Extra-Vehicular Activity

by alamais

Contingency Plan

The repair drone scuttles off into the tiny accessway, dragging a small bundle of processor crystals, relays, and cables with it. As the airlock closes behind it, you sink to your haunches, leaning against the wall. You wipe a mix of sweat and grime off your face, sighing. "Three days, and I've never been more sure that I'm not cut out for this nerdy tech stuff."

"Aw, come on, Rainbow. You've been doin' just fine."

You roll your eyes. "Yeah, sure AJ, I can rip out parts and disconnect what you tell me to, but I don't even like that. Actually building some chunk of archanotech like this? No thanks." With a sigh, you change the subject. "How about you? I'm no fan of enclosed spaces, but it must be a little creepy knowing there's nothing but your stasis pod between you and the void…"

"Eh, I'm not worryin' about it." Applejack actually chuckles. "Heck, I've got enough shares in Stable-Tec that I know for a fact how tough these pods are. I'm safer in here than you and Pinkie right now."

"Heh. Guess it's a good thing all of the pods had command links, instead of just Twilight's."

"Well, it's a good thing all 'round that we ended up taking the Fennel Frond on this trip. If an ex-ast’roid surveyor like her is in such bad shape, one of those fancy, shiny new skippers would have been nuthin' but dust."

You gulp. "Yeah, and the switch to the Frond was a last-minute thing. We got really lucky…"

A tone suddenly sounds, indicating someone joining the voice chat. "Hey guys."

"Pinkie?"

"Yupperoonie," she replies, but she sounds incredibly unenthused (for her), and you wonder if her hair is flat.

"What's up, girl?"

"Let me get the others in."

More tones sound off. "Pinkie?" Twilight sounds absolutely exhausted, even through the synthetic reproduction. "What's the issue?"

"We're…going to need that contingency."

Rarity speaks up, "You mean...?"

"Yeah," Pinkie replies. "That drone you sent me was finally able to clear its way into the main junction. The primary power line is…well, practically gone. We're lucky it didn't take out the comm lines entirely when it vaporized."

"Oh dear."

Fluttershy chimes in, sounding almost as bad as Twilight, "A-and the secondary?"

"Gone," says Twilight, "or close enough. A large lateral segment of the ship got torn away. Part of that damage is why Applejack can't leave her pod."

"So…what," you ask, "we've got to get some spare power line out of storage?"

"Yeeees…" Pinkie drawls out "…except I already tried, and there is no spare. Looks like we're lucky they even left toolkits here when they refit the Frond for diplomatic missions."

"Umm…" you say, at a loss.

Rarity sighs. "And so we come to the contingency."

"What's this?" says Fluttershy.

"I–" Twilight hesitates. "Let me bring up an external camera."

You squint up at the picture that appears on your screen. "Uhhh…what am I looking at?"

The view is of a dimly lit bulk in space. The larger part of it appears to have a vague, incomplete ring shape, or maybe something like an old-school shoe, but with a rounded cross section, and various bulbous projections. A number of blue-green beams of light run from the underside of the ring down towards the barren surface of the planet below. To one side of the ring, a lighter-colored shape is connected, looking out of place.

"A ship?" you venture.

"Two, actually. Maybe." Twilight huffs. "I'm not sure what you'd call the ring. Distance makes it deceiving, but it's actually huge, over five kilometers across. Maybe ship, maybe space station."

You focus on the beams. "What's with the light show?"

Rarity chimes in, "As far as we can tell, it's some sort of gravitational tethering system. It seems to be holding its place in orbit much like our inertial anchors—quite a feat given its size and low altitude. Hard to tell how long it's been there."

Twilight continues, "The little off-color thing on the side is definitely a ship, bigger than the Frond actually, and it has a very different design from the ring—it even has chemical engines. It doesn't fit the configuration of modern or historical ships from any known fleet. Also…" The view changes, to a close-up of the lighter-grey shape. It's clearly damaged, showing several gaping holes and sheared-off cuts. "…it appears to have taken quite a bit of damage, not dissimilar to what we've experienced."

Your head tilts, and you ask, "Okay, soooo what? Is the big ringy thingy what brought us here? Some kind of weapon?"

"Unknown," Twilight responds, "but something like that would explain why we ended up in an orbit, and so close to them. Neither is showing significant power emissions, except for the ring's tethers, and most of that power seems to come from the ground. However, I don't know what the heck that ring is made out of, but it's basically opaque to the sensors we've got left, so I can't be sure of much. I am still showing tiny bits of outgassing from the ship, so there are probably still large pressurized sections."

"Are there…could there be survivors?" Fluttershy doesn't sound particularly hopeful.

"I doubt it," Twilight says gently. "The radiological readings suggest a fairly primitive nuclear fusion reactor, but one that hasn't been running for…at least a couple of decades, maybe as long as a century."

Applejack asks, "Can a fusion reactor even run a void drive?"

"Oh, sure!" Pinkie replies. "The hard bit is getting the exotic matter, and pretty much everyone uses solar forges like we do, even though it's a lot more dangerous around an uncontrolled star. Once you've got the matter lenses, you just—"

"The point," Twilight interjects, "is that a ship with a fusion reactor is primitive enough that I wouldn't expect anything like our stasis pods. Maybe some sort of cryosleep, but that would take power to maintain that I'm just not seeing. I don't think there's anyone left from the small ship…and if there were crew on the ring, I don't see why they'd leave the small ship just…stuck to their side like that."

You blink, your tired mind putting things together, and then chuckle weakly. "Alright, I get it. Contingency plan. We need parts. There's a half-wrecked alien ship with no survivors…aaand I'm the one with long-range EVA experience."

A gasp from Fluttershy. "What? Twilight!"

"We don't have a choice, Fluttershy. I don't like it either, but…"

"We’re really in a bind here,” Rarity comments. “The stasis pods could keep five of us alive indefinitely, and maybe on our own we can repair the ship enough to support the sixth for a long time as well, but…"

"…But," Pinkie adds quietly, "in their void bubbles, no ship will hear a standard radio distress transmission. It has to be a tachyon beam, and we just don't have the components to get those systems up."

You feel a little stirring of excitement in your gut. "I understand, girls. Heck, sounds fun!" You smile. "Better than sitting here tearing apart more components."

There's just a synthesized sigh from Fluttershy, and you can imagine her shaking her head.

A chuckle from AJ. "You never change, Rainbow."

Twilight says, "I've been fiddling with our orbit since we noticed the structures. We're almost within return-trip EVA range now, and catching up. From the outgassing it even looks like a spacesuit might be able to use their atmosphere to make more breathable air for you, though we won't count on that."

You nod. "Okay, what am I looking for?"

"I'll load the manifest to your suit PDA, but the most important thing is cabling. We need something to run power from the reactor to the comm system and transmitters. Everything else will just add to our survivability and comfort until rescue arrives."

Applejack adds, "If'n you can find some metal to patch the hull near me, I could get out of here and help Pinkie directly. Might speed things up."

"Good idea," Rarity responds. "I'll send a drone to get more precise scans of the breach."

"For now, Rainbow, you should get some rest," Twilight says quietly. "We've been working you pretty hard, and you're not in stasis. Some sleep is a good idea before you go outside."

You smirk. "Alright, mom."

A grumpy huff is her only response.

"Actually, we should all get some sleep," murmurs Fluttershy. "Stasis or not, our minds are at work. And even you have your limits, Pinkie."

"Y-yeah…" Pinkie suddenly sounds exhausted. "…I don't have my usual pile of sugar here to keep me going…these emergency rations are no fun at all." You can agree with that…it's like eating dry, chalky mud.

"Good good," Rarity says briskly. "Dashie and Pinkie can get some sleep, and you too, Twilight—you've been running your mind ragged. The rest of us in stasis will get some rest later."

"I. Er." Twilight makes some strangled sounds, then sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right...and we’ve at least got things stable, for now."

"I'll wake you all if there's any problem," Rarity assures her.

You all say your 'goodnights', and the chat breaks up. You wander back to your stasis pod, and flop down onto the cushion. You can't stop thinking, though! What will you find on the ships? Could there be aliens? Bodies? Ray guns and fantastical technologies? At this rate, you'll never get to sl—