Fish Bowl

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Then again, if your comms are short circuited and your helmet is filling up with water, that’s exactly what happens—no screams. If American astronaut Hayden Hoff had tilted his head just a bit forward, he’d be submerged like a goldfish in a bowl.

“Hoff do you read? Over.”

Of course Hoff did not receive this message or any one other after that. He space walked alone. The other astronauts scrambled to do something, anything to free their fellow explorer.

Nothing. Every attempt ended up a failure. At first, they surmised that the suit was too old and ready for retirement. This wasn’t the case. Russia and China had hacked the software of the United States space vessel.

The water reached dangerously toward Hoff’s mouth and nose. He struggled. He kept his face above the water and attempted to maneuver to the entry of the space capsule.

Inside, Gloria Jaines looked at Alina Ivanov.

“But I—” Alina started.

“This is not our fault,” Feng Zhao said.

Their voices trembled. Sweat rolled down the faces of Alina and Feng.

“No one’s ever been murdered in space…yet. Let’s keep it that way,” Commander Tyree John said to the ladies. “Their country does not represent them. They were representing their country until this news. Now, what we need to do is keep our heads and not turn this station into a goddamn bloodbath. Ladies, you all must go to your work areas and try to figure out a way to get Hoff back in here. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” all the women said in unison.

“Good. We’ve got a man who needs our help. He’s got a wife and a little boy to look forward to seeing again. Let’s see that he embraces them again.”

Gloria cut eyes at Alina and Feng. She floated in the zero-gravity environment.

On the outside, Hoff continued to wrestle with his suit and keep his head above water…literally. He swung around an arm of the station and inched closer to the entry point. He opened the hatch and quickly closed it. Hoff unfastened the helmet and water rushed out like a gushing geyser. He breathed. He floated to where the rest of the crew had unlocked the hatch in order to facilitate his re-entry.

They all applauded, except for Gloria.

“I’m glad to have you back. We’re going to get you out of that suit and check your vitals,” John said.

“It was China and Russia!” Gloria shouted.

Hoff looked bewildered.

“Nevermind Gloria. She’s been up here the longest and has developed a slight bit of mania,” John assured.

“No, these two belong to nations that hacked into the system in your suit and allowed water to almost drown you. That’s the truth.”

“Goddamnit, Gloria! Get back on the board!” John ordered. She shrugged and floated near the control center.

“What is she talking about?”

“It’s nothing. There’s been some reports about China and Russia possibly—”

“What?!”

“Keep your head, warrior. I know you went through something traumatic, but we can’t lose ourselves to subjective hate without all the facts.”

“I hear you talking. I know it’s not Feng or Alina’s fault. Whatever. But why didn’t Gloria move fast enough? She had control over my suit,” Hoff observed.

John looked at Hoff directly in the eye. “I will make sure she had no nefarious intentions towards you and tried to paint Aly and Feng as bad. We can go over to her and ask about the reality of the situation.”

Once the two men traveled through the air to where Gloria was supposed to be. Her absence was painful. They enlisted Feng and Alina. Gloria backed into a corner with a fire extinguisher.

“Get back,” Gloria said. “It was the Russians and Chinese.”

“We’ve got that,” John stated. “Now, put down the extinguisher.”

“But I slipped the control and caused Hayden’s suit to leak. I didn’t know what to do but to put the blame on the other girls,” Gloria began to cry.

“It’s okay. They’re fine. We’re fine. You’re fine,” John replied. He reached for the extinguisher. With no brig or psychiatric spaces, John remained resolute in allowing friends, enemies, and friends again, Feng and Alina to address Gloria’s instability.

“You’d think she would’ve been screened out with the psych team,” Hoff wondered.

“You’d be surprised,” John replied.