Omar called out over the rocket’s loud hissing sound. “She’s ready to board.”
Peter looked down to see the hatch opened. He gave a slight nod before turning to get one last look out over the complex and the blue ocean in the distance. He took in a deep breath of fresh air, some of the last he would have for awhile. Let’s do this, Peter. He swung around on his heels with poise before handing his helmet over to the technician.
Omar lifted an eyebrow. “I guess you don’t have to pee, right?”
Peter chuckled. Omar was referring to when he found Peter peeing on the back tire of the van prior to suiting up earlier. Peter had to stay with the tradition taught to him by his old cosmonaut friend. “Nope, already took care of that.”
Peter crouched down before sticking his head into the well-lit cabin. The familiar smells of a new car greeted him. He raised his eyes to see a dummy strapped in the pilot’s seat on the other side of the couch dressed in a similar flight suit with a helmet on. The dummy faced forward, preventing Peter from seeing inside the helmet. The mannequin looked like Viktor waiting for him to board. “You’re not going to say, ‘hi’?” No response. As Peter crawled in, he noticed various wires coming out of the dummy’s side which were bundled together and flowed behind the seats. He poked his head over the couch to see the wires hooked up to an apparatus. He also saw the portable oxygen unit and another dummy strapped down tightly in the area. “Sorry, buddy, I guess I’m stealing your seat.”
Peter felt at home in the small capsule as he gazed about the familiar surroundings. As he settled into the commander’s seat, he leaned forward and out of curiosity peeked inside the dummy’s helmet. He let out a frustrated groan when he saw a big clump of colored wires. He wanted to feel the presence of a real person, so he reached over and flipped the visor closed. A lopsided grin crept across his face at the name Alexandrov stitched on the machine’s flight suit. He shifted his gaze toward Omar, who was halfway in the capsule preparing to strap him in. “I see you have my old buddy on board.”
Omar smirked. “That was Allen’s idea. Since you two were successful on the last mission, he felt it best not to break you two up.”
Peter raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like he doesn’t trust me on my own.”
Omar started grabbing the straps and pulling them around Peter. In a joking tone he answered, “That’s probably it.” He looked up and spoke seriously. “Your Skylab suit and helmet are stored in the storage compartment Z-2r, and your oxygen packs are in Z-1.”
“Got it.”
Soon Peter was alone with the dummies, listening to launch control go through their many checks. This time, there was nothing for him to do. Though he had a snoopy cap on under his helmet, his mic was turned off. This flight was designed to be fully automated. Even if something went wrong, there would be nothing he could do. If he blew his cover, his friends were probably doomed.
Peter pulled open a Velcro flap on his chest. He reached in the pocket and pulled out Anya’s picture. He lovingly admired his soon-to-be wife in the form-fitting red dress. Anya, there’s no way anything’s going to happen to me on this trip.
With a strip of Velcro already on the picture’s back, he attached it front and center on the console. With his visor up, he kissed the tip of his index finger before placing it gently on the picture. Just you and me, baby. Oh yeah, and a couple of dummies, not counting me of course. He smiled at his little joke as he looked over at the replica astronaut. “Don’t get any ideas, buddy. She’s mine.”
He began to review the mission in his mind. In the brief preflight meeting, he learned there was not enough time to get a SAFER in from NASA. So without a jet pack, he was forced to rely on only a tether line and his muscles to get him around outside the spacecraft. The plan was for him to park Galileo close to Iris, but not too close. Allen had requested at least ten meters away, and the tether line would be twenty meters long. The CEO was concerned with the bomb exploding and damaging his ship. In fact, he directed Peter to park on the opposite side of the bomb’s position with hopes if it did go off, the ship would be out of the way of any flying debris. Though the PDD was in the front of Iris, Peter knew the pyro-device was on the opposite side of the main cabin window, allowing him to position Galileo so he could signal the men.
With only his legs for propulsion, he understood the importance of getting a solid push. He didn’t want to slip like he did in lunar orbit and possibly miss his target. Though the tether line would allow him to try again if he was off, he was still restricted on the number of attempts due to his limited oxygen supply.
“This is Newton 9 launch control. We have passed the one-hour mark. Now T-minus 59 minutes, 45 seconds and counting for the launch of Galileo 2,” said Mick of Launch Control.
Peter’s knee started bouncing. He hated waiting, especially with nothing to do. Though he was confident the Chinese wouldn’t explode the bomb before Iris visited the space station, there were no certainties. He wanted to get up there as soon as possible and get his friends out of that spacecraft, but he had to wait for his launch window.
He took a deep breath and tried to settle down. Hearing launch conductor Mick Vester’s voice reminded Peter when he was introduced to Mick earlier during the prelaunch meeting. Mick had informed him they were in the same third grade class together at Webster Elementary School down NASA 1 roadway. Though Peter couldn’t remember the guy, something about the conductor struck an odd chord. At the time, Peter couldn’t place it, but as he began to relax his mind, the memories trickled in. He recalled Mick went by the name of Mickey. He was a nerdy kid whose father worked for mission control at NASA.
As the chatter continued over the radio, Peter closed his eyes.
It was Career Day and Peter’s father was about to speak in front of his 3rd grade class about his job. Peter was disappointed his dad was speaking on the same day as Billy’s father, who owned the new Super Slide just off NASA 1. Ever since construction began on the huge slide, it was all the kids talked about. Everyone wanted to be the first to ride it, and Billy made sure all knew his father was the one building it. He had become the most popular kid in school.
Peter’s mom tried to convince him his classmates would be interested in hearing his dad talk about his adventures on the moon, but Peter was convinced no one would care. They all had met an astronaut. In fact, some of their fathers were astronauts, and if not, there was probably one living next door.
Soon Peter’s father was in front of the class, describing what it was like launching in the Saturn V. Peter looked around to see some kids passing around notes, uninterested at what was going on in front of the class. When his father finished, the teacher asked if there were any questions. Peter wanted to hide under his desk when no one raised a hand. The teacher tried to encourage them. “Come on, class, I’m sure someone has a question for Colonel Novak.”
Peter nervously straightened up when the class clown raised his hand. “Do astronauts really drink Tang in space?”
Some of the boys snickered as his dad answered. “Not anymore, but we did drink it on the Gemini missions. It helped the water taste better.”
Mickey raised his hand. Peter was counting on the brain of the class to ask a good question. Mickey stood tall and straight by his desk when he was called upon. “Do you drive a Corvette?”