Occupational Hazard

• Zane Teh, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2016

“…3…2…1… and LIFTOFF!” The roar of the rocket booster shakes the cockpit, immediately I feel the force of the acceleration, as it felt like something really heavy just fell on me. The crew and I sat there, feeling this crushing force on us for about 9 minutes. Then, it all went away, and so did my weight! My dream had come true! Now all we had to do was wait a few hours until we rendezvous with the new space station, the ‘United Australian Space Station’, one of the newest generations of space stations to orbit the earth in 2030.
The hours pass and we arrive, as I open the door all I could say was, “magnificent”. Everything inside was new and bright, I rushed to a window as quickly as I could and caught a glimpse of the Earth. It was beautiful! Looking at the big blue and green ball from so high up, it’s breathtaking. But I had little time to continue gazing at it, my first mission was about to begin. I suit up and exit the station, I was tasked to install some new technology and components on the exterior of the station. As I float out there installing the parts, I look out into the infinite darkness that surrounded half of me.
I get so lost in its never ending awesomeness that I don’t realise I’ve let go of one of the parts! It slowly floats away about 5 metres before I realise. I desperately try to reach for it, but I can’t get it unless I float away from the space station. I inform one of my crew members to be ready to reel me in, as I would be detaching from the exterior. He grabs the cable attached to my suit, and then, I let go. Ever so steadily headed for the part, “I got it! Pull me in”. He gently reels in the cable, both of us, unaware of the danger coming right for me. I hear a distressed voice coming from my earpiece “watch out!”, I look up and to my surprise, there was one of those new high orbiting satellites coming right for me!
Thankfully, to my elite training, I don’t panic, but that doesn’t prevent me from being hit. The satellite smacks me with incredible force, breaking the cable between me and the station. Now I’m panicking. There were lots of distressed voices now, all saying similar things, mostly asking about my well-being. I recover from the stun the satellite gave me and instantly feel that my arm was broken. I manage to grab hold of the end of the space station with my good arm. I waited there until one of my crew members came to my rescue. While out there, I thought about what all the stupid media headlines were going to talk about, and the interviews I would be in. I thought about an answer to their questions, “It was just an occupational hazard, nothing more”.