Dick addressed the wives of the crew. “Ladies, I want you to know everything is fine. The men had to leave the rover because it slipped into a crater and was unreachable. We have terminated their EVA, and they are now walking back to the LM. There is nothing to worry about. All lunar EVAs are planned around the possibility of something like this happening. In fact, we have a name for it, called the “walkback limit.” This ensures the astronauts never venture farther away from the LM than they could walk back with the consumables available to them. Your husbands have plenty of air and cooling water. They have drinking water and even a couple of protein bars. This is something they have trained for.”
Joan stepped in. “Is mission control in the blind?”
Dick tipped his head forward. “Mrs. Grant, it’s obvious you’re a veteran at this. Yes, we are unable to communicate with the men right now, but that is expected until they are back within range of the LM’s antenna.”
Anne raised her hand and got a quick nod from Dick. “Tom mentioned a compass is useless on the moon because of no magnetic poles, so how are they going to find their way back to the lunar module while out of radio contact?”
As if expecting the question, Dick leaned against a seat and answered, “They simply follow the rover’s tracks. It’s not like other folks have been up there leaving trails to confuse them. Those tracks will lead them right back to Explorer.” He lifted both hands. “You see, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact, Tom just casually radioed in that some hills he was looking at reminded him of those he saw in Montana when he was a boy.”
Anne tilted her head. Montana? “That’s odd. He’s never mentioned anything to me about being in Montana when he was young.”
After a startled pause, a curious smile appeared on Dick’s face. “I will let you all know as soon as they radio in.”
As Dick left, Anne whispered to Joan, “I’m not buying it. Why did David give you that look if everything’s okay? Plus, did you see Dick’s reaction when I mentioned not knowing Tom had been in Montana?”
Shrugging, Joan simply patted Anne’s leg. “I’m sure everything’s fine.”
28
WALK BACK
Even though Tom was trudging alongside Dusty over the deserted wasteland, he had never felt so alone in all his life. Within the cocoon of his spacesuit he felt the isolation of the cosmic emptiness, and it was starting to have an impact on his psyche. The two walked in dead silence since earlier small talk had led to them losing focus on their steps. Breaking rhythm often caused the tether line to tug, sometimes sending one of the exhausted astronauts to the ground.
Their cadence had a calming effect on Tom, putting him in a near-hypnotic state. His attention rarely wavered from the moon’s surface as he marched forward, keeping a close lookout for obstacles. As he examined his path, he had to look through Anne’s lipstick mark. Seeing the remembrance from home had him thinking about his family and that moment when his wife had lovingly planted the surprise kiss there. He could easily visualize her face on the other side of his bubble helmet; her beautiful brown eyes looking into his. Not only did that image comfort him, it motivated him to do everything in his power to get back safely to her.
The black sky loomed over the many untouched gray hills that seemed to go on forever. It had been well over an hour since the astronauts had separated from the rover’s tracks. Parting from their security blanket and sure bet back to Explorer was a big gamble, and one Tom started to doubt. During survival training, he had learned that humans, without something to guide them, tended to walk in a circle. In order to keep that from happening to the two hapless astronauts, Tom relied on the sun. The golden sphere was their savior and guiding light. But there was no guarantee that they were aiming exactly right. They could easily be off their mark by a quarter mile or more and not know it. Since Explorer sat in a valley, being that far off course meant they could have a hill blocking their view of the ship and unknowingly walk right past it.
From the estimated distance traveled, Tom was positive they should be coming up on their spacecraft. The steep hill they were climbing hopefully would reward them with the glorious sight of their oasis. Tom blurted out a course correction insuring they stayed in sync with their steps. “Turn 30 degrees left, now.”
The two astronauts moved like Siamese twins as they curved on up the embankment.
The hum swirling around in Tom’s helmet from the cooling pumps operating in his backpack had been a reassuring sound, which wasn’t happening in his partner’s helmet. That hum was starting to get masked by the sounds of Dusty’s heavy breathing over the radio, which had been accelerating over the last fifteen minutes, a sign his friend was struggling. With the fierce heat beating down on the men, Tom was convinced Dusty was overheating, since the buddy system of sharing cooling water wasn’t as efficient for the “other” guy.
In an exasperated voice over the radio, Dusty reluctantly asked, “Tom, can we take a quick break?”
Tom hated to stop, especially since there was no assurance they would see the LM over the hill. What if it wasn’t there? What direction would they take then? Dusty was already using Tom’s emergency air supply. Would Dusty have enough air? Seeing his partner’s condition, Tom felt he had no choice but to stop for a quick breather. He lifted his hand to signal halt. “Okay.”
Both men stopped walking simultaneously. Unfortunately, because of his rigid spacesuit, Dusty had to keep standing instead of being able to sit down on the hill to rest. He leaned back slightly, letting his arms extend out in their desired position. His breathing stayed heavy.
Tom lowered his chin and with his teeth grabbed the food stick in a bag Velcroed just inside his helmet ring. He pulled up the bar and chopped off a piece. He chewed the candy-tasting stuff before taking a few big gulps of water from the tube by his mouth. Pleased to have the high-energy protein in his system, he looked up the ridge, estimating that they had another fifty meters before they reached the peak. He calculated his partner had around forty-five minutes of air left, so they should be okay as long as they spotted their ship from the hilltop.
Tom lifted his sun visor and gazed out over the moon’s horizon at the thousands of faint stars floating in the deep ocean sky. With Earth directly overhead and his helmet rigid, he was unable to lean back far enough to see his planet, but he felt its presence. He imagined each one of those stars represented a person from home holding a flashlight, there to help guide the two astronauts back safely to the LM.
Dusty spoke out in a surprisingly strong voice, “Okay, I’m ready.”
As Dusty straightened up, Tom saw his own shimmering image reflect off his partner’s gold-plated sun visor. Tom’s dirty white spacesuit with its bright red strips and colorful American flag stood out strongly against the moon’s dull colors. Seeing his own likeness so clearly was as if he was looking into his soul. Damn it, I’m not going to die out here! He patted Dusty’s helmet. “Buddy, you’re doing great. We’re going to make it. Let’s go.”
Both men turned and, in step, started trudging back up the hill, expertly avoiding tangling up their connecting hoses.
Soon the astronauts were about to approach their moment of truth, the summit. Tom attempted to cross a pair of gloved fingers. Come on, baby. Be in sight. As the vast landmass on the other side came into view, his heart instantly sank at not seeing any sign of Explorer. The ship’s reflective insulation would be like a bright beacon, easily standing out. He looked around, scanning for their home. “Do you see it?”