Everyone’s suits, except for Anthony Chow’s, were covered with a layer of lunar dust, turning their previously pristine white appearance to dark gray.
“What a mess,” Stetson told them as he surveyed the situation. “Okay. We all need to shed these suits and bag them quickly.” He didn’t want to offend the Chinese, who might not be aware of just how bad they really smelled, so he decided to use a plausible sounding, and totally accurate, alternate reason for asking them to remove their suits.
“You’re all covered with lunar dust. We can’t risk letting the dust get into Orion’s systems, so we need to get them sealed up as soon as possible. Please strip them off and secure them as best you can against the aft wall.” Lunar dust was formed from eons of meteorite impacts, and each piece was more like a multi-spiked ball than its well-weathered Earthly cousins. It stuck to everything, and letting much get into the Orion’s cabin simply posed too great a risk to its electronic systems.
The first to enter the Orion was Bill Stetson. After checking the ship’s onboard systems, he went back into the Altair and scanned the rest of his crew. He cycled them in and then pressurized the cabin. They each began getting out of their suits.
“Captain Hui, we brought one change of clothes for you and each member of your crew. This is one case where knowing a little about each of you ahead of time came in handy. Here are packages with your names on them. They contain the clothing and a few other items your people thought you would need. Also, there are antiseptic wipes available.”
Hui smiled and then replied, “I am not by nature a very modest person, Captain Stetson, but I understand the indelicate situation in which we find ourselves, and I will, of course, efficiently work the problem.” With that, she and the rest proceeded to strip. They then placed the filthy suits in garment bags, sealed them, and stowed them as best they could.
Hui looked like a different person without her bulky spacesuit and dressed in a fresh flight suit. Chow had changed into his flight suit, and both Xu and Zhi were clad in clean undergarments provided. They’d also managed to get Ming into his fresh flight suit. Each of them had bathed with the wipes as best they could.
“Gentlemen and lady, welcome aboard the Orion.”
Stetson helped Dr. Xu transfer the limp body of Ming Feng into one of the four chairs anchored to the floor of the capsule that would return them home. The chairs were arranged two on each side, one above the other with an aluminum deck below each of the top two seats. Open space separated each pair of seats, allowing movement between them.
Stetson buckled Ming into a seat on the lower deck.
The four remaining astronauts pulled themselves through the ring and floated into whatever open space they could find available in the very cramped interior of the Orion.
Zhi, still mostly keeping to himself, managed to be the last person to enter the Orion from the Altair. Immediately after passing through the airlock, he launched himself like a torpedo toward the lower decking and the chair into which the pilot had been strapped, narrowly missing a collision with Dr. Xu in the process. His rapid movement distracted everyone from seeing what he had curled in his hands that he then rapidly tucked away behind the Orion’s lower right seat: a .45 caliber revolver.
“Ming’s got one seat,” Bill said. “I need one during the Trans-Earth Injection burn and reentry. Each of you two will have to share one. After TEI, we can take turns with two people hanging around until they get a chance to buckle in for a while.”
Hui looked at Chow, shrugged her shoulders, and motioned to one of the available seats. Taking the cue, Chow moved to the seat and motioned for Hui to take it. She pulled her weightless self into the seat. He then followed by wedging himself next to her and using the seat belt to fasten them both down.
Dr. Xu and the still-silent Zhi moved to the only remaining seat and rather awkwardly buckled themselves in as well.
About thirty minutes later, there was another countdown and then the engine on the service module ignited, giving them the impulse required to return the ship to Earth. The maneuver was short, lasting only long enough to give the ship the speed required for them to be on a course for home.
Stetson spoke just after the engines shut down. “It’s been a long day. Unless anyone objects, I’m going to dim the lights and take a nap.”
No one objected. Though they all peered out the window at the Moon one long, last time.
The rest of that day was uneventful. Though they were restless and crowded, the mood was generally upbeat. After all, they had all gone to the Moon, and it looked like everyone was going to make it home. There was good reason to be upbeat.
Hui chatted frequently with her Chinese colleagues back on Earth, speculating on what might have gone wrong with the Harmony and caused it to crash. She repeatedly tried to engage Zhi in the discussions—without success.
Dr. Xu almost never left the side of Ming, fretting constantly about his condition and speculating on why he had not regained consciousness. He, too, engaged in protracted discussions on the radio; his were mainly with Chinese physicians who were monitoring Ming’s condition from afar. Chow was often right there with him, checking Ming’s vital signs and engaging in similar discussions with his American counterparts in Houston.
Stetson purposefully remained somewhat aloof, watching the crew with interest and silently assessing them. His conversations with mission control were strictly business, and he never missed an opportunity to speak with his wife and children.
Chapter 26
The alarm sounded but didn’t exactly jolt him awake. Bill was strapped into the commander’s seat, his seat, and had been out for more than three hours. He was in the midst of a very good dream about his wife on a beach, and there were very few clothes involved. Then the alarms sounded and men came in and pulled him away to respond to some emergency. The alarm continued to sound.
“What’s that?” He finally snapped awake and immediately started scanning the screen in front of him. He had to squint, because he was extremely tired and hadn’t slept much since the whole mission began. Now they were more than a half day into their journey back to Earth.
Momentarily disoriented, Chow stirred himself awake in the adjacent couch. He looked around, and Bill figured he was doing the same thing he had done. He was probably trying to figure out where the heck he was.
“Rise and shine. Looks like another day, er, night at the office,” Bill said.
“Huh?” Bill could see that his colleague finally realized he was on the Orion spacecraft somewhere in the depths of space between the Moon and Earth and that an alarm was blaring at them. And in some way or other, that alarm probably meant something was trying to kill them in some form or fashion. Chow looked quickly over at Bill, who was smiling right back at him.
“Bill, what’s going on?” he asked nervously.
“I’m not sure yet,” Stetson said. “Won’t be long for Houston chimes in, I guess.”
Right on cue, the communication icon flashed and chimed.
“Mercy I, this is Houston. We’re seeing a problem with one of your solar arrays. Are you seeing it as well?”
“Uh, checking it,” Stetson replied.
“Something wrong?” Hui floated up next to them.
“Not sure yet, Hui,” Tony said to her.