Moon Hoax

34 LIFE IS PRECIOUS

“I’ve got the signal,” said Peter with excitement in his voice. Maria 1 was now swinging around the back side of the moon, captured by its gravitational pull.

That he was receiving transmission from the laser was both good and bad news. The bad news was the laser did, in fact, exist. The signal he was receiving confirmed the laser was now tracking their spacecraft and in the process of arming itself to fire upon them. The good news was his equipment picked up the transmission and he had the possibility of disarming the laser. After weeks of training for this instant, he was now at the moment of truth. The first and foremost pressing question was did the Chinese change the factory codes that originally came with the laser from Byington Corporation? If he was wrong in his assumption and the Chinese did change these with a new set of codes back on Earth, he would be unable to access the laser’s operating system. There would be nothing he could do. He and Viktor would be dead in less than twenty minutes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Viktor break away from his preparation for the LOI burn and lean over the crowded stowage to watch him input the codes on the laptop. Both knew how important this first step was. Peter started typing in the factory codes Rob had given to him, two sets of twelve-digit numbers he had memorized. His hands shook slightly as he typed.

Viktor said in a calm tone, “Everything okay, take time.”

Peter didn’t answer; the clock had started and he was under the gun. If he was right and the codes were not changed, he had no time to waste. Every minute counted. As he tapped in the last few digits he said, “Here it goes,” and pushed the enter key.

Nothing! Nothing came on his computer screen. If the codes were right, he should be sharing the laser’s local screen and seeing a set of numbers, but the screen was blank.

The laser didn’t recognize the codes.

“Shit!” He was sure he put in the right numbers, but he had no way to confirm this since they disappeared as soon as he pushed the enter key.

Viktor said, “Relax, try again.”

Sweat began pooling around his eyes, blurring his vision. He frantically retyped the numbers from memory before pulling the checklist off the wall to check the numbers. In a quick glance through the sweat, all the numbers looked right. He took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. He carefully verified each number one at a time by reading it out loud, “384… 302, looks good,” and then hit the enter key.

Peter nervously tapped his fingers on the computer waiting for a response. Come on baby. A few long seconds later his computer screen went dark before quickly lighting back up, this time sharing the laser’s local screen. “I’ve got access!” Peter gave a big sigh of relief. The Chinese had not changed the codes.

Viktor went back to his business. “Good job.”

Peter quickly typed in the numbers shown on his screen and pushed the enter key before the prompt “Enter Password” appeared. Three precious minutes wasted dealing with that mistake left him roughly seventeen minutes to go through the complicated procedure of reprogramming the computer with a new access code. Once he was done with that he needed to put in a new password before disabling the laser. His best time completing all those tasks during training was seventeen minutes, which he did only once. His average had been eighteen and a half. Come on Peter, you can do this!

Viktor stayed out of sight and silent, allowing Peter to do his thing.

After fifteen minutes of sweating and typing away, Peter finished the involved procedure of changing the access code. “I’m in!” Now that he was in, appearing in the left corner of the screen showed the exact time left before the laser was to fire—2 minutes, 10 seconds, and counting.

He still had to put in the new password and disarm the laser, which on average had taken him four minutes during training.

Viktor poked his head around the stowage, as if checking the time remaining before going back out of sight.

Peter worked at a frenetic pace, his heart racing, but as the time ticked away he was coming to the conclusion he wasn’t going to make it. He saw out of the corner of his eye he had thirty seconds left. “Viktor, I don’t think I am going to make it.”

Viktor didn’t say a word.

Finally with ten seconds left and aware he had run out of time, he stopped typing. “Sorry Viktor, I’m not going to make it.” Peter slammed his fist down on the computer. “Damn it!” Closing the computer he said in a loud voice, “You better brace yourself. It’s going to fire any second.”

Peter had let down so many who were counting on him. He let his father down. With only a few seconds left to live, he quickly touched Anya’s picture and prepared for destruction. Sorry, baby.

Before Viktor could say anything, a sharp bright light filled their spacecraft, briefly blinding Peter. He was sure his life was over. But after a couple of seconds the light dissipated. Shocked, he asked, “Are you okay?”

Viktor answered, “I think am.”

Peter squinted so he could look around, trying to figure out what just happened. Was he dead? He felt his body and arms; nope, still alive. Did some kind of miracle just happen? Shaken, Peter said, “I think it missed!”

Viktor leaned over the equipment, trying to focus on Peter as he said in a calm voice, “Yep. I forgot tell you something.”

Peter tilted his head. “What?”

With a slight grin Viktor said, “Russian intelligence learn the laser only 80 percent accurate on first shot.”

Peter blinked. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I not rely on 20 percent chance live. I want you think we die if not do in time. I think Maria protect us,” Viktor said smugly.

Peter finally allowed himself a chance to grin. “I guess you’re right, that was information I didn’t need to know.”

Viktor sobered. “But it 99 percent accurate on second shot.”

Fortunately the second firing wouldn’t be for twenty minutes since the laser had to rearm itself. “Whew, thank you, Maria!” said Peter as he opened the computer and got back to work. “I only need a few more minutes to finish putting in our password and disarming it. So we’ll be okay. Damn, that was close!”

Viktor grinned. “Yep. I happy I wear diaper.”

“MARIA 1, THIS IS MISSION CONTROL, do you read me?” Dmitri paced by his console. He intently watched the big screen at the front of the control room which showed the location of where Maria 1 should be after coming around the moon, as long as it hadn’t been destroyed. It had been forty-five minutes since Dmitri last talked to Peter prior to them going around the back side and as the screen portrayed, Maria 1 should be back around in position to receive his transmissions. Unfortunately, he had not heard anything back and he was getting worried they might have been killed. The tension was high in the control room as Dmitri continued sending out radio transmissions, but the only thing everyone heard in return was static.

“Maria 1, this is Mission Control, do you read me?” He looked back at Anya sitting at the back of the room and they locked eyes for a split second; she seemed to give him a look of hope, which encouraged him. Turning back and hopeful of hearing something positive he called out to the designated flight dynamics officer two rows in front of him. “FIDO, have you located their position yet?”

“Negative,” said FIDO.

Frustrated, Dmitri continued calling Maria 1.

Finally, a garbled transmission came through his headset. “Miss… this… one.”

A loud cheer rung out as Dmitri radioed back, “Maria 1, this is Mission Control, please repeat.”

This time the transmission came through much clearer. “Mission Control, this is Maria 1. We’re okay, over,” said Peter.

Loud applause filled the control room. For the first time in history, a manned Soviet spacecraft was circling the moon. Over the noise, Dmitri answered, “Roger, that’s great news.”

“How’s our position look, over?” asked Peter.

Understanding his dad and Peter were concerned about how well they handled the burn, Dmitri looked at FIDO, who gave him a thumbs-up. “Looks good at this point. Good job, over,” said Dmitri.

“Roger,” said Peter.

Dmitri asked, “Was the laser on the back side, over?”

“That’s an affirmative,” answered Peter.

“Roger. Did you disarm it?” Dmitri wanted to make sure that hazard was out of the way.

“Roger, laser is disarmed. However, it did give us a little tan on the backside, over,” said Peter.

“Repeat?” asked Dmitri

“Nothing. Everything’s okay. Your mom watched over us, over.”

Dmitri looked back at Anya and they both smiled. By the relaxed set of her shoulders, she was relieved, as was he. He fell back in his seat, thankful both men survived.

He leaned forward. “Dad, what does the girl say in the bar?”

There was a silence for moment before Viktor answered, “Go hang yourself.”

Laughter was heard throughout the control room.

PETER FINALLY HAD HIS FIRST OPPORTUNITY to take a long look at the moon from the small porthole window by his seat, amazed at the awesome sight in front of him. Viktor was busy parking Maria 1 into her final orbit where Peter would do his spacewalk and take the pictures.

Ever since Peter was a kid, he dreamt of someday flying around the moon, just like his father. Here he was, just four miles above the surface, where only a handful of men had been. The moon engulfed his entire window, where he felt like he could reach out and touch it. He was surprised at the detail he could see, especially the different geological formations of the craters as they passed. However, they were still too high to see the landing sites with the naked eye. He would have liked to have been lower, but they needed at least a 20,000 ft altitude to clear the mountain ranges. At this height he would be able to get the high resolution pictures using the high powered camera lens, possibly even to the level of detecting the footprints left. He was looking forward to seeing one of the sites up close.

Unfortunately Mission Control put them in a very unstable orbit due to the mass concentrations they were flying over. These mascons were tugging at their ship due to their stronger gravitational forces versus other areas of the moon, which caused their orbit to slowly degenerate. They needed to do periodic boosts from Maria’s onboard thrusters just to hold their orbit. Regrettably, they had very little fuel left. Viktor figured they probably had enough to hold them in the orbit for twenty-four hours before they would run out, at which time their altitude would slowly degrade until they eventually crashed into the moon.

“Maria 1, this is Mission Control,” said Dmitri over the radio.

Peter signaled he would answer since Viktor was busy. “Maria 1 here, over.”

“How’s everything going up there?”

“Your dad is parking us in our final orbit. All is looking good, over.”

“Roger. Looks like you will have some company. The Chinese decided to go into lunar orbit. Not sure what their purpose is, but you may want to warm up some tea, over.”

Peter chuckled. “I’m going to put a sign outside our door saying ‘No one’s home.’ Are they in the same orbital plane?”

“Looks to be very close. They did some course corrections, so they are up to something. They look to be thirty minutes behind you,” said Dmitri.

“What can they do to us now that we’ve reprogrammed the laser? I’m not worried about them.” Still looking out his window, Peter said, “Dmitri, remember when we were kids pretending to fly to the moon?”

Sarcasm filled Dmitri’s voice. “You mean when you had to be the commander?”

“Yep. Well you should see this, it’s an amazing sight. Better than what we imagined. It’s beautiful in an odd way, looking so peaceful down there. I’m in awe that Dad actually walked down there forty years ago.”

“I’m sure it’s a moving experience for you, Peter. I’m jealous.”

Peter suddenly turned away from the window. “Hey, didn’t we make some kind of a bet as kids on who would get to the moon first?”

“I think the bet was who would get into space first.”

“I think it was the moon,” pressed Peter, knowing Dmitri was first in space.

Dmitri said, “You’re probably right. So I guess you win.”

“Thank you,” said Peter.

“I spoke to Doug Rose this morning and he said the session at the UN is scheduled for tomorrow at 3 p.m. Eastern Time to present the pictures you will be passing on. He said you’re aware of all this?”

“Yes, but wasn’t sure of the exact time,” said Peter, glancing at his watch, still set on Florida time.

“He requested you take some early pictures of some of the landing sites from inside the Soyuz and submit those as soon as you can.”

There was a pause, before Dmitri’s voice slightly softened. “He’s aware you no longer have an airlock, so he has asked that you start your spacewalk just before the session, allowing you enough time to get some high resolution pictures taken and submitted before the session starts.”

Peter knew his friend was thinking that would be the moment his father would die. “Roger.”

Dmitri’s voice became stronger. “Hopefully you will be able to pass on a live video feed that can be transmitted while the session is in progress. Do you think you will be able to transmit the pictures wearing the EMU suit?”

Peter never trained on doing that during the spacewalk since no one considered they would be without an airlock. All his training was submitting the pictures from comfortably inside the Soyuz. But it was possible. “Fortunately I only need to connect one cord and punch a couple of computer keys to download and transmit. I’ll practice with an EMU glove on to make sure I can punch one key at a time. I’ll probably strap the computer by the hatch so I can access it from space. It’ll be tricky, but probably doable, over.”

Having been informed of Viktor’s earlier heroic EVA to jettison the booster, Dmitri asked, “Roger. How much oxygen is left in the EMU suit?”

“I’ll have about five hours total.” As Peter said this, it hit him his last five hours alive would be in that suit.

“Roger. I’ll let Doug know. He wants you to pass the video feed through us.”

“Roger,” said Peter looking over at the EMU suit. A chill ran through his body as he realized he was staring at his tomb.

PETER AND VIKTOR HAD FINISHED their dinner and were now sitting silently in the spacecraft. Both men had completed all of their tasks and were now in a mandatory rest period. Peter had successfully sent the last set of pictures taken from inside the Soyuz and transmitted them on to the SR2 military satellite, which automatically forwarded them to NASA. He had looked at the pictures before sending. Unfortunately the porthole window did blur the images, but for the first round of pictures they were still good enough to prove America landed, even if the pictures were of only one landing site. Not only did the pictures clearly show the bottom of the Lunar Lander, they also showed the American flag and even some small experiments left. The high resolution pictures taken on his spacewalk should be even better and would definitely pick up the footprints left. The early pictures taken were not of his dad’s landing site because the lighting at the time was bad, but that would improve when he did his spacewalk. He planned on focusing solely on that site, which would give NASA pictures of two sites. He looked forward to seeing his dad’s old stomping grounds and the footprints he made forty years ago.

The astronauts lucked out that China’s landing site was in the sunlight and not too far off their orbital plane. With some minor adjustments to their spacecraft’s position, Peter was able to take pictures of their site after pinpointing the location from the transmission received from the laser. The pictures were not as close as the pictures taken of the American site, but they were still close enough to tell the equipment left was not America’s. When Peter looked at those pictures on the computer he could see small red squares on some of the equipment he was sure were Chinese flag insignias. He hoped NASA had the technology to magnify the picture to verify, providing even better evidence.

Now with the early pictures passed on, there was not much left for the astronauts to do until they started preparing for Peter’s spacewalk less than ten hours away. All that was required were the periodic boosts needed to keep the spacecraft in orbit.

As Peter stared out the window, it started to sink in he had less than fifteen hours to live. He started reviewing some of the highlights of his life, realizing how wonderful it was. He wasn’t ready to die but accepted his fate. He was proud of the success they had achieved so far on the mission.

Viktor suddenly said, “I say we get drunk?”

Peter couldn’t get drunk, not with a spacewalk coming up, but Viktor could. He figured he could join the old man with a few shots. “Sure, let’s go for it.”

“Well, I been sipping already.”

With all the crap stuffed all around, Peter couldn’t see Viktor squeezing globs of the liquid into his mouth. He just smiled; the old man had every right to get a little tipsy. Viktor’s hand protruded through the stowage, holding the bottle. Peter grabbed the container and noticed there wasn’t much vodka left. “I guess you’re feeling pretty good over there.”

“I not complain. I feel good,” said Viktor with a slight slur in his words.

Peter smiled and squeezed a blob of the liquid into his mouth.

Viktor said, “I like you, Peter. I wish you marry Anya. I would be proud you be son.”

Peter, smiling at Viktor’s forwardness, handed the bottle back. “Thanks, Viktor, that means a lot. Falling for Anya made it tough for me to go on this mission. She is very special. I think we would have made a happy couple.”

Viktor bluntly blurted, “You know, we be dead soon.”

Neither astronaut had talked about dying. Peter had pushed it to the back of his mind. But now that Viktor was a little inebriated he seemed ready to face it, and they only had a short time left.

“You seem comfortable with it. I’m not. I’m proud we’re proving Dad walked on the moon and China wrong, it’s just that I’m not ready to die.”

“You too young to die. I wish you not die and marry my daughter and have babies. But I ready. I miss Maria.”

Peter had always been impressed with Viktor’s happy demeanor, no matter what. Ever since he was a kid, he always knew Viktor as someone who was happy and joking. “Viktor you always seem so happy, why?”

“I lucky man, and I marry right woman. I have much be thankful for—why be sad or mad? These emotions waste energy,” Viktor said matter-of-factly.

Peter looked out the window. He was lucky in life, but unfortunately didn’t find the right woman until it was too late.

Viktor said, “Thank you for picking me for mission. I reach my dream of going to moon. The first cosmonaut to circle moon. Yay!”

“I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks for helping restore my father’s name. You definitely paid back your debt to Dad, with interest,” said Peter.

“Tom was good man. I not fly in space if not for him.”

Dmitri called over the radio, “Maria 1, this is Mission Control.”

Peter answered. “We read you, Dmitri, over.”

“Peter, I have Anya here. She was hoping to talk with you, over.”

Peter was eager to talk with Anya—perfect timing. “Wonderful.”

There was a moment of silence before Anya said, “Hello, Peter.”

“Hey, baby, how are you?”

“Good. Everything going okay?”

Viktor jumped in. “Everything’s all good now, solnyshko. We have party.”

Anya chuckled. “Hi, Dad. Sounds like you two are having a good time. I miss you both.”

Viktor answered, “I miss you too, dear.”

“Dad, is it okay if I talk to Peter for a moment?”

Viktor said, “Sure. I talk with you later.”

“Thanks, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too, over,” said Viktor as he took off his headset and placed it on his lap.

Peter knew his partner could probably still hear Anya through his headset. “So what is it, babe?”

Anya’s melodic voice soothed his ear. “Last night I stepped outside the control room for awhile to get away and be alone. I looked up at the moon to feel a little closer to you both. But as I looked I realized after tomorrow, whenever I see the moon it will always haunt me, knowing your’s and Dad’s bodies will be up there. It will always be a constant reminder of what I lost.”

What could Peter say—he understood what she was losing. Trying to comfort her, he said, “I wish it didn’t have to end this way. I wish we were coming home after this mission.”

There was a silence over the radio before Anya said, “I have something important to tell you.”

“Sure, what is it?” Again the radio was silent, so he said, “Anya, go ahead, over.”

“Peter, I’m…” suddenly Anya cut the transmission.

Peter, wondering what happened was getting ready to say something before he heard her reconnect.

“I’m pregnant.”

Wow. “Sorry, could you please repeat?”

“I’m pregnant, over,” said Anya more sternly.

Viktor cheered something in Russian, indicating he obviously heard. Peter shook his head to clear it. Something like this was the furthest thing from his mind. He didn’t know what to say. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I confirmed it yesterday.”

Hesitantly, he asked, “How are you handling it?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice small. “I wanted to tell you and see how you felt.”

Peter sat stunned. How did he feel? He felt a sudden sinking sensation, thinking he wasn’t ever going to see his child or watch it grow up. He thought back on how important his dad was in his life. Despondently he said, “I wish I was there… to hold you. I think it’s great news. You’ll be a great mother.” Thinking he might be a little presumptuous, he asked, “You are going to have it, right?”

Her voice grew strong again. “Yes. But I wanted to make sure you approve.”

Peter searched for something positive to say. “Absolutely! Hey, my mom will finally have a grandchild. She has been bugging me for years. It will make it easier for her dealing with my death.”

“Peter, I love you. I wish you could be a part of this family. I know you would be a great father.”

Peter started to tear up, thinking of how important both his parents were in his life. He hated thinking of his child growing up without a father. “Anya, know I will always be a part of this family. I will always be there, watching over the two of you.”

“That means a lot to me, but I wish you could be here in person, not just in spirit.”

“Me too.”

For the first time, Peter questioned if he made a mistake going on the mission.