Allen continued talking as he pointed out locations surrounding them. “Of course you know all of the NASA facilities you see around us.”
Peter nodded as he looked out to launch pads 39A and B in the distance, pads he’d always expected to lift off from someday. These pads launched all the Saturn rockets and Shuttles, and would probably handle NASA’s future rockets. It was odd seeing both locations empty. When Peter used to visit the Cape, there always seemed to be at least one Shuttle sitting on a pad. Now with the Shuttle retired, both sat empty, except for their launch towers. A lot of history had been made from those sites. The first men to walk on the moon blasted off from there, as well as both of his dad’s flights. As he continued to stare, he thought how ironic it was he would be launching from the Cape for a trip to the moon in a little over a week without NASA’s help, and without departing from either launch pads 39A or B. Not in his wildest dreams could he have ever come up with a crazier scheme.
Out of the blue Allen asked, “Peter, what do you feel your odds are on successfully completing the mission?”
Peter was surprised to hear Allen ask this. Up to this point, neither had discussed the odds for a successful mission, just his connecting the Galileo to the ISS. Peter tried to keep negative thoughts out of his mind, instead believing the operation would succeed as long as he did his part. He knew Allen was mainly concerned about transporting both men to the space station, always expressing complete confidence in SpaceQuest’s team and equipment. Whatever happened after that point didn’t seem to concern him. Why ask his chances for the overall mission now? “Well, it’s definitely better than when I first arrived at SpaceQuest, that’s for sure.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “It’s a tough call. There are a lot of variables involved.”
“If you were a betting man, what would you say?”
Allen wanted a quantified response; Peter paused for a moment before saying, “Probably better than 80 percent. Why?”
“I received a call from Doug this morning. He mainly wanted an update, but as we talked something slipped. My number one priority has always been to fly you two to the space station. I felt if this was done successfully, we would have proven SpaceQuest’s capabilities to NASA and in turn, be given a long term contract. In fact, Doug promised this. Well, Doug slipped today. He said if the mission fails, America will need a fall guy and SpaceQuest will be it, regardless of whether we successfully docked with the space station or not. When I questioned him, he suddenly back pedaled as if he shouldn’t have said anything. After I hung up I thought more about it and the fact is, the world will know we took you two up, supposedly against government wishes. In order to give the world the impression the American government had nothing to do with it if the mission fails, the U.S. will condemn the flight and our company. They would probably cancel our contract and blackball us from any future space flights, in essence, placing total blame on us.” Allen looked down at the ground as they continued to walk. “No other country will do business with us if NASA blackballs us. SpaceQuest will be history. Everything that I and the whole team have worked so hard for will die. I cannot risk my company on an 80 percent bet. I need better than that. This mission has to succeed, or SpaceQuest is finished. I have everything riding on this.”
Sensing Allen’s sudden concern and need for reassurance, Peter had to convince him the mission would succeed. “When I first heard about the mission, I thought it had, at best, a 50 percent chance of success. But the more I’ve gotten involved, working with SpaceQuest’s equipment and having Viktor on board, the more I believe we can succeed.” He looked at Allen. “I would not have taken on a suicide mission if I had felt it was going to fail. I know you have a lot riding on all of this, and so do I. I promise you, I won’t let you down. If I were a betting man, not only would I take the bet, I would double down.”
Allen suddenly grabbed Peter by the arm and they both stopped walking. Allen bored into Peter’s eyes with his gaze, studying him for a moment. Evidently he saw what he was looking for before turning and resuming his walk. “Okay, let’s do this thing.”
PETER WAS ESCORTED throughout most of SpaceQuest’s facilities inside Kennedy Space Center and he and Allen were now touring the operations and check out building. Their last stop was the suit-up room where he and Viktor would put on their spacesuits and have them tested. The last room he would be in before boarding the van for the rocket.
As they approached the door, Allen said, “Since your flight is our first manned flight, there hasn’t been a need for a suit-up room. So I had it completed for your mission.”
Hearing this and considering all that Allen had been doing to support the mission, Peter had to say something. Even if Allen was motivated by personal gain, he was still doing all he could to back the assignment, and doing it all first class. Deep down, Peter felt some of Allen’s drive was for patriotic reasons as well. The more he was around him, the more he saw how much he loved his country. “Allen, I just want you to know, I have been very impressed with all that you have done to support Viktor and me. You seem to have thought everything out. I am truly honored and proud to be part of the SpaceQuest family and to be flying the Newton 9 rocket.”
Allen appeared caught off guard by the comment and tilted his head slightly. “Thanks, Peter, I appreciate that.” Straightening up and putting his voice in a more serious tone he said, “Just make sure you complete the mission!”
Peter patted Allen on the back. “Don’t worry, I will.”
As they entered the room, the smell of fresh paint filled the air. The room had a very plain look about it, more like a doctor’s office. It was fairly large and hygienic, probably due to lack of use. Compared to the rest of SpaceQuest’s facilities, this room was boring, mostly white with nothing on the walls. I’m going to have to do something to spice this room up if it’s going to be the last room I’ll be in.
Viktor and a SpaceQuest technician were the only people in the room. Viktor was wearing a navy blue SpaceQuest X-1 flight suit, the one he would wear during launch, while lounging comfortably in one of six large navy blue leather lounge chairs lining the perimeter of the room, each facing the center with its own set of equipment. The chairs were for astronauts to relax in as their spacesuits were being tested, as well as final check-out prior to launch. In the center of the room was a large table with a white spacesuit sprawled out over it.
A technician sat by Viktor’s side. It looked like he was having his pressure suit tested for leaks. When Viktor saw Peter, he enthusiastically waved in his direction. Peter gave a casual wave in return. Viktor had his helmet on and couldn’t hear or be heard as he waddled his head. As Peter and Allen approached, Viktor gave them both a thumbs-up. Peter smiled and lightly patted his partner on his helmet, happy to see he was still excited since arriving at the Cape. The technician said to Allen, “I just finished Viktor’s pressure integrity check and everything looks good.”
“Great,” said Allen. “Peter, this is Omar, one of our top technicians.”
Peter extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Omar.” They shook hands.
Allen crossed to the center table and slightly lifted the spacesuit. “Here is your EMU space suit.” He studied the suit. “This is an impressive piece of equipment. It’s amazing what it can do.”
Peter was familiar with the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, having worn them during training at NASA. The EMU was similar to the suit Peter’s dad wore on the moon, providing full life support systems and protection from micrometeoroids. “So the plan is to try to use the EMU’s at the space station for our spacewalks there?”