She cut out and re-opened her mic to Muobo. “Hey there buddy. You still hangin in there?”
It took half a second of agony before he replied. “Aaaiinnntt hanggin. Yyou ggot me sssttrapped innn, rememmmemmbbber?”
She was too scared to laugh. His teeth chattering was both good and bad. It was a sign that he hadn't reached the danger point yet and his muscles were all still working. But they still had a ways to go, and she couldn't remember now what temperature the emergency bubble kept you at. Was it 5 degrees Celcius? Or less? And how long would he be alright at near freezing?
She quickly pushed those thoughts away and concentrated on her flying...and on keeping Muobo conscious.
“Hey there. I hear rumors that Chen keeps a bottle of brandy in his cabin. Bet you get some for this little incident, you old dog.”
“Lllliiarrr. Thhattt cccodddggerrr wwwoulddn'tt bbbeenddd a rule ttto ssssave hisss sssoul.”
His teeth were chattering so voilently she was afraid he'd need to have his enamel regrown when they got back to Earth. If they got... She cut that thought off fast.
“Course some people wonder if he even has a soul.” She heard laughter at this and it was a good sign.
“We'eeeevve ththoughttt the ssssame aboutttt yyyou.”
“Hey watch it! I could just drop you off at the chimney and let you do some more research....by feel.”
There was a long pause and she didn't know if he was offended, or unconscious. It couldn't be that bad yet...could it?”
“Nnnoo ressearch. I'm tired. Wake me up when we get there, will ya?”
Now the alarm bells were blaring full force in her brain. She checked her chronometer. They'd only been at it for 20 minutes.
“You are not going to sleep!” she shouted. Heart rate or no. She was going to keep that guy alive if it killed him. Then she glossed over that thought.
“Hey..... Ggive me a warning bbbefore you do that.”
He definitely sounded sluggish. Already going as fast as she dared, she pushed the throttle a pinch more hoping to cut down a couple minutes. The barren Plutonian landscape raced beneath them with the barely visible rectangles flying past in a blur.
“Muobo. Hey. What's the readout on your vitals out there.”
Silence
“Hey. HEY!”
“Wwha? Is that you Yolanda? Hey cut it out. I'm tryin to sleep.”
“Listen! What are the first signs of oncoming hypothermia?”
There was a long pause. “Um...ssshivering. Body trying to keep warm. Um...cold uh
extrem...extremities. Cccore temperature drop.”
He definitely sounded groggy. “And what's YOUR core temperature?”
“Um...oh crap. It's 35 degrees Celsius.”
There was little emotion in his voice and she was tempted to try for more power from the motors.
But just then she saw a glint of faint light in the distance. This time she didn't care to turn off her inter-mic.
“Yolanda to Sphinx! Yolanda to Sphinx!”
“I read you Dr. Delgado. How far are you?” Chen's voice actually showed emotion for only the second time in the trip.
“We're about one-quarter kilometer and closing fast. He's still conscious, but it's looking dicey.”
“Alright Yolanda. I know this is frightening. But I want you to try to calm down. You wont help Muobo by crashing the IEV into the ship. Wont help the rest of us either. Take it in nice and careful. We've got hot water and blankets all ready on the floor. Just get to the airlock.”