“Roger, be careful,” said Peter.
Viktor fought to hold onto the saw with Peter’s big gloves as he cut. After fifteen minutes of struggling he had barely cut the bolt. This would take forever. He decided to go ahead and try breaking off the head of the bolt with the hammer. “Peter, if something happens, tell Dmitri and Anya I love them.”
“What are you going to do?”
Viktor didn’t answer. He pulled out the hammer from his bag. Before striking the first blow, he looked down at Earth below and thought of his children. If he was going to die; he had to tell them how much he loved them and say goodbye. Ya tak lyublyu tebia. Poka. He looked back at the bolt and with the hammer in his hand swung as hard as he could. Right before impact he closed his eyes, expecting the worst. The hammer hit squarely on the head, but nothing happened. He tried again and still nothing. He continued to hammer away, and with each swing he became less concerned about it exploding. The bolt wasn’t budging or breaking. He was thinking of giving up and decided to try one last time. He positioned himself in the best angle to allow for a solid blow. He said goodbye out loud, Do svidaniy, before swinging the hammer one last time.
When the hammer hit, Viktor was startled to see the head fly completely off and—fortunately—not explode. He also did not see any explosive powder leak out. Whew! With the bolt head off, he could now free the engine. He repositioned himself so his feet were again pressed up against the engine and his back on the spacecraft and pushed with all the energy he had left. The engine slowly began to budge and eventually slipped off the bolt. Viktor gave the VASIMR one giant push with his feet and watched it drift away.
“She off! Engine floating away,” said Viktor excitedly.
“Great job Viktor!”
Viktor was exhausted. He looked down at what was left of the bolt, spying a crack down the middle. He figured it must have cracked sometime during flight, losing its explosive powder. Viktor knew he was lucky, and he said a quick thank you to God.
SNORING USED TO DRIVE PETER CRAZY, especially from any one-night stand lying next to him. No matter how perfect the girl was, snoring was always a deal breaker. But Peter sat in the Soyuz with a big grin, listening to Viktor’s loud snoring echoing throughout the spacecraft. The racket was beautiful music, reminding him he wasn’t alone. Once Viktor got himself back into the Orbital Module he passed out from sheer exhaustion with the EMU suit left on. Once Peter could enter the module, he took off his partner’s helmet and powered down the suit, letting him sleep. Peter was proud of the old man for overcoming fatigue to dislodge the engine and save the mission.
Suddenly Peter heard over the radio, “Maria 1, this is Mission Control, do you read?”
Peter was surprised to hear Dmitri, expecting someone else to fill in for CAPCOM. He quickly grabbed his headset. “Mission Control, Maria 1 here. Read you loud and clear, over.”
“Roger, everything going okay?” asked Dmitri.
Even though they just handled a serious crisis, Peter answered, “Yeah, it’s been a nice leisurely flight, over.”
“We noticed Maria 1 slightly change course earlier. Did you do some course adjustments?”
Peter assumed Dmitri was talking about the maneuvers Viktor did trying to shake the engine loose. “We had a bug on the windshield and your dad tried to dislodge it, over.”
“What?” Dmitri’s voice crackled.
“Nothing. Your dad was testing some of the controls, making sure everything worked before we were given any course corrections, over,” replied Peter.
“Roger. Those will be coming shortly. What is that noise I hear?”
Peter grinned. “That’s your dad snoring.”
“I thought I knew that sound. He likes to nap. Hopefully you don’t mind a little snoring—I’ve had to deal with it for years.”
“I’ve gotten used to it. I kind of like it, over,” said Peter.
“Good.” Dmitri paused. “I wanted to let you know China just launched their rocket. We will monitor the flight and let you know when they leave orbit, over.”
Though he expected the news, it was still disappointing. He hoped they had enough of a lead to beat China. “Roger. Let’s hope they don’t make it out of orbit.”
“Roger. That would take some pressure off.” The radio was silent for a moment before Dmitri said, “Peter, I have someone here who wants to say hi.”
Peter’s heart immediately started to race, hoping the someone was Anya. “Roger that.”
“Hello… Peter?” asked Anya in a timid voice.
“Hey, baby. It’s wonderful to hear your voice, but please speak up a little louder.” She was probably being shy due to all who were listening. Peter continued, “So how are you… everything okay?”
Louder, Anya said, “It is now. I miss you so much. You and Dad getting along okay?”
“Other than his snoring, everything’s going great. Actually, he has been fantastic on this mission. He’s saved us a couple of times.”
“That’s great. When he wakes tell him I love him.”
“Roger that. Of course he’s going to want to hear it himself later.”
“Thanks for leaving the pendent. I have it around my neck where it belongs. I can’t tell you how much it means to me, especially knowing you found it. I wear it everywhere and always will. And thank you for the special note on the mirror. It made me cry.”
Peter smiled. “Hopefully not because it was expensive lipstick.”
Anya giggled, “No. Because of what you said.”
“I meant what I said.” Peter put his hand to his chest feeling the jewelry under his flight suit. “I’m wearing the other half, too. I even have a picture of you up on the panel next to me. I’m looking at it right now.”
“What picture?”
“A modeling picture you did for charity. Your dad gave it to me. You look hot. Of course I think you always look hot.”
“Thank you. You’re not too bad yourself. So any chance you two turning that ship around and coming home?”
Peter rubbed his finger over her picture. “A big part of me wishes we could. Even if it was possible, your dad would still be dragging me along. I think he likes my company.”
Her voice quieting down again, she said, “Peter, I miss you and I love you, very much.”
Without hesitation Peter responded proudly, “Baby, I love you too.”
Peter thought he heard a sniffle before Anya said, “Well, Dmitri promised me I can check in with you every once in awhile. Maybe we can talk tomorrow?”
“I would love that.” He had to swallow past a growing lump. “Hearing your voice does wonders for me.”
“Roger. Tell Dad I said Allo and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.”
“Roger. Love you.”
Peter sensed she was trying to compose herself when she paused before her voice cracked, “I love you too.”
SIE FELT LIKE A DEAD MAN walking as he entered the control room of the Beijing Command Center to check on Tang and Nei’s flight. Regardless of how the mission ended, Sie would be fired at its completion, his name and legacy disgraced forever. He tried to put it out of his mind as he focused on helping the taikonauts race the Americans to the moon.
The taikonauts had already performed a successful TLI burn and were now safely on their way. Sie’s controllers should know by now if they were going to catch the Americans. He tapped the shoulder of his flight director, who was feverously talking on his headset. Turning around, the director asked, “Yes, sir?”