“Who are you calling, sir?”
Kuang punched in Lin’s number. “MSS. We need to detonate that bomb now.”
Kuang stayed hunched over as he clutched the receiver tightly to his ear. He stared directly at his assistant director while impatiently waiting for an answer.
“Hello?”
Kuang broke eye contact with Ming as he looked straight across the room “Lin, its Kuang. I’ve just been informed the American ship is parked next to the Iris spacecraft. I insist we destroy Iris immediately. We cannot afford a rescue or any chance of our operation being discovered. We must erase the evidence at once.”
“Yes,” said Lin. “I just learned of this situation. I agree with your assessment. However, I need the director’s approval.”
Kuang clenched his jaw. “I’ll call him.”
“Sir, let me take care of this. I’ll walk over to his office directly. I’m sure he’ll agree with us.”
Kuang’s palms began to sweat. “You must insist we strike now.”
“I understand.”
27
“NO!”
Peter exited the hatch on the opposite side of where the Iris spacecraft was, hearing only the sound of his breathing bouncing around in his helmet. A peaceful moment enveloped him as he gazed out at the absolute blackness of space. Nothing compared to being alone in the universe. The vastness reminded him of what a speck he was in the cosmos. He looked at his planet and saw the dazzling lights of Ireland and the United Kingdom standing out in contrast to the infant sunrise that was only a thin, bright arc of beautiful pastels. Soon the complete darkness engulfing his ship on the night side of the Earth was about to be assaulted by the brightness of the sun. He snagged a deep breath while taking in the radiant scene. He wondered if his friends were doing the same. With his tether line attached to his suit, he quickly cleared his head before whirling around to the hatch. He gave a strong tug on the line, and watched most of its 20 meter length exit like a slow moving python. He cleared out the remaining slack before doing one final tug confirming the line was securely attached to his ship.
He lifted his arm so his helmet lights illuminated his watch. He marked the time. The small oxygen pack on his leg offered him only sixty minutes of air. He had already used up twelve precious ones depressurizing the cabin, and he needed enough for repressurization. He reached back into the hatch and grabbed the portable oxygen unit. Pulling out the square pack reminded him of the challenges of moving around in space. It was like moving in water, only without the water. Even for a veteran spacewalker, zero gravity still required practice to get used to.
Once he had the unit out, he began to climb up along the spacecraft to get into position for his leap toward Iris. The trek proved extra challenging, pulling the boxy unit along. He had to let go of it each time he reached for the next handhold, letting it float next to him until pulling it up after releasing the other hand. With his feet dangling behind him, he continued with this strategy along the ice-cold, metal ship. Once Iris was in view, a déjà vu moment swept over him seeing the shadow of an astronaut poking out of the hatch. The ship was precariously outlined by the moon’s glare. He shook his head, amazed he was about to do a second rescue in space, the only two ever in the history of space travel.
Peter positioned himself next to the solar array before cautiously crawling up onto his knees, constantly keeping a death grip on the array’s support structure while holding the oxygen pack with the other hand. To get a good assessment of his alignment, he looked out at his target that was roughly ten meters away. The astronaut saw him and waved. Peter could not respond with his hands full. He felt good with his position and pleased that Iris’s solar arrays looked to be out of his way. He carefully worked himself up to a standing position as he provided himself with a false sensation of gravity by pushing down off the metal structure. He put the oxygen unit between his legs before he started swatting at the bunched up tether line floating in front of him to clear his path.
Once the floating tether line was out of the way, he needed to develop solid footing. He had to make sure he didn’t slip like he did in lunar orbit. Bending over, his helmet lights picked up a handhold by his left foot. Perfect. He grabbed the oxygen unit before he slid the foot against the handle for stability. He positioned his other foot against the array’s metal support. Feeling confident he was ready, he looked out to get one last evaluation of his aim. All looked good. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he bent down as far as he could at the knees. Peter, think of that last ball at the carnival game. He looked one last time out at his target before shouting, “Let’s win a teddy bear!”
Peter let go of the solar array just as he powered off the ship with both legs. He was relieved not to slip and made a quick assessment of his direction. He looked to be dead on. Time moved in slow motion once again as he floated between the two spacecrafts. With his arms down by his sides, he constantly monitored his approach, making sure he wasn’t going to miss.
As he passed the halfway point, a chill ran through his body when he realized an important omission in his plan. How the hell was he going to stop? Damn it, Peter. The good news was his aim was right smack at the center of the ship. The bad news: that ship was solid and was going to hurt. At three meters out, Peter quickly glanced at the astronaut and could tell it was Jesse with a shocked look. Peter figured the commander was surprised the veteran spacewalker had no plan on how to stop. Peter had to accept he was going to look like an idiot as he pulled the oxygen pack out of the way, ensuring he would take the brunt of the collision. Right before impact, he spotted some thruster nozzles. He reached for one with his free hand to prevent him from bouncing off as he held his breath and braced for the crash. The right side of his body slammed hard into the ship, dazing him for a moment. Holding on to the nozzle, Peter cleared his head before looking at Jesse, who appeared to be laughing. Peter was pleased to have amused the commander. He aimed his helmet lights along the side of the ship to determine his best path to his friend. He figured he was only a few meters from the opening.
Once Peter was close, the commander extended his hand to help. Peter passed over the oxygen unit. Jesse snatched it before disappearing inside. When Peter came around and peered in, both men were staring at him. Blake had the oxygen unit in hand and an amused look. He flashed a thumbs-up sign. Peter figured Jesse probably just informed his partner about how he crashed into their ship.
A sudden uncomfortable feeling overtook Peter as he poked his head in. He couldn’t place it, but an aura of death resonated within. His pulse spiked as a sense of urgency overcame him. He needed to get the men off this ship. He hastily signaled he would take Jesse first, and then return for Blake. Jesse stubbornly shook his head no, as he pointed to Blake. Peter expected the commander’s rejection. Peter pointed to his watch before bringing two gloved fingers close together, signaling they had little time. He then ripped open a Velcro pocket on his suit and took out the adapter. He held it up and pointed to Blake, hoping both men understood they couldn’t wait around while Blake hooked up the oxygen pack.
Blake reached for the adapter before patting Jesse on the back and signaling the okay sign. Peter could tell by Jesse’s hesitant nod he was not happy. As commander, he should be the last to leave the doomed ship. Jesse saluted his partner before floating back over to the hatch. Peter moved to the side, letting the commander float out. Once Jesse was faced toward him, Peter pointed to the solar array as the place they should launch from. Jesse signaled okay as he started crawling to the location. Peter poked his head back in the cabin as he lifted up a hand with all his fingers extended, indicating he would be back in five minutes, which he figured was the time Blake needed to switch oxygen supplies. The young man simply smiled and nodded in agreement. Peter waved as he started to float out backward. Blake lifted his hand with an extended thumb and pinky finger, the middle fingers curled in. Peter smiled at the surfer’s gesture, meant to put him at ease.