“Yes. It was a nice gift. I have it in my suitcase,” Peter took a sip of coffee. He would love to tell his mom the real reason why he broke up and get her advice and support, but couldn’t. “I do have strong feelings for her. Maybe I’m just scared. Maybe I need more time.”
“I understand your being scared. You’ve been single and free for so long. It’s probably hard for you to think of being with just one girl for the rest of your life. I guess it’s only natural, but if you find that right person, which I think Anya is, there is nothing better than sharing your life, both the good and the bad. That’s how it was for your dad and me. It wasn’t always perfect, but I would have never changed a thing.” Tears welled in her eyes and her nose reddened, her cheeks becoming blotchy. Her voice thickened. “I miss him every day.”
“I miss him too, Mom.” Hoping to uplift her spirits, he said encouragingly, “Well, maybe things will change with Anya.”
Pepping up, she said, “If you have feelings for her, I think you should call her and apologize. Be open with her and tell her you’re scared of making a commitment. I could tell she loves you, so I am sure she’ll understand. She is special, and I know she would make you happy.”
Though he agreed with everything his mom was saying, he had already made his decision. To satisfy his mom, he said, “Tell you what, Mom. Let me focus on this mission I have coming up. When it’s completed, I’ll see what I can do to make things work between Anya and me.”
“Promise?”
He wasn’t coming back, so without lying he said, “I promise.”
Anne reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “I just want you happy, son.”
Peter squeezed her hand back. “I know.”
21
CAPE CANAVERAL
The Newton rocket lay peacefully on its side inside SpaceQuest’s hanger at Cape Canaveral. Large overhead lighting illuminated the sleeping giant as Peter gazed upon it, amazed at its sheer size. This amazing rocket was going to take him into space. Though it was smaller than the giant Saturn V that took his dad to the moon, it was still an impressive sight. This was his first opportunity to see the rocket up close. He was touring the Cape’s SpaceQuest facilities with Allen while his partner, who had already toured the facility, was getting fitted for his flight suit.
The Newton 9 was lying on top of its launch mount, extending the whole length of the rocket. The mount sat on a custom railroad cart, whose tracks led out through the large closed hanger door. When it was time, the door would rise, and the Newton 9 would be rolled the few hundred yards to the launch pad. Along the side of the white painted rocket were large navy blue letters spelling SpaceQuest, starting with the letter “S” at the top and each subsequent letter following vertically down the rocket. Above the letter “S” sat the Galileo capsule which would house the men during launch, proudly sporting the SpaceQuest logo and the American flag.
Peter walked up to the launch mount at the center of the massive vehicle. Reaching up, he touched the cold, resting rocket. He slowly stroked the underbelly. Baby, I have total faith in you and I’m looking forward to our journey together. Rest up for the big day! He gave it a gentle pat.
Peter felt a solid slap on his back. “Don’t worry. She’ll do the job,” said Allen.
“I’m not worried,” said Peter, shoulders back. “When will she be ready for rollout?”
“She just needs some final touches. We plan on rolling her out tomorrow.”
“Well, she’s quite an impressive sight,” said Peter.
Allen smiled proudly. They both started walking back toward the door. “She’ll be backed out along these rail tracks to the launch pad.”
They continued to walk along the rocket toward its back end, Peter eyeing it the whole way. They approached the side door next to the large hanger door. Allen opened it as both men walked out of the air conditioned hanger and felt the sudden blast of the hot humid air. Fortunately, scattered clouds covered the sun. Allen pointed down the railroad tracks. “The launch pad is about 200 yards away. The Newton 9 will be hauled out of the hanger to the pad by the same type of airplane tow tractor that pulls a 747. The drive will probably take about ten minutes. A little different than when your dad’s rockets were being transported, huh?”
“Absolutely,” Peter said. He remembered watching one of his dad’s rockets being transported by a NASA Crawler. He flew to Florida with his mom and missed two days of school just so he could witness the huge piece of machinery hauling the Saturn rocket from its VAB building to the launch pad. He’d been excited to be able to walk faster than the giant Crawler. “Yeah, I guess NASA likes the buildup of getting their rockets to the pad,” said Peter. “But I have to say, watching one of those massive Crawlers moving at one mile per hour with a rocket standing on top was an impressive sight, but probably not the most practical way of doing it.”
“The advantages of private industry,” said Allen, smiling. They approached his SpaceQuest truck, but instead of jumping in he jerked his head toward the launch area. “Tell you what, how about we walk to the pad? It’s a nice little walk, and it’ll allow us some time to chat.”
No problem for Peter. The stroll would allow him an opportunity to reminisce while scanning the base.
“I could use the exercise.” Allen patted his stomach.
As they started out, Peter looked down the roadway, eyeing the rails to the launch pad. He was surprised there was no launch tower, but before he could address the issue Allen began describing the setup.
“We have four giant lightning towers surrounding the pad to protect our rockets from any lightning strikes. Over there to the right of the pad is the storage container for the liquid oxygen.” He gestured toward a large spherical metal container supported in the air by four large metal pillars. “It’s capable of holding up to one million pounds of liquid oxygen, more than enough for your mission. I always like to say when giving customers a tour, SpaceQuest has some big balls, and there’s your proof.”
Peter chuckled. “So where’s the launch tower?”
Looking straight ahead, Allen answered, “Sorry, we don’t have one.”
Peter looked at him, stunned. No tower? How the hell are we going to get into the thing?
“Remember, you two are flying a modified cargo transport. Up until the point of taking on this mission, we were gearing up to send our first payload in an unmanned spacecraft. We were a long way from sending up our first manned flight. Since the payload could be packed in the hanger, there was no need for an access tower at the pad. The launch mount was all we needed to stand up and support the rocket prior to liftoff.” Allen took a deep breath before saying, “We are going to use a crane to lift you two to the capsule. Not very glamorous, but it will do the trick.”
Peter had to laugh. He had been spoiled with all of SpaceQuest’s first class facilities and equipment. That they were going to be craned up to the capsule seemed kind of comical, but it made sense. “I guess SpaceQuest has spoiled me, but it’s not important how we get into the thing. What’s important is that it gets us to the space station.”
“Amen!”
“Where’s Launch Control located?”
“Since the Cape is an Air Force base and can be difficult to access, I decided to have it off site. I wanted it to be easy for our customers to visit and watch their payloads blast off. It’s just south of the Cape. I’ll take you by later today and introduce you to our launch director, Bud Duron.”