Angie and Paul, Astronauts on a Spacewalk

"That is beautiful," Paul said to nobody in particular as he floated in zero-gravity over Sirius Magna.

"You're not staring at my butt again, are you?" Angie asked while realigning the satellite's antenna.

"I'm used to your body in that spacesuit by now," Paul said, "I was talking about the nebula."

"Well, maybe I wanted you to look," she said.

The new generation of spacesuits were much less bulky and more comfortable, allowing astronauts to do almost everything in orbit that they could do planetside. They also had a reputation for being flattering to the wearer. Some astronauts had taken to calling the "wetsuits" they were so tight.

"You're not going to trick me into a harassment claim," Paul said playfully.

"Cut the chatter," their captain said, "Just got a space weather update, you have five minutes."

"Why?" Paul asked.

"Some kind of discharge from the nebula," the captain said, "an 'anomalous energy cloud?'"

"Is it dangerous," Angie asked.

"Don't know," the captain said, "So hurry up out there."

"It takes three minutes to cycle the power," Angie said, "We'll be cutting it close."

"Here lemme give you a hand," Paul floated up alongside her and they hurried along.

"What is that?" Angie pointed towards the nebula. Paul turned and gasped.

"That must be the energy cloud," he said, "We're out of time come on."

"Just gotta fasten the panel," she said.

"Forget it," the captain said, "The cloud's picking up speed. Get back to the shuttle."

"Fine," she said, "Let's go." Angie and Paul grabbed their tethers and started dragging themselves back to the airlock of the shuttle. Their ship floated in orbit a kilometer beyond that. The cloud was almost right on top of them now, like a sandstorm in space. Even if they got to the shuttle, they would never reach the ship after that before it hit.

Their arms felt like they were on fire, but finally they reached the end of their tethers and Angie opened the airlock.

A few seconds too late. They ion cloud engulfed them like a giant superorganism. Static built up on their suits, and when they touched the hull of the shuttle they both felt a shock as arcs of electricity danced over their spacesuits. Paul screamed and Angie clenched her teeth, but the pain was over in an instant. A second later the airlock opened and they hurried into the shuttle.

"Get us out of here Paul!" Angie shouted. They didn't even bother to take off their suits in the cockpit. Paul settled into the pilot's seat and fired up the main engine as the collision alarm blared.

"It's the satellite!" He shouted, "Brace for impact!" The satellite they were working on a moment ago slammed into their shuttle and sent them careening off into deep space away from the planet and their ship. He fought to stay in controll, but the shuttle didn't respond. The ion cloud and/or the collision must have fried the engine.

"Huron?" Paul tried to hail the ship, "Huron our shuttle is out of control, we need pick up. Huron?"

There was only static.

"As soon as the ion cloud passes, we need to AAAAAHH!" Angie screamed when her spacesuit started squirming around her.

"Get it off!" She shouted and undid the clasps in a panic. Paul was about to ask what the hell was wrong with her when he felt the same thing happen to his suit. They couldn't get their suits off fast enough, and as soon as Angie was free she kicked it away and scrambled to the other side of the cockpit. Paul threw his suit at hers and they watched in terror as they squirmed and writhed like silver worms or jellyfish. A moment later the loose spacesuits started to become rigid and formed fairly accurate reproductions of the astronaut's figures.

Angie's suit seemed to look around in confusion, then it turned to them and backed itself into the wall. Paul's suit was more confident and stood its ground defensively.

Paul and Angie floated their speechless and afraid as Angie's suit reached out touched Paul's suit's shoulder, pulling it closer.

Then like someone whispering something from behind them, Paul and Angie heard a voice ask, "What are you?"