The First Ones There

by Steven Wolff

  Josh stops one of the crew members, “Real quick – any idea what these buttons are for, or what they do?”

  He asks, pointing to the unmarked alien technology that’s installed into the ship.

  “That’s… uh, classified top secret. You won’t need to touch or do anything with it – unless we say so. We highly recommend you leave it alone, understood?”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you install it on our ship, if you don’t want us to use it.”

  “Listen, I could lose my job if I tell you anything further so please, just forget about it. Pretend it’s not there.”

  He walks out of the cabin and turns around, closing the door from the outside. The pressure seals engage, locking it into place. The lights flicker and then dim in the cabin, as the soft glow of yellow and orange buttons reflect off their shiny glass-helmets.

  “Dude, I am so pushing that button! Watch me. First chance we get, I’m pushing it.” Josh says to Howard.

  “You heard the man, leave it alone.”

  “What do you think it is? Some kind of warp drive?”

  “I don’t know… I don’t care.” Howard says, trying to not engage Josh.

  “Maybe it’s some kind of photon torpedoes!”

  Howard looks at Josh smiling, “Seriously?”

  “I don’t know. I’m guessing… maybe it’s a cloaking mechanism of some kind?!? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

  “What would be cool is if you pipe down and quick asking all these questions.”

  “Sheesh. You’re no fun.” Josh says leaning back into his seat. Everyone sits quietly, listening to Mission Control through their headsets as they chatter amongst themselves.

  April looks over and sees Chantal’s concerned expression, so she reaches over with her astronaut glove and holds her hand. Chantal smiles and gives April a look of thanks. As they’re waiting, snoring can be heard coming from Tank as he is sound asleep, while Edward is leisurely reading one of the ship’s manuals. Mission Control comes over the headsets and asks for a comm check.

  “Serenity, this is Mission Control. Radio check.”

  Josh sits momentarily stunned, as things just became real to him.

  “Mission Control, this is Serenity. We hear you loud and clear.” He says, feeling his heart beating fast.

  “Roger, Serenity. Titan crew, mic check?”

  “Titan crew here, coming in loud and clear.”

  Howard looks at Josh and mouths the words Titan with a look of confusion on his face.

  “Copy that, Titan crew – you will launch first, followed by Serenity – you will launch sixty minutes later. That should give the Titan crew enough time to rendezvous with the International Space Station, refuel and be on their way.”

  “Does the ISS have enough fuel for all of us?” April asks.

  “Roger, they just had a resupply last weekend. You should be good to go.”

  Howard takes in a slow breath and lets it out, “Mission Control, understood.”

  They ask Josh several preflight questions, having him read off the instrument panels and clicking a few buttons overhead while Whitfield blurts out, “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.” He says while waiting patiently.

  “Please don’t.” Howard says looking over his shoulder.

  “I was just kidding. Sheesh, everyone is so tense.”

  On the large monitor inside the ship, Howard and his crew watches a live feed of the Titan ship launching into space. Cameras strapped to the ship are relaying video from different angles as it thrusts off into Earth’s orbit. Everyone is fixated on the screen as they watch it head towards the International Space Station. Every thirty seconds the cameras rotate from showing the inside of the cabin to the outside hull.

  “Wow!” April says in fascination.

  “It is… how do you say it? Beautiful!” Chantal adds.

  Suddenly the screens go blank, only showing the Space X logo. Howard looks at Josh momentarily and then back at the monitor. Over the headsets they hear Mission Control say “We’ve lost all video feeds. Attempting to reestablish. Stand by.”

  Minutes pass and still nothing.

  The radio crackles to life with an update, “We have lost comm with the Titan. The ISS is also not responding.”

  Josh looks at Howard, “That’s weird. I wonder what happened?”

  “I don’t know.” Howard says to his crew. “Maybe their communications antennae fell off, who knows?”

  Whitfield asks, “Do you think it maybe terrorist related?”

  Howard turns around and looks at Whitfield, “Why do you guys immediately jump to these wild and crazy ideas? I’m sure there probably is a logical explanation for why their comm system went down. Let’s not jump to conclusions. Remember what Mr. Dunningberg said – there can be a million things that can go wrong. You never know.”

  Tank leans over and whispers to Whitfield, “If you ask me, I think they’re all dead.”

  “Uh, we can all hear you.” Howard says, pointing to the microphone in their space helmets.

  “Oh, right. I knew that.”

  “Edward, you’re a communications specialist, what do you think might be wrong with their comm?” Howard asks.

  “From what I’ve learned, there is a redundancy system that should kick on – should something happen to the com-link. I don’t know about the Titan, but I know on our ship, we have at least four back up comm systems, on top of our main one. They should have no problem reaching Mission Control from the International Space Station, or from Earth’s orbit.”

  “Theoretically, if I wanted to kill all communications with Mission Control or with the ISS, it would take some serious effort?” Howard asks.

  “Yes, from what I know – it would have to deliberate, or sabotage.”

  April asks, “But why would they want to kill all communications with the ISS or Earth? A mission like this would be suicide without the help of ground control. Are they really that dumb?”

  “Something just doesn’t feel right.” Whitfield adds.

  “Guys, let’s not get worked up and let our imaginations run wild. We’ll be launching soon and when we get there, I’m sure we’ll find out.” Howard says confidently.

  Mission Control comes over the headsets, “Serenity crew, prepare for launch. T minus 10 minutes and counting.”

  “Roger that. Serenity crew standing by.”

  They listen in while ground control goes through all the preflight checks. Chantal makes the Catholic sign of the cross while saying a silent prayer.

  All eyes are watching the giant monitor that shows the countdown timer getting closer to zero. Everyone can feel their hearts beating faster as the ship starts to rumble to life…

  “T-minus 10…”

  “9”

  Engines rumble louder…

  “8”

  “7”

  Vibration is increasing, shaking the crew members in their seats...

  “6”

  Lights grow dimmer as some of them flash on and off…

  “5”

  “4”

  “3”

  Passengers on board grip their armrests in fear…

  “2”

  “1”

  “Lift off… of the spacecraft Serenity!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Blast off

  The ship rumbles to life with a roar, shaking violently like a thousand off-balance washing machines. Everyone is gripping the arm rests as the G-force pulls them deeper into their seats as Mission Control talks to them.

  “Everything continues to proceed nominally. Propulsion looks good. You are about to transition through max Q.”

  Howard answers back, “Roger that, Mission Control… transitioning through maximum aerodynamic pressure. Cabin pressure integrity holding steady…”

  Josh punches the number pad and pulls the steering column. “Adjusting inertial pitch…”

  “Copy that Serenity, everything still looking nominal. Prepare for main engine cu
t off and separation.”

  Chantal and April both have their eyes closed as the rest of the crew stare straight ahead at the windows of the ship. The colors change from sky blue, to a blinding white, and then to black – as they suddenly feel weightlessness on their bodies.

  Everyone looks around the cabin and then at each other, smiling because of the sensation of floating even though they are strapped to their seats by seatbelts. Mission Control comes back over the headsets, “Main engine has cut off… separation complete. Second stage engine start successful!”

  “Telemetry at 75 kilometers and climbing,” Josh says over the headset. “Leaving insertion orbit – starting the phasing angle.”

  Howard radios back, “Firing rockets for a second burn… speed approaching 25 thousand kilometers an hour and accelerating.”

  Mission Control responds, “Roger Serenity, primary mission still going well – initiate bielliptic transfer.”

  “Copy that,” Josh answers. “Approaching matching-velocity of 27, 600 kilometers per hour with the International Space Station.”

  “Serenity – you are now in a good orbit with the ISS.”

  Howard radios back to Earth, “Beginning second stage power down.”

  “Secondary engines are now off.” Josh answers.

  April chimes in, “Leak checks are complete. No leaks to report. All systems are performing nominally.”

  “Roger that, begin secondary separation.”

  Mission Control radios back, “Secondary separation successful. Initiate the rendezvous radar system.”

  Josh flips the switch, but nothing happens. He flips it again and gets the same results.

  “Automated docking systems are offline.” Josh says with a little panic in his voice.

  “No worries,” Howard says calmly, “Standby for manual control maneuvers.”

  “Okay, standing by...” Josh says holding both hands tightly on the steering column.

  April points out the front window of the ship, “Look, there it is!”

  Every person looks up and stares at the beauty of the ISS as its solar panels reflect the blue and white colors of Earth.

  “That thing is huge!” Tank says in awe.

  Edward responds, “For your information, it’s roughly the size of a football field, from goal post to goal post.”

  “It looks like a floating city!” Chantal says.

  Josh adds, “It almost looks like a tie-fighter to me.”

  Howard comments back, “Of course you would see that. Everything is either Star Wars or Star Trek to you.”

  “Tell me that doesn’t look like a giant tie-fighter.”

  “Yes… at a certain angle it does.”

  “Told ya!”

  Chantal looks out the window at the earth rotating quickly, “Mon dieu, it is… breath-taking!”

  Mission Control interrupts, “Serenity, manual control has been initiated. It’s all you now.”

  Josh smiles a huge grin and looks at Howard who smiles back, “You got this Josh, bring us in… nice and slowly.”

  “Want me to call it in?” Josh asks Howard.

  “Go for it.” Howard says patting him on the shoulder.

  Josh presses the button that says ISS and it lights up, “International Space Station – this is Serenity, do you copy?”

  Everyone listens intently, but hears nothing but silence, with intermittent static in the background.

  “International Space Station – this is the crew of Serenity in orbit with you. Do you copy, over?!?”

  No response.

  Josh presses the button for Mission Control, “Serenity to ground control, radio check.”

  “Serenity crew, we hear you loud and clear, over.”

  “Roger ground control – we are approaching the ISS but they are not responding.” Josh reports.

  “Do you have a visual on their comm antenna?” They ask.

  Howard unbuckles to get closer to the window, “Everything looks intact as it should be.”

  “What about the ship Titan? Any visual?”

  “Negative, no signs of the ship and the Canadarm is still retracted.”

  “What’s the Canadarm?” Tank asks aloud.

  Edward responds, “It’s the large robotic arm attached to the International Space Station. It’s used to grab or deploy satellites, inspect equipment or help astronauts go out further on space walks.”

  “Oh. Can it shoot things?”

  “No you oversized buffoon. It can’t shoot things.”

  “Serenity crew, be advised you are approaching a deaf orbit. We are going to lose communications with you for a little while. We’ll be waiting for you when you pass through it.”

  “Roger, Mission Control. Talk to you later.” Howard says.

  Josh interrupts, “Guys… regardless if they answer or not, it looks like we’re about to dock with it – unless you want me to change course… but if you do, you’d better tell me soon.”

  “No – perform controlled maneuvers and slow us down so when our ship does rendezvous, we won’t damage our hull.” Howard orders.

  “You’re the boss,” Josh says confirming.

  “Initiate the docking probe extension.” Howard orders. Josh presses some buttons and pulls on a lever.

  “DPE Engaged,” Josh confirms. “Docking bay doors now less than five meters away…”

  Howard sits back down and fastens his seatbelt, “Slow and steady…”

  “Closing in at ten centimeters a second…” Josh says lining up the DPE with the docking hatch. “Ten seconds till contact… five, four, three, two, one…”

  There’s a tiny bump that jolts everyone’s head forward and then back gently.

  “Contact and capture confirmed.” Josh says checking his instruments, “Welcome to the International Space Station!”

  “Docking clamps secure, check seals and vacuum.” Howard orders.

  April reports back, “Good vacuum seal around the door, no leaks. Cabin is depressurizing to match the onboard ISS pressure.”

  “Alright then, let’s go say hello.” Howard says getting out of his seat. They float to the main door of the ISS where Howard grabs onto the door handle. He pulls on it, but it doesn’t budge.

  “That’s strange.”

  He pulls on it with both hands, but it doesn’t move.

  He uses his legs to brace himself and yank, but still nothing.

  “Tank – see if you can open it.”

  “My pleasure!” He says with a wicked grin.

  Tank’s hand is so huge, it barely is able to wrap around the handle. He gives it a yank and the door handle goes flying, spinning past everyone like a helicopter blade. It wedges itself halfway into the seat before coming to a rest.

  “Whoa! Careful!” Edward says afraid for his life.

  “Sorry.” Tank says while lowering his head, frowning.

  “Great! This is just great,” Captain Whitfield says. “I told you something didn’t feel right. Now we can’t get in. How are we supposed to refuel?”

  “Hey – Captain Miserable, pipe down!” April says inspecting the door handle. “You’re damaging my calm.”

  “I might be able to weld this thing back on.” She says, pulling it out of the seat.

  Howard smiles, “That would be great. If we can get any lubricant or something to loosen the door – maybe that’ll help too.”

  Josh pounds on the door, “Hey, anybody home?”

  “Really?” Howard says, looking at Josh like he’s an idiot.

  “There’s always at least three people on board the ISS at all times. Someone has to be home.”

  Edward chimes in, “So if they’re onboard, then why aren’t they answering?”

  Chantal interrupts, “Perhaps that is why… look!” She points and stares out the ships window. Attached to a long oxygen line is an astronaut dangling in space.

  “Why are they out on a spacewalk?” Captain Whitfield asks aloud.

  Howard quickly turns and looks out
the window, “They’re not moving!”

  “Which means what?” Tank asks dumbfounded.

  Chantal answers, “It means they are either passed out, or are dead. Either way, we need to do something.”

  “You’re right, we need to rescue them!” Howard says with a sense of urgency.

  “How?” Josh asks with both arms wide open.

  “I guess I’ll go get them.”

  “We don’t have a long enough oxygen hose to reach out there!”

  “I don’t need an oxygen hose – our suits have enough oxygen on their own. What I need is a rope! April, grab me the 750 paracord from the supply box.”

  “And what? Lasso them?” Josh asks.

  “No dumbass – I’m going to use it to tie around my ankle and you guys are going to pull me back in.”

  April chimes in, “You might want to double up the paracord. It’s rated to only hold 750lbs before snapping.”

  “I just need enough to reach the oxygen cord. Once I can grab onto it, slowly pull me back to the ship. I’ll be pulling them in towards me as you bring us in.”

  “Unless they’re dead, right?” April asks.

  “Yes, unless they’re dead.” Howard says reassuring her.

  “I will make that determination.” Chantal adds, “For now, they are still alive until I say otherwise.”

  “You heard the doc.” Howard says, “Everyone still have their suits and helmets on?”

  April ties the cord securely to his ankle as they all give a thumbs up sign they are good to go.

  Howard opens the hull door of the ship causing oxygen to be sucked out quickly, forcing Howard to brace himself.

  With the door wide open, he can’t help but look straight down at Earths beauty, spinning beneath the ship. Tall white clouds mix with the colors of blue, tan and green, cause Howard to be mesmerized as it reflects off the clear glass of his helmet. He refocuses and takes a deep breath, feeling his heart beating out of his chest as the adrenaline is pumping through his body.

  He pushes himself away from Serenity and slowly drifts towards the dangling astronaut. He can’t help but flail his arms and legs, but it does no good in the vacuum of space. From inside Serenity, April and Tank are feeding the paracord so it doesn’t tangle while Howard inches closer to the helpless astronaut.