USSR Hoax

23 LITTLE GREEN MEN

All Apollo missions had their share of glitches, so it was no surprise Apollo 16 was experiencing one. Tom’s concern was how severe the situation was. A large, white panel dangling off the third stage booster was preventing the mission from continuing. The stubborn piece was one of four panels that had been protecting the lunar module during launch. These metal panels were supposed to open up like the petals of a flower so Kirk could pull their Apollo spacecraft away from the third stage. All four panels should have automatically dislodged and floated away, exposing the LM for capture. Kirk was to turn Galaxy around 180 degrees before returning to dock and pulling out the LM. Because the spidery-looking lunar module, nicknamed Explorer, was built with a fragile skin similar to tin foil, trying to retrieve it with an unpredictable panel nearby was simply too risky.

No way was Tom going to lose this mission, not after coming this far. Even though the dangling panel was as large as a garage door, it could easily be moved in space. While Kirk flew Galaxy close by Explorer, Tom spent well over an hour trying to convince mission control the panel could be manually released during a spacewalk. Houston wasn’t so sure and debated all possible solutions. No one came up with a better idea, and the final consensus was to either scrap the mission or attempt the spacewalk. The biggest concern was how the panel would react when it was dislodged. Many feared it could swing toward the astronaut, possibly ripping his suit. Tom argued it could be done safely. Houston finally relented.

Having trained over the last two years for the only spacewalk scheduled for their flight, Kirk pressed mission control to be the one to perform the fix. NASA eventually selected Tom because of his long EVA experience on Gemini. They considered this a unique and challenging spacewalk that no astronaut had specifically trained for. Houston felt Tom was the best man for the job, and as the commander, he was given the nod.

After jumping off Galaxy, as Tom slowly tumbled in space toward the Saturn V third stage, he was starting to question his bright idea. Space was just as Tom remembered; unforgiving and tough to conquer. His body was turning so that he had to crane his neck uncomfortably to see where he was headed. He was still on course to miss the panel and hit his target, the outside rim of the third stage. Even though his body continued to rotate, he held off reaching for his umbilical cord for fear he could alter his course. “I’m ten feet away.”

Watching from Galaxy’s window, Kirk responded with a dash of envy in his voice, “Roger, ten feet out.”

Luckily Tom’s body was going to be in a position where he could reach the outer ring, which was now just five feet away. Piece of cake. Just before impact Tom extended both arms to act as shock absorbers. He easily snagged the rim before his body continued into the dark crevice between the booster shell and the LM. He stopped his downward movement, transferring his momentum into a swinging motion, swaying into the rocket’s internal metal skin. The impact was hardly noticeable. That was fun.

Tom pulled himself up so he could peer over the rocket’s edge at Galaxy, floating about twenty feet away, his umbilical cord slithering in the darkness between the two ships. Both his crewmates’ faces were pressed up against the window. Tom shot them a thumbs-up. “Confirm safely on target.”

Houston answered, “Roger, Tom.”

Tom was pleased to hear David’s voice at CAPCOM.

The panel was dangling about a quarter of the way around the booster’s rim. Tom inspected the rim’s surface to determine if the area was clear of dangerous debris or jagged edges. The last thing he needed was a punctured glove. Confident all was good, Tom started to shimmy along the edge as his legs swayed out behind him. He glanced up at the quarter moon. Don’t worry, baby, we’ll be there soon.

Once Tom reached the panel, he studied the location where it was caught. It appeared a good swift kick would do the trick. “Houston, the problem looks minimal. I will attempt to dislodge the panel.”

“Roger. Take it slow.”

“Copy that.” From his struggles on Gemini, Tom knew he would need a good grip or he’d be the one flying away. He noticed some metal supports inside the rocket. He turned over so he was lying facedown, his feet toward the panel. When he reached for the supports, it dawned on him he hadn’t clearly thought out his plan. He couldn’t see behind him. He blindly moved his foot until he touched something solid above the rim. There you are. He slowly pulled his foot up, ready to give the panel a strong kick. Tom pushed down his leg as hard as he could. As his leg straightened out, his upper body moved forward, causing him to twist slightly. Considering how easy his follow-through was, he assumed he had missed the target. Eventually, his momentum swung his body around, and he was pleased to see the panel was no longer attached. He smiled as the sheet of metal tumbled away. He proclaimed proudly, “Houston, the panel has been cut loose.”

A wild cheer echoed in Tom’s headset before David called out excitedly. “Roger, Tom. Panel is released. Great job!”

Tom’s lower body suddenly changed direction, which was against all laws of motion. He looked down and was horrified to see gas venting from the bottom of his leg. He turned his leg over and winced in fear at the sight of a five-inch gash in his suit.

The cold, terrifying fact was he would be dead in less than two minutes.

Tom fought the impulse to panic as he said bluntly, “David, I ripped my suit.”

“Say again?”

Tom repeated more firmly, “My suit has been cut!”

“Your suit has been breached?”

A hollow moan echoed in Tom’s helmet. “That’s affirmative.”

“Can you manually seal the leak?”

There was no way Tom could reach the tear. “Negative.”

“Roger, you need to get back to Galaxy immediately.”

Staying composed, Tom expressed what the frank reality was. “Why? I’m dead in a few minutes. I’d rather spend my last moments talking to Anne. Is she in the VIP room?”

After some muffled sounds, David desperately answered back, “No, she didn’t make it in today.”

Disappointed, Tom leaned over the booster’s rim. He looked longingly down at the colorful planet slowly rotating below. His one and only true love was down there, and he wanted one last hug. An odd sensation began to overtake him, as if he could feel her presence. He was convinced she was thinking of him at that very moment. As his blood began to boil due to being exposed to the vacuum of space, Tom had to relay his feelings before his symptoms prevented him from speaking. “David, it’s as if Anne is here with me right now.”

“Copy that. I know how much she loves you, and I am sure she is there in spirit.”

His breathing was becoming labored. “I want you to give Anne the biggest hug you have ever given anyone and tell her it’s from me. Tell her I love her more than life itself, and I will be waiting for her in heaven.”

“Roger.”

Tears started to float in Tom’s helmet. With his throat tightening up, he was struggling to breathe. He had to convey one last point. He practically had to cough out his final words. “Bbbuut tell her I..I..don’t want to… see her too soon. I..I… want her to…to enjoy our grandkids.”

“Roger that, buddy.”

“…wake up, Anne, wake up.”

The voice startled Anne. She shot up like a dart, gasping for air, and turned with wide, anxious eyes. Standing next to her bed was Tom’s sister, Virginia, holding a tray with a cup of coffee, a donut, and the newspaper. Though Anne was relieved to have been awakened from the nightmare, she was afraid something was wrong. Still groggy, she stumbled on her words as she quizzed Virginia in a panicky voice. “What…what’s the matter? Is Tom okay?”

Her sister-in-law calmly set the tray on the bed. “Everything’s fine. You were exhausted, so I let you sleep in.” Virginia walked over to the curtains and pulled the cord, allowing a splash of bright sunshine to flow into the room. “Were you having a bad dream? You were shaking.”

Anne sat up in the bed. “I had a nightmare that something bad happened to Tom.”

Sitting on the bed, Virginia handed over the coffee. “I’m sorry to hear that. Well, everything’s fine.”

Anne looked at the clock. Her eyes got big again. She started to get out of bed. “Today’s Monday—Peter needs to get to school.”

Virginia stopped Anne with a calming hand on her shoulder. “That’s all been taken care of. I walked him to the bus stop earlier.”

Anne relaxed back in bed. She set her coffee down on the nightstand and turned up the volume on the squawk box, allowing her to keep track of the communications between Apollo 16 and mission control. She grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem. Also my dad called. He and mom will be here for the landing.”

“Great. Peter loves his Oma and Opa.”

Virginia picked up the newspaper and waved it around. “Guess who’s on the front page of the newspaper?”

Smiling, Anne reached for the paper. “Your handsome brother?”

Virginia grinned. “Nope.”

Anne opened the paper and was shocked to see a big picture of her and Chris together, his arm draped around her. “Oh my God.” She read the caption, Anne Novak celebrates the successful launch of her husband’s rocket with astronaut Chris Riddick.

“What’s the matter? That’s a great picture of you. You two make a cute couple.”

Anne directed an angry glare at her sister-in-law. “That man’s an ass. Tom can’t stand him and neither can I.” Anne looked out the window.

“I was just joking.”

“I know.” Anne lit her cigarette. “I hope Tom doesn’t find out about this.”

APOLLO 16 ZIPPED through deep space at over 25,000 miles per hour as it slowly rotated in the barbecue mode, ensuring the sun’s heat was evenly distributed along the ship. Looking out the small window, Tom put his hand up to block out his planet. Though he knew this moment would come, he was still in awe that he could cover his home planet that held his entire history with just his hand. He kept moving it back and forth, wondering what his loved ones were doing back on Earth.

Dusty broke the silence. “I just finished the calculations. Kirk, you did break the record.”

Kirk thrust his fist in the air. “Yes! Stan owes me a lobster dinner.”

Tom put a hand on Kirk’s shoulder. “I told you I picked the best CMP.” The long hours Kirk put in the simulator practicing to extract the lunar module using as little fuel as possible paid off. He had beaten his buddy’s record from a previous Apollo mission. Tom thought Kirk was carrying the competition a little too far during the maneuver, overriding Tom’s commands. But once they heard the twelve capture latches locking in place and they had a secure hard dock, Tom held no hard feelings toward his CMP. The pilot knew what he was doing.

All three men were well on their way to the moon, having successfully completed their midcourse correction. Their duties were limited over the next twenty-four hours, allowing them time to enjoy their adventure dressed in comfortable, cloth flight suits. Dusty had already checked out the Lunar Module to certify the spacecraft was fit for its short jaunt down to the lunar surface. The module was in great shape, and the extra space it provided was a welcome addition.

Dusty floated into his seat. He put his hand on his lower back and stretched. “I was so sure I would have one of the most comfortable sleeps of my life in space. You would think with no forces acting on your body, you would wake up without any aches. Well damn, my back is killing me.”

Tom chuckled. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. That’s normal. Your spine stretches in space. That’s why your back hurts. Don’t worry. It’ll go away.”

Dusty narrowed his eyes at Tom. “Mr. Commander, is there anything else I should know about this trip that you are so conveniently not telling me?”

Tom smiled. “Only that there’ll be little green men waiting for us on the moon.”

Dusty laughed. “That sounds like a bad dream.”

A call from mission control interrupted the men. “Apollo 16, this is Houston. Come in.”

Tom clicked his radio switch. “Hello, Houston. Apollo 16. Read you loud and clear.”

“Roger. How’s the flight going?”

“Great. Both ships check out fine.”

“Roger. Everything looks good down here too. So how did you sleep?”

“I slept like a baby, but I think Dusty and Kirk had some issues. I’ll let Dusty update you on the specifics when he passes over the post sleep report along with what we’ve eaten over the last twelve hours.”

“Well that’s expected of those rookies. They’ll be fine.”

“Copy that.”

“I’m sorry to say none of your pictures were on the front page of the newspaper this morning.”

Tom looked over at Dusty with a smirk. “Who beat us out, some old lady getting a jaywalking ticket?”

“No, some pretty lady. Anne was on the cover.”

Tom, looking out the window toward Earth, said, “Wow, that’s great to hear.”

“So the world still cares. There was a nice article about Apollo 16 and the launch.”

“Great. So is Peter in the picture too?”

“Nope. Chris Riddick is, though.”

Tom looked down at the control panel. He put his hand on his snoopy cap, pushing on the ear phone to hear clearer. “Say again.”

“Chris Riddick. He has his arm around Anne. It’s a nice shot.”

“Roger. I’ll have Dusty give you the post sleep report. Over.” Tom clicked off his radio, annoyed by the visual in his head.

PAPERS WERE SPRAWLED all over Dick’s desk as he reviewed the latest data from the Apollo 16 flight. A knock on his office door broke his concentration. “Come in.”

The door opened slowly and Chris Riddick poked his head in. “Do you have a moment, Dick?”

“I’m kind of busy right now, Chris. What do you need?”

Not waiting for an invitation, Chris strutted right in, closed the door behind him and took a seat. “I need to talk to you about something important.”

Dick leaned over his desk. “You have two minutes.”

“Fine, I’ll get right to the point. I’ve heard rumors of an investigation going on regarding moon rocks missing, which makes me nervous. My gut tells me what I stumbled on with Tom a few years back is somehow involved. I feel I need to share what I know with the director.”

Dick suspected Chris was full of shit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t heard of any such talk.”

Chris looked directly at his boss. “I have.”

Concerned that Chris might shoot off his mouth, Dick moved in closer, pointing his finger directly at the man. “What are you doing? I told you to drop this. I can still get the CIA to clean up that recording.”

Chris crossed his arms. “Sir, I know you said I would be on the U.S.-USSR mission, but I haven’t been involved in any of the early assignments. I fear that when the official crew announcements come out, I won’t have a slot, and that’s the last mission before the shuttle flies.”

Dick had to contain his anger. “Is that what this is all about? Damn it, Chris, you better never come in here again talking about this crap. I’ve told you I’d get you on that mission. In fact, I just recommended you for the prime crew, but now I’m questioning my decision.”

Chris put his hands up. “No, no, that sounds great. Keep me in that slot.” Chris started to get up. “I didn’t mean anything by what I said. I was just letting you know what I’ve heard.”

Dick pointed to the door. “Get out of here and keep your mouth shut.”

“Yes, sir.”

As Chris scurried out of the office, Dick whispered under his breath, “There is no way in hell I’m ever putting you on a prime crew, you snake.”