Red Hope (9 page)

The first three members of the Mars crew mission came together quickly.
Adam and Molly both accepted the challenge and Keller simply assumed he was
included by default. The Russians demanded that NASA include a cosmonaut after
Keller nixed his deal with the Russian Defense Bureau.

Chris searched far and wide to find the perfect
Russian Cosmonaut. With the team now complete, he brought them together at a
training facility near the Watsonville Airport. They would spend the next
several months working and training together. On the night after they all
arrived, Chris Tankovitch recommended that the four crewmembers have a meal
together in order to get to know each other better.

Keller arrived late even though his beach house was
literally just a few minutes away. Everybody else had already ordered their
food. He sat down and opened a menu.

“How would you like your coffee, darling?” asked the
waitress at the Denny’s in Santa Cruz.

Since this was to be their grand introduction to each
other, Adam chose the familiar Denny’s restaurant as a place to meet. He always
thought it was a comfortable place to talk and share stories. Mostly, he liked
the weight of the dense coffee mugs and the clunk they made on the table.

The waitress was getting impatient with Keller and
asked again, “So how do you like your coffee?”

He grinned up at the waitress and answered, “I like my
coffee like I like my women.
Caffeinated
.”

The waitress laughed and then winked at Keller as she
walked away. Adam stirred his coffee with a clink clink and broke the silence,
“So. I think this meal is the start of something great. This group is going to
change history.”

Keller blurted out, “Well, let’s not get too far ahead
of ourselves. This meal is the start of a long gastrointestinal struggle; I
have a very sensitive stomach and I don’t see any organic food on this menu.”

Keller was noticeably fidgety.

Adam recovered from Keller’s statement and continued,
“It’s okay, you don’t have to eat anything. Now, I know we’ve all heard a
little bit about each other and I figured this would be a good place to tell
the whole story. I’ll tell you about myself and then we’ll go around the table,
okay?”

Adam looked over his glasses at everybody to see if
they were in agreement.

He continued, “So, my name is Adam Alston and I am
still barely thirty-something years old. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. My claim
to fame is that I was on the shuttle STS-123. That was the shuttle mission to
fix the Trelm88 satellite back in 2008. After that, I wrote a book about space
travel; it sold modestly well in technical niche markets. Let’s see, I have a
degree in engineering and another in geology from Texas A&M. My main
specialty at NASA though was mission safety. I’m guessing that my shuttle
experience and geology are the main reasons NASA wanted me to lead this mission
though.”

Yeva Turoskova was new to America and new to this
group. Being Russian, she did not enjoy small talk at all. However, she was
willing to oblige on this occasion. She sensed that Adam was done and nodded
her head.

In her broken English, she said, “I too have very
similar qualifications as you Adam, but my work in fossil recovery is thought
to be a helpful skill here. It is funny that you mention the Trelm88 satellite.
I was on the mission that launched it in the first place.”

Adam smiled, “Really?  That is a small world.”

Yeva replied curtly, “We launched it okay. Americans
messed it up during a follow-on maintenance mission. Then they had to fix it on
your mission in 2008.  So, you broke it, you fixed it. Barely.”

Adam was taken aback and said, “I can’t comment on
that. It’s classified.”

He guzzled some ice tea and continued, “So Molly
Hemphill, tell us about yourself.”

Molly, naturally bubbly, said, “Sure, let’s see, I
graduated from the Air Force Academy with a degree in Flight Sciences and then
went on for my medical degree at Purdue. Um, I worked on the first Biosphere
and I’ve done years of research in life support systems for extended-stay
missions. Just like this one. I guess that made it an easy decision for Mr.
Tankovitch.”

Her effervescent personality came through and she put
her hand on the table to let them know she was going to divulge something else
about herself. “To be honest, I was on the fence about this mission, you know?
It seems extremely risky and I’m not the
risky
type. But I knew I’d kick
myself if I said no. I’ve tried hard to avoid regretting anything in life. So,
in this case, I had to go for it.”

Keller’s jaw dropped and he asked, “You try to do what?”

“I want to avoid missing great opportunities. You
know, I don’t want to look back on life and say I coulda, shoulda, woulda.”

Keller smirked. He said, “Well that’s like saying you
want to avoid learning. Regret is natural. It’s just something that happens
when we choose one path over another and things turn out crappy. The more
regrets you have early in life, the better off your life gets later on. Believe
me, I know a lot about regret.”

Adam jumped in. “Okay, okay. I think she’s saying that
she doesn’t want to waste this one-of-a-kind opportunity.”

Molly got serious and said, “Thank you Adam. That’s a
good way to put it.”

Keller pointed his finger at Molly.

“I gotta say, Molly, I do like your charisma.”

Keller smiled and looked at each one of them. He took
a big slug of coffee and continued, “Okay, my turn I guess. Let’s see. I never
went to college. I ran a burger joint for years and then stumbled onto a friend
who was making computer games for fun. I offered to help him turn it into a
real company and it did very well. Then we sold it for a fortune and I tried my
hand in other companies for many years until I started the rocket motor company
called Murch Motors. I guess that makes me the least qualified person on this
team; maybe even in this country.”

Everybody laughed and nodded in agreement. He was
right.

Keller added, “However, you will be riding on my vehicle
designed by my engineers. So, I get to go for free; think of me as your sugar
daddy.” He held up his hands to make air quotes around the word
sugar
.

Then Keller stood up and said, “If you’ll excuse me,
I’ve gotta go see a man about a horse. Oh, if the waitress comes back, can you
order me a salad with lettuce only?”

He walked off toward the restroom and locked the door
behind him. Keller pulled a pill from his pocket and threw it into his mouth.
Then he cupped his hands to catch water from the sink and wash it down. He
looked in the mirror. He was doing well.

The waitress came back with the food and asked,
“Where’s the chatty one?”

Adam explained, “He’ll be back, don’t worry. He has to;
he’s paying the bill. Oh, by the way, could you bring him a salad?  Lettuce
only please.”

They were all digging into their food when Keller
finally sauntered back to the table and sat down.

Keller saw them eating their non-organic chow and he said,
“You like to live dangerously.”

After he sat down, he continued chatting, “Hey, the
bathroom here has one of those fancy ultra-violet hand dryers. Man, they may
look like a work of art, but they sure look like they’d spread the plague in a
heartbeat. Give me paper towels any day.”

His barren meal arrived.

Molly looked up and said, “Well, you know, on the Mars
spacecraft we’ll be using antibacterial reusable towels. As well as those
ultra-violet hand dryers. For what it’s worth, research shows that they are
very effective. And there is no such thing as a paper towel up there in space.
Things are different in long-term habitats like that.”

Keller chewed his salad and thought for a bit. When
Molly wasn’t looking, he stole a tater tot from her plate. “I guess that makes
sense to avoid disposable things. Every ounce of weight carried to the space
station costs over two thousand dollars, so I guess those paper towels would
cost a ton of money.”

He chewed some more and asked, “So you’re all getting
the one million dollar bonus, right?”

Everybody stopped chewing and looked around the table.
They observed each other to see if anybody gave a hint that they were getting
more or less. It was silent. Poker faces were on full power.

Keller added, “That’s not really a question. You are
all
getting that bonus. It was my idea. I had to make sure we had the best people
here; mainly because you had to take up my slack since I’m not an engineer. I
just make money magically appear. And rockets. I make them appear too. It’s a
skill.”

Even Yeva smiled. Keller had the gift of gab. In one
fell swoop, he bumped their egos and made a self-deprecating statement. He was
far more skillful than he let on.

Yeva stopped chewing and motioned with her fork while
saying, “You do not deserve to be on the mission Mr. Murch. You have not earned
it like we have.”

Adam interjected, “Hang on now, let’s be diplomatic.”

Keller spied a challenge. He laughed and said, “Well,
let’s look at it this way. With my technology, this entire mission is being
planned and launched in less than a year, maybe even half that. If you had to
wait on the defense contractors alone, you’d be lucky to get a design
approved
in less than six years. By then, you, Yeva, would be considered too old for
this type of mission. Not only do I deserve to be on this rocket, but you
should be thanking me.”

He smiled as if he’d just won a battle. Then he
continued.

“To be honest, this was supposed to be an American
mission only. Yes, it’s true. Adam, I don’t think you knew that. We had to
invite a Russian because I sort of shafted the Russian Defense Bureau out of
$20 million in a deal that was no longer, um,
strategic
for Murch Motors.
That’s one of the reasons why they weren’t going to let us use the Soyuz to
launch astronauts anymore. However, they suggested Yeva and she seems very
qualified. Yeva, you are our Fast Pass to the Soyuz launch vehicle.”

He made the last point by sticking a fork into another
tater tot from Molly’s plate.

Keller added, “Now of course, Adam, you are the team
captain so, you know, I will defer all technical decisions to you. I am just a
worker bee here.”

He bowed his head toward Adam.

Adam said, “Thanks Keller. Let’s agree that Keller has
earned a spot on this mission, although in a non-traditional way. Without him,
there would not be a rocket ship to get us there in a reasonable time. Okay?”

Molly was playing with what food she had left; a
thought was being tossed around in her head. She looked up and said, “So have
any of you seen the missing photo?”

Adam quickly replied, “Huh?  Yes, we’ve seen them.”

Molly added, “No, you’ve seen photos A, B, and C. The
paperwork said there were four photos originally, but it wasn’t in the packet
that I got. In fact, I haven’t talked with anybody who’s seen it.”

Keller took a swig of coffee and said, “It’s funny
that you mention that. I spoke with the NASA director about it and he told me he
couldn’t discuss it.”

Adam looked confused.

“That just doesn’t make sense. It’s either something
wonderful or something terrible.”

Keller stabbed the last tater tot and said, “You’re
right, it doesn’t make sense, but they probably have a good reason. Training
starts tomorrow. Eat up.”

“My goal is to make you scream in pain! If your muscles aren’t about to
rip out of your arms and calves, then I’m not earning my insane fee! So, who’s
ready to start?” asked the physical trainer who obviously ate right, exercised
right and took the right steroids.

He followed with, “Don’t worry, they’re making me
include some team-building exercise crap too, but that will be few and far
between. Are you ready now?”

The four astronauts cringed.

From now on the astronauts would be eating raisin bran
with skim milk for breakfast and avoiding fast food like it was poison. No more
chain food restaurants for them. Each day before lunch they would run around
the outer perimeter of the Watsonville Airport twice. The mild breeze coming
from the ocean made it almost enjoyable. Depending on which direction the wind
came from, though, there was either the smell of garlic in the air or cow
manure. The local processing factories and farm fields could be smelly.

When the trainer was busy, Keller would sometimes lead
the team-building outings which were always a mixture of hiking or jogging
among amazing natural settings. The frequent afternoon excursions always
involved a field trip to somewhere local and unique.

On the first outing, the crew went on a two hour hike
around a state park called Nisene-Marks. Among the attractions there, they had
many miles of paths that curled in and around enormous groves of redwood trees.
Nestled into the valleys of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it was a surreal hiking
location unlike anywhere else in America.

“This place is spooky. And where are the Ewoks?”
remarked Adam as he looked up at the redwood trees like tourists looking up at
New York City skyscrapers.

This hike involved finding a hillside that was
supposed to be the epicenter of the Earthquake that struck during the World
Series in 1989. The group got lost along the way, but thanks to Keller’s triad
of cellphones, they finally found service and navigated their way out. When
walking back to the car, Molly noticed a gigantic yellow slug on the floor of
the trail.

“Is that a snake?” asked Molly excitedly.

Keller smiled and said, “No, that’s a banana slug, one
of the largest in the world.”

“They just wander around here like this?” asked Adam.

“Yup, that’s right. They love the foggy cool climate
here. Just like I do.”

Adam picked it up and examined it. He whispered to
himself, “What a strange life form to find here on Earth.” He took a picture of
it with his phone and then carefully set the slug back down. They wandered back
to their car and left.

Oddly enough, Keller was the most out-of-shape of all
of them. The astronauts had kept up with an exercise regimen even though they
hadn’t been assigned to any flight crews for several years. Keller struggled
the first week, but he made it.

After hiking in the redwood park, they spent a week
running along the beaches. Keller and Molly made for good running mates and
each remarked how this beach running was killing their calf muscles.

Tired of the beach running, the whole crew eventually
decided to return to hiking in the redwoods. On one particularly cool morning,
they left their cars at the front of the park and hiked in. About a half mile
before the dirt road became a dirt walking path, they came across an old
overgrown trail with a sign draped across it that said “Closed.” Keller stopped
and pointed at it.

“You know, we’ve passed by this sign like a dozen
times this month.”

“And it’s
still
closed,” replied Adam.

Keller gave a mischievous smile and asked, “Well, why
don’t we see why it’s closed?”

Adam reminded him, “You do realize we’re in the
spotlight right now. Everything we do is being watched by the media.”

Keller swung his head around and held his hands up.

“No media here! Who’s going with me?”

Molly grinned and said, “I’ll go.”

Adam nodded to Yeva and they continued walking up the
dirt road leaving their two crewmates behind.

Keller lifted the sign up and motioned for Molly to
walk under it. He bowed his head and said, “After you, ma’am.”

Keller followed behind Molly as the trail went up a
steep hill and vanished in dense undergrowth. They continued up and over some
rocks where it popped out onto an old dirt road that straddled the mountain. It
was overgrown with bright green grass and ferns. No car had been through here
in a long time.

The trail snaked even further up. They followed it,
pushing the branches and weeds out of their faces. Sensing brighter and
brighter sunlight, the trail emerged onto a sloped prairie that encompassed the
entire top of a small mountain. The grass was golden brown and bending in the
gentle breeze. They were very high up.

Molly asked, “Shall we continue to the top?”

“Of course,” said Keller as they both stepped out of
the woods and into the prairie.

At the peak of the hill were just a few trees to break
up the blanket of golden brown grass. In between the two tallest trees was a
simple bench made from a split log. Keller plopped down on it. Molly sat down
too. The view splayed out in front of them was of the foothills to the Santa
Cruz Mountains and beyond that the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Far to the South
they could see the seaside town of Monterey and to the North they could see
Santa Cruz.

“We must be able to see, maybe, thirty miles in each
direction?” postulated Keller.

He looked at Molly and asked, “What do you think?”

She slid over to sit next to Keller and said, “I think
this is
wonderful
.”

The two of them sat there soaking up the million
dollar view. Keller wondered who’d found this spot and built this simple wooden
bench. He wanted to thank them. Eventually Keller and Molly would have to leave
this utopian setting. However, there was no need to hurry.

That night the group had a special dinner arranged by
Chris Tankovitch. He’d flown out to check on the facilities and see the
progress of the Turtles. Keller volunteered his own home for the occasion and
suggested that they have a campfire on the beach afterwards.

One hour before sunset they all gathered on the
balcony to have a surf & turf dinner. For Adam, it was a strange experience
to sit up on such a commanding perch overlooking the ocean waves. Joggers ran
up and down the beach throughout dinner; each one glanced up to see the
well-to-do people having their meal on the balcony. Adam felt farther removed
from humanity here than when he was circling the Earth in the space shuttle.

While they ate, Keller had one of his employees set up
a camp fire between the beach house and the ocean waves. After dessert,
everybody grabbed a beer or wine and walked down the stairs onto the beach. The
sand squished between their toes. The group walked over to the campfire and sat
down encircling the ring of flames. Keller sat between Molly and Chris.

When the conversation reached a natural lull, Chris
grabbed a stick and poked the fire. He began speaking to the group.

“So, Keller tells me that the physical part of your
training is going well. That’s fantastic. Your training on the vehicles will
start soon; the simulation modules are almost ready.”

Keller added, “We’re actually
ahead
of
schedule.”

Chris sat back and prepared to talk shop.

“Excellent. So, I’m here to brief you on a couple of
things about the mission. Um, first is the missing photo that I’m sure you’re
all aware of. We call it ‘Photo D.’ None of you have seen it and I know you’re
all curious. Unfortunately, it’s still considered confidential because our NSA
experts are trying to interpret some information on it. However, while you are en
route to Mars, we will reveal it to you. Not to worry, it isn’t anything
dangerous. It won’t make this mission any riskier than it already is.”

Chris laughed at his own statement. Keller smiled and
Adam grimaced.

“I also need to talk with you about
Red Hope
.
Have any of you heard of that before?” asked Chris as he looked around to see
if anybody acknowledged his question.

The astronauts all looked at each other shaking their
heads.

Chris continued, “Okay, on certain space missions in
the past, one piece of equipment onboard was a vial of poison codenamed Red
Hope. It’s a red liquid form of cyanide. The purpose of it was in case the crew
had a life-threatening disaster and would not be able to return. Our guys on
Apollo 13
almost
had to use it when it looked like their Moon mission
was going to end in tragedy.”

Keller asked, “But I thought the onboard poison was
just a myth?”

“Well, to the outside media and the public, it is just
a myth. But we don’t want our astronauts to die a horrible painful death if
they can help it, right? So if something goes wrong, the president has a speech
prepared. After he finishes, your radio transmitter will be shut off for you.
You won’t be able to speak with anybody on Earth after that. What you do on
your own after that is up to you. Red Hope will be on this mission.”

Molly questioned, “So we could just use up our oxygen
and die one by one?”

Chris added, “Or you could use the Red Hope capsules
that will be with you on the Little Turtle. It’s in a little locked cabinet
with red and yellow stripes on it; right near the escape hatch door. You are
not to speak with anybody about this. It is top secret. Understood?”

The group went quiet. Nobody spoke as they took in the
consequences of the NASA director’s message.

Keller added, “That’s a bit of a downer there Director
Tankovitch. How about we lighten the mood some? Everybody look out toward the
ocean; the Sun is about to vanish.”

The crew turned around and stared at the sliver of
yellow disc sinking into the ocean. Above it they saw bright pink and purple
clouds illuminated from the dimming sunlight. The Sun was going, going, gone.
They filled the rest of the night with small talk. Keller and Molly entertained
each other with funny stories.

Starting the following week, the crew performed less
physical exercise and began using the module simulators. The Science Module, or
Big Turtle, was very large. It contained a kitchen, sleeping quarters and a
caisson. The Little Turtle was going to be used to transport them from Earth
orbit to Mars and back again.  That’s what Adam used for most of his flight
training practice.

The crew practiced mating the two modules together
which would be done once they were both on the surface of Mars. The mating
process was accomplished with a pressurized extendable hallway tube. They also
practiced driving around the remote controlled mini-rover.

One evening during the last month of their training,
Molly and Keller left to spend time at the beach house. Adam and Yeva went to
dinner at the airport cafeteria. They gathered their food and sat down.

Adam paused his eating and asked, “Does it seem like
those two are getting awkwardly close?”

“Yes, I have seen this before. It is not good for a
mission.”

“As the leader of this team, I don’t approve of this
cohabitation they have going on.”

“Then
do
something about it.”

“I will,” replied Adam.

He did nothing. Molly seemed to have a taming effect
on Keller and Adam decided that was good for the mission.

The relationship between Molly and Keller was an open
secret. The engineers at Murch Motors knew about it and that’s the way it was.

One Saturday near the end of their training in
California, Keller invited the crew to a house-warming party for his assistant
Lydia; she had married well and was showing off her new house up in the hills
above Los Gatos, a town known for its Lamborghini dealership and tech titan
residents. Keller thought this would be a great chance for the semi-famous crew
to interact with the public in a controlled situation.

Connie had joined Adam for the week so Keller bought a
Suburban to haul everybody around. As they drove up the long driveway toward
the enormous hillside mansion, Keller explained how life worked there.

“Okay, so this is a new mansion built for Lydia by her
nouveau riche husband. They move in higher circles than any of
you
are
used to. See all the sports cars parked around? Everybody at this party has
servants back home. Don’t be insulted if somebody asks you to get a drink for
them. Your clothes, although clean, remind them of their hired help.”

Connie laughed. She asked, “So if Lydia married into
so much money, why does she work as your assistant?”

Keller grinned and answered, “Who wouldn’t want to
spend all day at a beach house?”

They drove past Ferrari’s and Porsches parked
haphazardly among the trees that dotted the landscape. On the right side of the
driveway was a small vineyard used by Lydia’s husband as a hobby; he got more
pride out of telling strangers that he was a wine maker than telling them he was
a Fortune 500 CEO. They parked under a freshly planted mature olive tree. The
group meandered up into the house and mingled with the dozens of strangers who
wanted to meet the famous astronauts.