In which doom is finally stopped.


    If there’s no sound in space, can anyone hear a Karnakian laugh like a mad kookaburra? Yes, yes, they can. And by they I mean those whose job is to keep watch over their field engineers out in space: mission control.


    Kr’Re’Ki and her comm-squad flinched at the sudden outburst from Head of Engineering, Mk’Kre, as he finished his latest activity outside Reseach Station #DX192, his laugh a clear mixture of boisterous confidence and madness.


    “|HAHAHA WE DID IT.|” Said Mk’Kre, his voice somewhat muffled by his tight space suit. “|GEISERFUCKERS, WE DID IT.|”


    “|Mk’Kre, language!| Said Kr’Re’Ki, looking at her fellow Karnakian from her console. |This is an official record, remember?|”


    “|Says the pebble to the stone.|” The engineer was now floating in between a large net-like structure, directing a team of fellow (and likewise enthusiastic) engineers. “|Oi, [Dregr], start installing the next one over there, this area is done.|”


    “|You know I don’t swear on the job.|” Said Kr’Re’Ki.


    “|But you go on calling everyone by their cutie names, sis. Same result, different technique.|”


    Kr’Re’Ki could feel her brother’s smugness through the comm-bead (and so could the others). “|Ok, you got me there, Mikypoo~|” She made sure to use an awfully sweet tone, to the mental applaud and audible giggling of the (mostly) female comm-squad.


    “|Kr’Re’Ki, what gives?|” Mk’Kre deflated his ego. “|I was having a moment here.|”


    “|You sure did.|” Kr’Re’Ki begun idling in her comm station, feigning pity. “|If only you had remembered to share your joy with us, instead of just laughing mad…|”


    “|Share with you? Are you not seeing this?|” The floating engineer turned to look at the drone recording their work, gesturing to everything around him. “|Hellooo? What part of this does not look fantastic to you?|”


    On their consoles, the comm-squad could see the near completion of a station-wide net-like structure neatly surrounding the entire space station, the only uncovered parts left being where their ship, Starbinder, was still anchored. Looks good, they nodded to themselves. But, Kr’Re’Ki was still not sure why her brother was so psyched up about it, since the structure looked (in her eyes) the same as it did a few weeks ago.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    “|You, uh, gave it a new paint coat?|” Ventured Kr’Re’Ki, and her teammates chuckled.


    “|Sure, sis.|” Mk’Kre floated back to the nearest welded union between net and (smol) station. “|We gave it a nice new paint coat, some high quality wax for that shiny finish, and we put one of those dice thingies they love to hang on windshields. How about that for service?|” Now the engineering team chuckled.


    “[Sounds good to me.]” Said a female voice calmly. “[Think you could get me one of those dice thingies too, [Mk’Kre]?]”


    “|Ah, hello, Captain. Good day.|” Mk’Kre’s professionalism returned just a bit. “|Sure thing, I got them in red and blue. Which one you want?|”


    “[Red is nice…]” Captain Arasha’Ssabi took a sip from a drink. “[Now, about that work you are doing, I take it you have some exciting news for me since [Kr’Re’Ki] got me on call?]”


    “|You bet your pretty scales I do.|” Mk’Kre’s confidence and pride suddenly boosted through the roof. “|Remember those materials that arrived a week ago? The ones I kept pestering you about?|”


    “[Ye-]”


    “|Those exactly!|” The engineer began to gesture wildly as if selling towels on tv. “|Well, thanks to our ingenuity and relentless pursuit against all things fucked up, me and my team have finally achieved the impossible, Captain: we have made #DX192 strong enough to travel.|” There was a collective eyebrow rise of “suuure”. “|Now I know what you are thinking, “but, Mk’Kre, how can you say that when this deathtrap looks exactly the same as it did a week ago?”, and to that I say exactly.|


    His captive audience was puzzled now.


    “|The norm was at least one case of minor structural damage per day -if not something worse-, which made this mess of a station one big game of “seek-and-replace” up until a week ago, when we reinforced all the main support structures -and then some- with our solution and, huzzah! No more self-destruction for this wackjob!|” He gave a few playful taps to a random metal plate.


    At that moment, the Captain and mission control realized the implication in his words, and how accostumed they had become to the station’s constant implosion that they willfully ignored when it wasn’t doing it. “[Surely you jest.]” Said the Captain serious.


    “|Nope, I’m 100% sure of it. And who’s Shirley?|” Said Mk’Kre.


    “[[Mk’Kre], do you have any evidence for this-]”


    “|Sis, would you do me the honor?|” He sent a file to Kr’Re’Ki before the captain could finish, and she immediately shared it for all the team to see, displaying a graph of the repair work done to #DX192 since their arrival. “|I double-checked our sensors a week ago and today, and my team has done routine inspections through the entire station checking for old and new damage, they have reported none.|” Hope was beginning to grow amongst the audience. “|Based on this report, I calculate that the station will be ready for transport by next week, now that we don’t have to use 80% of our resources just trying to keep it afloat.|” Suddenly, Mk’Kre lunged for the camera drone keeping track of his work, getting close enough to let it record his grinning face as it struggled to remain near the station. “|How’s that for some good news, Starbinders? Can ya feel the sunshine?|”


    There was a brief pause.


    Then the crowd went wild.