Paul Gillebaard: Space Hoax

Although Peter was in high spirits to be returning to Earth, no way was he going to be taken prisoner. He had come too far to be denied being with Anya. He wanted to hold her, love her. He wanted to rub her pregnant tummy. Right away, his mind started racing as he tried to figure out how he was going to get out of this mess. He had to give Tang the assurance he was going to cooperate. “I’m sorry Sie Wang went against CNSA orders. I understand what you have to do. I am just glad you saved my ass and I will get back to Earth. I figure it will only be a matter of time before our two governments work things out and I am returned to the U.S.”

Tang lifted his hand off the gun as a grim smile appeared on his face. He nodded slightly.

ANYA ALEXANDROV RUBBED her hands nervously together under the desk as she stared at the large screen in front of the FKA control room. The Russian Federal Space Agency handled all Russian space flights, but had no control over Chinese flights. The screen showed an estimated location of where Peter should be, but since Russia had no communication with CNSA, they had to rely on their satellites and radar. Peter’s location indicated they were in orbit and should be falling to Earth at any moment.

Anya had gotten little sleep over the last three days since learning Peter was returning home. She was too excited. She couldn’t wait to hold him again, something she was so sure a week ago would never happen.

With her jaw clenched, she whispered to her brother sitting next to her, “Shouldn’t they have started re-entry by now?”

Dmitri was working through calculations on his desk and did not answer. He abruptly stopped and put his hand flat on the table before turning to her. He drew a sharp breath. “I would have thought so. I’m a little concerned that they haven’t.”

As the Assistant Director of FKA, her brother would have a good idea of what Peter’s chances were. She chewed on her bottom lip before asking, “Should I be worried?”

He reached over and put a firm hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure everything will be fine. Maybe CNSA’s procedures for entering the atmosphere are different than ours.” Dmitri pulled his hand away and picked up his phone to make a call.

She wasn’t convinced. She looked up at the screen, fixated on the small blinking red dot representing Peter’s location. She brought her hand to her chest and began to rub her half of the pendant hanging from her neck that read “Soul.” Come on, Peter. Come back to me.

A BEAD OF cold sweat materialized on Peter’s forehead as he floated under the straps in his seat. He had observed Tang struggling during the last two orbits trying to enter their trajectory into the onboard computer for re-entry. Peter assumed if Tang was unable to program the computer, the commander would have to handle the descent manually, which would be tricky. Both Tang and Nei had been frantically speaking with CNSA to work out the problem. Since they spoke in Chinese, Peter understood very little, and all he could do was sit and watch, frustrated.

Both taikonauts sat to the right of Peter and wore their anti-g flight suits, helmets on, visors shut. Unfortunately, there was no flight suit for Peter since he had not been expected to be returning with them. Instead, he wore a pair of borrowed coveralls from Tang and no helmet, only a headset so he could hear and talk to the two taikonauts. Peter could not wear his EMU spacesuit he entered the capsule with since its torso section was too rigid, and he would be unable to sit in his seat. Instead, the spacesuit was left in the Orbital Module to be burned upon re-entry when separated from the Descent Module.

If the descent went according to plan, Peter would be subjected to 5 g as they entered the atmosphere. After over a week of weightlessness, 5 g would feel like 15 g. Having no anti-g suit, he expected to experience serious discomfort but was convinced he could handle it. If Tang was unable to control the re-entry manually, or if they experienced further problems, they could enter the atmosphere in the more severe ballistic mode, spinning like a bullet and reaching 9 g. Such forces could be lethal if sustained over a long period.

Tang methodically started pushing buttons with gloved fingers, and even though the buttons were all labeled in Chinese, trained astronaut Peter knew the taikonaut was preparing the spacecraft for a manual descent. Though the Shenzhou spacecraft’s basic design was similar to the Soyuz, its control panel was much more high tech, even having two high-resolution LCD screens capable of showing complex graphics. Peter had been impressed with the detailed maps the commander scanned through earlier in the orbit.

Tang continued to work the controls, and soon the spacecraft began to roll slowly on its axis. Feeling like a stowaway, Peter folded his arms and looked out the small porthole on his side. Italy started to come into view, confirming they were in the right orbit to land in Inner Mongolia where most Chinese flights landed. He looked back at the LCD that had a map showing their location, and sure enough, they were above Italy. Looking back out the porthole, Peter still hadn’t figured out how he was going to escape once they landed. He figured when their hatch was opened, the spacecraft would be surrounded by Chinese soldiers. Then there was still the gun by Tang’s side. He wasn’t sure where the ammunition was or certain he would know how to operate the firearm. Possibly his best chance to escape would be during the transit to Jiuquan. He stiffened up knowing he first had to survive the landing.

Tang called out in English, “Engines fire in 30 seconds.”

Curious of their location, Peter glanced over at the LCD screen. Tang no longer had the map showing their location but instead one that had a small, red, outlined circle in northern China which Peter assumed was going to be their landing zone. He put his hand underneath his collar and searched for the pendant hanging around his neck given to him by Anya. Finding it nuzzled next to his dad’s locket, he gently rubbed his finger over the single word, “Mate.” That piece of jewelry symbolized their relationship. Her pendent was half of a charm, which read, “Soul.” He had the other half that read, “Mate.” The trinkets were bought by Anya when she visited him during training. When she proudly presented his pendent as a gift, she said she loved him for the first time. He whispered with determination, “Baby, I’ll make it home.” Peter double-checked his seatbelt strap before pushing his body back tightly into his seat; this was going to be a rough ride home.

PRESIDENT BILL EDWARDS stormed through the side door into the Oval Office. The head of NASA, Doug Rose, was already sitting patiently in a patent leather chair across from the President’s desk. Bill had requested that the NASA man learn what was happening with the CIA agent he had sent on a suicide mission to the moon. He gave a casual wave before strutting quickly around his desk and taking a seat.

The President wasted no time and got right to the point. “What’s the latest with Peter?”

Doug looked the President straight in his eyes. “Sir, he’s in orbit, but we think there might be a problem. For some reason they haven’t entered the atmosphere.”

The President leaned back in his chair. “Any ideas why not?”

Doug slowly put his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed. “We’re not sure. It could be almost anything; an equipment failure, a computer issue. But there is definitely something wrong. There is no reason to stay in orbit.”

The President turned and looked out the window. He would hate for the patriotic hero to die so close to earth after traveling hundreds of thousands of miles and successfully pulling off the mission. “Is there anything we can do?”