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[b][i]Space Station Gold Dawn: In orbit over Earth:[/b][/i]

The space station Gold Dawn had been the brainchild of billionaire industrialist Richard Midas, who had used his company, Midas Industries and it’s vast resources to make the station a reality. The Gold Dawn was the first of its kind, a private space station that eclipsed the International Space Station in size and technological advancements, one of which, was an artificial gravity generator which provided the station with Earth-like gravity in all areas of the station, except for the zero gravity laboratories which was home to some of the most extensive experiments in genetics and pathology ever conducted. The results of the experiments conducted in zero gravity had been unprecedented. In fact, with the advancements made in such a short period of time aboard the space station, there was a strong belief that if things continued to progress as they had, they would eradicate diseases such as cancer within five years. 

Though, not everyone was as thrilled with the potential that space station possessed as her creators were. Big pharmaceutical companies had attempted unsuccessfully to get the project shut down, as did some of Midas’ rivals who saw the space station as a threat to their own prosperity. Despite their best efforts, the Gold Dawn continued its mission undeterred. 

Sitting in his office, Dr. Jenson Weiss was looking over the latest results of one of the many experiments that were being conducted simultaneously in the zero gravity labs. As he looked over the latest results from the M-34 project, a project funded in part by the Pentagon to create a new breed of so-called super soldier. If the results from the latest tests were to hold up upon further testing, the project would be ready to move into the human testing phase.

As Dr. Weiss took notes on the latest findings, there came a knock on his door. Hating the distraction, the doctor cursed under his breath before responding to the sudden intrusion.

“Come in.” He called, his voice ringing with irritation. 

As the door opened, Dr. Weiss saw that the one who had had the audacity to interrupt him was his colleague Dr. Amanda Bisson. As Dr. Bisson entered his office, his demeanor softened. Dr. Bisson had been his protégé since he had been her genetics professor at Stanford University some 10 years prior. 

“Yes Amanda?” Dr. Weiss said as his colleague sat down across the desk from him.

“You wanted to see me?” Dr. Bisson stated questioningly.

“Ah yes. I wanted to discuss some of these findings with you.” Dr. Weiss said as he began to go over some of the findings that he had just been examining moments before.

[center]***[/center]

Deep within the bowels of the space station Gold Dawn, someone makes his way into the restricted section of the space station which houses the components for the vital systems which keeps the enormous structure functioning. 

“Dr. Thomas, you don’t have the clearance to be here.” A voice called behind the man.

Dr. James Thomas turned to face the man who had confronted him. 

“I’m sorry Scotty, Dr. Weiss asked me to come check the life support systems.”

“Dr. Weiss sent you?” the security officer asked, unsure of exactly what was going on. “I’ll just have to verify that. You know you’re not supposed to be down here without-“

The security officer was not able to finish before the doctor produced a small firearm and silenced him. Dr. Thomas found the act that he had just committed, as well as the act that he was about to commit tasteless and vile, however he knew that he had little choice. 

Dr. Thomas had been a leading pioneer in cancer research over the last 20 years, which had earned him a comfortable position as an advisor to Gene.Co, whose own pharmaceutical wing had great interest in cancer research, as well as research into a large number of debilitating diseases, and stood to lose a fortune should a cure be implemented. 

Dr. Thomas had been honored when he had been asked to be a part of the mission aboard the Gold Dawn, however the jubilation that he felt at being selected soon turned to dread. He learned that someone at Gene.Co had pulled a number of strings in order to get him placed on the space station, and that his mission aboard the Gold Dawn was far different from that of her crew. As a scientist, his mission pained him, and as a human being it tormented him. Regardless of his misgivings, he had to do it, for his family. 

He learned of his true mission the morning that he boarded the shuttle which was to bring the crew to the Gold Dawn. That morning, he had been informed by a member of the Gene.Co board that they had taken certain measures to ensure that he do as they wanted. His family was being held captive, and unless he did exactly what they wanted, they would be tortured, and they would be killed. The only chance that they had was for him to complete this one simple task.

Dr. Thomas made his way into the control room and made a straight line for the computer console that controlled the major systems aboard the station. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small device no larger than a button battery and placed it on the console. After hitting a small button on the upward facing side of the device, a series of red lights flashed in a circular pattern around the outer edge of the device. After a few seconds, the lights stopped flashing and a solid red light encircled the device. 

Dr. Thomas quickly said a pray asking forgiveness for what he was about to do, then produced a small detonator from his pocket. He hit the switch, and the last thing he saw was a bright flash of light as he was instantly incinerated along with the rest of the control room.

[center]***[/center]

Dr. Weiss felt the station shudder beneath him. Almost instantly, the lights flickered and then went out, leaving the entire station in total darkness, not even the emergency backup lights gave any relief to the darkness.

“What’s happening?” Dr. Bisson asked with terror in her voice.

“I’m not su-“ Dr. Weiss was cut off by a secondary explosion which knocked both he and Dr. Bisson from their feet.

Another series of small explosions rocked the Gold Dawn, killing a number of the crew, and threatening to break an entire laboratory wing off of the station, which would then cause anyone in the vicinity to be sucked out into the vacuum of space.

Finally the explosions stopped and the shaking of the station stopped. Dr Weiss lay there in his office for a moment, unsure whether he was dead or alive. Finally, Dr. Weiss decided that the ringing in his ears was proof enough that he was, in fact alive, and he needed to do something fast if he wished to remain that way. However, he was suddenly aware that the artificial gravity had been knocked out in the blast, as he felt the sensation of weightlessness. Panic began to set in because he knew that if the artificial gravity had been knocked out, so had the life support systems. He did a quick calculation in his head and realized that there was only enough oxygen in the station to last several minutes, assuming that there hadn’t been a breach in the stations hull which would make the supply of oxygen within the station significantly less than he had estimated. 

“Amanda, are you alright?” Dr. Weiss asked, sudden panic creeping into his voice.

“Yeah, I’m okay…I think.” She replied quietly. 

“The life support systems are down, as well as everything else. We need to get to the docking bay now and get into the spacewalk suits.” He calmly explained. 

“Okay, let’s get going then.” Dr. Bisson agreed.

Dr. Weiss guided himself to his desk and began blindly rummaging through the drawers until he fount what he was looking for, an LED flashlight that he kept in the top drawer in the event that he ever needed it. Once he had turned it on, he silently led the way out of his office down the corridor toward the docking bay.

Silently, the doctors floated down the long corridor, each breath becoming increasingly difficult to come by. With their lungs burning, the rounded the final corner before the docking bay, and found that the large blast door was closed, and with the system failure, the door was impossible to open. 

Dr. Weiss floated in place for a long moment, looking at the closed door which had sealed their fate not in anger or even fear. Instead, he looked at the door knowing that the inevitable would soon be upon them both. Finally he looked to Dr. Bisson, and with sadness in his eyes, he reached out and took her hand.

“I’m so sorry, Amanda.” He said simply.

She nodded to him in the dim glow of the flashlight, and with a tear in her eye she simply said 

“It’s alright, we tried.”

She gripped his hand tightly, and together they floated in the empty corridor, praying that there would be a miracle and that the heavy door would open, or better yet, the life support systems would suddenly become functional again. However, they both knew that it would never happen. So they floated there together, waiting for the inevitable, even as the space station slowly began to fall out of orbit.