Moon Hoax

32 ANOTHER CHALLENGE

Sweat pooled around Viktor’s face inside his EMU space helmet as he exerted as much force as he could trying to pry the engine loose from the Soyuz spacecraft. He had already tried unscrewing the bolt with a socket wrench, but it wouldn’t budge. He was now on the opposite side of the stuck bolt, the safest place if it exploded, trying to manhandle the engine to snap the bolt. He was tethered to the Soyuz by two lines and had both feet pushing out against the VASIMR engine. He had been working for almost an hour, and though the engine had loosened, it still seemed far off from breaking free.

“How’s it going Viktor?” radioed Peter with concern is his voice.

Viktor stopped for a moment to catch his breath and shake the pools of sweat off his face before answering. “It loose, but I not have luck breaking bolt.” He was definitely feeling his age as he gasped for air. Trying to keep the moment light, he said between heavy breaths, “It stubborn like Anya.”

Viktor continued for another fifteen minutes but wasn’t making any headway. Peter finally radioed, sounding impatient, “Viktor, why don’t you come back in, I’ll go out and give it a try?”

Viktor rested against the insulation of the Soyuz trying to figure out what to do. “Give me couple minutes.” Viktor accepted he wasn’t going to be able to pry the engine free and felt Peter wouldn’t either. His only option was to work directly on the bolt, hoping to break it free somehow. This could kill him, but it was a risk he was willing to take so Peter could finish the mission. “I have no luck. I try cut bolt with saw.”

“No!” Peter’s vehemence distorted his voice over the radio. “It’ll explode!”

“We have no choice.” Viktor undid his tether lines and started working his way over to the other side of the engine where the bolt was seated.

“Viktor, let me give it a try before you do that!”

“You sit tight. Don’t worry,” said Viktor.

“Damn it, I don’t agree with this. I guess we now know where your daughter gets her stubbornness.” Getting no response from Viktor, Peter said, “Okay, how can I help?”

“Not sure. Tell you when I get there.” Viktor slowly worked his way over to the other side of the engine.

When he arrived at the bolt, he studied it for a while. A small area of threads visible in-between the bolt cap and the engine flange would be the best place to cut. He would cut as much as he could before trying to break off the top with a hammer. “Okay, looks like there place to cut.”

“Roger, be careful,” said Peter.

Viktor fought to hold onto the saw with Peter’s big gloves as he cut. After fifteen minutes of struggling he had barely cut the bolt. This would take forever. He decided to go ahead and try breaking off the head of the bolt with the hammer. “Peter, if something happens, tell Dmitri and Anya I love them.”

“What are you going to do?”

Viktor didn’t answer. He pulled out the hammer from his bag. Before striking the first blow, he looked down at Earth below and thought of his children. If he was going to die; he had to tell them how much he loved them and say goodbye. Ya tak lyublyu tebia. Poka. He looked back at the bolt and with the hammer in his hand swung as hard as he could. Right before impact he closed his eyes, expecting the worst. The hammer hit squarely on the head, but nothing happened. He tried again and still nothing. He continued to hammer away, and with each swing he became less concerned about it exploding. The bolt wasn’t budging or breaking. He was thinking of giving up and decided to try one last time. He positioned himself in the best angle to allow for a solid blow. He said goodbye out loud, Do svidaniy, before swinging the hammer one last time.

When the hammer hit, Viktor was startled to see the head fly completely off and—fortunately—not explode. He also did not see any explosive powder leak out. Whew! With the bolt head off, he could now free the engine. He repositioned himself so his feet were again pressed up against the engine and his back on the spacecraft and pushed with all the energy he had left. The engine slowly began to budge and eventually slipped off the bolt. Viktor gave the VASIMR one giant push with his feet and watched it drift away.

“She off! Engine floating away,” said Viktor excitedly.

“Great job Viktor!”

Viktor was exhausted. He looked down at what was left of the bolt, spying a crack down the middle. He figured it must have cracked sometime during flight, losing its explosive powder. Viktor knew he was lucky, and he said a quick thank you to God.

SNORING USED TO DRIVE PETER CRAZY, especially from any one-night stand lying next to him. No matter how perfect the girl was, snoring was always a deal breaker. But Peter sat in the Soyuz with a big grin, listening to Viktor’s loud snoring echoing throughout the spacecraft. The racket was beautiful music, reminding him he wasn’t alone. Once Viktor got himself back into the Orbital Module he passed out from sheer exhaustion with the EMU suit left on. Once Peter could enter the module, he took off his partner’s helmet and powered down the suit, letting him sleep. Peter was proud of the old man for overcoming fatigue to dislodge the engine and save the mission.

Suddenly Peter heard over the radio, “Maria 1, this is Mission Control, do you read?”

Peter was surprised to hear Dmitri, expecting someone else to fill in for CAPCOM. He quickly grabbed his headset. “Mission Control, Maria 1 here. Read you loud and clear, over.”

“Roger, everything going okay?” asked Dmitri.

Even though they just handled a serious crisis, Peter answered, “Yeah, it’s been a nice leisurely flight, over.”

“We noticed Maria 1 slightly change course earlier. Did you do some course adjustments?”

Peter assumed Dmitri was talking about the maneuvers Viktor did trying to shake the engine loose. “We had a bug on the windshield and your dad tried to dislodge it, over.”

“What?” Dmitri’s voice crackled.

“Nothing. Your dad was testing some of the controls, making sure everything worked before we were given any course corrections, over,” replied Peter.

“Roger. Those will be coming shortly. What is that noise I hear?”

Peter grinned. “That’s your dad snoring.”

“I thought I knew that sound. He likes to nap. Hopefully you don’t mind a little snoring—I’ve had to deal with it for years.”

“I’ve gotten used to it. I kind of like it, over,” said Peter.

“Good.” Dmitri paused. “I wanted to let you know China just launched their rocket. We will monitor the flight and let you know when they leave orbit, over.”

Though he expected the news, it was still disappointing. He hoped they had enough of a lead to beat China. “Roger. Let’s hope they don’t make it out of orbit.”

“Roger. That would take some pressure off.” The radio was silent for a moment before Dmitri said, “Peter, I have someone here who wants to say hi.”

Peter’s heart immediately started to race, hoping the someone was Anya. “Roger that.”

“Hello… Peter?” asked Anya in a timid voice.

“Hey, baby. It’s wonderful to hear your voice, but please speak up a little louder.” She was probably being shy due to all who were listening. Peter continued, “So how are you… everything okay?”

Louder, Anya said, “It is now. I miss you so much. You and Dad getting along okay?”

“Other than his snoring, everything’s going great. Actually, he has been fantastic on this mission. He’s saved us a couple of times.”

“That’s great. When he wakes tell him I love him.”

“Roger that. Of course he’s going to want to hear it himself later.”

“Thanks for leaving the pendent. I have it around my neck where it belongs. I can’t tell you how much it means to me, especially knowing you found it. I wear it everywhere and always will. And thank you for the special note on the mirror. It made me cry.”

Peter smiled. “Hopefully not because it was expensive lipstick.”

Anya giggled, “No. Because of what you said.”

“I meant what I said.” Peter put his hand to his chest feeling the jewelry under his flight suit. “I’m wearing the other half, too. I even have a picture of you up on the panel next to me. I’m looking at it right now.”

“What picture?”

“A modeling picture you did for charity. Your dad gave it to me. You look hot. Of course I think you always look hot.”

“Thank you. You’re not too bad yourself. So any chance you two turning that ship around and coming home?”

Peter rubbed his finger over her picture. “A big part of me wishes we could. Even if it was possible, your dad would still be dragging me along. I think he likes my company.”

Her voice quieting down again, she said, “Peter, I miss you and I love you, very much.”

Without hesitation Peter responded proudly, “Baby, I love you too.”

Peter thought he heard a sniffle before Anya said, “Well, Dmitri promised me I can check in with you every once in awhile. Maybe we can talk tomorrow?”

“I would love that.” He had to swallow past a growing lump. “Hearing your voice does wonders for me.”

“Roger. Tell Dad I said Allo and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.”

“Roger. Love you.”

Peter sensed she was trying to compose herself when she paused before her voice cracked, “I love you too.”

SIE FELT LIKE A DEAD MAN walking as he entered the control room of the Beijing Command Center to check on Tang and Nei’s flight. Regardless of how the mission ended, Sie would be fired at its completion, his name and legacy disgraced forever. He tried to put it out of his mind as he focused on helping the taikonauts race the Americans to the moon.

The taikonauts had already performed a successful TLI burn and were now safely on their way. Sie’s controllers should know by now if they were going to catch the Americans. He tapped the shoulder of his flight director, who was feverously talking on his headset. Turning around, the director asked, “Yes, sir?”

“What is the status of catching the Americans?”

“Sir, though the TLI burn went perfect, we are still in the process of verifying our telemetry and speed as compared to the Americans. However, at first glance it looks good. I should know soon.”

Disappointed in not getting a firm answer, Sie said, “Let me know the moment we figure it out.”

“Yes, sir,” said the director as Sie put his head down and walked out.

BOTH PETER AND VIKTOR SAT comfortably in Maria 1 as she zipped through deep space, Peter relaxing in the Orbital Module while Viktor monitored the instruments in the Descent Module.

All of a sudden Viktor blurted out, “Did you feel that?”

Peter didn’t feel anything and frowned in concern. “Feel what?”

“We just cross speed bump,” said Viktor, smiling.

“What are you talking about?”

Viktor started laughing. “We cosmonauts believe speed bump on way to moon. When moon’s pull becomes greater than Earth’s, you cross speed bump in space.”

Such a phenomenon couldn’t be felt since they were in zero gravity, and all gravity forces are always precisely balanced with acceleration forces, but he played along. “Oh, yeah, I felt it. So we are now being pulled by the moon?”

“Yep. Few men feel moon pull,” said Viktor proudly.

“Just Americans and three Chinese, and now you’re the first Russian.”

Viktor raised his eyebrows and looked impressed. “Wow, I am. Damn.”

Viktor’s face suddenly focused as he adjusted his headset and said into his microphone, “This Maria 1, over.” Peter floated through the hatch and put on his headset so he could hear too.

Dmitri said, “We just finished calculating when both you and the Chinese will arrive at the moon.”

Viktor asked, “Roger. Who be first?”

There was a moment of silence before Dmitri answered, “Right now, the Chinese will beat you, over.”

Peter was devastated. If the Chinese beat them to the laser, he and Viktor could do nothing to stop it from firing.

Viktor asked with hope in his voice, “Are you sure?”

“I had a few different engineers work the numbers, but the answer always came out the same. We are sure,” Dmitri said.

Viktor put his head down for a moment before saying, “By how much?

“Sixty-five minutes.”

Lifting his head Viktor asked, “Is there anything we can do?”

Dmitri replied, “Maybe. We are considering having you fire the main engine for a short time to increase your velocity. The problem is, you will use up fuel needed to slow you down. We doubt there is enough to do both, over.”

Frustrated with Dmitri’s solution, Peter interjected, “So we can either beat them to the moon, but not have enough fuel to stop and fly right past, or they beat us, reprogram the laser, and we get the shit blown out of us on the back side.”

“Something like that, yes,” said Dmitri. “We wanted to inform you both and see if you had any suggestions.”

Those options definitely weren’t acceptable to Peter. He looked over to Viktor, who seemed to be in deep thought before an encouraging expression crossed his face. “What if we jettison Orbital Module before lunar orbit?”

The radio was silent before Dmitri said, “We didn’t think of that. That could work. It would definitely reduce the amount of propellant needed to slow you down. Do you need the module?”

“It gives Peter place to get away from me, but we do without,” said Viktor.

“Let us crunch the numbers and get back with you,” said Dmitri.

“Roger,” said Viktor.

Both men took off their headsets before Peter asked, “What about taking pictures outside the capsule?” Without the Orbital Module, they no longer had an airlock. So there was no way of doing a spacewalk.

“We can still do. We bring EMU suit and cameras in here and store in empty seat. We can’t take SAFER, too big—instead you use tether line. That will be last thing you do in lunar orbit. When time, you open hatch.”

“But you’ll die!” Viktor’s flight suit wouldn’t protect him from the harsh environment of space. Without an airlock, Peter’s partner would be subjected to these deadly conditions once the hatch was opened, killing him within seconds. Only the EMU suit was designed to shelter the astronaut from the cruelty of space.

“Peter, I die anyways. I take cyanide pill right before you open hatch. You go out, take pictures, return and send pictures to Earth. Mission accomplished. Unfortunately you die once your oxygen runs out,” said Viktor matter-of-factly.

Considering their options, it looked like they had no other choice. Peter hated to think about coming back from the spacewalk and seeing his partner buckled in his seat, dead. But what else could they do? “Do you think we can get all the equipment in here?”

“It be tight, but yes. No toilet, so shit before we jettison her,” said Viktor with a grin.

Peter smiled. Pointing to the hatch he asked, “Are you sure I can fit through that in the EMU suit?”

“You could not if we in TMA model. But lucky we in K model. It be compact, but you fit.”

Both men heard Dmitri calling back and quickly put on their headsets to hear.

“Maria 1, this is Mission Control, come in.”

“Maria 1 here,” said Viktor.

“Dad, you’re right. Jettisoning the Orbital Module should give you the needed fuel. It will be close, but you should still beat the Chinese. I will get back with you shortly with the required procedures in firing the main engine and jettisoning the module.”

“Roger,” said Viktor, smiling.