Dick didn’t look satisfied. “Right now you’re grounded. I’ll put you in some management role until I decide what to do.”
Tom felt like an eagle that just had its wings clipped. He lowered his head in disappointment knowing he probably just lost his ticket to the moon.
DEPRESSED AFTER HIS meeting with Dick, Tom had to get out of the office. As soon as he had the chance, he snuck away. When he entered his home, the aroma of fresh bread baking in the kitchen tantalized his senses, instantly perking him up. He crossed through the clean family room and stopped at the kitchen threshold. He stood behind Anne, who was across the room wearing her favorite everyday sundress, cleaning dishes with her back to him. In the center of the room sat Peter in his highchair, eating Cheerios. Tom’s spirits were already starting to lift seeing his family. It was as if he was being set free and stepping into another world.
His son heard Tom enter and looked up. A big smile appeared on Peter’s face. Even though the boy probably wouldn’t understand it, Tom instinctively put a finger over his lips to signal for his son to stay quiet. Being home early, Tom wanted to surprise Anne. He tiptoed softly across the linoleum floor and planted a gentle kiss on his wife’s neck, startling her. Anne jerked around with a surprised look. “What are you doing home so early?”
Tom let out a soft chuckle, pleased his little sneak attack had worked. “I needed to get away from the office.”
Anne wiped her hands on her yellow apron and moved in close to give him a proper kiss. “Well this is a pleasant surprise.”
Tom kissed her supple lips and then walked over to Peter. “Yeah, I had a bad day.” He rubbed the top of his son’s head. The boy kept eating his cereal. Tom stole a few Cheerios, popping them into his mouth before taking a seat on a barstool at the counter.
Anne shut off the water, turned around, and leaned back against the sink. “What happened?”
Tom plastered a happy mask on his face. “Let’s first talk about your day.”
Anne straightened her apron as she walked over to the counter. “My day was nice. Uneventful.” She grabbed an ashtray, sliding it across the counter opposite Tom. Anne clutched a pack of cigarettes lying by the phone and pulled out a lone smoke. “So why the bad day?”
Reflecting upon the meeting with his boss, frustration began to boil within Tom. “I think I lost my ride to the moon.”
Anne stopped in mid-motion, letting the unlit cigarette dangle between her fingers. “What makes you say that?”
“I had a meeting today with Dick, and he grounded me.”
“What in the heavens for?”
“Because of an excessive heart rate I experienced during my spacewalk. I guess it made the doctors nervous.”
She reached for the lighter. “Maybe they’re just playing it safe. I’m sure after some tests and further training you’ll convince them you’re fine.”
His wife was trying to be encouraging, but Tom knew deep down she wouldn’t mind if he never flew again. She only supported his quest for the moon because that was what he wanted. If he ended his career today, she would be the first to support him on the decision. His job carried a certain amount of risk, which weighed heavily on her mind, even more so since Peter had joined their family. Tom leaned back on the barstool. “I wish it was that easy. However, I think I made things worse.”
She lit her cigarette and took a deep drag. “How?”
Tom had to decide how open he should be. When he returned home from space, he originally planned on telling his wife everything about the mission, including all the problems. When he discussed the incident where his tether line had been cut, Anne became very distraught, hearing that she had almost lost him. After consoling her and giving her the assurance he was never in serious danger, Tom decided it was best not to elaborate on how bad his condition actually was before flying the AMU. If she knew the truth, there was probably a good chance she would question him ever taking another mission.
It was time for Tom to come clean on how bad his situation really was. “Because I kept mission control in the dark on how bad my physical condition was. I think Dick now questions if he can trust me.”
Curiosity brewed within Anne’s eyes over her cigarette’s softly glowing tip. “You told me you struggled out there, but you never said you were in trouble prior to the accident. Were you?”
He looked over to Peter. “Maybe.” He shook his head before bringing his eyes back to hers and confessing, “I seriously considered calling off the test when I was strapped to the AMU. My visor was completely fogged over, and I was physically spent. But testing the jet pack was too important to the program, and I couldn’t just give up. I was there to do a job.”
Anne appeared to be trying to contain her cool as she flicked the cigarette’s ashes into the ashtray. “Give up? Are you serious? They aren’t paying you to kill yourself.” She looked away for a beat before turning back. “How could you chance risking your life? Once you felt the odds were against you, you should have abandoned flying that damn machine.”
“You’re right. I just got carried away by the overall experience. After all the failures with our mission, I thought flying the AMU would erase them. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.”
Anne placed the cigarette in the ashtray before crossing her arms and staring at him. “You did the longest EVA ever in space. That alone made your mission a success.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about it happening again. That was probably my last flight.”
Anne spoke with conviction in her voice. “That’s not what I want and you know it. I want you to be happy, and being an astronaut makes you happy. Did you tell Dick you almost died out there when you were cut loose?”
“No, Sam and I made a pact not to disclose that incident, and I’m sticking to it. That wouldn’t change anything anyway, except maybe getting us both grounded.”
Anne reached over the counter and grabbed his arm. “All I ask is that you never take any unnecessary risks.”
Tom put his hand on hers.
Anne gazed directly at her husband. “I’m confident you will fly again, and I want you to promise me you will never put yourself in a situation where you might not come home.”
“If I’m lucky to fly a second time, I guarantee not to cross that line.”
“Promise?”
Tom squeezed her hand and flashed a confident wink. “Promise.”
She smiled. “Well then, you need to set Dick straight. What does he have you doing?”
Tom released her hand and settled back down on the cushioned barstool. “He put me in management.”
“Well then you just kiss his butt and do whatever you have to do to get back into rotation. I’m behind you one hundred percent.”
Tom grinned at his wife’s choice of words, which were uncharacteristic for her. “Roger that, Captain.”
5
THE ENEMY
Moscow, USSR, was having one of its typical cold mornings as Viktor Alexandrov, dressed in his Soviet air force uniform, anxiously marched down the chilly corridor behind a tall Army commander. This was Viktor’s first visit to the Kremlin, and deep inside he felt like a little boy wishing he could venture through the antique rooms he passed. But instead, he kept a stoic face, his eyes cast forward, as his steps stayed in cadence with those of the robotic man in front.
Viktor had no idea why he had been summoned to the historical palace. The young engineer cosmonaut suspected high ranking Party leaders would be present at the meeting, which probably had something to do with the N1 rocket. Having been selected for the elite group of cosmonauts training for the first Soviet lunar landing, part of Viktor’s preparation was learning the intricacies of the massive moon rocket. His particular assignment was the rocket’s NK-15 engines. Thirty-two of these powerful engines were positioned at the base of the Block A first stage. He had spent long hours over the last couple of months working closely with the engine’s engineers. He did everything he could to become an expert on the complicated setup.