T+07:21:00
-Finally. It should be opening right now.
Sitting in the commander's seat, Kara looked at the camera screen. The airdock module looked like it was being squashed and torn apart, yet the pieces moved together.
Soon it was completely flat.
Next to her, Rodney was still doing something at the station control pad.
He was well enough to bring the station online by the time they verified the berthing integrity and linked up the systems.
Space sickness was a vicious beast.
Even if you flew before without problems, there were no guarantees.
And for the last hour Kara was dwelling on the implications.
She had untethered EVA training and she rehearsed this flight's mission, being the backup.
But she had no actual experience.
-Undocking complete, backing off.
Lee was below in the airlock, checking the space suit and turbopack, while Kara gently cancelled the spring's momentum, bringing the Ravenstar to a stop a few meters away from the dock.
The ship was not designed for on-orbit assembly, the only airlock being shared with the only docking port.
She pressed a few keys on the autopilot panel, then relaxed and closed her eyes, getting into the calm working mood.
Job first, worry after.
It's time to suit up.
The station was straight ahead, across a gap few meters long.
Somewhere below was the airdock, then the Earth.
Even though there was no below or above.
Kara was standing on a precipice, her back to edge.
Except it wasn't a precipice, and there was nowhere to fall.
Strangely, all there was is a sensation of openness around her.
She tried looking for the stars, but the glare from everywhere was too much to see anything.
So, she kept her eyes on the hull, and started climbing towards the payload bay.
The CMG module was already floating free from the wall of the bay. Or was it the floor?
She grabbed the CMG, leveraged herself against the other wall, and slowly pushed it to a stop.
Things were weightless, but they sure were still massive.
The airdock was below and ahead her.
First, check the turbopack.
Second, orient yourself towards the destination.
Third, get free of the bay.
She pushed hard against the fuel tank, ceased residual rotation with a few puffs of RCS, then nulled the unnecessary parts of relative velocity with less gentle puffs from the turbopack.
The helmet's instrumentation showed steadily closing distance and no stray velocities.
Good.
Anticipating a long drift, Kara relaxed a little and let her attention wander, looking at the surroundings.
This proved to be a mistake.
FALLING!
The overwhelming sensation slammed into her like a tidal wave.
The pure, raw velocity, the altitude, the chasm ahead, the head-down
fall.
She gripped the module, heart racing, as she was hurtled towards the Earth.
She knew, on the rational level, that she was not really falling anywhere, that there was nothing to hit no matter how fast the speed appeared.
But you can't look at the blue sky and make yourself see green.
Kara forced her eyes open, looking back at the Earth, remembering the training.
Look at something solid.
The station, the ship, all was falling along with her.
But they were not.
The trick was to focus your perception on the raw fact that the Earth was not getting closer. Blink yourself back up, in your imagination.
She was falling, blink, but she was at the same spot.
Falling, blink, but at the same spot.
Falling, blink, same spot.
Falling, blink, same spot.
She eased her grip, tried to relax, to calm down.
Look at the instruments.
Orient the module to match the docking clamps.
Falling, blink, same spot.
The airdock approached, as her terror was slowly dissipating.
Right, back to work.
You beat me to it. :thumbup:
I had to, to make the EVA part work.