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Control.”
    He bolted toward the speaker. “Thank God. Can you update us?”
    “Activate stasis preservation in two minutes.”
    “Roger that. What’s happening?”
    Maria yelped after a loud, electric snap from below the console. Sparks shot across the floor. The screen faded to black, leaving only the red status bars to give off any kind of ambience.
    “Control, are you there? … Control?” Ben said. He turned to Maria. “I think it’s died.”
    “What did they mean?”
    “Stay here, I’ll tell you when I get back,” Ben said.
    “Ben, wait …”
    “We’ve got an option. I’ll be back in a minute.”
    Ben squeezed through the gap in the door. The toolbox was reinforced with a metal table from the sleeping quarters. The door mechanism unsuccessfully shunted against the obstacles.
    At the end of the corridor, Ethan hacked away at another speaker, and Erika held the chair steady in support.
    “Meet me in the Ops Room,” Ben shouted. Neither acknowledged. They probably couldn’t hear him from their position next to the alarm. He’d grab them on his way back.
    Ben entered the sleeping quarters, a small room with two bunks on either side, four lockers at the end, and a door to the bathroom. The lights had cut, and the alarm boomed overhead. Ben opened his locker and swiped his spare clothing to one side. He fumbled in the dark, grabbed a metal card from the back shelf, and stuffed it in his pocket.
    He flinched as a hand grasped his shoulder.
    “What are you doing?” Erika said.
    Ethan appeared in the gloom, holding the wrecking bar. “Just this one to go. We can’t get in the common room.”
    “Come with me. Now. We’re getting out of here,” Ben said.
    “Leaving?” Erika said.
    “I’ll explain when we’re all together.”
    “Okay, lead the way.”
    He felt his way along a bunk and headed back toward the red glow of the Operations Room. Maria sat away from the console, which was starting to smoke.
    “Come out here. It’s not safe in there,” Ben said.
    She stepped over the toolbox and table. They stood in a huddle next to the supply hatch.
    Ben pulled the metal card out of his pocket and held it up. Six numbers were stamped across the middle. The crew leaned toward him for a closer inspection.
    “Listen up. A week before Jimmy left, he gave me this,” Ben said.
    “What is it?” Maria said.
    “It’s a code to use only in emergency situations. While you two were smashing the corridor alarm, we had an instruction to activate stasis preservation.”
    “You heard from Master Control?” Erika said.
    “Briefly. We managed to get instructions.”
    “What’s stasis preservation?” Ethan said.
    “If we take a big hit, come under attack, lose power, or whatever, all operational resources are to concentrate on restoring or maintaining essential services, the main engines, and stasis units. We’re earmarked for the stasis wing. There’s a lot of important people down there.”
    “Why didn’t we know about this?” Maria said.
    “It falls to the senior member to take responsibility, which is me since Jimmy left. Priority-wise, we’re a second tier service.”
    “Is it a code for the airlock?” Erika said.
    “It’s exactly that,” Ben said. “We’re going down to help the stasis team. My guess is that engineering will sort this place out later.”
    “Do you think they’ll let us stay? Send others here?” Ethan said.
    “It’s not even worth thinking about—”
    The compartment rattled after a loud, external boom. They skidded sideways. Ben grabbed the handle of the supply hatch to maintain balance. Erika screamed. Ethan grabbed Ben’s shoulder. His face contorted with terror.
    “Keep your cool. We’ll get through this,” Ben said.
    The crew pressed themselves against the metallic wall for support.
    Maria clutched Ben’s wrist. “Two minutes, they said.”
    He nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Ben traversed the corridor to the airlock, held the card next to the