There were 9 crew members aboard the space station. Now one is dead. What happened?
By Mae Ondracek ©7/1/2002
What a great experience this will be. They are letting me join them on the space station for six months. Although I will be the ninth member, the head captain, Margo, said I was just an observer, I wasn’t to touch any instruments unless specifically ordered to do so. She bragged that she was the captain of this station and everyone better follow her orders. Captain Margo told me I could sit in the Sun-room and watch how efficiently the three men did their work. “Of course,” she bragged, “I taught them everything.”
Closing the door as she left, the three men relaxed and started joking about what a domineering woman she was. One of the men remarked, “I’m sure glad I’m not her husband.”
Jocko sat in one of the chairs before an instrument panel and pushed a few buttons as he said, “We’ll show you the outside world from up here.”
Covers over the outside front windows slid back to reveal the great expanse of sky. Stars twinkled at me as I gaped in amazement. One was so near; it seemed like I could reach out and touch it. But the magic moment was broken as Margo entered, slapped Jocko across the back of his head and pushed the buttons to cover the windows as she yelled, “You fool, I didn’t tell you to open those panels. Go to your room and I’ll deal with you later!”
In unison, all four of us men cried out, “Why don’t you curl up and die?”
Margo looked at each of us in surprise, and ran out of the Sun-room. The three men couldn’t realize why they had said that, but went back to their assigned jobs, as I sat quietly watching them and thinking, ‘How could they concentrate on their jobs with such a witch watching their every move?’
Jocko said, “I guess we better head for the dinning area. If we are one minute late, Margo will not let us eat.”
At five hast the hour, everyone wondered where Margo was. She was always standing by the door with her eyes on the clock. At ten past, Under Captain Derks said he and Jocko would see if they could find her. Within five minutes they returned. Their faces told us something was very wrong. Captain Derks said, “Margo is dead, curled up in a tight ball on her bed. There is no help for her. Doc, you and your assistant will try to find out the cause of her death.”
There was an audible escape of breath from each crew member, and I must say, from me, too. Doc and his assistant reported to Captain Derks that there wasn’t a thing that could have caused her death. Her heart, lungs, and everything else checked out fine. A scanner couldn’t find a needle prick or bite of any kind. There weren’t any pills in her stomach, either. This is a big mystery to us. They put her in the Ice-room and when Doctor Zambro joins them tomorrow, maybe he can find something that may have been missed. It sure is strange how she was curled up like that.
The four of us that had been in the Sun-room looked at each other, remembering our chiding remark to her earlier that morning.
After Dr. Zambro arrived, another thorough exam of Margo was completed. He shook his head as he stated, “I do not understand. There is not a mark on her and all her organs were in top condition. She seemed to have willed herself to die.”
We all were integrated as to where we were that morning and what had taken place. The four of us hated to mention what we had said, but we knew better than to hold anything back.
Captain Derks laughed and said, “Yep, I’m sure you guys did this to Margo. Now, please, let’s get back to work. Jocko, why don’t you open the panels and give Jim a blow-by-blow description of what you see out there and what we are doing. I’ll be on the bridge preparing more charts, if you need me.”
“Hey, Capt. Derks, thanks! This is very interesting,” I called after him.
Jocko explained, “Capt. Derks is one fine man. He makes us feel like a part of the overall project. Not something to be crushed underfoot. We will all work better now.”
Callie stood up and exclaimed, “Well, my work is finished. Now I can study my part before my next shift.”
“What does he mean, study his part?” I asked.
“We were told this would be a short stint in this space station, so he accepted a part in the play, “Wise Men Know It All.” He promised faithfully to know all his lines, with our help, of course. We only have four more months and then we can go home.”
“Hey, that’s wonderful they would let him do that. Like they say in Hollywood, ‘I hope he breaks a leg’.”
Half an hour later the phone rang in the Sun-room. Jocko listened, his jaw dropped as he answered, “I’m sorry Captain. I’ll let the others know.”
He hung up the phone and stated, “You two will never believe what that was all about!”
We stared at him, waiting for the rest of the story. “As Callie was about to enter his room, he tripped and fell. He broke his leg.”
“There must be some mistake, this couldn’t have happened, not to Callie!” Jersey remarked as both men looked at me.
“Hey, come on fellows, you know I’ve been sitting here all the time,” I exclaimed.
“Hmmm, we wonder,” both men said at the same time.
“Oh, zip your lips,” I cried as I headed for the door.
Neither man spoke when I couldn’t open the door, but I heard squeals as I swung around, startled to see each man with a zipper over his lips. Three times my thoughts had come true after I spoke them. ‘My God,’ I thought, ‘what has happened to me?’
“Hey guys, I’m sorry I said that. Please unzip your lips,” I cried.
Both men heaved a sigh of relief as their mouths opened and then both bombarded me with questions of how I could do that. I made sure I didn’t utter a word as they called Capt. Derks and the doctor to come to the Sun-room.
The door slid open as Capt. Derks asked, “What’s going on in here?”
Jocko told them what had happened and all four men looked at me like I was some sort of weirdo with his mouth clamped tight shut. The doctor examined me, asking questions, and then sat down to think. “How long have you been doing this?”
“I’m sorry, guys, but I’ve never been able to do that before, honest,” I answered.
The captain asked, “What happened when you first noticed it?”
We thought a long time and then I jumped up remembering that star and how magical I felt looking at it, and felt like I could reach out and touch it when Margo had entered and ruined the feeling. Then I remembered that that star had quickly blinked out when she yelled at Jocko.
We conferred late into the afternoon and it was decided that I would spend the evening in the Sun-room with the protective window panels open, in hopes that bright star returned.
It was a great evening watching the stars and trying to identify them. It was surprising how many I could recall. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed one of the larger stars moving. Laughing at myself because I knew stars didn’t move. But I became transfixed as it grew brighter and neared the window. A voice spoke in my head, ‘Do you like your new gift? We can give you more and you only have to do as we tell you. We want this station out of our territory and can do it with your help.’
I shook my head, answering, “No, no, please, take that gift away. I don’t like it and I only want to be normal again.”
The voice said, ‘So be it! You are a weak link,’ as I fell to the floor, unconscious.