by T I WADE
“We will be able to fit around twenty-two people in each of the rear bays of the shuttles, and eight or nine in the smaller craft. The build crew will produce the living quarters for the craft’s internal cargo bays out of extra corridors during the next year or two. The pods will be attached to the six crafts’ docking ports. The craft and the supply pods will have enough hydrogen fuel, oxygen, food, and water supplies for 30 months. The pods have all the needed machinery to clean and recycle the 100 gallons of water aboard each supply pod. The food is basic and mostly dry. It took a few years of planning to design these supply pods for long-term survival. It will not be fun; there will be a lot of people in a small space for a long period of time. I hope we never have to use them.”
“Is there anything you and the team haven’t thought of?” Kathy asked, hugging her man.
“Yes, and I’m sure about a thousand and one things will crop up,” replied Ryan.
Chapter 5
The Chinese visit
Ryan was surprised how quiet it was aboard America One. Living in space certainly took a lot of getting used to. His first night aboard felt as if he were locked in a silent room, with absolutely no noise. In space, there were no outside noises, and the door to their apartment did not allow any noise from the corridor.
Apart from Kathy’s quiet breathing it was so quiet that Ryan got up and mounted the spiral staircase to turn on the television.
The whole ship was on Pacific Coast Time. Nobody had really questioned the time zone, except for Captain Pete, who suggested that Greenwich Mean Time was the proper time and asked if the ship should stay in that time zone. The crew countered that since many of them had been on Nevada time for so long, why not stick to that time, and everybody agreed. Ryan noticed that the LED clocks in the kitchen showed midnight Nevada time when he switched on the television. The ship was over Europe and the BBC gave him the morning news.
“Political terror reigns in Washington for a second straight day as police search for members of the House of Representatives. Congressman Paul Timothy was found dead in his Washington apartment today. The police found him hanging from a rafter and a suicide note was found at the scene. This brings us to three members of the House of Representatives found dead in the U.S. Capital in the last twenty-four hours, and sixteen deaths since the CBS ‘60 Minutes’ program aired. Of the sixteen deaths, thirteen were here in London. The chief of the CIA, Thomas Ward, and a group of his aides were targeted by what Scotland Yard and Interpol have called a professional assassination team, now believed to be of Chinese origin. The U.S. President is still secluded in in the White House, surrounded by Secret Service agents. A task force led by the vice president is being formed to overrule the Secret Service and allow officials in to consult with the president. The cause of this dangerous international turmoil, sure to change politics worldwide, began with the attack on Ryan Richmond’s Astermine Incorporated airfield in Nevada by sinister members of the U.S. government and certain of its agencies.
“As shown on ‘60 Minutes’ Ryan Richmond hasn’t been heard of since a security camera caught him being brutally beaten by several U.S. government officials on his private airfield’s tarmac four weeks ago; his unconscious body was manhandled into an aircraft, and taken to an unknown location.
“Information recently leaked from Washington insiders state that the current administration had ordered Richmond to be flown straight to Guantanamo in Cuba, the U.S. prison for terrorist detainees.
“Ryan Richmond was also believed to have been seen in London last week outside the Savoy, only hours before the thirteen men were executed in the same hotel.
“Fellow space exploration magnate Martin Brusk, who is part owner of the Savoy, told viewers yesterday that it was impossible for anybody to have seen Richmond in London if he was in jail in Cuba. Upon being asked why an American would be sent to prison in such an unlikely place, Brusk suggested that the reporters ask the U.S. president, the director of the NSA, or McNealy at NASA. He also stated that Richmond had joined a growing group of American businessmen being held in Cuba without trial by the U.S. government…. Gold rose today due to another fall in platinum metal prices…”
Ryan mulled over the news report. He was sure the president would be brought out of hiding pretty soon, and he was quite impressed by Martin’s venomous attitude towards the group that had bought him out and then stolen the same money they paid him. He was about to turn it off when a “Breaking News” banner began flashing below the presenter.
“…we have breaking news out of space. The Chinese government has pointed their newly launched space station towards the International Space Station in defiance of warnings by NASA. This seems to be in retaliation for the comments made by the NASA Administrator Hal McNealy yesterday in a press conference from the U.S. West Coast, in which he warned the Chinese Government to stay away from the International Space Station. During the interview McNealy stated for the second time that it was not possible for any of the nations who own the ISS to resupply the crew up there. Two of the crew members are Chinese. The UK Parliament stated only an hour ago that they didn’t understand the U.S. threat directly against the Chinese government and its space authority. A statement released by Parliament confirmed that the British government’s reaction to this warning is that the Chinese Space Authority has the right to save its astronauts and the other four astronauts aboard the International Space station if they can. Since the United States and NASA have stated twice that they are incapable of saving the crew then the right should be given to any other country that can do so. For NASA to actually say; ‘leave the crew up there’ is irresponsible, stated the European Space Authority only minutes ago. This policy decision clearly raises serious doubts about the competency of NASA’s leadership.”
Ryan went back down the staircase to the bedroom, dressed in his new, blue flight suit, walked to the exit, and ordered the apartment door to open. He quietly entered the elevator where it took him a few seconds to remember to walk around the elevator walls. He was sure that Kathy had been awake since he had got out of bed.
When he entered the Bridge, he found Captain Pete watching the continuation of the same news he had just viewed.
“That Hal McNealy is really a stupid human being,” he said to Ryan.
“You are right there, Pete. I hope the ex-president, or the vice president does something soon, or the U.S. will have a big war on its hands. I know that the ex-president has worked nonstop to appease the Chinese. Who knows what they may have at the ready, aimed at the citizens of the entire country right now? I’m so sick of this ‘we are the only powerful nation in the world’ attitude. With the current clowns running the country, North Korea could attack us… and win! Do you know what the Chinese can fire at the U.S.?”
“Yes, I checked through the info on Wikipedia several months ago, out of pure curiosity. Civilian sources state they have about 500 nuclear weapons able to reach the United States; U.S. military sources think there are three times that amount. I wish McNealy realized this; he certainly doesn’t, by the way he is acting.”
“Sounds like more than enough to get through the U.S. defenses,” Ryan answered.
“I don’t know,” replied Pete. “From what I’ve read and heard, the U.S. Defense System could still defend the country pretty well.”
“Up to the time Mortimer unleashed the meteors,” replied Ryan, helping himself to a very old-looking but still warm cup of coffee from the machine on the Bridge. “At the present time, I believe the United States is totally incapable of defending itself. I don’t think any other country has self-defense capabilities either, and I believe that is the new nuclear deterrent. The first guy who launches ends the world.”
“I never thought of it that way,” declared Pete. “I bet that you are right, and the quicker the U.S. rids themselves of these stupid people who can press those buttons, the better.”
“Have you seen any change in the Chinese space station in the last few hours?” Ryan a
sked. Captain Pete was on the 12-3 watch. He had taken over from Allen Saunders, and Michael Pitt was to take over from him. VIN, who would have been on watch, was resting for his mission to the ISS in six hours.
“It’s increasing altitude and slight orbital direction to align itself with the ISS. The Chinese set up their current orbit a few hours after the third part attached itself to the other two several days ago. The third launch capsule is big, about the same size as Ivan. The main difference to the ISS, is that the Chinese craft must have rear thrusters, as their forward speed has increased to 16,000 miles an hour from 15,000 miles an hour 48 hours ago; their orbit has changed nearly a degree and their altitude is now 280 miles above Earth, an increase of 30 miles in the last six hours. Computers estimates are that it will reach the orbit and altitude of the ISS within 36 hours.”
“What is the ISS doing?” asked Ryan.
“That’s the weird part,” replied Pete. “I decided to get a computers check of the orbit, speed and altitude of the ISS every hour, twelve hours ago. Nothing showed during the first ten hours, but in the last two hours, the ISS has begun to decrease its altitude. In two hours the ISS has dropped from 400 miles to 388 miles above Earth in two orbits. Her forward speed has increased by nearly 2 percent, which shows that her side thrusters were ignited recently.”
“That means that SB-III must reach the ISS faster than we thought. I wonder what made them change altitude.”
“I would bet that information the BBC received has something to do with it,” Pete replied.
“But why is the ISS changing altitude?” Ryan responded.
“Gut feel?” Pete asked his boss.
“Yes, give me your gut feel,” Ryan replied.
“OK, what we discussed earlier, about who is aboard the ISS.” Ryan waited. “Suzi knows one of the Chinese ladies; the other, no one in our crew has ever heard of.”
“Maybe she is not a scientist?” Ryan responded.
“That’s my gut feel. She is there to protect the scientist, or she might be an astronaut/spy secretly checking out the ISS. That’s my feeling.”
“I think I would side with you on your gut feel, Pete,” commented Ryan. “You know the hours of checks and programs to go through to change the space station’s orbit. They are already low on fuel, food, and water. Why would they waste precious fuel, when they have just used up most of what they have to get up to a 400-mile altitude? Get the computers to analyze the best time for SB-III to depart America One.”
Pete spent ten minutes on his terminal checking and re-checking information while Ryan, sitting in his command chair, one of the three in the Bridge, tried to enjoy the old cup of coffee. He had the chair in the middle, Pete was to his left, and the Laser Control Center was to his right, as he sat facing out at the stars in front of the ship. Ryan could actually see the numbers coming up on Pete’s screen and patched in his own computer to view the numbers.
The computers tracked everything in space within several thousand miles. Several times a second the positions of the ISS and the Chinese space station showed up. Instead of the massive screen Ryan used at the airfield, all the data showed up on the large computer monitors at each of the three stations.
Six hours earlier Pete had programmed the computers to accurately track any changes in the ISS’s orbit around Earth. An alarm sounded when the computer recorded any changes.
“It looks like the SB-III crew can sleep in another couple of hours,” said Pete.
“Or reach the ISS earlier than planned. There would be no extra hydrogen usage, and I would like them to get to the ISS, ASAP,” Ryan stated.
“Two orbits and four hours from the current launch time will get SB-III to within 100 miles of the ISS, which will then be at the same altitude orbit as we are. It gives VIN eight hours before the Chinese get to the computerized orbit shown at 324 miles, 26 miles below ours,” added Pete.
“I think, once this rescue mission is over, we should climb higher to exceed any possible orbits the Chinese are capable of. Then, we should get back into a geostationary orbit until our ship is ready for our odyssey into the solar system.”
“What about the possibility of getting the ISS astronauts back to Earth, or helping out the U.S., if we are needed?” Pete asked his boss.
“I don’t know, but I think we can put the idea to the ISS astronauts to either stay with us, or take the risk of going with the Chinese craft. We can’t risk sending a craft down, and if we do get involved down there, we might make problems worse, especially if we are ordered to shoot up enemy tanks and maybe even aircraft. I don’t think it is our war anymore; we have made the move up here into space. Furthermore, what happens if it takes a year or two for them to start a war? Must we stick around just in case? I believe that once the criminals are out of Washington, the world will calm down and peace will be restored. They all know they can’t afford a war. Nobody would survive it.”
Five hours later SB-III slowly nosed away from her docking port. Jonesy was in command, with Maggie, his trusty co-pilot, and VIN and Fritz in the jump seats. SB-III still had the crew transporter in the cargo hold. It had basic supplies: dry food for two months, twenty gallons of water, and three hydrogen liquid fuel cylinders in case the ISS was not to be brought back. It was also the last supplies Captain Pete and Ryan wanted to part with.
Jonesy slid away from the large spaceship. He had undocked from the forward right-hand side docking port, underneath two levels of corridors above him, and inverted he carefully maneuvered the shuttle out between the corridors on either side.
“Turn right side up, we are away and heading out, Pete.” The captain, Igor, Ryan, Kathy and a very pregnant Suzi were listening over the Bridge’s intercom.
“Roger that,” replied the captain. “The Bridge has you visual.”
Ryan watched as SB-III, still very beautiful out there in space, floated slowly out of the lines of corridors, now all complete.
“America One is looking whole for the first time I’ve ever seen her,” commented Maggie.
“Yes, the spacewalk crew has completed the corridor welding, although most of them are still empty, but the empty corridors will be habitable in a couple of months,” replied Captain Pete. “While you are out there, tell me what the rear motors look like, Jonesy. They are installed but only two are operational. We are having a few problems with the upper engine.”
Several minutes later Jonesy replied.
“They look whole, nothing is amiss. They look big and powerful. Are these the new hydrogen pulse engines I’m looking at?”
“Roger,” replied Captain Pete. “Vitaliy, his team, and the engine crew of four have all three of the new pulse engines installed. They just can’t get the third one to ignite, it’s totally dead.”
“I will check it out when I get back,” Jonesy stated. “I don’t have to spacewalk to get inside the engine bay, right?”
“Correct, and I’m sure a new guy might find the problem the mechanics can’t.”
Ryan watched, just as he had done while spacewalking, as the shuttle slowly floated forward. Then, only 800 yards in front of where he was sitting, Jonesy ignited the rear hydrogen thrusters, and within a minute, the shuttle disappeared from sight.
It was easy to follow them on the computer screens and Ryan watched as the shuttle’s blue light continued to get further and further away.
***
“What do you think is happening inside the ISS?” Jonesy asked VIN, once he went through the computer readouts and relaxed. The flight crew, and VIN and Fritz had their helmets off. They didn’t need to put them on until they were close to the ISS, four hours away.
“I agree with Captain Pete, that the Chinese chick could be a spy or something, and is holding the others hostage until their ship gets there.”
“Jonesy, what happens if we are not allowed to enter?” Maggie asked.
“Easy, we just hook up to their docking port and bring the whole ship back to America One. The other two shuttles can c
ome and help us if necessary. The ISS can’t be that much harder to drag around than Ivan was, and we moved Ivan with the smaller mining craft. There are quite a few ports on the ISS, but the two on each end are mainly used for docking. We are going to tie up to the one the NASA shuttles always connected to, and the second one on the opposite side is there for another shuttle to help us if needed. Our extra fuel tank is full, and we have enough fuel for 100 minutes at full burn; that should be far more than we need to get the ISS out of reach of the Chinese spacecraft. Pete thinks it won’t go higher than 400 to 500 miles maximum.”
“So, we just hook up, and we drag the billion dollar International Space Station, around space like we own it?” Maggie asked. “Seriously?”
“I suppose so,” replied Jonesy, smiling at the thought that it might be as much fun as the antics he got up to as a kid. “You should know I’m pretty good at doing pretty bad things. Ask my poor dad.”
“I’m sure we can ask the inhabitants for permission to drag them around the solar system. Gee, that old ship is as old as many of the houses down there in the States,” added VIN.
“Just a little more valuable, Mr. Noble,” proclaimed Maggie.
“Well, I will give you permission from the German government,” added Fritz. “Since I’m the only German representative in this area of space, I will assume that I have a say in the matter.” They all laughed at Fritz. He was pretty funny for a German, nearly as funny as Suzi.
Slowly the shuttle’s speed increased, the computers aligning them to an orbit parallel with the ISS. Even though the ISS’s altitude was changing, her orbit varied only a few degrees. The Chinese craft’s orbit and the ISS were now perfectly aligned, only altitude and being at opposite orbital positions around Earth kept them apart.
“America One to Jonesy, Chinese speed has increased to 22,000 miles an hour. Your time to the ISS is two hours, their time to the ISS is now five hours and decreasing rapidly. Over.”