Lucy moved herself away, or rather floated away from the insidiously texting David, and gasped at the beauty of earth. “Oh my God, this is amazing.”
“Whoa, dude,” Kip joined in. “It looks so big.”
“It is big,” Gene said. “Can you believe this? Can you believe we’re actually out here?”
Kips hand reached for the window. “Hard to believe that’s where we live. It looks so peaceful.”
Thaddeus added, “It’s our home. It’s a view very few get to see and we have that view.”
“And you know what’s so great?” Lucy commented.
“What’s that?” asked Gene.
“It looks big, it looks peaceful, but no matter how far out here we are.” She smiled. “It’ll still be the same when we get back.”
COMMANDER’S LOG GAL-023 – 0100 hours
Unlike other missions that I have commanded for NASA, this is non-specific in nature. More so, for the first time ever, it was a tour bus ride.
Perhaps even a bit more. We, the skeleton crew were to take the lottery winners to space, orbit the earth at 200 miles above earth’s atmosphere. We were to have three fire drills in which each individual was assigned a task. And the big one was to allow two of the lottery winners to don spacesuits and to do a mock repair of the thermal heat shield with David Hawk.
The two winners were predetermined prior to take off.
Mr. Bryk and Thaddeus Hall were the two chosen to leave the shuttle.
They did so and that part of the mission went well.
The mock fire drills that occurred in the cargo units and electrical systems connected to re-entry went but not without incident. Should a fire occur, I think we’re doomed, since the nonprofessional crew did not react in a timely manner. But that was to be expected.
The most amusing part of the mission came from one of our own, David Hawk, who, when only four hours into his cellular phone in outer space theory, lost all connections. He ranted for just as many hours as he kept trying to reconnect. Finally he gave up and turned the damn things off.
That’s not to say he didn’t try again occasionally.
The entire purpose of this all, in my humble opinion, wasn’t to give them a lesson in space travel. It was to change their lives.
And while it was a once in a lifetime chance for them, I believe, after we land tomorrow, this entire experience, will change their lives on earth forever.
CHAPTER TEN
Flash!
What had happened? They were suited up and just about to approach the final orbit before the descent back to earth.
“Copy Houston,” Reese said. “Ready to approach earth’s atmosphere. Lowering speed to 15,000 miles per hour.”
“All systems are go. Looking good Galaxy. We anticipate your arrival. And radio black out will last for approximately 15 minutes.”
A few flips of switches, the passengers were ready as well. It was to be a smooth re-entry, less than 3g’s of pressure, big difference from takeoff.
Reese had announced it was only a matter of time and then . . . Flash.
The brightest, burst of white light shot at them like a flash on a camera. The entire cabin of the shuttle turned white and, as if they were hit with some sort of nuclear flash, the shuttle sailed backwards at first, then began spinning end over end.
“What the hell is happening?” Reese asked. “What is it?”
“Trying to gain control,” Ken added. “We lost power.”
“We’re close enough to Earth’s atmosphere, why aren’t we being pulled in?” Reese asked.
“I don’t know.”
Within seconds, the entire shuttle went black, but only for a second. Then the lights flickered and the alarms sounded.
“She’s coming back,” Reese said. “Got her.”
The shuttle jolted.
Paul looked forward checking the controls. “We have a fire in the back. Electrical. Landing and guidance systems.”
“Fuck. I see it. Cabin stabilized,” Reese said. “Go ahead.”
Calling out for Gene and Thaddeus, as the drill dictated, Paul rushed from his seat with the two men to the back of the shuttle.
Through the window of the now calmer cabin, Lucy could see earth, just as large as it was before. Her heart raced, she didn’t have time to think. Shifting her eyes, all she wanted to do was make contact with David to find out what was happening.
He had moved to Paul’s seat and was working with Reese.
They were calm. She wasn’t. Kip held on to the seat, his eyes closed slightly.
Gene returned, placed his hand on hers. “All is good.”
“Fire’s out,” Thaddeus said as he too was seated. “It was just electrical. All is good.”
Lucy could only nod.
Paul retuned to his seat informing Reese, “Everything looks good now; I don’t know how this will affect landing or communication.”
“Let’s try this again. Houston, come in,” Reese said. “Houston this is Galaxy, come in.”
Nothing.
Reese turned to Paul. “We lost communication. Keep trying, We’ll head in.”
“Houston, approaching re-entry,” Reese stated. “Speed decreased. Entering atmosphere . . .”
What was to occur, if typical and text book, was the shuttle was to pick up speed as it entered the atmosphere, a normalcy as earth pulled them in, hitting a temperature of four thousand degrees as it sailed nearly 18,000 miles per hour toward earth, then slowing down to 200 miles per hour as they reached 160 miles above earth’s surface.
That was what should have happened.
That didn’t.
A second flash as vibrant and bright as the first smacked into them and with a jolt, the shuttle hurled at supersonic speed toward earth.
“17,500 miles,” Ken announced.
“Slightly fast. Heat shield’s working,” said Reese. “Temp?”
“Four thousand. Speed increasing, 18 thou . . .18,500, 19 . . .”
From the back, Lucy rambled. “We’re gonna die. Oh my God, we’re gonna die.” She reached over and grabbed Thaddeus’ hand.
“We’re not gonna die!” Reese barked.. “Come on slow down. Slow down.”
“20,000 miles. Temperature 5500.”
“We don’t have control. Coordinates? Where are we landing?”
A pause. David checked the coordinates. “New York.”
“City?” Reese asked.
“Three miles out, to the East.”
Ken spoke out, “At this rate does it matter?”
“Atlantic Ocean,” Reese breathed out. “We need to prepare for a water landing.”
Finally, the grasp, the pull, another jolt.
“In control,” Ken announced. “Slowing down. 120 miles above earth. Slowing. 10,000, 9, 8 . . . .”
Paul said, “120 miles.”
“Slow down baby, slow down. Landing gear down,” Reese said. “Wait a second, where are we landing?”
David answered, “The ocean.”
“No we’re not. Take a look.”
David finally peered to the window. “What the hell?”
“The coordinate system must be off. We are no where near New York or the ocean.” Reese grabbed the radio. “Houston, come in. Houston this is Galaxy. Houston.”
“Static.”
“Houston, we are four minutes out in landing. Our GPS is off. Destination unknown. Looks like a desert.”
Ken looked at Reese. “Tracking is on. They’ll find us.”
Reese nodded and peered ahead. Through the window was nothing but a tan color, sandy white with some grey. Everything had normalized. “All right crew looks as if whatever malfunction we had brought us down in unknown territory. But I think we’ll be fine.” He grabbed the radio again. “Houston, come in. Houston this is Galaxy. T minus two minutes to touch down.”
David asked with a chuckle, “Ever land in the desert?”
“Nope. But there’s a first for everything.”
“Hey,
at least you won’t hit a building.”
Reese shook his head with a smile. “It’ll be a soft one. Not a thing ahead.”
There was a sense of relief that Lucy felt when she saw the blue sky. They were home and by the demeanor of the crew, they were working together to land the shuttle safely.
She finally released Thaddeus’ hand when the brown of the desert was her focus.
The approach to landing was not out of the ordinary, but the touchdown was. Steadily rolling in was dismissed as soon as the shuttle hit the soft surface of the desert. It was if they landed in an air bag and the parachutes didn’t even need to deploy.
They slowed down faster than normal and as they came to a halt, a huge burst of sand erupted like a volcanic cloud.
After David Hawk’s comical comment of, ‘that was weird,’ Reese finally allowed himself to relax and announced, “We’re home. We’re safe. That’s all that matters. Thank God.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The navigational system was definitely down. There was no way to know where they were exactly.
It wasn’t hot, not really, and the position of the sun, the terrain, along with a compass, let Reese believe they had landed somewhere in Africa. The weather though was oddly cool for Africa. But it was a desert and that was all he had to go on.
Houston and all communications were cut off. The tracking beacon was set off. After two hours without any US Air force planes flying over head, Reese made the decision that they had to move. Others argued it they should not leave the safety of the shuttle, since the sun was going to be setting soon.
Reese’s gut feeling was to move, to leave, but he didn’t know why. He just felt no one was coming.
West was the best choice.
But before they left the confines of the shuttle, they had to gather any and all supplies they thought would be needed for a trek across the desert. They had enough food and water to last for weeks, if they were careful to ration it. Matches, flares and a revolver were added to the growing stack of supplies. Reese grabbed a portable radio.
Worst case scenario, there might be no rescue party and they would have to find their own way out of the desert.
The sorted and divided the supplies and loaded them into backpacks. The plan was to head out and return to the shuttle only if they had to.
Reese waited until everyone was finished struggling with their heavy backpacks, shifting them around until they got them settled them into a comfortable position and then asked, “Is everyone ready?” When they all nodded, he continued. “Stay close, stay steady. Let’s go.”
“Weird.” David said at the sound of a ‘bleeping’ noise.
Reese turned and looked. “What?”
“We’re in the desert. Why do I have a signal?”
“Satellite phone?” Reese asked.
“I didn’t even try that one yet.”
“Well, call for help.”
“Duh.” David began to dial.
“Did he just say ‘duh’ to me?” Reese looked at Paul with a shake of his head and watched David. “Anything?”
“Odd. Just static.”
“Let’s go.” Reese shook his head again.
Reese led the way, with Gene not far behind, almost taking a second lead position.
“Commander, something doesn’t feel right,” Gene said.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Just listen.”
Reese shook his head.
“It’s quiet.”
“We’re in a desert.”
“Yeah, but . . .” Gene tromped his foot. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“He’s right,” Ken added. “This sand is soft. I know that sounds weird, and it’s not hot. I was in Iraq, four tours. I know the desert.”
The loud ‘Dudes!’ shouted with the brightest revelation, preceded Kip’s jogging to the front of the line. “Dudes, you know what this reminds me of?”
With a look of hesitancy across his face, Reese asked any way, “What’s that?”
“Planet of the Apes.” Kip nodded walking backwards. “And you’re the big Charlton Heston, Dude.”
“Where’s the rest of the gear you were carrying?” Reese asked.
Kip swung around fast, nearly smacking Reese with his backpack “Thad boy offered to pull the rest. Anyhow, check it out. What if . . . what if we like hit some space time thing jig and we’re like two thousand years in the future?”
Gene bobbed his head. “Or the past.”
David interjected, “Not the past, wouldn’t have cell phone signal.”
Reese paused, looked over his shoulder to Hawk who was playing with the phone. Then he turned back to Kip. “There you have it. He has a signal.”
“So it’s like future,” Kip said. “That’s why the dude can’t reach anyone. Phones in the future are like different. What if there was like some major war and mutant giant ants are gonna chase us in the desert? Oh! Tremors, dudes, those tentacle things shoot out. Ug! Dudes, what if we go over that grade there and there’s a town of apes?” Kip pointed to the hill of sand just beyond them. He moved faster. “Worse yet, what if, like we see the Statue of Liberty, all destroyed, reaching out . . .”
Aggravated, Reese interrupted him. “The Statue of Liberty is near the ocean. Do you see an ocean?”
“What if it’s gone? Revolution, dude.”
“Evolution,” Reese corrected. “And no, I don’t think so.”
“But what if it’s not what we think?”
“Kip,” Reese snapped.
Finally, Gene had enough, and spoke up. “Kip, if you are that convinced we’re thousands of years in the future, apes have evolved to be the smarter species and are living just over that grade, why don’t you go scout it out?”
“Cool.” In a flash Kip whipped off his pack, shoved it into Reese and took off.
Gene laughed as Kip ran in zig zags, losing footing in the soft surface. “He moves fast.”
Further from sight Kip moved and finally crawled on the top of the grade.
There Kip stopped. He shrieked out loud and long and then dropped to his knees. “Bastards! You’ve done it. Damn you!”
“Oh my God.” With a slight roll of his eyes, Gene turned to Reese, chuckling. “I thought he was too young for that movie.”
Reese gave an upward nod of his head. “Here he comes now. I can’t wait to hear this one.”
Calling out ‘Dudes’ over and over again, his arms flailing, Kip ran back full speed.
Everyone stopped.
Hearing Lucy murmur ‘something’s wrong,’ Reese shook his head in reassurance. “I’m gonna kick his little skinny ass. This is going to be one hell of a walk if he keeps this . . .” Reese slowed his words. “…up.”
“Commander?” Gene asked with deep question in his tone.
Reese knew Gene saw it, too, the look on Kip’s face as he drew closer.
Out of breath, the young man nearly fell as he approached. “Captain.” Kip wheezed out, face red, and then dropped to his knees.
Then he did something no one expected.
Kip sobbed.
Everyone rushed to him, calling out. But Reese with a commanding stance, eyes straight forward, handed his gear to Gene, held his hand up in a ‘wait here’ manner, and ran up the grade.
He hadn’t a clue what he would see when he took the same route as Kip, but he was about to find out. He slipped several times, making it up the hill, but he didn’t need to reach the top to know that what he would see was about to rip him apart.
Six feet from the top, Reese lost his footing. Catching himself, the sand slid with him exposing an ‘S’.
Reese’s hand smoothed over the letter.
It wasn’t a hillside or a grade at all. It was a ship. He was climbing up the side of an over turned luxury liner. And with his chest heaving with loss of breath, Reese finished the climb.
He stood like Kip. Hands on hips, his head lowered, Reese closed his eyes for a moment before opening to
see the horror that lay before him.
It was a nightmare.
The tracking wasn’t off. The guidance system wasn’t off.
If was obvious they landed exactly where the GPS told them they would land.
Three miles east of New York City in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and ocean that was no longer there.
On top of that ship, Reese was greeted with the breathtaking sight of the Statue of Liberty, buried to her knees in dark brown sand. Small ships, some bigger, lay scattered around her.
Behind her in the distance was New York City. Buildings tall and erect had sustained, from his bird’s eyes point of view, minimal damage. From what he could tell, the sand extended like a blanket into the city. For how far or how deep, remained unknown.
The sound of his name shouted by someone in the distance behind him jolted Reese from his thoughts as he stared at the devastation before him, and he turned around. The others waited, huddled together in a tight group.
He had to go back and tell them, prepare them. But no amount of information could prepare them for what they would have to see and to face for themselves.
Reese began his return trek to the group, sliding like an awkward skier down the said of that ship. They would ask questions. He had no answers, except that they were home, they were back. Reese knew where they were, but by the looks of things, he hadn’t a clue as to ‘when’ they were.
CHAPTER TWELVE
It was a message in a bottle from God. It came in the form of an unopened, unbroken half gallon of Jack Daniels. It lay in the sand, all but the corner of it buried. The sun caught it. Reese saw it, and snatched it up.
He was the one that claimed that, in his own mind at least, it was a message from God. As if God were saying, ‘Here, take it, you’ll need this. All of you.’
And they did.
Reese gave orders to his distraught crew that they were to drink up and if they wanted to, smoke up as well. Do whatever it took to get through that first night.
They would venture into New York City the next day to search for clues as to what had happened. It was better to wait until daylight, because they didn’t know what the night would bring.
The Last Mile Trilogy Page 40