Astronaut Marcie Mitternacht floated serenely in the weightlessness of the station’s microgravity research module. A slowly dispersing halo of blood wept from the wound on her temple. The gleaming silver rock hammer spinning slowly beside her, marred only by the crimson stain on the striking edge, told the rest of the tale.
“Murder,” said Captain Singh, speaking calmly against the panic he felt rising. “How? Who?”
Doctor Termaat entered the module, medical kit velcroed to her belt. She looked only at Mitternacht’s still form. “Out. Everyone.” She immediately opened her bag and started preparing to examine the body. “That includes you, Captain.”
Singh nodded. “Let me know what you find.”
An hour passed before the doctor left the research module. The captain and the rest of the crew waited in the recreation area. All eyes were on the doctor as she stepped into the room, the spinning station giving them all a small amount of weight.
“There is some good news. Mitternacht is alive, and she’s stable… for now.” She looked at the crew. “I’ve locked the micrograv module. I would appreciate it if none of you would disturb her.”
There were no locks on the station, but an alarm would sound if the door was opened.
The captain nodded. “So… Marcie… Lieutenant Mitternacht will recover? She’ll be fine?”
The doctor shook her head. “If we were on Earth, maybe. There is internal bleeding in her skull; she was hit quite hard. Quite hard. She needs immediate surgery, but we can’t do it here, and returning her to Earth in her current condition would certainly kill her.”
“I don’t understand,” said Captain Singh. “If we can’t operate here, and we can’t bring her back to Earth, how can we save her?”
The doctor looked grim as she answered. “I think I have a solution. We’ll move her to the emergency evac capsule. I’ve done the math; we have fuel enough to get it into a slingshot orbit around the Moon. I’ll prep her on the way there. We’ll be orbiting around the Moon’s far side for forty-five minutes; during that time, the shifting gravitational attraction will help keep the subdural hematoma from further injury as I repair the cranial membrane. If all goes well, I’ll be able to get her in good enough condition to survive re-entry and get her the care she needs groundside.”
“This does not sound easy,” said the captain.
“It’s not,” said Dr. Termaat. “In fact, it’s the hardest thing.”
Header image is AI, but all the words are my own. The characters are people I work with, so I apologize to them for the use of their names.
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