Moon Hoax (Hoax Trilogy Book 1)

by Paul Gillebaard

  36

  SURPRISE VISITOR

  As Steve confidently approached the podium, ready to address the UN General Assembly, he wondered if the Chinese would ever show up. The session was already well underway with the opening statements completed. Not only was he hoping to personally stick it to them, but their presence would help his statements have a stronger impact, especially if their response was witnessed by the assembly. He glanced in their direction to see three stoic Chinese characters approaching their desk. A smile came to his face knowing what he was going to present should stun them, just as what was currently being released to the press would set the record straight across the world.

  China’s state councilor had approached the same podium a few months back with a smug look, and arrogantly paused to look over the audience. Steve decided to do the same, and after slowly scanning the room he ended up looking directly at the Chinese delegates, not saying a word. The Chinese seemed to have a self-righteous look as they peered back, which only got him more pumped.

  Steve took one last deep breath before beginning. “Ladies and gentlemen, the United States of America appreciates this opportunity to officially address the claims made by China that America never landed on the moon. I plan on presenting indisputable evidence to prove these accusations made by China are false. In fact, not only will I prove we landed on the moon, but we did it six different times, which allowed twelve proud Americans to walk on the lunar surface. I will also prove China knowingly made these false allegations, doing so solely to humiliate the United States for their own political gain.” For dramatic effect and for his own curiosity, Steve paused and looked over the audience to see what the reaction was, especially from the Chinese. He smiled as many delegates talked among each other, obviously startled by the statement, but he was surprised to see the Chinese not showing any reaction, as if they were waiting to see what was coming next.

  “Two astronauts were launched recently to the moon to take close-up photographs of America’s landing sites, which I will present in a moment,” Steve went on. “These men were sent against UN sanctions and in top secret to avoid being killed. These astronauts are currently orbiting the moon and will be connected via satellite for a live video feed shortly. These brave men are Peter Novak, a former NASA astronaut, and Viktor Alexandrov, a former Russian cosmonaut. These men had to overcome deadly obstacles to reach the moon. One of these was a laser weapon put on the back side by China, designed to fire at any satellites other than their own. The sole reason for this deadly weapon was to prevent pictures from being taken of America’s landing sites which could prove their claims false. The laser purposely destroyed our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter sent to the moon in May, preventing detailed pictures from being relayed. The laser’s energy is powerful enough to destroy any spacecraft orbiting the moon, killing any astronauts sent.”

  A sudden rumbling erupted all around the hall as delegates started whispering among themselves. Steve looked up with a slight smirk to observe the Chinese, who still sat stoic.

  “China did not just orbit the moon on their last mission as they told the world, but instead landed in secrecy on the back side so they could deploy this weapon.” The noise elevated, requiring Steve to speak even louder. “They also obtained moon rocks and took pictures to discredit America’s records by claiming the lunar samples were from Earth. I will now present pictures of one of our landing sites as well as China’s landing site, taken by these brave astronauts from inside their spacecraft yesterday. We will have higher resolution pictures taken during a spacewalk within the next twenty-four hours that will be distributed to all members of the assembly to be studied and confirmed.” Steve expected to hear an outburst from the Chinese delegates questioning his remarks, but surprisingly they stayed silent.

  The noise quieted as the pictures started to appear on the screen behind Steve. He clicked through each picture giving a brief commentary on each. When he came to the shots of China’s landing site the noise seemed to pick back up. While clicking through these he suddenly got a signal from his assistant standing to the side, indicating they were receiving the video feed. He turned back to the Assembly. “I have just been informed we are receiving the live video feed from our astronauts and we will now put that up on the screen.”

  All three Chinese delegates abruptly stood and began working their way to the aisles. Steve purposely stopped talking to stare in their direction, developing an awkward moment in the hall as many turned to see the Chinese scurrying toward the exit. Right before they exited, Jose stood and started to clap. To Steve’s delight, many delegates soon followed. As he listened to the applause, he turned back to see Peter now on the screen, floating by his spacecraft with the moon close behind, waving at the camera he held with the other hand. Young man, you did it!

  PETER WAS FLOATING BACK to the spacecraft, having finished transmitting the live video feed. Curious how his little TV show came out, Peter asked Dmitri, who had been monitoring the feed and forwarding it on to NASA. “How did it all look, over?”

  “It looked good. You’re a natural out there. I’ll check with NASA to see how everything went and make sure the pictures came in okay. I’ll let you know when you come back around. How much oxygen do you have left in your primary supply? Over.”

  Before reaching the Soyuz, Peter looked down at his oxygen monitor; he had close to seventy-five minutes left in his primary supply, enough to get him around the back side. He figured he would be close to switching to his emergency supply by the time he was back in radio contact. “I have about an hour and fifteen minutes left on primary.”

  “Roger,” Dmitri said solemnly.

  Peter reached the entrance of the Soyuz and as he placed the video camera inside he couldn’t help taking a brief look at Viktor, which only reminded him he would soon be dead himself. The end was near and he would soon have to choose how he was going to die; Peter took a peek at the cyanide pill taped inside his helmet and winced. He simply didn’t feel right taking his own life.

  He still had a few pictures that needed to be transmitted and he hoped to send them before he lost transmission. He began working on the laptop inside the entrance as his body dangled outside. “Dmitri, I’m going to finish transmitting the last few pictures I was unable to do earlier. But since I only have less than an orbit left, I would love to talk to Anya when I come back around, over.”

  “Roger that,” Dmitri said with encouragement in his voice.

  Peter had about ten minutes before he would be out of communication with Mission Control. After a few minutes of working, Dmitri came back on the radio. “Peter, have you seen China’s spacecraft around? It looks like they’re right on top of you, over.”

  Peter was surprised to hear this. Curious, he pushed slightly away from his ship, allowing him to easily spin around and see behind him. As he floated in place, he was shocked to see the Chinese spacecraft parked only 200 meters away, looking very ominous. The sun was reflecting off the ship’s non-painted metal, causing a glare that required Peter to flip down his sun visor as he stared at the peculiar sight. This was the first time he had seen one of China’s spacecrafts up close and he found their design similar to Russia’s. The silver craft was decorated with red Chinese characters along its side, which he couldn’t decipher, along with a big Chinese flag insignia. A small window faced his direction, but with the glare he was unable to see in.

  “Roger, I see them. What the hell are they doing here?”

  “No idea,” said Dmitri. “I just learned of their position, over.”

  Peter lifted his right arm and tried to curl in all his gloved fingers except for his middle finger. He chuckled as he struggled doing this. “I’m trying to flip them off, but with these damn gloves it probably looks like I’m waving.” Peter shook his head, wondering if the Chinese even knew what the bird was.

  “Peter, LOS is in two minutes,” said Dmitri with concern in his voice. “Do they look to be approaching?”

  Peter studie
d them for a moment before answering, “Nope. They’re just sitting there. They’re probably pissed off they couldn’t stop us and now want to watch me die. I’m not worried about them.” Peter turned back to the Soyuz as he casually said, “I’m going to clean house and should have everything done by the time I come back around. Please have Anya there waiting.”

  “Roger. She’s just two desks over and has been listening. She’s excited to talk to you. I’ll also give you an update on how it all went at the UN when you come back around, over.”

  “Roger, talk to you on the flip side.” Peter ended the transmission and looked back out at the Chinese ship sinisterly floating in front of him. What the hell are you up to?

  ANNE NOVAK SAT ALONE in Tom’s office in one of the leather chairs across from his desk, quietly reading a book with a cup of hot tea by her side. Ever since her husband died, this had become her daily ritual. Every afternoon at 4:00 p.m. she would make sure she was in his office. To her it was a time of the day when it was just the two of them, just like the many afternoons before he died. He was her best friend, and she could tell him everything. They had always made it a point to spend time together every day with no TV and just talk, maybe about the latest news, or just about the day. The sharing time was one of the things she missed most. Though Tom was never out of her mind, this was one of her favorite times of the day when she felt a little closer to him. She purposely left the office just as it was when he died, not changing a thing except for cleaning up the blood stains. Knowing his last moments at home were in this room surprisingly comforted her. Some days she just sat and would have conversations with him. On others, she would quietly read a book, sometimes making an observation or blurting a question out loud. His office had become her favorite room. She loved being surrounded by all of his mementos and pictures; it was like being covered by a cozy blanket.

  The phone suddenly rang, which startled her. Setting the book down on the desk in front of her, she reached for the phone. “Hello.”

  “Hello, Anne, have you been watching the news? Have you heard?” said Virginia, breathing heavily.

  Anne was surprised to hear her sister-in-law sounding so frantic and out of breath, and calmly answered, “No I haven’t turned on the news. Why, what’s up?”

  “Do you know anything about Peter? Where he is?”

  Anne was surprised by the question; how could Virginia know where Peter was if he was on some top secret mission? Her heart pounded, an inner sense picking up the tone in Virginia’s voice, prompting her motherly concern. “No, why?” Her question met with silence. “Virginia, what happened? Where is Peter?”

  Virginia finally said, “Turn on the TV, to CNN.”

  Anne got up and was about to turn on the television, but then stopped and sat back down. She was scared of what the news could be and decided she wanted to hear it from her sister-in-law. “No. You tell me first. Where’s Peter? Is he okay?”

  “Those astronauts that stole the spacecraft. The ones the news said might be on their way to the moon.”

  Anne straightened up in her chair and began squeezing the phone tightly as she softly answered, “Yes.”

  “Well, they’re at the moon and one of them is Peter.”

  Anne’s whole body went limp, the phone almost dropping from her hand. She sat stunned. How could Peter be at the moon? How could he do this and not tell her? “Are you sure?”

  “They just announced it on CNN, saying who the astronauts were. I couldn’t believe it myself. I had to play it back a couple of times just to make sure. Supposedly there was some big meeting at the UN where pictures taken by Peter are being shown to prove we landed on the moon. He is being called a hero.”

  Anne remembered how the news reports mentioned there was not enough power for the astronauts to return and nervously asked, “Is he coming back?”

  There was a long silence before Virginia answered, “They haven’t said that. I don’t know. I’m sure there is some way to get him home. Peter wouldn’t take on a mission where he would die.”

  Anne didn’t say a word. She looked at some of the pictures of Peter in the room. She thought back to their last goodbye and remembered how her son seemed to give a longer hug than usual. She passed it off as having to do with Anya. Did that hug have a deeper meaning? When she saw the picture of him and Tom together, she instantly knew he took on the mission for his father. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Peter was all she had left. How could she continue living with her family gone? She couldn’t control herself and started to cry.

  Virginia said, “I’ll be right over!” and hung up.

  Anne dropped the phone to the floor, collapsing in the chair.

  37

  THE TIME HAS COME

  Anya was nervously sitting at Dmitri’s desk with her headset on, waiting for Peter to come around the moon one last time to say their goodbyes. Though she wasn’t sure what she was going to say, she hoped to at least maintain her composure. She was worried what the Chinese were up to and how much oxygen he had left. She wanted his last moments to be peaceful.

  Anya heard her brother inform everyone Maria 1 would be back in range in less than five minutes. As Dmitri started calling out over the radio for Peter, she tensely tapped her foot, hoping he would soon answer. Suddenly her brother took off his headset and with a perturbed look turned around to face a technician who had tapped him on the shoulder.

  “What is it?”

  His assistant said, “Sir, there is a very important call for you in your office.”

  Dmitri scowled at the tech. “What? This is Peter’s last orbit. I don’t care who it is, I don’t have time to take any calls right now!”

  The assistant stood his ground, leaning toward Dmitri with a serious expression. He didn’t look like he was going to take “no” for an answer as he persisted, “Sir, you want to take this call.”

  Dmitri shrugged as he turned to Anya before saying into his microphone, “Vladimir, take over. I should be right back.”

  Anya raised her eyebrows at him, wondering how her brother could leave at such a critical juncture. He mashed his lips together and tilted his head, signaling it must be important, and left.

  Anya now heard Vladimir calling out to Peter over the radio and focused back on listening for his response. The clock on the screen in the front of the room passed the zero mark, signaling they had passed the time of when they should hear a reply. Anya started to rub her pendant. Come on Peter…answer!

  Finally she heard Peter say, “Mission Control, this is Maria 1, over,” and she let out a big sigh of relief. She looked over to Vladimir, hoping he would soon give her the signal to start talking, knowing Peter only had a short time left.

  “Welcome back, Peter. How did everything go on the back side? Over,” asked Vladimir.

  “Everything’s fine. There has been no movement from the Chinese, over.”

  “Roger,” Vladimir stood at his console. “We learned that your show at the UN went well. China ended up walking out in disgrace.”

  “Wow, that’s awesome!” said Peter.

  Vladimir looked at Anya and pointed at his headset, asking if she was ready to speak. She aggressively nodded yes.

  Vladimir winked at her. “Peter, I have a pretty girl here who would like to talk with you, over.”

  “I can think of only one pretty lady I would want to talk to—put her on, over,” said Peter.

  “Roger.” Vladimir signaled for Anya to talk.

  “Hello, Peter.”

  “Hey, baby. You sound great. So how are you?”

  “Good. So no problems with the Chinese?”

  “Nope. They’re just sitting there. So how are you feeling? Any sickness or anything?” asked Peter in a laid-back tone.

  Anya was amazed how casual Peter sounded as if it was just another phone call between the two, especially knowing he was almost out of oxygen. She needed to do her best to act the same. “I’ve gotten a little sick, but nothing bad, over.”
<
br />   “Sounds like the little one is already being a pain.”

  Smiling, Anya said, “It’s a good pain, like you sometimes.”

  Peter chuckled. “You don’t want him like me—I was a handful when I was a child. Ask Mom.”

  “I will,” said Anya. She continued with conviction in her voice, “I hope he or she is completely like you.”

  “Well, good luck, then. So where is Dmitri, in the john?”

  Anya looked toward the door before answering. “He had to take some call. I’m sure he’ll be right back.”

  “No problem, I mainly wanted to talk to you, anyway.”

  While soothed, Anya didn’t know what to say next, and there was an awkward silence. She wasn’t sure if she should address the fact that this would be their last conversation. Suddenly the door of the control room slammed open and Dmitri ran toward her. Perplexed, she relayed, “Here comes Dmitri.”

  “Roger,” said Peter.

  Panting heavily, Dmitri grabbed his headset and without sitting down looked at Anya with a big grin on his face. “Peter, I just got off the phone with the manager of China’s space operations.” Still trying to catch his breath he said, “He said they’re willing to bring you home!”

  Peter practically yelled over the radio, “Really? That’s fantastic! I know the manager of space operations, Sie Wang.”

  Anya, her heart expanded double by the news, jumped up toward her brother and gave him a crushing hug.

  Dmitri gave her a quick hug before backing off. “Yes, he knew you too. In fact, I think that’s why he’s going against orders. When he found out you were one of the astronauts and there was nothing they could do to stop the pictures from being sent, he said he couldn’t let you both die. I told him it was too late for the other astronaut.” Dmitri took a deep breath before continuing, “I advised him you were low on oxygen. He was going to immediately order their ship to move in to pick you up.”