unstable expedition 2

pt. 1 https://pastebin.com/j81r9nCF

Though surface temperatures were climbing, the storm was reducing. Windspeed was down to gusts of 10 miles per hour, and the rain began to calm. Janet, a hearing-aided Carol, and Emily disembarked the rover to get a better look at the base. Most of the dome-like structure of the base had been covered in dirt and tarp, though the explosion had torn the tarp off of one side and it flapped around in the wind. There were two airlocks, one on the top of the habitat, and one on the side of the base facing the landing pad.

"You know, I told you we built the landing pad too close to the base," Bob said on the radio, to no one in particular as the group neared the bottom airlock. The display on the airlock controller was busted, so Emily tried the manual release on the door. The door fell down to the ground in front of him when he did so.

"Well that's torn it," Janet said, "we can't use this airlock," and she looked up the muddy slope to the top airlock. She began to climb up, as Emily and Carol just watched. Janet slipped down the slope and fell backwards. Emily began to laugh, until she caught a sharp look from Carol.

"What if we tried the other side, it still has tarp," Carol said.

"I don't think that'd work, it's still wet, it'd be just as slippery," Janet said, brushing mud off of her space suit.

"We could try to go and find the staircase that was mounted up there and put it back up?" Emily suggested.

"I have an idea," Carol said, "hoist me up onto the roof of the broken airlock."

Emily did so, and Carol crawled up onto the air not-so-locked. She jumped forward onto the gentler slope further up the dome and crawled through the mud until she reached the airlock. The airlock controller was also busted here, but when she pulled the manual release, she was able to push open the door and enter the airlock. She closed the door, and the lights flickered on. The airlock controller inside was functional, and she cycled through and entered the base. Carol climbed down the stairs and, when she was sure enough that the air inside was breathable, she opened her space suit visor and scratched her nose.

"Anyone around?" Carol asked. It was quiet, save for the humming of the ventilation system. The red alarm lights were flashing, and she found that the bulkheads between the main habitation hemisphere and the greenhouse, broken airlock, and external habitat were all slammed shut. She confirmed that the space suit storage locker, between the bulkhead and the interior airlock door, was airtight, and she opened the bulkhead emergency hatch and went through it. She waved through the internal window towards her comrades.

"The storage locker is safe, we can use it as an airlock to get Marty inside," Carol said, and Janet relayed this to Kevin in the rover. Carefully, he and Bob in their space suits carried Kevin out of the rover and up to the broken airlock door. When Carol was convinced enough that the air wouldn't leak through the bulkhead, she opened the airlock door, and the hot, mildly toxic, and high pressure atmosphere rushed in to fill the room. Some of the toxic atmosphere would make its way into the habitat atmosphere when she opened the bulkhead hatch, but the ventilation system would filter that out soon enough that it wouldn't be a problem to the others if they were still alive in the base. Kevin and Bob set Marty down in the storage locker, and Bob shut the airlock door behind him.

"Be careful, the air pressure drop might puff up your suit suddenly, and we might have to deal with the Bends," Kevin said. Carol tried to open the emergency hatch in the bulkhead slowly, but the air forced it open quickly and all eight ears popped painfully.

Kevin and Bob, wincing from the pressure change, picked Marty up and brought him through the hatch. Carol went through and found some rope to help the others up through the top airlock.

Once inside, Janet went to find the others. She found them in the emergency bunker, still all hiding out. Sara was reading a book on her tablet, Scott was trying to send a transmission outside, and the twins Morgan and Ray were playing with some toys. Scott stood up and ran over to greet Janet when she opened the bunker door. "Janet, thank goodness you're here! We've been trying to reach you for hours, we thought you were done for!"

"The storm blew over the radio mast, and it's taken a while to figure out how to safely get back inside," Janet said.

"What happened out there? Is everyone alright?" Scott said. Sara and the twins looked up.

"Marty is badly injured, Carol less so. And we have worse news." Scott's smile turned into a frown as Janet said this.

"What is it?" Scott said. The teenagers watched Janet nervously.

"The rocket is gone."

"G... gone? Gone like how?" Sara said. Janet looked to Sara, then Scott.

"The launch vehicle blew over in the wind, and it exploded," Janet said. Scott and the children lost their jaws.

"You mean... we're..." Ray started, "Stuck here?" Morgan finished.

"There is another launch vehicle at the low orbit dock. But without the radio mast, we can't possibly retrieve it," Janet said. Scott frowned at Janet, then looked at the children, then back at Janet.

"I'm so glad you're all safe," Scott said. He looked back at the children and feigned a smile, "Come on kids, I'm sure your parents will be happy to see you." Sara stood up, and when the twins had gathered up their toys, the three of them followed Scott to see Emily and Carol.

"Did you two behave yourself while we were on our expedition?" Emily asked the twins.

"Yes!" Ray said, "No!" Morgan said, smiling. Emily only smirked and picked up her boys.

Sara went to hug Carol. "I love you," Sara said. Carol just hugged her tighter. "How is Marty?" Sara asked.

"Kevin hasn't come back out yet," Carol said, and she frowned. "He was still unconscious when we brought him to the medical lab. But Kevin's a good doctor..."

"I hope Marty is alright," Sara said.

"Me too," said Carol.

pt. 3: https://pastebin.com/4dvbNYuC