Space Hoax

28 SURVIVE

To prevent his tether line from getting spun around the tumbling Iris during his search for Blake, Peter parked Galileo on one of its spinning sides, where he was able to keep an eye on the hatch. Though he would be rotating in reference to Galileo when inside Iris, his tether line would have a straight shot back to its ball joint connection on his ship, giving it the freedom to spin and not get tangled.

In a rush to get to Iris, Peter spent little time analyzing his situation. He relied on luck as he took his best aim and jumped. While drifting perilously toward the disabled craft Peter’s mind began racing as he got a close up view of the destruction left by the massive explosion. The top cone of the manned portion of the ship had been sheared off, leaving shards of metal dangling from the end.

Peter’s aim looked to be perfect, right at the center of the rotation. A handhold came into view just before impact. He grabbed the handle as he slammed into the ship, unfazed by the blow. The hatch was just a few feet away, its intact framing instilled some hope his friend could still be alive. Peter quickly crawled the short distance toward the entrance. Please, God, let Blake be in there.

Peter took a deep breath, before grabbing the last handhold and swinging around to take a look inside the cavity. Once his eyes adjusted to the dark shadows, he was overwhelmed by the devastation inside, debris floating all about. With no power, the only light was the faint sunlight reflecting off his suit. He conducted a frantic search of the gloomy interior using his helmet lights and moving his body around in a full circle, looking for any sign of Blake. He paused at the control panel, shocked to see it had been blown out of its position, mangled among the seats. A sickening feeling churned in his gut. Even though he knew he couldn’t be heard, he yelled out for his friend. He continued with his search until his lights picked up a ripped portion of the main cabin’s umbilical cord that Blake was originally attached to. Please be hooked up to the oxygen pack.

Not finding the astronaut among the destruction left a glimmer of hope. Peter launched himself out of the spacecraft, hoping Blake jumped clear of the explosion. He held on to a handhold as the ship spun, searching the vastness of space that encompassed him. The slow spin made it difficult to focus on any of the hundreds of small glimmering illuminations moving away from him—the debris from the explosion. Damn it, he could be anywhere. He hoped one of those flickering lights was his buddy. He moved his head all around in his fixed helmet, searching for any indication of life. Come on, Blake, where are you? His blood pressure was rising with every passing second, knowing his friend was floating deeper into space. As he continued the hunt, he remembered the training exercise when the young astronaut emphatically told Peter he would never leave him to die. Come on, buddy, show me some kind of sign. You can’t die!

Disappointed with his lack of success, Peter figured his only choice was to use Galileo to trace down his friend. Mission control might be able to use a satellite to pick up Blake’s location. Before rushing back to his ship, he needed to do one last-ditch search inside Iris to make sure he didn’t miss any clues. He jammed his whole body through the hatch and hastened around the mangled equipment, moving floating debris out of his way. He noticed a large space behind the seats he hadn’t searched. He moved part of the control panel to get a better look, aiming his lights deep into the dark area. His heart instantly sank at the grim sight before him; the lone oxygen unit wedged underneath the seat with its short umbilical cord floating off it like a serpent, his friend’s only lifeline. Damn it! Without that supply line, the only air available for the pilot would be the slim amount left in his suit. With no time to waste, Peter quickly pushed himself out of the capsule. Though the odds were slim his friend was still alive, he couldn’t give up. Not for Suzy, not for little Matthew. He prayed for a miracle.

His helmet lights moved erratically around in the cabin as he rapidly worked himself backward toward the hatch. His lights picked up an odd figure floated eerily in the corner. While continuing toward the exit, he steadied the lights on the object. He instantly stopped all movement. All hope was lost.

Hovering a few feet in front of him was Blake’s glove.

There was no way his friend’s body could survive the harshness of space. Peter solemnly reached out for the black object, expecting to see the gruesome sight of his friend’s hand inside. As he pulled the glove toward him, he saw it was empty except for small streaks of blood. He was surprised to see a string tied to one of the fingers. The thin twine extended into the darkness. He grimly pulled the string knowing what was probably on the other end. Soon the shiny front end of Matthew’s toy airplane began to pierce the light. As the toy hauntingly floated toward him, tears welled up in Peter’s eyes. He bowed his head in his helmet. He had broken his promise to Suzy. “I’m so sorry, Blake. Please forgive me.”

ANYA’S LIGHT-BLUE sundress kept her cool as she sat at the bar in her home. She wiggled her toes in her sandals while she cradled the phone on her shoulder, waiting for her brother to answer.

Dmitri spoke in their native tongue. “Hello.”

Anya decided to also speak in Russian. “Hello, Dmitri.”

“Hey, Anya, so how’s my little sis?”

Anya positioned the phone better against her ear. “Wonderful, everything has been going great.”

“And how are the two love birds doing?”

She put a hand on the counter as she leaned back in the barstool. “Fantastic, in fact that is why I’m calling. I have some exciting news.”

Her brother answered playfully. “I hope it’s what I think it is.”

She looked at Peter’s favorite bottle of wine sitting on the kitchen counter. “Peter and I are getting married.”

Dmitri’s voice perked up. “That’s what I was hoping you were going to say. That’s fabulous news. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Anya started dancing her fingers on the bar. “I have a special favor to ask.”

“Sure, what is it?”

She stopped moving her fingers. “I was hoping you would walk me down the aisle.”

Dmitri broke with emotion. “Anya, I would be honored.”

She smiled. “Great, we plan on getting married in Houston and the date right now is set for April 20. But before we firm it up, I wanted to make sure you and your family could make it.”

“Just a second, let me check.” There was a momentary pause before Dmitri came back in a chipper voice. “I’m all free, but even if I wasn’t, I’d still make it work. So go ahead and book that date.”

An image of her father passed through her mind. “Great. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

Her brother turned serious. “Sis, you know I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Peter is a great guy.”

“Thanks.”

“So what’s Romeo up to lately?”

Anya settled herself more comfortably in the padded bar stool. “He’s been working for a commercial space company.”

Oddly Dmitri’s voice grew much softer. “What company?”

Knowing her brother, she could tell something was up. She frowned. “EarthOrbit.”

There was a brief silence. With a hint of panic in his voice, Dmitri asked, “What’s his job?”

“He oversees the astronaut training, why?”

While not responding to her question, Dmitri asked, “So he’s not one of their astronauts?”

“No, there was a chance he was going to fly on their current mission, but fortunately the astronaut he was going to replace recovered in time.”

Anya was getting a little fidgety as a few long beats of silence passed before her brother asked. “Have you heard what happened?”

Anya straightened in her seat. “No, what happened?”

“There was an explosion in space. We’ve been monitoring the situation.”

She tightened her grip around the phone as she fired back, “Is it EarthOrbit’s spacecraft?”

“We believe it is.”

Anya immediately thought back to her conversation with Peter on his early suspensions of a bomb being on board. He stated then that after further investigation, he was convinced there was no threat. She wondered if he was wrong. “Oh, my God. How bad is it?”

“Not sure, but another spacecraft was in the area, possibly to carry out a rescue.”

Her heart stopped. “What? Who’s rescuing them?”

“We know it’s not NASA. We believe its SpaceQuest.”

Anya went numb with shock. She was sure her lover was on that craft. “Do you know who’s on that ship?”

“It’s supposedly unmanned, and there has been no radio communication. However, we’ve observed some maneuvers that give us the impression someone is flying it.”

“When was the explosion?”

“Within the hour.”

She put her head down. “I’ll bet Peter’s on that rescue ship.”

A surprised tone echoed through the receiver. “You just told me he’s with EarthOrbit.”

Anya tried to steady herself. “He called me yesterday from an airplane and didn’t tell me where he was going. All he said was he was put on a new assignment and he would see me later in the week.”

Dmitri gave a reluctant sigh as he spoke the obvious. “Oh, he’s still working for the government.”

She traced her hand along the edge of the bar. “I know he’s up there trying to save his friends.”

“Anya, you don’t know that.”

Suddenly she realized she was being selfish. She needed to be strong, like her mom. “You’re right, I don’t. But I do know those EarthOrbit astronauts. I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, I’ll call you later if I learn anything more.”

“Please do.”

She quickly hung up and jumped off the barstool. Of the two astronauts’ wives, she only knew Suzy. Because of this relationship, she should hustle over to the young mother’s home to support her. She hoped to get there before Suzy learned of the explosion. Anya swiftly grabbed her car keys and headed for the door.

BOTH ASTRONAUTS WERE strapped tightly in their seats as they prepared Galileo for a rushed return flight home. After communications was established, the astronauts told mission control the grim news of Blake’s death. Peter had been informed that their ship had sustained damage from Iris’s explosion, requiring them to deviate from their normal flight plan for re-entry. Their mood was somber with very little talk between them. With their visors up, Peter could smell the distinct odor of space oozing off their suits. He was very familiar with the burnt metal stench hovering in the cabin.

Peter took a moment to look out his small window and reflect on his lost friend, asking himself what he could have done differently. Every option he came up with would still have put all three men at risk. He tried to convince himself he had made the right choice, but considering the outcome, he was having a hard time. To stop the battle in his head, he reflected on his memories of Blake, the jokester. A faint smile came to his face when he remembered Blake flying like a superhero down the zip line and how he got chastised for staying back to help. Buddy, I would have been proud to have been your sidekick.

A call from mission control in his headset brought Peter back to reality. He was surprised to recognize Allen’s voice. He answered in a low tone, “Roger, this is Galileo 2.”

The CEO spoke in a sympathetic voice. “Peter, I first want to say I’m so sorry about the loss of your friend. I know you did the best you could to save him.”

Peter didn’t say a word, especially since he questioned if he really had.

Allen’s voice became unmistakably clear; piercing in fact. “But we have another problem, and right now our number one priority is getting you two safely home.”

Peter snapped to attention. “What’s the problem?”

“Galileo sustained some additional damage from the explosion. We believe the landing system was hit by some debris from Iris.”

Frustrated he wasn’t getting the news fast enough, Peter barked, “What’s our specific problem?”

“From the warning lights we’ve been getting, it looks like Galileo may not deploy its drogue parachutes. We are still studying the problem.”

Peter was shocked. After all he and Jesse had been through, they could still be done in by the failure of their chutes. “What are the chances the main chutes will deploy?”

The radio went quiet. Peter waited impatiently. The backup landing system was a redundant number of main chutes. Of the three parachutes, Galileo could survive with just one. But if the smaller drogue chutes didn’t open first to slow their craft down, their speed would be too high to allow for any one of the larger parachutes to fully open. It would be anybody’s guess how fast Iris would be going when it hit the water.

Allen’s tremulous, disembodied voice replied, “Not good. I could sugarcoat it and tell you something different, but I figured you would want the truth.”

Peter appreciated the CEO’s honesty, even though it was heartbreaking to hear. “What are our chances of surviving?”

Again the radio was silent for a few seconds. The response was direct. “Less than 50 percent.”

Peter put his head down. “Roger.”

“Would you like to record a final message for your loved ones before re-entry?”

Peter looked at Jesse. He could see in the man’s eyes he didn’t want to accept this was the end, and neither did he. Peter answered in a firm and decisive voice. “Negative, we plan on seeing them again.” He quickly cut the mic.

Peter looked back out the window wondering if the whole mission had been a waste. Not only did he not save Blake, but it looked like both he and Jesse were goners too. Shit. Peter decided if he survived, this would be his last assignment. He had to, for Anya. He closed his eyes. Dear God, if it is your will to save Jesse and me, I promise to make changes.