Space Hoax

16 STEP UP

On a quiet Friday morning in his office, Peter decided to do some detective work on his computer, researching Krause Aerospace. Carl had gotten back to him on what parts were having their identification numbers mysteriously changed, which were all associated with the parachute deployment system for the Iris spacecraft. Nothing seemed to stand out in the German company’s files that he was able to access. He had also heard from SID about the bank account number found in Chris’s office. There were no red flags other than the large-dollar transactions. The casino names given to SID were different hotels from those researched in the past, and checked out fine. So far, his leads were not finding anything substantial. He wondered if there was anything for him to find. Frustrated, he leaned back in his chair and stared out through his open doorway. As he watched workers hustling by in the hallway, his mind began to fill with thoughts of Anya. He was excited she was on a plane flying back to the States. He glanced down at his watch; she was to arrive in less than four hours. His hope was to propose to her sometime over the weekend.

Peter forced himself to focus on his computer screen. A faint knock on his door interrupted his concentration. He looked up to see Jesse entering. His heart sank to see the commander walking very gingerly.

“Got a moment, Peter?”

Peter leaned over his desk. “What’s up with you?”

Jesse stayed quiet as he labored toward the chair across from Peter’s desk. Once there, he carefully lowered himself before letting out an exhausted sigh. “I tweaked my back last night.”

“Damn. How did that happen?”

“Just lifting up my two-year-old, something I’ve done a hundred times. I felt this awful, sharp pain in my lower back. It was so bad it knocked me to my knees.”

“Have you had it looked at?”

“I just got back from medical. The x-rays came out negative. I was given some pain medicine and anti-inflammatory pills.”

“Will you be able to do any training?”

“The doctor told me to hold off doing any physical activity at this point. He said I can work in the simulator as long as I can deal with the discomfort and it’s set in static mode. He doesn’t want me experiencing any sudden movements.”

Jesse’s limitation would put a big dent in the team’s preparation for the flight. “Any idea when you’ll get better?”

“The doctor hopes in a week or two. However, if the pain persists, he suggests having an MRI.”

Peter shook his head. “Damn, there’s no way we can launch by the twenty-first if you can’t train. Besides, who knows if your back will be completely healed by then?”

Jesse shook his head. “Sorry, Boss, I was really looking forward to this mission.” The man winced in pain as he adjusted himself slightly in his seat. “Maybe you should put someone else in command.”

Peter raised his eyebrows. Was he hearing this right? Did the space veteran just offer up his seat? Practically every astronaut he knew would be fighting and begging to stay on any space flight. Something seemed amiss. Jesse’s words and expressions seemed to lack sincerity. Could Jesse be trying to get out of the assignment? Was he scared to be the first man to fly the Zeus rocket? Peter quickly brushed off his suspicions, given the former Navy SEAL’s background. “I know Walter wants a veteran at the controls. Let me talk to him and see what he thinks.”

PETER LOOKED DIRECTLY at Walter. “I have some bad news.” The president’s eyes narrowed in on Peter. Chris repositioned himself in his chair so he now faced Peter as well. “Jesse pulled his back last night. Right now, he’s questionable to fly the mission.”

Walter slapped his open hand on his leg. “Gosh darn dog it!”

Chris blurted out, “How did that happen?”

Peter turned to his boss. “Lifting his kid.”

Peter looked back at Walter to see him staring out the window. Water’s voice had a faint tint of sadness as he softly spoke. “Maybe we postpone the mission?”

Chris extended an open faced hand in the direction of Walter while vigorously shaking his head. “We don’t want to do that. We have this window of opportunity to showcase our rocket.” One of Chris’s temples looked to be swelling as he looked back at Peter. “Has he been checked out by a doctor?”

“Yes, he can’t do any physical activity. He’s on medication with the hopes it might subside in a week or two.”

“Then I suggest we continue preparing for the scheduled launch and re-evaluate the situation then.”

Walter swiveled his chair around toward both men. “I agree, though we can’t afford to lose two weeks of training, not if we want to launch by the twenty-first. The whole team still needs to prepare, and we need the astronauts’ involvement.” A suggestive grin slowly crept across Walter’s face as he directed his gaze straight at Peter. “How about you fill in for Jesse over the next few weeks? We’ll have Jesse observe all the training from the control room so he doesn’t lose any ground.”

Peter interlocked his fingers on his lap. Though he had been itching to try out the Iris simulator, he wondered if Jesse would heal fast enough. Would they expect him to fly the mission? “What if Jesse doesn’t recover? We do have four other men on our astronaut team.”

Walter leaned back in his chair and raised both hands. “Then you fly. We need an experienced commander on our first flight, and no one has more experience than you.”

Right away, Peter thought of Anya and her recent anxiety attack. As much as he would love to fire off in one of those Zeus rockets, she was now his number one priority. Shit, Jesse will probably get better in time. This might even allow me to get a unique perspective on the company and possibly improve my chances of learning if any conspiracy is going on. And besides, I am here because of SID. Peter gave an audacious grin. “Sounds exciting. I’d be more than happy to step up and fill in for Jesse, and if he doesn’t recover in time, then I’d love to fly your rocket.”

“Great, let’s get you started today.”

Peter quickly raised his hand. “Sorry, Walter, but I’m leaving soon to pick up my girlfriend at the airport.”

“Oh, you have a girlfriend. What’s her name?”

“Anya. She’s Russian.”

“Is she flying in from Russia?”

“Yeah, and we haven’t seen each other in awhile.”

“I get it. You want to spend some time together. Tell you what. I have a nice beach house in Galveston. How about you two enjoy a nice quiet weekend there alone and you can come back Monday morning all charged up and raring to go.”

Peter loved Galveston, and felt it would be the perfect romantic backdrop to propose. “That would be great, thank you.”

Walter opened a drawer and pulled out a set of keys. He tossed them to Peter. “Here are the keys. The place is stocked with food and booze. Don’t worry about cleaning up; I have a service that takes care of that.” He ripped off a piece of paper from a small notepad on the corner of his desk and began to write. “Here’s the address.” He handed the paper to Peter.

Peter grabbed the small slip. “This is perfect. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. Enjoy yourself. Right now you’re my commander, and I want you to be energized and excited.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be pumped and ready to go on Monday.”

A SOFT EVENING breeze blew off the Gulf toward Anya and Peter as they sat together on Galveston’s sandy beach. Anya was between Peter’s legs leaning back against his chest. His arms were wrapped tightly around her as they both stared out at the open sea. The small waves sparkled from the reflection of the full moon in the clear, night sky above, shining down over the deserted beach. Peter dug his feet deeper into the sand as he pulled her even tighter against him, his chin resting on her shoulder. The heavy salty breeze mixed with Anya’s beautifully scented hair. With his lips inches from her ear, he whispered, “This is wonderful.”

Without moving her head, Anya’s sultry voice mixed perfectly with the smooth sound of the waves. “Like a dream.”

Peter grinned as he turned and lightly kissed her neck through her hair. This was turning out to be a perfect romantic evening. He had grilled up a couple of prime filets on an outside BBQ earlier in the evening, which they ate on the deck of Walter’s beach house. They had practically polished off two bottles of wine and were feeling quite relaxed. His plan was to propose to her later at the house. His little scheme was to surprise her with a child’s pirate-themed birthday cake that had the words “Soul Mates Forever” written on it. Placed in the icing was a tiny pirate treasure chest that had the ring inside.

As he looked up at the moon, he thought of how close he had come to missing out on all of this. Twice. He gave a quick thanks to God before setting his chin back on her shoulder. Immediately he thought of the mission he would soon be training for. Though the odds were slim he would actually fly, he wondered if he should warn Anya of the possibility. Because it might alarm her, he decided to wait until the substitution became more definite. He looked back up at the moon, Viktor’s final resting place. “I miss your father.”

Anya reached up to his arms and lightly squeezed. “I miss him too.” She looked skyward. “Every time I see the moon, I think of dad and send him my love.”

“It was great getting to know him better. I can’t tell you how many times he made me laugh, especially when things got tough. He always seemed so cool under pressure.”

“Did you see him die?”

Peter was surprised by the question. Up to this point, they had never discussed the details of Viktor’s death. He figured she had finally come to terms with his passing and wanted to know how his last moments played out. “He was behind me in the Soyuz when I opened the hatch, which we both knew would kill him. He was in his flight suit with his helmet on. We had already said our goodbyes. I heard him over the headset take his last breath before dying. I purposely did not look back. He was a strong man.” Anya’s hands squeezed his arms even tighter. “But over the next few hours, whenever I returned to the spacecraft, I poked my head through the hatch and talked to him as if he was still alive, which was reassuring and comforting. Thanks to him, I never felt alone, even on the back side of the moon as I prepared to die.”

Anya’s voice cut through the humid night air as she spoke in an even tone. “I never told you this, but during that last pass on the backside when Dad was going to die, I felt a tingling sensation in my stomach while sitting in mission control. A feeling I had never experienced before. I assumed this was around the time he probably died. To better cope with his passing, I imagined the tingle was a part of his soul shifting into our unborn child. So when I lost the baby, I felt like I was losing Dad all over again, adding to the grief of hearing that I had lost you too. It was all a terrible nightmare.”

This was the first time Anya had discussed the miscarriage. Peter had wanted to talk about the grim subject, hoping to comfort her, but whenever he addressed it she immediately redirected the conversation. He was pleased she was finally opening up. Peter brought his legs in tighter as he rubbed her arms. “I know losing your dad was heartbreaking. Then to think you were given false information about me which led to losing the baby.” He started shaking his head. “It just pisses me off every time I think about it. My heart breaks thinking of you having to deal with all those tragedies alone.”

Anya’s voice perked up. “Thank God he didn’t take you.”

A flash of light streaking through the sky caught Peter’s attention. He quickly lifted his hand to point. “Look, a shooting star.”

Anya quickly jerked her head up. “I see it.”

“Make a wish.”

Anya took a moment to think. “I wish for this moment to never end.”

So did Peter. He couldn’t contain himself. His gut told him this was the right time to propose. Screw the cake. He moved out his legs as he slid back in the sand.

Anya said sarcastically, “So much for not ending the moment.”

Peter grinned as he stood up and walked over in front of her. His shadow covered her face until he nervously fell to one knee. Her eyebrows were crinkled as she tilted her head, questioning what he was up to. He took her hand with both of his, cradling it as he caressed the soft skin across the back. “Anya, I also want this moment to last forever.”

Anya’s eyes widened as her lips parted.

“In fact I want us to last forever. I never want to think of being without you. I love you too much.” Peter leaned in slightly. He was surprised by the butterflies flying around in his stomach. “Anya, will you marry me?”

Anya’s jaw dropped. Without saying a word, she slowly worked her way up onto her knees. A big grin was on her face, inches from his. “Peter Novak, you’ve just made me the happiest woman alive. Yes, I would love to marry you!” As she leaned in he put his hand into her hair and pulled her toward him so their lips pressed tightly together. They shared a long and passionate kiss.

As they pulled apart, Peter said, “I’m sorry I don’t have the ring, it’s at the house. I planned on a more elaborate proposal later, but this seemed like the right time.”

She leaned back in, her breath warming his lips. She softly purred. “You did it perfect.” She kissed him and stood.

He was surprised to see her start pulling off her shirt. He stared at her white bra glistening in the moonlight as she dropped the shirt to the sand. “What are you doing?” He was unable to make out her facial expression as she looked down at him. Without answering, she unbuttoned her shorts. She seductively unzipped them before letting them fall to her feet. She slowly stepped out of them. In shock, Peter did a quick scan of the area to double-check no one was around. The beach was empty. With an evil grin, he looked back at his beauty, curious if the bra and panties were coming off, too.

“I think I am going to go for a midnight swim.”

She then brought her hands up to the bra’s front clip and unhooked it, releasing her beautiful breasts. Yeah, baby. She took off the bra and tossed it on top of her shirt. She looked amazing in the moonlight as she stood with her hands on her hips. Peter couldn’t help teasing her. “You look a little cold.”

“I’m not cold.” She pulled her panties down with both hands in a titillating way until she was completely bent over and the undies were at her feet. She lifted one foot out before quickly snapping herself back up, whipping her hair over her head alluringly. “But follow me into the water and you’ll find out what I really am.” She kicked off her panties and ran toward the water.

Peter couldn’t get out of his clothes fast enough.