“Roger, Galileo. Allen wants to talk to you. Please stand by.”
Why does Allen want to talk to me? Peter was baffled. In all pre-launch meetings, Allen made it clear all conversations with the crew would be handled by the designated CAPCOM. Now Allen wanted to talk to him directly? Something didn’t seem right. Peter was also mystified that Mission Control blew right past the fact that they had done all the tasks in a single spacewalk.
Allen came on the radio. “Galileo, do you read me?”
“Read you loud and clear, Allen. Hey, did you hear we finished all tasks? We struggled, but I’m happy to say we’re a go for the final stage tomorrow. Everything has worked to plan, and Galileo flew like a champ!”
“Peter, I have been instructed to cease the mission. You need to return to Earth immediately,” Allen said.
“What?” Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. What could have happened to cancel the mission? He and Viktor had gone through too much to stop now. Hoping he had not heard the transmission correctly, he asked, “Can you please repeat?”
“The mission is cancelled, you’re ordered to come home,” said Allen with force in his voice.
Damn, he had heard it correctly. “Why?”
“The full task is known. You can’t win. I have been ordered to stop everything,” said Allen.
Peter seethed. How could they stop now? He assumed Allen meant China knew what they were up to. Damn it! Peter didn’t know how to respond. He thought for a moment before saying, “Does finishing our tasks early change anything?”
“No. It’s too late,” said Allen.
Peter slammed his fist on the seat next to him. “Roger, I need to discuss this with my partner. I’ll radio in after our discussion.”
“Roger,” said Allen. “Sorry, but it’s for the best.”
“Roger, signing off.” Peter ripped off his headset and slammed it down.
Viktor was going to be even more upset. Peter needed a moment to think about the mission and decide what they should do before talking with Viktor. Should they stop? If China did in fact know they were going to the moon, he figured they must have a rocket already fueled, just waiting to chase them down once they left the ISS for the moon. China’s powerful rocket could easily beat them. The taikonauts would be able to reprogram the laser, and he and Viktor would be sitting ducks coming around the back side. That must be why Allen said they couldn’t win. Peter was willing to sacrifice his life to prove China wrong, but he didn’t want to die on a mission that was doomed to fail. He took a deep breath and let it out, solemnly accepting the fact that the mission needed to end. He slowly floated through Galileo’s open hatch to inform Viktor.
SIE HAD BEEN INFORMED the Americans had docked with the space station, and once again he was surprised. He was so sure America would bring their men home once their intelligence observed China fueling Shenzhou 10. He definitely hadn’t thought they would be going to the International Space Station. He was confident CNSA did a good job faking the fueling which should have fooled the Americans. Maybe the Newton rocket wasn’t a ploy after all. Maybe the equipment was being tested. But why would America go against UN sanctions to test equipment? Was the commercial company working separately from the government? Sie did not have the answers, but he was confident of one thing—those astronauts were not going to the moon. When Sie called Kuang informing him of the docking, Sie said this was actually good news, and the mission looked like it had nothing to do with them. He assured Kuang the Americans were not going to the moon. Kuang expressed his doubts, but agreed to hold off doing anything and once again said Sie better be right!
PETER CLOSED GALILEO’S HATCH before taking a seat next to Viktor. Viktor raised his eyebrows in curiosity but did not question that Peter wanted to speak in private.
“I just got off the radio with Allen. He said the mission is cancelled. He wants us to return immediately,” said Peter with anger in his voice.
Viktor’s jaw dropped. “Why?”
“China knows of our mission. It sounds like they have a rocket fueled and waiting. There is no way we can beat them to the moon unless we have at least a thirty-six-hour head start.”
Viktor scowled, his neck and face growing red. He stared at the floor for a moment before saying, “Did Allen hear anything from Anya?”
“I don’t think so. Why?” answered Peter, thinking it was odd for Viktor to ask that.
“Curious.” Viktor suddenly got a determined look on his face, saying, “I not go back. I have mission to finish. I go to moon! China doesn’t scare me.”
“Viktor, it’s a lost cause. They will get to the moon first and reprogram the laser. The Soyuz will be destroyed when you arrive on the back side.”
Viktor looked Peter in the eye. “I came here to do job for your dad. I owe him. There is ship ready to go. I take my chances. You go back. It probably best. You can be with Anya. That make me happy. But I’m going, no matter what!”
Viktor was determined and Peter wasn’t going to change his mind. Peter was considered the commander, but he couldn’t order Viktor not to go. Yet Viktor’s odds were slim going alone. “You have no idea how to reprogram the laser if you get there first.”
“You already say China beats me. So I won’t have to. Maybe the laser misses or malfunctions on my first pass and I get pictures on the front side and forward them before my second orbit.”
Viktor didn’t know how to operate the camera or how to forward the pictures. Besides, the president wanted pictures from outside the capsule, and Viktor couldn’t do that alone. Peter sat thinking.
Viktor crossed his arms. “If we just return now, SpaceQuest still fall guy on this.”
Viktor was right; the government would have to blame someone for launching a rocket against UN sanctions. Peter thought back to Allen’s concern of his company being blackballed from any future space business. Aborting now would ruin him, plus hurt all the workers Peter got to know over the last month. But if there was some way they could succeed, Allen’s company would go down in history. Of course, it all could be worse if he and Viktor continued and failed. Continuing was just too risky. “I cannot let you go it alone. Either we both go, or not. But I want you to know, I feel our chances of getting pictures back to Earth are not very good, and the mission would be a failure. I recommend that we not go.”
Silence surrounded them for a moment as Viktor looked straight ahead. He turned and said, “Peter, you stay. You have full life to live. You have Anya. I can manage.”
Viktor desperately wanted to go to the moon, and they both knew he could fly the Soyuz on his own. It was the laser and pictures Peter was concerned about. If Viktor got to the moon and wasn’t able to take pictures, the trip would all be a waste. Peter had no choice but to support his partner. “For the mission to have any chance of success, I need to go. Since you’re determined, then I’m on board. If you go, I go!”
Viktor patted Peter on the back. “I have gut feeling. We beat China.”
Peter prayed he was right. He didn’t want to die for nothing.
ANYA ENTERED DMITRI’S OFFICE for the first time since returning from America. She shut the door and scurried to his desk, asking, “What’s the latest? Is everything still okay?”
Dmitri waved at her to sit and leaned back in his chair. “We haven’t gotten a lot of information. As you can tell with all the activity going on, the agency has been put on alert to deal with this crisis. Both NASA and FKA are concerned about what Peter and dad’s reasons are for being up on the ISS, but Peter has apparently done a good job convincing Boris to be vague on the information being passed. Mission Control basically knows there are some uninvited visitors at the station and they have a bomb in their capsule. Fortunately, their names have not been revealed. Boris stressed that he and his crew must do as they are told or risk the space station being seriously damaged. Both men performed a spacewalk earlier today, and though the specific nature of what was done was not divulged to Mission Control, it sounds like everything is going according to plan.”