Space Hoax

8 IT’S TIME

The Head of the CIA, Jack Dawson, sat patiently in the black leather chair across from the President while the leader of the free world barked out orders over the phone. The President had just waved Jack into the Oval Office before swiveling his chair around to focus on his conversation. Not wanting to come across as eavesdropping, Jack pulled out his notebook to review notes for their meeting, which he had requested.

Soon the President swung around and slammed the phone down. “Damn that Chief of Staff. Sometimes I wonder why I appointed him.”

Jack felt it was none of his business. “Good afternoon, Mr. President.”

Bill Edwards took a deep breath before putting his hands behind his head as he casually leaned back in his chair. “Sorry about that, Jack. So how are you?”

Jack straightened up. “I am doing well. Thank you, sir.”

The President swiveled his chair slightly so he could cross his legs, bringing his arms down and casually putting one on his desk. He partly turned his head and shot an apologetic look toward Jack. “I never had the opportunity to personally congratulate you on successfully carrying out the mission to the moon. Your man did a hell of a job.”

Jack modestly bowed his head. “Thank you, sir. Peter was just doing his job.”

The President slapped his desk with an opened hand. “Hell with that! That man was willing to sacrifice his life for his country. Thanks to men like that, we live in the greatest nation on Earth.” The President lifted both legs before twirling around and placing them under his desk while setting both arms on top. He leaned forward. “I want to meet this Peter Novak. When can you have him visit the White House?”

“Well sir, that’s why I’m here. I need to update you on a current crisis in space.”

The President’s fists tightened as his face turned red. “What? Again? Is China involved?”

“No, sir.”

Bill relaxed his hands. “What’s happened?”

“There was some type of explosion on the Soyuz that was launched a couple of days ago, and the crew is currently stranded in space.”

The President’s eyes widened with concern. “Are they okay?”

Jack’s tone hardened. “Yes, sir. But they were forced into the Orbital Module and the damage affected their oxygen supply.”

“Are there any Americans onboard?”

“No, sir, but there is a space tourist.”

The President was jolted upright in his chair. “Damn! Who?”

“Carlos Calma, son of Jose Calma.”

The President got up from his desk and walked silently over to the window, and stood looking outside. “Are we positive China’s not involved, trying to get back at us for showing them up?”

Looking in the President’s direction, Jack spoke firmly. “Though we are not sure what caused the explosion, neither NASA nor Russia has given any indication the problem was caused by foul play.”

The President folded his arms as he continued to stare out the window. Jack sat patiently.

Finally, Jack broke the silence. “Sir, if men die in the Soyuz, especially a tourist, the spacecraft would surely need to be grounded until the problem is identified and solved, which could take up to a year. Since the Soyuz is our only means of getting astronauts to and from the space station, this would force us to abandon the ISS until the spacecraft is reinstated for flight, possibly threatening the station’s future.”

The President calmly turned around and looked at the floor, rubbing his chin. He began to walk slowly back to his desk as he mumbled out loud to himself. “Damn, that would be a political nightmare.”

“Yes, sir, and more finger-pointing at your office for the Space Shuttle being retired.”

The President came to an abrupt stop as he threw both hands up in frustration. “Damn it, you know I wasn’t part of that decision!”

Jack spoke in a calm and supportive tone. “Yes, sir, I do. But as you know, public opinion doesn’t.”

The President shook his head as he resumed his march back to his chair. “How about if we allow SpaceQuest to fly our men to the station if the Soyuz is grounded?”

“Sir, even though they were successful at getting Peter to the ISS, they still need more testing before NASA will approve their astronauts riding aloft in that thing. Besides, we don’t even know if it can safely return men home.”

“So what is your suggestion?”

“Sir, we secretly launched a rocket to save the crew.”

The President arched his eyebrows as he took a seat. Sounding sarcastic he questioned, “Another Soyuz?”

“Sir, this is a different model, which they hope will not have the same problem.”

The President locked his hands together on his desk. “So the Russians are handling this?”

“They are overseeing the mission, but it’s our man who will carry out the rescue.”

“Who?”

Jack spoke without hesitation. “Peter Novak.”

An amused grin crossed the President’s face. “I should have guessed.”

PETER WAS CONNECTED to the Galileo by a single tether line as he floated precariously alone in space, struggling to attach the SAFER. Sweat pooled aggressively on his forehead. The only sound echoing in his helmet was his heavy breathing. He no longer had the luxury of talking with mission control since his suit wasn’t compatible with Russia’s radio system. He was now on his own to save the stranded men.

So far, the mission was going according to plan. Peter and Alex had successfully reached and entered the International Space Station. After quick preparations, Peter was hustled into the Galileo and launched from the ISS. There were no complications when SpaceQuest’s mission control, working hand in hand with the Russians, navigated Galileo through space to rendezvous with the stranded Soyuz in its own orbit.

He was now working to buckle the jetpack around his waist, after easily unhooking the machine that had been strapped on the outside of Galileo by some ISS astronauts during a spacewalk. Working against time, Peter had to remind himself that Newton’s laws worked much better in zero gravity as he fought with the makeshift straps put on by the ISS astronauts. He finally secured the last buckle and was ready to start up the contraption. He swung both metal arms up so they were perpendicular to his body, locking them in place before placing his arms on top. Before hitting the “on” switch, he looked out at his destination. There, floating ominously about thirty feet away, was the damaged Soyuz. As he eyed his target, the hatch located on the round portion of the ship where all three men were stuffed, Peter tried to imagine the stress and strain the spacemen inside must be experiencing. The backside solar array was missing; he assumed the explosion must have happened on that side. Pieces of ripped silver insulation drifted around the circular hatch housing like the tentacles of an octopus, teasing him to come closer.

With his helmet rigid on his suit, he had to lift his arm to see how much time had expired since hooking up his oxygen supply. The bright sun made it easy to see the Russian military watch he’d strapped around on the outside of his suit. He was on schedule. Peter was instructed to wait at Galileo until he saw the hatch start to open from the damaged spacecraft. With his clock started, he couldn’t wait long if he was to have enough air to carry out the rescue. He switched on the controls for the jetpack; the small control panel on the device’s left arm lit up. Remembering how touchy the joystick was, he decided to hold off grabbing it until he was ready to go. His eyes locked back in on the Soyuz hatch as he nervously watched for it to budge. The theme song from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey started to play in his mind.

ANYA KEPT RUBBING her hands back and forth over her pant legs underneath the mission control desk. Though she was pleased that Dmitri had informed her of the mission Peter was on and allowed her to sit in on the top-secret operation, she was still a nervous wreck. Her pulse was beating fast as she listened intently to the broken up radio transmission coming through the control room’s speakers from the stranded Soyuz. It was obvious the spacecraft’s radio antennas were damaged, since the communication link was going in and out, probably caused by the explosion. The tension in the room was at an all-time high as the moment was drawing near for them to open their hatch.

The commander had radioed he was able to confirm through the Soyuz periscope that the American ship was parked outside. Sergei had been instructed to wait until Peter started to exit before starting to depressurize their cabin. He also was given the sequence the three men would be rescued. All hell broke loose when the tourist found out he wasn’t going first. Dmitri finally took over CAPCOM and insisted that Carlos was to go second and he needed to calm down before he used up the ship’s air supply.

The radio crackled. “I see as…naut op…ing hatch.”

Dmitri straightened up. “Copy that, begin depressurization.”

Sergei calmly answered back. “Roger, depress…ing cab…”

Anya looked up at the large screen in front of her, her hands squeezing tight. Unfortunately they had no live video feed, the only image displayed was a large world map showing the location of the Soyuz along with a small picture of the cosmonaut who was talking, which at this point was only Sergei. Anya used her imagination to visualize Peter floating outside his spacecraft. She began to feel dizzy as her heart pounded. Her body began to scream for oxygen, but she couldn’t get enough. She put both arms up on the desk and was getting concerned as her hands trembled uncontrollably and tingled. Sweaty, her chest compressed like someone was standing on her, she looked to her brother.

Dmitri shot her a puzzled look before covering his mic. “Are you okay?”

She had a sudden urge to flee. “I’ve got to get out of here.”

Dmitri took off his headset as a concerned look crossed his face. “What’s wrong?”

She quickly rose to her feet but became light-headed, her heart beating erratically. She grabbed the end of the desk to steady herself as she mumbled, “What’s happening?” She looked to her brother. “I think I need help.” As her brother stood up, she wobbled, her head spinning, before everything went dark.

GOOSE BUMPS SWELLED all over Peter’s body when the Soyuz hatch started to move, his sign it was time to get to work. He took a deep breath, calming his mind as he quickly brought his arm up and looked at his watch. He did a quick calculation determining how much time he had left. Come on Peter, you can do this.

A sense of calmness overtook him, unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was almost spiritual, as if he was going into a hypnotic state. He felt like he was a little man inside his head watching this sci-fi movie unfolding in front of him. He looked back at the Soyuz to see one of the cosmonauts swinging the hatch to its full open position. It’s time to rock and roll, baby. Peter took a sharp breath as he flipped his sun visor down. He unhooked his tether line and gently pushed off from Galileo. As he floated precariously next to his ship, he gazed down at the jetpack’s small joystick that seemed to glow, beckoning him to grab hold and play. He fearlessly wrapped his gloved fingers around it. No crashing into spaceships this time, Peter.

He looked ahead and did one last assessment of his position. He felt confident he was pointed in the right direction. With caution, he pushed the control stick lightly forward. The thrusters fired, propelling him in a leisurely way toward the ship. Soon after leaving, he pulled the joystick back into the neutral position, allowing his momentum to carry him toward the Soyuz. He didn’t want to fly out of control like he did the last time he flew the device.

As the silhouette of a spaceman emerged from the wounded spacecraft, the sun’s reflection bounced off the cosmonaut’s outer golden visor. Peter was transfixed at the iconic scene unfolding in front of him as he drew near. The helpless man in the white Russian spacesuit was now sticking halfway out of the opening, surrounded by a sea of darkness. He feebly waved in Peter’s direction. Though Peter was all alone to pull off this rescue, he felt the world’s presence as the vibrant planet slowly rotated below him. He shot a quick glance down at the robust colors that represented life. I’m getting us all back.