Moon Hoax

27 DOCKING

Sie was fidgeting with his pencil. It was early morning in his office, and he was nervous. He’d just learned the Americans launched the Newton 9 rocket, after he was so sure they wouldn’t, and now those astronauts were orbiting the earth. Why? What are they hoping to accomplish? He couldn’t figure out what the Americans were hoping to achieve. To him, it made no sense. He was so sure the rocket was put on the pad simply to be a decoy, but obviously, he was wrong. He was worried about the repercussions from his ill recommendations to Kuang. Was the private company flying against their government’s wishes, or were they working with the American government and this was just a ploy to get CNSA to fuel their rocket? Sie did not have the answers and knew he’d better come up with some before he was questioned. He turned and looked out his window. His train of thought was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Expecting it to be Kuang, he straightened in his chair and cleared his throat. “Hello.”

“Sie, this is Kuang,” said his boss’ disturbed voice on the other end.

“Good morning, sir,” said Sie, firming his voice.

“Did you hear the Americans launched that rocket last night?”

Sie blinked. “Yes, sir, I just learned.”

“You said they wouldn’t launch, that it was just a decoy to get us to fuel ours,” said Kuang.

“I am surprised, sir. I am mystified as to what they are doing, especially going against UN sanctions,” said Sie.

“Have you ordered our rocket fueled?” asked Kuang.

Sie feared the United States was still trying to trick them. “Sir, I still think this rocket is a decoy. We know it can’t fly to the moon. They are trying to bait us into fueling.”

Sie listened for a response from Kuang, but dead silence came over the phone. He waited.

Finally Kuang spoke up. “If you are right and it is a decoy, what will they do in orbit?”

“I’m not sure, sir, but they can’t stay up there forever. I believe the U.S. will keep the astronauts up there until they realize we are not falling for their trick and then have no choice but to bring them home.” Sie twiddled his pencil between two fingers.

“I am still not comfortable with this. I think the U.S. is up to something. I recommend we fuel our rocket!”

Sie kept his voice steady. “Sir, if we do that and this is a ploy, once we start defueling they will send out their moon rocket, which will be ready to launch within forty-eight hours of being put on the pad. I have confirmed the quickest we could refuel after defueling is seventy-two, putting us at least twenty-four hours behind, unable to catch them.”

In a frustrated tone Kuang asked, “Couldn’t we just keep our rocket fueled?”

“Yes, sir, but there is a lot of cost and maintenance to keep Shenzhou 10 fueled. Besides, America will monitor our rocket with their spy satellites and will wait until we eventually defuel,” said Sie.

Kuang grunted. “How close are we to having another rocket ready?”

“Sir, we are over two months away before Shenzhou 11 is ready.” Again there was silence on the phone, Sie trying to come up with a solution that would pacify Kuang. He suddenly perked up with an idea. “Sir, I recommend we act as if we are fueling our rocket. Let’s play the same deception game the Americans are playing. If we can fool them into believing we are fueling Shenzhou 10, they will probably return their men to Earth, hoping we will in turn defuel. Once we act like we are doing just that, they will bring out their moon rocket. We’ll be able to fuel early enough to beat them to the moon.”

Again silence over the phone, and Sie allowed his boss a moment to contemplate his suggestion.

“How soon do we need to launch after they blast off to insure we arrive at the moon first?” Kuang asked.

Sie responded, “As you know, their design actually requires two rockets, their ‘heavy lifter’ rocket to send up their booster, and a smaller one to send up their orbiter with the astronauts. An Earth orbit rendezvous is needed to connect the two before they can proceed to the moon. With our more powerful booster, we can beat them if we launch within twelve hours. We will fly right past them while they’re playing around in orbit.”

“What if they decide not to leave earth’s orbit once we pass them by?”

Sie thought for a moment. “Sir, we continue and reprogram the laser.”

Again silence, then Kuang said, “Okay, we will go with your plan and I hope you’re correct.”

So did Sie as he answered, “Thank you, sir.”

THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION approached in the distance. The manned satellite looked beautiful floating all alone in the black, the blue earth slowly rotating below. But what surprised Peter the most was its sheer size. They were 500 meters out, but with the station’s width of over 100 meters and with nothing for reference, it looked as if they were moving toward a small city. It reminded him of something out of Star Wars. He experienced an odd sensation as feelings from his childhood years bubbled within, which he equated to those good ole times watching sci-fi space movies with his dad. This is fun!

As they got closer, he wondered how the crew would receive them. Would they be hostile or friendly? Would they even open the hatch and let them in considering they were uninvited guests?

Mission Control was still flying Galileo. Peter was scheduled to take control when they were fifty meters out from the station. “California, this is Galileo and all is looking good up here,” radioed Peter.

“Roger, Galileo,” said Mission Control.

Peter turned to Viktor. “Might as well hook up the dummy bomb. Once we start docking this baby and dealing with the crew, we might forget about it.”

“Roger,” said Viktor as he leaned back and dug into the storage container, unstrapping the red detonator box and pulling it out. Letting it float in front of him for a moment he asked, “You think this fool them?”

Peter looked at the box hovering in front of Viktor. “It better.”

Viktor nodded as he grabbed it from the air and set the digital timer on the contraption to thirty hours. He bent down in front of him and pushed the box against some Velcro next to the fake C-4 explosives strapped to the floor. He took the loose wires coming out of the red box and pushed them into the C-4 before flipping the switch on the back of the box. The lights started blinking green and the digital timer started counting down.

After the detonator was set, Peter radioed, “California, we have Red Baseball in place.”

“Roger, Galileo, Red Baseball is in place,” said Mission Control.

Peter said, “Okay Viktor, it’s time to say hello to the space station and let them know they’re going to have some visitors.”

“Roger.” Viktor adjusted his radio to the space station’s frequency.

“NA1SS, this Galileo,” said Viktor into his microphone as he looked outside his window at the ISS floating off in the distance. He said again, “NA1SS, this Galileo.”

Peter could tell by Viktor’s face he wasn’t getting anything on the other end, and watched him continue adjusting the frequency as he said again, “NA1SS, this Galileo, do you read me?” Peter flipped the switch that allowed him to hear both Mission Control and Viktor.

Suddenly Peter heard, “Galileo, this is NA1SS, the International Space Station, what the hell is going on? We see you outside our window and wonder what you are doing up here.”

Peter signaled to Viktor he would take it from here. “NA1SS, we are preparing to dock at Node 2 Zenith, do you copy?”

“What? We have no knowledge of any spacecraft scheduled to be docking. What is your purpose and what country are you from, over?”

“NA1SS, this information cannot be transmitted over the radio. We will commence stage docking in fifteen minutes, over,” said Peter.

“Hold on, sonny. You can’t just dock with the ISS until we get it officially approved,” said the voice.

“Galileo signing off,” said Peter as he slid his hand across his throat signaling a cutting motion.

Viktor immediately cut off their transmission.

“They didn’t sound too happy, did they? You figure they would be a little friendlier to guests stopping by.” Peter smiled. He called back to Mission Control, “California, ISS has been informed that Galileo will begin docking in fifteen minutes.”

“Roger, Galileo. How did they sound?” asked Mission Control.

“Pissed.”

“Roger that.”

PETER LOOKED AT BOTH CONTROLLERS at the end of his arm rests. Up to this point he had not grabbed them. What was the point, since Mission Control was flying Galileo? But now, Galileo was holding just fifty meters out from the space station and Mission Control was doing its final check before passing control over to him. His palms were sweating inside of his gloves as he was about to pilot a spacecraft for the first time. He opened up his gloved hands and slowly lowered them on the controllers. He gradually wrapped his fingers around, one by one, securely grabbing each stick. It felt good. I’m ready for this!

While Peter waited with anticipation for the go-ahead, he looked out his window at the large station floating above him and located the two Soyuz spacecrafts hanging upside down on the Russian side of the station, like wasps hanging from their nest. He stared at the Soyuz closest to the VASIMR Engine, which was the model K version and their ride to the moon. He shook his head, still amazed at the adventure ahead of him. He turned his focus to the Harmony module on the U.S. side where he would be docking. He saw no obstacles in his way. Should be a piece of cake. As he continued observing the station he couldn’t help thinking it looked a lot like the many Tinker Toy masterpieces he had made as a kid. The most impressive part was the station’s eight enormous golden solar arrays that hovered above him, dwarfing both the Galileo and the station’s modules. He felt like he was on the edge of a giant redwood forest. This is going to be a challenge and its going to be a blast! The radio came alive. “Galileo, this is California. You’re clear for initial stage docking with Node 2 Zenith. Good Luck.”

“Roger, California, cleared for initial stage docking,” said Peter. He slightly tilted the rotational controller to the right to see if he actually had control. To his delight, the thrusters fired and the capsule started to roll right. Yep… she’s in my hands. He smiled as he positioned her back. He had spent hours in the simulator at SpaceQuest training for this moment. He remembered back to Allen stressing the importance of this maneuver, and how he sadly crashed the first time trying. That wasn’t going to happen this time. As his breathing increased, he ignored his nerves, focusing instead on the monitor showing a three dimensional view of his spacecraft and the space station.

Before proceeding, he flipped the switch to pop open the front cone of the capsule, exposing its docking adapter. A soft motor sound vibrated in their cockpit as he looked out his window. He was relieved to see the tip of the capsule slowly swinging open; there was no backup plan if it didn’t open. Once the display signaled cone detachment, he radioed, “Mission Control, Galileo has cone detachment.”

“Roger, Galileo, we confirm detachment. Proceed at .05 meters per second and hold at the ten meter mark, over.”

“Roger, California.” He glanced at Viktor, who was keeping an eye out his window insuring Peter didn’t fly into anything. He gave Peter a thumbs-up before resuming his position.

Peter twisted the left controller to the right and heard the thrusters fire. The spacecraft slowly yawed to the right. He stopped it once he had Galileo perfectly on line with Harmony. Peter was now sweating as he studied the display in front of him. After a final review of his instrument panel, he began moving the capsule toward the station. As they inched along he did slight adjustments with each controller keeping the ship aligned, each adjustment causing thrusters to fire around them. He was impressed with how well the spacecraft was responding—just like the simulator. Allen would be proud.

As expected, there was no black cross target on Harmony’s docking port to help guide them in like there was in the simulator, so he had to rely on his eye and instruments to line up Galileo. Soon he was at the ten meter mark. Feeling comfortable with their position he radioed, “Mission Control, Galileo at the ten meter mark and on target. Holding for clearance to proceed.”

“Roger, Galileo, continue to hold while we confirm your position.” Then the radio went silent. Everything was going according to plan, but Peter knew not to get over-confident, especially since both spacecraft were cruising at over 17,000 mph and only ten meters apart. He tightly held each controller steady as he stayed focused. He continued to study his monitor as he waited for California’s go-ahead.

“Galileo, all systems look good and you are clear for final stage docking.”

“Roger, California, clear for final stage docking.”

Peter began moving Galileo toward Harmony’s zenith docking port while Viktor called out the remaining distance.

“Eight meters until engagement.”

Peter elected to keep his eye only on his monitor since it showed three different views and would give a warning indication if he strayed off course.

“Three meters,” called out Viktor.

Peter lifted his left hand off the controller and reached for the docking switch out of the corner of his eye, not deviating from the monitor.

“One meter until engagement.”

Peter had Galileo in position and both men prepared for contact. A soft screeching sound of two metals sliding against each other was heard before a loud thud as their docking adaptor slammed into the docking port, giving a slight jolt to the capsule that shook the astronauts. The contact light illuminated and immediately Peter flipped the docking switch which initiated a series of hooks, securing Galileo tightly with the space station. Peter took a moment to review his monitor, then looked outside. All looked good. He looked at Viktor, who had a big grin on his face.

“Good job, Commander.”

Peter smiled. They had successfully handled the first major step of their mission. “California, Galileo is securely docked with Node 2, over.”

A sudden burst of screams in the background rang through the radio before Bernie calmly spoke over the excitement, “Congratulations, Galileo, you have some happy folks down here.”

Peter beamed. “Roger, California, you have some happy astronauts up here.”

SO FAR PETER HADN’T GOTTEN SICK. Instead he felt great. If that continued he wouldn’t have to wait thirty-six hours to do the first spacewalk. It was time to confront the ISS crew and hope they could get to the point of working in space.

Both men sat in their capsule. They’d taken off their helmets and gloves after securing Galileo. Peter had initiated further conversations with the station since docking without divulging their intentions, persuading the ISS commander to let them enter. Peter had already opened his hatch and was waiting for the ISS crew to open theirs.

Peter looked at Anya’s picture in front of him, happy her pendant had floated in front of him and was now safely in his pocket. While waiting, he reached through the collar of his suit and pulled out his dad’s locket. With both hands he unlatched the chain and put it in one of his hands as he reached into his pocket and took out Anya’s pendant. He meticulously slid her pendant onto the chain so it now dangled next to his dad’s locket. He held the necklace in front of him for awhile, smiling at the floating glimmering jewelry.

“They nice together,” said Viktor.

Peter smiled at his partner as he put the necklace back on, happy to have her pendant safely stored.

Noises within the ISS’s hatch indicated it was being opened. He straightened up as he prepared himself for what he was going to say. Soon the hatch released, and once open a head popped in upside down.

A decidedly Soviet-looking man with a puffy red face and balding salt-and-pepper hair squinted in at them. “So who’s the commander in here?”

Peter extended his hand to the cosmonaut. “I am. Hello, I’m Peter Novak.”

The man focused on Peter but did not shake his hand. “I’m Commander Boris Sokolov. Before you board I need to know your intentions.”

Peter pulled his hand back. Before he could answer, Viktor chimed in. “Hello, Boris.”

Boris glanced at Viktor with a stern look and studied the old man before his eyebrows lifted his whole face in surprise. “Viktor Alexandrov?”

“Da,” answered Viktor.

“What the hell are you doing up here?” Boris gave him a big smile.

“I miss space, thought I come up one last time before die,” said Viktor grinning.

The two began speaking Russian in such a manner that Peter was unable to keep up. He just sat quiet. This was definitely one of the reasons he had Viktor along. Finally Boris turned to Peter, extending his hand. “Sorry I was a little rude. It’s not every day we get unexpected visitors. You two are welcome to come aboard.”

Peter shook his hand. “Thank you.”

After helping them out of their capsule, Boris introduced them to the five other ISS crew members, of whom three were Americans, one was Russian, and one was Japanese. One of the Americans was a woman, and looking at her confirmed they were in space with her hair floating all over the place, almost like she had stuck her finger into an electric socket. Peter had to grin when he shook her hand. After introductions Boris offered to give a tour, but Viktor interrupted him, asking something in Russian. Boris then informed his crew he and Viktor were going to the Zvezda module for further discussions and to give Peter a tour. Viktor winked at Peter before floating down the corridor following Boris. Peter wondered what his partner was up to.

After the two left, Todd, one of the Americans, looked at Peter. “I remember you. Not sure you remember me. I was a rookie during your last year at NASA.”

Peter couldn’t remember the kid but it was in his best interest to say he did. “Oh, yeah, I remember you. Congratulations on getting up to space so quickly.”

“Thanks. I always wondered why you never got a ride, especially being a moonwalker’s son. Most of the senior astronauts always spoke highly of you.”

“Politics, I guess. But hey, I’m up here now,” said Peter with a grin.

Todd smiled. “I’m sorry to hear about your dad. He is one of my heroes.”

“I’m happy to hear he still is, especially with the latest news.”

“Yeah, what a bunch of crap that is. How could China claim we never landed on the moon?”

“Yeah, what is that bullshit?” Peter relaxed his shoulders, glad to have the locals on his side.

Soon Viktor and Boris met back up with them. Once they reached the end of the tour, Boris told his crew, “Until further notice, Harmony is off limits. I’ll escort anyone who needs to enter.”

The ISS astronauts looked at each other with puzzled expressions, but none dared to question their commander, at least not in front of Peter and Viktor.

Boris stunned them all by saying, “Both these men will be doing a spacewalk in the morning. To insure they don’t have any problems with decompression sickness, I want them to sleep in the Quest Airlock and only breathe pure oxygen tonight.” Boris looked at Todd. “Once we get them situated in the airlock, I want you to reduce the pressure to .7 bars. Are the EMU’s ready?”

Todd’s mouth gaped open as he blinked. “Yes, sir. One of my tasks today was to check out both suits, and they checked out fine. They need their batteries installed, which I can do now.”

“Okay, make sure the SAFERs are okay as well. Tomorrow, I want you to be in the airlock to help both men dress.”

“Okay,” said Todd, slightly shaking his head.

Boris looked at Peter and Viktor. “Gentlemen, I suggest you get what you need out of your capsule for the EVA tomorrow and put it into the Quest Airlock.”

Peter and Viktor nodded.

Boris continued, “Let me know if there is anything else you need.”

Peter couldn’t believe how cooperative the commander was and wondered what Viktor had said. Thinking he might be pushing his luck, he asked, “Do you know how much fuel is in the VASIMR engine?”

Boris calmly asked Todd, “Any idea?”

Todd tilted his head. “She’s about half full.”

Boris looked at Peter, asking if that was sufficient.

“We need it full.”

Boris looked at his crew. “Make that happen.” Looking back at Peter he asked, “Anything else?”

Peter, wide-eyed and amazed, said, “Nope. Thanks.”

Peter and Viktor turned and started drifting back to their spacecraft, Peter dying to ask his partner what he said. As soon as they were alone back in Galileo he asked, “What did you say?”

“I told truth. I told him we go to moon and why, and China will try to stop us. I say we have a fake bomb, which I showed him.”

Peter’s jaw dropped. “You told him the truth? What if he tells Houston the bomb is a fake?”

Viktor shook his head. “I take gamble. We have history together. He respects and trusts me. I figure we need his support. Only he know bomb is fake, and he ask we not tell anyone we told him. He will tell Mission Control bomb is real. Also he concerned about hijacking Soyuz. They need two spacecrafts for all crew escape emergency. I say Galileo could be second lifeboat, and SpaceQuest Mission Control could fly them home. I promised to give education.”

“So he just said okay go ahead?”

“Not exactly, not until I reminded him who bought 75 percent of this station, and he not want to piss America off.” Viktor grinned.

PETER ALREADY HEARD VIKTOR SNORING, proving once again he was an old pro in space. Peter was strapped in a sleeping bag on the ceiling of the airlock, Viktor below him on the floor. They’d had a nice meal with the crew, and it was now time to get some sleep before their big day. The small airlock module was closed and filled with oxygen to help purge the nitrogen from their system. The airlock was broken into two compartments, the equipment lock and the crew lock. Peter and Viktor slept in the equipment lock, the bigger of the two, which housed most of the equipment needed for an EVA. The crew lock was where they would wait out depressurization before opening the hatch and going into space.

Peter was exhausted from the day, but his mind was still racing with all that happened and with what was to come. Not only did he hear Viktor snoring, he also heard all kinds of humming and noises from the station’s many fans and pumps, which only added to his troubles of getting to sleep. He also was having a hard time getting comfortable because he was floating in his sleeping bag. Though weightlessness was a sensation he had expected, the lack of a definitive up or down was still difficult to adjust to. Wide elastic bands that acted like bungee cords were strapped over him to keep him from floating around the room and bumping into equipment. They permitted him the flexibility to move around in his sleeping bag, but they also allowed him to float. The best position was to lie on his back. The chamber was orientated in such a manner that his brain told him he was on the ceiling, an odd sensation. Why the hell did Viktor get the floor?

Low voltage lights dimly lit the airlock, allowing Peter to make out the two EMU suits below that he and Viktor would be wearing. As he peered down on them they looked like two buddies sitting across from each other having a discussion. Each suit was attached to an adaptor on opposite walls, connected to the station’s power system, insuring they would be fully powered for their spacewalk the following morning. The suits were completely assembled, from the boots up to the helmet; only the gloves were missing. A cover protected each helmet. In the dim light and dark shadows, the suits looked ghostly, their arms floating with no hands. Peter whispered, “Hey, what are you two talking about? You two better do your job tomorrow!” He got no response.

Peter grinned as he closed his eyes. Restless, he reviewed the day’s events in his head, hoping that might put him to sleep. The first image that came to mind was his first glimpse of Earth from space, and the joy that swept through his body. He would see many more amazing sights over the next week, but that image would always be special. He reviewed the launch in his head—all the shaking, the excitement of liftoff, the pogo drama; he concluded he was satisfied with how it all went. He reflected on the docking and how proud he was he made no mistakes. He also was pleased the ISS crew let them in without any issues, even willing to help by offering to use the robotic arm to move the VASIMR engine during their EVA. Good thing Viktor had that connection with Boris! Everything was going to plan. The only issue, which was expected, was when Boris informed Houston they had welcomed in some surprising guests. Initially, all hell broke loose, but things seemed to calm down, which Peter was sure was due to Doug Rose. Peter was happy both the commander of the ISS and the head of NASA were in on the mission.

Peter opened his eyes… he wasn’t having any luck getting to sleep. Bottom line, he was just too excited. He turned his head toward the Crew Airlock, looking through the opened hatch that connected the two locks, imagining their big day tomorrow. He hoped to get a lot accomplished, and if everything worked out, they possibly could finish the job and have the Soyuz ready to fly to the moon during one spacewalk. Though it was a long shot, the sooner they finished, the better, since it was only a matter of time before China would figure out their intentions.

He closed his eyes again… Come on Peter… get to sleep! A slight smile came to his face, thinking of his dad having the same problem trying to sleep on the moon. He remembered his dad saying he was just too excited. How could he go to sleep when the moon was just outside his door? Peter could relate, but never had it been so important for him to get a good night’s sleep. Finally, he focused on the one thought that would put him at ease—his last image of Anya lying in bed. He blocked out everything but that one image, and before he knew it, he was out.