Page 11 of Found
I pick up a pair of pliers from the floor and begin to climb the ladder. I’ve decided to leave it until the final ten seconds before cutting a cable. By then, Jim will know whether he’ll succeed or not.
“Louise?” Bastian’s voice is more frantic now. “You’d better be in the toilets and not doing what I think you’re doing.”
“Maybe her comm is broken. I’m going to check on her,” Toby is saying in the background.
I better tell them now before they leave the safety of the room. They’ve got oxygen masks there, just in case, as well as medical supplies.
00:03:27
But what am I going to say? Sorry? No, I shouldn’t apologise for this. Hopefully, I’m going to be lucky for once and cut the right cable, and we’ll all live. If not, then I’ll probably die in the blast, but at least it’ll be quick. Starvation sounds a lot worse. It’s the right decision to be here. Definitely.
“Louise?!” Bastian is shouting now, and I cringe at the desperation in his voice.
I sigh and lift my wrist. “I love you all,” I say quietly, almost a whisper. “I hope I’m going to save you.”
“You silly, silly woman!” Will shouts, while the others mostly curse. “We said none of us should play the hero!”
“It was supposed to be me,” Han growls. “It was my idea!”
“Stop shouting,” I bark in the comm and luckily, they all shut up.
I glance at the timer.
00:01:43
“Jim, what’s the situation?” I ask calmly. It’s not like I’m suicidal. If he can do it, then I have no desire to die. I’m only doing this as a last resort. Only to keep my men safe. To give them a chance.
One in seven.
How can fate be so cruel.
“Working on it,” is all Jim says. I can almost see him, his teeth gritted, his fingers flying frantically over the keyboard.
“Louise, come back now!” Bastian commands.
I smile sadly, even though I know he can’t see it. “You know it’s too late.”
It’s true. Even if I was to run back now, I’d likely not make it on time. All doors are programmed to lock at one minute before the blast.
It’s final.
“I love you all,” I repeat. “Thank you for being mine.”
Silence.
00:00:59
A bang echoes through the station as all the airlocks and safeguards close as scheduled.
Even if the blast in this room is large, they will be safe. They will be able to live on, at least for a bit.
I stare at the cables in front of me.
One of them will stop the bomb from going off. I just need to find the right one. I run my fingers over them. Just like Bastian said, they’re all the same.
“I won’t make it.”
Jim is admitting defeat.
