“Mission Control, this is—” Peter realized they did not have a call sign. He looked over to Viktor, who tilted his head, questioning what he was doing. Seeing Maria’s picture next to Viktor, Peter quickly chose. “Mission Control, this is Maria 1, do you read me?”
A big smile came across Viktor’s face.
“Maria 1, this Mission Control,” said the accented Russian. Peter waited to hear if anything else would be said, but heard nothing. He wondered what they knew.
“Mission Control, we have commandeered this spacecraft and are heading to the moon, over.” said Peter.
“Maria 1, what is your purpose?”
Peter was impressed with the calmness in the voice. “Our mission is to get into lunar orbit.”
“What is your reason for being in lunar orbit? Over.”
Both men had agreed not to give out too much information at this point, so Peter sarcastically answered, “To see if the moon is made of cheese?”
Grinning, Peter was sure that would get some kind of reaction, but again the voice came back calmly, “Who are you and what country do you represent?”
Peter looked at Viktor, wondering what he should say. Viktor whispered, “Tell who we are.”
“We do not represent any country. I am Peter Novak, former NASA astronaut, and with me is Viktor Alexandrov, former Soviet cosmonaut. Over.”
There was silence for a moment before the voice, obviously surprised, asked, “Viktor Alexandrov?”
“Roger, Viktor Alexandrov,” said Peter.
There was another silence before he heard, “We will get back with you. Over and out.”
“You surprise them when say I on board. They don’t know what to do now,” said Viktor with a smile. “Good thing Dmitri there. They going to have big meeting. Dmitri will be questioned.”
“Do you think he will give out the details of the mission?” asked Peter, thinking of how Dmitri hadn’t been able to hide the nature of their mission from Anya.
“I sure he do what best for us,” answered Viktor.
THE DOOR WAS SHUT behind Dmitri as he nervously ran his finger along the leather chair in his boss’s office. The general director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Ivan Gromyko, was bound to press him for answers on why his dad was flying in a stolen Soyuz, and he still wasn’t sure what he was going to say.
Ivan circled his desk and leaned aggressively over it as he peered directly into Dmitri’s eyes. “Is that your dad up there?”
Dmitri cleared his throat. “Yes, sir, it’s Dad.”
Ivan fell back in his chair, throwing his hands in the air. “What the hell is he doing?”
Dmitri decided it was probably best to let his boss know the general plan of the operation. Ivan had a long history with his dad and thought a lot of him. Ivan would probably have the agency back his dad if there was no other option. At this point, the more his boss knew the better. He jolted upright in his seat. “Sir, he’s trying to prove China’s accusations against America are all lies.”
Ivan’s eyebrow crinkled. “Damn it—I know your dad. He just wants a trip to the moon. Why wasn’t I informed of this?”
“Sir, this whole operation came together very quickly. I just learned of it last week,” said Dmitri.
“And I am just learning of it now?” Ivan tilted his head as he leaned back, crossing his skinny arms.
Dmitri shifted his body in the leather seat. “Sir, I should have informed you earlier on what I knew. But I only had scattered details. I was hoping to get more information before speaking with you.”
“Well, your dad has now sucked Russia into this whole goddamn U.S.-China crap. What are they planning on doing when they get to the moon?” Ivan swiveled his chair.
“They are going to take detailed pictures of America’s landing sites as well as the Chinese landing site,” said Dmitri.
Ivan chewed on his lower lip then asked, “How are they returning to Earth?”
Dmitri took a deep breath and looked down at the floor before looking back at Ivan. “They’re not, sir. It’s a suicide mission. They will forward the pictures back directly from the moon.”
Ivan abruptly got up and crossed to a hanging picture of him with Viktor and other famous cosmonauts. “So they are just going to float around the moon until they die?”
“Sir, I don’t think they have discussed exactly how they will die. They have only been focused on training and preparing for the mission,” said Dmitri.
“This is amazing. I can’t believe your dad is doing this. What if I order Viktor to do a direct abort?” Ivan walked back to his desk and took a seat.
“They do not have enough engine power or fuel to turn around.”
Ivan sat quiet for a moment before saying, “What about a free return around the moon?”
“Sir, America is convinced there is a laser weapon on the back side of the moon, designed to fire at any orbiting satellites, and even our intelligence has suggested this. That’s why NASA’s LRO failed. If they do a free return trajectory, they will be moving too fast to reprogram the laser and it will fire at them, destroying their ship on the back side. They need to get into lunar orbit to be able to reprogram the laser. Unfortunately, once they are in orbit they will not have enough engine power to escape and return to Earth.”
“So Viktor knows how to reprogram this laser?”
Shaking his head Dmitri said, “No, sir, that will be done by a former NASA astronaut.”
Ivan tilted his head as he leaned forward. “Who is that? Do you know him?”
“Yes, sir, it’s Peter Novak. He was one of NASA’s top astronauts before leaving for the CIA. He is an old family friend.”
“Is he the son of Tom Novak?”
“Yes, sir.”
Pursing his lips and frowning, Ivan asked, “Is NASA behind this operation?”
“No, sir. The driving force has been the commercial company SpaceQuest.”
“Why, what is their motive?”
“I’m not sure. They may be working with the U.S. government. All I know is dad trained solely at their facility.”
Ivan got back up from his desk and walked over to the window, staring outside. “I have the greatest respect for your father and he has been a big part of this program. Some of us in this building wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him. I do not condone this action, but since they are so far along, I feel we have no choice but to support them.” Ivan turned. “Besides, I would love to see the Chinese proven wrong. Okay, I want you to stay on top of this and insure Mission Control supports those men.”
Dmitri exhaled, tension leaving his shoulders and neck. “Thank you, sir.”
“MARIA 1, THIS IS MISSION CONTROL, do you read me?” Dmitri’s voice crackled from the radio in English.
Viktor floating in the cabin signaled to Peter he would answer. “Mission Control, this Maria 1, hear you good Dmitri.”
“Dad, I have some good news. First, China has not launched their rocket. Looks like you two are going to have a big head start.”
Peter and Viktor looked at each other with big smiles, giving each other a thumbs-up.
“Second, I talked with Ivan. He wanted you to first know he does not condone your actions; however, he has agreed to support your mission. Over.”
“Roger, that great news. Thanks, son. Both Peter and I smiling. Over,” said Victor as he pushed himself into the commander’s seat.
“Roger. By the way, I love the name of your ship,” said Dmitri.
“Peter name her.”
“Good choice. She’ll treat you right. Okay, we are going to get organized down here and put together a support team. We will get back with you shortly with your coordinates and any course corrections. Over.”