Days. I’m sure I’ve been floating here for days. Every time I use my asteroid-hit thrusters, my Craft goes in circles. And when I send out my S.O.S., I receive nothing but silence.
I counted my emergency rations. I’m good for a week or two. A typical Craft comes with a month's worth. Mom always told me “Stock up, stock up.” But I just had to live on the edge, didn’t I?
I ate a few of the rations since my belly felt like it was caving in. It was like eating cardboard. But cardboard is better than starving to death.
My only hope is Earth’s convoy ships. I have to think long-term. Earth usually sends out a convoy every few months for routine exploration. They frequently try to make contact with “intelligent species.” They haven’t succeeded yet but that doesn’t stop the Earthlings from trying.
That is my plan A. To survive on Menia Craft long enough for a convoy ship to find me. Mother Universe, I hate this feeling–this feeling of a little Black damsel. I can be floating here for either a few minutes or a few months trying to wait for a ship to find me.
So, now my mission is to stretch these two-week rations to an unknown number of months. Possibly a year. And I’ve already gone through a half in a few days . . .
I’ve got to put my brain to the test. “Time to pick your afro,” is what my dad always used to say. Today’s mission: Farm food and water. Earth did it on Mars for an entire civilization, so I can do it here in Menia, right?
I’m not giving up on me. I will survive.
.
.
.
Thinking out loud.
What do I already have? Two weeks of rations, that includes one supply jug of water. My rations include packaged jerked mystery meat, instant coffee, canned bread, canned fudge cake, fingerling potatoes, and peanut butter. The rations come with a portable ration heater.
Okay, what do I need? I need a water source. And dirt. The only thing I can actually grow are these potatoes. Thank Mother Universe for my mother who insisted I threw them in here.
For my water source, I need condensation. And a lot of it. So I’ve got to get warm air to hit a cool surface. Fortunately, Menia Craft has a heating and cooling system. That’s one good thing it came with.
Water is being recycled through the heating and cooling system. It’s not a lot but it is enough for what I’m thinking. I’ll fill a pot with a bit of cold water from the cooling system. Then blow hot air on it from the heating system. I’ll tie a plastic bag around the bottom of the pot and wait for the condensation. It wouldn’t make a lot of water but it’ll be enough to drink a little each day until a convoy ship finds me.
Water: check. I have to figure out my food situation. I can grow these potatoes but I need dirt.
I have this idea but . . .
No. It’s too gross.
But, it’s life or death.
I have these bags for waste. For lack of a better term, they’re shitbags. I can, well, shit in a bag and put a potato in there. I’d have to wash them real good before eating them or else I’ll get all types of bacteria in my mouth. And that wouldn’t be fun. Dirt: check.
I have food and water now. It’s not a solid solution but one good enough until I’m rescued.
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