Orbital Maneuvers

by R Davison

  “CRV…CRV…this is Bird’s Eye, do you copy?” The crews on Alpha Rescue all held their breath waiting for a reply, which did not come. The AWACS repeated its call several more times, but still no response. Jazzy shot Andrew a concerned look and was not comforted by the expression on his face.

  “What do you think? Bad radio, or worse?” she asked, hoping that it was only a communications problem.

  “I don’t know. Passing through the storm could have really messed them up. If they are maintaining course, all that tells us is that the computer and guidance systems are working. It doesn’t say much at all about the crew.” Andrew did not want to speculate. He felt it only wasted time and really didn’t help the situation. “Let’s find them, that’s our first task. Then we can figure out why they’re not talking.”

  The CRV continued its descent, still bumpy, but smooth as glass compared to what they just went through. Nicholas watched the altimeter count down and decided that he should probably test the controls to make sure they were working while they had some altitude to play with.

  He slowly gripped the control stick and gently pushed it to the left expecting to feel the CRV bank to the left. To his disappointment, he felt nothing and looked up to the display to see if their heading had changed at all. The display had changed while he was concentrating on the control stick, and it was now giving him a choice:

  CRV CONTROL…AUTOPILOT or MANUAL

  Nicholas puzzled over the choice for a second or two and then pressed the display over the manual button. The display cleared and returned to its previous output of information including altitude, airspeed, and rate of descent. Nicholas noticed now that at the bottom of the screen there was a flashing enunciator indicating that the CRV was on manual control. Next to that was a highlighted button that said: ENGAGE AUTOPILOT

  A smile cracked Nicholas’ lips, as he understood what the computer was telling him and whispered thanks in appreciation to the engineers who designed the computer control system for the CRV. Again, he slowly moved the stick to the left, and this time he felt the ship slowly bank to the left. He pushed harder and the CRV responded, not quick and snappy like the jets he loved to fly, but slow and plodding as he expected it would. He banked the ship to the right to resume their course and was surprised as he overshot their heading.

  Nicholas shook his head and hoped that the computers could put the ship on the ground without his help because as slow as it was to respond, he was not sure if he would do a very good job himself. He reached up and pressed the display over the ENGAGE AUTOPILOT button and the CRV smoothly returned back to its original heading.

  Paul interrupted Nicholas’ experiment, “Hey, weren’t we supposed to contact someone when the parafoil opened?” he asked.

  “You are right!” Nicholas said, as moved his hand from the control stick and reached for the display. Touching the soft key for communications, the display silently changed, showing the receive and transmit frequencies like before. But this time, the frequency listed was zero! “Ah…we may have a problem here. The radio seems to be set to a different frequency for transmit-receive.”

  “How do you know it is different?” Alexander asked.

  “Because it was not zero before,” Nicholas said, as he studied the display.

  “Oh, that is a good reason,” Alexander replied. “What was it set to?”

  “I am trying to remember. Before it would not let me change the frequency. I wonder if it will now…”

  Nicholas’ voice faded as he pressed the button to increment the frequency setting for the receive channel. He pushed it up a few Hertz and waited to see if the computer was going to allow him to change it. To his surprise, the frequency remained where he had set it and he let out a sigh of relief.

  “Well, it looks like I can change the frequency, now if I can remember what the original frequency was.” Paul raised his head and was going to make a comment, but thought better of it, reasoning that Nicholas did not need any distractions at the moment. After a few moments, Nicholas pressed the button to increment the receiver frequency and then did the same for the transmitter. “That is it…I think!”

  “Try it,” Paul said.

  “I am,” Nicholas replied, then clearing his throat, “Bird’s Eye, Bird’s Eye, this is the CRV, do you copy?” Nicholas repeated his call several more times, but got nothing more than static for a response.

  “Maybe the comm system is damaged?” Alexander volunteered.

  “Maybe…but I think it more likely that the frequency is wrong. Let me try this.” Nicholas said, as he stepped the frequency of the transmitter and receiver up just a notch. “I remember the beginning of the number, but not the decimal part. Bird’s Eye, Bird’s Eye, this is the CRV, do you copy?”

  Static burst from the speaker followed by the familiar voice they heard before from the AWACS. “CRV, this is Bird’s Eye, welcome back!”

  “Alright!” Jazzy yelped as Nicholas’ call came over their radio too. “They’re still with us—great!”

  “We still have to find them, so look sharp,” Andrew reminded her.

  “Bird’s Eye…Bird’s Eye, this is Alpha Rescue Two…we have visual contact on the CRV and are in pursuit.”

  “Copy that, Alpha Rescue Two. Alpha Rescue One, Alpha Rescue One…come to heading…zero…eight…five, angels, five thousand to intercept CRV.”

  “Bird’s Eye, this is Alpha Rescue One, we copy, zero…eight…five, angels five thousand,” Jazzy responded, as the Hercules pulled a hard left-banking turn to meet up with the CRV. Andrew put full power to the engines and increased their speed even further by putting the transport into a shallow dive to come down to the new altitude.

  Soon, they could make out the strobe light of the CRV ahead of them and the running lights of Alpha Rescue Two closing rapidly on the little ship. Andrew and Jazzy could see that Alpha Rescue Two had its high-intensity spotlight trained on the CRV as it made its fly-by. The CRV was moving much slower than the C-130 could fly and therefore the Hercules had to continuously fly in tight circles to stay with the slower craft. On each pass, they used the spotlight to check out the condition of the CRV and parafoil to make sure that everything was nominal.

  The radio in the CRV crackled just as the crew heard, and felt the C-130 rumble past. “CRV…CRV…this is Alpha Rescue Two…do you copy?”

  “We copy Alpha Rescue Two…just heard you come by!” Nicholas answered.

  “CRV…Everything looks good from here. Some tearing in the parafoil but it does not seem to be significant. Copy?”

  “Alpha Rescue Two, we copy. Thank you for the information. Everything on board seems to be functioning okay. We are under autopilot control.”

  “CRV…CRV…this is Alpha Rescue One…we are going to pass on your port side. Copy?”

  “Copy Alpha Rescue One. Thanks for the escort.”

  “No problem, CRV,” Jazzy’s voice crackled over the speaker. “That’s what we are here for.” As Alpha Rescue One passed by, they too trained their spotlight on the CRV and tried to assess the condition of the ship. All available personnel were at the windows trying to get a glimpse of the spacecraft as they flew by. “CRV…everything looks good on the port side. We will do another inspection on the next pass.”

  “Copy that, Alpha Rescue One. Thank you.”

  As the sound of Alpha Rescue One died on the port side, they could hear the rumble of her sister ship coming by on the starboard side. Nicholas looked over his shoulder at Paul and could see a smile on his tired face. “We are almost there Paul, hang on.”

  “I can almost smell the grass!” Paul reached over to check on Jerry. As he felt for a pulse, Jerry moaned softly but did not awaken. “Jerry’s pulse is very faint, I don’t think that’s a good sign. The sooner we get down, the better for the two of them.”

  “Unfortunately, we can not rush this,” Nicholas said, “we should be down soon.” He turned to the speaker. “Alpha Rescue…Alpha Rescue…we have two people, seriously injured o
n board and will need medical attention as soon as possible. Do you copy?”

  Jazzy looked at Andrew. “That’s not good,” she said.

  “No, but they should be ready for them when they land. We should be handing them over to Beta Rescue shortly. Advise them of that, maybe that will put them a bit at ease.”

  “CRV…CRV this is Alpha Rescue One, we copy, two injured. We will be passing you over to Beta Rescue, a helicopter that will escort you to your touchdown point. You are about ten miles from touchdown. Should not be long now.”

  Nicholas felt a brief sense of relief at these words, but reminded himself that they were still not on the ground. “Thank you, Alpha Rescue. We are enjoying the ride.”

  “Alpha Rescue…Alpha Rescue…this is Bird’s Eye, break off and return to base. Beta Rescue is up and in service.”

  “Bird’s Eye…Alpha Rescue One…we copy, returning to base. Good luck, CRV…see you on the ground,” Jazzy said, and then switched the radio over to the base frequency to get their landing authorization. Before engaging the mic, she turned to Andrew. “They’re almost home. That must have been some ride for them.”

  “Almost home? In a sense I guess you’re right, back on terra firma. But the Americans will have a harder journey getting back to the States. Not one that I would want to make, not in the least!”

  Jazzy thought about that for a minute. She realized that she was so caught up in the mission that she had completely blocked out the horrible images of destruction in the States that she had seen on the television. Even the computer simulations they endlessly replayed on the news, showing how the dust cloud was going to spread, had not seeped into her mind to distract her from the mission: until now. She shuddered at the thought and felt a pang of sorrow for the astronauts. Obviously, this had touched them each personally. She knew that this was not a good time to start thinking about these things and forced herself to continue with the call to the base. The busier she stayed the better, she reminded herself.

  Beta Rescue One was a new Sikorsky, Super Stallion, heavy-lift helicopter that the military was using for search and rescue. The crew already had the CRV in sight when Alpha Rescue turned onto its base heading. The pilot skillfully maneuvered the helicopter behind and to the right of the CRV, at a discrete distance to avoid disturbing it with the large rotor wash that the helicopter generated. Bird’s Eye had given full control of the last minutes of the CRV’s flight to Beta Rescue One, and they too were returning to base.

  “CRV…CRV, this is Beta Rescue One, on your starboard side. You are looking good. Landing zone is within visual at this time. What is your status?”

  Nicholas checked the camera display and adjusted it until he could see a large illuminated area in a sea of black. He could also make out the lights of a town, or base just passing out of view on the screen. “Thank you, Beta Rescue One. Everything here is nominal, as far as I can tell.”

  “CRV, we understand that you have two injured on board. Can you give us any details?”

  Nicholas looked over his shoulder toward Paul. “What should I tell them?” he asked.

  Paul checked Jerry’s pulse, and felt his forehead. Jerry moaned and rolled his head to the side. “Jerry still has a weak pulse and his skin is clammy. I am sure that he has a severe concussion. Alexander, what about Ivan?”

  Alexander stretched to see Ivan and to his surprise, Ivan was staring back at him! “Comrade, you are awake! How are you feeling?”

  Ivan blinked his eyes a few times, and in a raspy voice replied, “My head feels like it is split open, and my vision is still blurry, but not as bad as before.”

  “Nicholas, I am sure that he has a concussion also, but not as bad as Jerry’s,” Paul said.

  “Beta Rescue One, we think both people have concussions, one much worse than the other. In fact, the one with the more serious injury has been unconscious for the entire return trip.”

  “Copy that, CRV. We will make the necessary preparations for them. Is the rest of the crew okay?”

  “We are fine. Just anxious to get on the ground.”

  “Copy that, CRV. Not much longer now.”

  Nicholas turned his attentions back to the display and noticed a light glinting off an object at the nearest edge of the landing zone. He could not tell what it was with the resolution of the camera and the small display, but he noticed that it was not moving and seemed to be in their flight path. “Beta Rescue One, I am seeing a structure at the leading edge of the landing zone. Can you tell me what it is?” There were a few moments of silence that Nicholas found disturbing, as the object was getting closer by the minute.

  “CRV…the object you may be seeing is a telemetry tower. The are spaced about a kilometer apart around the rocket range…over.”

  Nicholas digested the information for a second or two and studied the display some more. He could now see that it was a tower with some cross bars on it, undoubtedly carrying all sorts of antennae Nicholas thought. He could not tell how tall the towers were, though. “Beta Rescue One, I copy that. Can you tell me how tall the towers are?”

  “…CRV…not sure of exact height, but I would guess about fifty to seventy meters or so…over.”

  A shiver ran through Nicholas’ spine. He looked at the image of the tower and then checked the computer display, which was showing their current altitude and speed. After some quick mental calculations, he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable that the tower was right in their flight path. He checked the camera display again. It was too close for comfort. “Beta Rescue One. Be advised, I am going to alter course to port to clear the tower.”

  “CRV, we copy.” The helicopter slowed down to give the CRV more maneuvering room.

  Nicholas grabbed the control stick and pushed it to the left, but nothing happened! He cursed aloud, realizing that he had to switch the computer to manual control and reached up to press the appropriate button on the screen. He glanced at the camera display; the tower was now looming in the view. “Hang on, we are going to change course!” he announced to the others.

  He again threw the stick to the left and watched the tower growing ever bigger in the display. The CRV slowly started to respond to the input and the tower began to slide to the right of the view screen, but not fast enough Nicholas feared! The CRV scraped by the tower, taking several antennae with it. Inside the cabin, the crew heard the ship hit the tower and felt a slight bump as they went by.

  Nicholas let out his breath but before he could relax he noticed that because of the hard turn their altitude was dropping very fast and their forward velocity had increased. He checked the camera display again and could see that they were in the middle of the rocket range, which was good. But at the edge of the range were some large hills and boulders that were now coming into view.

  “I think we are going to have to take a hard landing,” he advised the others.

  “Why?” Alexander asked.

  “Because if we do not land with a high sink rate, then we will stop very suddenly when we hit those big rocks at the edge of the landing zone!”

  “That is a good reason for a hard landing,” Alexander agreed.

  “By all means get us on the ground!” Paul shouted.

  Nicholas slammed the stick forward and again the CRV slowly responded. The computer monitoring the altitude deployed the landing skids, which they heard as a loud thump inside the cabin.

  “Are we down?” Paul asked.

  “No, not yet!” Nicholas shouted, the stress showing through in his voice. He was trying to judge the right moment to flare the craft in hopes of reducing the forward velocity before they touched down. Too soon, and they would fall like a rock; too late, and it would be ineffective. He checked the altimeter and yanked the stick all the way back.

  Once more, the CRV responded at its leisure. This time, Nicholas got it right and the craft slowed down and settled on the ground with a firm thud, which collapsed the left skid, causing the CRV to slide to a stop, cutting a sharp curve in the muddy
field. They were on the ground at last!

  “CRV…nice landing! Welcome home. We will be there shortly…over.” The helicopter landed about a quarter of a mile away, so as not to inflate the parafoil and cause the CRV to be dragged away. Before the craft touched the ground, the doors were thrown open and the crew was heading for the CRV in a dead run.

  Nicholas fell back in his seat and let out an audible sigh. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and closed his eyes.

  “Good work, comrade,” Alexander said.

  “Thanks, Nicholas,” said Paul. “It’s good to be home.”

  “It was not me, it was this ship, and those who made it that got us here. And, yes, it is good to be home!”

  Alexander had unbuckled himself and was moving to release Ivan from his restraints when Ivan grabbed his arm. “Susan?” he asked looking Alexander deeply in his eyes.

  Alexander put his hand on Ivan’s and patted it, “She is not here, comrade. She is still on the station. She is safe.” He was not so sure about the last part. Safe? Maybe, but for how long, he wondered silently to himself while he watched Ivan’s eyes for an indication as to what he was thinking. Alexander could not convince himself that she was safe for the moment, not knowing what happened after they abandoned the station, but he could not let Ivan know of his doubts.

  “She will be okay, Ivan. She is a strong woman, and she is smart. She will be okay.”

  Ivan closed his eyes and waited quietly for Alexander to release his harness. He could feel Alexander tugging on the harness and could hear the sounds coming from Nicholas and Paul, but all he could see was Susan’s face in his mind, as everything else faded away.

  Ivan’s view suddenly switched from Susan to his prone body being fussed over by Alexander. Gradually, like some cinematographic effect, the view pulled back showing everyone in the CRV, then the CRV from the outside getting smaller as he floated higher and higher.