Rogue Stars

by C Gockel et al.

“Do you copy, Blackjack? Find cover now.”

  “What are they . . . ?” Julie let her voice trail off as she noticed what looked like a small falling meteor approaching the area from the far side of the crater.

  The Chinese missile had all but spent its primary fuel stores as well as its small inert compressed gas of nitrogen that had given the rocket small course corrections as it approached the moon at a steeper than optimal angle for orbital insertion.

  The missile didn’t intend to orbit, and much like a billiards player who lined up a triple banked shot on a pool table, as soon as the ball was set in motion, it was like money in the bank. The moon’s gravity pulled on the rocket, changing its trajectory and pulling it closer to the moon’s surface as it approached from the equator, having had its latitude calculated hours earlier.

  There would be no aerial fins to give it course corrections at the last minute. No, this missile was completely ballistic and its path predetermined a day earlier. The laws of physics applied gravity to the mass and speed of the nuclear-tipped rocket, bending its trajectory until it approached the site from the eastern horizon. Nosecone radar took over, sending queries to the moon’s surface and receiving thousands of updates every second.

  Finally a simple program in the computer’s arming logic received the data it was looking for, a simple “greater than, less than” algorithm that indicated that the rocket was now less than one hundred meters above the surface of the moon. The near constant signal that the computer had been sending to the arming device now changed from negative to positive. The arming module accepted the command and activated the nuclear weapon ninety-nine-point-nine-eight meters above the surface.

  Armageddon had arrived for the alien device.

  Julie watched as a sudden ball of intense white lit up the area where they had just been not long before. The ball did not mushroom as one would expect, but instead, in the vacuum of space, ballooned out in a near perfect circular pattern until the wave hit the surface. One hundred tons of lunar soil, rocks, and material were suddenly and violently ejected from the impact site and hurled miles overhead in fierce, glowing streaks of light across the dark side of the moon.

  Julie gasped. “Oh my God.”

  “I see it,” Craig’s voice came across her headset, and she half fancied he was willing the rover to go faster. “Almost there,” he said, his voice now sounding more hopeful than confident.

  “Too late,” Julie said, watching the wall of intense light approaching them at an unbelievable rate of closure. She closed her eyes as the wall of light reached them, and prepared to die.

  NASA Space Center

  Houston, Texas

  In the near future, Day 48

  * * *

  “Try again,” Rock ordered, looking directly at Jack.

  “Blackjack, this is Houston, over, do you copy?” Jack said.

  There was no response, and the neutrino display, once a very secondary feature, was now on the top of the four sidebar displays, dancing away to the tune of the alien signal, though obviously a different one now.

  “Ah, Richard, you may want to see this,” Lisa said, looking at him from her console.

  “What is it?” Rock asked.

  “Video feed from the Russians,” Lisa shot back.

  “Put it on the main screen,” Rock said, sitting down again in his chair.

  The video feed came up on the main screen, dark and hard to see at first, but then clearing up, and the surface of the moon was apparent. A bright, white ball of light was clearly visible in the center, expanding.

  “How are you intercepting this?” Mr. Smith asked from behind Rock’s console.

  Lisa turned from the screen to look at the man. “They’re broadcasting this in the open. It’s a PAL system, the kind the Europeans use for their television system, so we have to run it through a decoder and NTSC converter to get it to play on our monitors, but it’s in the open.”

  “Where is the Russian ship now?” Vice President Lee asked, returning to the control room from the hallway where he was presumably discussing current events with the president.

  “Coming across the terminator,” Lisa said.

  Rock saw the confusion on Lee’s face. “She means it’s just crossing now from the day side to the night side. We’ll lose this feed soon as well, and it’s taken at an angle of about sixty degrees.”

  The vice president nodded and looked back at the picture of the ball of light as it started to darken as it grew outward.

  “One hell of a way to end a mission, eh, Rock?” Tom asked, shaking his head.

  “Yeah, Tom, one hell of a way . . .” Rock’s voice trailed off.

  “Blyad, they actually did it,” Yuri said, watching the nuclear explosion with interest as they started yet another orbit around the moon.

  “A bit early, too, Yuri,” Olga said, also watching the feed. “I’m afraid that now we’ll never know.”

  Yuri looked at his copilot. “About our crew or the Americans?”

  “Both, Yuri. I doubt they had time to clear that blast radius. What were their superiors thinking, anyway?”

  “Probably the same thing as ours, mission priority, crew expendable.”

  32 Russian Assist

  Apollo 21 Rover

  Surface of the Moon, Mons Crater

  In the near future, Day 48

  * * *

  The blast arrived at the same time that the rover met the lip of the crater. Craig never bothered to slow down. He could see the blast wave approaching through the side mirrors that were only there to allow Julie to back the rover up. Now they served a different function. The rover sailed over the edge of the crater lip, seeming to glide in the lower gravity, but then it was violently flung into the ground as the explosive force of the nuclear blast reached them.

  The rover hit hard on its nose, digging into the lunar surface and bouncing wildly before coming to an abrupt halt as it hit a rock outcropping. The rear-facing lights were blown out, and the rear of the rover was plunged into darkness. Only the top lights facing forward were still working.

  Julie came to, looking up and seeing streaks of molten rock spewing across the night sky. Their rover was being pelted from above by small pebble-sized rocks that made the interior vibrate. The lights from the front of the rover cut through the haze, dust, and lunar soil.

  “You all right back there, Jules?” Craig said, pushing the lever forward and causing the entire rover to vibrate, though it did not budge.

  Julie lifted the shielding on her visor so she could see again and touched the top of the helmet, feeling for any major cracks. She’d have to de-glove to perform a more detailed check if she wanted to test her suit’s ability to maintain pressure. “Yeah, I think we’re alive.”

  “Well, those engineers sure as hell know how to build a rover. The shielding held and none of our electronics were blown by the EMP blast. We are, however, stuck. I can’t move it.”

  “The shielding doesn’t surprise me, though we were way too close to that blast for my comfort level,” Julie said, looking at the rear dash and checking the systems display there. “Did you notice the alien signal has stopped? Our coms are all clear.”

  “I see that,” Craig said.

  “Try pulling the lever back into reverse. I can’t see much back here, but it may help, and can we get Houston on the line?”

  “Hang on a sec,” Craig said, and the rover stopped vibrating, and then very slowly Julie felt it moving backward. “It’s working, though I can’t see a damn thing behind us. I’m just glad it stayed upright.”

  “Yeah, another engineering marvel. They kept the center of balance low in case we hit a bump, and the rover took off in this low gravity,” Julie said, taking off her gloves and lifting off her helmet to inspect it, hearing the gentle sound of small moon rocks as they bounced off the top of the rover. The sound reminded her instantly of a soft rain.

  Craig stopped the rover and then pulled out and around the outcropping gingerly and then v
eered hard right till the crater’s edge was visible as a silhouette against the starry night sky. “My God, did we actually jump that, and what the hell is hitting us?”

  Julie sat her helmet down and looked at the rim in awe. “That’s got to be a good thirty feet high, though the slope isn’t at a bad angle. I think the blast ejected a lot of lunar material and it’s coming down now.”

  “Yeah, but still, that was one hell of a drop,” Craig said.

  “Well, that drop may have saved us. Let me see if I can get Houston on the line,” Julie said.

  “I doubt it. Check the high gain antenna mast. It’s on the ground to your three o’clock,” Craig offered.

  Julie looked to her right and could just barely make out the four foot mast that had once sat on the top side of the rover. “Well, damn, can we use the LF transmitter?”

  “We can, but I’m not sure it’ll reach the minis,” Craig said, referring to the dual small communication satellites that relayed incoming messages.

  “All right, I’m on it. You get us back to the lander—we can use the transceiver there—but in the meantime, I’ll try to get Houston on the low band,” Julie said.

  Craig started to drive the rover west with a slight northern bias, but at a much slower speed than their mad dash to safety just minutes earlier. The darkness of the rear was disconcerting to Julie as she tried to put it out of her mind.

  Finally after several minutes, she heard the call from Houston. “Blackjack, this is Houston. Do you copy?”

  “Blackjack here, Houston. We copy. How do you read us?” Julie responded.

  After an uncomfortable pause, Houston repeated, “Blackjack, this is Houston. Do you read us, over?”

  “We’re here, Houston. Radio check, over?” Julie said.

  A pause, and then, “Blackjack, this is Houston. Over.”

  “Damn, they aren’t receiving us,” Julie said.

  “I see that. Let me pick up some speed now that nothing seems to be broken—” Craig was cut off as he veered the rover hard right to avoid a basketball-sized rock that landed barely ten feet in front of the rover, impacting hard and sending a considerable amount of lunar soil into space.

  “What happened?” Julie asked, unable to see forward.

  “Damn rock almost hit us,” Craig answered.

  “Get back to the crater’s edge,” Julie commanded. “That may be the only thing saving us from the debris.”

  Craig veered right again, almost heading due east until they came up to the edge of the wall, and he pulled the rover north to sit parallel to its edge. The pelting was less but constant, and they could see streaks far to the west, indeed in all directions, glowing as they returned to the lunar surface.

  “I sure as hell hope the lander is all right,” Craig voiced his concern.

  “Me, too,” Julie said, looking out the glass side to the west and wondering if she should put her helmet and gloves back on. One faint streak, however, seemed to be traveling in the opposite direction. The lighting seemed more artificial, as if it was reflecting something instead of emanating. “Do you see that just above the horizon?”

  “Yeah, I was just looking at it. What do you think?”

  “Either an orbiter or . . .” Julie paused for a moment. “Isn’t the Gordust the only sat in retrograde orbit?”

  “It is. Do you think that’s it?” Craig asked.

  “We’re going to find out,” Julie said, changing the frequency of her radio and enabling the low gain transmitter. “Apollo to Gordust, this is Commander Julie Monroe. Do you copy?” Julie let a full ten seconds go by before she repeated the greeting.

  “Apollo, this is Russian Gordust, Yuri Temshenko commanding. Julie, is that you?”

  Julie let all formalities drop when she heard Yuri’s voice. “Yes, Yuri, this is Julie on the surface. How do you read us?”

  “Loud and clear. Are you all right?” Yuri asked.

  “Yes, Yuri, but our high gain antenna array is out of service. Can you relay a message for us?”

  “I think so. Do you have a frequency?”

  “Yes, Yuri, use ninety-nine point seven and see if you can raise Houston for us,” Julie said.

  “Switching now. Were you able to confirm the status of our crewmembers?” Yuri asked, concern in his voice.

  Julie felt a pang of guilt at not mentioning or even thinking of their concerns, so focused was she on reestablishing communications with Houston. “I’m sorry, Yuri, be advised that your crewmembers are both deceased. We have, however, retrieved them, and they are with us.”

  The pause was obvious as Yuri chose his words carefully. “Roger, Apollo, received and understood. Thanks for the assist. Be advised, however, that we just crossed the terminator and won’t be in communication’s range for another forty-two minutes.”

  “Yuri,” Julie said, “use the broad range broadcast. We have communication satellites in orbit. They’ll relay the signal as long as you use the frequency I gave you and transmit in the clear.”

  “Standby,” Yuri said. After a full minute, his voice resumed over the mike. “Russian Gordust to American Houston, do you read us?”

  Julie almost shouted for joy at what she heard next. “Gordust, this is Houston, we read you loud and clear. State the nature of your transmission.” The voice was obviously Jack’s, and he was calm, neutral, and professional.

  “Houston, this is Gordust. We have someone that wants to talk to you. Go ahead, Apollo.”

  Julie keyed her mike, overriding the voice activation to make sure she transmitted. “Houston, this is Blackjack. Do you copy?”

  The three second relay time, even at the speed of light, was obvious, but the reply wasn’t. “Blackjack, this is Houston. We read you loud and clear, and boy, are we glad to hear from you.” Jack delayed in releasing his mike, and Julie smiled as shouts of joy, applause, and glee were easily conveyed through the radio.

  NASA Space Center

  Houston, Texas

  In the near future, Day 48

  * * *

  “Praise the maker,” Tom said, leaning back as the room calmed down. “How in the hell did they survive that?”

  “Who cares?” Lisa said, smiling and clapping. “They’re alive!”

  Rock breathed a long sigh and looked at the vice president, who just nodded, took his phone, and departed the room. “Let’s get a sit-rep from them now,” Rock ordered, and the room started to bustle with activity as systems data was received from the Gordust, piggybacking on the same frequency, although at a much lower streaming feed.

  Julie explained their situation and informed them of the status of the Russian cosmonauts, painfully aware that the crew of the Gordust was listening to them. “Recommendations?” she asked.

  Rock picked up his PTT mike and nodded to Jack, keying it at the same time. “Roger, Julie, copy your situation. Advise you return ASAP to the lander and prep for departure. We’re showing the alien signal down right now, but radiation levels are up. Best if we commence with the last phase of our mission.”

  Julie understood the ramifications and had held back any information on the alien glass slide she had taken. She felt it again, and not for the last time, still in her suit’s pocket. “Roger, Houston, we will return now. The ejecta from the blast seems to have ceased.”

  “Roger, Blackjack, contact us from the lander. Houston to Gordust, can we keep this channel open, and thanks for your assistance,” Rock finished.

  “Houston, this is Gordust. We will keep the channel active, just push to talk as long as we’re in range.”

  “Roger, Houston out.”

  There was a sense of hope in the control center as Rock looked at Mr. Smith. “When can we tell her?”

  Mr. Smith looked up from the tablet that Mrs. Brown had been using to take notes on the sudden and unexpected restoration of communications with their crew. “You can inform her about the Chinese astronaut when they reach the lander.”

  “Do you intend for us to rescue him?” Rock
asked.

  “Yes, he has a certain value for intelligence purposes,” Mr. Smith said.

  “Well, for once we’re in agreement, just not for the right reasons,” Rock said.

  33 Rescue

  Apollo Lander

  Surface of the Moon, Marianas Plain

  In the near future, Day 48

  * * *

  “For the love of God, can’t we get a break?” Craig asked rhetorically as the rover pulled up to the lander.

  Julie couldn’t see up front, but she heard Craig clearly. “What now?”

  Craig flipped a switch to activate the lights on the lander, illuminating the entire area in a three-hundred-sixty-degree circle. “Looks bad. Let’s check it out.”

  Julie started to put her helmet and gloves on. The front compartment of the rover was cracked, and Craig didn’t bother risking a blowout by pressurizing it, so he already had his suit on and simply stepped out.

  “I’m right behind you,” Julie said, getting a comforting latching sound on her helmet and then twisting both glove locks on and securing her suit, which pressurized immediately. She opened the door after depressurizing her rear cabin and followed Craig.

  The scene was depressing. Several basketball-sized rocks had landed in the area, strewn out across the visible distance, and an unlikely strike had one of the rocks either hitting or ricocheting off the side of the lander, breaching one of the two main propellant tanks on the starboard side of the craft. What looked like water ice was all over the surface around the ruptured tank. Julie knew it was propellant.

  “That’s just great. Game over, man,” Craig despaired, walking around the ruptured tank and looking at the lander, scratched in many places along its side.

  “Is the interior breached?” Julie asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ll need to get inside and pressurize it to see. I just don’t see how we can perform a two stage burn to get back to our orbiter.”