Moon Hoax (Hoax Trilogy Book 1)

by Paul Gillebaard

  Peter grabbed the gloves and stared at them for awhile, wondering how gloves could cost 50 grand. As an astronaut with NASA, he wasn’t privy to how much things cost; however, he knew most items were inflated due to the amount of paperwork and bureaucracy involved, regardless of the fact the item was manufactured by the lowest bidder. From what Peter had learned in the last few weeks, if the United States wanted to be competitive in the space business, relying on America’s commercial enterprise was the only way to go. NASA should stick with what it does best, space exploration of the cosmos.

  Allen turned to Omar. “Go ahead and check out Peter in his suits today.”

  “Roger, but I’ll need his helmet,” said Omar.

  “Where is it?” asked Allen.

  “It’s locked in the storage vault.”

  “Okay. Unhook Viktor and get it,” said Allen. Omar began turning off the machine and unhooking Viktor’s hoses. Turning to Peter, Allen said, “Okay, I’ll see you two at dinner. I have some other business I need to take care of.” Looking back at Omar, he said, “Let me know if any problems come up,” and out of the room he went.

  After Viktor was unhooked, Omar helped him take off his helmet. Once breathing fresh air, Viktor said, “Hello, Peter.”

  “Hey, Viktor. So how does the suit feel?”

  “Good. Better than old Russian suit. You Americans make better spacesuit.”

  “I don’t know about that,” said Peter.

  Viktor frowned thoughtfully. “Omar, I think of something. Can I pee in flight suit?”

  Omar smiled. “Sure, in the diaper we’ll give you.”

  That didn’t seem to be the answer Viktor was looking for. With a disappointed look he asked, “No, can I go to toilet to pee?”

  Omar shook his head, clearly puzzled. “Sorry Viktor. Once we put the suit on, it’s a major deal to take it off. But like I said, we’ll supply you with MAGs.”

  Now Peter was curious. Hoping to add some humor and relax him, Peter said, “And that’s not MAGs for magazines to read on the toilet. That’s MAGs for maximum absorbency garments, or in other words, diaper. It’s probably the same type of diaper you wore as a cosmonaut. The nice thing is, now that you’re an old man, no need to be running to the restroom all the time. Just pee in those fancy NASA diapers.”

  Viktor didn’t smile at Peter’s joke, though Omar laughed. Peter assumed he probably didn’t get it.

  Viktor shrugged. “Soviet flight suit had access for pee. I guess I work it out.”

  Peter and Omar gave each other questioning looks. Maybe it was an old man thing.

  Omar excused himself to retrieve the helmet. Before exiting he said, “Viktor, you just relax and I’ll help you get out of your suit when I get back.”

  After Omar left, Viktor asked, “Everything okay in Texas?”

  Peter sat in the lounge chair next to Viktor and clasped his hands. His partner knew he was going to see Anya and visit his mom for the last time. What he didn’t know was the possibility of ending the relationship with Anya. He needed to be up front with his partner, so he said, “It was a tough twenty-four hours. Not only did I say goodbye to Mom for the last time, I also broke up with Anya.”

  Viktor nodded. “I know. Anya call me in morning tell me. She very upset.”

  “Viktor, I did it because I love her. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I hated it. But as long as she doesn’t know the true outcome of the mission, I feel it’s for the best. Besides, even if she knew I was going to die, I believe both of us leaving her would be too traumatic. Bottom-line, I am trying to prevent her from being hurt even more.” Peter put his head down, trying to find something positive in his action before saying, “This allows me to be totally focused on the mission.”

  Viktor looked straight ahead for moment before turning back. “I love Anya too. Maybe be best.”

  22

  GOING BACK

  SpaceQuest’s senior team was gathered in the conference room in the operations and check out building. The room was elegantly decorated with beautiful pictures of past rockets launched from Cape Canaveral, including the Saturn V that took Peter’s dad to the moon. The team was meeting for the final launch check-out, reviewing complete mission requirements and the final checklist to insure the team and rocket were ready for launch. The Newton 9 had already been transferred over to the pad, erected and patiently waiting for its June 28 launch, just three days away. If all checked out okay in this meeting, the countdown would begin. Sitting at the head of the table was Allen. Next to him on his right were Peter and Viktor and, across from them sat Bud, the launch director, and Bernie, the flight director.

  Allen wanted everything cleared in this meeting before he would give the official go for launch, allowing Bernie to fly back to California and get Mission Control ready for the flight. His team would take over responsibility of the spacecraft from Bud’s team once the rocket cleared the tower, flying it to within fifty meters of the space station before passing control to Peter.

  Sitting on the conference table in front of Allen was an odd looking piece of equipment with blinking red lights.

  “What’s that?” asked Peter.

  “That’s your bomb,” answered Allen with a grin. “Or should I say, fake bomb. I had Engineering put it together. The plan is to have some fake C-4 explosives on the floor of the capsule with this detonator hooked up to it. Looks pretty impressive, huh?” Allen proudly slid the detonator over to Peter.

  Peter was surprised how light the contraption was when he picked it up. “Anything inside?”

  “Nope, just one AAA battery. It’s all about appearance. On the back you’ll find a very small switch. Move it.” Allen gestured to flip a switch, still grinning.

  Peter put his hand around the back, locating the switch and flipping it. The blinking red lights switched to blinking green.

  “You just armed the bomb,” chuckled Allen. “You’ll have to set the timer before docking with the station. You can have the ISS commander peek inside the capsule if he insists on seeing it. Tell him the bomb was set when you docked and is scheduled to blow in thirty hours, unless you disarm it. Stress to him it’s designed to go off if tampered with. Obviously, if they mess with it they’ll immediately know it’s a fake. I doubt you’ll have any issues since the crew doesn’t want a bomb going off in a capsule docked to the space station. The code name for the bomb is Red Baseball.”

  Perplexed, Peter asked, “Why Red Baseball?”

  “Why not? I wanted it called something that couldn’t be associated with a bomb, and since the cover is red and I’m a baseball nut, I decided on Red Baseball.” Allen turned to Bud. “So how’s the weather looking for Thursday?”

  “Right now the forecast looks to be overcast,” said Bud, who came across as a straightforward kind of guy with little personality. Bud was a perfectionist whom Allen trusted to ensure all aspects of the launch would be covered.

  “Any chance of thunderstorms?”

  “Less than 5 percent.”

  “Good. Well, different than the Shuttle, we can launch the Newton 9 in cloudy weather as long as there is no lighting around,” said Allen.

  Peter whispered to Viktor, “Are you going to be okay with that?” From his NASA experience he knew the Shuttle couldn’t launch in cloudy conditions because of safety reasons. Since the Shuttle was basically a dropping rock with wings, the pilot needed clear visibility to return to the launch site and land safely in an emergency situation. Unfortunately, the capsule Peter and Viktor were flying was a modified cargo transport which had no emergency return system in place.

  Allen said, “I’m confident she’ll get you in orbit. We just won’t be able to track you visually through the clouds.”

  Peter got an acceptance nod from Viktor before turning to Allen. “We’re confident, too.”

  Allen turned back to Bud. “When is the launch window on Thursday?”

  “3:04 p.m. to 3:14 p.m.”

  “So if we miss that we
have to reschedule for the next day?”

  “Yep. In order for the Galileo to be in the same orbit as the space station, it must launch in that time frame. We will shoot for 3:08.”

  “Damn that sounds tight. What if we launch at 3:15?”

  “We miss it,” said Bud, matter-of-fact.

  Peter nodded; he was familiar with launch windows as well. Earth’s rotation was not to be denied any more than gravity. He asked Bud, “If we get into its orbit, how long will it take to catch the space station?”

  Bernie chimed in, “We calculate around twelve hours, but that brings up another problem.”

  “What’s that?” asked Allen.

  “The good thing is we’re getting to the ISS quicker than we originally expected. The bad news is Peter and Viktor could be doing their first spacewalk within thirty-six hours of launch.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” asked Allen.

  Bernie said, “We know Viktor has flown into space, but Peter hasn’t. What if he gets sick? It will take him two days to recover. I know we agreed to do the space walk as soon as possible in order to get a jump on China, but I assumed that wouldn’t have happened until late in the second day at the earliest.”

  If Peter threw up in his helmet during a spacewalk, he could die. Wanting to put everyone at ease, he said, “I know there is no way of predicting whether I’ll be sick or not. But I’ll make sure not to make any rapid head or body movements while in orbit. And don’t forget Pop never got sick. So hopefully it’s a hereditary thing.” Peter slightly tilted his head and raised one eyebrow. “But just in case, I’ll make sure not to eat a large meal before launch.”

  Allen, staying serious said, “Right now, the first spacewalk is set within the first twenty-four hours at the space station. We can’t afford to wait. Once China realizes what’s going on, they’ll definitely start fueling their rocket.”

  Bernie said, “Okay. We know both men need to do a nitrogen purge before doing the spacewalk anyways, and this camp out will probably happen during an overnight sleep. So there’s a chance he might be recovered by then.”

  Allen looked at Peter. “Doug wants us to supply him with continuous updates until you leave the space station and you’re dealing with Russia’s mission control. So from these updates we’ll know how you’re doing and can make a team decision then.”

  Allen took a peek at his notes. “I was told that NASA calculated there’s enough fuel at the station for the VASIMR engine to give you the required boost needed. So as we suspected, there is no need to take up extra propellant. Also, we finally received the template for the VASIMR bolting pattern from NASA. It’s folded into six pieces and stored in Galileo.”

  Bernie asked, “What about the SAFERs?”

  Allen had requested two of the propulsive backpack systems from NASA to be used in an emergency. He said, “Only one was delivered, which will be used by Peter at the moon.” Allan looked at Peter. “I’ve gotten confirmation from Doug they definitely want you to take pictures from outside the capsule at the moon. They feel this will allow for higher resolution pictures which will be more difficult to disprove than those taken through the Soyuz window. You’ll use the SAFER and EMU suit stored in Galileo for this spacewalk. For the spacewalks at the space station, the plan is to use the station’s SAFERs and EMU suits. Viktor’s and your custom gloves for the EMU suits will be stored on board Galileo. ”

  “Great,” Peter said. “Is the camera here?”

  Bernie pulled out the chair next to him where a large metal container with a NASA insignia sat. He lifted the heavy container with both hands and plopped it on the table. “They came in from NASA over the weekend.” Bernie opened the box and pulled out three different cameras, setting them gently down in front of him. Pointing to two of them he said, “These cameras are for still shots. NASA feels it’s best to have a back up.” He grabbed the other camera. “This is your movie camera, and it operates just like your typical video camera.” He reached inside the box, and struggled as he lifted a monster telephoto lens that looked to be three feet long and a foot wide. Straining as he talked he said, “This connects to each camera, and should allow you to zoom in and get detailed pictures.”

  Watching Bernie struggle while holding the lens Allen offered, “Good thing you’ll be in zero gravity when operating it.”

  Peter stared at the large lens. Though he agreed it would be easier to move around in space, he found training with a similar size lens in the pool was a challenge. He slightly shook his head. Here he was a rookie photographer, responsible for taking some of the most important pictures in America’s history. “It should be easier, but I’m sure I’ll need some practice shots to get it right.”

  “You should have some time during your EVA to practice,” said Allen confidently.

  Bernie placed the lens down before reaching in the container and pulling out a computer, setting it next to the cameras. “The pictures will need to be downloaded onto this custom computer which has a transmitting chip and antenna built in. When you forward the pictures from the front side of the moon they will be received by the SR2 military satellite, which will forward them on to NASA.” He grabbed one last item, two clear plastic protectors with paperwork in them. “Here are the camera checklists,” he said, sliding the copies across the table to both Peter and Viktor.

  Both men took a moment to review the checklists before Peter said, “This all looks pretty straight forward. But how about we review them before you leave for California?”

  “Good idea,” Bernie said.

  Peter looked at Bud. “I’ll need more Velcro inside the Galileo. I need to have every checklist hanging and accessible to both Viktor and me.”

  “No problem. Pass on all your checklists and I’ll make copies and have them hanging for the plugs-out test,” said Bud.

  Looking at Allen, Peter asked, “Is the plugs-out test still scheduled for tomorrow afternoon?”

  Allen nodded. “At this point, I’d say it’s looking good.”

  The meeting continued until everyone in the room was satisfied and gave the mission a go. Allen gave Bud the go-ahead to officially start the countdown.

  DMITRI HAD ASKED ANYA to come by his office at the Roscosmos building in Moscow to give him specifics on their dad’s mission. He wanted a debriefing in hopes of being able to support his father and Peter the best he could once the Soyuz was hijacked. The more he knew, the better the chance he could make sure certain items were in place to assist with the operation.

  His sister entered his modern office with her shoulders slumped over. Usually an impeccable dresser, her dress looked ragged and wrinkled. As she walked in she gazed at the pictures on the wall of their dad and him when they were cosmonauts. She briefly stopped at one picture of her on the ski slopes, and a grim smile crossed her face.

  “Come on in, Anya.” Dmitri got up and waved to the chair in front of his desk. He closed and locked the door then gave his sister a hug before she took a seat. He could tell something was bothering her, both from the way she was dressed and her pouty look. With a sick churning in his gut, he wondered if his dad or Peter had told her it was a suicide mission. His first order of business was to find out.

  “Everything okay?” he asked as he sat back at his desk.

  “Sure, everything’s fine,” she said, fidgeting with her fingers, something she did only when she was upset or nervous.

  Her answer did not sound convincing. Something was definitely troubling her. He needed to be tactful in finding out without tipping her off about the outcome of the mission, if she didn’t already know. “Did you spend time with Peter while you were there?” Sparks had flown between the two at Tom’s funeral, but he wasn’t sure to what extent. He was aware Peter was her main reason for going to California.

  “Yes.”

  It wasn’t like his sister to be so brief and non-talkative. “So what did you do?”

  “I’d rather not talk about it,” Anya snapped. “Let’s talk about the opera
tion. What would you like to know?”

  His sister was a smart girl and Dmitri wondered if she figured out on her own the Soyuz would not be able to bring Peter and their father back. He decided to try another angle. “Okay, so do you feel Dad and Peter are up to speed flying the Soyuz?”

  She relaxed slightly. “Dad is. He was a little rusty at first, especially learning the updates of the model K, but he looked to be getting up to speed and will be doing most of the flying.”

  “Good. So how was the training attaching the VASIMR engine to the Soyuz? Any problems there? Was Dad able to handle it?”

  “They seem to have it down. Dad handled all of the underwater exercises great. I could tell he was having fun with all the training,” she said with a slight smile.

  “And they plan on jettisoning the VASIMR on the way to the moon?”

  “Yes, by using explosive bolts.”

  Dmitri was hoping to bait her. “And then use the Soyuz engine to get them into lunar orbit?”

  “I believe that’s the plan, I never really got involved with the activities or procedures around the moon.” She shifted in her chair, re-crossing her legs and narrowing her eyes at him.

  She was starting to figure out he was fishing for something; might as well go directly to the question. “So you never worked with them on the return flight home?”

  “No, most of the focus was getting them to the moon and accomplishing their objective. Why?”

  “I’m just trying to get a feel for the mission and how the training went.” He sat back in his chair, bouncing one knee. She didn’t know the mission’s outcome.

  Anya was starting to study him, reading his mannerisms. One thing about his sister, she had a knack for telling when he was lying, which went back to the many years she covered for him when he lied to his parents.

  “Is there something I should know?” she asked.

  “No.” He blinked and tried to steer her away from the topic. “So did Peter get the codes for the MK Laser?”