He wore his EVA suit and latched two lifelines inside the airlock before shutting the inner bulkhead. He did all this in case he accidentally tripped the outer bulkhead. He had developed a bit of a phobia of being sucked out into space over the past couple of days. It turned out to be unnecessary. He was able to complete the repairs without any ill effects and faster than expected. Other than a few weld marks where he sealed up his impromptu panel, the airlock was as good as new. After finishing up, he accompanied Naeva to the garden. She taught him what to do and where everything was stored. It wasn’t lost on him that Aika was supposed to teach him about the garden, but that was before everything started going sideways.

All the plants and trees looked fine, but the soil was slightly dry due to the neglect of the last couple of days. Naeva instructed him well and they quickly got the garden in order. She really knew gardening and seemed to genuinely care about the plants. Once he had learned enough, they set to work checking and watering all the various plants. Reece counted over thirty varieties of foliage in the large garden, and they were in several stages of ripeness. The couple ended up harvesting some potatoes, celery, and carrots.

“Looks like we’re having homemade stew today. The freeze-dried beef actually works really well in it,” said Naeva, a smile spreading across her face. “You’re going to love it.”

Aika entered the garden and made straight for the pair of gardeners. Her face was pale, and her worry radiated from her eyes as she approached the two. The look of worry turned to annoyance when she saw Naeva and Reece working so closely together in the garden. It passed quickly. She obviously had more important things on her mind. She strode right up to Reece and leaned into his ear.

“Remember when I said I’d check the AG system for malfunctions?” she whispered, a slight edge to her voice.

“Yeah,” Reece answered, knowing where Aika’s explanation was heading.

“It wasn’t a malfunction. My logs show that someone activated the AG directly from the system console in engineering, and that’s not all,” she continued. “Someone also shut down comms while you were out there, and remotely activated the airlock door. Reece, I’m pretty sure someone tried to kill you!”

“Thank you, Aika...but you don’t need to worry. See, I already know,” replied Reece, trying to console the concerned woman.

“What do you mean, you know?” she asked, confusion and a tinge of suspicion evident in her voice.

Reece explained to her enough about what had been happening to answer her question without looping her in on the whole conspiracy just yet. He wasn’t sure that she’d believe him or even that she wasn’t part of this ‘Order”. He highly doubted it considering what she had already told him. Of course, she may have told him that to gain his confidence. For her part, she seemed bothered by something else beyond the obvious.

“You’re going to need to keep quiet about all of this,” Reece told her. “I don’t want you endangering yourself for me. Just try and continue acting normally around the rest of the crew.”

Later, the three of them prepared a stew for themselves and the rest of the station. Reece chopped vegetables while the women prepped the meat and spices. It turned out to help thaw the coldness between the two of them. By the time the stew was ready, Aika seemed to have altered her opinion of their relationship. Reece even caught them whispering between each other on several occasions. After they had each sampled the large pot of stew, they invited the rest of the crew down to have some.

Everyone enjoyed it and thanked them for the extra work in preparing it. It was especially comforting after everything they had all gone through. Things were starting to feel somewhat calm again, though Reece felt an uneasiness that followed him wherever he went. The day ended without incident, as did the following day. The dreams seemed to come every night, and they continued to evolve. Luckily for Reece’s sanity, he only remembered bits and pieces of each one. They also didn’t seem to be getting any more intense. Reece praised the gods for that, despite not being particularly spiritual.

During this time, Thomas and Pasha began relaying disturbing reports from the ground. Both local and national news from across the globe began reporting on strange disturbances and odd behavior from large groups of people. The government explained much of it away with a story about a plot by the opposition parties of several countries.

The claim was that they had introduced genetically modified hallucinogenic mushrooms in the world’s food supply. They reassured their respective countries that they were taking steps to protect the food supply, and everything would soon return to normal. The opposition parties blamed the governments for manufacturing the crisis to consolidate power and enact martial law. No one on the station truly bought either explanation, so a general uneasiness set over the crew. No one talked about the possibility that it wasn’t mass hysteria and hallucinations.

Pasha Novak

The alternative was simply too horrific to consider. The politicians, the media of the world, and the station’s crew concentrated more on the back and forth name-calling and political maneuvering than what was truly happening on the ground. Reece had a bad feeling that this was a case of willful ignorance by just about everyone and the truth would turn out to be far worse than anyone imagined.

Scattered reports were coming in from amateur radio operators and some local news outlets that a plague was underway. A plague that was more than just hallucinations. A shiver ran up his spine at the implications. He steeled his will against the emotional assault on his thoughts. The words of his first drill instructor came to mind. “Maintaining a logical mind was essential to survival.”

“Whatever’s going on doesn’t matter right now,” Reece told himself, clinging to the sentiment. “There’s nothing I can do about it up here except to keep doing my job.”

Several weeks passed before Zhengzhou Station finally received an update from Ground Control. Reece was just finishing up his daily system checks when Aika approached him. He and Naeva decided they couldn’t remain attached at the hip for the entire time. For routine tasks where they weren’t put in compromising positions like working in an airlock or doing an EVA, they would work on their own and simply take extra caution in their activities.

“Danielson,” stated Aika curtly. “Rogers wants us all in control. Ground Control has an update for us.”

She turned and started heading out.

“Wait a second,” Reece called after her. “Could you help me stow my tools? I’ll walk back with you when we’re done.”

“Fine,” she curtly replied, returning to help him.

She began putting stray tools in his tool bag.

“Aika,” Reece spoke cautiously. “You’re obviously mad at me, so please tell me what’s wrong. Let’s clear the air between us.”

“Nothing’s wrong. Let’s just finish this up.”

Reece gently grabbed her elbow to stop her and looked her directly in the eye.

“Look,” said Reece. “I thought we got along great when I first came aboard, but now there’s clearly an issue between us. I want us to be friends, but you must speak with me. Tell me what’s wrong. Is it about what you found out with the AG diagnostics, and what I told you about Jared? Please, what’s bothering you?”

“You’re bothering me, alright,” Aika spat as she yanked her arm out of his grip. “Before, in the mess hall...I should never have spoken to you like that. I felt something, I thought you felt it too. Obviously, I was wrong. And now you and Naeva are keeping secrets. You don’t think that I could tell that you were keeping things from me? What you told me about Jared and Sora was obviously only a small part of a bigger picture. Now, please just leave me alone and forget it ever happened.”

She left Reece standing near the airlock, holding the tool bag and a screwdriver as she headed towards control. Reece finished up and rushed after her. When he arrived in control, she had beat him there and everyone was present.

“Good. Everyone’s here,” announced Rogers as he nodded at Thomas who nodded back.

“Ground Control,” stated Thomas into the intercom. “This is Zhengzhou Station, do you copy? Over.”

“We copy you, Zhengzhou Station. Over.” came the reply.

“Everyone’s assembled, what’s the big news? Over,” asked Thomas.

“Okay, listen very carefully,” came the response. “We believe all of you may be in danger, and there have been some major developments on the ground as well. After your return shuttle crashed, we couldn’t locate any of the crew. We believed their bodies must have been destroyed either in the explosion or upon re-entry. However, we started receiving reports in the area of small towns disappearing. All the townsfolk simply vanished.

There were also reports of crazy or drugged-up people attacking other people and committing unspeakable acts, including cannibalism. This was confirmed a couple of weeks ago by local authorities. The FBI and military were both called in and despite the manpower and artillery, they were overwhelmed as well. It appears as if some sort of infection is turning people into raving cannibals that don’t easily die and don’t seem to be afraid of anything.

Look. This is going to sound crazy, but it’s completely true. The word everyone down here is calling the infected people is ‘zombie’. I need you to understand that I’m not joking. Numerous field experiments indicate that these infected people are already dead by all practical definitions of the word. Yet they continue to move. Did you copy all that? Over.”

“This is Commander Rogers. What you are telling us sounds awful, and frankly, incredibly disturbing,” interrupted Rogers as he commandeered the comms from Thomas. “But how does that put us in danger?”

Thomas simply sat there slack-jawed from the conversation. Everyone on the crew looked shocked and worried. Reece found the commander’s response to be underwhelming. If Ground Control was telling the truth, the whole planet, everyone they knew, was in grave danger. The commander was taking the news far too well. Reece knew the others would want much more evidence before they completely believed what they were being told. Reece felt the same way as he listened to Ground Control’s response to the commander’s question.

“Well, while going through one of the earlier attacks that were put down, we came across one of your crew members who had turned into one of these...zombies.”

Everyone aboard the station gasped. Reece could see it on their faces, they were confused. They needed to believe that Ground Control would explain that it was a big misunderstanding. Reece knew it was going to take more than a few scattered news reports and conspiracy theories to convince them that there was a zombie contagion spreading across the Earth. Now that they had confirmation from Ground Control itself, Reece wondered which crew member they were about to describe.

“He had clearly been bitten several times, was missing a limb, and had been devouring a resident of one of the local police departments. It was obvious from his suit that he had come from the shuttle when we came across him. We were still able to make a positive identification. It was Solomon Kinkade, one of the members of your crew who was on the crashed shuttle.

We’ve spent the last four days trying to determine where the source of the outbreak occurred, and we were able to track it back to the shuttle. There were multiple sets of footprints leaving the shuttle in different directions. We lost the rest of the tracks in the swamp, but it was clear that one set had been tracked back to the first town that had been hit.

Now, although the source of the first outbreak was your shuttle, several days later there were dozens of other outbreaks across the globe. We’ve lost contact with most other governments. This is shaping up to potentially be an extinction-level event. We’ve deduced that this is being orchestrated by some unknown group and at least one of them is most likely still aboard your station. Again, the first instance of this outbreak originated from the shuttle that came from your station. Do you understand what I’m telling you? Over.”

The crew listened in numb silence as the voice on the ground continued to explain what was happening. The numbness slowly changed to agitation and worry from many of the crew while others remained in stony silence.

The icy prickly truth flowed through his veins, filling his body with awfulness. Disturbing thoughts bubbled up to the forefront of his mind. “His friends and family...the entire crew’s friends and families... Was there a safe place for any of them on a planet covered in this nightmare pandemic? His mom and dad...and Rhianna, his little sister... were they okay? Were they safe? What about Jake, Stephan, and Carly?”

Reece’s hands formed fists in frustration and anger. The time they needed him the most in all their lives and he was stuck in space. Looking around, he could see similar feelings playing across the faces of his fellow astronauts. And if the commander, Jared and the rest of their mystery group had anything to do with this...No, not now. Control. He had to maintain control over himself and check his emotions until he knew more and had a plan.

He breathed deeply, concentrating on the slow 'in and out' rhythm of the action. He knew he couldn’t help his family right now, but there were things that he could do. He needed to think logically, gather more information, and come up with a plan. Reece understood he’d be in a better position to help if he made smart decisions, not decisions based on raw emotions.

The savvy engineer also understood why Ground Control insisted on everyone being present for the briefing. If someone was part of this mystery group, their best bet was for everyone to find out what was going on at the same time. Reece suspected that this unknown group was the same one that the commander had just had him inducted into. It seemed extremely likely, and Reece really needed to find out for sure. His blood threatened to boil over, but he promised himself answers and if necessary, retribution.

The vow filled his body with an icy resolve that quenched his fury for the time being. He would bide his time. Besides, he was in no position to say or do anything right now anyway. It would just create the very chaos he was seeking to avoid, and it was unlikely that the outcome would favor him or whatever allies he may have.

“Thanks for the heads up,” replied Commander Rogers, who was acting strangely composed. “Does the government have this infection under control? How are you all holding up on the ground? Over.”

“To be honest, it doesn’t look good. Rather, it looks apocalyptically bad,” replied the voice from Ground Control. “We were hoping there may be some answers as to what this thing is within one of the labs on your station. We need you to understand, the government has evacuated the entire northern half of Florida and some parts of the surrounding states.

This area of the country is a warzone. Once the military realized small arms fire wasn’t slowing the spread down enough, they resorted to every conventional munition in our arsenal. Still, we’re going to have to abandon this facility within the next few days. That’s the best-case scenario. I don’t know when we’ll be able to contact you again, if ever. In my opinion, if you don’t hear from us, I’d try to stay up there as long as possible, if I were you. We’ll continue to provide updates for as long as we can. Over.”

“So, you’re telling us that we’re on our own now? Well, at least you told us, thanks for that…what was your name, bud? Over,” said the commander with a dark look on his face.

“Capt. Ivanson,” the man replied. “You’ll most likely either be hearing from me or Capt. Michael Singer. Over.”

“Copy that Captain. And thank you again for this information. Please keep us apprised of the situation for as long as you can. We’ll see what we can find out for you as well. Over.”

“We’d appreciate that. Good luck up there, and sorry about all of this. If we can find a way to stay in contact with you, we will. Keep in mind, you’re an asset... our eyes in the sky. We won’t abandon you lightly. Over and out.”

Commander Rogers turned towards the rest of the crew.

“You all heard that. Every one of you, take a breath. I need each of us to stay vigilant and not lose our cool. Yes, life just threw us a hook punch to the fair side of the face, but we’re all professionals and can work through this. The only thing up here that has changed is that one of us may not be what they seem. I’ll check the lab myself. Park, Becker,” ordered Commander Rogers as he nodded towards Stephanie. “Come with me. We should stay in groups of at least three. I want this console monitored at all times.”

The commander headed toward the bio lab with Sora and Stephanie in tow. Thomas was the first to speak.

“I’ll stay put. Anyone who wants to stay is welcome.”

Everyone stayed for a while. They needed time to process everything. When the commander and his two companions came back, they seemed empty-handed.

“Did you find anything?” asked Pasha.

“Nothing,” answered Rogers. “It seems like whoever is responsible cleaned up after themselves. The drawers were empty, the files were missing, and even the computers had been wiped clean.”

“Screw that,” exclaimed Pasha. “We’ve all got family on the ground. We need to get back to them.”

“You heard Ground Control as well as I. It isn’t safe,” replied the commander. “We don’t even know if the shuttles are safe. They may be sabotaged.”

“Are you saying that’s what happened to the Hermes?” asked Pasha. “You think the shuttle might have been sabotaged?”

“I don’t know, but it certainly seems likely. Look, for better or worse, we’re probably stuck up here for the long haul. We’d better learn to make the best of it.”

The crew grumbled and argued amongst each other. Each and every one of their lives had just been turned upside down and shook around for good measure. As they started to group up, the commander noticed a problem.

“We need to stay in groups of at least three for our own safety,” announced Rogers. “Naeva, you and Reece can’t stay by yourselves in the old officer’s quarters. It could potentially be a death sentence for one of you.”

“Actually commander,” piped up Stephanie. “Zia and I were thinking of bunking up there as well. That would make four of us. Would that be sufficient?”

“Okay, that should work. Very well, you four stick together.”

“Sir,” cut in Reece. “That’s fine, but there’s only one bed left in there and it’s damaged. I’ll need to either repair it, or the Beckers will need to grab a couple of cots.”

“How long would the repair take?” asked the commander.

“Only about an hour or two.”

“Okay. I’ll let you get to it.”

Reece and the three women headed off. In no time, he had their bed repaired and reinforced just like the one he and Naeva were sharing. They all decided to leave their room doors open for communal safety. The commander had insisted on it. They did lock the module’s hallway door. That meant the four of them were locked in there together. Naeva was suspicious of the female couple, so she and Reece took shifts sleeping. Reece thought the couple volunteering to stay in the module was a bit too convenient and timely. That made him suspicious as well.

With no word from Ground Control for several days, the crew fell into an uneasy routine of working in three-person crews to get their assignments completed. Thato and Naeva determined that their current supply of food plus the garden’s nominal output would provide enough food to last the current crew fifteen years if necessary. It seemed to be more than enough to go around.

Finally, six days after their last contact, Ground Control again contacted Zhengzhou Station. The crew was asked to gather once again. When they had all arrived; Pasha got on the intercom.

“Ground Control, we’re all here. Over.”

“Copy that, Zhengzhou. Okay...so, I hate to tell you all this, but we’re bugging out soon. We have no choice,” came a different voice from Ground Control. “Zed has overtaken all of Florida, and although the infected were bottle-necked at the entrances to the base and slowed down by an extremely liberal use of gunfire, the base is soon to be compromised. It’s all we can do to keep them from breaking down the fences. Once those go, everyone inside will be dead or a zed within the hour. Did you copy all of that? Over.”

Thomas interjected in confusion, “Where is Capt. Ivanson and Capt. Singer? And what’s a Zed? Over.”

“Zed, Z, zombie,” returned the voice. The man sounded annoyed by the question. “The captains have already left to set up a mobile command center. As I was saying, the rest of the world isn’t fairing any better. What little information we have paints a bleak picture. Zed has taken over most of the landmasses of the planet. It only took a few weeks. We’re being evacuated right now to an aircraft carrier just off the coast. Just about everyone left alive has escaped to ships, boats, and other water vessels. A small consolation seems to be that Zed can’t swim.

Look, we’ll be taking a lot of the comms equipment with us and the aircraft carriers are equipped with satellite communication antennas. Once we get settled and can rig up a new comms system, we’ll get back in touch with you. It may take a while, please be patient. Good luck Zhengzhou. We’ve got to go. Over and out.”

The comms link instantly cut out. Thomas tried reaching them again but there was no answer. Thomas turned to the rest of the crew.

“Looks like we’re on our own for a while.”

Everyone seemed resigned to the idea and they returned to their daily duties to stay busy while coming to grips with their current situation. They were all but abandoned, and the entire planet seemed to be overtaken by zombies. Their only consolation was that they were floating many kilometers above the surface and away from the chaos and horror. They weren’t in the thick of it. That was some small consolation. Their families were in the middle of an apocalyptic event, as was everyone else they knew. Once they finally returned to the planet, they all knew that it wouldn’t be the same place they had left.