Stranded in Space

- 3 -

I wriggled my body through a side door into the cylinder. There were four pipes acting as a guiding rail running vertically on the sides of the cylinder. One of them was shaped as a ladder. However, this ladder was the farthest from the leak. I shifted my body holding the rail, and when I found a small cut in the wall, I closed the door and emptied the air out of the cylinder. The cut was so small that the only repair needed was to pour resin into it.

I placed all my tools in space a small distance away from my body. There were five tools, the likes of spanners and screwdrivers. I laid them neatly in space about two meters away. This was my habit. I often do this even in outer-space operations. When I operate in non-gravity, I let the tools float around me. I take care to place the tools in a static position, so that they would not fly about (by the time you realize it, they're miles away). When you get used to it, you can let the tools leave your hands, and they stay in practically the same spot without wondering away. The more you experience outer-space operations, the more tactics you come to use. In my case, I have the habit of laying the tools in exactly the same, fixed position. I'm very good at it. They don't shift an inch no matter how many hours pass. Of course, in actual fact, the tools are flying at several thousand kilometers per hour in inertial flight along with the spaceship.

In the current operation, there was no need for tools. I laid the tools two meters away from me, so that they would not get in the way of the resin injection. It was only later that I realized this act determined my fate.