“A bit early, too, Yuri,” Olga said, also watching the feed. “I’m afraid that now we’ll never know.”
Yuri looked at his copilot. “About our crew or the Americans?”
“Both, Yuri. I doubt they had time to clear that blast radius. What were their superiors thinking, anyway?”
“Probably the same thing as ours, mission priority, crew expendable.”
Chapter 32
Russian Assist
Apollo 21 Rover
Surface of the Moon, Mons Crater
In the near future, Day 48
The blast arrived at the same time that the rover met the lip of the crater. Craig never bothered to slow down. He could see the blast wave approaching through the side mirrors that were only there to allow Julie to back the rover up. Now they served a different function. The rover sailed over the edge of the crater lip, seeming to glide in the lower gravity, but then it was violently flung into the ground as the explosive force of the nuclear blast reached them.
The rover hit hard on its nose, digging into the lunar surface and bouncing wildly before coming to an abrupt halt as it hit a rock outcropping. The rear-facing lights were blown out, and the rear of the rover was plunged into darkness. Only the top lights facing forward were still working.
Julie came to, looking up and seeing streaks of molten rock spewing across the night sky. Their rover was being pelted from above by small pebble-sized rocks that made the interior vibrate. The lights from the front of the rover cut through the haze, dust, and lunar soil.
“You all right back there, Jules?” Craig said, pushing the lever forward and causing the entire rover to vibrate, though it did not budge.
Julie lifted the shielding on her visor so she could see again and touched the top of the helmet, feeling for any major cracks. She’d have to de-glove to perform a more detailed check if she wanted to test her suit’s ability to maintain pressure. “Yeah, I think we’re alive.”
“Well, those engineers sure as hell know how to build a rover. The shielding held and none of our electronics were blown by the EMP blast. We are, however, stuck. I can’t move it.”
“The shielding doesn’t surprise me, though we were way too close to that blast for my comfort level,” Julie said, looking at the rear dash and checking the systems display there. “Did you notice the alien signal has stopped? Our coms are all clear.”
“I see that,” Craig said.
“Try pulling the lever back into reverse. I can’t see much back here, but it may help, and can we get Houston on the line?”
“Hang on a sec,” Craig said, and the rover stopped vibrating, and then very slowly Julie felt it moving backward. “It’s working, though I can’t see a damn thing behind us. I’m just glad it stayed upright.”
“Yeah, another engineering marvel. They kept the center of balance low in case we hit a bump, and the rover took off in this low gravity,” Julie said, taking off her gloves and lifting off her helmet to inspect it, hearing the gentle sound of small moon rocks as they bounced off the top of the rover. The sound reminded her instantly of a soft rain.
Craig stopped the rover and then pulled out and around the outcropping gingerly and then veered hard right till the crater’s edge was visible as a silhouette against the starry night sky. “My God, did we actually jump that, and what the hell is hitting us?”
Julie sat her helmet down and looked at the rim in awe. “That’s got to be a good thirty feet high, though the slope isn’t at a bad angle. I think the blast ejected a lot of lunar material and it’s coming down now.”
“Yeah, but still, that was one hell of a drop,” Craig said.
“Well, that drop may have saved us. Let me see if I can get Houston on the line,” Julie said.
“I doubt it. Check the high gain antenna mast. It’s on the ground to your three o’clock,” Craig offered.
Julie looked to her right and could just barely make out the four foot mast that had once sat on the top side of the rover. “Well, damn, can we use the LF transmitter?”
“We can, but I’m not sure it’ll reach the minis,” Craig said, referring to the dual small communication satellites that relayed incoming messages.
“All right, I’m on it. You get us back to the lander—we can use the transceiver there—but in the meantime, I’ll try to get Houston on the low band,” Julie said.
Craig started to drive the rover west with a slight northern bias, but at a much slower speed than their mad dash to safety just minutes earlier. The darkness of the rear was disconcerting to Julie as she tried to put it out of her mind.
Finally after several minutes, she heard the call from Houston. “Blackjack, this is Houston. Do you copy?”
“Blackjack here, Houston. We copy. How do you read us?” Julie responded.
After an uncomfortable pause, Houston repeated, “Blackjack, this is Houston. Do you read us, over?”
“We’re here, Houston. Radio check, over?” Julie said.
A pause, and then, “Blackjack, this is Houston. Over.”
“Damn, they aren’t receiving us,” Julie said.
“I see that. Let me pick up some speed now that nothing seems to be broken—” Craig was cut off as he veered the rover hard right to avoid a basketball-sized rock that landed barely ten feet in front of the rover, impacting hard and sending a considerable amount of lunar soil into space.
“What happened?” Julie asked, unable to see forward.
“Damn rock almost hit us,” Craig answered.
“Get back to the crater’s edge,” Julie commanded. “That may be the only thing saving us from the debris.”
Craig veered right again, almost heading due east until they came up to the edge of the wall, and he pulled the rover north to sit parallel to its edge. The pelting was less but constant, and they could see streaks far to the west, indeed in all directions, glowing as they returned to the lunar surface.
“I sure as hell hope the lander is all right,” Craig voiced his concern.
“Me, too,” Julie said, looking out the glass side to the west and wondering if she should put her helmet and gloves back on. One faint streak, however, seemed to be traveling in the opposite direction. The lighting seemed more artificial, as if it was reflecting something instead of emanating. “Do you see that just above the horizon?”
“Yeah, I was just looking at it. What do you think?”
“Either an orbiter or…” Julie paused for a moment. “Isn’t the Gordust the only sat in retrograde orbit?”
“It is. Do you think that’s it?” Craig asked.
“We’re going to find out,” Julie said, changing the frequency of her radio and enabling the low gain transmitter. “Apollo to Gordust, this is Commander Julie Monroe. Do you copy?” Julie let a full ten seconds go by before she repeated the greeting.
“Apollo, this is Russian Gordust, Yuri Temshenko commanding. Julie, is that you?”
Julie let all formalities drop when she heard Yuri’s voice. “Yes, Yuri, this is Julie on the surface. How do you read us?”
“Loud and clear. Are you all right?” Yuri asked.
“Yes, Yuri, but our high gain antenna array is out of service. Can you relay a message for us?”
“I think so. Do you have a frequency?”
“Yes, Yuri, use ninety-nine point seven and see if you can raise Houston for us,” Julie said.
“Switching now. Were you able to confirm the status of our crewmembers?” Yuri asked, concern in his voice.