Back to the Moon-ARC

Chapter 30

“Come on, dammit!” Tony watched the hatch icon still showing red. The countdown clock gave them three minutes left. The NASA engineers at mission control didn’t like cutting it so close. Tony liked it even less. He could just imagine how much Stetson liked it. “Bill, hang on out there.”

The vibration of the ship had continued to grow to the point where it was no longer a subtle thing that could barely be felt with a tight grip. Tony was pretty sure he could see things starting to vibrate.

“What’s taking us so long in there, Tony? Not to be antsy or anything, but Earth is looking really big!”

“Just be ready!”

“Roger that!”

“Hui, be ready with that patch kit. As soon as the hatch icon goes green, you start patching the holes!” Tony hit the hatch-cycle routine again. It went red. “Come on!”

“Yes, Tony. I will.” Hui held the kit at the ready, looking like a lioness ready to pounce on a gazelle. Tony thought that the Chinese had made a good decision in picking her as their first Moon mission commander.

“God, if you can hear me, now would be a good time to help us out!” Tony hit the hatch icon again. For the millisecond it took for the electrons to travel from the screen to the central processor of the computer, the processor to understand and process the signal, and send a response, Tony held his breath for what seemed like an eternity.

“Green light! Go, Hui! Go!” Tony shouted, not quite gleefully but close enough, as Orion’s main hatch started to cycle open. Tony yanked on the handle and pulled the latch until he could see space outside. Hui pushed herself up to the apex of the cabin, and Tony turned to help his captain. “Bill, get your butt in here!” He held a handhold as close to the hatch door as he could manage. The door slid open, and as soon as it did, Bill’s hand poked through.

“Grab my hand, Tony!”

“Got it! Come on, Bill!” Tony grabbed at Bill’s arm and pulled as best he could. The ship lurched very gently, but just enough to give them concern. “We’re getting close!”

“Hui, how’s it look?” Bill asked as he crawled his way through the hatch. He reached back, disconnected the tether, and pulled the rope inside.

“I’ve got one hole patched.”

“I’m in, Tony. You can let go now. And cycle the hatch!” It was clear that the Orion had gotten its captain back.

“Roger that!” Tony pushed to the console and tapped the hatch icon until it cycled shut. Bill tugged the handle just to help it along. The icon went from red to orange to green, and then Bill tugged at it again. It was closed and sealed. He was inside. And, by God, it was good!

“Hot damn,” Bill shouted. “Houston, this is Stetson. All members of the Mercy I crew are inside, present, and accounted for.”

“Great news, Mercy I. We recommend you cycle the repressurization as soon as possible so the patch sealant will cure quicker. And y’all need to buckle up.”

“Understood, mission control.”

“You heard the man, Tony. Get us some air in here.” Bill looked up at Hui. “You need any help?”

“Done!”

“Awesome. Now get down and get buckled in.”

“Mercy I, mission control.”

“Go, Houston.”

“Looks like the skin temperature is starting to build up. You came in just in time, Bill.”

“I like to make an entrance,” Bill said. “Somebody tell my family I’m coming home!”

“Roger that, Mercy I. Bill, your family heard the whole thing.” There was a brief pause and some static. “Be advised that you are about to go through an ionization radio blackout.”

“We understand, Houston. We’ll talk to you after aerocapture.” With that Bill pushed himself into the captain’s seat and started buckling in. He glanced over at Tony, who was also buckling in. “Thanks, buddy.” He gave Tony a smile and elbowed him slightly.

“Couldn’t have seen going home without you, Bill.”

“Well, let’s hope my patch job on the bottom of the ship holds and your target practice on top of the ship isn’t a problem.”

“We’re gonna make it.”

“Damn right we are.”

The vibration within the ship ratcheted up to the point that the computer panels in front of them became nearly unreadable. Bill held on to his armrests and tried to relax. He was mostly blissfully happy as just a few minutes ago he was pretty sure he was going to die. But now it seemed that if he were to die, it would be because the heat shield failed, not because he was trapped outside. The Orion was a good ship. He was confident that it would get them home.

The Orion capsule jerked forward and lurched backward in a way that seemed like it happened at the same time. The side-to-side vibrations grew in amplitude. Bill looked up at the top of the ship, where Tony had shot it three times with the pistol. He hoped the damage was far enough forward that the hot atmospheric plasma wouldn’t vent into the cabin and cook them. He also hoped that hot plasma didn’t vent through the bullet holes of the outer hull and weaken some beam or strut that would compromise the structural integrity of the ship, the end result being the ship flying apart and killing them all.

“Seven gees!” Tony shouted.

“Hang in there!” Bill gripped at his seat harder and flexed every muscle in his body to prevent passing out.

“Ten gees!” Tony said, more gutturally this time.

“We should top out in a minute or so. Just hang in!” Bill grunted and flexed and breathed and grunted and flexed. He sounded a lot like a woman in labor. “Aaahhh wooo wooo!”

The vibration grew louder, harder, and faster—shaking all the astronauts to the point that their teeth rattled. No amount of training in a centrifuge or even launches on the really shaky Ares I rocket could prepare a person for that type of skeleton-jarring ride.

BANG! SCREEEEEEECH! BANG!

An even more extreme noise resounded throughout the ship, their suits, and their bones. It startled Bill, but there was nothing he could do. He would have sworn it came from the top of the Orion near where Tony had shot it up. He wasn’t certain, but he was also pretty sure he could hear a much louder roaring sound than he had before.

SCREEEEEEEEEECH! ROAR!

“What the hell is that?” Tony shouted.

“I don’t know, but there’s nothing we can do about it! Just hang in and pray!” Bill shouted.

“Fifteen gees!” Tony shouted over the jarring, rattling, screeching, and roaring.

The ship rocked back and forth so hard that Bill was worried the injured and otherwise incapacitated crew members might not be faring so well. The air inside the cabin had reached one atmosphere, so the sound of the ship being buffeted was getting extremely loud. It sounded like he had stuck his head inside a jet engine while it was at full throttle. Bill managed to glance at Tony and could see that his body had gone limp.

“Tony!” Bill had the notion that he would tap at the console in front of him and check Tony’s vital signs, but that would require him to raise his arm—and he couldn’t. It weighed more than two hundred pounds at the moment. “Everybody hang on back there! Come on, baby! Hold together! We’re gonna make it!”

Bill’s vision started to tunnel in, and he grunted and fought against blacking out. He fought like a world-champion boxer tied up in the twelfth round. In the end he went down swinging, but he lost the fight.