Airlock Tango

“Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say,” he said, lips moving against her ear.

Renee had had enough. “That’s convenient,” she said. Then she pushed him out the airlock. Later that evening, when she recounted the moment to Shirley, she admitted, “I’ve been wanting to do that since I first met the lecherous asshole.”

Of course they caught her. The authorities may not have been able to hear the scream, but there are cameras everywhere in space.

Renee didn’t care. It had been worth it to protect her station. The other women had tried to defend her the way Renee had defended them. But there was one detail none of them had taken into account.

Renee watched the Venus 5 station recede in the distance, sadness squeezing her chest. She left behind more than just responsibility. A few close friends. A fascinating and sometimes challenging life. Shirley. The rotating rings and huge reinforced glass windows had never looked more beautiful. Her station, that she had looked after for so many years. Her station no longer.

~

“Hey, new girl! What are you in for?”

Renee looked up from her tray of unappetizing beige food. She supposed prison food must be the same across the galaxy. Her heart beat wildly as she wondered what new horrors this new speaker would bring with her.

Standing over her was an extremely muscular woman. Renee thought she must be in her 30s, but she had enough scars for someone twice her age, a bold choice in an age when scar erasure was standard procedure. Her black hair curled in an unruly mohawk. She cut an intimidating figure, legs spaced wide apart and arms crossed. But the expression on her face was more curious than hostile. Behind her stood an assortment of other women of varying ages and degrees of toughness. In their bright red jumpsuits, they felt dangerous, like a flag before a bull. Renee couldn’t remember what Old Earth custom this saying referenced, but felt sudden compassion for this bull creature when faced with such a shouting color.

Renee’s throat and chest tightened, familiar iron bands that showed up whenever she had trouble understanding people. One of the reasons she had so loved her position as station director was that she rarely needed to handle large groups. Her throat tightened as she considered the prospect of addressing this many new people and, even worse, needing to understand the myriad intonations and accents that they would no doubt present.

“Uh, hi,” she said finally, unsure how to take this welcoming committee. They didn’t seem hostile, contrary to everything she had been made to believe about the prison system. “Do you want the official charge or the actual story?”

The woman’s face split in an enormous smile. She had a gap between her front teeth. “Oh, we love a good story, don’t we ladies?”

The other women gathered around, all agreeing.

“Sit, sit!” said the leader. “Better start with the official charge. It’s always fun to see how they twist it.”

Renee tried to smile. Could she ingratiate herself to these women from the get-go? “You’ll love this one, then,” she told them as they populated the table around her.

“I’m Andy,” said the leader.

“Renee."

“Alright Renee. Tell us your story.”

Renee took a deep breath, looking at her expectant audience, and began. “Technically, I’m in for ‘destroying valuable scientific material.’”

“Oooh, what was it?” piped up a curvy woman with a round face. “A bio weapon? Next-level technology?”

“She’ll tell us, Anita,” said Andy, whacking the shorter woman on the shoulder. “If you shut up.”

Anita shut up. So far so good. Renee continued.

“The scientific material was a man…from the 21st century.”

“Seriously?”

“Whoah! Time travel! That’s major!”

“No way!”

“Seriously? How did you find out?”

Many of the women spoke at once, a cacophony of voices swirling about Renee in a maelstrom of meaningless words. Her shoulders tensed, rising as if to protect her ears. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, unsure whether she was trying to block out the sudden cacophony or make sense of it. Thankfully, it died down quickly. Not wanting to appear weak, Renee opened her eyes and looked back up at her audience.

“Was he your lover?” sighed a wide-eyed young woman, barely more than a girl. “Did you kill him to protect him from horrible experiments?”

At this, Renee surprised herself by laughing outright, a huge guffaw that rose straight from her belly. “Hell no!” she told the girl. “I pushed him out an airlock for hitting on anyone he thought had a vulva.”

“Damn, Renee,” said Andy. “Respect. Bet he didn’t see that coming.”

Everyone at the table chuckled. The iron bands around her throat and chest loosened.

“Why didn’t they put you away for murder?” This woman was skinny, with straight hair and even straighter posture. She wore glasses, which was enough of an anachronism to startle Renee. First scars, now glasses. How much basic technology was unavailable here?

“The other women testified on my behalf," she continued. "With the entire station backing me, they ruled it self-defense. I almost got away with it. But I told the wrong person about the man’s origin, and he told the authorities. And that was that.”

By now, the entire table was staring at her. Some with their mouths open. A couple shook their heads.

“Rough deal, dude,” said a woman at the end with a shaved head. Her face was unremarkable except for a pair of piercing green eyes, and she sported a bionic arm.

“See, I was right,” said Andy, leaning back and placing her hands over her stomach. “I knew you had a good story hidden behind that quiet mask.”

Renee tried another smile. This time, she almost meant it. The iron bands still closed around her throat and chest, but they no longer strangled. “Thanks,” she said. She wanted to be polite, so she asked the only thing she could think of. “So, uh - why are you all here?”