by Kurt Winans
Ross also learned that the alien species had been visiting Earth, along with several other planets within the solar system, for more than two hundred cycles of our planets rotation around the host star. As the closest planet to the star that also had a moon, they had used this planets orbit to determine a time line of their current observations. Ross quickly converted that into Earth years of over two centuries, and then he asked them what they called his planet. The two aliens informed him everything was labeled via a system of symbols and numbers, because that was after all the universal language. This particular solar system was known on the home world as number ₹-829 of the systems their species had charted. Each planet in each solar system was then classified by other aspects if it contained life and numbered according to its order from the host star, thus Ross’ home world was known as ₹-829-Ԅπ-3 to the aliens. They asked him what the planet was called by the inhabitants, and Ross informed them it was known by the humans as Earth.
It was obvious to Ross from this encounter that the alien species was far more advanced than humans from a technological standpoint, but they were still vulnerable as life forms to different atmospheric conditions. He asked the alien creatures how many planetary systems their species had charted, and to what extent humans rated with relation to other life forms they had encountered.
His new friends informed Ross that their species had traveled to and charted slightly over one thousand solar systems in this particular section of the galaxy alone, but had found life of some sort in only about twenty percent of those systems. It was an ongoing process for their species to try and communicate with life forms that they thought were ready both philosophically, and technologically, for the encounter. They also informed Ross that the two of them had actually only been to a few dozen of that large number of systems, and their current observation assignment had them rotating between this and three other nearby solar systems.
According to the archives, many of the life forms that had been discovered were not yet ready for such contact, while others had developed to the point of searching the stars themselves for other inhabitants. In that regard they classified ₹-829-Ԅπ-3, or Earth as they now knew it to be called, as an emerging planet whose dominant species could be ready for contact. During their most current observations of the past few centuries, the aliens had witnessed some significant progress on the planet from a technological standpoint. They also had major concerns about the mental and philosophical element of human evolution, because of the seemingly endless need for killing each other, and the destruction of natural resources.
That new found information explained several things to Ross, such as the emblem on his grandfather Hank’s necklace that Ross had cherished for many years. Hank had received the gift from his father when he was only four years old in 1897, and it supposedly came from the crash site of a flying machine of some sort.
When Ross informed the aliens of the necklace that he currently wore, which was the prototype of the emblem on the rover, they conveyed to him that it was indeed from one of their crashed scout vehicles. What was also intriguing to Ross was that by the aliens’ calendar that crash in western Texas had occurred less than four months ago. That meant that one of their months was approximately equal to twenty-five years on Earth.
At the conclusion of their educational discussion, the two aliens helped Ross bring the dead body of Dennis back to the rover before they returned to their base. Ross had removed the heavy and cumbersome breathing pack from the body before doing so, as it was both no longer needed by Dennis, and the missing piece would be challenging for Ross to explain back on Earth. Ross then assured the aliens that he would not report their existence to his superiors back on Earth, but that future scheduled missions to the Moon could detect their base. If that were to happen, Ross couldn’t guarantee that those astronauts would also remain silent.
The two aliens had seen so many acts of kindness from Ross over the past few Earth hours that they believed his statement. They informed Ross that they hoped future contact with him would be possible, but didn’t really think it was probable. If future contact could be made, they would attempt to do it in a discreet way to protect Ross. With that they shook hands, bid farewell, and Ross climbed into the rover.
His new friends walked away and disappeared into the darkness, while Ross sat in reflective silence for several minutes before turning his voice recorder back on. It had been one hell of a few hours to say the least, as he had encountered an alien species from a distant world, watched his good friend and fellow astronaut Dennis die, and then formed a friendship with the aliens who were indirectly responsible for his death. Ross turned to see his dead friend in the second seat of the rover, and then began the powering up procedure so he could return to the shuttle and communicate with mission control.
THE NEWS ROSS delivered to mission control had been shocking. Astronaut Dennis Strickland was dead due to an accident while conducting a normal survey exploration on the surface of the Moon. Ross had explained that he had heard a cry for help in a moment of panic, which was confirmed by the voice recorder, and that he immediately made his way towards Dennis. Unfortunately by the time he got to his side there was nothing that could be done, and Ross had made the decision to turn off each of their voice recorders so the painful death of his friend would not be heard and dissected by the entire world.
When asked why he had not turned back on his own voice recorder after Dennis had died, Ross explained that there was nothing to say at that time and he was more focused on figuring out a way to get his friend’s body back to the rover. In spite of the lessor gravity, it took a great amount of time and effort to move Dennis the required distance. During that process Ross had determined that he needed to remove the backpack from his friend’s suit to lessen the weight of the lifeless body. That was a boldface lie he was telling NASA, but the chances of them finding out the truth were minimal at best. Ross had been helped with moving the body, and the pack with a now missing part needed to be left on the surface. His story was plausible, and would explain the time lapse that had been used in quiet contemplation back at the rover.
After several minutes of waiting for instructions from NASA, Ross was informed that the overall length of the mission would be cut short. He had suspected that would be the course of action due to what had taken place, but he wasn’t happy with the decision. Privately he knew that this was a tremendous opportunity to communicate with the alien species at greater length, but he couldn’t tell NASA that was why he wanted to stay for the remaining scheduled days. Ross was instructed to get the dead body of Dennis aboard the shuttle by any means possible, even if that meant using the robotic arm normally reserved for cargo. Ross then lost his cool for a moment when he sharply informed NASA that, “I fully intend to bring Dennis back to Earth, but I will attempt to find a more humane way to get the body back on board the Discovery!”
Ross climbed the ladder leading into the cargo bay, and ran one of the tethers attached to the rover around the top rung. He then tied and clipped it around the chest area of Dennis before slowly moving the rover away from the shuttle to pull the body across a few feet of the lunar surface and up the ladder. Ross climbed the ladder with the other tether that he had disconnected from the rover, and tied it around the legs of the lifeless body. It was difficult for Ross to get past the body with limited space on the ladder, but he was on a mission and determined to climb inside the cargo bay. He then wrapped the tether attached to the legs around a harness, and used it as a pulley system to lift the majority of Dennis’ body over the lip of the cargo bay. After unclipping and tossing away the first tether, Ross then lowered the body as gently as possible down into the cargo bay.
With the most significant aspect of the challenge behind him, Ross now only needed to move the body along the floor of the cargo bay towards the hatch. He pulled Dennis into the airlock area, shut the door, and heard the hissing sound of the compartment being pressurized with oxygen. Once inside the shuttles fl
ight deck and living area, he placed Dennis in a bunk and strapped the body down with the bright orange tether.
He returned briefly to the surface of the Moon to power down the rover and stow away any loose equipment. As had been the plan from the beginning, the pole holding the American flag was then lashed to the rover with the remaining tether so it would never fall down, and Ross climbed back up the ladder into the cargo bay. He saluted the flag and flung the ladder away from the ship before returning to the airlock. With the cargo bay doors closed, he got out of his spacesuit to get some much needed sleep before the flight back to Earth.
The next morning, at the direction of mission control, Ross began the launch sequence. He would need to do the work of two men, so the pre-flight sequencing took a little longer than usual. Soon the shuttle Discovery was ready to go for the first ever horizontal liftoff by any of the five in the current fleet. The engines roared to life, and moon dust shot out from behind the vehicle as it moved forward on the wheels and skis below.
Little did Ross know that the entire operation was being viewed from a distance, as his new alien friends had come to see the spectacle. With only one-sixth the gravity of Earth, the shuttle rose easily from the surface of the Moon. Per the flight plan Ross gained altitude slowly until reaching a safe height, jettisoned the skies, retracted the landing gear, and put the shuttle into orbit around the Moon. He then increased speed with a continued engine burn while orbiting a half dozen times before the three day return trip to Earth.
THE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY glowed in the fiery intensity of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, as Ross handled the controls during the bumpy ride. He was having as much fun with the flight as in previous missions, but this time there was no one to share the joy with. He glanced over at the chair where Dennis should have been seated, and said into the microphone that he was missing a great ride. The ship was currently in a time of communication blackout with mission control due to the ionization build up caused during re-entry, so they didn’t hear what Ross had said. That didn’t matter though, because it would be recorded in the official transcript.
Ross had looked over at the empty chair probably dozens of times during the three day return trip from the Moon, and visited the body strapped onto a bunk a few times as well. It had been a lonely three days with only the occasional communication with mission control back home to break up the solitude, but it was almost over. He wondered if anyone on Earth other than NASA was aware of what had happened to Dennis. They would inherently want to keep the mishap from the public, but news of this magnitude would be difficult to keep from leaking out somehow.
Soon those waiting for the landing in Florida would hear the twin sonic booms created by the shuttle informing them that the time was near. Ross performed a series of turns to help spill off some speed, and the guidance computer helped him line up with the new runway at Cape Canaveral. In the early days of the shuttle program all landings had been at Edwards Air Force Base in California, with one landing at White Sands in New Mexico due to poor weather conditions over the California site, but NASA had now built a long enough runway adjacent to the launch facility in Florida.
Ross brought the Discovery down to a smooth textbook landing, and at “wheels stop” spoke his customary “What a fun ride” into the microphone before signing off. Many had doubted that he could bring the shuttle safely back to Earth, but were glad to hear that in spite of the added pressure of a solo landing, he still maintained a certain amount of levity. As the commander of the flight, Ross refused to leave the ship until Dennis had been properly removed, so a platform was brought up next to the escape hatch of the Discovery. Four technicians that Ross knew well from pre-launch then came aboard with a gurney to remove the body, and took turns shaking Ross’ hand.
Unafraid of any repercussions or interpretations by NASA or the media, Ross stood at attention by the escape hatch and saluted his old friend and fellow astronaut as he was rolled onto the awaiting platform. Only after the body of Dennis was safely at ground level did Ross disembark the Discovery and begin the walk towards the awaiting recovery vehicles.
The debriefing was of course much different than his two previous flights into space, and the media was everywhere. Ross now had an answer to his internal question of a few minutes before, as it was obvious that the news about the accident on the Moon had gotten out somehow. Ross felt bad about not being able to field all the questions from the media straight away, but there was information about the mission that Ross couldn’t tell them until cleared to do so by his superiors. He also knew that there was some information that he probably couldn’t ever reveal.
Before he would ever get an opportunity to field the inevitable multitude of questions from the national and world media, Ross knew that he would have to deal with a barrage of questions from the NASA administrators. The mission had been going so well up to the point of the accident that killed Dennis, and from a technical standpoint everything had been perfect.
The launch and Earth orbit, the three day glide to the Moon, the engine burn to slow the spacecraft down for orbit and subsequent landing on the Moon had all gone exactly as planned. The two astronauts had unloaded the gear from the space shuttle’s cargo bay and spent more than eight days exploring, collecting core samples and surface rocks, and recording the data in the small lab aboard the ship without any problems whatsoever. In spite of that, to some the mission would be considered a failure due to the loss of one life. Even the return “never been done before” horizontal launch from the Moon, assent to orbit, three day glide back to Earth, and a successful landing at Cape Canaveral had gone better than ever hoped for because those aspects of the mission had been done single handedly by Ross.
Much to their credit, NASA stood up for Ross by pointing out all those positive aspects of the mission when a few members of the media attempted to put a negative spin on things. It soon occurred to Ross that in the eyes of NASA he was a hero for bringing back the space shuttle in one piece and proving that establishing a permanent base on the surface of the Moon was possible. Was it dangerous? Of course it was, but all exploration and scientific advancement was inherently dangerous and the envelope had to be pushed if mankind was to advance. When all was said and done, it was comforting for Ross to know that NASA had his back.
Even though it had only been a few hours since Ross had landed the Discovery, it seemed like forever before he was done with the initial debriefing. He wanted to see Patty and the girls who were waiting for him in another building nearby, and each minute that passed before he could hug them all was pure torture to him at this point. When Ross strolled down the hall to the family waiting room with a lone NASA representative by his side, his thoughts once again moved to Dennis. His parents were supposed to be in the room as well for the reunion, and he wondered how that had been handled by NASA.
His escort opened the door for him, and waited outside while Ross reconnected with his family. The girls had run over to him in their customary fashion, while Patty stood motionless fighting back the tears. Ross picked up the girls and carried them over to his wife, then set them down to receive a long awaited embrace. Patty fell into his arms and kissed him as her tears began to flow. Then she said, “I would really appreciate it if you would promise me that you will never venture into space again.” To which Ross said, “Based on what happened to Dennis, NASA may have already made that decision for me, but I can’t promise you that I won’t go back into space again if the opportunity presents itself!”
After a private thirty minutes of telling the girls and Patty all about, well mostly all about, his adventure on the Moon, a knock on the door informed them that a vehicle was in place to take them all away from the media circus outside. Ross knew there would be a more complete media intrusion with all their questions in the future, but he was glad it was over for the day. Before they departed Patty informed Ross that her mother Elizabeth had flown down to Cape Canaveral with them, and had agreed to take the girls out for pizza and keep
them overnight. Patty’s plan was to have some alone time with Ross, and he smiled broadly when she winked at him and said, “It’s not every day a girl gets to make love to a man who has walked on the Moon!”
Later that night after a recovery nap, Patty informed Ross of the other news that had occurred in the last few days. She wanted to keep it from him until after they had their time alone, because she knew it would shake him up considerably. She told him that his father Robert had taken ill, and Jessica had informed Patty that the doctors didn’t think he had much longer to live. Jessica was already by his side in the Army hospital at Fort Hood, and Patty, with the help of NASA, had arranged for Ross to fly out there in the morning. Patty, along with the girls and her mother Elizabeth, would fly back to Houston and wait for Ross to contact them.
ROSS ENTERED THE hospital room of his father, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Martin, and greeted his sister Jessica who had been by their father’s side for three days. His familiar comment of, “Good to see you, and how does the leg feel?” made Jessica feel better instantly. The difficulty of their father’s condition was also momentarily forgotten, as Ross gave his kid sister a hug and kissed her forehead like he had done so many times in the simpler days of yesteryear. She smiled and reported that she was doing well with the new brace, and then congratulated Ross on the success of his recent mission to the Moon. She also offered her heartfelt condolences for the loss of his longtime friend Dennis.
Many years before, Jessica had thought Dennis to be quite dashing, and had entertained the possibility of advancing upon him around the time of Ross and Patty’s wedding. Luckily for all involved she had been too shy for the moment, and had since learned that those were the misgivings of a young girl of eighteen caught up in the favorable emotions of a wedding and a man in uniform. Never the less, now a well-educated woman who would soon be thirty-one, she knew Dennis Strickland to be a man of character that her brother Ross had trusted, so she was therefore pained by his death.