by Steven Wolff
Daniel throws his coffee mug against the wall, shattering it violently.
“Damn it! Every minute they are up there is one minute faster we’ll have to work to catch up! We need to shave some time off the launch clock… can we do that?”
He looks around the room as many people’s faces are showing doubt and uncertainness.
Daniel continues, “We don’t have the luxury of waiting 10 more hours; we need to cut this time down by at least half. I need every one of you in this room to work together and give me a shorter time frame by the time I get back. I’m heading to the prep room to have a word with the astronauts.”
People mumble and quickly scramble to their stations as Daniel storms out of the area. Once in the prep room, he has everyone sit down for an announcement.
“Gentlemen, I hate to inform you but Russia has six cosmonauts already in space, heading to the International Space Station to refuel – as we speak. Once refueled, they will head out into deep space on a three month round trip journey. That means we need to shave off some precious time that we simply don’t have.”
Ed stands up in protest, “Daniel, you and I go a long way back… You know and I know that we can’t take short cuts, not when it comes to this. Who knows what could go wrong.”
“I know, but what else is there? The reality is, they are on their way and we’re still here on the ground. Back in the day, when we did things – we didn’t have all these unnecessary safety measures. We strapped our butts to a rocket and hoped for the best.”
“Yes, but it was reckless and dangerous! We know better now.” Ed says slamming his hand down on the table.
“Everything about this mission is dangerous, Ed. Is one thing more dangerous than the other – if they both can kill you?”
“Gorram Russians! We’re not ready!” One of the other astronauts says in anger.
“Gorram?” Someone asks.
“Yeah, it’s a polite way of cussing.” He answers.
“Ah…”
“Then get ready!” The astronaut says, “We need to launch within the hour.”
The whole crowd suddenly stands up around the table and protests, “There’s no way!” One guy says. Another asks, “Are you out of your freaking mind?”
“I’m sorry.” Daniel says, trying to calm the crowd down with both hands in the air, “think about what would happen if the Russians got their hands on technology far superior to ours… think about your loved ones!”
Ed stands face to face with Daniel and looks him in the eye with anger, “For the record, as Mission Commander – I don’t approve of this. You’re risking the lives of all my men, as well as my own. When we get back, you had better compensate all of us and our families for what you’re putting us through. I want our debts removed, houses paid off, warrant’s dismissed…”
“Warrant’s? Who here has a warrant for their arrest?” Daniel asks. Everyone looks around at each other, but no one raises their hand.
“Doesn’t matter.” Ed says, covering up for him.
Daniel looks down and then back up at Ed, “We’ve known each other for decades. You know I wouldn’t risk your life knowingly or intentionally, but sometimes the very nature of our jobs as astronauts is all about risk. It’s what we do. Look at all the advances in science and research we have – it’s because we put our lives on the line every time we go up there. It’s what we do. I don’t like it any more than you do, but it needs to happen. They already have a head start while we’re still arguing amongst ourselves. If they get their hands on that technology, who knows what could happen. That’s what we need to be focusing on.”
“Alright, I’ll assemble my crew and we’ll head to the bridge right away… just don’t mess this up!”
“You don’t have to tell me that twice old friend.”
“Men, ready or not, we’re going to space! Follow me…”
Back in the Mission Control room, Daniel barges through the door, “What do you got?”
The launch director stands up at his work station and announces, “We can shave ten hours down to just under fifty minutes – that’s the best we can do. We will be bypassing a lot of safety checks and protocol’s – but it’s doable. Just know if something goes wrong…”
Daniel stops him, “I know. I’ll take full responsibility for this. Let’s make it happen - I order the countdown clock to be reset to T-minus 50 minutes and counting as of now. Initiate launch protocols and evacuate all non-essential personnel from the launch pad. Open a comm channel to the astronauts…”
“The channel is open, sir.”
“Gentlemen, we will be launching at exactly 22:30 hours – so be ready. That’s less than 50 minutes from now.”
“Copy, launching at 22:30.” Ed replies over the radio.
Back at the hotel room, Howard is staring at his reflection in the mirror while brushing his teeth. On the counter, his phone begins vibrating as a call is coming in. He spits out the toothpaste and presses answer on the phone.
“Hello?”
“Son, it’s me.”
“Hey Dad, what’s up?”
“Listen, I need you to do me a favor.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Go wake up your mother and let her know we’ll be launching soon.”
“We know dad, in ten hours – at 8:30am.”
“No son, we’ll be launching at 10:30pm…”
“Tonight?”
“Yes, in roughly 40 minutes from now. The launch has been bumped up. We can’t wait any longer.”
“Are you serious? What happened to tomorrow morning?!?”
“Yes, I’m serious. Go wake her up so you guys can watch the launch. You won’t have time to drive here, so just watch from the hotel room. That’s one reason why I made sure your rooms can see the launch pad, in case something like this happened.”
“Okay, I’ll go wake her up right now.”
“But don’t hang up yet!”
“I won’t.”
“Oh, and son…”
“Yeah dad?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, dad. Promise me you’ll come home?”
“I promise. Now hand the phone to your mother.”
Howard goes to the room over and turns on the light, “Mom! Dad’s on the phone. He said they are about to launch into space within the hour!”
“What?” She asks, sitting up in bed – confused. “I thought it wasn’t until tomorrow morning?”
“Here, he wants to talk to you.” Howard says handing her the phone.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Lorraine listens to her husband talking while getting out of bed – drawing the thick drapes wide open so she can see out the window.
“Yes, I see the launch pad all lit up. I see white smoke underneath the shuttle, yes.” She pauses and listens, “Oh my… well okay, we’ll be watching… I love you too. Be safe out there honey. Buh-bye now.”
She presses the end-call button on the phone and looks at Howard, “He said the reason they are launching tonight instead of tomorrow is because the Russian’s are already in space.”
“Huh? How’s that possible?” Howard asks while quickly grabbing the TV remote off the nightstand. He flips through the channels and sees the words Breaking News.
“He’s right.” Howard says staring at the TV, “It’s all over the networks.”
“We better turn off the lights in the room so we can get a better view of the launch.” She says flipping off the light switch.
“Do you want me to turn off the TV?” Howard asks.
“You can leave it on NASA channel.” Lorraine says, “It’s nice to hear them talking about the launch.”
“You got it.”
They stand in front of the window, watching sparks slowly firing underneath the rockets.
“You know, I’ve watched you dad go up into space so many times, and every time – I keep meaning to ask him what are those dang sparks underneath the rocke
ts used for? I just keep forgetting to ask. I’m reminded when I see it, but then I just forget.”
“Actually I can tell you.” Howard says turning to his mom. “The sparkers are used to burn off any excessive hydrogen molecules that aren’t burned by the engines. You don’t want them sticking to the side of the ship because later on – that could be a problem.”
“Hydrogen? I thought the rockets used gasoline.”
Howard laughs, “No mom, the rockets are full of hydrogen and oxygen. It’s more efficient than gasoline.”
“I never knew that! I’m so proud of how smart you turned out. I always knew you were such a bright young man.” She says putting one arm around him.
“Thanks mom.” He says hugging her back.
On the launch pad, all three of the thruster engines ignite from a glowing red, to a bright yellow/orange color. A loud, rumbling sound is soon heard and felt through the floor as the space shuttle Enterprise lifts off the launch pad – into the night sky.
“Good luck honey!” Lorraine waves with a proud smile. Howard quickly looks down at his phone, scrolling through for the video app when a bright white light illuminates the dark room, causing him to look up.
*KABOOM!*
The windows violently shake and rattle, almost to the point of shattering as both of them look in disbelief. Flaming debris flies in every direction, lighting up the night sky as it fans out like a flower before falling to the ground where it bounces to a stop.
Howard drops the phone as Lorraine slowly falls to her knees, covering her mouth with both hands; her eyes steaming tears out of both sides.
“This can’t be happening!?!” Lorraine says watching in horror. Howard slowly turns his head to the right and looks at the TV that’s still live broadcasting. The announcer is choked up, trying to find his words…
“There appears to be a tragic accident… with the space shuttle Enterprise. Rescue crews are racing to the scene. My god, this is unbelievable. My god.”
Amber is asleep in her bed when her phone lights up and vibrates on the nightstand. She lifts her head up, and puts the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Amber, sorry I woke you.” Howard says.
“It’s okay. What’s going on? Why do you sound so sad?”
“Have you heard the news?”
“About what?”
“Just turn on the T.V… you’ll see.”
*Click*
He hangs up, leaving her curious about what’s going on. Before the screen warms up, she hears the reporter…
“The space shuttle Enterprise exploded into a huge fireball this evening, nine seconds after liftoff at 10:30pm Eastern Standard Time. Fire fighters and EMS crews are on scene, but there are believed to be no survivors from horrific incident. The Enterprise was carrying seven highly trained veteran astronauts on a recovery mission to retrieve the now infamous crashed U.F.O. from the asteroid. According to the press release released earlier this evening, on board was long time NASA veteran Ed Shepard, who holds the world record for the most experienced astronaut out in space, at just under 674 days, including two moon landings.”
*Click*
Back at the hotel, Howard sits on the floor, holding his mother in his arms as she sobs uncontrollably.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Mission Control room
On the giant screen inside the control room, static can be heard as the screen flickers, trying to find a signal. Some are comforting others, while others stare at the screen in disbelief. There’s not a dry eye in the room as everyone is just stunned at what they just witnessed.
Daniel drags his feet into his office, where he closes the door slowly to be left alone. He slumps in his chair, not wanting to do anything as all his spirit and morale has left his body. His phone on the desk lights up and rings, but he just looks at the clear little button light up. It stops ringing to his relief, but moments later, it rings again, over and over.
Several minutes later, Samantha the receptionist comes into the room with a sense of urgency, “Mr. Adams, the President of the United States is on line 7!”
Daniel sits up quickly, clearing his throat before picking up the receiver. He presses line 7 and answers, “Yes Madam President, how can I help you?”
He listens intently, “Thank you. Yes, it is a tragic loss and as Deputy Administrator here at NASA I take full responsibility.”
Daniel stops talking and listens for a moment, “Yes ma’am, understood. I’ll relay that message to my team. Uh huh, will do. Thank you, ma’am.” He says hanging up the phone. He gets up out of his chair and walks out of his office and looks at everyone in the control room. He takes a deep breath and projects his voice so everyone can hear.
“Madam President has sent her condolences to each and every one of you, to all the astronaut’s families, and to those affected by this tragedy. While she is deeply saddened, as we all are – she wants us to pull ourselves together and explore the possibility of trying again…”
The crowd erupts in a low rumble of protest.
“Now, please listen up. I know many of you are still trying to process the loss of our fellow astronauts. I am too, trust me, but the President has asked that we try to refocus our efforts into sending up another space craft in a timely manner.”
One of the engineers’ interrupts, “How can we? The Enterprise was the last – fully intact space shuttle. It’ll take months, if not years to safely refit another shuttle.”
Another scientist asks, “What about the Russians? Will they help?”
The room erupts in derisive laughter.
“What?” They ask, looking around the room.
Daniel answers the question as politely as possible, “While the Russian’s Soyuz capsule has been our only means of transport to the International Space Station, I seriously doubt they are going to help us get to the asteroid. I’m afraid we’re on our own.”
A sudden knock on the door draws everyone’s attention. Standing there is the flight director for the ISS control room – Monica Kraft, who looks around the room for Daniel.
“How can I help you?” He asks.
“Sir, I think there’s something you should know. I’ve spoken with astronaut Lori Jenkins onboard the ISS and she said there’s been no sign or radio contact yet with the Russian spacecraft.”
“That’s odd. There’s not enough fuel to break orbit and head straight to the asteroid… that’s just not possible, right?”
“Correct, theoretically they could, but it would be a one way mission. They simply don’t have enough fuel to get back. I doubt they would be as bold to try something like that.”
“Then again, they’re Russians… always trying to push the envelope… but you’re probably right. Why would they do that. Something must have happened. Any word from Moscow?”
Monica continues, “I’ve spoken with the Roscosmos agency and they confirmed the plan was to refuel at the International Space Station. It makes no sense, unless the Russian’s are lying to us – which is quite possible. To get to the asteroid, you must refuel. There’s no way around it.”
Daniel feels a sense of renewed hope, “It can take up to two days for them to dock with the ISS, but if they are missing in action, then that means the clock has been reset. Anyone know how close the other countries are to launching their rockets into space?”
Someone from the back answers, “Several weeks at best.”
“Good, that should buy us some time to figure some things out. I want all ideas, no matter how outrageous or silly on the table by the end of day tomorrow. We’ll meet in the think-tank room and compare ideas. If you’ll excuse me, I have to make an important phone call to make.”
Back at the hotel room, Howard’s phone rings. He picks it up and slowly raises it to his ear, “Hello?”
“Howard, this is Daniel. I’m so sorry about the loss of your father.”
“Thank you.”
“He was a great friend and coworker. He always talked about you
and how proud he was. I just want to let you and your family know… that if there’s anything we can do, please let tell us. I know your Dad has several life insurance policies, so if it’s any comfort – you guys will be taken care of for the rest of your lives, at least financially.”
“I don’t care about the money.” Howard says in a sad tone, “It’s my fault he’s dead. Had I kept my mouth shut about the asteroid, he would still be alive.”
“Howard, listen to me carefully. If anything, it’s my fault he’s dead. I gave the green-light to speed things up with the launch sequence. We skipped over safety checks and cut corners in order to catch up with the Russians. Your dad protested this idea and I should have listened to him.”
“So he’s dead because you chose to cut corners?”
“Yes, and I take full responsibility.”
“You son of a …”
Howard’s mom grabs the phone away from him, “He’ll call you back.” She says, hanging up the phone.
“Why did you do that? It was his fault dad died! He admitted to it!”
“Howard! Listen to me. We are both hurting right now. We each need to mourn in our own way, but not take it out on other people.”
“But he authorized the shuttle launch to skip over the safety checks…”
“Dear, listen to me. I know when you’re feeling hurt it’s easier to lash out at other people, but that’s not the answer. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions and I’m sure Mr. Adams made a really hard decision that he’s going to have to live with for the rest of his life. He and your dad were really-good friends, like you and Josh are. He spent more time with him than with me and I admit, sometimes I was jealous. Here dad was up in space, having the time of his life, while I’m left alone down here, caring for you at all hours of the night… But he busted his butt to make sure we were taken care of and had food on the table. It’s because of him, our society has learned so much from his research in space. He was a very smart man and a very loving father. It comforts me that you are just as smart as he is. It hurts me just as much and we’re both going to miss him.”
Howard begins to cry as Lorraine draws him into her arms, comforting him.