His father answered. “I do.”
Peter was surprised Mickey didn’t sit down. Instead he adjusted his glasses before he challenged Peter’s father. “My dad says all astronauts get Corvettes for free. He says you really don’t deserve it, that you get them because you think you’re special.”
Peter sunk down in his chair.
His dad calmly walked closer to the scrawny boy. “Son, we don’t get those Corvettes for free, but we do get a really good deal. But you’re right. I do think I’m special, but you’re special too.” His dad pointed toward the teacher. “Mrs. Thompson is special.” He then waved his hand out over the class. “In fact, everyone in this room is special. All of you should always believe that.”
With no more questions, his dad solemnly walked over to a chair by the teacher’s desk. Peter hung his head when no one clapped. As Billy’s father stood, a sudden buzz hummed over the class. Peter looked up to see his father shoot him a thumbs-up sign with raised eyebrows, questioning how he did. Peter lowered his head in disappointment as he turned away, not responding.
Peter slowly emerged from his daydream to Mick’s voice calling out the countdown. He sat in a daze as he stared at the control panel for a moment. A sinking sensation began to overtake him as his head cleared. He had long forgotten that day. But now, especially being an astronaut, he realized how unfair he had been to his dad. He should have proudly stood next to his desk and clapped with enthusiasm when his dad finished, not caring what his friends thought. Peter looked back out the window. Sorry, Dad. I just didn’t get it. Thanks for supporting me and being a great father.
THE PRESIDENT LEANED back in his chair as he sat across from Jack Dawson. The secret agent man had his legs crossed. Curious why Jack had called the meeting, the President got right to the point. “So what did you need to see me about?”
“Sir, it looks like we have another crisis in space.”
The President threw his hands up in frustration. “Damn it, again? What’s it this time?”
“It appears China is attempting to bomb the space station.”
The President’s jaw dropped. “What? How?”
“Our intelligence has learned the device might be on a commercial spacecraft currently circling the Earth.”
“So it’s one of our ships?”
“Yes, sir. We believe China snuck the bomb on board.”
“Hell, then why don’t we just bring the ship home?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. At this point, we do not know who’s pulling the strings within the U.S. company. Our fear is if it’s learned that we know of the bomb, it will be set off early, killing the crew.”
The President tilted his head as he leaned over his desk. He spoke in a strong and direct tone. “I’d rather we lose two men than the space station.”
“Sir, we concur. However, we are trying a rescue mission first. We are hoping to evacuate the men before their ship reaches the space station. Once they’re safe, we’ll storm EarthOrbit’s headquarters and terminate the mission.”
The President looked right through Jack as he slammed his fist hard on his desk. “Damn it. First it was a moon hoax and now it’s a space hoax. The next thing you know China will claim Jesus Christ was Chinese.”
Jack struggled not to laugh.
The President leaned back in his chair and spoke in a demanding voice. “Is this operation under way?”
“Yes, sir. We have our best man on the job.”
The President cocked an eyebrow. “Let me guess, Peter Novak.”
“Yes, sir.”
“10…9…8…7…6… MAIN ENGINE START.”
Peter held on tight as the wild shaking began. The thunderous sound of those nine liquid-fueled engines igniting in quick succession engulfed the entire cabin, sending goose bumps all over his body. Even as a veteran flying the Newton rocket for a second time, Peter still couldn’t get over the amount of shaking involved in getting the powerful beast airborne.
“4…3…”
Peter’s head was rattling uncontrollably from side to side like a bobblehead doll in a hyper kid’s hand as the potent engines ramped up to full power. As calm as he had been launching in the smooth Soyuz, his blood pressure was skyrocketing as the awesome energy of the Newton rocket penetrated every pore of his body.
“2…1…zero…we have lift off.”
A sudden jolt in the vibration signaled the four hydraulic clamps holding the mighty rocket down had snapped back, freeing it for flight. A surge of adrenaline shot through his body as the vibration took on a 360 degree range of motion and increased in intensity. He struggled to cross his gloved fingers in hopes of bringing himself a little luck. The next few seconds were the most critical and dangerous of the launch as the monster gradually attempted to clear the tower. He was shoved deeper into his seat as the rocket exerted over a million pounds of thrust. Peter tried to look over at the dummy, but trying to move his head was fruitless.
“Tower clear.”
Peter had been holding his breath. When he relaxed his stomach muscles, the increasing g forces pushed the air out of his lungs. He uncrossed his fingers.
“Roger. Roll,” said Bernie Lyons as SpaceQuest’s mission control took over the flight.
As he continued to fight the rocket’s force, Peter smiled around clenched teeth when he heard the flight director’s voice. He had no idea who would be calling the flight from California, but was pleased it was the man who got him through the dangerous pogo problem encountered on his first launch. Curious how the dummy was doing, he worked his head up to see his partner shaking, but still in one piece. “Hang in there, Viktor.”
Peter put his head back and focused on the monitors. Everything looked to be going as planned.
ANYA SUDDENLY JERKED awake from a deep sleep. She instinctively reached over for her lover, only to be reminded she was alone in their king-sized bed. She slowly rolled back over and set her head back on her pillow and stared up at the spinning blades of the ceiling fan. For some reason, Peter weighed heavily on her mind. She turned and looked out the window. The late-Saturday-morning sun penetrated through the clouds.
Honey, I hope you’re okay. I’m thinking of you.
A CHILL RACED through Peter’s body when he sensed a slight up and down fluctuation through the rocket’s violent vibration. His initial fear was the missile was experiencing the same pogo problem that happened on his first flight. Damn it, not again.
Without having Anya’s necklace hanging off the control panel to give him an early warning sign and confirm his suspicions, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the odd oscillations. After a few moments, it became obvious the up and down oscillations were happening and getting worse. The phenomenon was feeding on itself and if it continued, it would rip apart his ride. He looked at the monitors to see if mission control was working on the situation. Come on, Bernie, help me out! There was no indication they were aware of the problem, and he couldn’t inform them. “Viktor, they better figure this out or we’re screwed.”
The dangerous shuddering became so bad a small latched storage locker above him was forced open, dislodging its contents in all directions. He raised an arm in the nick of time to deflect an airborne manual. This was serious. The vehicle would soon tear itself apart. He had to make a decision. Did he break radio silence and save his ass, or did he ride out this crisis with the hope mission control would figure out the problem? With his head rattling uncontrollably, he tried to focus on Anya’s picture. “Baby, what should I do?”
He knew her answer. “Viktor, we can’t take this anymore!”