His sister entered his modern office with her shoulders slumped over. Usually an impeccable dresser, her dress looked ragged and wrinkled. As she walked in she gazed at the pictures on the wall of their dad and him when they were cosmonauts. She briefly stopped at one picture of her on the ski slopes, and a grim smile crossed her face.
“Come on in, Anya.” Dmitri got up and waved to the chair in front of his desk. He closed and locked the door then gave his sister a hug before she took a seat. He could tell something was bothering her, both from the way she was dressed and her pouty look. With a sick churning in his gut, he wondered if his dad or Peter had told her it was a suicide mission. His first order of business was to find out.
“Everything okay?” he asked as he sat back at his desk.
“Sure, everything’s fine,” she said, fidgeting with her fingers, something she did only when she was upset or nervous.
Her answer did not sound convincing. Something was definitely troubling her. He needed to be tactful in finding out without tipping her off about the outcome of the mission, if she didn’t already know. “Did you spend time with Peter while you were there?” Sparks had flown between the two at Tom’s funeral, but he wasn’t sure to what extent. He was aware Peter was her main reason for going to California.
“Yes.”
It wasn’t like his sister to be so brief and non-talkative. “So what did you do?”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Anya snapped. “Let’s talk about the operation. What would you like to know?”
His sister was a smart girl and Dmitri wondered if she figured out on her own the Soyuz would not be able to bring Peter and their father back. He decided to try another angle. “Okay, so do you feel Dad and Peter are up to speed flying the Soyuz?”
She relaxed slightly. “Dad is. He was a little rusty at first, especially learning the updates of the model K, but he looked to be getting up to speed and will be doing most of the flying.”
“Good. So how was the training attaching the VASIMR engine to the Soyuz? Any problems there? Was Dad able to handle it?”
“They seem to have it down. Dad handled all of the underwater exercises great. I could tell he was having fun with all the training,” she said with a slight smile.
“And they plan on jettisoning the VASIMR on the way to the moon?”
“Yes, by using explosive bolts.”
Dmitri was hoping to bait her. “And then use the Soyuz engine to get them into lunar orbit?”
“I believe that’s the plan, I never really got involved with the activities or procedures around the moon.” She shifted in her chair, re-crossing her legs and narrowing her eyes at him.
She was starting to figure out he was fishing for something; might as well go directly to the question. “So you never worked with them on the return flight home?”
“No, most of the focus was getting them to the moon and accomplishing their objective. Why?”
“I’m just trying to get a feel for the mission and how the training went.” He sat back in his chair, bouncing one knee. She didn’t know the mission’s outcome.
Anya was starting to study him, reading his mannerisms. One thing about his sister, she had a knack for telling when he was lying, which went back to the many years she covered for him when he lied to his parents.
“Is there something I should know?” she asked.
“No.” He blinked and tried to steer her away from the topic. “So did Peter get the codes for the MK Laser?”
Looking him straight in the eyes, Anya firmly said, “Something’s up. I know you. What are you not telling me?”
“Nothing.” He was caught. He looked down at his desk as if taking notes and asked again, “So did Peter get the MK Laser codes?”
His sister’s gaze penetrated him as she sat, silent.
“You know something I don’t know?” she finally asked.
“I don’t think so,” Dmitri said, still looking down at his desk.
“You’re lying! What do you know?”
Dimitri looked up. Anya looked out the window in deep thought. Suddenly her face turned white and she turned with a shocked look. He looked back down at his desk, trying to avoid eye contact. He heard her get up and move until she was standing right above him. She aggressively tilted his head up, and looking directly in his eyes asked, “They are going to die, aren’t they?”
Dmitri was caught. He couldn’t keep lying anymore and sadly answered, “Yes.”
Anya’s body went limp as she fell back in her chair, looking right through Dmitri with a blank stare. For a moment she looked zombie-like. He couldn’t imagine all the thoughts that must have been going through her head.
She abruptly yelled out, “Oh my God!” Covering her face with both hands she burst out crying.
Dmitri crossed to her and bent down, giving her a hug, “Dad didn’t want you to know. He felt it was best.”
Turning to hug her brother back, she said through tears, “How could I have been so stupid! I should have known they had no way back. If I would have figured that out, I would still be there.”
“Don’t blame yourself. We hid it from you. We thought it was the best thing to do,” repeated Dmitri.
“If I would have figured it out, I’m sure Peter wouldn’t have broken up with me,” she said.
Dmitri asked, “You two broke up?” He blinked again. “You two were a couple?”
Anya pulled backed a bit, tears running down her face. “I fell in love with him, and I think he was falling in love with me. On our last night together at his mom’s house he broke it off. It made no sense at the time, but now, I… I… think…” She started crying again and was having a difficult time finishing her sentence. “He… he did it for me!” She fell toward Dmitri.
Dmitri held his sister, gently rocking her, trying to calm her. “I’m sure that’s the case. Peter’s a good guy. I know he thought a lot of you. I’m sure he was falling in love.”
She abruptly pulled away, wiping her tears. “I’m flying back there. I have to! I have to know if he loves me before he goes. Besides, I have to see Dad one last time and tell him how much he means to me. Do you want to go?”
“I can’t. I have to be here to support them when they hijack the Soyuz. Dad and I physically said our goodbyes in Houston. It was tough, but I know he was excited about the adventure in front of him. Do you know when they are scheduled to launch?”
“The last I heard, it was set for Thursday afternoon,” she said.
Since it was already Tuesday afternoon in Russia, he knew she would be lucky to get there early enough to spend any time with them.
Scrambling, she quickly stood and straightened her dress before wiping her tears. “I need to take off. I have to get there as soon as I can.”
She leaned over and gave him a brief hug. “I appreciate you telling me.”
“I didn’t tell you anything. You guessed, remember?”
She turned to leave his office but stopped short of the entryway. “Please don’t tell Dad I’m coming.”
Understanding why, Dmitri said, “I won’t. Good luck.”
She gave him a swift kiss on his cheek before bolting out the door.
23
STAND DOWN
The crane’s engines roared below as Peter held onto the railing of the makeshift platform that rocked side to side as he was hoisted next to the huge Newton 9 Rocket. He looked above through the dangling cables and spotted their ultimate destination—the hatch of the Galileo capsule. He looked across the platform and smiled. Omar appeared to be having problems communicating with the crane operator below using hand signals, while the technician next to him struggled to keep the platform from banging into the rocket. This definitely wasn’t how Dad was placed into his capsule.