by Andrew Mayne
Sonin yanks on a cargo net and sails faster towards the bottom. As soon as she reaches the lower junction she does a somersault like a cat, lands on her feet then presses up against the recess under the wall.
There's some muffled Russian talking above me, growing louder. I reach the junction, but not as gracefully as the space princess.
I try to find something to push from, but she saves me the trouble by scissoring her legs around me and pulling me under the overhang.
I grab a handle by a hatch leading to one of the two remaining vehicles and try to make my body go as flat as possible.
Sonin puts a finger to her lips – I guess I was being too noisy – then points to a reflection on the window at the bottom of the junction that overlooks Earth.
It's night below us, so the window acts like a mirror, showing the top of the main junction as a white disk.
One shape flies by towards the storage section. Another appears to go up towards the command section just below the upper airlock.
Sonin looks at me wide-eyed and nods. She instantly gets why I put the crowbar back in place.
If the commanders found that missing, they wouldn't just know that their captives were free to roam the station; they'd also know that somebody else had let them out.
In the category of things that would cause Yablokov to pull the trigger and make things go "boom"; an unknown person onboard the K1 is probably pretty high up.
We wait a tense minute as the commander checks the storage section. Finally, his shadow crosses back over the white disc of reflected light and he pulls himself up into the command section.
I whisper to Sonin, "We have to get into separate spacecraft."
"What?" she mouths.
I point towards Ivanka. "My spacesuit is in there. I have to do an EVA. You need to hide in the other one."
She nods her head in agreement. Out of nowhere there's a loud banging sound like a pipe hitting a radiator, over and over.
I give her a confused look.
"My crew is creating a distraction," Sonin whispers. "So we can get inside the spacecraft."
Got it. Back in the storage section they must have figured out our only course of action.
I give a nervous glance upwards, afraid Sergey or whoever's ape-like banging is about to bring Domnin and Yablokov running.
Sonin shakes her head. "We did that the first hour they locked us in there. They don't care. Ready?"
We go to opposite ends of the docking section and check our hatches.
Sonin gives me a thumbs up. We both pull the handles open at the same time then carefully close them, doing our best not to make too much noise.
I spin the wheel until the air-seal is secured.
And here I am, back inside Ivanka.
I work my way into my spacesuit as I bounce around the cabin, trying to avoid smacking my head on the bulkhead and failing.
Helmet finally on, suit lights all good, I vent the air from Ivanka and pray the commanders think it's just one of the many many sounds coming from the station.
After the ship has reached a vacuum, I open the side hatch I'd dismantled just a little while ago and drift outside.
Using the handrails outside the docking junction, I work my way over to Sonin's ship. She's got her face pressed up against the window.
If I was hoping for some kind of silent words of wisdom, I'm out of luck. She looks just as confused and scared as I feel.
76
STALKER
I WORK my way up the docking spire towards the underside of the module where the EVOs are stored. From my perspective, through a gap between the panels and the station, I can see the tubes where they're launched.
As hiding places go, it's not exactly the best. Technically speaking, with Asia below me, I'm actually trying to hide in plain sight of about 4 billion people. Let's just hope none of them look up.
Laney's voice shocks the hell out of me. "How's it going?"
"Quiet, I'm trying to hide."
"You're in space. There's no sound."
"Then why am I hearing you?"
There's a long silence. I guess they decided to stop transmitting.
"Okay, I'm here. Put Laney on."
"Now you want to listen to me?"
"Obviously. What happened to Baylor?"
"She's right next to me. I'm moral support and technical. She's operations."
"Wow, you guys have an org chart and everything. When is the company picnic?"
"We don't know when yet, but my money is on Guantanamo for the location."
"Great. I love Cuban food."
"Noted. So we haven't noticed any large explosions in space and the end of Western civilization, yet. So that's good."
"We've come closer than I care to think a couple times. The commanders hid the crew helmets."
"We heard. Then things went silent."
I forgot about the open channel. "Right. A cosmonaut named Sonin is in the other craft. I used Ivanka as an airlock. Now I'm hiding here waiting for the commanders to shove the nuke into the EVO unit."
"Then you're going to do the switch. Right?"
"Something like that."
"You know they probably have a camera aimed at the EVO launchers."
"Yeah. I guess that would make sense."
"That means you need to move your ass quickly as you can to retrieve the bomb because if they see you on the monitor..."
"Boom goes David."
"Boom goes my satellite television."
"Got it. It'll take them a few minutes to cycle through the airlock. And they might not even have a dead-man switch."
"Or they might. Want to take that chance?"
"No, ma'am."
There's a flicker of light on my face shield. At first I think one of my instrument lights is acting up. Then I realize on the stealth suit none of them are all that bright. In fact, I think you can only see them from my point of view.
"Something wrong?" asks Laney.
"There's a flickering of light hitting my helmet."
"Where did you leave Sonin?"
"Right!" I look down and see her spaceship. The light is coming from her porthole.
At first I think she's making some kind of Morse code signal, then I realize it's just frantic flickering as she tries to warn me about something. I wave a hand at her and the light stops.
I point upwards towards the EVA airlock. She flicks the light on and off.
"Is it aliens?" asks Laney.
"I wish." I see a glint of light from overhead. "Hold up. I think they're on the move."
I slide my helmet's black visor into place. According to the manual, it's supposed to reduce the amount of light reflected from the suit to almost nothing. It does a fairly good job without rendering me blind.
Since we're on the night side over Earth, I risk poking my head over the edge to get a better view of what's going on above me.
One of the commanders is working his way around the rails. There's a tether fastened to his belt leading ten meters back to the waist of another astronaut holding a large hardshell case. Copious amounts of red duct tape are stuck to his free hand – which I assume is the dead-man switch.
It's practical, but rather absurd. Yablokov, the one I assume is holding the bomb, looks like a balloon tied to Domnin as he makes his way to the EVO.
Rather than have both men with only one hand free, they decided to have Domnin pull Yablokov over to the EVO.
The fact that they have a dead-man switch out here tells me how paranoid they are about having someone try to stop them – even 200 miles up.
I keep a watch on them, but remain motionless. While I might blend in as a shadow, quick movement on my part might get me noticed.
It takes them several minutes, but they finally reach the EVO tubes. Domnin pulls in his fellow commander and they both use their waist tethers to clip to a rail next to the launchers.
I duck under the module above me when they're looking the other way.
&nb
sp; After securing themselves, they open the release doors to the EVO and place the case inside. Domnin makes some adjustments to the EVO then shuts the panel.
I watch as they return to the airlock and count off the seconds it'll take for them to enter and shut the door.
Once I'm sure they're inside, I slide out from my hiding position and move as quickly as I can, hand over hand, to the EVO tube.
In my head I count off the seconds as they go through the airlock cycle and pumps fill the chamber.
Satisfied they're not coming right back out, I pull open the release on the top of the EVO, take the suitcase, then shut the door.
Moving back down to my hiding spot is difficult with just one free hand. I'm too afraid to let go of the suitcase and don't dare let it dangle from a tether where it could serve as an atomic anchor ready to bash into the K1 or me.
Finally, back under the shade of the module, I call down to earth. "So...um...I think I have a nuclear weapon. Um, now what?"
77
SUPER POWER
EARTH IS A GIANT HALF BLUE, half black marble below me and I've got a nuclear weapon in a suitcase...
Holy crap – I have nuclear weapon. I mean, it's scary and all, but wow. I'm like a one-man nuclear power.
If I ever had any plans of super-villainy, now is the time to pursue them.
And...I got nothing.
I'm interrupted by the slightly more sober responsible people back on Earth. "David, this is Baylor. We're getting someone on the line to help with this."
"Uh, great. Why didn't we think about that before?"
"We did. We're not all just sitting around down here waiting for you."
"Is this the man with the nuclear device?" asks a male voice.
"Yes?" I say hesitantly. "Who is this?"
"I'm Major Lewis with Army Ordnance Disposal. Is the device in a container?"
"Yes. It's a large plastic box."
"Okay. I need you to set it down on the floor and check the sides for wires."
"Um, Major, there's no floor here."
"The ground, whatever. We just need to make sure that it's not rigged with some kind of anti-tampering trigger."
Did they just call the guy in the middle of the night without telling him what was up?
"I'm in space. So we'll have to make do. I'm betting they didn't put a booby-trap on the case."
"We need to be sure before we open it."
I don't think he understands the kind of time constraint we're working under. I undo the latch and feel my scrotum shrink to nothing.
"Nope. No hidden triggers."
"What? How do you know?"
"Because I just opened it." I stop squinting and stare inside the case at the round device with a cord running to a smaller black box.
"You shouldn't have done that."
"Right. Next time I'll remember."
"Okay, Dan, I need you to describe to me what's inside the case."
I don't bother correcting him about my name. After I explain what I see, he asks me to check a serial number and confirm some details.
"Alright, Dan. You're looking at an NK3 nuclear package that would normally be the payload of an air to ground missile. It sounds like they've modeled the detonation system on an old Soviet mobile delivery system. The small box – that's the detonation trigger. It can either activate a timer or go off immediately."
"Got it. So now what?"
"See that yellow cable that runs from the box to the cylinder?"
"Affirmative."
"I need you to pull that from the cylinder connector. Let me know when you've done that."
I reach a nervous hand to the cable, afraid I'll screw up and grab the wrong one.
Slowly, as if the fate of the whole world, not just half, depended on it, I unplug the first cable. Beads of sweat drift off my face and splatter on the inside of my helmet.
"Done. Okay, now what?"
"Did you detach the cable?"
"Yes." My fingers are starting to shake. "What's next?"
"There is no next. You disarmed the device."
"Just like that? Huh, I was expecting more..."
"Yes. This isn't some Hollywood movie, Dan."
"David. My name is David."
"Okay. Anyway, this hardware was meant for Russian military to operate. With the exception of the potential booby-trap on the case, they don't really expect any other party to actually get this close to their bomb."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense."
A green light flashes on the smaller box. "Hey, there's a light that just turned on."
"Does it say 'Zaryad' or 'Taymer'?"
"Zaryad. That's Russian for "charge", right?"
"Well, fuck," he replies, sending my testicles deep into my chest.
That's one word you don't want to hear coming out of the mouth of the nuclear weapons expert who's supposed to talk you through the most critical bomb defusal ever.
"What's wrong?"
"That means they just tried to blow up the device," he replies.
WTF? I stare down at the cylinder that was just seconds ago plugged into the receiver.
"This could have been ugly."
"No shit. Good thing I didn't wait to see if the thing was booby-trapped."
"Yes, but normally that's advisable," Lewis says defensively.
"David, this is Baylor. Did you just say that they tried to blow up the bomb?"
"Yeah. Crazy. Huh? Did things just go south down there?"
"This is Markov. We haven't had any changes in developments. Precisely where are you over right now?"
"The Indian Ocean."
"Interesting. I do not think that was a strategic target."
"No?"
"No. I think the commanders set off the device because they know that you have retrieved it from the EVO."
Shit. They probably spotted me in my hiding spot from one of the cameras around the station...
"Baylor here. David, ditch the receiver and get out of there as quickly as you can!"
I grab the detonator box and fling it in one direction and the cable in another. They sail off into space and vanish. "I just got rid of the bomb parts."
"Great. But don't throw away the bomb. They might be able to retrieve that. And if they don't, the casing could burn up in the atmosphere and poison millions."
Wonderful. I hold the handle tightly. "The thought never crossed my mind." Um, sort of. "When you say get out of here?"
"Get back to the DarkStar. Now that Yablokov and Domnin know you have the device they'll be coming for you."
Damn it. I kind of thought once I had the bomb it would be game over.
Guess again, Dan.
I grab a tether from my belt, lay it across the open case then shut it over the strap so I can sling it around me like a backpack.
With both hands free, I quickly pull myself up the docking column and past the junction module.
Although the Russian escape craft are directly below me, something tells me that Yablokov and Domnin have already cut off that escape route. I just hope Sonin and the others are okay.
I make it over the junction and start sliding up the spire to where the DarkStar is tethered.
I never heard the gunshot.
In fact I don't even know what just happened until there's a loud popping sound on my suit, a sharp pain in my side and I lose my grip.
I'm knocked off the spire and air hisses out of my suit making me spin around like an out of control balloon.
"FUCK!" I scream as I fly away from the station and feel everything get cold.
Darkness starts to creep in over the corner of my vision as I lose oxygen.
78
DEATH SPIRAL
SANJAY IS about ten meters ahead of me in the wreck of the alien spaceship. His bubbles hit the ceiling and roll backwards like a level trying to seek the higher ground.
Somewhere behind me Bennet is taking the rear, letting the two of us be the first to explore the crashed Xixanox
alien battle cruiser.
That is, the first non-actors and crew to explore the set.
Built in an unfinished nuclear reactor cooling tank in North Carolina, for the last three months it'd been home to a massive movie production shooting underwater scenes on one of the largest sets ever built.
"Don't let your man get too far ahead of you," Bennet says on the underwater radio.
Sanjay is like a kid, eager to explore this new terrain.
Vin heard about the set and had us drive up from the Cape to see if we might be able to use it for space training.
While it sounded cool to me, Bennet thought it was a waste of time. The Xixanox cruiser looked nothing like anything we could expect to encounter on the US/iCosmos station or anywhere else; unless steampunk aliens influenced by H.R. Giger invaded.
Still, it was fun to explore something that didn't look like it was built on the Boeing factory floor.
It was easy to pretend we really were on some alien ship about to make contact – and probably not in a happy way.
When Sanjay reached for the handle I sensed it was a bad idea. This part of the set seemed more flimsy than the rest and was already deteriorating. Pieces of Styrofoam bobbed on the ceiling and curlicues of paint that never dried formed in the corner.
I tried to stop him but was too late. As he pulled on the door, the whole wall collapsed and Sanjay was quickly covered in a cloud of debris.
"Shit! Sanjay is down!" I kicked forward to help free him when another wall collapsed on me.
A metal truss pinned me to the floor, knocking the air out of my lungs. I could spot Sanjay's terrified face just a few inches from my own. His air hose had been severed and was flapping around like an angry serpent.
"Hold..." My words were choked off by a spray of water as a crack in my mask let in water.
I took a deep breath and shut my mouth.
Sanjay reached a hand towards me. I snatched his wrist and pulled him out from under the truss using all my strength.
I was still stuck but managed to get to my knees, lifting the wall on my back.
I tugged Sanjay by the belt and pushed him past my body, shoving him out of the collapse.
His fin kicked my mask, almost knocking it loose as he swam back down the corridor, leaving me alone.