Beneath a dying moon, a retrieval team enters a subsurface pump complex to recover oxygen systems and keep a cavern settlement alive. An armed enclave controls the facility using captives fitted with explosive collars to ration access to breathable air.

The standoff tightens as failing systems and rising heat turn the complex into a pressure trap with no safe ground. Time runs out while both sides hold position, each knowing the air itself is the only currency left.

This is "A Month of Air" by Sascha Schmidt