Space DogS

The air stank of sweat and 'people', but the occupants had long got past the point of caring. 

"Hail them again" whispered the semi-conscious space suited woman. She was in her late forties, Asian, gaunt with chapped lips caused by the air conditioner sucking the moisture from the vehicle. She tried licking her lips before speaking again, but it was no use. "Hail them again" she repeated.

A man looked at her through barely opened eyes. "Water first." he croaked. 

The woman passed him a plastic bottle with a solid plastic straw sticking out from the hole in the top. He sipped and wet his dry lips. Chi Lu nodded in appreciation and handed the bottle back. "Thank you Su Shan"

He reached for the radio transmitter console pressed a button and said "This is the Chin exploratory vehicle requesting aid from Eden. We have been quarantined in this vehicle for six days now. No sign of contagion. We are low on water, power and food. Please respond." The radio displayed static. Eden had stopped responding yesterday, probably in the hope they would return to their own base - which was the top and bottom of the last communication they had had.

"Damn them." he whispered after he shut off comms. "No response Su Shan" A pointless remark, but he would follow protocol and complete his orders.

She did not give any response to indicate how she felt. 

"Su Shen, we need to go back. We have enough fuel, but if we sit here any longer we will run out of water." Chi Lu croaked. It did not take long for the few sips of water to be sucked out again by the air conditioner. 

Su Shen looked at Chi Lu for a few seconds then glanced out the window at Eden base. She saw lights and imagined the occupants hiding from them. They could have done something even with the contagion. If they had left food and water outside their base, they could have picked it up and survived a bit longer.

Eight trapped in this space rover. Eight from a complement of Chin's eighty explorers. The other six had been placed in an enforced sleep to conserve strength. They had not heard from their main base Chin for three days. They had been on a reconnaissance mission when the contagion struck the base. As a precaution they had stayed in the space rover until the all clear, but it did not come, so they had sort help from their neighbours. 3 days to get here and 3 days waiting. 

"Ok" she whispered. She gestured to the comm link. Chi Lu handed over the comm. 

"This is Su Shen. We are heading back to Chin. Your help has been noted." She replayed the message to the Eden and Chin comms satellites, so everybody on Earth would know the score. "At least our family will know what happened to us." she thought.

The engines were started and the rover headed back to Chin.