She pulled shut the airseal, falling back in exhaustion. She ripped the patch off her shoulder and threw it in the direction of the cargo hold. Even the serenity of the planetary bodies slowly rotating by the starboard windows brought her no peace. The Farsight III was a tiny speck in the hungry deep of space. Aaliyah Sura felt very alone this time.
From its conception, the reconnaissance mission led by Captain Sura was fraught with criticism and opposition. The board was reluctant to approve any exploration or recon operations after mechanical malfunctions led to critical failure in Horizon Inc.’s last mission. They were even more reluctant to let the captain bring his wife, who hadn’t yet finished all the extension training modules for a captain. But they were spread thin, and couldn’t find anyone else. Sura was determined to prove them wrong.
It was 0200 hours when the alarms went off. Fariz was the first one up and out, his wife helped him with the airlocks. It was debris damage on the external guidance systems. It was routine work. However, when his oxygen line ruptured, there was nothing they could do. He had only seconds left, and she had to secure the integrity of the Farsight III. Perhaps he could have held his breath long enough to get back inside. Regardless, if he didn’t finish the job, they’d both be dead. As she reached for the airseal emergency lever, the last thing she saw was Fariz floating off into the abyss.
My M.O. for microfiction is to write a three or four paragraph non-linear story, where the climax of the story isn’t shocking when you read it because you lack the context to understand its significance. This way, when you re-read the paragraphs, you see what they really mean, and get to appreciate them in a new light. I also like them to be a little bit of a riddle, so that words are few, but meaning is dense. This is my favourite of my microfiction compositions, which I wrote shortly after reading ‘The Big Sleep’ by Raymond Chandler, a truly excellent American Crime novel.
Distilled Orthopraxy 