Peter accepted the terrifying revelation that death was imminent and he needed to do something to change the end result. Anya simply meant too much to him. He had to break radio silence and inform mission control to shut down the middle engine immediately. He strained to reach for the switch to activate his mic as the spacecraft fought his action. Right before his gloved finger was to make contact, his father’s voice echoed in his head. “Every man must face himself in the mirror.”
He instantly pulled his hand back. He couldn’t do it.
Peter forced himself to look over at the dummy. “We’re either going to survive this and save our friends, or we’re toast. Hold on.”
Every muscle in his body relaxed as he closed his eyes. A surprisingly peaceful sensation started to overtake him. He began to have an out-of-body experience, floating up in the cabin looking down at both himself and the dummy shaking violently. This spiritual episode was a first for him, and he had no idea what it meant.
26
GUESS WHO?
Peter was slammed hard against his seatbelt, jarring him to consciousness. With the eerie silence surrounding him and his lungs aching for air, he was confused at first as to where he was. He was momentarily blinded by the sunlight glinting through his window while there was darkness outside. He took in a big dose of oxygen. Out of the corner of his eye, he was stunned to see Viktor working the controls. Wondering what the hell his dead partner was doing next to him, he quickly jerked his head to get a better look. He let out a big sigh when he saw the wires coming out from the side of the dummy’s flight suit, reminding him where he was. Good, I’m not dead. He grinned at the arms dangling out in front of the dummy due to the force pulling them forward; giving the impression the fake astronaut was working the control panel. Suddenly the ship shook. Peter instinctively looked at the monitor. He quickly surmised they had just experienced MECO, Main Engine Cut Off, which probably woke him. The tremble he felt was the engine separating as they coasted on the verge of space.
Mission Control called out over his headset, “Stage separation is confirmed.”
Peter squinted hard at the dummy, which still looked like it was busy flying the ship. “Good job saving us from that pogo problem.”
Before the dummy could answer, they were both flung hard backward into their seats as the second stage fired.
Mission Control piped up with their status. “Second stage firing, avionics systems are performing nominally. Altitude is eighty-nine miles.”
Peter figured he must have blacked out during the pogo problem. He fought to keep his head steady while studying the monitor. Though the flight looked to be back on course, he was sure the trouble they encountered would probably prevent NASA from approving the rocket for manned flights, at least from this test.
The rocket started to roll and the colorful ball of Earth outside started to come into view. His eyes once again widened in awe, never tiring of the magnificent sight.
Soon they were going through SECO, Second Engine Cut Off. The rocket handled the operation flawlessly before releasing the second stage. Peter was now floating in his seat and the ride felt as smooth as glass. He looked over at the dummy to see its arms levitating. “Good job, partner.” He tried to do the Galileo fist bump with one of his hands to celebrate making it into space, but instead chuckled at their comical exchange. “You screwed it up just like Viktor.”
“SIR, A ROCKET just launched from Cape Canaveral.”
A gut feeling told Kuang that Peter Novak was on board. His keen eyes challenged his assistant. “Was it a NASA rocket?”
“No, sir. It belongs to the same commercial company that helped the American get to the moon.”
Kuang jolted upright in his chair. “That’s even worse. I’m sure Novak is on that rocket, planning to sabotage our operation.”
Ming took a moment as if trying to choose the right words to soothe his boss. “Sir, that company has been scheduled for over a month to do this test for NASA. They are trying to get their rocket man-rated. It’s flying unmanned.”
Kuang slammed his fist down hard on his desk, causing Ming to take a step back. “Bullshit, he’s there.”
“Sir, MSS has been abreast of the situation. They have asked us to closely monitor all communications associated with the flight to determine if it is manned.”
Kuang was livid. “He’s there. I know it. You inform me immediately if there is any indication a human might be on that spacecraft. If there is, we have no choice but to detonate that bomb. We cannot chance our plan being discovered, we must make sure we erase all evidence.”
“Yes, sir.”
SMALL POCKETS OF sweat had been pooling on Peter’s face ever since he manually took over control of his spacecraft earlier than planned. His action surprised the hell out of mission control, and the way they stumble through their latest announcement made it obvious they were probably freaking out back in California. He wasn’t scheduled to take the reins until fifty meters out, but he had no choice. He needed the extra distance to get reacquainted with the controls and to position Galileo perfectly to pick off the antenna.
Peter was fully suited up in the Skylab spacesuit minus his helmet, allowing him to listen to mission control. He had an oxygen mask strapped to his face as he breathed in pure oxygen, preparing his body for the upcoming spacewalk. After searching through the sea of darkness, he eventually was able to locate his target, which was a small glimmer in a higher orbit. Mission control had done a good job aligning the plane of Galileo’s orbit with Iris’s, but now Peter had to synch the two, which would require every ounce of his piloting skills. Different from when he flew Galileo for a short jaunt to dock with the space station, this time he had to tackle the science of orbital mechanics. His knowledge on the subject would be tested. He needed to synchronize his orbit with Iris’s so the ships would eventually meet at the same place at the same time, and at a manageable relative speed.
Peter’s radio crackled. “Galileo is on course to rendezvous with EarthOrbit’s spacecraft in ten minutes and counting.” He was relieved mission control regained their composure, a sign they had accepted that he had taken control of the spacecraft. Since their radio transmission was being monitored, Peter hoped SpaceQuest made the planned public announcement that they were flying their spacecraft toward EarthOrbit’s to prove their rendezvous capability. He didn’t want China getting nervous, thinking a rescue was underway.
Peter turned on the Docking HUD, the Heads Up Display, and set its frequency to tune into Iris’s transponder. Soon HUD was receiving information from the distant ship. Two vital pieces of information were now on his screen: Iris’s range and range rate. The display had computer imagery of what was beyond his window with a green, dotted box highlighting his target, which at the moment was only a tiny dot on his screen. It also kept him advised of his relative velocity versus the ship he was chasing. Currently, it was 120 meters/second, meaning he was traveling that much faster than his target. I’ve got to slow this thing down. Ultimately, relative velocity needed to be at a manageable two meters/second to give him his best shot at ramming into the round antenna.
The ex-NASA astronaut was frantically wrestling with the challenges of moving his ship in space. Every adjustment seemed to affect two other variables. When he fired thrusters to reduce his speed, his orbit changed, which in turned changed his altitude and relative speed. When he corrected his altitude, his speed was affected. It was a vicious cycle that typically required a team of physicists with computers to correct. But he was on his own to deal with the science. He wondered if he bit off more than he could chew, especially since there would be no practice rounds. He had one shot at getting this right. It was as if he was down to his last ball at a carnival game, and standing next to him was the pretty girl he was trying to impress, and next to her was his rival with a cocky smirk. His pulse raced as he continuously manipulated the controls. If there was ever a time he needed his old partner, this was it. Viktor was a wizard when it came to orbital mechanics.