“How does it feel to be the first men to orbit the Moon?”
Borman demurred to Lovell. “Jim?”
“It was humbling. It was also thrilling. Greatest ride of my life. I guess I can thank old Mike Collins for that. If he didn’t have that bone spur in his back, it would have been him up there instead of me. Not that I want to make light of his misfortune.”
“Who knows, Mike may get another shot at it,” Borman added.
“So how soon before a Moon landing?”
“We’ve got a couple more flights before we get that far,” said Borman. “We need to get the lunar module into orbit and test that out, then we’ll probably want to do a test flight in lunar orbit. So at least two more flights before a landing, but it could be more if we’re not quite there on the technical side.”
“This is a risky business,” said Lovell. “We need to make sure we get it right. Nobody wants anything going wrong on a flight to the Moon.”
They found Donald Menzel waiting for them upon their return to the admiral’s suite.
Borman turned to Lieutenant Packer, the ship’s officer assigned to escort them through the bowels of the Yorktown so they didn’t get lost. “We’ll be fine now, Lieutenant, thank you. I think Dr Menzel would like a quiet word.”
Packer saluted. “There’ll be a man just outside in the corridor. If you need anything, you only need to ask.”
“Much appreciated, thank you.”
Packer closed the door behind him. It was thick enough to ensure they would not be overheard.
“I took a look at your report,” said Borman. “Can’t say I think too highly of its methodology.”
Menzel frowned. “Really? How so?”
“Let’s just stop playing games, shall we doctor? You and I both know that report was a foregone conclusion from the moment Condon’s group of scientists was drafted by the Air Force. Either they’re lousy researchers or they agreed to toe the line, but either way that report is nothing less than an orchestrated disinformation campaign.”
“Well of course I disagree with you entirely, but you seem to be quite determined in your position so I won’t attempt to talk you out of it,” said Menzel.
Borman suspected this was as close as Menzel would come to openly agreeing with him.
“Let me ask you this,” said Menzel. “Would it really be in the US Government’s best interests to have Apollo astronauts talking about visitors from outer space when so many of your brothers in arms are fighting and dying in Vietnam?”
“I’m not sure I follow,” said Anders.
“Then let me be blunt. You’re military men, all of you. If any of you were grounded by NASA, in theory there would be nothing to prevent your reassignment overseas. Do you think anyone at the Binh Thuy Air Base in South Vietnam will care about your stories of bogeys and space visitors?”
“That’s an awfully big stick to wave around,” said Lovell. “You ought to be sure you can back it up.”
“Oh I’m sure,” said Menzel.
“I really don’t think you are,” said Anders. “It’s not such a good look… the men who risked their lives to fly to the Moon getting shunted off to the front line in Vietnam. Sounds like a PR disaster to me.”
“Who said I was talking about any of you? There are more than 60 men in the astronaut program. NASA doesn’t need all of you. Hell, a bunch of you have already been grounded for one reason or another.”
Anders clenched his fists, but decided to walk away without responding.
“You men are heroes. You’re an inspiration to the nation — to the whole world,” said Menzel. “But you should never forget: half a world away your brothers are dying in the thousands in defence of their country.”
“I’ve been there already. I fought for my country,” said Lovell.
“Jim — don’t,” Borman warned.
“What? He sits there and smugly suggests we’re dodging the war effort by joining the space program? That’s horse shit.”
“That’s not what I said at all,” said Menzel.
“All right, all right. Jim, why don’t you and Bill go make a cup of coffee.”
Lovell marched toward the galley in the next room. Borman looked squarely at Menzel, who appeared unrepentant and unmoved. He wondered if the man had any idea at how close he had just come to having his teeth knocked out by an astronaut. “Give me a second,” he said, then followed Lovell into the next room.
Jim was still steaming. “That guy has one helluva nerve talking to us like that.”
“He’s bluffing,” said Anders. “No-one would be stupid enough to send an astronaut off to war.”
Borman raised an eyebrow. “Has it occurred to either of you that he feels free to talk to us this way because he really does wield some serious power? Look, leave him to me. I’ll sort this out.” He picked up the Condon committee report from under his bunk, returned with it to the conference room and placed it on the table in front of Menzel.
“You’ve got more of a problem than you may realise,” said Borman.
“Sit down, Frank.”
Menzel touched the top of the seat next to him. Borman pulled it out and sat down.
“What problem is that exactly?”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess you know we saw something up there on the far side of the Moon.”
Menzel’s eyes lit up for just a moment, but he said nothing.
“It’s all right,” said Borman, “I don’t expect you to openly confirm it, though I’ve got to say your poker face needs some work.”
“Go on,” said Menzel.
“We’re going to be sending more men to the Moon. A whole lot more. It’ll take us at least two more lunar orbital missions to get to the surface and we’re not just going to stop at one landing. We’re going to keep going back and maybe even one day build a base there.”
“Your point being?”
“Whatever it was we saw up there was not of human origin. It wasn’t the Russians, it wasn’t some rogue satellite. It was an intelligently controlled spacecraft with capabilities way beyond our wildest dreams. And they’re out there on the far side of the Moon. It looked a lot to us like they might be living up there. Now unless you want some over-eager astronaut inadvertently telling the world all about it, you’re going to have to brief each and every crew member of future Apollo missions on what they can expect to see.”
Menzel thought about it for a minute. “You’re right.”
“You can read them all the riot act like you’ve just done with Bill and Jim, but don’t be surprised if you get a similar reaction each time. These guys are the best of the best. They are members of the most exclusive club you could imagine. You’ll never stop them talking amongst themselves behind closed doors. They’re facing the threat of life and death every day. Their lives are already on the line. Threats are simply not going to get the job done.”
Menzel nodded. “I hear what you’re saying. I appreciate your candour.”
He turned around and saw neither Anders nor Lovell were in earshot.
“Now there is something I’d like to show you. Do you have a few minutes?”
Borman wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “I suppose so.”
Menzel placed a small metal device on the table in front of them.
“Do you have the camera on you?” said Menzel.
Borman was caught off guard.
Menzel smiled. “Poker face, Colonel. It’s all right. I’ll assume the answer’s yes. You don’t need to respond.”
Borman stared at the scientist, then at the strange device on the table between them, trying to fathom what the man was up to. Menzel placed his hand on Borman’s arm, then flicked a knob on the device. The world around them immediately took on a strange shimmer, as if the air had become super-heated.