken up. He let go of her hand, suddenly realizing whose blood she was covered in.

Lara:

“I ran, but it found me in the reserve,”

Narrator:

muttered Lara.

Patrick:

“What was it? Like a dog or something?”

Lara:

“No… Something else. Something worse.”

Narrator:

Lem closed her eyes, already feeling exhausted with

Patrick’s antics.

Lem:

“Now do you guys mind if I get back to…?”

Narrator:

Lem nudged her head back at the woman standing in the

room.

Artie:

“Just be back at the dock at eight am on Tuesday so we

can load cargo,”

Narrator:

Artie replied.

Lem:

“You got it, Cap.”

Patrick:

(Tossing her a pack of cigarettes)

“Here,”

Narrator:

said Patrick, tossing the remaining pack of

cigarettes over to her across the hall past Artie.

Patrick:

“You’ll want those for later.”

Narrator:

Lem looked at the pack for a moment with disgust. She threw them back to him. The pack bounced off his chest and fell to the floor.

Lem:

“I don’t smoke trash or cigarettes.”

Narrator:

Patrick snickered, as Lem closed the door behind her. Artie turned around and walked back over to Patrick. Patrick grinned at him.

Patrick:

“If I wasn’t a married man, I’d be doing the same thing.”

Artie:

“She can spend her days off the ship however she feels

like. Same goes for you , since you aren’t a married man,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Patrick:

“Once you have a son, you’ll understand. Marriage isn’t

just about you and her. Once you have a child together, that

marriage becomes unbreakable.”

Artie:

“Could we please change the subject.”

Patrick:

“Right, sorry, boss. Anyway, I don’t need all that drama

in my life. I sleep. I can hardly sleep a wink while we are on

the ship, so now’s my chance to make up the last twenty-six

days I missed,” 

Narrator:

said Patrick with the cigarette between his lips.

Narrator:

Artie looked up at her, wishing she would just let go of

her guilt already.

Artie:

“Fine. Did Patrick and Lem fix the doors to

the storage room?”

Narrator:

Lara stood next to him at the console, wiping the grease

and frustration away on her jumpsuit. “I don’t know; you’d

have to ask them.”

Artie swiveled his chair around and leaned forward to

the console. He pressed the call button with Patrick’s name on

it. The console beeped twice as they both waited for a

response.

Patrick:

(Greeting)

“Yellow?” 

Narrator:

said a male voice over the speaker.

Artie:

“You guys fixed that door to the storage room yet,”

Narrator:

asked Artie leaning toward the console.

Patrick:

“Lem, hand me that box of wire nuts. Uh… No. Was

about to when Lem reminded me we still needed to repair the

ventilator for the argon tanks,” 

Narrator:

Patrick replied.

Artie:

“Well once you’re done, please fix it. I don’t want to

be chewed out because the inspection crew can’t get in the

door. They always look for a reason to cut part of our pay,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Patrick:

“Whole damn ship’s a floating space dumpster,”

Narrator:

muttered Patrick over the intercom.

Artie:

“Yea, well she’s my space dumpster, so take loving

care of her,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Patrick:

“Yea, boss. We’ll get it fixed. Lara finished rewiring the

defroster on the Schooner?”

Narrator:

 asked Patrick.

Lara raised her eyebrows at Artie in irritation.

Artie:

“She’s almost done. I’m going down to help her now,”

Narrator:

Artie replied looking back at her with a smirk.

Lara grinned back at him.

Patrick:

“All right. How close are we?”

Artie:

“Seventeen hours away,”

Patrick:

“Seventeen hours too many. All right, I’ll let you know if

we need anything back here,” 

Artie:

 “Roger that,”

Narrator:

Artie replied as he hung up the call.

Narrator:

Artie turned around and knocked on the door. He could

hear rustling around inside of the room of someone trying to

get to the door. The door slid open. to aA woman with red hair

stood inanding at the doorway with only a sheet wrapped

around her.

Patrick laughed to himself, watching the woman

standing in the doorway, unsure how to respond.

Artie:

“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong room,”

Narrator:

said Artie confused.

Patrick grabbed his pack of cigarettes from off the end

table and put one in his mouth before lighting the end of it, still

laughing at the uncomfortable situation he had created.

Lem:

“Sorry, Cap. I’m here,” 

Narrator:

Lem replied hurrying out from

the back of the room over to the door, dressed in only a shirt, a

bandage patch hiding under her bangs from her head injury.

Lem gave the woman a look of uncertainty.

The other woman turned around and walked back into

the room, leaving Lem alone with Artie at the door.

Lem:

“I’ll be there in a second,” 

Narrator:

Lem said to her.

Artie raised his eyebrows back at Patrick, then looked

back forward at Lem.

Lem:

“Sorry, Cap. How’d the meeting go?” 

Narrator:

asked Lem nervously.

Patrick:

“We leave in two days,”

Narrator:

shouted Patrick across the hall

over Artie’s shoulder.

Lem looked at Artie in disbelief.

Lem:

“Two days is a lot shorter than two weeks, Cap. Not that I’m sad to hear we

didn’t lose our jobs, but that’s a bummer.”

Artie:

“Yea. We lost our vacation time,”

Narrator:

 Artie replied.

Lem:

“Both now and when we get to Earth?” 

Narrator:

asked Lem.

Artie:

“Yea. You guys are taking on another hand as well,”

Narrator:

said Artie not wanting a reminder.

Lem:

“Son of a bitch…” 

Narrator:

Lem replied.

Lem:

“They don’t need to add another person we can handle-”

Artie:

“It was my decision. Our ships designed for a five-man

crew, and we’ve been floating by with only four so far.”

Narrator:

Lem nodded to him.

Lem:

“He or she?”

Artie:

“He. And he’s only been on three trips on a third-class

vessel with not the cleanest track record, so you and Patrick

will be in charge of him.”

Lem:

“Fun. Not only do we lose our vacation time, but we

get the town fool. No offense, Cap.”

Patrick:

“We already took on a town fool two years ago,”

Narrator:

shouted Patrick.

Lem leaned around Artie and glared at Patrick as he

smiled back jokingly.

Narrator:

Lem tied the two ends of Cliff’s flight jacket around the

back of his neck. He let out a subtle grunt of pain. His arm

swayed in the sling.

Lem:

“Better?”

Narrator:

Cliff looked down at his arm wincing with discomfort.

Cliff:

“Better than before, but still hurts.”

Narrator:

He examined the patch on her jacket sleeve, admiring

the intricacy. He reached out with his good arm and pointed at

it.

Cliff:

“What’s that from?”

Lem:

“A friend gave it to me. Means happy-”

Cliff:

“Happy accident? Yea, I’ve heard the term before. Don’t

see it being really relevant in this shit show though.”

Lem:

“Well, that’s the beauty of it I guess. You never really

know what’s happy about it until it’s all over.”

Narrator:

 Lem turned

around and started walking toward the others.

Cliff cleared his throat.

Cliff:

“Hey, sweet cheeks. Thank you

for taking care of me by the way.”

Narrator:

Lem spun back around and stared at him through her

bangs.

Lem: 

“You’re welcome,” 

Narrator:

she replied. She stepped forward

and kissed him on the cheek. Cliff grinned at her as she

stepped away.

Lem:

“You’re still an asshole, but at least you’re an asshole I

don’t mind having around now,” 

Narrator:

said Lem, stepping backward away from him.

Cliff:

“That means I might have a chance to convince you to

change teams?”

Narrator:

asked Cliff.

Lem snickered.

Lem:

“Not on your life.”

Narrator:

Cliff exhaled and laughed as she turned back around

and walked away from him with a sense of pride in her stride.

He followed her over to Artie and Lara standing by the cargo

bay door. Patrick remained on his side of the room, watching

Artie getting ready to make his run for the central server again

to restart the ship.

Narrator:

Patrick snickered to himself, running his hand back

through his crew cut grey and coffee- colored hair.

Patrick:

“We’ve made this run fifty-six times, and every time they put us on hold for another two or three hours. There’s always someone who has to ask someone else for docking confirmation, while that person’s probably running around asking questions from some other official for two hours. Bunch of monkeys could run the show better.”

Artie:

“Pat, head down to the hangar and load up in the

Schooner. Maybe if we are overly prepared they might speed things up,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Lem:

“I’ll do it,” 

said Lem with an eager voice.

Artie turned around and looked back at her.

Artie:

“Pat’s the only one designated to fly.”

Lem:

“I passed the SS license test yesterday on the computer

and Pat’s been working with me all week in the hangar. Come on, Cap,” 

Narrator:

pleaded Lem.

Patrick shook his head in agreement.

Patrick:

“She’s got the right stuff. I wouldn’t mind staying on the ship for once.”

Narrator:

Artie thought to himself for a moment. He looked over at

Lara.

She shrugged at him, letting him know she was going to

abstain fromon the decision. Artie looked back at Lem, who

proceeded to clasp her hands together begging to him in

silence.

Artie:

“All right. But keep your mic open the whole time. Pat,

take her down and show her everything,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Lem smiled with excitement.

Lem:

“Yessss.”

Narrator:

Pat grinned at her.

Patrick:

“Come on,”

Narrator:

he said, tugging Lem by

the sleeve toward the door.

Narrator:

The young man walked up to the two of them, still

rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He removed a headphone

from his right ear.

Cliff:

“You Captain…” 

Narrator:

The young man reached

into his bag and pulled out a crumpled up blue slip of paper

and unfolded it,

Cliff:

“Glenn?”

Artie:

“Maybe. You Cliff?”

Narrator:

 asked Artie.

Cliff:

“Maybe. Assuming you can give me a good reason to

work on your ship.”

Narrator:

Artie looked at him confused.

Artie:

“Because you’ve been

instructed to?”

Cliff:

“Yea, but as an employee, I reserve the right to refuse

service on any ship I don’t deem worthy of my skills.”

Narrator:

Lem smirked, watching Artie’s attitude fade into his

commanding military background. She knew this new crew

member was about to see her captain’s real colors.

Artie:

“And as a captain, I have a right to leave your ass

behind and write you up as unreliable, forcing you to wait for

the next civilian transport in five months to take you home

without any payment. Then I’d leave without a second

thought.”

Cliff:

“I don’t appreciate the attitude, even from a Captain.

But fine, I guess you’ve made a solid point,” 

Narrator:

replied Cliff

crumpling up the paper and putting it back in his pocket.

Artie:

“You never came to load this morning,”

Narrator:

Artie replied.

Cliff:

“Overslept. No one told me I needed to help load

anyway. I’m the guy with the brains, not the brawn.”

Narrator:

Artie stared at him. He obviously wasn’t the strongest

person, and he hadn’t shown any signs of intelligence, making

Artie question his true worth. He could already sense he and

his new technical engineer where going to bump heads the

whole trip.

Cliff:

“That it?” 

Narrator:

asked Cliff.

Lem:

“Yea, that’s it,”

Narrator:

Lem replied standing next to him, putting

her welding gloves on, wearing her welding goggles over her

forehead.

Lem:

“That heating duct runs the full length of this level. If

it stays like that for another hour or so, the forward cabins on

this level will all freeze.”

Narrator:

Standing on the catwalk over the cargo containers, Lem

and Cliff peered down over at the uncoupled heating vent.

Lem:

“I’ll climb down there first,”

Narrator:

 said Lem lifting her leg over

the railing.

Cliff:

“You what?” 

Narrator:

Cliff gawked at her as if she had suggested

taking a leisure walk outside in space.

Lem straddled the railing and looked back over at him.

Lem:

“I’ll climb down, you hand me the cutter, then jump down

behind me.”

Narrator:

Cliff moved over toward the railing. There was at least a

twenty or thirty- foot drop down to the next level of the ship. All

they would be standing on was a narrow row of steel pipes

and tethered cables running the length of the duct.

Cliff:

“Yea, no. I’ll stay up here,” 

Narrator:

Cliff replied.

Lem hopped down onto the steel pipes, and looked

back up at him.

Lem:

“Come on. If a girl can do it, surely a beefy

man like yourself can. Woman up.”

Narrator:

Cliff stepped back out of her view and bit his lip. He

picked up the cutting kit, struggling to drag it across the walk.

With one mighty heave, he bent over the railing to hand it

down to her, trying not to drop it. Letting go of the kit, he stood

at the railing for a moment.

Cliff:

“On one condition. I get to look at

your butt on the way back up,” 

Narrator:

he said down to her.

Lem placed the kit down on the pipes, and looked back

up at him. She thought about the arrangement for a moment.

Lem:

“Fine. No touching though.”

Cliff turned away and smiled so she wouldn’t see.

Lem:

“Are you coming?”

Narrator:

Lem yelled back up at him.

Cliff moved back over toward the railing and looked

back down once more. He lifted his leg over the railing, feeling

butterflies starting to flutter in his stomach.

The trembling beneath everyone came to a standstill.

The ship fell quiet again.

Artie reached over and stabilized himself once more

using the mounting bracket.

Cliff turned toward Artie.

Cliff:

“What the hell!?”

Artie:

“I told you to shut it down! You nearly blew the engines

all together,”

Narrator:

Artie shouted back.

Cliff:

“We still had more than a thousand miles to make up!

Had I not compensated we’d still be off by eight hundred thousand!”

Artie:

“If we lost those engines we would have had no way of

slowing ourselves down!”

Narrator:

Artie shouted back.

Cliff huffed in anger. He turned back to the computer.

Cliff:

“The engines are still intact, so you can quit your

bitching,” 

Narrator:

said Cliff.

Cliff:

“Engaging rotation again.”

Lem:

“How close are we now?”

Narrator:

asked Lem over the radio.

Cliff rubbed his shoulder, feeling a bruise starting to

form and checked the screen.

Cliff:

“Can’t get any closer,” 

Narrator:

he said

with an unenthused snicker.

Artie untied himself from the mounting bracket and

drifted closer to the screen.

Artie:

“Great…”

Lem:

“What?”

Narrator:

 asked Lem and Patrick.

Artie:

“We’re going to slam right into the Earth,”

Narrator:

answered Artie.

Lara:

“What?”

Narrator:

 asked Lara over the radio.

Artie:

“We’re on a collision course,”

Narrator:

Artie replied with a heavy

sigh.

Cliff reached down and started untying himself from the

desk.

Cliff:

“At least we won’t miss it now.”

SFX

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Narrator:

The commander reached over in the darkness from the comfort of his bed for the light switch on his night stand. The lights turned on to a low dim. He sat up in his bed and coughed to himself, trying to clear his throat.

Knock! Knock! Knock! The knocking on the door continued.

Commander:

“One minute!”

Narrator:

shouted the commander at the door. He reached down and picked his pants up off the floor and began to slip them on. He looked over at his clock. It was two twenty-nine in the morning by standard station time. He huffed with disgust.

SFX

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Commander:

“I said give me a minute! Whoever you are.”

Narrator:

The commander grabbed his glasses from off the nightstand and shuffled over to the door. He pressed his hand on the door button, watching it slide open and reveal who had disturbed his sleep.

Russell:

“Commander, I’m so sorry for waking you,” 

Narrator:

said the newest employee, Russell, sounding rather distressed and urgent.

Commander:

“Russell, I’ve told you everything you need to know. You're a bright kid, and I’m sure whatever the problem is, you’ll figure it out. Life will go on,” 

Narrator:

replied the commander. He started to walk away from the door.

Russell:

“No, sir. It’s not that. We just…” 

Narrator:

replied Russell fumbling through his words. Russell’s ability in taking initiative wasn’t his strong suit.  His first two stressful weeks as the newest station operator were about to become even more stressful.

Commander:

“It’s just what, Russell?”

Narrator:

the commander replied with a sigh.

Russell:

“We… I mean there’s-”

Commander:

“I’m not going to play twenty questions with you, Russell. You either tell me what’s wrong, or I’m going back to sleep.”

Russell:

“There’s a ship coming in, sir!”

Commander:

“Yes, this is a docking station, Russell. There are always ships coming in,” 

Narrator:

the commander replied with a sarcastic tone.

Russell:

“No, the ship, it’s not responding, sir!”

Commander:

“What do you mean? Did you hail it?” 

Narrator:

replied the commander now looking rather concerned.

Russell:

“Yes, sir. But there is no response. We’ve been trying to get into contact with them for the past fifteen minutes.”

Patrick:

“I’d be extremely careful putting my hand into that lion's den,”

Narrator:

said Patrick over to Artie.

Artie stepped inside, approaching the two men arguing, ready to defuse the situation.

Pindrazi:

(Italian Accent)

“They do not stack! I specifically requested this on my forms!”

Narrator:

shouted the man in his sharp Italian accent.

Dock Worker:

“And I’m trying to tell you, if we don’t stack them, we’ll never fit all of them! If you just left half of them here, we would gladly put them on the next ship!”

Narrator:

shouted the dock worker back to the other man gesturing to all the crates around them.

Pindrazi:

“That’s unacceptable! My team and I require the full twenty-six days with each of our collected samples!”

Artie put his hands out ahead of him, ready to arrange a peace treaty between the two men.

Artie:

“Excuse me. What seems to be the problem here?”

Dock Worker:

“I have no time for this,”

Narrator:

said the dock worker turning his back on the argument.

Pindrazi:

“And who might I ask are you to be taking charge over this Neanderthal?”

Narrator:

asked the man in a rather unmannerly tone.

Artie turned toward him, with one eyebrow raised.

Artie:

“I’m Captain Artie Glenn. I’m the owner of this ship.”

Narrator:

The man gave a brief sigh of relief.

Pindrazi:

“I do apologize for my rudeness in that case. I’m Dr. Pino Pindrazi, project director for AB265 through 278,”

Narrator:

replied Pindrazi extending a handshake.

Artie:

“Pleasure,”

Narrator:

said Artie shaking his hand, feeling less than pleasured.

Cernan:

“Much obliged. Even in a crisis, you all never fail to put others before yourselves. It’s reasons like that I know we are in good hands.”

Narrator:

Lara smiled at him.

Lara:

“Thanks, Sergeant.”

Lisa:

“Go ahead, love. I’ll be right there,”

Narrator:

said Cernan’s wife gently nudging his shoulder. Cernan leaned back and kissed her on the cheek before maneuvering his way into the mess hall.

Lara floated over to her. They both stared in through the doorway at her husband while he oriented himself in the room out of ear’s range.

Lara:

“How is he?”

Narrator:

asked Lara.

Lisa:

“He’s been getting worse. I do what I can, but if he doesn’t get to a real hospital soon…”

Lara:

“How are you holding up?”

Narrator:

asked Lara.

Mrs. Cernan stared at her husband through the doorway with a bleak stare.

Lisa:

“I’ll be fine once he’s fine.”

Say something you think would fit