In the middle of the silenced church, one lone man stood and started clapping. Everyone turned to see who it was, including Peter. A big smile came across his face when he saw it was Viktor. Soon everyone stood and started clapping. Peter continued to smile as he walked back to his pew, listening to the standing ovation for his father.
13
A TWO-MAN JOB
Peter’s parent’s home was packed with friends and family for his father’s wake. His mother was happy many came after the funeral, and the mood of most attending was upbeat. Many were laughing, some crying, but all discussing fond memories. In some ways, the wake was a farewell party for his dad. His mom was happy to have Tom’s friends and family there celebrating his life. Many came up and told her stories of Tom, some she and Peter had heard, some not. But hearing them made dealing with his death much easier.
Peter was talking with some of his dad’s friends when his mother whispered in his ear, asking if he had talked with Anya yet. Peter was definitely interested, but wanted to speak with Dmitri first. He had decided to discuss the operation with Dmitri, hoping to get someone on the inside of the FKA who could support him after he hijacked the Soyuz. Even though the Soyuz was an escape pod on the International Space Station, it was still owned and operated by Russia. Once he hijacked the ship, he would be dealing with Russia’s mission control. He and Dmitri had complete trust in each other and Peter was prepared to give his old friend full details in hopes of getting his support. He had been trying to find Dmitri ever since the funeral ended. However, as he searched, friends and family of Tom’s kept offering their condolences and he was obligated to stop and have a brief conversation.
Thinking maybe his mom could help him find Anya, and figuring Dmitri would probably be with her, Peter whispered, “No, I haven’t talked with Anya yet. Do you know where she is?”
Her eyes widened as she nodded “yes” and politely excused Peter from the crowd, practically dragging him through the room. As she maneuvered her way through the house, friends tried to approach to offer their condolences, but Peter shrugged as if to say he had no choice but to follow his mother.
When they entered the dining room, Peter saw Anya and Dmitri at the other end. He unglued his mom’s hand from his arm. “I can handle it from here.”
She smiled and turned in to the kitchen. Anya and Dmitri were in a conversation as he walked toward them, neither yet acknowledging his approach. Anya was dressed in a form-fitting black dress with black high heels. She looked classy and gorgeous. Dmitri glanced up as Peter stopped next to them. He stopped his conversation with Anya and extended his hand.
Peter grabbed his old friend’s hand and they pulled each other close, patting each other on the back as Dmitri said, “I’m so sorry Peter. Your dad was a wonderful man.”
As they separated Peter thanked him. “I really appreciate your family making the trip out here.”
“It’s the least we could do,” said Dmitri sincerely.
Peter turned to Anya, who offered her condolences as well. He had nothing to lose, so he put out his arms and leaned in for a hug. Anya took a step toward him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body tightly toward his. It was obvious to Peter this was more than a platonic hug, which caught him off guard, especially considering how uninterested she had seemed the last time they met.
Anya whispered into his ear, “Your dad was a good man.”
As they slowly separated they continued to stare in each other’s eyes. Dmitri asked what his future plans were. When he didn’t respond, Dmitri nudged him and asked the question again.
Peter shook his head, getting his bearings. He turned to Dmitri. “There’s something I want to talk to you about, but it needs to be done in private. Let’s move into my dad’s office.”
Pushing her dark bangs out of her eyes, Anya smirked and said, “I’ll go find Dad.”
Peter didn’t want to come across as uninterested—not after that hug—so he offered, “I’d love to hear what’s going on in your life when we’re done.”
Anya just smiled and said in a sexy airy tone, “Sure, that would be great,” and walked away.
DMITRI WALKED AROUND TOM’S OFFICE looking at all the pictures and memorabilia. “Your father was quite a man.”
Peter closed the door to the office and sat at his father’s desk. “Thank you. He had a pretty special life.”
Still standing, Dmitri turned to look at Peter. “So what did you need to talk about?”
Peter met his friend’s gaze with his most serious expression. “What I am going to tell you is top secret. Only a few know about this.”
Sensing the intensity, Dmitri crossed to one of the leather chairs in front of the desk, sat and looked directly at Peter. “I understand.”
“I have been assigned a top secret mission to go to the moon to prove China wrong.”
Dmitri pushed back in his seat, eyebrows in his hairline. “You’re going to the moon? You’ve got to be kidding me. How? NASA doesn’t have a rocket capable of getting a man to the moon yet, do they?”
“No they don’t. I am going to hitch a ride with SpaceQuest.”
Dmitri gave him a dubious look and said with a slight chuckle, “SpaceQuest? There’s no way they have a rocket ready for the moon.”
“They aren’t taking me to the moon.” Peter paused for a moment. “They’re taking me up to the space station. I plan to use one of the escape pods to get to the moon.”
Dmitri put his hands up between them. “Whoa, cowboy. What are you talking about? I haven’t heard of any mission using the escape pod and, as you know, we are the mission control for those pods. So I would know.”
Peter crossed to the closed door, making sure it was locked. It was. Then he walked back to the desk chair and sat. He leaned over the desk and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I plan to hijack an escape pod.”
Dmitri stared at him, mouth agape. “Wow. That’s a wild plan.” He turned to look at the picture of Viktor and Tom, then turned back. “You know, you will basically be stealing that pod from me since as the assistant director, I am responsible for its well being and safety.”
“Dmitri, I wouldn’t be telling you this if it were not important and if I didn’t trust you.” Peter laid both hands on the desk, palm up.
Tipping his head to one side, Dmitri said, “You can trust me, but I’m not sure this is such a good idea. How do you plan on doing this, and why the escape pod? It isn’t even designed for deep space travel and besides, how will you boost it out of orbit?”
“I’ve been informed one of the pods is a modified Soyuz, called the K model designed for deep space travel.”
Dmitri stroked his chin. “Oh yeah, that’s right. I forgot about that. Somebody has done their homework. Not too many people know about that. But you still have to boost it out of orbit. How the hell are you going to do that?”
“The plan is to attach the VASIMR engine being tested at the space station.”
“How many men will go with you on this mission?”
“It will be just me.”
“You’re kidding. There is no way one man can pull off that kind of mission, if in fact it can even be done. You need at least one other man. How well are you trained on the Soyuz?”
“I’m a little rusty. However a Soyuz mockup is being shipped to SpaceQuest to help me get back up to speed.” Peter leaned back in his dad’s chair. “I was offered to have another agent join me, but there is one major flaw with this mission.”