Blue Hope: (Book 2) (Red Hope) Page 33

  His eyes bloomed open.

  “Ohhh noooo,” Adam trailed off.

  “What? What is it?” Sally asked, full of concern.

  “The good news is that it didn’t puncture the other side of the Command Module. The bad news is that it put a big hole right in the cooler.”

  CHAPTER 82

  Twenty four thousand miles from Earth

  Sky Turtle

  “Fort Worth, we found the hole and we patched it.”

  “Roger that, Sky Turtle, we see that your pressure is rising back to normal. However, we notice that your CO2 is elevated.”

  Adam looked at Sally with a guilty expression on his face.

  “Yeah, to find the leak we had to use some drama department science,” Adam admitted. “We used a small bit of dry ice and water to make smoke. You know, to lead us to the hole.”

  “Roger that, Sky Turtle. You may need to replace the CO2 scrubber earlier than usual. Keep an eye on it.”

  “Will do,” Adam said. “We do have another slight problem.”

  “What’s the problem, Sky Turtle?”

  “The debris was a tiny bolt. The little piece of space garbage poked a hole in our ship, but didn’t exit the other side. Unfortunately, it embedded in the Blue Hope cooler and it pierced the outside and the inside lining.”

  “What’s the status,” Fort Worth asked. “Are the chemicals okay?”

  “The chemicals are fine, but we’ve got the holes patched with duct tape,” Adam reported.

  “Duct tape?”

  “Yes, it was the best solution at hand.”

  “Sky Turtle crew, why hadn’t you already transferred the cooler to the Lunar Module yet?”

  Adam shrugged his shoulders.

  “Well, Fort Worth, we were evaluating our tablets when the incident happened.”

  “Okay, but watch those CO2 levels. If they continue to stay elevated, then you’ve got a serious problem.”

  Adam raised an eyebrow of concern. “You mean like an Apollo 13 problem?”

  A few seconds of silence followed.

  “Negative, Sky Turtle. Apollo 13 made it back alive.”

  CHAPTER 83

  Sky Turtle

  Approaching lunar orbit

  Adam stared nervously at the stack of used CO2 scrubbers. After three days, the crew had gone through double the expected number of these precious air filtration devices. These cylindrical filters contained a packing of beads that would pull CO2 out of the cabin’s air. With the cooler slowly leaking, the CO2 had been elevated for the entire trip.

  These closed-loop breathing systems are not the most forgiving, he thought.

  However, no time to focus on the negative for now. The Moon view filled up all of the windows, its off-white glint bouncing through the corners of the small command module windows.

  “Firing Service Module rocket to slow us down,” Adam said.

  The entire flying contraption was backwards now, with the rocket engine facing the Moon. Adam started the ignition sequence. The electronic flight controls lit the rocket and fired it, slowing down the entire spacecraft. It continued to descend and slow down until it reached a circular parking orbit roughly 70 miles above the surface of the Moon.

  At this altitude and speed, they could orbit the Moon indefinitely.

  “Fort Worth,” Adam spoke to Mission Control. “We are parked in orbit around the Moon.”

  “Congratulations, Sky Turtle. Proceed to your Lunar Module setup.”

  Sally and Adam gathered a few items and crawled through the hole into the Lunar Module. The leaky cooler had been put into the Lunar Module the previous day to reduce its impact on the Command Module systems — however, the damage had been done. It was still affecting the CO2 scrubbers in both spacecraft. The astronauts couldn’t wait to dump it on the Moon.

  When the crew was done setting up the Lunar Module, Tucker returned to his position in the Command Module where he would orbit the Moon until the others returned. He reached through the hatch and shook Sally’s hand and then Adam’s hand.

  “Good luck, you two. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous,” Tucker admitted. When Tucker pulled his hand back from Adam, he noticed a small square of folded paper pressed into his palm. Tucker looked mildly confused, silently waving it at Adam. Adam said nothing. He just winked.

  “See you in a few hours,” Tucker said. “Godspeed.”

  They both closed the hatches on their respective spaceships. Sally and Adam took their positions in front of the triangular windows in the Lunar Module. Adam was the pilot and stood on the right. Sally stood on the left and would be the navigator.

  “Undocking in five, four, three, two one.”

  Clunk.

  The Lunar Module floated away from the Command Module, rotating slightly. The two astronauts could now see the Command Module through the windows.

  “That’s quite a sight…” Sally said, shaking her head at the wonder.

  “Engaging autopilot,” Adam said. “Next stop, the Mare Tranquillitatis lunar pit.”

  The Lunar Module continued its slow descent toward the Moon. As they neared the surface, the autopilot engaged the descent rocket and the directional thrusters kicked in, giving guidance — hopefully leading them toward a safe landing next to the rim of the lunar pit. The astronauts looked out over the Sea of Tranquility, marveling at the bright coloration of the terrain.

  “Do you see hints of orange color over on that ridge?” Adam asked.

  “Sure do,” Sally replied. “I bet the Apollo 11 guys saw that, too.”

  Lower and lower they went. The details of the terrain were amazing, especially the small craters. Many of them had little mountains in their center — a result of the violent impact of the meteoroids that strike the Moon.

  “There it is!” Adam yelled.

  Just past a medium-sized crater was a large hole in the ground, roughly 300 feet in diameter. The Moon Turtle approached the lunar pit at a slow speed. It passed above it briefly to give both the crew and the downward video cameras a good view.

  After all, the world was watching.

  The Lunar Module now hovered over the giant hole in the Moon. At the bottom was a structure very similar to the Martian laboratory found on Earth, except it had an extension, making it a giant T shape.

  Spooky, Adam whispered to himself.

  He was nearly hypnotized at the view.

  “Watch your fuel,” Sally said.

  Adam broke his hypnotic stare.

  “We’re good,” he replied.

  The Lunar Module would not land inside the pit — the terrain was unknown, making it unsafe by default. If it was too rocky, then the Lunar Module might fall over. Being inside the pit would also greatly limit communication. Instead, they would land ten meters or so from the edge of the pit and cables would uncoil and droop down over the cliff edge. The astronauts had a handheld cable-climber device that would lower them down and pull them back up.

  The Lunar Module descended slowly. The four landing pads gently touched the Moon surface. Before the rockets could shut down, though, the ground began to crumble. The astronauts felt the entire ship tilt.

  “What the hell?” Adam yelled.

  He throttled up the engine again and the Lunar Module lifted up just as the ground gave way, falling into a huge chasm.

  The debris caused a small avalanche to slide down the side of the lunar pit, but it fell in a surreal slow manner.

  Alarms blared in the Lunar Module. Lights flashed.

  “I got it! I got it!” Adam cried.

  The Lunar Module veered violently back out over the gaping lunar pit.

  “We’ve only got fifteen seconds of fuel!” Sally exclaimed.

  “I know! I’m trying to get us back to the rim!”

  “Just set it down! Straight down!” Sally yelled.

  Adam knew she was right. They didn’t have enough fuel. He reduced the rocket power and the Lunar Module descended into the pit.

  “Four
seconds!” Adam reported.

  They kept dropping. They were two hundred feet below the opening to the lunar pit. It was enormous.

  The rockets puttered out. The butterflies in Adam’s stomach were doing somersaults. Just as they were feeling the minute acceleration of the Lunar Module, it suddenly stopped.

  Whomp!

  The Lunar Module, named Moon Turtle, sat on the bottom of the lunar pit at a slight angle.

  “We’re not dead,” Adam cried, leaning his head forward and breathing heavy. “Oh thank God, we’re not dead.”

  One by one, Adam disabled the alarms. The last one was a warning about another CO2 scrubber. Adam pulled out the spent CO2 filtration device. The beads were bright red – a sign that they were used up. He shoved a new one in.

  “This is not good news,” Adam declared.

  The excessive use of CO2 scrubbers was weighing heavily on Adam. He did some simple calculations in his head. It didn’t bode well for the return trip. Adam thought he saw Sally grimace as she did the math too, but she didn’t say anything.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Sally finally told him.

  Sally was looking out the window, trying to gauge their location relative to the rim of the pit.

  “We’re pretty deep down here, Adam. We’ll only have direct line-of-sight communication with Tucker every two hours. Maybe two or three minutes at a time?”

  Adam nodded.

  “I know,” Adam agreed. “The situation is not ideal.”

  Sunlight blazed down the craggy walls of the pit and more than half of the lunar pit floor. Thirty meters away was the expectedly tall Martian Laboratory complex. The two astronauts stared at it through the windows of the Lunar Module.

  Adam turned around and looked at the cooler that was causing them so much trouble.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” he said.

  Before starting the chemical mixing, Adam used an old logbook as a wedge to level out the Hope-A-Matic machine.

  He opened the cooler and removed the three very cold bottles. One by one, he plunked them down on the intake pipes for the Hope-A-Matic. Adam pushed the start button and the process began. The liquids were sucked into the blinking box and the sound of electric motors permeated the Lunar Module.

  Adam looked over at Sally. “While we’re brewing some of this blue juice, what do you say we go explore a Martian laboratory?”

  The two astronauts began the process of maneuvering into the their Lunar Exploration suits.

  “Wow, this is so much easier here than on Earth. I can almost jump into the suit,” Sally said.

  After gathering their equipment, the two astronauts moved toward the door.

  “Once we open this door,” Adam said nervously, “that will activate the auto-launch countdown. The ascent stage will return to Tucker and the Command Module whether we’re in it or not — and Earth gets its Blue Hope. We’ll only have two hours to explore here.”

  “I remember,” Sally said. “If we can’t do any meaningful exploration in two hours, then we’re doing something wrong.”

  Adam laughed. “Time to go?”

  “Time for you to be the first person to set foot on the Moon in nearly a half century,” Sally laughed.

  Adam thought for a moment.

  “When is Tucker flying over?”

  Sally looked at the monitor on the flight computer.

  “In ten minutes,” she answered.

  “Let’s wait,” Adam declared. “Once we’re in line-of-sight with Tucker overhead, we can transmit video from the outside cameras and show the world what we’re doing.

  How arrogant, Sally thought.

  Adam added one-click to the auto-launch computer, delaying the auto-launch system by ten minutes.

  They waited in silence. Eventually, a crackly sound invaded the cabin.

  “Can you hear me?” the voice of Tucker asked over their communication radio.

  “Loud and clear, Sky Turtle. For what it’s worth, the Moon Turtle has landed.”

  “Thank God. Our last video feed showed you disappearing into the pit.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Adam said. “Can you transmit our video? We’re about to exit the Lunar Module.”

  “You’re live right now. Say hello to six billion people.”

  Adam laughed. He unlatched the door. The sound of air escaping only lasted for a second. Through the hatch they could see an incredibly bright white powdery surface with some black striations — they were staring directly at the Moon.

  Adam grabbed the contents of the cooler and threw them out onto the Moon along with the spent CO2 scrubbers. They bounced for a long time.

  Good riddance, he thought to himself.

  “Go on,” Sally commanded. “Your turn.”

  Adam looked out at the Moon and then back at Sally.

  “No,” Adam said. “Ladies first this time.”

  Sally raised her eyebrows in surprise, but she didn’t second-guess his decision. Adam moved away and Sally backed out through the door and down the ladder. Step by step, she walked down the tiny external ladder. She got to the bottom and did a little hop away and planted both feet on the Moon.

  She looked up and saw the Command Module still in view. It was just a bright speck cruising across the black sky.

  “That’s one small leap for a woman,” Sally said with a mile-wide grin. “And one giant leap for humanity.”

  Adam nodded at how wonderful her words were. Moments later, he followed her out and hopped down onto the ground next to her.

  “Would you look at that? We’re standing on the Moon. Woohoo…” Adam said jokingly. “I think we’ll make a good team.”

  Five seconds later, the Command Module, far above them, slipped beyond the rim of the crater. The video feed went blank, but not before the world saw Sally Monta become the first woman to walk on the Moon.

  CHAPTER 84

  Mission Control

  NASA Jennings Manned Spacecraft Center

  Fort Worth, Texas

  The door flew open and two men walked in wearing dark blue suits. They showed their FBI badges to the security guards, then moved quickly towards Chris Tankovitch.

  “Director Tankovitch, we need a minute of your time.”

  Adam looked at them, with his forehead scrunched, wondering what they were doing here at this crisis moment.

  “Well, I’m right in the middle of an emergency.”

  “I know,” the man said without emotion. He leaned slightly toward Chris and said, “This will just take a minute.”

  Chris removed his headphones.

  “What is it, guys?”

  “Sir, a farmer in Ohio found Yeva Turoskova’s body. It’s been transferred to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. They’re running an emergency autopsy right now.”

  Chris took in a long slow breath. He was very concerned.

  “You know that he’s up there right now with another astronaut on the Moon?”

  “We understand sir. It’s just unfortunate timing.”

  The other man leaned forward with a grin. “Or fortunate timing, depending on your concerns.”

  “I don’t even know what that means,” Chris said. “Just let me know what they find.”

  One of the FBI men handed Chris a business card.

  “Will do, sir.”

  In lockstep, the two men walked toward the far end of the room and disappeared through the door.

  CHAPTER 85

  Martian Laboratory — Exterior

  Lunar Pit

  Surprisingly, the Martian lab wasn’t the only thing that caught their eye. The lunar pit was more than just a hole in the ground. Since it formed from a giant lava tube, it was more of a very long cave with a large opening directly overhead.

  Adam shone his flashlight down both ends of the cave and it seemed to go on forever.

  “This cave is massive,” Adam noted. “I wish we had days here to explore.”

  “The primary missio
n,” Sally said, “ is to mix up a few gallons of Blue Hope and return home. This exploration is just icing on the cake. Hopefully we find something useful in the lab.”

  “Like an anti-gravity cube,” Adam said.

  “Exactly,” Sally replied.

  This Martian lab shared many similarities with the one at Zhuvango Falls. They were both made of a shiny metal, but this one had a few dents, probably from the meteoroids that struck it over the past two hundred thousand years.

  The two astronauts continued hiking toward the lab. There was a lot of debris outside the building. The long portion of the T-shaped lab had a ramp underneath that they assumed led to the entrance platform.

  “They sure do have a thing for basement entrances,” Adam said.

  “I’m sure they have a good reason.”

  As they approached the ramp, they noticed a large pile of bleached white bones. Very large bones, in fact. Scary large bones with some appearing to be from an animal fifty feet long. The bones had hack marks on them, as if they’d been processed manually. At the end of the longest set of bones was a small crater where the bones had been decimated into fragments.

  “That’s not very comforting,” Sally said nervously.

  When they arrived at the ramp, Adam froze.

  “Boot prints,” Adam said, shining his flashlight down. “Everywhere. I mean, everywhere.”

  The two astronauts looked in awe at the tracks of large boot prints that led from the ramp off in various directions, most of them to the pile of bright white bones.

  “Old boot prints, I’m sure,” Sally surmised.

  “Agreed. Boot prints on the Moon would last forever unless something hit them.”

  Adam shined his flashlight down the ramp. It was generally clean underneath the lab. More boot prints, of course. The two astronauts walked down the ramp side by side. At the end of the underground hallway, there was a familiar circular platform just like in the lab at Zhuvango Falls. As they neared the platform, the lights on the walls turned on, illuminating this below-ground room.

  Adam and Sally stepped onto the lift. Adam turned to the wall right next to him and saw the familiar tangram shapes.