The young boy pushed himself up and tucked his knees up under his chin as he wrapped his arms around his legs. He sat there for a moment rocking back and forth as his mind wandered to the memories of his family. No family was perfect, but as he sat there, he could for the life of him not remember on an instance when he hadn't loved the family he had been born into. The encouraging embrace of his mother when he felt down or the thoughtful, yet somewhat longwinded explanations his father would give to the simplest of questions. His brother and sister, they had been his best friends, even though they mostly got on his nerves. They've always had each other's back. It had only been hours since he had seen them last and now, he would never see them again.

Denton wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeve. His eyes wandered to the closed access door in front of him, his hand reaching out to touch it. It was cold to the touch, and he immediately withdrew his hand. He knew enough about space to know there was no life on the other side anymore, only the cold silence of near absolute zero and the emptiness of space. Somewhere on the other side, his family had been waiting for him. He suppressed the urge to continue sobbing and instead took a deep, quivering breath and got up to his feet. 

Around him, a crowd of red and teary eyes stared off into the distance. Some sat on the floor; others leaned up against the walls. A couple held each other tightly while weeping silently on each other's shoulders. They were all vacationers, regular people like himself. They had come here to have a good time. Just like him, they had rushed towards the hab modules when the alarm sounded and just like him, they had been cut off from their loved ones.

Denton's eye caught a swirling gray shadow by one of the lights above him. His heart skipped a beat. Smoke, it was smoke. His eyes darted around the immediate area in an attempt to identify the source. It just seemed to be seeping through the ceiling tiles, slowly descending over the oblivious collection of passengers. As if on cue, some of those around him began to cough. At first, it was just one or two. Then others joined in. Some doubled over on the floor, others collapsed on their hands and knees, retching from the acrid smoke.

Denton dropped down into a kneeling position. He had to stay low and get out of there. His fingers reached out one final time to touch the access door and whispered a silent goodbye. A lonely tear escaped his eyes and made its way down his cheek before he turned and pushed his way through the crowd, away from the door.

As he squeezed between bodies convulsing from the increasingly thick smoke, he found it difficult to stay low. The smoke was starting to irritate his nostrils. It wouldn't be long before he joined the others in a coughing fit if he didn't make it out of there soon.

He wracked his mind for the emergency protocols they had all been briefed on when they arrived. They had practiced several emergency drills covering likely emergency scenarios, including what to do, where to go and when to go where. All the hab modules of the station had their own evacuation pods, he remembered, but if anyone was unable to return to their assigned hab module from the central hub, the lower decks of the central hub also contained backup evacuation pods. That's where he needed to go. First, out of the tunnel and back to the central hub. Then, find the stairs to the lower decks. Hopefully, there would still be room for him.

Backtracking his steps turned out to be a greater challenge than he anticipated. As he exited the tunnel and entered common areas with the shops and restaurants, he saw a scenario not unlike what he had experienced by the access door to the hab module. Many were crying on the floor, holding each other. Others sat on chairs and benches, looking around as if confused. Some, just as Denton, had remembered the emergency protocols and were heading for the lower decks. 

He pushed past the empty restaurants and felt a sinking feeling inside as he saw the crowded stairs leading to the lower decks. How would they all fit? Would there be enough evacuation pods? He hesitated, unsure of what to do. Should he fight his way through or find another set of stairs? It was likely they would all be as busy as this one. 

It was only as shouts and screams rose from the bottom of the stairs that he realized the crowd wasn't moving down the stairs. It was only a matter of seconds before the message had been relayed up the stairs to everyone waiting. The gates to the floor below were closed. There was no way to get through.

Denton felt sweat running down his forehead as his mind raced. Now what? Where could he go? Should he try one of the other paths to the lower decks or would they also be closed? The passengers around him apparently had similar thoughts. Within seconds, the crowd had dispersed and disappeared in the general direction of the next set of stairs. Denton had a horrible feeling that if the gates to these stairs were closed, the others would be as well.

He looked around frantically. There had to be another way. He swallowed hard as he saw the smoke from the access tunnel seep into the common areas. It was only a matter of time before everyone assembled there would be on the floor coughing. He was determined not to become one of them. 

His eyes settled on one of the abandoned restaurants as he remembered a tour given to the youth of the resort. The resort, besides being a vacation retreat, also tried to provide an educational purpose for their visitors where possible. One of the tours for their younger visitors was a behind the scenes look at the logistics of running a restaurant that daily had to feed thousands of people. Besides being bored to death, he remembered that each restaurant had separate access to the lower floors that contained the storage units utilized by the restaurants. He felt a flutter of hope rising inside.

Denton jumped over an overturned table and ran into Bob's Galactic Bistro. He stepped over pushed over chairs, plates and other utensils spread over the floor. The door to the kitchen was wide open, the kitchen itself empty. Towards the back of the kitchen, he spotted the Personnel Only sign. That was it, the door he was looking for. 

With renewed hope and half a dozen steps, he was at the door and ripped it open. On the other side, the cargo elevator lobby and stairwell that led up and down throughout the central hub was strangely quiet. He quickly descended the steps and burst through the door on the next floor. It opened directly into a storage room. Containers of food and other items had been knocked off shelves and piled all over the floor. The stench was already overbearing.

It dawned on him that the most likely location of the evacuation pods would be at the very bottom. He took the remaining steps two at a time until he reached the landing at the very bottom.  The door had Emergency Evac painted on it in large red letters. He smiled between breaths and then grabbed the door handle and pulled.

Inside, he was greeted by flashing red emergency lights and a soft voice urging everyone to proceed to their evacuation pods for immediate departure. Straight ahead of him was a long corridor that branched off on both sides at regular intervals. That's where the evacuation pods were accessed, he remembered. He took a few steps towards the nearest tunnel and was just about to step into the nearest evacuation pod when he remembered. The other passengers. They were trapped upstairs. He had to open the doors.

He gave the evacuation pod a longing look, then started up the nearest access ramp. If he could get the door opened quickly enough, maybe he could help save the majority of those trapped above him. His plan was thwarted by a massive explosion that threw him back down the ramp. He landed in a heap at the bottom. An unbearable heat rushed down from above as he saw flames lick the top of the evacuation ramp.

Denton scrambled backward as quickly as he could, away from the heat. In the corner of his eyes, he saw similar fires at other entrances to the floor. The fire must have spread quicker than he anticipated. He gasped in horror as he realized that all of those that had been trying to get through the gates on the restaurant and shopping floor were trapped by the fire. They would never make it down to the evacuation pods.

He stumbled to his feet and rushed over to the stairwell he had used moments ago. He put his hand on the handle to open it and yelled as he quickly pulled his hand back, burnt by the now scorching metal handle. He grimaced and blew instinctively on his hand while he stepped away from the door, stumbled and landed on the floor with a grunt. Smoke was seeping through the edges around the door. The fire was everywhere. Not only were his fellow passengers blocked from getting down to the evacuation pods, but now he also had no way out. He was trapped.

There was only one choice left. He got back to his feet and ran to the closest side corridor. Without hesitation, he dove into the oval opening of the nearest pod and landed on the floor.

The smoke had already reached the pods. Denton could smell it. He sat up and looked over his shoulder. The door, he had to close the door. His eyes scanned the wall around the door. There, a red button that said CLOSE right above it. He stumbled to his knees and whacked the button with his hand. Nothing happened. He tried again, and again. The door refused to close.

He jumped to his feet, his breathing rapidly, and stumbled over to the next pod. The same thing happened again. The door wouldn't close. Denton looked back down the tunnel that connected the pods to the central corridor. The flames of the fire were visible, and the heat had increased. The lights flickered while the voice over the intercom now was garbled as the speakers were warped by the heat. There was no going back.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself as his heart attacked the inside of his chest with renewed fervor. With no other choice, he scrambled to the next pod and collapsed on the floor with relief as the door to the pod shut, as designed. 

A voice urged him to strap himself in and prepare for departure. He climbed into the closest chair and strapped himself in and then let out a sigh of relief. A countdown appeared on a screen at the front of the oval pod. When the count reached zero, Denton felt himself being pushed against his restraints as the pod was ejected from the resort.

The countdown timer was replaced by a holographic projection. A male figure bowed and flashed a smile. "Welcome to the Tranquility Haven evacuation pod, model Mark VI. Right now, the worst has happened, and you have been forced to evacuate your vacation getaway. I apologize profusely for the inconvenience, but I would also like to urge you not to be alarmed. Your evacuation pod is well supplied and will keep you safe, alive and comfortable until rescue services arrive. I hope that one day you will once again trust Forsythe Vacation Enterprises with your business. I am Jonythan Forsythe, and I wish you Godspeed."

~~~

Denton's past is back to haunt him again. Is this just another dream? Is he critically injured? What's so important about Tranquility Haven?