2006/12/13
DEEP SPACE METAPHOR
To close the airlock, there are three seals & two restraints. The first requires pushing the round, plexi-titanium hatch into place. Applying an additional force, the sextillion plus nano-pores close their maws into the oppossing paws.
The second seal is a rotary plastic metal sheath, it circles the circumference. I move its applicator around the edge, it applies hot, cools instantly, bonding the two previously separate pieces into one.
The third seal is an electromagnetic field, currently bridled eight centimeters from the edge of the door. I apply the restraints, one two, before the third seal.
The first restraint is a multi-layered lattice-work. I press each of the five buttons, the metal-plastic tendrills reach out to embrace each other. Smaller shutes slip inside of larger ones, inter-locking & criss-crossing. Their whirl slows; halts. I apply the second restraint, a series of edge bolts, like the riveting of an earlier era.
The electromagnetic field closes its iris, winking at me that pressurization is assured. I move my hand close to it. It hums, warm.
© 2000—2008 marcuswaynewebb