“That’s the beauty of second chances, Luke. Maybe now you can work your way back up from the bottom, but this time you can do it right,” said Director Hill as he closed the door in Luke’s face. Luke turned and walked down the hall with a box of things he had collected from his office. As he made his way gingerly down the hall his head started to spin and everything went black.
A loud crash rang out and Luke shot up from his reclined position. The comforter on his bed slid off, taking the glass of water on the nightstand along with it. His breath was heavy, he centered himself before climbing out of bed. “I guess I’ll get a mop,” Luke mumbled through the grogginess. It had been four months since he was demoted from lead engineer on the new eclipse space station after an almost fatal mistake. He was lucky to still be employed with the newly emerging Stellar Horizons space company, but he would give anything to be moved out of the mailroom and back to the engineering department.
The sun seeped through the blinds and brought life to an apartment that looked as if it had survived a tornado. Clothes were scattered all over the bedroom, dishes in the sink, on the countertops and empty bottles were scattered everywhere. Luke crawled through the piles to clean up the broken glass and finally get ready for work. It took nearly an hour for Luke to walk through the doors at Stellar Horizons, unfortunately, for was a half-hour too late for the third time that week.
“LUKE!” a voice called out from across the foyer. The inside of Stellar Horizons was a marvel of modern technology and elegant interior design. Glass windows spanned the outside of the building, and a large tree took root in the center. The walls were painted a pure white and adorned with models of spaceships and stations the company envisioned.
“You are late for the third time this week. If it happens again, your demotion won’t matter, you’ll be fired, understood?” said Mark standing only inches from Luke’s face. Mark had become Luke’s mailroom supervisor after he was demoted and was less than pleased with his performance and attitude.
“Yeah, sure.” Luke brushed off the statement and started for the mailroom two floors down.
“What happened to you man? You used to be a brilliant engineer. Now look at you, down here with all the people you thought were beneath you.”
“Whatever,” Luke mumbled as he walked away.
The elevator doors closed tight, shutting out the ambient sounds of the building. The polished silver doors created an almost mirror-like reflection. Luke caught a glimpse of himself before averting his eyes. It was a reflection he no longer recognized. Only months ago, Luke walked into the building each day with large strides and vigor in his step. He dressed immaculately and had expensive taste in jewelry. As the lead engineer, he had less of a hands-on role, rather he oversaw the construction of Stellar Horizons’ new international space station, and that came with a hefty paycheck. Unfortunately, Luke had more than just a dominating sense of style, he also bore an attitude of complacency that was infamous across the company.
The hours in the mailroom drifted by painfully slowly. Luke sorted, delivered and sent dozens of pieces of mail through the building and beyond, but in his head, he tinkered with his machines, dreaming of the day he could get back to them. When the day finally ended and the mailroom cleared of people, Luke remained behind. Stellar Horizons was about to launch a new section of the space station to join the one already in orbit. It would be the first piece of this mission that he did not oversee as lead engineer. Luke cleared one of the tables in the center of the room and laid out the blueprints for the new section. He studied them piece by piece, analyzing each bolt and screw, and every piece of technology on board. As Luke studied the new schematics, he was impressed. He saw the intricacy of the project and he couldn’t think of one change he would make, but then something caught his eye.
Luke scratched his head, rolled up the blueprints and started down the hallway to the engineering lab.
“Let’s hope this still works.”
He swiped his keycard against the access panel and held his breath. The panel beeped and seconds later the red light turned green.
“Yes!” he exclaimed.
By now it was late and the weekend had just started for the majority of employees, a much-needed break before the early morning launch on Monday. Luke walked up to the office and turned on one of the computers used to run simulations and software tests. He ran a few simulations that tested the docking sequence. But as he analyzed the results, he felt that something was off, even though the results showed a successful docking.
“This doesn’t make sense. It shouldn’t work, so why does it work?” Luke repeated to himself.
He began to pace about the room, inspecting the finished work of the module. Everything looked perfect, until he took a closer look at the docking clamps.
“Oh no!” he shouted.
Luke bolted out of the engineering room and down the hall to the offices.
“Robert, you need to see this!”
“Luke, what are you doing here?”
“There’s a huge problem with the new module, we can’t launch it until it’s fixed,” said Luke as he stepped into the office.
“WE?” Robert replied.
Robert stood up and stepped out from behind the desk. “First of all, there is no ‘we’. Second of all, I am the lead engineer on this project and I am telling you there are no problems. Everything has been checked and rechecked and confirmed with simulations.”
“I’m sorry Robert, but you are wrong, and if you launch, people could die.”
“You’ve got some nerve,” Robert spat.
Robert walked up to Luke, his face steaming red. “How dare you, of all people, suggest that my work could get people killed. Need I remind you of what you did to wind up in the mail room? If it were up to me I’d have you up on charges.”
“No, Robert,” said Luke as he backed away. “I remember what happened.”
“Well it’s too bad you don’t care, since the astronauts nearly suffocated because you were too arrogant to listen to anyone but yourself. You wanted to show off, you wanted the glory and the fame. When you were warned about the readings after launch you dismissed them so you could keep your status at the table. If I hadn’t stepped in those people would be dead.”
“I know, Robert, but I really did believe it was just a sensor problem.”
“Yeah, well, you were on the ground and you ignored the people who were there and could see what was happening. Now you’ve lost your credibility.”
Robert began to walk out of the office with his coat in hand, but Luke stood in the doorway, blocking any hope of escape.
“You’re right, about all of it. I was selfish, arrogant and complacent in my work, and I nearly killed 10 people. I get that, but I was demoted, not fired. Director Hill decided to let me work my way back up, to give me a second chance. I know you don’t feel the same way, I know you don’t trust me, but Robert, I can’t let you make the same mistake I did,” Luke pleaded.
“Don’t worry Luke I won’t.”
“You will if you don’t listen to me. Please Robert. I know I have already gotten a second chance, but I am asking for one more. Let me make it right by stopping a disaster that’s about to happen.”
Robert’s face contorted as he scoffed at Luke’s words, but something was slowly changing his mind.
“Fine,” Robert sighed. “You have my attention.”
“The problem is with the docking clamps. They’re different than the ones already on the station-”
“Luke, let me stop you right there, we have tested them, even the simulations say they are perfectly compatible.”
Luke threw his hands up in a stopping motion. His frustration was beginning to rise.
“Listen to me Rob! They will clamp together and hold, but not permanently. The new clamps, when locking with the older model, push ever so slightly against the pressure seals creating micro gaps, which over time-”
“-Will lead to rapid depressurization,” Robert finished. “How sure are you of this? I mean even the simulations couldn’t pick that up, and they use a full-scale 3D scan of the module.”
“I ran the simulations myself, I don’t know why they work, but I am a thousand percent sure. Please, just give me another chance, trust me one more time I’m begging you.”
Robert sighed and paced around the room for a few seconds. His trust in Luke was still shaky at best, but he knew that if there was any danger to life, he had to act.
“Okay, Luke. I’ll call Director Hill and have him reschedule the launch.”
“Thank you!” Luke said as he let out a sigh of relief.
“You know, I guess Hill was right to keep you here. We still have to confirm all of this, but you may have redeemed yourself today. I suppose that is the beauty of second chances,” Robert said.
“I just want to make it right.” Luke replied.
“You’ll get your chance. I’m going to give you another opportunity to win your credibility back with everyone else, I want you back on the team to help us figure this out.” Robert wanted to make sure Luke understood how much he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Really? I don’t think everyone else will be as receptive.”
“Luke, if you can convince both the director and I to give you a second chance, I am sure you can with the rest of them. Everyone deserves a second chance, it’s what you do with it that counts.”
