Fragile Shells
by Stephen Granade (2010)
Genres: Science Fiction

You don't know how long you've been hammering against the station's wall, but you stop as soon as you realize what you've been doing.

action: %
response: Type ABOUT for more information.

You don't know how long you've been hammering against the station's wall, but you stop as soon as you realize what you've been doing. You let your gloved hands fall by your sides and pause, confused.
action: About yourself
response: You're in full kit, suited up against the vacuum. Your suit's wrist readout is flashing.

What happened? Other than someone taking a cricket bat to the back of your head? You'd been...piloting? Moving the station? But why wasn't Suze doing that? You're the backup pilot, for Crippen's sake!
action: You examine the readout
response: You reflexively check the suit's readout: plenty of oxygen; no integrity issues. The health report is rather more worrying, though. The suit thinks you've had a concussion.
action: You examine the readout
response: Plenty of oxygen; no integrity issues. The health report is rather more worrying, though. The suit thinks you've had a concussion.
action: Inventory
response: You're wearing a flex spacesuit.
action: You examine the suit
response: Your suit is a standard-issue flex spacesuit?not a hardshell, thankfully, which means no radiation concerns. It has the usual handy extras: a pouch for storing small items and D-rings for tethers.
action: You look
response: Something took out the fluorescents, so the only light comes from your helmet's forward spot. Since you're facing the wall you twist your neck and look around frantically, your spotlight dancing across the remains of Node 4, before you realize what a bad idea moving your head fast is.
action: You examine wall
response: You take a more calm survey of your surroundings this time. You're in Node 4, the cylindrical science module. Some of the walls and bulkheads have buckled and parts of the module are now floating free or have otherwise been shoved to where they shouldn't be. You just know as soon as the news reaches Earth that the net'll light up with cries of how much taxpayer money went out the airlock.

You're pinned near the starboard wall by some wreckage. Since you're facing the wall you've got a good view of the supplemental lighting switch that's at chest height.
action: You flip switch
response: Oh thank goodness: the supplemental LED lights begin to glow all along the station. The lights reveal details like the prise bar jammed into a nearby screen and how the entire aft end of Node 4 is gone, ripped away like the end of a tube of biscuits?

?you had strapped yourself into the sleeping rack and closed its door, hoping it would provide protection, expecting that it wouldn't, and there was a flash of light visible through the edges of the sleeping rack's door and your head cracked against the wall?

You pause until a sudden wave of dizziness passes.
action: You examine switch
response: The switch turns on and off the Node's supplemental lights. Right now the lights are switched on.
action: Examine bar
response: The prise bar is a completely straight piece of metal the length of your arm and made of some light alloy because of the cost to bring things into orbit. Both ends are flattened and are the width of three of your fingers. The prise bar only sees occasional use thanks to Newton's Third.
action: You take the bar
response: You pull the prise bar free from the screen.
action: You look
response: You're still trapped facing the starboard wall, so you can't see whether the escape pod is attached to the port side of Node 4 or not. Fore you can see the hatch to the station exterior is dogged shut. Looking aft you can't see the remaining three-quarters of Node 4, since it seems to have gone missing.
action: Aft
response: You push off against the wall only to be pulled up short when one of your legs doesn't go with you. It's pinned.
action: You examine the legs
response: Your leg is pinned in some wreckage.
action: Pry leg
response: (with the prise bar)
You slip one end of the prise bar between the struts holding you in place and apply pressure. You feel a vibration through your suit leg as the struts move apart until there's enough space that you slip your foot free.
action: You examine the wreckage
response: Some of the struts have bowed out of the floor.
action: Full
response: You have 1 points out of 8. Here is how you got them:
action: Port
response: Node 4: Fore, Starboard
You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior
action: You describe your surroundings
response: is fore.

You gently push off from the wall and drift port.

Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.

Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.
action: You examine the metal
response: (the embedded compartment)
It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is closed.
action: You open the door
response: You push the door's button with one gloved finger but nothing happens. The escape pod door is supposed to automatically open in the event main power fails, but something's clearly gone wrong. You spend a moment cursing stupid turn-of-the-century NASA engineers with their hipster sideburns and their iPods, since that's better than giving in to panic. Just because NASA's old ISS equipment was available at fire-sale prices doesn't mean it was a true bargain.
action: You pry the metal
response: (the embedded compartment)
(with the prise bar)
You can't slip the prise bar between the door and the rest of the compartment, not enough to get any leverage. The only way to open it is electronically.

This compartment used to be with the others next to the experiments aft of here. With any luck you'll find the button that opens the compartment there.
action: You look at the panel
response: The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is secured by four screws.
action: You examine the screen
response: The screen should be lit up like a, well, a lit screen, but it isn't. Even though the main power's out the screen and door should have switched over to auxiliary power.
action: Aft
response: Node 4: Aft, Port
While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.

The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.

You carefully bring yourself to a stop before you reach the open end of the station. For one vertiginous moment you feel as if the remains of the station are above you and you are falling inexorably to your death.
action: You look at the crack
response: Plates in the floor have cracked open, revealing the station's underlying structure. Deep down you can see a length of chain.
action: You get the chain
response: You gingerly reach between the broken floor plates trying to pick up the length of chain, but it is about a meter down, and you'd likely tear your suit on the edges of the crack trying to get it this way.
action: Pry chain
response: (with the prise bar)
That doesn't truly need prising.

Through the open end of Node 4 you see the Earth roll into view, throwing the jagged edge of the station into stark relief and revealing an external battery on the outside of the station. While you watch the Earth vanish again the very expensive programs in your head start estimating orbits and trajectories. You're slowly spiraling away from Earth while the cylinder of Node 4 spins about its fore-aft axis.
action: You examine the compartment
response: (the embedded compartment that is near the escape pod)
It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is closed.
action: You look
response: Node 4: Aft, Port
While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.

The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.
action: You examine battery
response: One of the battery modules dotted around the exterior of the station. It's slightly larger than a loaf of bread. It's on the exterior skin of the station?you can just see it from here.
action: Starboard
response: Node 4: Aft, Starboard
There used to be four sleeping racks here, small coffin-like soundproof booths where you could have a little bit of privacy. Now there's just one left. Its door is closed. The other three racks must have been ripped away when the accident happened. The station ends aft of here in a ring of jagged, twisted metal.
action: Fore
response: Node 4: Fore, Starboard
You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior is fore.
action: You open the door
response: Node 4: Aft, Starboard
There used to be four sleeping racks here, small coffin-like soundproof booths where you could have a little bit of privacy. Now there's just one left. Its door is closed. The other three racks must have been ripped away when the accident happened. The station ends aft of here in a ring of jagged, twisted metal.

You open the door and a body falls towards you!

Right, deep breaths, it's just an empty spacesuit.
action: You look at the spacesuit
response: (the empty spacesuit)
The empty spacesuit is just like yours, except it has SUZAN HARRISON stenciled on it. It also has the screwdriver you've used for EVA repair missions strapped to it?

?wrestling with the empty suit, desperately pushing it into the sleeping rack, wishing the lights hadn't gone off after the explosion, not sure why but knowing you have to get the damn thing inside?

For a moment you struggle with panic borrowed from a poorly-remembered past.
action: You take the screwdriver
response: You remove the screwdriver from the spacesuit and hold it in your gloved hand. You've spent countless hours on EVAs using screwdrivers just like this one, sweating in a spacesuit like the one you're wearing for up to eight hours. You had no idea those EVAs would end up being good practise for your current situation.

You clip the screwdriver to one of your suit's D-rings to make it easier to carry.
action: You examine screwdriver
response: A low-torque powered screwdriver with a grip that's specially designed to be used while you're wearing these ham-hand gloves. It's clipped to your spacesuit.
action: Fore
response: Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.
action: You look at the panel
response: The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is secured by four screws.
action: Unscrew panel
response: You unclip the screwdriver and in short order have the four screws out. You let them drift away to join the rest of the junk while you gently pull the panel away from the bulkhead. With any luck you can fix what's wrong with the button.

Behind the panel is a mass of wires held in place by a stick pad.
action: You look at the pad
response: It's a square pad about the width of three of your fingers. It's made of some super-velcro substance the boffins came up with. It's lightly tacky on both sides and sticks to most any surface. The pad is stuck to the mass of wires. Patricia always used one to secure her pens?

?dogging the hatch and looking through the porthole to see Patricia on the other side snap a salute even though she's never liked your dual astronaut and military roles, but she must have felt it was the most appropriate goodbye gesture she could make?
action: You pull pad
response: The stick pad isn't very strong?you give a tug and detach the stick pad from the mass of wires.
action: You examine the wires
response: Oh good grief, there are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, blue, yellow, orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got quick disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily. All of the wires are connected to the panel.
action: You pull all the wires
response: You pull the red wire loose from the panel.

You pull the black wire loose from the panel.

You pull the white wire loose from the panel.

You pull the green wire loose from the panel.

You pull the grey wire loose from the panel.

You pull the blue wire loose from the panel.

You pull the yellow wire loose from the panel.

You pull the orange wire loose from the panel.

You pull the violet wire loose from the panel.

You pull the white-and-red striped wire loose from the panel.
action: You examine the red wire
response: The red wire is disconnected from the panel.
action: You examine the panel
response: The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires, and the stick pad.
action: You attach the red wire to the panel
response: You re-connect the red wire to the panel.
action: You look at the stick pad
response: It's a square pad about the width of three of your fingers. It's made of some super-velcro substance the boffins came up with. It's lightly tacky on both sides and sticks to most any surface.
action: You put the pad on the bar
response: You pick up the stick pad and stick the stick pad to the prise bar.
action: Aft
response: Node 4: Aft, Port
While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.

The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.
action: You get the chain with the bar
response: With the stick pad on the end of the bar, you're able to snag the chain and pull it out from under the floor, even though the chain doesn't really want to stick to the pad. You coil the chain and attach it to one of your suit's D-rings.

The enormity of the task in front of you, the unlikelihood of your escaping, nearly paralyzes you. You take a few deep breaths to steady yourself.
action: You examine the chain
response: It's several meters long and very similar to a bike chain. Both ends sport carabiners, small metal loops with a spring-loaded latch. One end of the chain is clipped to your suit.
action: You examine the racks
response: All of the experiments are in 19-inch racks, complete with protruding handles, that are bolted into the wall. The experiments often meant one thing: tedious checklists. You had to follow extensive checklists and write down the results at every step in a logbook because typing information into a computer would be too easy. It was so tedious that you made Quintin do it for you whenever possible. The logbooks were stored in nearby storage compartments. You got in the habit of writing all kinds of notes on the logbooks just because they were handy.

Next to the storage compartments is a button that opens the compartment you saw near the escape pod.
action: You press the button
response: There's a gas line in front of the button, which you brush aside to push and hold the button. The compartment near the escape pod swings open, so you keep holding the button.
action: You put the chain on the handle
response: You find a convenient handle on one of the experiments to clip one of the chain's carabiners onto. You now have a chain that runs from the experiments to your suit, forming a tether.
action: Aft
response: Before you leave you have to let go of the button, making the compartment near the escape pod swing closed.

The piloting programs in your head plan your route. You take a deep breath and grasp your tether tightly. Ready, steady, go?and you jump, trusting your modified instincts to keep you safe. You soar out into space before the tether pulls taut and you land flat on the outside of the station, your boots grabbing hold.

You cling carefully to the outside of Node 4. From here you can see that this is all there is: a small, ragged cylinder, spinning as it tumbles around the Earth. There is no sign of the rest of the station.

You can see a backup battery here.

The chain runs back into the station, tethering you.

For a moment you consider unclipping the chain, kicking off of Node 4 and tumbling peacefully away. You giggle before you can stop yourself.
action: You get the battery
response: You carefully unclip the screwdriver and remove the screws from around the battery. You watch the screws float off into space and wonder if they'll eventually embed themselves in some random satellite. You then carefully lift the battery and tuck it under one arm.

Your suit's readout flashes.
action: You look at the readout
response: Plenty of oxygen; no integrity issues. The suit's mini-doc warns you that your blood pressure and respiration have spiked. Oh, and you probably have a concussion.
action: You examine the battery
response: It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where wires can be inserted.
action: Fore
response: You have a tether, but it's a short one, and you've no interest in playing Major Tom. The only place to go is back inside.
action: Inside
response: Getting back inside is a little trickier than leaping outside, but it's nothing you and your fancy head full of kinematic equations can't handle.

Node 4: Aft, Port
While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.

The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.

One end of the chain is looped around the science experiments; one end is clipped to your suit.
action: You remove the chain
response: (from the science experiments)
Unchained.
action: You press the button
response: You brush aside the gas line to push and hold the button. The compartment near the escape pod swings open, so you keep holding the button.
action: Examine button
response: A simple momentary-contact button that some bright spark at NASA thought was an appropriate control to open the compartment you saw near the escape pod. Whoever designed that stupid button and compartment is probably in his seventies now, which means you might be able to look him up and punch him if you get back to Earth and can obtain a visa for the NUS.

Dangling in front of the button is a gas line.
action: You look at the gas line
response: A nitrogen feed line for one of the experiments is in front of the button. It's a metal hard line that has an L-shaped bend right in front of the compartment button, with the threaded end of the line pointing away from the button. Partway up the line is the valve that controls nitrogen flow. The valve is closed.
action: You put stick pad on the button
response: You stick the stick pad and the prise bar to the single button.
action: Rotate gas line
response: You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing slowly out of the end of the line, causing the L bend in the gas line to press gently against the button but not hard enough to push the button.
action: Press bar
response: Nothing obvious happens.
action: You press the button
response: The prise bar is in your way.
action: You detach the stick pad from the button
response: You peel the stick pad off of the single button.
action: You press the button
response: It's already pushed down.
action: Examine button
response: A simple momentary-contact button that some bright spark at NASA thought was an appropriate control to open the compartment you saw near the escape pod. Whoever designed that stupid button and compartment is probably in his seventies now, which means you might be able to look him up and punch him if you get back to Earth and can obtain a visa for the NUS.

Dangling in front of the button is a gas line.
action: Rotate gas line
response: You close the valve on the gas line. The cloud of nitrogen quickly disperses.
action: Rotate gas line
response: You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing slowly out of the end of the line, causing the L bend in the gas line to press gently against the button but not hard enough to push the button.
action: You look at pouch
response: A small snap pouch for holding sundries.
action: You open the pouch
response: No need. You've long trained to open the pouch only long enough to put something in or take something out of it.
action: You look at the gas line
response: A nitrogen feed line for one of the experiments is in front of the button. It's a metal hard line that has an L-shaped bend right in front of the compartment button, with the threaded end of the line pointing away from the button. Partway up the line is the valve that controls nitrogen flow. The valve is open.
action: You look at what you're carrying with you
response: You're carrying a backup battery and you're wearing a flex spacesuit. Clipped to your suit is a length of chain and a screwdriver.
action: Fore
response: Before you leave you have to let go of the button, making the compartment near the escape pod swing closed.

Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.

The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.
action: You examine the debris
response: A whole wodge of twisted metal jammed in front of the escape pod door like a ruined column.
action: You connect the wires to the battery
response: You'll have to specify which wire you want to plug.
action: You connect the black wire to battery
response: You plug the black wire into the battery's terminal slot.
action: You connect the red wire to battery
response: (first unplugging the red wire)
You pull the red wire loose from the panel.

You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot.
action: You look at the battery
response: It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where wires can be inserted.

The red wire and the black wire are plugged into the battery.
action: You look at the wires
response: There are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, blue, yellow, orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got quick disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily.

The red wire and the black wire are plugged into the battery. The rest of the wires are disconnected from the panel.
action: You look at panel
response: The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires.
action: You examine the door
response: The door to the escape pod is currently closed.
action: You think about the wires
response: You can mainly think about other the other spacestation crewmembers.
action: You unplug the red wire
response: You disconnect the red wire from the battery's terminal slot.
action: You attach the striped wire to the panel
response: You re-connect the white-and-red striped wire to the panel.
action: You connect the red wire to the battery
response: You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot.
action: You think about Suzan
response: Suzan's the mission commander. You've known Captain Harrison for years, having served together on three separate missions, one of which will remain redacted for a long time to come.
action: You think about Patricia
response: Dr. Patricia Morrison has authored numerous definitive papers on the effect of long-term space travel and weightlessness in space. You haven't had a chance to see what kind of hands-on doctor she is, but after today you'll hopefully get your chance.
action: You think about Quintin
response: Mission Specialist Quintin Davies, Warrant Officer and all-around skilled technician. His PhD is in physics, which means everyone made him deal with the station's plumbing and constant electrical problems.
action: You look at panel
response: The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires.
action: You think about yourself
response: You can mainly think about other the other spacestation crewmembers.
action: Fore
response: Since there are wires plugged into the battery, you leave the battery floating next to the panel.

You can't go fore from here.
action: You disconnect the battery
response: You unplug the red wire and the black wire from the battery.

You disconnect the red wire from the battery's terminal slot.
action: Starboard
response: Node 4: Fore, Starboard
You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior is fore.
action: Ride bike
response: Riding the bicycle would be a feat and a half. Even a flex suit doesn't give you enough range of motion, and your survival backpack would get in the way. You can turn the pedals, though, which you do.
action: You examine the bike
response: This space bicycle doesn't look that much like a regular bicycle. It's a grey trapezoidal box held together by about twenty screws. Pedals stick out of it, and attached above it is a seat with very little cushioning. Next to the seat is a water line that you've sipped from many times before while exercising.
action: Unscrew box
response: You unclip the screwdriver and painstakingly remove all the screws holding the bicycle's trapezoidal box together. You let them all float away?might as well, given the rest of the debris that fills the station?and fold open the bike.

Inside, the bicycle is mainly a single small wheel about the size of your gloved hand with fingers stretched wide. The small wheel has holes all along its perimeter. The bike's pedals are attached to either side of the wheel, and stick out a long distance compared to the small wheel.
action: You examine the water line
response: That's hardly portable.

A flexible water line. Someone's left their nozzle on the line post-exercise, a sanitary no-no. Probably Quintin. You'll have to scold him, assuming he's still alive.
action: You look at the nozzle
response: A nozzle with clear plastic on one end and hard metal on the other. The clear plastic end has a very small opening. Its large metal end is threaded and fits all standard tubing on board the station.
action: You examine the compartment
response: (the embedded compartment that is near the escape pod)
It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is closed.
action: Rotate valve
response: You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing quickly out of the end of the nozzle, causing the L bend in the gas line to press firmly enough on the button to open the compartment near the escape pod. Unfortunately the bend slips off of the button and the compartment closes once more.
action: You put stick pad on the button
response: You stick the stick pad and the prise bar to the single button.
action: You remove the bar from the pad
response: You peel the stick pad off of the prise bar.
action: Rotate valve
response: You close the valve on the gas line. The cloud of nitrogen quickly disperses.
action: You continue
response: You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing quickly out of the end of the nozzle, causing the L bend in the gas line to press firmly enough on the button to open the compartment near the escape pod. The force is also enough to make the stick pad adhere to the gas line and the button, holding the gas line in place on the button.
action: Fore
response: Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is an open compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.

The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.

You can also see a backup battery here.
action: You look at the compartment
response: It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is open. Inside you can see a logbook.
action: You take the logbook
response: As you remove the logbook from the compartment, the door swings back shut. It looks like you had just enough nitrogen to get the job done.
action: You read the logbook
response: Like all of them, this logbook has all four of your names on the front in order of rank: Suzan Harrison, Simon Mahil, Quintin Davies, and Patricia Morrison. It also has obsessive step-by-step instructions for running several of the on-station experiments and recording the results, because the space program is all about hiring the smartest, most capable people it can find, training them exhaustively, and then not trusting them to do their job.

There are a lot of notes in the logbook's margins. Several of them are notes Quintin wrote when he made on-the-fly repairs to the station. One talks about the problems he'd had with the escape pod door malfunctioning, and how he had to disconnect the door control and computer from backup power to fix the problem. He noted that disconnecting only the green and yellow wires and connecting the two current-carrying wires?the white-and-red wire and the red wire?together would restore backup power. Normally the white-and-red wire and the red wire would run to the power source.
action: You think about Simon
response: You've been piloting EELV-boosted spacecraft for nearly a decade. As a reward for doing such a good job you got stuck onboard the space station for months.
action: Aft
response: Node 4: Aft, Port
While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.

The stick pad is holding the single button and the gas line together.

The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.

You can also see a prise bar here.
action: You look around
response: Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.

The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.

You can also see a backup battery here.
action: You look at panel
response: The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires.
action: You connect all the wires
response: You re-connect the red wire to the panel.

You re-connect the white wire to the panel.

You re-connect the green wire to the panel.

You re-connect the grey wire to the panel.

You re-connect the blue wire to the panel.

You re-connect the yellow wire to the panel.

You re-connect the orange wire to the panel.

You re-connect the violet wire to the panel.
action: You disconnect yellow
response: You pull the yellow wire loose from the panel.
action: You examine the battery
response: It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where wires can be inserted.

The black wire is plugged into the battery.
action: You disconnect green
response: You pull the green wire loose from the panel.
action: You disconnect the black wire
response: You disconnect the black wire from the battery's terminal slot.
action: You connect the black wire
response: (first unplugging the red wire)
You pull the red wire loose from the panel.

You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot.

You re-connect the black wire to the panel.
action: You connect the black wire
response: You re-connect the black wire to the panel.
action: You look at panel
response: The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires.
action: You examine the wires
response: There are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, blue, yellow, orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got quick disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily.

The red wire is plugged into the battery. The green wire and the yellow wire are disconnected from the panel. The rest of the wires are connected to the panel.
action: You connect striped to the battery
response: (first unplugging the white-and-red striped wire)
You pull the white-and-red striped wire loose from the panel.

You plug the white-and-red striped wire into the battery's terminal slot.

The screen next to the door returns to life, though it's so bright that you might be able to get a tan from it.
action: You examine the screen
response: The screen's in data-dump mode, which means it's showing?wait, this can't be right. The screen claims that Node 4 is following one of the really old docking protocols. The transponder beacons are even active, the ones that once guided visiting vehicles to the antiquated docking port at the other end of Node 4?

?"Don't you see? The scow's navigation is just a veneer on top of the old software! I turn on the beacon, jettison the node with me on it, and pilot it away from the station. We send an emergency docking command and trip the original failsafes. The shuttle will follow, trying desperately to dock with the node instead of ramming the rest of the station. That way, if it's rigged to explode, it only takes out Node 4."You'd been shouting at Quintin, but it was Suzan you had to convince. The station was observing radio silence, though when you try to remember why you can't. You just can't.
action: Full
response: You have 5 points out of 8. Here is how you got them:

1 for getting the battery
1 for rescuing the logbook from the compartment
1 for opening the escape pod door
action: You look at the pod
response: The door to the escape pod is currently wide open.
action: You enter the pod
response: Not until you get that debris out of the way.
action: You check your inventory
response: You're carrying a logbook and you're wearing a flex spacesuit. Clipped to your suit is a length of chain and a screwdriver.
action: You pry the debris
response: Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is open and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by an active display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.

The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.

You can also see a backup battery here.

(with the prise bar)
You try to find a good point to jam the prise bar into and shift the debris, but nothing doing. You'll need a lot more lateral force than you can bring to bear with the bar.
action: Starboard
response: Node 4: Fore, Starboard
You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior is fore.

The bicycle is open, revealing a small wheel to which its pedals are attached.
action: You examine pedals
response: The pedals stick out from the bicycle.
action: You examine the wheel
response: The small wheel is about the size of your palm. It has holes all along its perimieter. The bike's pedals are attached to either side of the wheel by a small axle, and stick out a long distance compared to the wheel.
action: You attach the chain to the axle
response: You clip the carabiner to one of the holes in the wheel and turn the pedals some to wind the chain on the wheel. You now have a chain that runs from the bike's wheel to your suit, forming a tether.
action: Port
response: Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is open and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by an active display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.

The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.

You can also see a backup battery here.

One end of the chain runs starboard; one end is clipped to your suit.
action: You attach the chain to the debris
response: You loop the chain around the column of debris and clip the carabiner to secure it.
action: Starboard
response: (moving along the chain)

Node 4: Fore, Starboard
You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior is fore.

The bicycle is open, revealing a small wheel to which its pedals are attached.

One end of the chain runs port; one end is looped around the bike's wheel.
action: Ride bike
response: You push on the bicycle pedals, making them and the small wheel turn. As you do, the chain begins to wind around the axle. You keep turning until the chain pulls taut. Then you turn some more, until the chain slackens and the debris that used to be in front of the escape pod breaks into fragments and starts tumbling all around you. You bat random pieces of it out of the way and it joins the rest of the debris filling the station.

Take that, Archimedes.
action: Port
response: Node 4: Fore, Port
Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is open. The door is flanked by an active display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.

Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.

The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.

You can also see a backup battery here.
action: You look at the pod
response: The door to the escape pod is currently wide open.
action: You enter the pod
response: The converted Predpriyatie is boxy, held together by far too many bolts, and is one of the best things you've ever seen. You wish you could hug it. It's dark, though; no power is running to the pod.

There is a large button labeled ESCAPE. You also wish you could hug the nameless engineer who made this so simple to operate. Next to the button is the pod's touch screen.
action: Hug pod
response: You can only do that to something animate.
action: You look at the touch screen
response: The screen is showing a password prompt and a keyboard. Password locked? The station computers are never password locked.

No, wait, Quintin had had to turn on password protection a few hours ago. He'd set it to the crew's initials, with the names in reverse rank order. It would make your security officer weep hot tears of anger if he knew.

Radio silence. Password protection. Oh, oh no, oh no no no, some idiot must have decided it was time for a shooting war.

And now you remember: the automated cargo supply shuttle that didn't respond to repeated hails. The orbital plot that showed the scow headed for the middle of the station. The realization that someone was worried about the UK holding the high ground and had decided to blow up the station. The desperate gamble that you could divert the supply shuttle away from the rest of the station.

You've got to get out of here soon, before there's no one left in orbit to pick you up.

The screen is showing a password prompt and a keyboard. Quintin set the password to the crew's initials, with the names in reverse rank order.
action: You read the logbook
response: On the cover are the names of everyone in order of rank: Suzan Harrison, Simon Mahil, Quintin Davies, and Patricia Morrison. One of Quintin's notes in the margin describes how to re-connect backup power to the escape pod door and computer by disconnecting only the green and yellow wires and by connecting the two current-carrying wires, the white-and-red wire and the red wire, together. Normally the white-and-red wire and the red wire would run to the power source.
action: You type the pmqdsmsh
response: (on the touch screen)
The screen clears and diagnostic messages start scrolling up the display. You scan them, watching as the computer learns what you already know about Node 4. It then decides to fully power up the escape pod.