Medical always stored emergency flashlights. I groped along the wall the way I’d come, reaching the corner. I was glad I’d taken the time to examine the map, to note my surroundings. This would have been a lot harder if I’d been blind and lost. As it was, every step sent panic racing through me. At least I didn’t have to leave the wall. I clutched it, letting it lead me on until my fingers brushed the edge of the door.

I wasn’t a hundred percent sure Dad’s omnicard still worked given the power outage, but when my outstretched grip found the scanner, I swiped it anyway. Sure enough, a soft whoosh and the scent of astringent and cleanser indicated the doors opening. I slid my hand over the entrance, unwilling to lose the edge of the space, and entered.

As the door slid shut behind me, I realized things had gotten a lot dicier. In the halls I’d known that as long as I stuck to the walls, I’d have a clear path to retreat. But I’d never seen these med facilities before. They could, and probably did, have items around the perimeter. So where would the flashlights be? With the emergency supplies, obviously, but where were they? I had no choice but to delve around in the dark until I found them.

I took a hesitant step forward, my left hand glued to the wall, my right waving gently in front of me. When I didn’t encounter anything, I took another step, and another. My fingers brushed something. I risked running my hands over it. A medical scanner, by the shape of it. I kept contact, easing myself around its edge and back to the wall, where I resumed my agonizing progress.

It seemed to take forever to cover the maybe twenty feet from the door to the corner. I encountered a cupboard along the way and carefully slid it open, rummaging through it as silently and carefully as I dared, but I didn’t feel anything like an emergency supply box. On Sanctuary, on every Omnistellar facility I’d ever seen, we stored the emergency supplies in command centers, medical, and engineering in a large plastic crate with the word EMERGENCY stamped on all sides. I was pretty sure I’d know it when I found it.

I resumed my careful trek on the long second wall. I encountered more obstacles now: a bed, a desk, another cupboard. I checked under the bed and desk and in the cupboard but found them all empty save for the standard medical supplies. For a moment my hand ghosted over something in the desk that felt like a tablet, and hope soared. Even a glimmer of light would be welcome. But when I punched the keys, nothing happened. Someone had let their battery run down to nothing.