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“Well, this is fun” Jackie sighs as she squeezes the last bit of paste out of a foil packet The “ than anything else, though her survival instincts override her malaise

“You really want to be out here?” Coh the short-range radio, and Jackie reaches out to flip a switch on the control console

“Anything’s better than being in here,” she replies “It wouldn’t be so bad if we could at least turn on the receiver and see what’s going on down there”

“We’ll know soon enough, Jackie” Ted’s voice coht; we’ll be done here in fifteen or so”

Jackie sighs and pushes herself off of the nearest wall toward a trash receptacle mounted on the opposite side of the room She stuffs the empty foil packet inside and pushes herself back toward the control console As per her standard operating procedures, she checks the gauges and dials and lights and readouts, co them to numbers she knows by heart, even on the older systems of the ISS

After four days spent in the comparatively cramped quarters of the old station, she almost wishes she had stayed onboard the ISS-2, despite the fact that it is only a day or so away fro up in the atet back to Earth went awry after the jury-rigged refueling lines becaed Commander Palmer and Ted have been on seven spacewalks to try and repair theh each potential fixstation

The lack of co, and though Jackie respects his decision, she’s still not happy about it His analysis of bits of the transh to the ISS-2 are indisputable, though So—disrupted and took control of the ISS-2’s syste functions and forcing the station to begin a descent

With the only explanation for the source of the proble a transmission froht, repair theradio silence over long-range frequencies All receiving equipe, loer transmissions on specific frequencies are allowed so that Jackie can communicate with the EVA team

No , s blue rock below them, neither Jackie nor Ted want the same fate that doomed the ISS-2 to befall the ISS

“Jackie? You daydreaain?” Ted’s voice is loud in her ear, and Jackie snaps out of her reverie and looks out the

“Nope, all good here”

“Ha You were Get it together, though; we’re co in”

“Copy Is it fixed?”

Ted’s voice is full of optih it’s tempered with experience froood from out here We won’t know until we try to push a bit of fuel through the lines”

“I’ll meet you at the airlock” Jackie pushes herself off the wall and h the station’s tubes and sections to the main airlock The outer door is already open, and she can see two suited figurestheir way inside Twenty minutes later, after the hatch has sealed, the airlock has pressurized and Ted and Commander Palmer have discarded the bulk of their suits, Jackie looks at Ted with a hopeful expression