A twinge of sadness shot through Peter, knowing Viktor signed this before going on their flight. He was proud to see that Viktor honored Peter’s father. “Your dad never told me about this. You can see our fathers were close.”
“Just like we are.”
Peter smiled. “Yes, like us.” He picked up the pen and gently rolled it between two fingers. Since the page Viktor signed was filled with the signings of the men on the current mission, he needed to write on the next empty page, directly across from his old partner’s quote. He flipped the pen over and began to write with certainty.
I am honored to sign next to such a courageous and superior cosmonaut, whom I was lucky to fly with. I ask you and Viktor for your guidance and blessing. Peter Novak
Peter admired his words for a second before sliding the book back to Dmitri.
Dmitri studied the entry. “Very nice.” He gently closed the book and put it to the side. His demeanor changed and his voice was suffused with a sense of urgency. “Now we need to get down to business. So do you have any questions?”
Peter turned to a certain page in his file. Since the cosmonauts would be breathing a nitrogen/oxygen mixture in the Soyuz, he had some worries. “I’m concerned about decompression sickness setting in with the cosmonauts during the transfer.”
“We’re concerned too. As you have read, the pressure in their flight suits needs to be reduced to 3.9 psi to permit three men in suits to fit into the Orbital Module and allow for the flexibility to move around and handle the rescue. We figure they have about forty minutes at this lower pressure before decompression sickness kicks in. Of course, the clock starts when they close their visors and start depressurizing the spacecraft, which should take eighteen minutes before their hatch is open. Once safely in your spacecraft, they can immediately hook up to the oxygen units provided by the ISS to increase their pressure. The order you will save them is flight engineer, tourist, and then the commander. We don’t want Carlos by himself.”
Peter remembered the difficulties of moving in space. Everything seems to happen in slow motion. “That will be tough, transferring them one at a time.” He figured even if everything went smoothly, it would be tight to transfer all three separately in less than twenty-two minutes, and if time ran out, the commander would be the one to experience the sickness.
Dmitri squinted hard as he took a deep breath. “We have no choice. Unfortunately, that will not be your only time constraint. Each man will stay hooked up to the Soyuz’s air supply until their turn to leave. When they disconnect, their only air will be what’s remaining in their suit. Depending on how calm they are, we estimate this to be in the range of six to eight minutes.”
Peter put a hand around his chin and squeezed. “Wow, transfer each in six minutes.” That would be a challenge. “I’ll rely on the commander to keep me abreast of the time.”
Dmitri shook his head. “Sorry, there was not enough time to modify the Skylab suit’s connections to allow you to hook up our snoopy cap. You will not be able to communicate with the men.”
Peter straightened up in his chair. “Will I be able to communicate with mission control?”
Dmitri answered in a matter of fact tone. “No, not during the rescue.”
The mission was getting trickier. “What about the oxygen supply in my suit?”
“There were two small oxygen packs supplied by NASA on the plane you arrived in. These, along with your spacesuit, are being prepared as we speak. These packs attach to your leg. Both you and Alex will do a decompression and prebreathe pure oxygen for an hour before docking with the ISS, using the ship’s oxygen supply by means of a strapped on air mask. You will use one of the small oxygen packs for your transfer to the ISS and the other for the rescue. We figure each should give you about sixty minutes of oxygen. You should have as much as thirty minutes left over in the first pack that can be stored in Galileo and used if needed. You will be hooked up to Galileo’s pure oxygen supply when flying over to the damaged spacecraft.”
“Is the spacecraft spinning?” Peter knew any explosion would start a spacecraft rotating in some gyration, adding to the complexities of saving the men.
“No. We were able to stabilize the craft.”
“Good. Dealing with a tumbling Soyuz would have been a trick. How about the SAFER?”
“Two ISS astronauts should be doing a spacewalk now, attaching it on the outside of the Galileo. You will be able—”
Dmitri was interrupted by a hard knock at the door. Peter turned around to see the door swing open and reveal a middle-aged Russian in a blue FKA jump suit standing there. The reflected sunlight in the hall highlighted the man’s sun damaged face outlined by sloppily groomed salt and pepper hair with a bushy mustache sitting on a grin. The short man entered and went directly to Peter, extending his hand. “Hello, Peter.”
Peter stood. Chumakov written on the man’s pocket confirmed this was his pilot. Peter firmly grabbed the man’s hand. “Hello, Aleksandr.”
“Call me Alex.” While still holding his hand, Alex gave him a solid pat on the arm. “It is honor to fly with you.”
Peter bowed his head slightly. “Thank you, but the honor is all mine. I know you are one of FKA’s best.”
Alex smiled as he let go of Peter’s hand. “I know Viktor a long time. You two do special mission together, flying Soyuz to moon.”
With his thick Russian accent, Alex reminded Peter of Viktor. “I was honored to fly with Viktor, and I was very impressed with the Soyuz.”
Dmitri interjected. “Gentlemen, have a seat.” As the two sat, he continued. “Alex, how did your medical check go?”
“All fine. I live another fifty years. Are we still on schedule?”
“Yes.” Dmitri did not take his gaze off Alex. “Due to the rush of this mission, and the fact Peter doesn’t speak Russian, Capcom will speak English.”
A surprised look flashed on Alex’s face. All past Soyuz missions launched from Baikonur had been in their native language. Peter glanced down at his watch. He estimated the stranded cosmonauts had a little less than twenty-six hours of time left. He interjected. “When should we arrive at the space station?”
“In order to get you two to the ISS as soon as possible, Alex will fly into a higher orbit and brake, allowing the station to catch you. Though this is the method we plan on using next year, it’s still an undeveloped technique. We calculate it will take about six hours.”
Peter was impressed at the short duration.
A slight smirk appeared on Dmitri’s face. “And this time Boris will be expecting you.”
Peter smiled, remembering the harsh welcome he had received from the ISS commander on his last mission. He started rolling Dmitri’s pen between his fingers. “How much time do you estimate we’ll have after we arrive at the station to pull off the rescue?”
“After undocking the Galileo, if all goes according to plan, you’ll have about seven hours to rescue the men.”
“Any idea how long before I rendezvous with them?”
“We estimate about four hours.”
“Damn, that’s cutting it close.”
“Yes. Therefore, we cannot afford any mistakes. Everything must go as planned.”
Alex interjected with confidence. “Not worry. We carry out mission as plan.”
Peter smiled as he looked at Alex. He was sounding more and more like Viktor.
THE SUIT TECHNICIAN finished attaching Peter’s gloves to his spacesuit and spoke with a slight Russian accent. “How feel?”
Peter moved his hands around. Though the gloves were a little roomy, he was satisfied they wouldn’t cause a problem. “They’re fine.”