Houston’s static-distorted transmission ricocheted in Tom’s ears. “Tom, is ever…ing okay? We are get..g bad rea..ings from Dusty’s bac…ck.”
Tom figured the rover’s tilted antenna that also fed the status of the astronauts’ backpacks, was now giving inconsistent readings, preventing flight controllers from determining exactly what was going on.
“Houston, Dusty’s backpack is fine. We are leaving now.”
Tom doubted mission control was receiving a TV picture because of the rover’s position. Even so, he still clutched Dusty’s arm and moved him out of sight of the camera.
Since the two had excellent radio reception between them, due to the VHF antennas on their backpacks, Tom figured if he whispered only Dusty would be able to hear him.
Tom said in a barely audible tone, “We need to hook you up to my buddy system and to your emergency O2.”
Dusty answered softly, “Are you sure?”
Without hesitation Tom nodded.
Sharing Tom’s cooling water would allow for a lower flow setting on Dusty’s emergency oxygen supply, extending his air time to sixty minutes. Once that air ran out, Dusty could use Tom’s emergency supply, allowing for a total of two hours of oxygen. Tom figured they would need to average a walking speed of better than two miles an hour to make it back to the LM before Dusty’s air ran out. This was an exercise they had never trained for since NASA insisted only one man was to walk back under such conditions.
Tom positioned himself behind Dusty’s backpack, pulled back the Velcro cover and removed the stored eight-foot-long emergency buddy hose. Dusty pulled a similar hose from Tom’s backpack along with the six-foot tether line. The men hooked up the hoses to the cooling water connections on each suit. Dusty then pulled down on his actuator cable to start the flow of his emergency oxygen supply. Tom connected the tether line between them. If they pulled apart from each other, the shorter tether line would take the brunt of the force, preventing the longer hoses from being damaged or disconnecting from the suits.
Pointing along the rim of the crater as the path back to the LM, Tom signaled for them to start walking and took the lead.
Right from the beginning, the two astronauts struggled to stay in sync over the rough terrain as they followed the rover’s wheel marks in the regolith. Every three or four feet Tom was jerked back hard by the tether line, causing him to stumble and sometimes lose his balance. No matter what speed he traveled, he couldn’t get in step with Dusty. Finally, one strong tug brought Dusty hard to the ground.
Tom helped his partner up and said quietly, “We need to step in unison.”
Dusty whispered, “How about we walk side by side so we can keep an eye on each other?”
Tom liked the idea. “Let’s give that a try.”
“T… Hou…on, how’s it go…?”
Tom decided he needed to level with David on the seriousness of their situation. Remembering the secret code that they had set up while playing handball, he said, “A-okay. Dusty is wiping off his visor. David, I have to say it’s beautiful here. In fact, Smoky Mountain looks like the hills I saw in Montana when I was nine.”
“Yo… wer… in Mon…a at ni…?”
David was confirming he understood. Tom added, “Roger, family vacation in Montana when I was nine. The hills also look like those we saw from our hammocks in Panama.”
“Dur…g surv…al train…g?”
Tom hoped this clue explained their situation. “Roger, during survival training.”
“Cop… th…t.”
Tom looked down the ridge, estimating they had another 100 meters before reaching the bottom. He took a moment and followed the rover’s lonely tracks with his eyes through the barren landscape to the point where they disappeared over a hill. He needed to decide what direction they were going to take when they reached the hill’s base. The sure way of not getting lost was to stay on the rover’s tracks all the way back to the LM, but it wasn’t the most direct route and would eat into Dusty’s precious air time. Once they had traveled over 400 meters from the rover, they would lose all transmission with mission control, unable to get any guidance. Houston would continue to be in the dark on where they were or how they were doing until they were within range of the Lunar Module’s S-band antenna. Tom decided the smart move was to deviate from the rover’s tracks in a more direct heading toward Explorer. With Earth directly overhead and no compass, their only bearing would be the sun. It was a risky move and one they couldn’t afford to screw up. If he miscalculated and they got lost, they were dead.
“THIS IS HOUSTON. Do you read me, Tom?”
It had been well over ten minutes since David had last gotten a response from the moonwalkers. His friends were out of radio range walking back to the LM. David took off his headset and slumped back in his chair. He stared at his monitor, wondering what he should do. He decided he should at least confide with Dick on what he suspected was actually happening on the moon.
Dick was finishing up with his discussion at the flight director’s console. David jumped up from his chair, hoping to catch his boss in the back of the room where it was a little more secluded. David briefly caught Joan’s eyes as he walked toward the back. She raised her hands, questioning what was up. He just shook his head, gesturing it wasn’t good, before reaching Dick.
David caught up with his boss, tapping him on the shoulder. “Dick, I need to talk with you a minute.”
Dick stopped and turned. “Sure, what’s up?”
Leaning in close, David spoke softly. “I think things might be more serious than Tom is letting on.”
Dick raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
“Tom and I set up a coded way of communicating so only I would know how bad a situation was. He just informed me they’re close to dying.”
Dick narrowed his eyes. “What’s this code?”
“Whenever he says a state followed by an age, the age is how bad things are, which is between one and ten, ten being sure death. He just told me the Smoky Mountains were similar to hills he had seen in Montana when he was nine.”
“I thought that seemed odd, considering what they’re going through. Maybe he’s just concerned about walking back since it’s never been done before. They have plenty of air, so everything should be fine, right?”
David shook his head. “I don’t think they do. I know Tom, and for him to state their situation is a nine, something bad is happening. I believe they’re experiencing a double failure, possibly due to Dusty’s backpack being damaged from his fall.”
Dick took a step back, wide-eyed. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“Tom made a reference to our survival training back in Panama. He mentioned the hills we saw from our hammock. Well, there were no hills, and besides, we were in a tent. But on one of those nights as part of our training, it was discussed what was expected of us if a double failure happened on the moon. Later that night alone in our tent, I asked Tom if he could ever leave his partner.”
“What did he say?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Shit.” Dick looked out to the front of the room with his jaw clenched, clearly weighing his options. After a long, motionless beat, he slowly turned back. “Since there is no way of confirming this hypothesis of yours, and nothing we could do anyway, I suggest we keep this to ourselves. No sense in alarming everyone.”
Dick looked up to the VIP room. “I’ve got to inform the wives everything’s fine.”
SILENCE SETTLED OVER the VIP room as Dick approached the front with definite purpose. Anne tapped her lips as she tried to get an early read on what might be coming. Her gut told her something wasn’t right.