by Ron S. Nolan
By two in the afternoon at the São Paulo Spaceport, the weather had reverted back to rain showers and heavy cloud cover. After paying a small fortune to purchase equipment and cover the overtime fees paid to the team of mechanics, the Blue Origin Explorer now had two sleek, high capacity fuel tanks; one for kerosene and another for LOX.
After a hasty walk around with Melinda following along behind, Vladamir fired up the engines and called the tower to request permission to depart the spaceport. After receiving the go ahead clearance, Vladamir rolled the rocket down the side taxiway intent upon saving as much fuel as possible by using the wings for a gradual ascent fueled by kerosene rather than a vertical blast off, which was a glutton for liquid oxygen.
Just as he turned the ship onto the runway, two SDL vans with wailing sirens and flashing lights converged on both sides of the rocket. The Blue Origin was nearly sideswiped, but picked up speed and roared into the air.
Vladamir spouted some proverb in Russian. Laughing, he slapped her lightly on the thigh. "Who are those jerks?"
Melinda punched his arm, "Just get us out of here. I'll explain later. Rain pummeled the windshield as they disappeared into the bank of dark clouds.
Reverend LeRoque pounded his fists against the dashboard of the SDL van. He was furious. The CREOS team leader said. "I just checked with the controller. That old hybrid rocket belongs to a guy name Vladamir Kapintsky. He operates a space tour business here in São Paulo.”
"...And?"
"Kapintsky filed a flight plan. They are headed for a rural airport outside of Manaus, Amazonas.”
The Reverend barked, "Line up some high-speed jet-copters fast!"
-- CHAPTER 23 --
Amazonas Rural Airport
After receiving Melinda's frantic call about how they had been attacked by the SDL in São Paulo, Torch and Astra had quickly assembled the gear and provisions they would need for the journey onto the bed of a pickup truck and a fuel tanker was waiting, manned and ready in the staging area. Astra worriedly paced back and forth in front of the Southern Ark while her parents talked in private.
It was muggy hot and raining hard as the Explorer touched down and taxied to the loading area. The fuel truck immediately moved next to the Explorer and the operator threw the nozzle up to Vladamir who was waiting on the wing. Melinda flew down the steps and ran to help Torch load the Southern Ark into the rocket’s cargo bay.
Astra joined her parents and gave her mother a tight hug then moved to father. "I wish you were coming with us, Papa."
Her father held her at arm's length. "We talked this over. And yes, if it is all right with you and your friends, we would definitely like to come along. Right now Brazil is unsafe and we fear for our lives. We have hired several highly trained men to guard our property and run the herb farm until things calm down and return back to normal.”
Astra turned to Melinda who had just joined them and asked, "Could they come with us?"
"I'm pretty sure we can fit them in, but hurry. We need to get out of here. We had a close call back in São Paulo. There's no going back for me either. I will check with Vladamir about your parents. Load their gear and let's go. Now!"
As soon as the kerosene tank was topped off, Vladamir threw the nozzle to the driver, dropped down through the cockpit hatch, and secured it. He looked confused when he saw Jensen and Maria sitting in the passenger area.
Melinda asked, "They want to come along, can we take them?"
"I probably should run some calculations, but we don't have time. Besides, we can always throw them out if we have to."
Maria flinched and Jensen opened his mouth to protest, but Vladamir interjected, "Just kidding. We will make it somehow. Buckle up; we're heading to the moon! I am Cosmonaut Hero Vladamir Kapintsky. I can fly anything, anywhere!"
Vladamir fired up the engines and just as they picked up enough speed to lift off, a pair of white and blue SDL jet-copters cleared the crest of the treeline ahead and dropped directly into the path of the Explorer.
Vladamir cursed. “Not more of these freaks again!” He swerved sharply, barely missing the jet-copter on the right. The second chopper filled the windshield. Vladamir jerked the yoke left and jammed the throttle forward scraping the Explorer’s left wing on the tarmac, a move that violently spun the ship around.
He screamed something in Russian when the right wing clipped the lead chopper’s cockpit causing it to flip onto its back and explode in a fireball. As they turned back onto the runway, they saw the Reverend leaning from the door of the second chopper shaking his fist and screaming at the top of his lungs.
Vladamir yelled back, "Get out of the way you idiot, whoever you are."
As they started to pick up speed, they were flanked on both sides by waves of small explosions on the runway and they could hear pings from laser hits on the rocket skin. Vladamir and Melinda both let out a scream as the Explorer barely cleared the grove of coco palms at the far end of the runway. Melinda pointed to the right wing where carbon fibers fanned out from the severed tip.
Vladamir pointed to the left wing, which had similar damage. Melinda was alarmed. "Both wings?”
Vladamir laughed, "No problem, we're balanced.”
He keyed the ship's intercom and announced, “Welcome to Kapintsky Space Tours. You may now lower your seat backs and enjoy the ride.”
After Melinda demonstrated how to use the fresher and food system under weightless conditions, the passengers relaxed catching glimpses of the Earth through the clouds as it receded in the distance. Astra took Torch's hand, leaned her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.
SpeeZees Lab
Moonbase
Jason Phillips waited near the door of the SpeeZees lab entrance and checked his microcell. The text 'Sabien Sturtevant is heading toward your location' appeared on the small screen. Phillips quickly activated a tiny camera and panned it around to check the resolution of the video on his display and then concealed the camera in his palm and closed his fingers.
Suddenly Jasmine with skin flashing red and hissing shoved her way past Sabien and wrapped her arms around Phillips knocking him off his feet. He screamed, "Heh, let me go! Help!"
Sabien pulled them apart, shoved Jasmine inside the reception area and told her to stay. He went back to check on Phillips who was still shaking from the encounter. As Sabien helped him to his feet, Phillips casually tapped his hand on Sabien's shoulder depositing the mini camera. He told him, "Thank you for your help. That creature scared the heck out of me!"
"Sorry about that. She's harmless...at least I think she's harmless. I don't know why she attacked you."
Phillips straightened up and shrugged his shoulders. "My name is Jason Phillips; I work in the SpeeZees Lab Security Department. At one time I was on the team guarding this plantimal until someone let it loose. I understand you were the one that found it and now it follows you everywhere you go."
"That seems to be the case. Anyway, if you are all right, I need to check on something inside the lab. Maybe you should wait out here until we leave. It won't take long. By the way, I'm Sabien. I'll buy you a drink sometime."
Sabien entered the lobby and checked on Jasmine who was grooming her locks of feathery hair. She seemed to have chosen to ignore him. He took her hand and said, "Please don't do that again. You could get us both in big trouble. Understand?"
Jasmine's skin flashed red then green while she nodded her head. With her in tow, Sabien led them to the rear of the lab. He stopped and looked back to make sure that Phillips wasn’t following them–there was just something about that guy that he didn’t trust. The corridor seemed clear so he keyed the locks to the cubicle containing the Ark. It only took a few minutes to add fluid to the cryo system. By the time they had locked up and headed back out the main entrance, Phillips had taken off.
Jasmine followed Sabien back to his quarters. Once in a while along the way she paused, struck a martial arts combat pose, and then threw a series of punches into the air.
Sabien figured that she was just burning off adrenaline from their encounter with Phillips and was amazed at her speed and coordination.
******
Later that evening, Phillips called together an emergency meeting with a few of his most trusted and dedicated CREOS. He announced, "Thank you for coming. I have been doing some research on a new arrival that seems to be connected to that monster from the SpeeZees Lab–the one that I let loose a few days back. I checked the shuttle passenger list and discovered that his last name is Sturtevant...sound familiar?"
One of the CREOS girls volunteered, "The lady that Reverend LeRoque called the ‘Gene Demon’ in the Ark special you told us to watch. I think her name was Sturtevant."
"Exactly, Dr. Astra Sturtevant. Sabien Sturtevant is her brother. Using a little misdirection and the latest in technology, I found a way to rig a micro video camera to follow his movements. Check this out."
On the wall vidscreen he played back the sequence that was recorded in the SpeeZees Lab after Phillips had left. This time it was one of the CREOS men that spoke. "It looks like he is adding liquid to a gizmo on the side of a cryogenic cylinder. Is that what I think it is? Is that the Ark that the Reverend asked us to look out for? If Sabien just got here, maybe he brought it with him on the last shuttle?"
Phillips nodded. ”I agree entirely."
The girl asked, "Should we storm the lab and grab the Ark?" We still have the laser weapons that you gave us."
"No, I don't want to blow our cover until I am absolutely sure. It could be a diversion for all we know, but I will contact Reverend LeRoque and fill him in on the situation.”
The girl seemed unconvinced. "Okay…but how about we begin spreading a rumor that the Ark is on the base? That way our bosses will have to come clean." She pointed at the vidscreen. “What's he doing now?"
Phillips said, "It looks like he went to the hangar bay after he left the lab. He seems to be attaching some sort of tank to a bracket on the side of one of the shuttles. I have no idea what he was up to or why."
The vidscreen went black. "The camera battery must have died. Maybe we can try again in a few days. Let me know if you hear anything or come up with any new ideas. Back to your suggestion about spreading the rumor that the Ark is hidden on the base, I think it's a great idea! Let’s get started."
The team members shook Phillips’ hand on the way out and congratulated him on a job well done.
-- CHAPTER 24 --
Aboard the Blue Origin Explorer Rocket
En Route to Moon
The feminine voice of the onboard computer calmly announced, "Warning...propellant level in starboard fuel tank is decreasing rapidly." Vladamir groaned and then engaged in a frenzy of flipping switches.
Melinda tapped the fuel gauge and warned, "We seem to be low on kerosene–maybe somebody got in a lucky shot when we left Amazonas."
Vladamir launched out of his seat. "No problem, I'll go EV, find the leak and patch it." He opened the suit locker, grabbed two suits and handed one to Melinda. "Put this on fast!"
Melinda took the suit and warned; "I don't think you ought to go EV while we are still accelerating. Shouldn't we throttle back?"
"No, no throttling back. We are still in the gravity well and short on fuel because of the added weight of the extra passengers. We must continue to increase our escape velocity." He secured the hatch to the passenger compartment then evacuated the air from the cockpit creating a storm of dust and paint flakes. Floating upside down, he rummaged through a hodgepodge of items stowed in a bank of lockers and pulled up a rusty hand winch that he attached it to a hook on the cabin bulkhead. He paid out a couple of arm lengths of cable and attached the end to a loop on the belt of his spacesuit.
Melinda pointed to some strands protruding from the cable. "Looks kind'a frayed. Are you sure it will hold?"
"Don't worry my love; I have done this many times before, but I recommend that you strap yourself into your seat just in case."
"In case of what exactly?"
Vladamir shrugged, handed her the winch's remote control and opened the top hatch. As he swung up and out of the cockpit, the ship accelerated beneath him and he slammed hard against the fuselage.
Astra was peacefully dreaming with her head resting on Torch's shoulder, but was startled awake by the loud bang that reverberated throughout the cabin. She grabbed Torch’s hand. "What was that?"
Torch pointed to the porthole which was filled with Vladamir's inverted face. "I have no idea, but it doesn't look good!"
Vladamir gave a brief wave and stretched to reach a handhold on the fuselage. Suddenly the cable ripped loose from his hand and he was swept back to the rear of the ship. He jolted to an abrupt stop when he reached the end of the cable perilously near the white hot engine manifold. As he struggled to pull himself forward against the force of acceleration, strands of the cable began to snap forming a pinwheel that spun faster and faster as more and more of the stands severed.
He grunted, "Melinda, start the winch, but wind it slow and steady." One by one he grabbed the handholds on the fuselage and pulled with all his strength to relieve as much pressure on the disintegrating cable as possible–only half the stands remained intact. As Vladamir inched forward, a blast of liquid suddenly sprayed against his visor.
"Stop, I think I found the leak!” He fumbled in his suit pocket for a patch, which he slapped against the rupture near the bottom of the kerosene tank. The spray stopped, but only a handful of cable strands remained.
He yelled, "The cable is about to go. Get me something that I can hook onto…fast!"
Melinda moaned, "I knew it," and then started rummaging through the lockers.
Vladamir's arms were about to give out as he pulled with all of his strength. He grunted, "Please hurry," and whispered a prayer in Russian.
Just as his hands started to lose their grip and slip off the cable, he saw a bundle of multicolored wires with a loop tied in the end snaking towards him. He ducked through the loop and secured it around his chest just as the cable he had been tethered to snapped and whipped past his helmet, barely missing his faceplate. The bundle pulled him forward a few feet, stopped then winched him forward a couple of more feet and then stopped again.
He asked, "What is happening…?" But there was no answer.
Finally, after what seemed to Vladamir to be a very long time, he had inched forward enough to allow Melinda to grab his hand and tug him inside. While he collapsed into the pilot seat exhausted and straining to catch his breath, she sealed the hatch, pressurized the cabin, and then plopped down into her seat, exhausted by the ordeal.
Melinda reached over and took Vladamir’s hand. “Are you all right?”
Vladamir, still breathing hard, gazed at the bird's nest of wires streaming out of a gaping hole in the instrument panel.
He nodded, "Yes, I am fine, thank you. But it looks like we had some sort of major equipment malfunction."
"Not exactly a malfunction. I warned you that cable was going to break, but as usual you never listen to me."
"I'm sorry, Melinda. You were right. I was wrong. Thank you for saving me, but what did you do?"
"I stripped a bunch of wiring from under the dash and wrapped it around my seat then cranked it in using this steel bar that I found in the locker as a lever. Here you can keep it as a souvenir of another one of your legendary close calls."
He took the bar, tapped it against his hand a couple of times and then returned it to the locker. As he sat back in the pilot’s seat he quipped, "Ah yes, I keep that handy to deal with unruly passengers. By the way, those wires you used to rescue me were part of our communication system. I don’t think we can repair it without outside help."
He checked the fuel gauges. "This is not good; we have very little kerosene and a broken COM system." He rubbed his forehead trying to concentrate and then punched some numbers into the computer and broke into a big grin.
"Melinda, please let our guests know that Kapintsky Space Tour
s apologizes for the inconvenience, but there will be a temporary layover at the Andromeda II orbiting factory to refuel. We will be landing in twenty minutes."
Melinda gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered, "You are by far the luckiest man I ever met."
******
Without the ability to contact the Andromeda II factory, Vladamir was worried about what kind of reception they would receive as he manually guided the Explorer to the dock entrance. Still there was no response; the bay was dark and sealed tight. Vladamir retrieved a high intensity flashlight from a locker and began flashing an emergency sequence at the gate.
Melinda quipped, "It looks like nobody's home."
"Have patience my dear. They are probably trying to figure out who we are and attempting to contact us on the SATCOM. They will figure it out eventually...I hope."
Just then the lights came on and the hangar bay doors slid open allowing Vladamir to guide the Explorer into the bay. The doors immediately closed and pressurized air screamed into the hangar.
Ramon Vargas, Station Manager, watched impatiently from his office while the rocket’s engines shut down. After the hatch opened, Vladamir stepped onto the stairway, tentatively tested the artificial gravity and then straightened and smartly saluted the manager. "I'm Captain Vladamir Kapintsky."
"I know who you are. You and your friends are the big story on the news channels. Vargas pointed at the tanks that lined the hangar. What were you thinking? This hangar is for fuel tankers only. Visiting ships are supposed to dock in either the cargo bay or the passenger bay. Not here."
"Sorry, I didn't know."
"Why didn't you answer our radio calls? The only reason I let you land is because my father, Gustavo Vargas, was one of the astronauts you rescued."
"Yes I remember the Vargas name. But really, we did come to the right place. Kerosene and LOX are exactly what need–also a COM set if you have one you can spare. Ours is busted, that's why we didn't call in."