Ad Terram in Luna [Chapter4] - a space story by SE
Posted 05-06-2012 at 04:36 PM by Samuel Edwards
"Ad Terram in Luna”
“To Land on the Moon”
“The Exploits of Three Men, and the Moon"
[Chapter4]
“Wiley, you’re go for launch”
“Wiley, you’re go for launch”
Our food finally arrived and I offered Kelly to start eating first. “So, what were you working on this morning, Kelly?”
“Do you know who John Wiley, is?”
“Yes, we work together.”
“Well, John will be commanding a mission to the ISS today; so I have been working on his reserve DeltaGliderIV. His is the one that exploded last night so the team and I have been examining his reserve for today’s mission. As you can see, I had an accident today” She took a bite, “I unwittingly unscrewed an oil can while lying upside down and the oil spilled all over my face.” We laughed a bit and I said, “Considering it was in the early morning, that oil was probably really cold.”
“You think?”
We finished eating and I walked her out to her car. “Thanks for the meal, George.” “You are quite welcome.” I responded. “I appreciated it.” she said before kissing my left cheek. We than left each other to go our separate ways. I walked back to my vehicle and noticed the piece of metal again. “Hmm, I’m taking this to the VAB.” I got in the car and started for the Vehicle Assembly Building. When I got there, the engineers were hectic. “Where is the black box?” cried one of the engineers. “I don’t know! What do you think I’m looking for?” yelled another.
I then realized that what I found might be the item in question. “Hey guys! Is this the black box?” All the engineers stopped talking and a silence fell upon the VAB. They all stared at me stupidly. “There it is” yelled one of them. “Where did you get it?” yelled another.
“I found it miles from here at the cafeteria.”
“Impossible! Outrageous! Why did you take it!” yelled another engineer.
“I didn’t take it!” I said
“Well, explain how it got all the way over there at the cafeteria? Unless…” he paused.
The same silence fell upon us again.
He continued, “The DGIV Exploded on the inside of the VAB, so the Black Box could not have gone all the way to the cafeteria. Somebody must have taken it from here this morning.”
“But who would have done that.” said another engineer.
“I don’t know. Simmons, get me a list of all the engineers who were working here before and after the explosion. We will then gather everyone here so we can find out who might have taken the black box.”
“Yes sir!” Simmons responded.
“The rest of you, get back to work.”
I walked up to the engineer. “Do you really think somebody stole the Black Box?” he replied, “It is definitely a possibility. The Black Box had some important data stored on it.”
“Like what?”
“It had information for our finances, and secret information on our spacecraft. If someone wanted to ruin our space agency, they could do that with all the information stored on the black box.”
“It had information for our finances, and secret information on our spacecraft. If someone wanted to ruin our space agency, they could do that with all the information stored on the black box.”
“Now why would you put that information on a black box in a spacecraft?”
“We were transporting a copy of the information to the moon for you to give to the guys living on the moon base. We weren’t going to tell you till you got there. The DGIV was in perfect condition last night before we started configuring it for today’s launch. That is why I think someone sabotaged it.”
“So you think someone did it to get the information? But how would anyone know that you were planning this?”
“We do not know yet. That is why I want a list of everyone who was working here last night. They would have been responsible for destroying the DGIV. Now, pardon me, but I must get going. I have a job to do.”
He took the Black Box from me and brought it down to a lab to see if there were any finger prints on it still. I went back to my car. When I got in, I saw a strange looking man running away towards the hill. He got in a car and started driving toward the city. I followed him to see what was going on. I drove up beside him and asked him what was going on? “I will destroy you all!” he yelled at me. The mysterious man sped up towards the city. “Okay, you won’t tell me, I’ll just have to follow you then.” I said to myself. You could hear the sounds of our engines roaring as we neared the city.
Once we entered the city, he took a sharp turn nearly crashing into the side of a bank; I kept following closely. There were three letters painted on the side of his vehicle. The letters were M.R.A. I tried to remember if I had ever seen these letters before. He stopped his car, got out and started running toward a helipad on the edge of the harbor. On the helipad was a Bell Jet ranger helicopter bearing the same 3 letters. I continued following him on foot. An electric fence blocked him from getting to the helipad. “I will kill you!” He screamed while pulling out a handgun.
*Puh-POP*
I went down like a rock to the ground as he continued climbing the fence. I was able to get up and hide behind an air conditioning unit as he got onto the helicopter. The copter started ascending into the sky turning towards me. The same man opened a door and started shooting at me. A bullet ricocheted off the ACU and grazed the side of my stomach. The copter than flew away towards Africa.
I limped back to my car and drove back towards the base. I made it back to the VAB and opened the car door. When I got out, I notice blood running down the side of my left leg. With a feeling of light headedness, I fell straight onto my back landing on the hard asphalt. I began to pass out as the engineers rushed to me. Everything started to fade before me as they put me on a stretcher. I couldn’t hear anything, but I could see them putting me on an ambulance and rushing me to the HASSESA medical center; that is when I passed out.
I woke up to the sound of hospital equipment. “What Happened? Where am I?” I said anxiously. “You are in the HASSESA Medical Center, do you know where that is? Do you know who you are, sir?” a nurse said to me. “Yes, I know who I am! I’m fine; I was shot in the leg not the brain!” “Thank God you are alright!” came a voice from behind the curtain. It was Mr. Clarkson. “What happened? You showed up at the VAB and collapsed!?”
“I…was shot by someone. What do you think happened?” I snickered.
“No, I mean how did it happen? Don’t screw around, boy.”
“I had left from the VAB after giving the engineers the black box I found at the cafeteria. There was a man running to his car, so I pulled up beside him and asked him what was wrong. He said ‘I will destroy you all!’ and drove off. I decided to follow him into the city and find out what the hell was wrong with him. He got out of his car and ran toward a helicopter sitting at the harbor. All of the sudden, he shot me, and apparently put a hole in my leg. After that I can’t remember anything.”
“Did you notice anything particular about this gentleman?” Jackson chimed in. (Jackson was the engineer I gave the black box to before I left the VAB.)
“I did notice one thing; a logo on the side of his car and the helicopter he used to escape the island in. On the logo were painted 3 letters: ‘M.R.A.’.
“M.R.A.? everyone said in unison.” “I’ll get to work on figuring out what the three letters mean. Please excuse me everyone.” said Jackson.
“Jackson!” I yelled, “Get a crew over to the harbor so they can tow the car back here for examination.” “Roger” Jackson yelled back.
I looked back at Mr. Clarkson. “I guess this jeopardizes the mission to the moon than?” “Yeah, till you heal up.” “Excuse me!” the doctor walked in, “The slug didn’t dig very far into your leg, Mr. Dawson. You will be good to go in a few weeks. As for the bullet that grazed your stomach; that will heal in a couple of days. When you collapsed, we rushed you directly here and removed the bullet. You lost a lot of blood which explained you passing out.”
“Well, I guess that’s good news, but how long do I need to stay here?” I replied to the doctor.
“I actually came here to give you permission to leave and return to your duties. The only discomfort you may feel is a sting in your leg and you will limp for a while. Just rest periodically and you should heal ever the more quickly.”
I thanked the doctor and gathered my things to leave. Clarkson offered to drive me to the launch control as I was communications leader for Wiley’s launch. Mr. Clarkson began, “By now, John is in the DGIV and prepping it for launch.”
“That only means, that we have one hour before launch.”
He pulled into the parking lot and said, “Let’s get up there and make history!” “I didn’t know you could be cheerful.” I said in a muffled voice. We finally got upstairs and took our places at the front of the window. “Dawson!” cried Kelly, “What happened; I heard you got shot?”
“It’s nothing serious, Kelly; I’ll be fine. We’ll talk about it later. Let’s get to work.”
“Well, you certainly are determined to do your job.” She said with a slight smile. “Let’s get to work then, shall we?”
*ding-beep*
“The communications director will begin COMM/systems check.” said the announcer.
“This is Robert Clarkson beginning COMM/systems check.”
“TBC” GO! “PTC” GO! “RETRO” We are GO! “GUIDANCE” GO! “FIDO” GO! “EECOM” GO sir! “TELMU” We are a’ go! “Propellant” We’re Go!
“FLIGHT” “This is Dawson, Flight is GO!” (The check continued into the background)
“The Flight director will now contact the crew of “Liberty”.
“This is flight control director George Dawson; commander of “Liberty”, Begin COMMs check. “This is John Wiley. I read you loud and clear, Dawson.” “Flight Engineer, Allen Robertson reporting in.” “Mission Specialist, Corey Green reads you, Flight.” “Payload Operator, Yuri Chekov reporting in.”
“This is flight, COMMs director; radio checks complete.” “That’s a roger, flight”
“T-minus two minutes to launch.” said the announcer. “Begin final systems check.”
“This is flight, all systems are green. Wiley, you’re Go for launch.
“T-minus one minute to launch.” continued the announcer.
The whole room fell silent. As the clock ticked down, my heart raced. Everyone was looking anxious. “30 seconds!” Everyone stared at the screen in anticipation. “15 seconds and counting!” The engines started smoking as they started to spool up. The seconds seemed to pass slowly as if all of time was standing still. “5 seconds! 4…3…2…1”
The engines roared as smoke filled the screen. We all turned towards the window to see “Liberty” takeoff from the runway. The DGIV finally lifted up off the runway and turned to launch heading. The roar only got louder as the engines throttled up. “Turbo-pump engaged!” yelled John over the radio. The room started shaking as the DGIV pitched up to 90 degrees. We all watched in amazement as “Liberty” spread her wings into the vastness of space. I heard a faint voice over the radio; it was Kelly: “And our God that in your greatness, created the heavens. Bring our boys back home alive.” And all of mission control spoke in one loud voice: ”Amen.”
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