“What is the status of catching the Americans?”
“Sir, though the TLI burn went perfect, we are still in the process of verifying our telemetry and speed as compared to the Americans. However, at first glance it looks good. I should know soon.”
Disappointed in not getting a firm answer, Sie said, “Let me know the moment we figure it out.”
“Yes, sir,” said the director as Sie put his head down and walked out.
BOTH PETER AND VIKTOR SAT comfortably in Maria 1 as she zipped through deep space, Peter relaxing in the Orbital Module while Viktor monitored the instruments in the Descent Module.
All of a sudden Viktor blurted out, “Did you feel that?”
Peter didn’t feel anything and frowned in concern. “Feel what?”
“We just cross speed bump,” said Viktor, smiling.
“What are you talking about?”
Viktor started laughing. “We cosmonauts believe speed bump on way to moon. When moon’s pull becomes greater than Earth’s, you cross speed bump in space.”
Such a phenomenon couldn’t be felt since they were in zero gravity, and all gravity forces are always precisely balanced with acceleration forces, but he played along. “Oh, yeah, I felt it. So we are now being pulled by the moon?”
“Yep. Few men feel moon pull,” said Viktor proudly.
“Just Americans and three Chinese, and now you’re the first Russian.”
Viktor raised his eyebrows and looked impressed. “Wow, I am. Damn.”
Viktor’s face suddenly focused as he adjusted his headset and said into his microphone, “This Maria 1, over.” Peter floated through the hatch and put on his headset so he could hear too.
Dmitri said, “We just finished calculating when both you and the Chinese will arrive at the moon.”
Viktor asked, “Roger. Who be first?”
There was a moment of silence before Dmitri answered, “Right now, the Chinese will beat you, over.”
Peter was devastated. If the Chinese beat them to the laser, he and Viktor could do nothing to stop it from firing.
Viktor asked with hope in his voice, “Are you sure?”
“I had a few different engineers work the numbers, but the answer always came out the same. We are sure,” Dmitri said.
Viktor put his head down for a moment before saying, “By how much?
“Sixty-five minutes.”
Lifting his head Viktor asked, “Is there anything we can do?”
Dmitri replied, “Maybe. We are considering having you fire the main engine for a short time to increase your velocity. The problem is, you will use up fuel needed to slow you down. We doubt there is enough to do both, over.”
Frustrated with Dmitri’s solution, Peter interjected, “So we can either beat them to the moon, but not have enough fuel to stop and fly right past, or they beat us, reprogram the laser, and we get the shit blown out of us on the back side.”
“Something like that, yes,” said Dmitri. “We wanted to inform you both and see if you had any suggestions.”
Those options definitely weren’t acceptable to Peter. He looked over to Viktor, who seemed to be in deep thought before an encouraging expression crossed his face. “What if we jettison Orbital Module before lunar orbit?”
The radio was silent before Dmitri said, “We didn’t think of that. That could work. It would definitely reduce the amount of propellant needed to slow you down. Do you need the module?”
“It gives Peter place to get away from me, but we do without,” said Viktor.
“Let us crunch the numbers and get back with you,” said Dmitri.
“Roger,” said Viktor.
Both men took off their headsets before Peter asked, “What about taking pictures outside the capsule?” Without the Orbital Module, they no longer had an airlock. So there was no way of doing a spacewalk.
“We can still do. We bring EMU suit and cameras in here and store in empty seat. We can’t take SAFER, too big—instead you use tether line. That will be last thing you do in lunar orbit. When time, you open hatch.”
“But you’ll die!” Viktor’s flight suit wouldn’t protect him from the harsh environment of space. Without an airlock, Peter’s partner would be subjected to these deadly conditions once the hatch was opened, killing him within seconds. Only the EMU suit was designed to shelter the astronaut from the cruelty of space.
“Peter, I die anyways. I take cyanide pill right before you open hatch. You go out, take pictures, return and send pictures to Earth. Mission accomplished. Unfortunately you die once your oxygen runs out,” said Viktor matter-of-factly.
Considering their options, it looked like they had no other choice. Peter hated to think about coming back from the spacewalk and seeing his partner buckled in his seat, dead. But what else could they do? “Do you think we can get all the equipment in here?”
“It be tight, but yes. No toilet, so shit before we jettison her,” said Viktor with a grin.
Peter smiled. Pointing to the hatch he asked, “Are you sure I can fit through that in the EMU suit?”
“You could not if we in TMA model. But lucky we in K model. It be compact, but you fit.”
Both men heard Dmitri calling back and quickly put on their headsets to hear.
“Maria 1, this is Mission Control, come in.”
“Maria 1 here,” said Viktor.
“Dad, you’re right. Jettisoning the Orbital Module should give you the needed fuel. It will be close, but you should still beat the Chinese. I will get back with you shortly with the required procedures in firing the main engine and jettisoning the module.”
“Roger,” said Viktor, smiling.
33
IT’S TIME
“Sir, we should know in the next few hours if Peter successfully reached orbit and was able to reprogram the laser,” echoed Doug’s voice through the phone’s speaker in the Oval Office. Breaking away from his family’s annual Fourth of July barbeque to participate in the conference call with Bill was Steve, listening intently.
Bill sat hunched over his desk nervously tapping his finger. “What are their chances?”
“Tough to say—the last update we received from Russia’s mission control was the Chinese were closing on them. In fact, our men had to jettison their living quarters, the Orbital Module, from the Soyuz spacecraft during flight so they could fire their main engine to speed up their ship,” Doug said.
The president peered at the phone. “Was that successful?”
“Yes, sir, but unfortunately that was their airlock. So when Peter does his spacewalk, Viktor will die,” Doug said.
The president felt a ping of sadness as he looked at the picture of his father on his desk. He lightly caressed the outline of the frame. Even though he knew Viktor was going to die on the mission, knowing he would die at that moment made the reality tough on him. He reflected on the sacrifice both men were making for America before responding. “Damn.”
“Hopefully that will do the trick,” Doug said.
“Let me know as soon as you learn the outcome,” said the president as he pulled his hand away from the frame.
“Yes, sir.”
Bill turned to Steve. “You’ve scheduled the special session at the UN, right?”
Steve straightened in his chair and locked eyes with the president. “Yes, sir. It’s scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.”
“Good.” Looking back down at the phone, Bill asked, “Doug, is that enough time for Peter to be ready for the spacewalk?”
“If they make it into lunar orbit today, that should be.”
The president leaned back in his chair folding his arms. “Good. If at all possible, I would like to get a live feed from Peter while the session is going on.” The president uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “Will he be able to submit a few early pictures of some of the landing sites before his spacewalk?”