14.8K words. 14.8! These are supposed to be 3K, tops.
March 12
Three full days have passed since Aldini and Janusz disappeared. All of our stocks of oxy-nitro are in place and accounted for. Even with minimal systems and no effort, their life support would have run out by now. The Cold Equations say they’re dead. I can’t say that I liked Janusz, but damn. Suffocating in your suit must be a horrible way to go. I wonder what made him crack?
Anyway, we go back to work tomorrow.
[Addendum]
They found Janusz’s body, in one of the Hawoo rooms. His suit was intact, but the CO2 buildup had gotten too much for him, poor bastard. They’ll collect him in the morning, once we’ve cleared a space for the corpse. Sounds mildly callous, but the suit’s just as good as a body bag and nobody wants it in the middle of the room.
Besides, there’s still no sign of Aldini — and now they’re really looking: the arms and legs of Janusz’s suit had been spot-welded together, and all of his communications were disabled. The bastard had left Janusz to slowly suffocate in the dark. That’s… vicious. It’s also something the space-happy do, so now we really have to find him. That kind of madness can be catching.
So… it is a different manner of thing than you had originally thought?
Not really. It’s just that I used to struggle writing 3K word short stories. Now I can’t freaking stop. 🙂
I’m just saying that once it’s 14.8K, it’s pretty clearly no longer a short story.
It’s a NOVELLA, and when that happens, you’re doomed.