Astronomicon 1: Inception Point (Finished)

26 - Fuel Module 2

It took most of an hour for the group to trudge through the shallow valley between the low, grey hills. The sun was already halfway down the sky, but Chris reckoned they still had well over an hour until sunset when the temperature would plummet. To his relief, the vertical shape of the fuel module, still a couple of kilometres ahead, came into view as they cleared one of the minor hills. The pink-tinged sunlight seemed to sparkle as it reflected off the stainless-steel surface.

"It looks like your gamble has paid off, Chris," Kate smiled at him.

Unlike the rest of the group who had been following in single file behind him, Kate was walking alongside. He smiled back at her.

"It does. Now, all we've got to do is get there before the sun goes down."

The sight of a module that appeared to have achieved a perfect landing improved the group's mood considerably and helped their energy levels too. With renewed vigour, they pressed on and, even though the gravel did not make for fast walking, they made it to the module in less than half-an-hour.

There were traces of scorching on the bottom quarter of the cylinder but no obvious damage otherwise. The hinged landing legs were positioned perfectly and the large-piston shock-absorbers had clearly performed their job exactly as they were designed to do.

"Fletcher, could you check that it's in as good condition as it looks?" Chris said as he peeled his rucksack off his aching shoulders. "Melissa, how long until that sun goes down?"

"Around forty minutes, Commander," she replied. "It's already feeling colder."

"Let's see if we can get into this thing then."

Chris dropped his rucksack on the ground and stooped a little to walk beneath the rounded floor of the cylinder. The charring was clearly worse under there, but he could see no indication of damage that had penetrated the stainless-steel skin.

The door-shaped airlock, positioned perpendicular to the left-hand side in the bottom of the module, was particularly blackened. He hoped that was not going to be a problem when it came to opening the airlock.

"Fletcher, is it fine to just open the outer airlock door?"

"Aye, Commander. If the motors still work, it should be fine," Fletcher replied immediately without looking away from the landing leg he was studying.

"I'm not going to get residual fuel poured over me?"

Fletcher laughed which set him off coughing again. "No, Commander. What's left in there will be gas and harmless unless you try to breathe it on its own."

"The internal ventilation system can clear any xenon residue?"

"Easily!" Fletcher replied. "The inner door won't open until the atmosphere inside is safe to breathe anyway. You're quite safe, Commander."

Fletcher gave the landing leg a gentle kick as though he was checking the tyres on a car and then joined Chris by the hatch. Initially struggling to grip it with his H.E.P.O. glove, Chris pulled off the heat-resistant tile, letting it fall to the floor then slid the thick cover plate beneath it that protected the airlock control panel to the side. It crunched noisily in its rails and resisted for the whole distance. The panel inside was bright and pristine in comparison.

Chris pressed and held the large green button until there was a buzz tone and the entire panel illuminated. The ten-centimetre touchscreen gradually displayed a list of system checks being completed before replacing the list with four icons. Pressing the first caused the word "Please wait..." to fill the centre of the screen.

A series of heavy clunks and strange whirring sounds from inside the module followed and then the words on the screen changed to "Ventilating."

"The external air-intakes still work then," Fletcher reported. "Any xenon residue should be vented in a mo', Commander."