Paul Gillebaard: Space Hoax

Kuang raised his bushy eyebrows. “Do we have an accurate assessment of their landing zone?”

Without blinking, the flight director answered, “Within a twenty-five mile radius, sir, as long as no problems occur during blackout.”

“Good. I want the American taken prisoner and brought to Jiuquan as soon as they land.”

In a respectful tone the flight director calmly answered, “Yes, sir, these orders are already in place. We have Mi-17 army helicopters dispatched within the landing zone ready and waiting.”

Kuang grunted and resumed pacing.

PETER’S EYES ABRUPTLY popped open as he was violently stirred awake. He was momentarily confused of his whereabouts as he stared glassy-eyed. He took a second to assess his situation, realizing he must have blacked out during re-entry. As he cleared his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead, sunshine filled the cabin. Tang was barking coordinates over the radio. The high g-forces had subsided. Peter slowly lifted his head and felt around his body; everything seemed fine and in place. He took a glimpse outside and saw blue skies. By the way the spacecraft was lightly swaying, they were hanging from the main parachute. Either the snatch of the chute or the release of the heat shield must have jarred him awake. A big grin slowly etched upon his face. He made it. He had survived.

Peter shook his head to get his bearings before peering over at the display in front of Tang. It was time to figure out how he was going to escape. He saw a map that looked to have their landing zone, but the little red outline circle was no longer in Northern China; it was now just outside of Kyrgyzstan in Western China. His silly ass grin was replaced by a sly smile. They were going to land well short of their target area due to the problem separating from the Service Module. That meant there would be no waiting party or militia close by. Good news. Plus, Peter knew of a U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan. This might be his only opportunity to escape. He studied the map to get an idea of the terrain and direction he would need to head. A river ran through the center of the circle toward Kyrgyzstan. Tang turned to see Peter peering at the map and quickly switched the screen.

“You okay?” asked the commander.

Assuming they were on a hot mic, Peter answered, “Wow, what a ride. I’m just happy to have survived. Good job, Captain.”

While Tang went back to communicating with CNSA in Chinese, Peter started to think about his plan. If he was going to run, he had to make certain Tang did not have the gun. He would also need a compass and other survival items. He peered down at Tang’s survival kit strapped to the side of his seat by the gun. Though he wasn’t sure what was in it, Peter knew it had items that could help him stay alive in the wilderness. Perfect. Somehow, he would need to snatch that too.

Since their coordinates were certainly passed onto CNSA, and a rescue beacon was probably transmitting a signal, Peter was positive the militia were already on their way. Since they were far off course, he guessed the first rescue team wouldn’t arrive until twenty to forty-five minutes after they landed. Not a lot of time, but possibly enough to escape.

Tang lifted his visor, his eyes wide with concern. “On course for land in Aksu River.”

Peter’s eyebrows vaulted as he looked out his window to see they were drifting in the same direction as the wide river below. Peter clasped his gloved hands together. Though landing in water could be dangerous, it might give him a better chance to escape, especially since he wasn’t wearing a bulky space suit.

Tang sounded tense as he resumed communicating with CNSA, both he and Nei preparing for the landing.

Peter continued to stare out the window trying to determine his best escape route going west. As he studied the landscape, he concluded they were dead on target to land smack in the middle of the river. Damn, we are going to land in that thing. They were probably 200 feet up. He swallowed hard when a massive waterfall came into view, downstream of where they appeared to be landing. Peter turned to Tang. “I think we might have another problem. Looks like there is a large waterfall downstream.”

Tang zoomed in on his display and there it was. A frantic look crossed his face before he turned to Nei and spoke in rapid-fire Chinese.

Peter wasn’t sure what Tang said, but since he pointed to the override switch for the landing retrorockets, he assumed they were discussing operating them early to help miss the river. There was not enough fuel in those rockets for two operations. If Tang fired them to miss the river, they would be unavailable to soften the blow of the landing.

Nei seemed to concur with Tang’s suggestion. Tang aggressively leaned over Peter to look out the window. Tang sat back in his seat and studied the display. He shook his head before he started pushing buttons, which Peter assumed was to override the computer.

Tang called out, “Hold on.”

Peter grabbed his seat as the rockets fired underneath him. He watched out his window as they seemed to level off but kept drifting, the rockets fired for only a few seconds. Tang was obviously trying to overshoot the river. What was Peter rooting for? For them to miss the river and have a hard landing on the ground where he would have a tougher time escaping, or land in the water with the possibility of going over the dangerous waterfall. He decided to root for the water.

Tang pushed Peter to the side as he peered out the window to see if he was successful in altering their course. A deep groan vibrated through his body before he slumped back in his seat. Peter looked out. They were still going to land in the water, but now they were going to be even closer to the falls.

Tang turned to Nei as he anxiously spoke in Chinese. Nei pulled out an emergency kit and two tightly wrapped plastic items, handing one to Tang.

Tang looked at Peter. “We not have time get out of spacesuit.”

From the tube sticking out, Peter could tell the items were probably flotation devices, which both taikonauts would need to prevent them from sinking. Peter would be fine in the coveralls.

Tang barked out, “Fifty seconds ‘til impact. We be fast out. Order be me, Peter, Nei. No retrorockets, it be hard hit.”

Tang continued to call out instructions, but now in Chinese. Peter checked his restraint straps to confirm they were secure. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter watched Tang and Nei scramble to get ready, making sure Tang didn’t reach for the gun.

“Ten seconds to impact.”

Peter put his head back and braced himself. Without the retrorockets, he was glad they were landing in water. The cabin was dead silent the last few seconds before the capsule slammed hard into the water with a violent crash that echoed off the walls. Peter held on as his body was smashed deeper into his seat. Even though the parachutes had been fully deployed, it still felt like the capsule had been dropped from a ten-story building. While the water cushioned the crash, it was still a strong hit, like slapping his flat hand as hard as he could on the surface of the water in a swimming pool. Peter peeked to see the porthole completely covered over with water as the spacecraft quickly submerged. Don’t sink, baby. He heard a muffled bang before feeling a jolt, which he was sure were the spacecraft’s automatic floatation bags being deployed. After a few seconds, the pressure pushing him down subsided, and the craft began to float to the surface. The water dissipated from the window as faint splashing sounds entered the spacecraft. Fortunately, the ship was in an upright position as it slowly bobbed in the water.

Out the porthole, white rapids churned about one hundred yards downstream, probably just prior to the falls. “We better get the hell out of here.”