by R Davison
“We also lost our communication link with our Mission Control. I was quite surprised to hear from you. I didn’t think we would hear from anyone over the radios,” Susan said.
“After we had talked with Ivan and had a plan, we dumped what we could into Soyuz and prepared to leave MIR,” Nicholas continued, as he caught a few crumbs of bread floating in front of his face.
“That is when we discovered that MIR was not going to let us go!” Alexander continued to explain their difficulties in escaping MIR.
Nicholas picked up the story as Alexander took a moment to take a drink. “We were almost out of fuel and realized that it was hopeless dragging the station with us. The Commander demonstrated exceptional judgment and piloting skills in forcing the separation of the two craft, allowing us the chance to achieve the proper orbit.”
“I must admit, it was more desperation than exceptional judgment,” Alexander added with a weak smile. He finished the story of their adventure and raised his drink bottle in a toast to their rescuers. “Thank you, comrades, for your timely assistance. We owe you our lives.”
“Well, we are not out of the woods yet, so to speak,” Ivan said. “We still have to rendezvous with the space station, and we do not know what condition she is in at this time. Susan feels that the station may have missed the debris cloud, but it was too close to say. We have met “Murphy” too many times on this mission, and frankly, I am tired of his company.”
Alexander and Nicholas stared at each other with puzzled expressions and then back at Ivan. Ivan, Paul and Susan all laughed. Once they explained that “Murphy” was not a crew member, but the originator of the saying, “what could go wrong will go wrong,” Nicholas and Alexander laughed and agreed that they too had met with him more times than they would care to count. “He is definitely an unwelcome crew member!” Nicholas said.
Nicholas had noticed the damage to the shuttle as he came aboard but had not heard what caused it. Curiosity getting the better of him, he turned to Susan and asked, “What happened to the shuttle? Did you go through the debris field, too?” Susan hesitated for more than a few moments; trying to compose herself and organize her thoughts so she could relate the events without breaking down. Ivan was observing Susan. Just as he was about to answer for her, she cut him off with a quick glance and proceeded to detail the story of their deadly encounter. Susan felt that talking about it would help her deal with losing Jill. But it hurt deeply, more than she had anticipated.
After Susan finished, there was silence in the room once again. Commander Orlov finally spoke up, “It must have been terrible to be there and so helpless. I am truly sorry for the loss of your comrade.”
“I, also,” Nicholas added. Looking at Susan he asked, “You said you had a premonition that this was going to happen though?”
“Yes, I did, but I didn’t realize what my dream meant until after the collision. If only one could know when to trust the subconscious and when not to,” she answered softly, looking at her hands mindlessly twisting a napkin into little spirals.
Ivan took the initiative and changed the conversation. “What else did you manage to take off MIR? I do not suppose that those packages are all filled with caviar.”
“Unfortunately not,” Alexander answered. “We managed to get one oxygen generator, there in the large case. The two others contain a laptop computer that has the daily logs along with other information and various tools and instruments that seemed like they may be useful at that moment. I hope that you can use the oxygen generator. When you said you had a leak, I placed that as high priority item when we were packing.”
“Thank you. I am sure that we can get it working, and although we seem to be okay at the moment, it will not hurt to charge the oxygen tanks on board. We have another ninety minutes or so before we need to start preparations to dock with the International Space Station, so we can tend to the generators now.” With that, Ivan and Paul set off with the two cosmonauts to unpack the generators.
Susan sat, or rather, floated in silence for a few moments thinking of the last several hours of her life. Her thoughts drifted over the mountains and valleys of her memory, bringing up visions of past friends, relatives and events in her life that seemed so important at the time. How small and distant all that seemed now. What good did it do her now, that she was valedictorian of her high school graduating class? Always trying to be the best and to impress…who? Who cares that she is the mission commander of Endeavour? In a short while, there would be no one left on Earth to care what she did or even who she was. She could feel a dark cloud of depression flowing over her and shook her head to clear these thoughts.
She had people on this ship who were counting on her to give them whatever chance they had to get home, whatever condition it may be in. She owed it to them and to her family to get back to Earth. With a slight nod of agreement with herself, Susan grabbed the small vacuum hose attached to the wall and vacuumed up the last of the floating crumbs that she could see around the eating area. She then headed up to the flight deck to check on the ship’s status and the rendezvous time with the space station.
Susan paused at the viewport to see what part of the Earth the shuttle was passing over at the moment. She recognized the rugged desert of the southwestern United States just coming into view. As she turned her gaze to the east, toward Texas, she bit her lip to stifle a gasp at the sight of the impact zone. The sun was beginning to set on that part of the continent and through the dust clouds she could see the glow of fires on the ground surrounding the densest part of the cloud. The scene was accented with bright streaks of light as the dust and larger chunks of debris were falling back into the atmosphere. She turned away from the port and summoned the others to witness the devastation for themselves. She had seen enough and headed up to the flight deck to the sounds of disconcerted voices talking in Russian and English, echoing throughout the ship.
XI
Life on Earth was rapidly changing. Hundreds of miles from the epicenter of the impact zones people were contending with showers of red-hot debris consisting of everything from fragments of buildings, roads and people, to cars, trees and earth—tons and tons of earth. This rain of fire launched enormous fires on the ground and elevated the temperature of the surrounding air to hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit, causing anything combustible to burst into flame, which created more dust to be fed into the atmosphere.
The sun was blotted out. Noontime looked like midnight except for the light given off by the fires and the numerous bolts of lightening. There was an eerie ribbon of light that crept in around the periphery of the cloud, which stretched to the horizon. The winds that were generated by the massive thermals spawned numerous tornadoes and severe thunderstorms sprung from the interaction of the super-heated air with the relatively cooler air at the front edge of the blast envelope. Civil defense organizations ineffectively rallied in the face of these insurmountable challenges. Those who understood what happened realized they were fighting a losing battle. They might win a local battle today, but in the long run, globally, everyone was going to lose.
The coastal cities and towns were submerged and debris washed miles inland. Much of the remains were pulled back out to sea as the water retreated from the immense tidal waves created by the ocean impact. The western coastlines of Europe and Africa prepared for large tsunamis, as did southern England and the northeastern coast of South America. The Bahamas no longer existed. Cuba, Haiti and Puerto Rico were devastated by the huge tidal waves. People there saw the flash, heard and felt the sonic booms of the impact to the north, but did not realize just what that would mean to them in the very near future. Many were caught totally unaware as the ocean waters receded only to be followed by a massive wall of water that suddenly appeared, leaving them nowhere to run.
The seismic activity spawned by the impacts leveled structures for hundreds to thousands of miles around the impact zone that might otherwise had survived the brutal blast front. Initial tremors were off the Richter s
cale as the shock waves rippled through the Earth’s upper crust. These triggered numerous quakes from fault lines that were already under stress from natural terrestrial forces. This in turn extended the area of devastation to regions thousands of miles from the impact zones. The Indian Ocean basin shuddered with the focused shock waves from the impacts, which occurred diametrically opposite to it, in the southern United States. The force was sufficient to create small tsunamis that headed toward Indonesia and India. The monster had reached around the world with its destructive power.
The upper and lower prevailing winds obligingly began to spread the dust and debris that were airborne. The massive fires that burned throughout the forests, countryside and cities began to generate millions of tons of particles that would join in blocking the sunlight from reaching the surface of the planet. Huge thermal updrafts sent these particles tens of thousands of feet into the atmosphere. This created enormous winds at the edge of the firestorms that sucked air from the surrounding atmosphere, which in turn carried more dust and debris to feed the enormous fires. This process spread glowing embers hundreds of miles from the center of the firestorm starting fires in cities and forests unaffected by the original impact.
Susan made her way up to the flight deck where she found Jerry, floating in the far corner of the aft flight deck, staring out the observation port. She made a wide path so as not to disturb him and settled into the pilot’s seat to check the shuttle status readouts on the computer screen. So far the shuttle seemed to be functioning as well as could be expected. All critical systems were nominal. Susan ignored Jerry, but felt quite on edge with him there and she jumped when he spoke unexpectedly.
“Do you think we will all make it back?” he asked in a very cold, distant voice, still staring out the viewport at the night side of the planet.
Susan hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out where he may be leading her with this question. Seeing no obvious ambush awaiting her, she answered, “If we are lucky and all goes well, we might make it back.”
“It looks so peaceful down there on the dark side. The people in Europe are lucky and won’t have to deal with the problems the States are having.” Jerry spoke as if he were talking to himself, ignoring Susan’s presence.
“Lucky is a relative term. They just have a longer time to think about the end. They will not escape the inevitable.” Susan kept her focus on the display and did not look at Jerry as she responded to him.
“Were we lucky? Or are we the unlucky ones?” Jerry probed, still not taking his eyes from the viewport.
Susan sensed that this exchange was going in the wrong direction, at least not one she wanted to have with Jerry alone. She wanted to ask him what the purpose of this conversation was, but thought better of it and after a few moments offered, “Well, we are lucky to be alive, but I guess one could say we are all unlucky with the circumstances we now have to contend with on Earth.”
“Are we lucky enough to get back to Earth?” Jerry inquired again.
Susan squirmed at hearing the question again; how could she answer it any differently, she wondered. She shot a glance in Jerry’s direction and found him still in the same position he was in when she entered the flight deck, which was unnerving in its own right. She tried harder to conjure up an answer that might appease Jerry and bring this awkward conversation to an end, but it was to no avail. The words she sought remained elusive and the silence grew unbearable.
Jerry finally broke the silence as he pushed away from the window and turned toward Susan. Susan’s defense systems immediately went on full alert, and she was feeling increasingly uncomfortable being alone with him on the flight deck. “I think we should land in Florida,” he said in a very emotionless voice.
Susan was very confused by Jerry’s remark. He knew of the damage to Florida. She began to wonder if he had lost all sense of reality. Slowly she tried to back out of the seat, but Jerry had moved so that she would need to push him out of the way if she wanted to move. Realizing this, Susan held her position but was ready to move at the first opportunity. She quietly offered, “I am not sure that Florida will be available as a landing site. We will know more once we get to the space station and can use the radio.” Susan could feel beads of sweat forming on her face as she felt Jerry’s eyes piercing through her and could smell his stale breath as his breathing became heavier. She did not want to aggravate the situation by telling Jerry to move or by pushing past him for fear that he would snap and do something violent. Ivan’s words of caution about pushing Jerry echoed in her head. Right now she had no intention of pushing him verbally or physically. She just wanted to get off the flight deck.
Susan noticed the intercom switch on the control panel. As calmly and nonchalantly as she could, she reached over and threw the switch. “Ivan, we need to make a course correction, could you come up to the flight deck.” Jerry immediately pulled back and without a word left the flight deck, passing Ivan on the way.
“What course change do we need?” Ivan asked in a puzzled tone as he settled into the seat next to Susan.
“There is none. I needed help. Jerry had me pinned in my seat and I was not sure if he was going to let me out. Thanks for coming to my rescue.”
“Did he threaten you?” Ivan asked, very concerned.
“No, not in so many words. His actions and tone of voice said a lot more than he did verbally. I’m really worried that he has gone over the edge. I’m half tempted to sedate and restrain him.”
“Is that what you really want to do?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe I’m just overreacting to him. All this seems so surreal, like it’s some bad dream and I am going to wake up any moment now.”
“If this is a dream, then I am having the same one you are,” Ivan said with a weak smile. “I will talk to Paul and we will keep a closer eye on Jerry. He has gone out of his way to avoid Alexander and Nicholas. If it remains that way, fine.”
“When you get a chance, you should let them know what is going on. I don’t want them to be caught unaware if something were to happen.”
“I will do that. Are you sure you are all right now?”
“I’ll be alright. The ship looks okay and we are still on course. One more hour and we should be docking with the station. I could use the room! I don’t know about you, but this shuttle has been feeling quite claustrophobic recently.”
“Yes, I must agree with that. New scenery will be much appreciated. If you do not need me then I will return to assisting Alexander with setting up the oxygen generator.” With a nod from Susan, Ivan left.
After a few minutes scanning the computer displays and instrument panel, Susan found herself staring at the Earth below. She watched the pinpoints of light that dotted the surface rapidly pass out of her field of view. Briefly, she tried to count the number of dots, but quickly gave up as the shuttle was moving too fast for her to keep up. She reminded herself that those little dots of light reflected hundreds, to millions, of people living, breathing, existing and dying on the planet. The daily routines to which they were so enslaved would soon be changed forever by the cataclysm that was unfolding on the other side of the planet. How long before they noticed that their daylight wasn’t quite as bright as it was the day before, or that the days were getting cooler when they should be getting warmer?
As Susan’s thoughts wandered, her focus on the planet blurred and she jumped with a shout as she suddenly saw a woman’s face looking in at her through the window! For an instant she saw Jill’s face staring at her from the other side of the window! As reality took over and she began to calm down, she carefully looked into the window again and laughed as she saw her own reflection laughing back at her. She moved closer to the window and took a few moments to study the image staring back. All Susan could see was a face that looked drained, pale and much older than she remembered. It’s no wonder I jumped, she thought to herself, looking like this I would scare anyone. She pulled away from the window and slowly settled back into the seat. With
much effort, she forced herself to scan the instruments and computer displays to check on the status of the shuttle.
Until they got to the space station, the shuttle was their only lifeboat, as tattered as it was. They had no more room for surprises, so Susan carefully checked the displays for anything that would indicate a problem. This was important for all on board, but it also helped Susan stay busy and keep her mind off the plight of those on Earth, especially her family. She felt that she could easily end up worse than Jerry if allowed too much time to think about such nonessential things.
A cheer rose up from the middeck telling Susan that they must have had success with the Russian oxygen generator. She closed out the last screen of data on the computer, and confident that everything was looking nominal, she made her way to the middeck. Floating through the hatch to the middeck, she suddenly realized that she was very tired and just wanted to sleep.
The shuttle sped along on its well-ordered trajectory; totally oblivious to the trials and tribulations of the humans inside and the chaos erupting on the planet below. It obediently followed the laws of physics first, and the commands of its crew second. The same laws that allowed the shuttle to follow this invisible path that would eventually bring it to the space station, also guided the destructive asteroid to Earth.
These laws of nature show no favor to animate or inanimate objects, yet ultimately decide the fate of all. The human species, with its ability to understand these laws, still has no control over them. Mankind can only labor within the framework defined by these laws and suffer the consequences when they try to push beyond those boundaries. The fragile vessel that was carrying these people was constructed with the best of their technology, yet it was no match for the forces that nature could unleash. It will serve its purpose to protect and transport its inhabitants where they want to go, but can do no more than that. Once it has delivered the crew to the station, its usefulness will be at an end. It had lost the honor of returning the crew back to Earth when it suffered the damage wrought by the asteroid.