Kitty appeared at Lauren’s elbow. “I hope all this works,” Lauren said. Her stomach was in knots and she was fighting to keep her morning coffee down.
“It’ll work,” Kitty said. “Everything ready on your end?”
“Yeah.” Lauren took a deep breath.
“Let me introduce you to the mission team.” Kitty took them around the room. Rowan and Lauren shook hands with everyone in Mission Control, while Jean-René and Bahati set up cameras, lighting, and audio equipment in front of a small set that had been constructed off to the side of the main command center. The Veritas Codex team had come up the day before to work out logistics and complete required security briefings while Lauren got Henry settled with his grandparents in their RV, parked in one of the visitors parking lots at the Johnson Space Center.
They’d had a long day already. They had to report early for makeup and wardrobe, and then there had been one last security briefing before they went over the last minute changes to the script that NASA required. It was only then, that they’d been escorted to Mission Control and gotten their first look at the place where the magic would happen.
“Lauren? Are you ready?” Jean-René called her over. “Rowan?”
“Here we go,” Lauren said to Kitty with a faint smile, excusing herself from the conversation. She paused to pick a spec of lint off her navy blue blazer and smoothed down her red blouse. The colors matched her ribbon skirt perfectly, and she was pleased at how patriotic they were. Lauren had found a beautiful silver necklace in a shop in Santa Fe that had lapis lazuli stones, as well as a matching bracelet and earrings; finishing off her ensemble.
She smiled at Rowan who wore an embroidered Exploration Channel dress shirt that was a beautiful French blue and dark blue dress slacks. His necktie was almost the same shade of red as the ribbons in Lauren’s skirt.
Once they were seated in front of the cameras, Bahati moved in with a light meter to check the light-levels and made a few adjustments to the circle lamps that nearly blinded them. Once satisfied with everything else, she pulled a compact from her pocket and did a quick fix on Lauren’s make up, including touching up her lipstick. “You look great,” she said, smoothing her hair. Then she turned to Rowan and powdered his forehead and nose too. He didn’t have on much makeup, but he was already starting to sweat under the lights. It was essential with this much lighting to keep the shine to a minimum. “You look great, too.” She patted his cheek and slipped back behind the cameras.
The opening of their scripted introduction appeared in the teleprompter as the light flashed on the camera. Jean-René stepped out from behind it. He wore a set of headphones and Lauren knew he was getting instructions from the control room back in San Diego as they prepared to go on. “And we’re live in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...” He didn’t speak after that, but gave them the go sign and the teleprompter kicked in.
“Welcome to Mission Control. I’m Rowan Pierce from the Exploration Channel’s The Veritas Codex.”
“And I’m Dr. Lauren Grayson.” She used her maiden name for her on-air personae. It was one of her last connections to her brother, and today, she was grateful for it. “We are your hosts for today’s historic launch of the first manned mission to the International Space Station in over two years.”
“But this is no ordinary mission.” Rowan picked up the narration. “This is a joint effort between the United States and Russia. Once opponents in the race to reach outer space, today’s launch represents a new spirit of cooperation, and the cherry on top is that this mission includes one of our own. Mission Specialist Dr. Michael Grayson is none other than the brother of my lovely wife.” Rowan smiled as he turned to Lauren. With no active U.S. Space Missions scheduled to launch since the shuttle program had been shuttered, the only active space program was in Russia. Despite the top secret revelation that the KGB were still working, they had no choice but to use Russia as a cover. Kitty’s diplomatic connections had made today’s ruse possible. “Tell us, how exciting is it for you to see your older brother launched into outer space?”
Lauren laughed on cue. “There was a time I’d have liked to hit the red button myself,” she joked. “But today, I couldn’t be prouder. Michael has been working for decades on radio-telescopes and this mission will afford him the opportunity to oversee the construction of a new sub-orbital radio telescope that could very well exceed the capabilities of Hubble.”
“Our technology has improved since Hubble was launched,” Rowan continued. “Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Telescope, named for the trailblazing astronomer, Dr. Edwin Hubble, has made over 1.4 million observations in its lifetime. For more, let’s turn to our colleague Dr. Kitty Donovan, Senior Program Administrator of the Hubble Project here at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.” Kitty had a seat at the desk with mission control behind her. Jean-René just had to pivot to get the shot. No one would ever know she was less than 10 feet away from Rowan and Lauren’s set. “How excited are you to have Dr. Grayson on this project, and more importantly, how badly needed is this new telescope?”
“We couldn’t be any more thrilled, and to have a colleague like Dr. Grayson leading the team is truly a joy. There’s no one more qualified than Michael.” She grinned. “Hubble has been working with makeshift repairs — essentially contact lenses for a telescope — so a new space-based system is long overdue.”
The shot came back to Rowan. “Well, we’ll come back to Dr. Donovan in a little bit, but with a little less than two hours ‘til launch, let’s take a look at the life and career of Dr. Michael Grayson leading up to this moment.” Rowan moved seamlessly to the other camera. As he finished his lines, the show segued to a pre-recorded piece on Michael’s history. Jean-René and his team had put it together from the footage Michael had provided, showing false scenes of Michael and Lauren at the homecoming, with Michael across the fire as Rowan told ghost stories, watching his sister through the firelight. Nothing showed the animosity between the siblings, or even implied it. They put forward a unified front.
It made Lauren smile. This was the way it should have been, had their egos not gotten in the way of their relationship. This would be the legacy of their twelfth-hour détente.
Lauren had to emotionally detach herself from the footage to keep the tears from forming in the corners of her eyes. As soon as it ended, she was on. “Aww, I love that knucklehead.” She had to say it, it was on the teleprompter, but it was everything she could do to make it jovial. She missed him terribly. “Now, as Rowan mentioned earlier, this mission is a joint effort with Russia, and the launch is actually taking place in Siberia, where it’s just after dinner time. The crew of the Russian rocket, named Aнгел I, from the Russian for Angel, has been preparing all day for this nighttime launch. For more on that, let’s go to our intrepid reporter in the field, Pavel Smirnov.”
A hired actor had been cast to play a Russian reporter. In reality, Russia was launching a rocket to the International Space Station today, but of course, Michael wasn’t on it. The Russians were in on the ruse, but only the necessary officials were clued in.
All the video of the astronauts preparing for the launch had been digitally remastered. Jean-René had superimposed Michael’s face over another astronaut’s image from the 1980s and the reconstructed image had been superimposed into actual footage of the crew as they walked out to the launch pad. The video was so convincing even Lauren couldn’t find flaw with it.
“Congratulations, Dr. Grayson. Your brother is about to make history,” the reporter said after Lauren made introductions.
“Thanks,” she said. “We’re very proud of Michael.”
“Pavel, tell us, how’s it going at Mission Control in the remote regions of Russia?” Rowan asked. The Russian government’s one and only requirement for this whole smoke-and-mirror’s event was that they were not allowed to know the location of the launch. As a result, Rowan had written the scripts to be intentionally vague.
A picture-in-picture window appeared o
ver Pavel’s shoulder and expanded as he stepped out of the camera shot on the display to Lauren’s left. The Siberian tundra was visible beyond his shoulder and it looked bitterly cold; the sky, gray. “It’s been a lovely day here, but the sun will be setting soon, and this will be a spectacular night launch. The cosmonauts have been buckled into the Soyuz and are beginning their final systems checks.”
“Have there been any issues that could delay today’s launch?”
“Engineers have been concerned about a seal when they began trying to pressurize the fuel system, and they spent several hours this morning working on it, but as of now, everything appears to be in working order, and we are currently go for launch, unless something changes.”
“Let’s hope nothing changes.” Lauren turned back to the camera. “But now it’s time for a commercial break. We’ll be back after a word from our sponsors.”
“And we’re out,” Bahati said. “Four minutes.”
Lauren stood and stepped out from behind the hot lights that had blinded her. Kitty stepped out from behind one of the cameras and met her at the edge of the dais, handing her a bottle of water. Lauren took it and drank greedily. “Thank you,” Lauren said, yawning. “Early call to set,” she said in explanation.
“You’re telling me? I had briefings with my team this morning. They had more questions than I anticipated.”
“Everything good?”
Kitty nodded, stifling her own yawn. She glanced over her shoulder to the team who were now in their places at the various computer terminals that filled the room, theater style. A dozen or so large display screens filled the front of the room, each showing a different view of the launch pad in Russia. “Wow,” Lauren’s gaze went to one of the images, of the sun setting behind the Soyuz on the launch pad. A wide expanse of emptiness spread out around it, and a golden glow illuminated everything. The shadows filled the void. The tall winter-dry grasses that claimed the land beyond the base waved in the light evening breeze. A shiver ran down her spine.
Kitty half-turned, then pivoted all the way around, crossing her arms over her silk blouse. “Spectacular, isn’t it?”
“Truly.” Lauren nodded, glancing back at her.
“Michael would have loved to see this day,” Kitty said softly. “He’d be nerding out over all of this.”
Lauren’s eye went to Rowan, as he stood talking to some of the mission team, not sure who was more excited as they took turns signing autographs for each other. “Yes, he would,” she answered absent-mindedly. “I just hope ...” she started but hesitated. “I hope he can get a message home once in a while.”
“We’re negotiating the communication plans now,” Kitty said, turning back around.
The corner of Lauren’s lip twitched before lifting into a smile. “Do you think he’s watching all this?”
“I know he is,” she said, leaning in. “He said to tell you ... good story.” The initial idea had been Kitty’s, but it was Lauren and Rowan who had been the authors of this day. They’d worked out the story and all the subtle details. Kitty used her resources to facilitate it.
* * *
A three-hour live show was exhausting. But when the launch was delayed at the last minute due to a weather issue, Lauren began to think the rocket would never breech the atmosphere. It took a good forty minutes for a storm south of the launch site to pass far enough as to not interfere with the trajectory of the rocket’s path. It was mid-morning before they were able to sit back and go silent as the rockets fired. The craft lifted tentatively at first, then with gusto, above the few buildings surrounding the launch pad and up into the sky.
“And we have lift off,” Rowan said. “The Angel has taken wing. Godspeed, my brother. Godspeed.” Lauren was supposed to take the next few lines, but her voice caught in her throat and she froze. Rowan reached over and caught her hand, continuing with her lines. “Congratulations to NASA and the Russian Space Agency on the successful launch of the Angel 1, including American Astronaut Dr. Michael Grayson, and Russian Cosmonauts Serova, Tarilyn, and Pavlova who will be aboard the International Space Station for the next eighteen months. Docking with the ISS is targeted for 27 hours from launch.” Rowan’s hand went to his earpiece, and Lauren turned to look at him with surprise in her eyes. “I’ve just been informed, the ashes of Russian Cosmonaut Dr. Alexei Budnikov are included among the craft’s payload, where they will be jettisoned into space. Dr. Budnikov will spend eternity ... among the stars.”
“As he should,” Lauren said, smiling through the tears that threatened to escape her lashes. “Godspeed Alexei. Godspeed Michael and Godspeed to the crew of the Angel I.”
* * *
Jacob was waiting behind the cameras when Lauren and Rowan came off the set for the last time. He waited ‘til they saw him before he began to clap. He beamed, grinning brightly. “Congratulations! And job well done. Lauren, once again you’ve managed to surprise me. I wasn’t sure you could pull this one off.”
For once, a coy grin lit her face. “Me?”
“And you said your family was boring,” he said.
She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve been wrong before.”
Jacob turned and gave a nod to Rowan. “I’m afraid she’s got you beat. An astronaut on the International Space Station beats Robert the Bruce any day in my book.”
“Well.” Rowan shrugged. As long as Jacob wasn’t chewing them out for a couple plane tickets to South Africa, they were golden. Little did he know how golden they were. “Suit yourself.” He chuckled. “Honestly, I can’t disagree.”
“So,” Jacob said, putting a hand on Lauren’s arm. “How likely are we to get your brother to do some interviews for Space Week next summer?”
“I don’t know.” Lauren tried to keep her face passive. “I understand he’s going to be pretty busy up there.”
“But surely...” Jacob started, but Lauren looked past him, as her in-laws appeared with Henry.
“Mama!” Henry squealed, reaching his arms out for her. Rowan’s parents had driven them down from Denver to Houston in their RV and had taken over babysitting duties so Lauren and Rowan could work today. They had plans for the rest of the day, but with the launch being delayed, a mimosa brunch wasn’t likely to happen at this point. Lauren rushed over and took Henry who hugged her. “Mama! Mama, eat.”
“Are you hungry?” Lauren asked, poking him in the tummy, paying little attention to her boss.
“I’ve seen the preliminary film for the episode on you and Michael.” Jacob fell in beside her but turned to Rowan. “How long before you can get the rest of it done? And what about Jean-René and Bahati’s family trees?”
“We wanted to incorporate some of the film from today’s live event in Lauren’s episode,” Rowan said. “But it shouldn’t take more than a few more weeks to finish all the postproduction work, now that this is out of the way.”
“Outstanding.” Jacob clapped his hands together like a maniacal evil-villain.
“My mom has a lot of the research done for my episode. We’ll have to discuss our travel budget if we’re going to go to Scotland and France. Give us a couple of weeks and I’ll be able to give you a better idea. Jean-René’s episode should go first though. He already has a lot of film in the can. If there’s any additional film we need for his episode, we can grab it while we work on mine.”
“Too bad you didn’t know about your French connection before. Jean-René could have filmed some video for you. Saved the Network some cash.”
Rowan just shrugged. “We’ll do our best to be efficient,” he said. “Maybe we can get everything ready for Bahati’s episode before we leave the states, save any unnecessary flights across the Atlantic.”
“Who gives a flying fig? You just gave America an exclusive front row seat to a Russian Soyuz launch during sweeps week!” Jacob enthused. “You basically just wrote yourself a blank check, my friend.” Jacob slapped his shoulder. “Just let me know when you’re ready to sit down and talk about your next project.” He
winked.
“Uhhhh,” Rowan drew the word out. “Can we finish this project first?”
Jacob ignored the question, still basking in the glory of the moment. “A live special at NASA. An epic episode about Lauren and her astronaut brother. And an episode on each of your family histories. Maybe an interview with an astronaut for Space Week. This might be one of my best ideas ever.” Jacob was muttering as he slugged Rowan in the shoulder and headed off to meet the NASA team and give his kudos to Jean-René and Bahati too.
Rowan stood with his hands on his hips, gazing down at the toe of his dress shoe. “Your idea indeed,” he muttered to himself. “I’m pretty sure it was Curt’s idea!” he called after Jacob, as he went to join the celebrating scientists each slapping each other on the back. Someone had opened a bottle of champagne and a cake had been wheeled in on a cart.
Rowan shook his head and went to catch up with his family. He put an arm around Lauren and bopped Henry playfully on the nose.
“Are you ready to go get something to eat?” Lauren asked.
“I’m starving,” he said. “What about you, Henry?”
“Mama. Go,” Henry said, showing off the shine of a couple new teeth. “Go eat, Dada.”
“Yes, I want to go, too,” Rowan said. “I’m starving.”
“Now if we could just find your father,” Martha said to Rowan. “Where did that man go? I’m sure he is hungry, too. This is just like your father ... always wandering off ...”
“Eat.” Henry grunted, licking his lips. “Mama! Eat! Go, eat.”
“Just a second, sweetie,” Lauren said. She turned to Rowan. “Ask Bahati and Jean-René if they want to come with us. We can go to the commissary and come back and break down the equipment after we’ve eaten.”
“Mama, go,” Henry said urgently, rocking against her, tugging on her jacket. “Mama. Go ... eat.” He grabbed a hand full of her hair and yanked it.
The Alien Accord Page 24
