The Breakdown

It all began with a sound.

At midnight, a week after the ship had arrived, Reem was woken by a sound she had never heard in her life: a red alarm siren wailing through every corridor of the station. Wee-oo... wee-oo... wee-oo...

She leapt out of bed and ran barefoot to the engineering room. There she found her mother, Commander Hala, standing in front of a big screen, her hair loose for once, her face pale in the red light. Around her were the engineers, and Dr Munir in his pyjamas, checking the pipes with a torch.

In the middle of the room stood the giant water recycler, the heart of the station, making strange noises: clunk... clunk... hisss... clunk... — and white smoke was pouring out of it.

"Mum, what's happened?" said Reem.

Her mother didn't turn round. She spoke in a very calm voice — the voice she used when she was frightened. "The main pump has burnt out. And the backup pump isn't running at full power."