Orbital Maneuvers (21 page)

“Now what are we going to do with him?” Paul asked, somewhat shaken by the scene that had just unfolded.

“Secure him in one of the sleeping compartments off the control module.  Make sure that he’s not going to float around.” Paul started out of the airlock carefully pushing Jerry ahead of him like some sacred, modern mummy. 

He stopped and turned to Susan.  “Do you really think we have to keep him all tied up like this?” Susan looked at Jerry and felt a pang of remorse.  She was about to change her mind when she saw Alexander out of the corner of her eye. 

“No, Paul, I think we are better off keeping Jerry restrained until we can keep a closer eye on him.  He will be alright; the rest will do him good.  I am sure that we all can use a good sleep.” Paul nodded in agreement and left with his cargo.

Susan turned to Alexander, “Are you okay?” She peered into the faceplate looking for an expression and not a verbal response. 

Alexander answered, “I am fine.  A very inventive solution to the problem, Commander.  I admire your strength and courage!”

Susan blushed.  “I am very sorry that he did that.  Please accept my apologies for his actions.”

“It is okay, Commander.  There was no real harm done and you are not responsible for Jerry’s actions, he is.  I am fine, really.” Susan noticed that his face was cheerful, and he seemed content inside his little volume of space, so she felt comfortable that Alexander was being honest with her. 

“As far as my strength and courage, Commander Orlov, I think it was more anger than anything else,” Susan admitted, a bit ashamed.  “Sometimes you just have to do something, even if it’s not the best thing to do.”

“No, Commander, you were truly amazing in how you handled him,” Nicholas said with a smile.  “Are you sure that you did not train in the Russian military?” This brought a chuckle from everyone and an even redder face for Susan. 

“No, Captain Zuyev, no training in the Russian military, just growing up as a little girl wanting to play all the games the boys did, and that included the fights!” She started for the hatch, “Come on, Ivan, we have to get this thing moving again, so we can let Commander Orlov out of his suit.”

XVII

Once back in the command module, Ivan and Susan reset the alarms and reprogrammed and executed the engine firing sequence in about fifteen minutes.  All systems were showing nominal and this time there were no interruptions to stop their slow and steady climb to a higher altitude.

There was mostly silence in the room as Ivan and Susan studied their respective displays, looking for any indication of a problem.  Paul busied himself at another display showing the station’s projected trajectory.  The station creaked and groaned as it was pushed along by the engines, sounding more like a tall ship under sail in a stiff ocean breeze than a multi-billion dollar piece of modern technology.

An occasional loud pop or snap brought everyone out of their intense focus, to listen for a telltale sign that something more serious was going on within the foundation of the station.  Hearing nothing more to indicate such a situation, they returned their attentions to their chosen tasks. 

The station flexed and vibrated as all of its extended structure caught up with the central framework that was being driven by the engines.  In time, the oscillations and flexing would settle down as the entire station moved as one under the constant acceleration of the main engines.  The rumbling and ubiquitous vibrations of the engines, consuming their precious fuel to produce altitude-giving thrust, remained with the crew even after the station had resigned and stopped complaining about its new direction.

Nicholas left Alexander to rest and floated into the control module to join the others. “Alexander is taking a nap, so I thought I would join you until it is time for him to exit the station again.”

Susan glanced up from her display, “I hope he’s not floating around the compartment.”

“No, I fastened him to the bulkhead, he is quite secure.” Nicholas moved over to Paul’s station and looked over his shoulder at the display, “How high are we going?”

Paul glanced back over his shoulder at Nicholas, “As high as we can and still maintain a circular orbit.  That should be about five hundred miles up.  We can go higher, but the orbit would be more elliptical and we will end up being lower than five hundred miles at the one end.” Nicholas studied the display and nodded his head in agreement.  “Susan and Ivan have programmed the firing sequence to automatically allow the trajectory to be adjusted for a circular orbit.  So you will probably notice the engines shutting down and firing again, several times over the next hour or so.” Nicholas nodded in appreciation for the information and patted Paul on the shoulder as he went to see what Ivan and Susan were monitoring.

“How’s Commander Orlov?” Susan asked, as Nicholas settled in beside her.

“He was doing fine.  He is probably fast asleep now.  He has no trouble sleeping, no matter where he is.  He thought that he would seize the opportunity, since we have some time and it has been a very long day.”

“I can attest to that,” Susan noted.  “I don’t know if I am more tired or hungry.  It seems like this day started days ago, and I just can’t wait for it to end.” Realizing that she was letting her guard down, she immediately added, “It’s been a day that even the wizards at NASA could not dream up in their most perverted simulations.  I will have to talk to them about that when we get back.”

Ivan looked up at Susan and over to Nicholas.  He was puzzled by Susan’s comment.  He studied her face to see if she seriously believed that NASA would be there when they got back, or if she was just trying to make small talk.  He decided that he did not want to remind her of the state that NASA was in now and thought it best not to pursue the topic at this time. 

“We should be at a point where we can take a break soon,” said Ivan.  “Everything is looking good right now.  After our last burn, we can reconnect the communication system and settle down for a while.” Ivan pushed a few buttons on the console and watched the display show a radar picture scanning the area ahead of the station.  He knew that the automated systems would be monitoring the path ahead for any objects that may be in their way, but he felt better keeping a human eye on the space ahead as well.  They no longer have ground control monitoring them and the thousands, now billions of bits of debris, man-made and natural, that they may run into. 

“Nicholas, would you mind monitoring the radar scan for me?  You can bring it up on the display over there.” Ivan nodded toward an empty station near Paul.  Nicholas nodded and floated over to take up his position as requested.  Actually, he felt good to have something to do, even if it were as mundane as watching the radarscope.  As Nicholas settled in, Ivan reset his display to monitor the engines and the station’s trajectory.

Paul left his station and disappeared into the sleeping compartment that he had placed Jerry in.  Susan watched him as he emerged and noticed the troubled look on his face.  “Is everything okay with Jerry?”

Paul looked up with a startled expression on his face, as if he were caught thinking something he should not have been thinking.  “Ah, yeah, he’s fine.  Still out cold.”

Susan watched Paul for more information but nothing came.  “His breathing and pulse rate okay?”

“Yes, they’re slow but regular.” Paul stopped and looked at Susan, “I can’t believe that he did that!  I just cannot believe it!  I would never have thought that Jerry would do anything like that—sacrifice us for his own sake!” Paul’s voice was getting louder and quivered with the stress that was beginning to crack through his professional facade.  Susan moved toward Paul to offer some comfort, but before she could reach him, he stammered an apology and fled the compartment.

Susan turned to see Ivan watching her intently.  Before she could say anything, he quietly said, “I’ll call you over the intercom if anything comes up.”

Susan pushed herself off from the wall she was floating by and quickly sailed out of the cabin.  She was not sure where Paul would go.  The station was not that large, but it was large enough for him to elude her because she was not completely familiar with the layout and all of its compartments and niches.  As she passed into the Unity node, she quickly peeked into the Joint Airlock and noticed Commander Orlov stuck to the wall, motionless, but no Paul.  When she turned to head into the Destiny Lab module, she was startled to see Paul’s outline silhouetted against the dark blue-black of the Atlantic Ocean, which could be seen through the windows in the cupola, a large observation port in the Tranquility module that could be used to monitor the shuttle docking with the station or just sightseeing. 

The lights in the node were dimmed, and it was difficult to make out the details inside the cupola.  The reflected moonlight cast very little illumination.  It appeared that Paul had his back to the entrance; he did not react to Susan’s entrance.  She quietly moved toward him, not wanting to startle him if he were unaware of her presence.  It was one of those awkward moments.  Susan softly cleared her throat as she slowly approached Paul, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his shoulders straighten up at the sound.

“I’m okay, Susan,” he volunteered before she could ask.  He did not turn to greet her, but kept his gaze focused on the planet below.

Susan moved in a bit closer, and putting her hand on his shoulder, she spoke in a quiet voice, “You may be okay on the surface, but there is something deeper inside that is not.  What is it, Paul?  We’ve worked together too long and too closely, not to know when something is bothering one of us.” She paused to allow Paul the chance to respond, but he made no effort to do so. 

Susan looked out of the window at the ocean moving rapidly below them, the scattered clouds luminous from the reflected moonlight reminded her of sheep grazing in a meadow at twilight.  She needed to try once more to bring Paul out of his shell.  She feared that he would eventually crack, like Jerry, if he kept it inside any longer. 

“I can’t imagine how this catastrophe has affected you.  I’m amazed that you have carried on without falling to pieces.  God, I don’t know how I would handle it.  But, I feel that there is more eating away at you now.  What is it?” She again paused to hear Paul’s response, and this time she could hear an audible sigh from Paul, as if he realized that he was defeated and would fight no longer.  She bit her lip, not knowing if she should push a bit more or give him some slack.  She decided to wait him out and watched the occasional flashes of lightening coming from a storm to the west of their flight path, somewhere over the western Atlantic, near South America.

Paul’s voice, which came in much of a whisper, sounded very small inside the small cupola.  His Texas drawl was more prominent than Susan was used to, and she attributed that to the stress and fatigue he was enduring. 

“It really looks peaceful down there, doesn’t it?” he said.  Susan drew in a breath to respond, but Paul didn’t give her the opportunity.  “One would not expect that the planet is being turned inside out from what we can see, right now, from our precarious perch, would you?”

Susan was not sure if this was another rhetorical question and hesitated in responding.  Paul answered her hesitation, “I can’t help but wonder, what are they doing down there, right now?  Is it total chaos, or is it just orderly hysteria?”

He turned from the window and faced Susan.  “Look at what went on here, on this station, with Jerry.  One sixth of us went off the deep end!  Jerry went from a fun-loving friend and serious astronaut, to homicidal maniac in a matter of hours because of this…this…” Paul pointed toward Earth as he searched for the right words to describe the catastrophe.  His thinking was not very clear at the moment, and he felt himself on the verge of collapsing completely.

“Damn flying mountain had to choose us!  Is that what is waiting for us when we get back?” He turned back to the window and continued, “Look at us!  Look at what we did to poor Jerry!  We tied him up like a calf during branding season and shot him full of drugs!”

Susan felt a flush of embarrassment come over her and felt ashamed of how she had handled Jerry’s situation.  Paul spun around toward Susan again, but this time his voice had more of an edge to it.  “Are we still civilized, or are we becoming the maniacs?”

Susan backed up; not quite sure what Paul might do, she wanted room to maneuver.  There was a cold silence in the room.  Seizing the moment while Paul was catching his breath, she cautiously stepped into the one-sided conversation.  “Paul, what we did to Jerry was to protect him, as well as ourselves.  I didn’t like what I did, but I also could not let Jerry run free and allow him another chance to hurt someone, or all of us for that matter.  I am as shocked at his sudden change of personality as you are, and really wish that he were here helping us.  Don’t doubt yourself because of Jerry’s condition, or feel that you are responsible for him.  You went out of your way to stay close to him as things deteriorated.  You have nothing to feel guilty for.  You still have compassion and that shows that you have not lost your humanity and civility.”

Now that Susan’s eyes had adjusted to the darkened compartment she was able to make out more detail in Paul’s face.  She watched Paul as she talked and felt a slight bit of relief as she noticed his expression relax and his head nodding slightly in agreement with some of the points she was making. 

She looked out of the window at the dark blue orb below.  “I don’t know what is going on down there,” she said.  “We will find out soon when the comm system gets restored.” She turned back to Paul.  “I can only hope that the people who are alive and healthy are helping those who need it, and that everyone is working together to survive together.”

“You know what human nature is like, Susan,” Paul said.  “You know that there are people preying on people, cheating, killing, and hurting others to survive!  I have no one to return to, and I am not sure that I want to return to that.”

Susan looked into Paul’s eyes, not quite certain how to interpret his last statement.  “What are you saying, Paul?”

Paul was again looking out at the Earth.  His hands were distractedly gripping the controls to the station’s manipulator arm, fidgeting with the buttons and switches.  “All I am saying is that it might be easier to just stay here, on this station, than it will be to go to the surface and deal with the madness.  I am going to die in either case, and it is a toss up on how long I will survive in either place.  Staying here, I can still live a civilized life.” Adding as an after thought, “However long it lasts.”

“Paul, you can’t count the human race out!  We may make it through this without the fall of civilization.”

Paul cut her off, “You’ve heard all the predictions about the aftermath of an impact.  You know the physics!  This was not just one large asteroid, but three!  Look at what happened to the dinosaurs, and they only had to deal with one impact!”

“Yes, I know what the scientists say about the aftermath of an impact.  But, did you ever consider that they might be wrong in their calculations?  They have been known to be wrong before.  You’re a scientist, you know that.  They don’t have all the facts and depending on how you tweak the numbers, the physics can be misleading.  We have a lot more going for us than the dinosaurs did and we may be able to survive the after-effects of the impact.  Who knows, maybe the dinosaurs died because it wasn’t just one large impact but a dozen, spread around the world.  Remember how comet Shoemaker-Levi impacted Jupiter?  It was multiple impacts scattered around the planet.  If that happened on Earth, I could see how it would be even more disastrous than having a cluster of impacts in one place.”