Breach Point

5342 words

Episode 9: Breach Point The panel hissed as it slid open, a puff of stale air brushing Mira’s face like a cold, dead breath. She flinched, her heart hammering against her ribs, the dim red glow of the emergency lights painting the corridor in streaks of blood and shadow. Her fingers lingered on the keypad, sticky with grime, the edges biting into her palm. Beyond the panel, the maintenance shaft yawned—a narrow tunnel of rusted metal and bundled cables, the kind of place where a single misstep could slice through a suit or snap a bone. The hum of the station’s dying systems vibrated through the walls, a low groan that felt like it was crawling up her spine. “Lira,” Mira whispered, her voice barely a scratch over the comms static in her helmet. She turned her head just enough to catch the silhouette of the survivor slumped against the wall behind her. Lira’s breathing was shallow, each rasp amplified through the shared channel, her faceplate fogged with condensation. The woman’s suit was patched and torn, her left arm hanging limp after the crash landing in the skiff. “Can you move? We gotta go. Now.” Lira’s helmet tilted, a slow nod, but her body didn’t budge. “Hurts,” she croaked, the word wet and broken. “Legs… won’t.” Mira bit down on...