Tsim is a man who knows very well what he is about. And Tsim is a man who is about hydrodynamics, pressure gages, and a solid understanding of the effect of spin gravity on the behavior of water in motion. Tsim is a highly specialized form of plumber.

Tsim has done the homework.

Providence is taking this opportunity to quiz him on it.

Tsim knows where the water main runs and all its branches.

Amina has already, quite helpfully, exposed the space next to it. All he has to do is climb the ladder, yank a tile, and then the branch for this part of the floor will be right within pipe cutter reach. Tsim is well aware of the procedures in place for fire suppression. And Tsim is well aware of the fire.

Tsim likes to consider himself a man of action. He mounts the ladder like he’s vaulting up the slopes of a low-gravity trail running event on one of Venkyke-8’s more picturesque moons. He shields himself from the - oh, the fire suppression system failed - he doesn’t shield himself from the half-expected gush of thick foam that should have sprayed from overhead. He tugs the tile free and hands it down to the crew’s electrician so as to not accidentally smash it over her head. He slashes away the insulation around the needed pipeline with his utility blade like he’s knifing his way through dense jungle in Anzion-3’s equatorial forests.

He bisects a dead rat.

This is not Tsim’s day. This, so far, is not any of Repair Crew F’s day, which is evident by the eminence with with it may very well be their last. If they’re going to suffocate in an agonizing death, he could at least do so without having gotten rat corpse all over his hand as his last worldly experience.

It will not be his last worldly experience. Tsim has decided to survive another day whether the Moldy Donut agrees to it or not.

There isn’t a lot of work involved with running the pipe cutter around the smaller pipeline branching off of the water main. The vibrating blade makes quick work of the reinforced carbon weave and the layers of metal that form the thin and light walls of the relatively flexible pipe. Unfortunately, it’s able to be that very efficiently thin and light and flexible because the layered construction is very efficiently strong and resistant to accidental damage.

And that, Tsim knows, is an unfortunate delay.

Fires are detected in space not through smoke, but with a complex IR flame detector. Tsim is thankful for this. While it responds more rapidly to the presence of a fire, it also detects the lack of a fire much more quickly. As the minutes pass with what feels like crawling progress, Tsim keeps this little bit of trivia on standby. The androgynous voice of the computer begins a countdown from 30.

At some point in what might be the last tense minutes of his life, Tsim probably should have asked his coworkers to step back.

At 24 seconds, the pipe cutter finishes its task. Tsim drops the cutter to grab the loose pipe with both hands. The pipe cutter lands with a heavy thud a short distance away from Tiphanie. He pulls hard and drags the strong and flexible pipe downward to point at the climbing flames. Not directly, that would be counterproductive.

Water marks the trail of the station’s spin through the air. If Tsim had not spent the past decade and a half ignoring his inner ear he would probably be having more trouble with the aim. But not Tsim. Tsim is perfectly confident with his ability to point a hose.

Tsim really should have said something to someone about what he was doing up there this whole time. The rushing water hits Tiphanie with a glancing blow to the shoulder. She slips and falls backward into the gaping hole caused by the swiftly accelerating fire. Markos reaches to grab hold of her, but not before she falls down to the floor below. Tiphanie has better luck than anyone else, landing on a sofa in some kind of plushly furnished office.

Tsim continues fighting the fire with all the water pressure available to him. The countdown hits eight seconds.

Tsim desperately begs the aid of Providence.

Six seconds.

Tiphanie realizes she is not the only one in the room.

Five.