“What’s the matter? That’s a great picture of you. You two make a cute couple.”
Anne directed an angry glare at her sister-in-law. “That man’s an ass. Tom can’t stand him and neither can I.” Anne looked out the window.
“I was just joking.”
“I know.” Anne lit her cigarette. “I hope Tom doesn’t find out about this.”
APOLLO 16 ZIPPED through deep space at over 25,000 miles per hour as it slowly rotated in the barbecue mode, ensuring the sun’s heat was evenly distributed along the ship. Looking out the small window, Tom put his hand up to block out his planet. Though he knew this moment would come, he was still in awe that he could cover his home planet that held his entire history with just his hand. He kept moving it back and forth, wondering what his loved ones were doing back on Earth.
Dusty broke the silence. “I just finished the calculations. Kirk, you did break the record.”
Kirk thrust his fist in the air. “Yes! Stan owes me a lobster dinner.”
Tom put a hand on Kirk’s shoulder. “I told you I picked the best CMP.” The long hours Kirk put in the simulator practicing to extract the lunar module using as little fuel as possible paid off. He had beaten his buddy’s record from a previous Apollo mission. Tom thought Kirk was carrying the competition a little too far during the maneuver, overriding Tom’s commands. But once they heard the twelve capture latches locking in place and they had a secure hard dock, Tom held no hard feelings toward his CMP. The pilot knew what he was doing.
All three men were well on their way to the moon, having successfully completed their midcourse correction. Their duties were limited over the next twenty-four hours, allowing them time to enjoy their adventure dressed in comfortable, cloth flight suits. Dusty had already checked out the Lunar Module to certify the spacecraft was fit for its short jaunt down to the lunar surface. The module was in great shape, and the extra space it provided was a welcome addition.
Dusty floated into his seat. He put his hand on his lower back and stretched. “I was so sure I would have one of the most comfortable sleeps of my life in space. You would think with no forces acting on your body, you would wake up without any aches. Well damn, my back is killing me.”
Tom chuckled. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. That’s normal. Your spine stretches in space. That’s why your back hurts. Don’t worry. It’ll go away.”
Dusty narrowed his eyes at Tom. “Mr. Commander, is there anything else I should know about this trip that you are so conveniently not telling me?”
Tom smiled. “Only that there’ll be little green men waiting for us on the moon.”
Dusty laughed. “That sounds like a bad dream.”
A call from mission control interrupted the men. “Apollo 16, this is Houston. Come in.”
Tom clicked his radio switch. “Hello, Houston. Apollo 16. Read you loud and clear.”
“Roger. How’s the flight going?”
“Great. Both ships check out fine.”
“Roger. Everything looks good down here too. So how did you sleep?”
“I slept like a baby, but I think Dusty and Kirk had some issues. I’ll let Dusty update you on the specifics when he passes over the post sleep report along with what we’ve eaten over the last twelve hours.”
“Well that’s expected of those rookies. They’ll be fine.”
“Copy that.”
“I’m sorry to say none of your pictures were on the front page of the newspaper this morning.”
Tom looked over at Dusty with a smirk. “Who beat us out, some old lady getting a jaywalking ticket?”
“No, some pretty lady. Anne was on the cover.”
Tom, looking out the window toward Earth, said, “Wow, that’s great to hear.”
“So the world still cares. There was a nice article about Apollo 16 and the launch.”
“Great. So is Peter in the picture too?”
“Nope. Chris Riddick is, though.”
Tom looked down at the control panel. He put his hand on his snoopy cap, pushing on the ear phone to hear clearer. “Say again.”
“Chris Riddick. He has his arm around Anne. It’s a nice shot.”
“Roger. I’ll have Dusty give you the post sleep report. Over.” Tom clicked off his radio, annoyed by the visual in his head.
PAPERS WERE SPRAWLED all over Dick’s desk as he reviewed the latest data from the Apollo 16 flight. A knock on his office door broke his concentration. “Come in.”
The door opened slowly and Chris Riddick poked his head in. “Do you have a moment, Dick?”
“I’m kind of busy right now, Chris. What do you need?”
Not waiting for an invitation, Chris strutted right in, closed the door behind him and took a seat. “I need to talk to you about something important.”
Dick leaned over his desk. “You have two minutes.”
“Fine, I’ll get right to the point. I’ve heard rumors of an investigation going on regarding moon rocks missing, which makes me nervous. My gut tells me what I stumbled on with Tom a few years back is somehow involved. I feel I need to share what I know with the director.”
Dick suspected Chris was full of shit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t heard of any such talk.”
Chris looked directly at his boss. “I have.”
Concerned that Chris might shoot off his mouth, Dick moved in closer, pointing his finger directly at the man. “What are you doing? I told you to drop this. I can still get the CIA to clean up that recording.”
Chris crossed his arms. “Sir, I know you said I would be on the U.S.-USSR mission, but I haven’t been involved in any of the early assignments. I fear that when the official crew announcements come out, I won’t have a slot, and that’s the last mission before the shuttle flies.”
Dick had to contain his anger. “Is that what this is all about? Damn it, Chris, you better never come in here again talking about this crap. I’ve told you I’d get you on that mission. In fact, I just recommended you for the prime crew, but now I’m questioning my decision.”
Chris put his hands up. “No, no, that sounds great. Keep me in that slot.” Chris started to get up. “I didn’t mean anything by what I said. I was just letting you know what I’ve heard.”
Dick pointed to the door. “Get out of here and keep your mouth shut.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Chris scurried out of the office, Dick whispered under his breath, “There is no way in hell I’m ever putting you on a prime crew, you snake.”
24
THE MOON
Knowing the moon was just outside the spacecraft gave Tom goose bumps. Even though he couldn’t see the massive rock, he could sense its mighty presence. For the full duration of their flight, Earth’s natural satellite had been hidden from view due to their position and the sun’s glare. Tom was thrilled to see his planet shrink to the point where he could cover it up with only his thumb, but he regretted not being able to see their destination growing larger. Part of him questioned they were actually going to the moon.
Apollo 16 was flying around the back side in the darkness of the moon’s shadow, out of radio contact with mission control. Kirk had rotated the ship so Galaxy’s engine faced forward. Flying at over 5,000 mph, the brakes had to be applied just right to put the ship into lunar orbit, which would happen after Kirk fired the engine for the Lunar Orbit Insertion burn. If there was a malfunction and the engine didn’t ignite, the spacecraft would swing around the moon at a high rate of speed and be flung back to Earth.