After

The Prompt

Convey a deep conversation between two individuals without uttering a single word aloud.

The music is "Marooned" by Wire from the album "Chairs Missing"

After

They had been working on the outside of their space vehicle, repairing damage from a small meteor shower that had punctured the ship's skin, resulting in loss of oxygen and atmospheric pressure.

There were five crew members but they were the two who were most comfortable in free space and had the expertise to repair the damage.

Outside they were lit up with the brilliance of the earthlight and they set out about repairing the damage, which was more extensive than they thought, but it had to be repaired if they were to get back to Earth safely.

They were connected to the vehicle by cables, while they could move through space using their jetpacks they needed those cables to keep them safely connected to their base.

Their radios had stopped working for some reason so all communication was by hand signals and pointing. They shared their tools, asking for things by pointing and touching.

They expected the repairs to take maybe, half an hour but this was going to take much longer than that.

All of a sudden a panel detached itself and flew off into space leaving the inner skin very exposed, the were some small meteor holes and they could see the oxygen leaking out. They had to be fixed now.

One of them was working covering the holes, spot welding protective plaster panels that stopped the oxygen from escaping, but then suddenly the whole ship lurched and then righted itself.

They each checked their security cables and when they were sure everything was alright, gave each other a thumbs up.

That was worrying, but they continued on with their repairs.

It was difficult with no radio contact, they had to keep looking at each other to make sure everything was running smoothly.

The crew inside were going about their own tasks, hoping the repairs would be completed soon. When the ship lurched they were all really worried, doubly so because they were unable to communicate with or see their colleagues doing the repairs on the outside.

The welding continued then without warning, the whole ship collapsed in on itself like it had been crushed and crumpled by a giant hand. The two on the outside looked at each other in complete shock. Their colleagues were dead, and their safety cables were cut.

They knew they had maybe fifteen minutes of oxygen left, and nowhere to go. Suddenly they were frightened. Both put their hands together in prayer. They could do nothing else.

They used their jet packs to move towards each other and awkwardly embrace to provide each other comfort in their final few minutes. They did not know what happened, but they could not even say a final word to each other.

Looking into each other's eyes through their helmet's face panels they said their final goodbye and oblivion overtook them.