by Steven Wolff
“40… 30… 20… 10...”
Everyone’s heads go forward and back quickly as the ship locks into place with the Chinese space station. All’s quiet as everyone holds their breath while looking at each other.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Docked at the Tiangong-1 Space Station
“We did it!!!” Josh says breaking the silence.
Everyone on board cheers and hugs one another. Moments later, it’s back to business.
“We need to pressurize the cabin before we can open the door.” Howard mentions.
“Already on it!” April says focused.
“Awesome. Edward, I need you to monitor our altitude and trajectory. We are in a decaying orbit and if this thing goes down – it’s taking us with it. See this red line?”
Howard points to the computer screen, “If we pass it, we’re not going to be able to get back into space. Let me know if we’re getting close. Keep an open channel with me at all times.”
“Understood.” Edward says taking a slow, deep breath.
“Chantal, Tank – you’re with me.”
“But what about my patient?”
“We’re not going to be long. We’ll find what you need and then you can go back to helping them.”
“What do you need me for?” Tank asks.
“Your strength – in case I need something moved or bent.”
He smiles, “Okay!”
“April – you and Whitfield suit up and go fill up the fuel and oxygen tanks. Josh, keep them posted on their progress.”
“Will do.”
“We now have matching pressurization.” April says.
“Then let’s do this. Open the hull door.”
The hull hisses as the large round door to the space station opens wide. The first thing Tank notices is the giant black camera on the ceiling.
“Don’t look now, but I think we’re being watched.” He says pointing to it.
“I doubt it – the Chinese lost control of this space station not that long ago. Even if they were, we’re not going to be on here for long.”
Chantal notices something different, “This place reminds me of a padded room inside an insane asylum. Almost like a hospital.”
Howard remarks, “Notice the subtle blue on the ceiling and the tan on the ground? That’s to help the astronauts maintain their orientation when in zero gravity. Basically up and down.”
“That is very smart!” Chantal says with her French accent. “I also like all these handle-bar straps. It makes pulling ourselves around a whole lot easier.”
On the wall are six white-cloth bags that Howard rummages through, grabbing food, water and any supplies that may be helpful. He asks Chantal, “Do you know what you’re looking for, even if it’s written in Chinese?”
“I do. Nowadays most everything is made from China – the only difference is the sticker’s writing. Speaking of… here it is!”
Chantal pulls back the green velcro wall and finds a red cross on a white compartment bag. Inside are medical supplies and a defibrillator – all written in Chinese. She pulls out her smart phone and switches it to camera mode.
Howard asks out of curiosity, “What are you doing?”
“See when I hover my camera over the letters? Google translates it into French for me to read.”
“That’s pretty cool. So that thing can translate anything your camera looks at?”
“Over 75 different languages!” Chantal says proudly.
“How are you able to do that? We don’t have cell or a wifi signal out there.”
“I already downloaded the languages to my phone before I left Earth. It’s all in there.” She says proudly.
“Can you switch it to English so I can see what things say?”
Chantal presses the settings icon and then the English setting before handing the phone to Howard. He holds it out in front of him and looks around the room. Everything written in Chinese now shows up in words he recognizes. He holds it over the name of the ship Tiangong-1 and it translates into Heavenly Palace 1.
“That’s really cool.” Howard says grinning, “Mind if I borrow it for a few minutes?”
“Don’t be silly – of course! Isn’t google wonderful?” Chantal says showing her beautiful smile. “I better get back to my patient.”
She loads the supplies into a bag she brought with her and hurry’s out the room. Tank’s grin catches Howard’s eye as he looks around.
“What are you grinning about?”
“The exercise equipment onboard this ship… I like it! Psst! Between you and me - few people know this, but I like working out.”
“Really?” Howard says sarcastically, “I would have never guessed – with those hulking arms of yours.
Edward chimes in over the headset with a sense of urgency, “Commander, we are approaching that red line we talked about.”
“Thanks for the heads up. How long do we have?” Howard asks.
“Maybe 5 minutes.”
“Whitfield and April still outside the ship?”
“Affirmative. They’re refueling as we speak.”
“Get everyone back on board… even if we’re not done. Josh, how’s it looking?”
“We’re three-quarters full on both tanks.”
“It’ll have to do. April, Whitfield, do you copy?”
There is no answer.
“April, Captain Whitfield – can you hear me?” Howard asks while looking to make sure they’re on the right communications channel.
Still no response.
“They’re on the bottom side of the ship. That may be the reason why they can’t hear us.” Josh adds.
“I’ll go out there and get them.” Tank says, “I’m still in my EMU suit since it was custom fitted to me. I just need my helmet.”
“Your what?” Josh asks.
Edward answers, “Extravehicular mobility unit. Weren’t you paying attention in class?”
“I was, but there was so much information we went over. All he had to say was that he was in his space suit and that would have been enough. Alright Tank, go for it. Get them inside the ship right away!”
As Tank is starting to head out, Howard grabs his massive arm and stops him as he looks up and says, “Be safe out there.”
“Yes sir.” Tank replies while pulling the helmet over his head. A light hiss is heard as soon as he twists it on. Little led lights inside his helmet illuminate Tank’s face.
“Stand by for cabin decompression.” Josh warns.
Red siren lights attached to the wall spin around as the outer door of the ship opens slowly – blowing all the oxygen out of the cabin into the void of space.
Tank looks left and then right – then sees the legs of April and Whitfield. He climbs his way along the outside of the ship and taps Whitfield on the shoulder, startling him.
Tank points to his ear and to his wrist – letting them know to check their communication channel.
“Can you hear me? Test, test.” Whitfield says.
“It’s about time.” Tank replies.
“Sorry – we must have forgotten to turn the volume up before we went out.”
“Commander wants us on board the ship, pronto!”
“Does he know we’re not done refueling?”
“Yes. He still wants you inside – so let’s get going!”
They climb along the edge of the space station back to the ship when Edward warns, “We are at the red line threshold. Orbit is decaying rapidly.”
“What’s that mean?” Whitfield asks as he comes in.
“It means that we’re falling back to earth” Howard says with a sense of urgency in his voice. “If we don’t detach from this space station, we’re going to burn up in re-entry.”
“Sir, the DPE isn’t releasing!!!” Josh says in a panic.
Edward chimes in, “I did give you a heads up that the docking mechanism wasn’t compatible...”
“Not helping Edward!” Howard says trying to figure out what to
do.
Josh begins to freak out, “We’re physically stuck to the space station and I can’t break free!”
Whitfield’s face turns pale in fear, “So we’re gonna die by burning up in Earth’s atmosphere? Game over man! I knew it. I KNEW it!”
“Not on my watch.” Tank says, opening the outer door to go back outside.
“What are you doing?” Whitfield asks, “Get back inside – that’s an order!”
“Negative. I can’t do that. There’s only one person strong enough to dislodge the ship.”
Edward chimes in, “Commander, we have past the red line. We are now re-entering Earth’s orbit.”
Red, yellow and orange flames start to flicker along the outside of the windows. It’s bright enough to illuminate the cabin and catch everyone’s attention.
Tank grabs the metal handles along the outer hull of the ship and pulls himself closer – one handle at a time to where Serenity is connected with the Tiangong-1 as flames surround his body.
He reaches in between both ships with his giant glove and tries to dislodge the DPE but it’s bent and wedged tight. Inside the ship everyone hears Tank grunt and groan as he tries to pull the two ships apart.
“Grrrrraaaaaahhhhhh!!!”
Chantal closes her eyes and does the sign of the cross – clasping her hands together to pray.
Tank repositions and braces his back against the space station and uses both legs to push against the ship. He grits his teeth and growls with all his might as pushes and straightens his legs.
Everyone notices a little jolt when Josh blurts out excitedly, “He did it! We’re free!”
“Go to full burn! Get us out of here!!!” Howard commands.
Josh yanks back on the steering column as the engines roar louder than ever before, causing the ship to violently rattle and shake.
“Approaching the red line threshold…” Edward says loudly over the roaring engines.
Everyone is experiencing g-forces against their body when suddenly weightlessness causes them to float.
“We are back in upper orbit.” Edward says with a sense of relief.
With tears in her eyes, Chantal asks, “What about Tank?”
Josh eases up on the column and presses forward –causing the ship to barrel roll so they can look backwards. Off in the distance, they see the Tiangong-1 surrounded in a ball of colorful flames as it’s losing altitude.
The silence in the cabin is broken when Whitfield asks, “Tank, are you there?”
Seconds pass with no response.
A lone tear streams quickly down April’s eye, as she wipes it away with her finger.
The radio comes to life, “I’m here Captain.” He says in a calm voice.
“Status report…”
“I’m straddled on the top part of the Tiangong-1 space station as it’s going down. I’m turned around so my back is facing forward so I can look up at the stars. It’s one hell of a view…”
Whitfield chokes up, unable to comment. Tank continues, “Tell me it was worth it. Tell me – you guys made it.”
Whitfield breaks down crying, “We did soldier. Thanks to you, we’re all safe.”
Edward chimes in, “Abraham… this is Edward. Listen, I didn’t mean to insult your intelligence. I had no right and for that, I hope you can forgive me. What you did for us…” Edward struggles to get the words out.
“Here I am, a communications specialist and I can’t even find the right words… I guess, what I’m trying to say… is that you’ve earned my upmost and highest respect. I just wanted to tell you that…”
“You are forgiven.” Tank says, “Man… it’s getting mighty toasty inside this suit. When I get back on the ground, I’m going to have one hell of a tan.”
Everyone on board chuckles, while tears fall from their eyes. Whitfield looks around and musters up the words, “I bet you will. Just remember, you did good, soldier and I’m going to make sure the military knows all about it.”
“Thank you sir.” Tank says humbly. He then laughs, “Heh… do you want to know something that’s funny?”
“Sure,” Whitfield says listening intently – as there’s not one dry eye on board the ship.
“I’ve always wanted to go down in a blaze of glory. I never thought I would literally do it. Heh…”
Everyone chuckled for a moment as the radio suddenly went to static. Whitfield lowers his head and lets the tears flow down his cheeks as April comforts him with her arm.
Howard lifts his head up and swallows slowly, “Josh – set a course for the asteroid…”
Without saying a word, Josh nods and maneuvers the ship, leaving Earth in their wake.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
On an intercept course with the asteroid
Ten weeks have passed and the crew has settled into their normal routine while in route to the asteroid. Every story has been told, over-and-over to the point where they welcome any news from outside the ship. Astronaut Jenkins has made a full recovery and is now part of the crew.
To pass the time, they sit around the table – laughing and trash-talking each other while playing cards. Jenkins has one eyebrow raised as she looks at her hand, swapping one card for another.
“I can’t believe you just put down a king!” April says, quickly picking it up.
“You can have it. It’s not doing me any good.” She says twirling a long-blond strand of hair between her fingers.
“Ah ha!” April says pointing at Jenkins.
“Ah ha what?”
“You don’t realize it, but you twirl your hair in your fingers when you’re holding a strong hand.”
Jenkins smiles, “You’re quite observant!”
“What can I say? I know a player when I see one.”
“Oh really?” Jenkins says with intrigue.
A subtle beeping catches Edward’s attention, causing him to turn and look.
“If you would excuse me, I need to see to that.” He says getting up. He puts his cards down on the table and walks away.
“Uh huh, how convenient – that you suddenly have something to investigate.” Jokes April while peeking at his cards.
“No cheatin’ lady!” Jenkins says playfully swatting at April.
“I’m not cheatin’!” April says playing it off.
“Sure you aren’t.”
Edward bends forward to look at the computer screen – noticing an unusual wave pattern. He sits down quickly without breaking eye contact and begins typing on the keyboard. Howard turns his head and notices Edward is focused on what he’s doing so he asks, “What’s up?”
“We are picking up a faint radio transmission.”
“Out here in deep space?” Howard asks.
Whitfield interrupts, “Maybe it’s from Earth. I heard that TV and radio signals that left earth many years ago are just now reaching the edge of the galaxy. That might be it.”
“No, this isn’t from Earth.”
April’s head perks up, “Could it be the Titan?!?”
“No, they would be too far in front of us. This signal is originating from nearby.” Edward replies, “Within 1000 kilometers off our starboard-bow.”
Jenkins asks April, “The Titan is the other ship right?”
“Yes it is.” April confirms.
Edward is busy working on clearing up the signal when the ship’s small intercom speaker crackles to life. Everyone listens intently to a conversation being held in a different language.
“What language is that?” Josh asks.
“It’s Russian.”
“What are they saying?”
Edward makes a hand gesture for silence as he listens closely. After thirty-seconds he says, “They are talking about their wives cooking and how they make a killer Pelmeni. Also, something about a Russian soccer team scoring the game-winning goal.”
“So they’re not radioing for help or anything?” Josh asks.
“No, they are probably leaning on the com channel without them knowing it.�
�� Edward says confidently.
“Kinda like when people would butt-dial someone?” Whitfield asks.
“Pretty much.” Josh adds.
“Logic would dictate… that they are also on an intercept course with the asteroid.” Edward says with concern.
Howard asks, “Do they see us?”
“From the radio chatter I’m hearing, they aren’t really paying attention. Estimating by the signal strength – even if they were looking, we are too far away to be noticed.”
“Then let’s increase our speed just a little bit faster… the further we distance ourselves, the more time we have to investigate the wreckage, assuming the Titan doesn’t beat us there. Also let’s make sure we’re not butt-dialing the Russians or anyone else trying to get to the asteroid.”
“Copy that.” Josh says, steadily increasing the speed of the ship.
“And just to be safe, let’s dim the lights in the cabin and on the exterior of the ship. At least until we distance ourselves.”
“Understood.” Josh says while flipping three switches above his head. The lights on the outer hull go dark, leaving the engine as the only thing glowing. Everyone sits quietly for several hours, trying not to make noise as Edward holds a speaker to his ear, listening closely.
“Hear anything?” Howard asks.
“Negative. Just static.”
“I’ll take that as a good sign.” Howard says letting out a huge sigh of relief. “Josh, continue at this speed.”
“Understood.”
Whitfield is sitting with his feet raised up on top of the table, watching Jenkins as she moves about the cabin. Suddenly, he blurts out, “Speaking of Russians… I’ve been sitting on something that’s been eating away at me for some time now. Weren’t you on board the ISS when the Titan docked?”
“I was… kinda.” Jenkins responds, “I was out on a spacewalk at the time.”
“Is it me, or doesn’t that seem kinda suspicious?” He asks the rest of the crew.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re implying.” Jenkins says moving uncomfortably.
“The Titan ship comes to the ISS to refuel, and while that’s happening, you decide you want to go out for a spacewalk instead of stay and greet the crew. What kind of hospitality is that? How do we know you and Nikolai aren’t working together to sabotage our mission?”