Orbital Maneuvers (15 page)

Working together as closely as they had been for the last several years, Ivan picked up on the subtle actions and body language that Susan exhibited and felt he could read her fairly well now.  He knew that it took a lot for her to disobey the orders from Korolev, even if she did not agree with them.  If she ever flew again, or had a command position, she would be the better for it after her trial by fire on this mission.  He would enjoy working with her again.

“Okay, Ivan, let’s get this show on the road!  What do we have to do before we light the engines?”

Before Ivan could respond, Jerry pushed forward.  “Susan, do you really want to disobey a direct order from Mission Control?” He paused to give her a chance to answer before continuing.

“No, I don’t want to disobey the order.  What’s your point, Jerry?”

“Well, you are placing yourself in a very bad situation.  If something were to happen to the station because of your actions, you would be the one responsible.  I mean, this is a forty billion dollar, multinational piece of equipment, and here you are calling the shots on where it goes.  If you’re right, and you make the correct call, then you’re a hero, but if you don’t…”

“Jerry, if you are so concerned with my well-being, then do what you can to help us move this station.  I will worry about the repercussions of my actions when we get back home, thank you very much.”

“But moving the station is going to make it more difficult for our reentry.”

Ivan moaned, “Jerry, will you get off—”

Susan cut Ivan off.  “Jerry, don’t waste your breath and our time!  I have made the decision, and we are moving this station.  That is the end of the discussion!  Now, if you want to help, I am sure that there is something you can do, and if you don’t, then stay out of the way!”

Susan turned her back on Jerry and began to study the display above Ivan’s console for something to focus on before she totally lost her control.  Her fists were clenched, and her knuckles white.  She tried to steady her breathing and ignore Jerry.  She did not want to give him either the satisfaction of knowing how upset he got her, or any opportunity to continue this conversation. 

Jerry silently watched Susan’s back while everyone else watched him. After a moment or two, he turned to Paul and said with a smirk and shrug of his shoulders, “I tried.” Without another word, he left the compartment.

XV

“What’s our current altitude, Ivan?” Susan asked, as she scanned the cluttered display for that particular piece of information.

“Here,” Ivan pointed out a number on the display that indicated the altitude in miles and kilometers.  “We are currently at two hundred and five miles.”

“With our current fuel load on the station, what is the maximum altitude that we can achieve?”

“Just a moment, I will have a number for you.”

“Paul, can you pull up the checklist for the manual reboost procedure?”

The voices faded as Jerry floated away from the control module and headed toward the far end of the station.  As he passed through Node 3, passing the Habitation module and CRV docking port, he mulled over the best way to make his and Paul’s exit from the station.  His mind was in high gear, turning over different scenarios and weighing the probabilities of success for each of them.  He noticed neither his entry into, nor departure from the Destiny lab module.

He finally came to an abrupt stop in Node 2, which provided access to the European lab, Columbus Orbital Facility, Multi-Purpose Logistics module, Centrifuge Accommodation module and JEM, the Japanese module also known as Kibo.  He blankly stared at the four new choices to explore and, making no conscious choice, he entered Kibo.

The inside of the module was similar to the rest of the station, with the wall racks for experiments and equipment.  Yet, the module had a definite air about it that set it apart from the rest of the station.  To Jerry, it seemed to quietly whisper a hint of the orient.  He could not put his finger on it, there wasn’t anything obvious, but he liked what he saw and sensed. 

Memories of two semesters spent in Japan flowed through his mind.  His days consisted of working on his research with a world-renowned specialist, learning the language and, most importantly, soaking up the exotic culture of the Orient.  He felt a sudden longing for those carefree days. 

Among the muted colors and sounds in the room, Jerry spotted a splash of reddish-orange at the far end of the compartment.  He made his way cautiously toward it.  Jerry tried to push the thoughts of Japan out of his mind and return to the analysis of his last plan to leave the station, but the musical splash of color was too much of a distraction.  As he moved closer to the bright colors he began to see splotches of green among the red and orange. 

It was either that his mind was too clouded with other things, or that the sight of a bush full of bright reddish-orange cherry tomatoes was so out of place in orbit that it took him a full minute to realize what he was looking at.  Inside one of the wall racks was a hydroponics experiment where someone was growing a small cherry tomato bush, which was in full bloom!  Its roots were a bundled mass in a compartment below the plant that contained a watery liquid, not quite clear but with a milky green appearance.  The bush looked like a picture drawn by a young child; the fruit scattered all about with no sense of up or down.  Without the pull of gravity on the plant, the tomatoes did not hang, as one would expect, but pointed in all different directions.

Jerry marveled at his discovery and looked over the plant, carefully counting the perfectly round, red fruit on the branches.  The temptation to taste one became overwhelming.  He had to have one.  Carefully, he inspected the rack to see how to get to the inside and if there were a warning or caution not to eat the fruit.  Seeing nothing of the kind, he gingerly released the latches on the doors to the rack and opened it. 

The smell of spicy, warm air wafted out of the compartment and Jerry breathed it in deeply.  He experienced another flashback, tending his father’s backyard garden on a hot and muggy August afternoon.  He enjoyed the smell of the tomato plants combined with the smell of the damp earth as he picked the ripe, red tomatoes, leaving the greener fruit for another day.

Snapping back to present time, Jerry plucked one of the biggest tomatoes he could find and watched the bush dance in response to the stolen fruit.  Soon the leaves and fruit settled down, back to their original positions.  Satisfied that the plant was quiet, Jerry now examined his treasure.

It appeared almost perfectly round with a shiny, flawless, skin.  He carefully smelled the tomato and was pleasantly greeted with the expected aroma.  Without a second thought, he popped his prize into his mouth, bit down and enjoyed the sensation of the sweet juice squirting the inside of his mouth.  Delectable, delicious!  The little red globes had the perfect blend of sweetness and tartness, a taste he hadn’t experience in years.  He plucked a handful of tomatoes from the bush and let them float free in front of him.  After admiring the constellation of red orbs for a moment, Jerry glided around his floating feast, and carefully ate them, one by one.  He hovered in the center of the compartment with his eyes closed as he enjoyed the last bit of the sweet, tangy fruit. 

His thoughts suddenly jumped to Paul and how much he would enjoy a treat of fresh tomatoes.  Just as suddenly, a plan formed in his mind that would allow both he and Paul to get to the CRV and home.  The only problem with the plan was that he expected Paul to resist his honest efforts to save him.  Jerry’s only solution was to subdue him in some manner.  For his own good, of course! 

Jerry looked around the room for something to use to persuade Paul to come with him.  He quickly rummaged through the lockers and cabinets that were accessible.  Most contained lab supplies and small containers with chemicals and small parts.  He scanned the labels to the chemical containers and dismissed them as useless for his purpose. 

He finally came to a drawer labeled,
MAINTENANCE TOOLS
, which he yanked open with such excitement that he nearly pulled it off its track.  To his dismay, he found a small collection of tools, which were designed for repair of delicate electronic and mechanical components.  He was about to slam the drawer shut, when he realized that the drawer appeared much thicker from the outside than it did on the inside.  He examined the inside of the drawer more closely and discovered that there was another layer of tools below the first layer. 

Lifting out the top layer revealed tools more appropriate for the job he had in mind.  There was a gleaming, silvery wrench about two feet in length, anchored to the bottom of the drawer among the other heavy-duty tools that immediately caught his eye.  Jerry carefully lifted the wrench out of the drawer, replaced the top layer of tools and closed the drawer.  He then moved quickly to a locker he had discovered before that contained cloth towels.  He used several of the towels to wrap the wrench.  He wanted to just subdue Paul, not kill him.  Jerry admired his handiwork, hefting the padded wrench like a cave man trying out a new club and moved over to the intercom to call Paul.

In the control module, Ivan and Susan were going through the checklist for the manual reboost procedure, while Paul and the two cosmonauts looked on.  The intercom crackled with a short burst of static, and Jerry’s voice echoed in the room, but the intercom display screen remained blank. 

“Ah, Paul…can you hear me?” Jerry’s voice sounded weak through the speakers.

“Yes, Jerry, I can hear you.  What do you want?” Paul responded with some trepidation.

“Ah…I’m down in the Japanese module, Kibo, I think it’s called.  I found something you might be interested in.”

“Jerry, we’re about to start the reboost burn in the next few minutes.  I think—”

“This won’t take long Paul.” Jerry interrupted him.  “Come on down.”

Paul looked at Susan and Ivan for some support.  Susan nodded her head and Paul responded, “Okay, Jerry.  I’ll be there in a minute.”

The intercom shut off, and Paul looked at Susan questioningly.

“Paul, we’ve got about ten minutes before we can do this, so go ahead and see what Jerry’s up to.  I would feel better if we kept some sort of communication open with him.  I’m just sorry that you have to be the channel.”

“That’s okay.  I’ll do what I can.  But call me before you start the burn.”

“We’ll do that,” Susan said with a smile, as she tried to find her place on the checklist again.  Ivan said a few words in Russian to the cosmonauts and then rejoined Susan with the reboost preparation.

Paul was almost to the hatch to leave the control module when Alexander and Nicholas called to him, “Would you mind if we came with you, Paul?  We thought it would be nice to see more of the station while we had an escort.”

“No, not at all.” The three men floated out of the compartment and on toward Kibo.

They floated wordlessly until Paul finally broke the silence, “Did you really want to see the Japanese module, or are you along as security escorts?”

Alexander hesitantly responded, “Well, we…ah…we really do want to see the rest of the station.” Paul spun around, and still floating toward Kibo, looked the cosmonaut in the eyes.  “Okay.  Okay.  Ivan asked if we would come along, just in case Jerry had some trouble in mind.”

Paul shook his head and smiled.  “I can take care of Jerry.  If you two would like to go back to the control module, please feel free to do so.”

“No.  We really do want to see the Kibo module.  And, we know you don’t need our help.  But, it doesn’t hurt to have friends when you need them,” Nicholas said.

“Or, when you do not need them,” Alexander added.

“Thank you, I appreciate your support.” Paul turned around and gave himself a nudge toward the far end of the station.

Jerry was waiting above the hatch with his feet firmly anchored on the ceiling.  He did not want to have to talk to Paul before he did this.  It would just be easier this way, he thought.  He could feel his heart racing, and he held his breath hoping to hear Paul before he got to the hatch.

As he took another deep breath and held it to listen, he heard noises that made him freeze.  He concentrated his hearing, as if he could focus it on the source of the sound, but what he heard threw him into a panic.  He had not planned on Paul coming with someone else! 

The voices grew louder, and Jerry could now make out three distinct voices: two of which were Russian.  Swearing under his breath, he quickly pushed off the ceiling and over to the locker that held the towels.  He buried the wrench deep in the back of the locker and slammed it closed just as Paul and the cosmonauts floated into the room.

Paul was a bit taken aback by the panicked look on Jerry’s face.  “Jerry, are you alright?”

“Ah…yeah, I’m okay.  You just startled me when you came in.”

Alexander and Nicholas waved hello to Jerry, who responded with a weak wave of his arm.

“What is it that you wanted to show me?” Paul asked, as he looked about the compartment for something worthy of this excursion.

“Ah…oh, it’s over here,” Jerry motioned toward the end of the compartment, still trying to regain his composure.  “I thought you…all of you, might like some of these.” Jerry opened the door to the rack holding the tomato bush.

“Oh, wow!  Don’t those look delicious!” Paul exclaimed as he reached out and plucked a few tomatoes handing some to Alexander and Nicholas and popping the rest in his mouth.  “Mmmm…they taste as good as they look!  What a treat after all the canned and dehydrated food.”

Nicholas and Alexander nodded their heads in agreement.  “And remember, comrades, we’ve been in orbit a lot longer than you!” Alexander added with a broad smile.

“Thanks, Jerry!  We will have to save the rest for a celebration after we get the station moving.” Paul said as he plucked a few more off the bush and closed the door.  “I’ll take these up to Ivan and Susan.  I’m sure that they would appreciate these as much as we did.  Come on, Jerry, come with us.  It’s only a few minutes before we light the engines.” Paul motioned for Jerry to come back with them, but Jerry waved them on.

“Ah, I think I’ll just stay here.  I’ve got some thinking to do…you know…” Jerry turned back toward the rack with the still quivering tomato bush and did not look up.

“Well, if you change your mind, you know the way.  Thanks again.” Paul and his escorts left the compartment and headed back to the control module leaving Jerry in the Kibo module.  Unbeknownst to the departing group, Jerry banged his hands repeatedly against the wall in frustration.

Susan and Ivan heard Paul and the cosmonauts coming back to the control module with a decidedly light tone in their voices.  As they looked toward the hatch, they saw a red, round ball floating directly toward them, followed by another a few feet behind the first.  Susan did not know what to make of these projectiles and only relaxed when she saw three smiling faces peering into the hatch watching the show.  By the time she figured out that they were probably harmless, they were upon her and Ivan. 

The two of them caught the fruity projectiles and instantly realized what prizes they were.  With much delight they savored and ate them, saving their questions until the last drop of juice had been swallowed. 

“Where did they come from?” An astonished Susan asked the trio as they floated into the room.

“That was Jerry’s surprise.  He found them growing in a hydroponics setup in the Japanese module,” Paul answered as he passed the last two he had to Susan and Ivan.

“Is that all Jerry wanted?” Ivan asked, with a bit of disbelief in his voice.

“Yes, although he did seem to be a little on edge, he just wanted to show us the plant.”