“What is important is that we try and do what is best for us and everyone else. I don’t have enough experience in life to tell you if this is worth it or not. I just hope that years from now I can look back and say it was all worth it and how proud I am of everyone on the ship and those who lived on Earth.”
The soldier said, “You explained that very well, Sam. Your dad must be proud of you. How about you, Jose? What does your dad do on this spaceship?”
Jose responded, “My dad is a co-commander of the ship. He and Tom are good friends just like Sam and me. At one time, he worked for Boeing as an airplane engineer. My mom is a nurse and works with Sam’s mom. As far as whether or not I think this trip is worth it, I don’t see that we have any other choice. If these natural disasters that are killing so many people weren’t happening, this mission would be the furthest thing from my mind. Sam is my best friend, and he will be for the next hundred years, depending on what happens. I just wish we could stay here and enjoy life. It sucks that so many people messed up their decisions about energy and pollution.”
The soldier said, “I wish the best of luck for the two of you. I hope you will live for many more years and have a great life. As for us, we will be soldiers until we either die or live to be old men.”
They finished their meals, momentarily silent.
Sam felt that his father’s lifelong fear of dying from humankind’s negligent acts of burying facts and degrading the environment willingly had led to this. It was completely foreign to anything any of them had prepared for in life. Their training over the past couple of years helped and would continue to help. His grandfather had died a horrid death from Agent Orange, and Sam’s own father was willing to stop this form of misguided thinking and negligence, once and for all.
Now his own lifelong fear of dying from a nuclear bomb had surfaced. These soldiers, his father, and the president had helped save countless lives. Here they sat quietly eating genetically-engineered food. How that fear had transformed into this massive effort in time to coordinate and save as many lives as possible from the threat of potential nuclear annihilation confounded Sam. Nevertheless, he never felt clearer about his lifelong hope to achieve something in the future. It would be far greater than what was in store for him if his grandfather’s life was a reflection of the human limits that were reasserted rather than reassessed. And that he had to thank his dad for, truly.
Chapter 44 – Then, There were Three
Tom Burns, The Imagine, Rocky Mountains, CO
The next day, the natural disasters around the world had calmed down a bit. There were still hundreds of aftershocks all along the San Andreas fault in California, but that was to be expected. Volcanoes spewed smoke that was very thick and flew miles into the air. Even without eruptions, it was making flights very difficult.
The president made every effort to save as many lives as possible. Three cargo planes filled with rescue supplies were sent to San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Department of Defense and Homeland Security did everything they could to assist people in need. The problem was that many of the rescuers were also in need of assistance. Many fire departments were destroyed and unable to reach anyone.
Tom felt horrible for all the deaths occurring all over the world but continued to stick to his task of preparing Imagine for the launch. They had to finish work on the launch console. Sam and Jose joined him to see what progress had been made. They went outside the ship to the space center where the men had been working in shifts around the clock to build and perfect the controls needed to launch.
Bob Jackson was there, looking over some instruments, when Tom and the boys arrived.
“How is it going, Bob? Any luck yet?”
“Hi, Tom. Yes. We are making a lot of progress. We are now working on calibrating the instruments to be in sync with what we have on the spacecraft. I want you to know that the Germans and Australians have been very helpful. They have provided some suggestions, and we have done the same for them. The Russians, however, do not seem to be in the sharing mood. They claim they are ready to launch, which may or may not be true.”
“Good work, Bob. Tell the Germans and Australians we value all their feedback. I will talk to the Russians. Do you need more help? I have five soldiers who were responsible for launching nuclear missiles around the world, and they ought to know a thing or two about making this work. Shall I send them here? It may speed up the work.”
“Do you think we can trust these guys?”
Sam jumped in, “Yes, I spent some time with them, and they are awfully dedicated soldiers who have given their whole life to serve this country. If anyone can help you, it’s these guys.”
“If Sam says they are trustworthy, then that is good enough for me. I hope to see them soon.”
Tom, Sam and Jose left the space center to take care of the next problem.
Tom turned to Sam and Jose, “Why don’t you two ask the soldiers if they would be willing to work with us on the console? I will go talk to the Russians in private on the view screen. You do not want to hear what I am going to tell Yuri or what he is going to tell me.”
Sam and Jose went to see the soldiers.
The boys left to talk to the soldiers. Tom went to the commander’s post on the bridge.
Fifteen minutes later, Bob met Tom on the bridge and reported that his call with the Germans and Australians had gone well. He’d thanked them for working so cooperatively to do everything possible to make the mission successful. Also, he had asked them for more feedback as they made progress. They had all agreed that a few more years to perfect everything would have been ideal. Bob had updated them about the soldiers they had recruited, hoping they might know how to fix the problems.
Both the German and Australian commanders had wanted to know if there was an exact date to launch yet. Bob had conveyed that until they fixed the launch problem, they could not give a specific time. They had all agreed to keep communicating about their progress and then had hung up.
Tom felt pleased by Bob’s account. He thanked Bob and wished him a good evening. Bob returned to the space center.
Alone, Tom sighed, anticipating the difficulty of his task. Tom called the Russian commander. He had no idea where this conversation was going to lead. He hoped it would end on a positive note, but he was prepared for anything the Russians might say or want.
It was answered by one of his lieutenants. Tom was told that Yuri was too busy to talk to Tom now. Tom asked the lieutenant to convey the message to Yuri that it was vitally important to discuss the launch matter and he needed to call back within fifteen minutes, as this was an emergency. Tom hung up.
Waiting on the bridge for the call, Tom sat there thinking about what he would do if Yuri did not call back. He considered that there might have to be two different missions. There was nothing to stop the Russians from taking off if everything was as good as Yuri claimed it to be. If that happened, there was the possibility of a space confrontation. He did not want it to come to that, but if the Russians wanted to play hardball, then there was nothing he could do about it. He certainly did not want a war in space.
Five minutes later, Yuri called back. “Commander Burns, how are you and your ship coming along? What can I do for you today? Are you still having problems?”
Tom looked at Yuri on the screen. Yuri looked confident, but Tom detected some doubt in Yuri’s words. If Yuri were fully confident, he would have been bragging about how ready he was to launch and maybe the Russians would just go ahead and do so. Yuri had not said that. To Tom, that meant the Russians were not ready either, but he did not know what their problems were or if it was the same problem the other spaceships faced. It was possible that Yuri had too much pride to tell him that the Oligarch was not ready. Another possibility was that he did not want Ivanov to know the ship was not ready. Ivanov could easily remove Yuri as commander. Tom was sure that Yuri did not want that to happen, as that might mean he would be left behind. Just like Tom, he had invested many years of his life into this mission.