Back to the Moon-ARC

“Tony, we’re down to minimum atmospheric pressure, and I am about to open the door. Are you ready?”

“Roger that, Bill. Just call if you need me.”

“Will do.” Stetson smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “But I think this’ll be quick and easy. I should be back inside in just a few minutes.”

“The dashboard shows decompression and a green light for opening the hatch,” Tony acknowledged.

“Good.” Bill reached down and forcefully pulled the door release, opening the cabin to space. Without so much as a swoosh, the door opened and they were all exposed to vacuum. Stetson pushed and gently eased himself out the door, careful not to bang his pack against the hatch-seal ring. Once his arms cleared the hatch, he snapped the loose end of the safety tether from his spacesuit into place on the hull of the ship.

Been there and bought the T-shirt, Stetson told himself as he felt the reassuring snap of the tether to the fitting. On his previous EVA to fix the solar array, he recalled that he had experienced, albeit very briefly, a slight bout of vertigo. With the star field, sun, and Earth rotating around his field of view, he knew that the ship was spinning. This time, he didn’t take the time to look around and managed to avoid being disoriented.

“I’m moving aft toward the arrays. I can see them clearly. Our buddy is at a dead stop,” Stetson said. “Once again, for posterity, I don’t see any sign of damage. It looks just like it did in the mockup and on the drawings and when I came out here and looked at it last time.”

“Roger that, Bill. Looks the same as before,” Chow responded from within the confines of the Orion. “Just tell me when you’re in place to kick the thing.”

“Give me a minute.”

“Roger that. Getting in place to kick it loose.” Stetson actually had no intention of kicking the array at all. Just as before, he planned to pull like the devil against the thing, hoping to break it free of whatever was sticking it in place. He placed his feet sturdily against the hull of the ship, with the toe of one of his boots wedged up underneath the handrail as far as he could get it. Then he grabbed hold to the panel with both gloved hands.

“Bill, I’m ready to cycle the reboot sequence whenever you give me the word,” Tony announced over the radio.

“Roger that, Tony. I’m in place and ready when you are,” Stetson replied.

“Okay. Cycling the reboot now.” Bill waited a few seconds, and then Chow chimed in again. “Now. The power is cycled down and getting ready to restart.”

Stetson didn’t hesitate. With boots still firmly wedged, he used both hands to grasp and twist the stuck array. Trying to move it first clockwise and then counterclockwise, Stetson jimmied the stubborn piece of hardware. Quickly he felt a jolt, and the whole gimbal began to move. Just as before, the array fan was starting to move under its own power. Stetson watched as the array rotated and began to again track the sun.

“Best damned solar-panel repair team in the galaxy,” Bill chortled through a sigh of relief.

“The board says the array is working once again.” Chow sounded ecstatic.

“Tony, it’s moving. I’m coming back in.” Stetson began his climb back toward the hatch. “Let’s hope it holds for the next two and half days to get us home.”

“Roger that.”

Chapter 27

They were one day out from Earth when they received a message that the President would like to speak with them.

Painfully aware that the conversation would be broadcast on television and the Net, Bill Stetson arranged his multinational crew to make sure that Captain Hui and Dr. Xu were front and center. The aloof Zhi remained to one side while he and Chow each stood on the other.

It was actually a joint call from the President and Chairman Jiantao of China. After the expected congratulatory remarks by both leaders and a brief exchange of pleasantries from both the American and Chinese astronauts on board, followed by both leaders reciting a renewed commitment to working together in the peaceful exploration of space, the televised visit began drawing to a close.

Making his concluding remarks, the President said, “Captain Stetson, Dr. Chow, you are American heroes. Your bravery in making this trip to secure the safe return of our Chinese friends and explorers will go down in the history books as one of the greatest acts of heroism in the history of humanity. A grateful world thanks you.”

Knowing he was expected to respond, Stetson replied, “Thank you, sir. We are honored and proud to have been able to serve our country and help bring these, our new friends, home.”

The call ended, and a clearly relieved group of tired and dirty astronauts breathed a sigh of relief. Stetson returned to his seat and immediately began to once again review the procedures for their upcoming aerocapture. The maneuver had never before been used, and he wanted to make sure he knew what to expect.

Everyone else more or less returned to what they’d been doing before the call, except for Zhi. Purposefully he moved to the lower deck and toward the seat in which the stricken pilot was sleeping. Dr. Xu was also moving toward the pilot and, as a consequence, was the first to see Zhi remove the handgun from behind the seat. He let out a cry of protest.

Zhi’s eyes were on fire. He said to Xu, speaking in Chinese and for the first time, “I will not allow us to be demeaned and rescued like we are helpless children. We were to be the heroes. We were to return home to the parades. We were to be the symbols of the new China. Not them!”

Stetson and Chow did not understand the words, but they could tell from the tone and the gun that Zhi had gone over the edge. As he watched Zhi wave the deadly weapon, Stetson momentarily wondered why an engineer on a Moon mission would have a handgun. More urgently, he wondered what he planned to do with it.

“Captain Hui! What’s going on? What does he want? And please tell him that firing a gun in this ship could kill us all.”