by John Dreese
Keller suddenly stood up and said, “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta go see a man about a horse. Oh, if the waitress comes back, can you order me a salad with lettuce only?”
He walked into the restroom and locked the door behind him. Keller pulled a pill from his pocket and threw it into his mouth. He cupped his hands to catch water from the sink to wash it down. He looked in the mirror. He was doing well.
The waitress came back with the food and asked, “Where’s the chatty one?”
Adam explained, “He’ll be back. Don’t worry. He has to come back; he’s paying the bill. Oh, by the way, could you bring him a salad? Lettuce only please.”
They were all digging into their food when Keller finally sauntered back to the table and sat down.
Keller saw them eating their non-organic chow, and he said, “You like to live dangerously.”
After he sat down, he continued chatting, “Hey, the bathroom here has one of those fancy ultra-violet hand dryers. Man, they may look like a work of art, but they also look like they’d spread the plague in a heartbeat. Give me paper towels any day.”
His barren meal arrived.
Molly looked up and said, “Well, you know: on the Mars spacecraft, we’ll be using antibacterial reusable towels as well as those ultra-violet hand dryers. For what it’s worth, research shows that they are very effective. And there is no such thing as a paper towel up there in space. Things are different in long-term habitats like that.”
Keller chewed his salad and thought for a bit. When Molly wasn’t looking, he stole a tater tot from her plate. “I guess that makes sense to avoid disposable things. Every ounce of weight carried to the Space Station costs over two thousand dollars, so I guess those paper towels would cost a ton of money.”
He chewed some more and asked, “You’re all getting the one million dollar bonus, right?”
Everybody stopped chewing and looked around the table. They observed each other to see if anybody gave a hint that they were getting more or less. It was silent. Poker faces were on full power.
Keller added, “That’s not really a question. You are all getting that bonus. It was my idea. I had to make sure we had the best people here, mainly because you had to take up my slack since I’m not an engineer. I just make money magically appear. And rockets. I make them appear too. It’s a skill.”
Even Yeva smiled. Keller had the gift of gab. In one fell swoop, he bumped their egos and made a self-deprecating statement. He was far more skillful than he let on.
Yeva stopped chewing and motioned with her fork while saying, “You do not deserve to be on the mission, Mr. Murch. You have not earned it like we have.”
Adam interjected, “Hang on now, let’s be diplomatic.”
Keller spied a challenge. He laughed and said, “Well, let’s look at it this way. With my technology, this entire mission is being planned and launched in less than a year. If you had to wait on the defense contractors alone, you’d be lucky to get a design approved in less than ten years. By then, you, Yeva, would be considered too old for this type of mission. Not only do I deserve to be on this rocket, but you should be thanking me.”
He smiled as if he’d just won a battle, but he chose to continue:
“To be honest, this was supposed to be an American mission only. Yes, it’s true. Adam, I don’t think you knew that. We had to invite a Russian because I sort of shafted the Russian Defense Bureau out of $20 million in a deal that was no longer, um, strategic for Murch Motors. That’s one of the reasons why they weren’t going to let us use the Soyuz to launch American astronauts anymore. However, they suggested Yeva, and she seems very qualified. Yeva, you are our Fast Pass to the Soyuz launch vehicle.”
He made the last point by sticking a fork into another tater tot from Molly’s plate.
Keller added, “Now of course, Adam, you are the team captain, so, you know, I will defer all technical decisions to you. I am just a worker bee here.”
He bowed his head toward Adam.
Adam said, “Thanks, Keller. Let’s agree that Keller has earned a spot on this mission, although in a non-traditional way. Without him, there would be no rocket ship to get us there in a reasonable time. Okay?”
Molly was playing with what food she had left; a thought was being tossed around in her head. She looked up and said, “Have any of you seen the missing photo?”
Adam quickly replied, “Huh? Yes, we’ve seen them.”
Molly added, “No, you’ve seen photos A, B, and C. The paperwork said there were four photos originally, but it wasn’t in the packet that I got. In fact, I haven’t talked with anybody who’s seen it.”
Keller took a swig of coffee and said, “It’s funny that you mention that. I spoke with the NASA director about it. He told me he couldn’t discuss it.”
Adam looked confused.
“That just doesn’t make sense. It’s either something wonderful or something terrible.”
Keller stabbed the last tater tot and said, “You’re right, it doesn’t make sense, but they probably have a good reason. Training starts tomorrow. Eat up.”
Chapter 11
New Training Facility
Watsonville, California
“My job is to make you scream in pain! If your muscles aren’t about to rip out of your arms and calves, then I’m not earning my insane fee! So, who’s ready to start?” asked the physical trainer who obviously ate right, exercised right, and took the right steroids.
He followed with, “Don’t worry, they’re making me include some team-building exercises too, but those will be few and far between. Are you ready now?”
The four astronauts cringed.
From now on the astronauts would be eating Raisin Bran with skim milk for breakfast. No more fast food restaurants for them. Each day before lunch, they would run around the outer perimeter of the Watsonville Airport twice. The mild breeze coming from the ocean made it almost enjoyable. Depending on which direction the wind came from, though, there was the smell of either garlic or cow manure in the air. The local processing factories and farm fields could be smelly.
When the trainer was busy, Keller would sometimes lead the team-building outings. They were a mixture of hiking and jogging among amazing natural settings. The frequent afternoon excursions always involved a field trip to somewhere local and unique.
On the first outing, the crew went on a two hour hike around a state park called Nisene-Marks. Among the attractions there were many miles of paths that curled in and around enormous groves of redwood trees. Nestled into the valleys of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it was a surreal hiking location, unlike anywhere else in America.
“This place is spooky. And where are the Ewoks?” remarked Adam. He looked up at the redwood trees like tourists looking up at New York City skyscrapers.
This hike involved finding a hillside that was supposed to be the epicenter of the 1989 earthquake that struck during the World Series. The group got lost along the way, but thanks to Keller’s triad of cellphones, they finally found service and navigated their way out. When walking back to the car, Molly noticed a gigantic yellow slug on the floor of the trail.
“Is that a snake?” asked Molly excitedly.
Keller smiled and said, “No, that’s a banana slug, one of the largest slugs in the world.”
“They just wander around here like this?” asked Adam.
“Yup, that’s right. They love the foggy, cool climate here. Just like I do.”
Adam picked it up and examined it. He whispered to himself, “What a strange life form to find here on Earth.” He took a picture of it with his phone and carefully set the slug back down. They wandered back to their car and left.
Oddly enough, Keller was the most out-of-shape of all of them. The astronauts had kept up with an exercise regimen even though they hadn’t been assigned to any flight crews for several years. Keller struggled the first week, but he made it.
After hiking in the redwood park, they spent a week running
along the beaches. Keller and Molly made for good running mates; they often remarked how this beach running was killing their calf muscles.
Tired of the beach running, the whole crew eventually decided to return to hiking in the redwoods. On one particularly cool morning, they left their cars at the front of the park and hiked in. About a half mile before the dirt road became a dirt walking path, they came across an old overgrown trail with a sign draped across it that said “Closed.” Keller stopped and pointed at it.
“You know, we’ve passed by this sign like a dozen times this month.”
“And it’s still closed,” replied Adam.
Keller gave a mischievous smile and asked, “Well, why don’t we find out why it’s closed?”
Adam reminded him, “You do realize we’re in the spotlight right now. Everything we do is being watched by the media.”
Keller swung his head around and held his hands up.
“No media here! Who’s going with me?”
Molly grinned and said, “I’ll go.”
Adam nodded to Yeva and they continued walking along the dirt road, leaving their two crewmates behind.
Keller lifted the sign up and motioned for Molly to walk under it. He bowed his head and said, “After you, ma’am.”
Keller followed behind Molly. The trail went up a steep hill and vanished in dense undergrowth. They continued up and over some rocks where it popped out onto an old dirt road that straddled the mountain. It was overgrown with bright green grass and ferns. No cars had been through here in a long time.
The trail snaked even further up. They followed it, pushing the branches and weeds out of their faces. Sensing brighter and brighter sunlight, they walked until the trail emerged onto a sloped prairie that encompassed the entire top of a small mountain. The grass was golden brown and bending in the gentle breeze. They were very high up.
Molly asked, “Shall we continue to the top?”
“Of course,” said Keller as they both stepped out of the woods and into the prairie.
At the peak of the hill were just a few trees to break up the blanket of golden brown grass. In between the two tallest trees was a simple bench made from a split log. Keller plopped down on it. Molly sat down too. The view splayed out in front of them was of the foothills to the Santa Cruz Mountains and, beyond that, the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Far to the South, they could see the seaside town of Monterey and, to the North, they could see Santa Cruz.
“We must be able to see, maybe, thirty miles in each direction?” postulated Keller.
He looked at Molly and asked, “What do you think?”
She slid over to sit next to Keller and said, “I think this is wonderful.”
The two of them sat there soaking up the million dollar view. Keller wondered who’d found this spot and built this simple wooden bench. He wanted to thank them.
Keller and Molly would have to leave this utopian setting eventually, but there was no need to hurry.
That night, the group had a special dinner arranged by Chris Tankovitch. He’d flown out to check on the facilities and see the progress of the Turtles. Keller volunteered his own home for the occasion suggesting they have a campfire on the beach afterwards.
One hour before sunset, they all gathered on the balcony to have a surf & turf dinner. For Adam, it was a strange experience to sit up on such a commanding perch overlooking the ocean waves. Joggers ran up and down the beach while they ate. Each stranger glanced up to see the well-to-do people having their meal on the balcony. Adam felt farther removed from humanity here than when he was circling the Earth in the space shuttle.
Keller had one of his employees set up a campfire between the beach house and the ocean waves. After dessert, everybody grabbed a beer or wine and walked down the stairs onto the beach. The sand squished between their toes. The group walked over to the campfire and sat down, encircling the ring of flames. Keller sat between Molly and Chris.
When the conversation reached a natural lull, Chris grabbed a stick and poked the fire. He began speaking to the group.
“So, Keller tells me that the physical part of your training is going well. That’s fantastic. Your training on the vehicles will start soon; the simulation modules are almost ready.”
Keller added, “We’re actually ahead of schedule.”
Chris sat back and prepared to talk shop.
“Excellent. So, I’m here to brief you on a couple of things about the mission. Um... first is the missing photo that I’m sure you’re all aware of. We call it ‘Photo D.’ None of you have seen it and I know you’re all curious. Unfortunately, it’s still considered confidential because our NSA experts are trying to interpret some information on it. However, while you are en route to Mars, we will reveal it to you. Not to worry, it isn’t anything dangerous. It won’t make this mission any riskier than it already is.”
Chris laughed at his own statement. Keller smiled, and Adam grimaced.
“I also need to talk with you about Red Hope. Have any of you heard of that before?” asked Chris. He looked around to see if anybody acknowledged his question.
The astronauts all looked at each other shaking their heads.
Chris continued, “Okay, on certain space missions in the past, one piece of equipment onboard was a vial of poison codenamed Red Hope. It’s a red liquid form of cyanide. The purpose of it was in case the crew had a life-threatening disaster and would not be able to return. Our guys on Apollo 13 almost had to use it when it looked like their Moon mission was going to end in tragedy.”
“But, I thought the onboard poison was just a myth?” asked Keller.
“Well, to the outside media and the public, it is just a myth, but we don’t want our astronauts to die a horrible painful death if they can help it, right? So, if something goes wrong, the president has a speech prepared. After he finishes, your radio transmitter will be shut off for you. You won’t be able to speak with anybody on Earth after that. What you do on your own, after that, is up to you. Red Hope will be on this mission.”
“So, we could just use up our oxygen and die one by one?” asked Molly.
“Yes. Or you could use the Red Hope capsules that will be with you on the Little Turtle. It’s in a little locked cabinet with red and yellow stripes on it near the escape hatch door. You are not to speak with anybody about this aspect of the mission. It is top secret. Understood?” asked Chris.
The group went quiet. Nobody spoke as they took in the consequences of the NASA director’s message.
Keller added, “That’s a bit of a downer there Director Tankovitch. How about we lighten the mood some? Everybody look out toward the ocean. The Sun is about to vanish.”
The crew turned around and stared at the sliver of yellow disc sinking into the ocean. Above it, they saw bright pink and purple clouds illuminated from the dimming sunlight. The Sun was going, going - gone. They filled the rest of the night with small talk. Keller and Molly entertained each other with funny stories.
Early on, at Chris Tankovitch’s request, NASA grabbed a few of the remaining structures at the Watsonville Airport and hastily converted them into pseudo-NASA buildings. Although smaller, they were modeled after some of the support facilities at NASA Johnson where astronauts usually trained. Keller and his patents had a lot of leverage over program decisions, which he wielded with joy to keep everything near his home on the beach.
After the visit from the NASA director, the crew performed less physical exercise and began using the module simulators. The Science Module, or Big Turtle, was very large. It contained a kitchen, sleeping quarters, and a caisson. The Little Turtle was going to transport them from Earth orbit to Mars and back again. Adam used the Little Turtle simulation module for most of his training practice. He memorized every knob and switch.
Each member of the crew practiced mating the two modules together, a procedure which would be done once both ships were on the surface of Mars. The mating process was accomplished with a pressurized extendable hallway.
It stretched out like an accordion, slowly moving toward the door on the Big Turtle. Once it latched on, the astronauts would use it as a bridge between ships.
To help with small external tasks, a radio-controlled mini-rover was also included in the mission. Yeva and Adam trained on it daily.
One evening, during the last month of their training, Molly and Keller left to spend time at the beach house. Adam and Yeva went to dinner at the cafeteria. They gathered their food, sat down, and dug into their well-earned meal.
Adam paused his eating. Something was on his mind.
“Does it seem like Keller and Molly are getting awkwardly close?”
“Yes, I have seen this before. It is not good for a mission,” replied Yeva.
“As the leader of this team, I don’t approve of this cohabitation they have going on.”
“Then do something about it.”
“I will,” replied Adam.
He did nothing. Molly seemed to have a taming effect on Keller. Adam decided that was good for the mission.
The relationship between Molly and Keller was an open secret. The engineers at Murch Motors knew about it, and that’s the way it was.
Near the end of their training in California, Keller invited the crew to a house-warming party for his assistant, Lydia. She had married well and was showing off her new house up in the hills of Los Gatos, a town known for its Lamborghini dealership and tech-titan residents. Keller thought this would be a great chance for the semi-famous crew to interact with the public in a controlled situation.
Connie had joined Adam for the week, so Keller bought a large SUV to haul everybody around. On an early Saturday evening, as they drove up the long driveway toward the hillside mansion, Keller explained how life worked there.
“Okay, so this is a new mansion built for Lydia by her nouveau riche husband. They move in higher circles than any of you are used to. See all the sports cars parked here? Everybody at this party has servants back home. Don’t be insulted if somebody asks you to get a drink for them. Your clothes, although clean, remind them of their hired help.”