David Lapage, Jr. has written several short stories and quite a few school papers. He has never been published and looks forward to the day he is. While not writing something he enjoys watching movies, tinkering in the garage, and geocaching. He is a huge fan of Local H and enjoys reading. He lives in Illinois with his wife and two cats.
You can find more of his work HERE.
ENTRY CODE ACCEPTED
by
David Lapage, Jr.
“Entry code accepted. Opening outer airlock doors in 5,4…”
“Override” yelled Waters again. “Authorization 2163E”
“Override accepted,” said the speaker in the ceiling.
Amy Waters took a deep breath as she stood inside the 8-foot by 6-foot airlock. Aida keeps trying to open the outer airlock doors. The computer thinks that someone is typing the entry code on the keypad even if nothing is out there but cold space. Amy was sweating from the heat coming through the inner airlock doors. She wiped her forehead with her sleeve. She could see through the airlock windows that the fire inside the ship was still blazing out of control. Why hasn’t Aida extinguished it yet?
“Aida. Why has the fire not been put out yet?” She asked.
“There is currently no fire, Doctor Waters,” said Aida. Aida was the name for the ship’s computer. It stood for Artificial Intelligence, Diagnostics, and Assistance.
“I’m looking right at the fire. Run a scan again.”
“Scan complete. There is currently no fire on board.”
“That’s ridiculous. Run a diagnostic on the fire sensors and suppression systems.” Waters was staring at the fire through the window. There was no way she could open the doors and re-enter the ship’s lab with it burning like that. The oxygen generator was blowing like a flame thrower, and she would be cooked in a second. It could continue like that for days or until the ship burned enough to damage the hull and allow in the vacuum of space. Neither option was appealing since her suit was on the other side of the lab and she was going to run out of air in this airlock. She wasn’t sure what happened to cause the fire. She had just begun her test when the oxygen generator sparked and burst into flames. She had just been able to jump into the airlock and close the inner doors before the room was engulfed in flames.
“Diagnostic complete. Fire sensors and suppression systems are operational. No fire detected.”
“How could that be? Who programmed you?” she yelled in frustration.
“My programming was done by Esupai Incorporated, headed by Jun Fukuda in 2067. Last revision was on April 24th, 2072, by Marcus Waters” replied Aida.
Marcus? Why would her husband be revising the program only three days ago? He was involved in the mission details and scientific development for the atmosphere testing but that was all. He shouldn’t be involved in programming and why right before the launch?
“Entry code accepted. Opening outer airlock…” Adia started.
“Override. Authorization 2163E” cried Waters.
“Override accepted,” said the speaker.
“What did Marcus Waters revise in your programming?” Amy asked Adia.
“Marcus Waters made programming changes to airlock access control, SprinkCAD, security files, and the oxygen generator. The following files numbers were revised: acc02364, acc02365, acc02367, acc02…”
“Adia stop” Waters exclaimed. The realization was starting to sink in that this was no accident. Amy loved Marcus but she couldn’t ignore the fact that he would gain a lot by her death. She was worth millions, and he would get full control of her company. She took solo flights to the thermosphere and tested products for businesses that sold to space tourists, and it has been very lucrative. Marcus would obtain control of her company and all its assets.
“Can you reprogram or undue the programs by Marcus Waters?”
“This can only be done manually by authorized personnel from the bridge control panel”.
Amy lowered herself to the floor. She could not go inside with the fire burning and if it continued to burn it was going to destroy the ship. Adia continued to try and open the outer doors unless Amy put a stop to it with the override code, but she couldn’t do that forever.
“There is about 4 hours of oxygen in this airlock, Doctor Waters. I would advise you to re-enter the ship,” declared Adia.
“Send out a distress call to any ships in the area, now”.
“There are no ships in orbit around Earth currently. The closest ship to you is the Ambrosia, which is seven Earth hours away. Entry code accepted. Opening outer airlock…”
“Override. Authorization 2163E” said Waters in a panic. Her voice was cracking, and she wished for something to drink. Hell, she was wishing for a way out of here. Nobody was close enough to come to the rescue. She could not go inside because of the fire, and she couldn’t go out into space. The oxygen was going to run out in 4 hours or less and sometime after that, the ship would probably implode from fire damage.
“Override accepted.”
“Adia, I need a suggestion from you. Please help me” sobbed Waters.
“I suggest you re-enter the lab” proposed Adia.
Amy lowered her head and wept. Her blond hair covered her face. She started to think of Marcus and the dinner they had right before she had left. They had toasted with wine a new contract that she had acquired. He had told her he loved her and wished her good luck. He had never wished her good luck before.
She thought of her parents and the grandkids they wanted so badly but were never going to get.
“Entry code accepted. Opening outer airlock…” Adia started.
“Override. Authorization 2163E” cried Waters.
“Override accepted” answered Adia.
How long could she do this? Would it be better just to let Adia open the doors and end it? Maybe she should just open the inner doors and be cooked. How does she want to die? Fire, cold, or suffocation?
Amy Waters sat there, and the minutes passed.
“Entry code accepted. Opening outer airlock…” Adia started.
“Override. Authorization 2163E,” Waters mumbled.
“Override accepted” stated Adia.
And the minutes passed.
“Entry code accepted”…