Chapter 30.

"Come on, dammit!" Tony watched the hatch icon still showing red. The countdown clock gave them three minutes left. The NASA engineers at mission control didn't like cutting it so close. Tony liked it even less. He could just imagine how much Stetson liked it. "Bill, hang on out there."

The vibration of the s.h.i.+p had continued to grow to the point where it was no longer a subtle thing that could barely be felt with a tight grip. Tony was pretty sure he could see things starting to vibrate.

"What's taking us so long in there, Tony? Not to be antsy or anything, but Earth is looking really big!"

"Just be ready!"

"Roger that!"

"Hui, be ready with that patch kit. As soon as the hatch icon goes green, you start patching the holes!" Tony hit the hatch-cycle routine again. It went red. "Come on!"

"Yes, Tony. I will." Hui held the kit at the ready, looking like a lioness ready to pounce on a gazelle. Tony thought that the Chinese had made a good decision in picking her as their first Moon mission commander.

"G.o.d, if you can hear me, now would be a good time to help us out!" Tony hit the hatch icon again. For the millisecond it took for the electrons to travel from the screen to the central processor of the computer, the processor to understand and process the signal, and send a response, Tony held his breath for what seemed like an eternity.

"Green light! Go, Hui! Go!" Tony shouted, not quite gleefully but close enough, as Orion's main hatch started to cycle open. Tony yanked on the handle and pulled the latch until he could see s.p.a.ce outside. Hui pushed herself up to the apex of the cabin, and Tony turned to help his captain. "Bill, get your b.u.t.t in here!" He held a handhold as close to the hatch door as he could manage. The door slid open, and as soon as it did, Bill's hand poked through.

"Grab my hand, Tony!"

"Got it! Come on, Bill!" Tony grabbed at Bill's arm and pulled as best he could. The s.h.i.+p lurched very gently, but just enough to give them concern. "We're getting close!"

"Hui, how's it look?" Bill asked as he crawled his way through the hatch. He reached back, disconnected the tether, and pulled the rope inside.

"I've got one hole patched."

"I'm in, Tony. You can let go now. And cycle the hatch!" It was clear that the Orion had gotten its captain back.

"Roger that!" Tony pushed to the console and tapped the hatch icon until it cycled shut. Bill tugged the handle just to help it along. The icon went from red to orange to green, and then Bill tugged at it again. It was closed and sealed. He was inside. And, by G.o.d, it was good!

"Hot d.a.m.n," Bill shouted. "Houston, this is Stetson. All members of the Mercy I Mercy I crew are inside, present, and accounted for." crew are inside, present, and accounted for."

"Great news, Mercy I Mercy I. We recommend you cycle the repressurization as soon as possible so the patch sealant will cure quicker. And y'all need to buckle up."

"Understood, mission control."

"You heard the man, Tony. Get us some air in here." Bill looked up at Hui. "You need any help?"

"Done!"

"Awesome. Now get down and get buckled in."

"Mercy I, mission control."

"Go, Houston."

"Looks like the skin temperature is starting to build up. You came in just in time, Bill."

"I like to make an entrance," Bill said. "Somebody tell my family I'm coming home!"

"Roger that, Mercy I Mercy I. Bill, your family heard the whole thing." There was a brief pause and some static. "Be advised that you are about to go through an ionization radio blackout."

"We understand, Houston. We'll talk to you after aerocapture." With that Bill pushed himself into the captain's seat and started buckling in. He glanced over at Tony, who was also buckling in. "Thanks, buddy." He gave Tony a smile and elbowed him slightly.

"Couldn't have seen going home without you, Bill."

"Well, let's hope my patch job on the bottom of the s.h.i.+p holds and your target practice on top of the s.h.i.+p isn't a problem."

"We're gonna make it."

"d.a.m.n right we are."

The vibration within the s.h.i.+p ratcheted up to the point that the computer panels in front of them became nearly unreadable. Bill held on to his armrests and tried to relax. He was mostly blissfully happy as just a few minutes ago he was pretty sure he was going to die. But now it seemed that if he were to die, it would be because the heat s.h.i.+eld failed, not because he was trapped outside. The Orion was a good s.h.i.+p. He was confident that it would get them home.

The Orion capsule jerked forward and lurched backward in a way that seemed like it happened at the same time. The side-to-side vibrations grew in amplitude. Bill looked up at the top of the s.h.i.+p, where Tony had shot it three times with the pistol. He hoped the damage was far enough forward that the hot atmospheric plasma wouldn't vent into the cabin and cook them. He also hoped that hot plasma didn't vent through the bullet holes of the outer hull and weaken some beam or strut that would compromise the structural integrity of the s.h.i.+p, the end result being the s.h.i.+p flying apart and killing them all.

"Seven gees!" Tony shouted.

"Hang in there!" Bill gripped at his seat harder and flexed every muscle in his body to prevent pa.s.sing out.

"Ten gees!" Tony said, more gutturally this time.

"We should top out in a minute or so. Just hang in!" Bill grunted and flexed and breathed and grunted and flexed. He sounded a lot like a woman in labor. "Aaahhh wooo wooo!"

The vibration grew louder, harder, and faster-shaking all the astronauts to the point that their teeth rattled. No amount of training in a centrifuge or even launches on the really shaky Ares I rocket could prepare a person for that type of skeleton-jarring ride.

BANG! SCREEEEEEECH! BANG!.

An even more extreme noise resounded throughout the s.h.i.+p, their suits, and their bones. It startled Bill, but there was nothing he could do. He would have sworn it came from the top of the Orion near where Tony had shot it up. He wasn't certain, but he was also pretty sure he could hear a much louder roaring sound than he had before.

SCREEEEEEEEEECH! ROAR!.

"What the h.e.l.l is that?" Tony shouted.

"I don't know, but there's nothing we can do about it! Just hang in and pray!" Bill shouted.

"Fifteen gees!" Tony shouted over the jarring, rattling, screeching, and roaring.

The s.h.i.+p rocked back and forth so hard that Bill was worried the injured and otherwise incapacitated crew members might not be faring so well. The air inside the cabin had reached one atmosphere, so the sound of the s.h.i.+p being buffeted was getting extremely loud. It sounded like he had stuck his head inside a jet engine while it was at full throttle. Bill managed to glance at Tony and could see that his body had gone limp.

"Tony!" Bill had the notion that he would tap at the console in front of him and check Tony's vital signs, but that would require him to raise his arm-and he couldn't. It weighed more than two hundred pounds at the moment. "Everybody hang on back there! Come on, baby! Hold together! We're gonna make it!"

Bill's vision started to tunnel in, and he grunted and fought against blacking out. He fought like a world-champion boxer tied up in the twelfth round. In the end he went down swinging, but he lost the fight.

Chapter 31.

"Go, baby, go!" was once again all that Paul Gesling could utter as he alternated looking out the window at the landscape of Earth receding below him and the LCD display that showed the status of Dreamscape Dreamscape's...o...b..ard systems. All the systems were reading in the green, and the s.h.i.+p was cruising past Mach 2-twice the speed of sound-at the moment. He held the flight-control stick gently with his left hand and went through a continuous ballet of tapping the control screen with his right.

It had only been a little more than a week since the Dreamscape Dreamscape was rushed through refurbishment, refueled, and rolled out on the runway in Nevada before they had restarted the countdown for the launch. It all seemed rather quick to Paul, but Gary Childers had given him the last say. Had Paul said "no-go," then Gary would have abided by that decision. At least that is what Paul liked to believe. was rushed through refurbishment, refueled, and rolled out on the runway in Nevada before they had restarted the countdown for the launch. It all seemed rather quick to Paul, but Gary Childers had given him the last say. Had Paul said "no-go," then Gary would have abided by that decision. At least that is what Paul liked to believe.

Just less than two weeks ago, the little s.h.i.+p had flown a crew of s.p.a.ce tourists around the Moon and done so flawlessly. In fact, they had done more than just fly around the Moon on the most expensive and dangerous vacation ever. They had also acted as a search-and-rescue mission. They had detected Chinese taikonauts stranded on the Moon and had been instrumental in saving their lives. It was clear that the Chinese government had had no intention of telling the public of the stranded taikonauts and had Dreamscape Dreamscape's crew not found them, the world might have never known they were ever there. But they did find them, and that was the first step. NASA did the hardest part of going to the Moon and getting them. But Paul was in the process of flying the Dreamscape Dreamscape back into s.p.a.ce to help bring them home. The final part. It was fitting in Paul's mind that the rescue started with the back into s.p.a.ce to help bring them home. The final part. It was fitting in Paul's mind that the rescue started with the Dreamscape Dreamscape and would likely end with it. Of course, they had yet to run any of this by NASA or the Chinese, but drowning sailors will swim to the nearest lifeboat. Besides, once the and would likely end with it. Of course, they had yet to run any of this by NASA or the Chinese, but drowning sailors will swim to the nearest lifeboat. Besides, once the Dreamscape Dreamscape made it to the right orbital alt.i.tude, it would take a day or more to crank the inclination to the same angle as the s.p.a.ce station. After you added another a day or so to chase it down, it just made sense to get into s.p.a.ce as soon as possible. made it to the right orbital alt.i.tude, it would take a day or more to crank the inclination to the same angle as the s.p.a.ce station. After you added another a day or so to chase it down, it just made sense to get into s.p.a.ce as soon as possible.

"Control, we're go for scramjet separation." Paul could talk through the procedures in his sleep by this point, but he wasn't about to give it a try. He kept his focus on the job at hand.

"Roger that, Paul. Go for first-stage sep." Then the stage-separation icon flashed and the b.i.t.c.hin' Betty chimed at him.

"Prepare for stage separation in five, four, three, two, one."

Paul felt his pulse quicken in antic.i.p.ation of the stage separation as he waited for the five explosions that would soon sever the bolts holding the two parts of Dreamscape Dreamscape together. This portion of the flight always scared the living daylights out of him. But he also knew that the technology for such accurate pyrotechnic timing was well understood. It always amazed him how it never sounded like five explosions at all. It simply went bang, and that was that. together. This portion of the flight always scared the living daylights out of him. But he also knew that the technology for such accurate pyrotechnic timing was well understood. It always amazed him how it never sounded like five explosions at all. It simply went bang, and that was that.

Bang!

"We've got good separation," he radioed to control.

"Copy that, Dreamscape Dreamscape. Scramjet separation is complete."

"Now preparing for main-engine ignition in twenty seconds." Gesling was nearing the point at which the powerful main rocket engines would fire, giving him the final acceleration needed to attain the seventeen thousand miles per hour required for orbit. Escape velocity was just that one stage away. Orbital alt.i.tude and velocity were one main rocket burn away.

"Roger that, Paul. Main burn in fifteen...ten...five, four, three, two, one."

"We've got good burn on the main engine, and all systems are go."

Never in the history of aeros.p.a.ce, or humanity for that matter, had a single s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p flown an orbital mission, a month or so later flown around the Moon, and then just a few short days later flown back to orbit. The Dreamscape Dreamscape was truly being pushed to the limits of s.p.a.ce-technology capabilities and reliabilities. Paul tried not to think about quality control, workmans.h.i.+p, parts and materials fatigue. After all, was truly being pushed to the limits of s.p.a.ce-technology capabilities and reliabilities. Paul tried not to think about quality control, workmans.h.i.+p, parts and materials fatigue. After all, Dreamscape Dreamscape had been designed to fly with a rapid turnaround. Paul wasn't quite sure if this was the had been designed to fly with a rapid turnaround. Paul wasn't quite sure if this was the type type of rapid turnaround planned, especially while the rocket was fresh off its first mission and practically just out of the test-flight phase. of rapid turnaround planned, especially while the rocket was fresh off its first mission and practically just out of the test-flight phase.

"Just fly the plane," he told himself. The first and foremost thing all pilots trained themselves to do was to learn to fly the plane no matter what the instruments were saying or whatever else was going on around them. Fly the plane. He gripped the controls and swallowed the lump in his throat, forcing it back into his stomach. It amazed him that he still got that lump. He was now quite the s.p.a.ce veteran. But flying in s.p.a.ce on a screaming, highly volatile, explosive rocket engine was indeed scary. Paul had every right to be at least a little bit nervous. He also had every need to overcome that nervousness and do his job.

The first stage, then fully separated from the rocket-powered Dreamscape, Dreamscape, began its glide back to the Nevada desert. Operated by onboard automatic pilot and with constant monitoring by engineers in the s.p.a.ce Excursions control room back at the launch site, the first stage was on target for a landing back at the location from which its voyage began. So far the began its glide back to the Nevada desert. Operated by onboard automatic pilot and with constant monitoring by engineers in the s.p.a.ce Excursions control room back at the launch site, the first stage was on target for a landing back at the location from which its voyage began. So far the Dreamscape Dreamscape was doing everything just right. was doing everything just right.

The acceleration from the main burn continuously pushed Paul back into the webbing that secured him to his seat. He could feel the skin on his cheekbones being pulled back toward his ears. He could hear his heartbeat and feel the kick to his abdomen as the Dreamscape Dreamscape's engine engaged at a little over twenty thousand feet. The whine of the engines was only momentarily loud before the cabin's active soundproofing kicked in and diminished it to something just short of a deafening dull roar. The sound may have diminished a bit, but the g-forces slamming Paul into the seat were far from over. At the moment he was feeling over five gravities and would endure it for a few moments more. Paul grunted against the crus.h.i.+ng weight of his chest and forced himself to breathe through it.

He was on his way to orbit. Once he got there, he'd circularize his...o...b..t and then crank his inclination up to match the International s.p.a.ce Station. Then he would chase the ISS until he docked with it. Upon docking with the s.p.a.ce station, he'd offer the rescued astronauts a ride home. At least that was the plan with which he'd started.

Chapter 32.

"Mercy I, this is mission control, copy? this is mission control, copy?

"Mercy I, this is mission control, do you copy? this is mission control, do you copy?

"Come on, guys, this is Houston, come in?"

Bill would have sworn he was having a bad dream. No, a nightmare would have been more like it. He'd been stranded outside a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p for hours, only to make it inside the thing just in time to go careening through the Earth's atmosphere at over fifteen kilometers per second. The s.h.i.+p had shaken him to his bones. His teeth and jawbone ached from having clenched so tightly. Somewhere in there he had pa.s.sed out. That had probably been for the best. He imagined that the ride may have even been worse after he'd pa.s.sed out.

"Uh, roger...ahem...roger, Houston," he said weakly. Bill shook his head and squinted his eyes as best he could in his suit. He reached up and tapped the control screen and brought up the s.h.i.+p diagnostics. Cabin pressure was good, so he popped his faceplate. Just doing that nearly exhausted him. He let his arms fall back down beside him, and they actually fell. He had a bit of a dizzy sensation also. "Uh-oh. That can't be good.

"Houston, this is Mercy I Mercy I, over." Bill reached up and switched on the internal microphone. "Hey, anybody with me in here?"

"Zhi and myself are awake, Bill," Hui answered. "Xu and Ming are alive but still out."

"Tony?"

"Huh, what, hey?" Tony startled as he awoke.

"Easy, Tony."

"Bill, I feel like I'm gonna throw up," Tony said.

"Yeah, me, too. I think we're spinning or tumbling. I'm trying to figure it out." Bill carefully moved one hand and tapped the commands to bring up the flight-command suite. The digital direction gyroscopes, Global Positioning System, and att.i.tude determination and control systems seemed to be all functional and online. The gyro was rolling counterclockwise. And that meant that the Orion was spinning like a top.

"Good to hear your voice, Bill," mission control replied. "We need to a.s.sess the s.h.i.+p and telemetry data. We show an induced roll?"

"Roger that, Houston. We're rolling pretty darn quickly. My guess is we're pulling about three gees." Bill worked his hands out of the gloves and did his best to stow the gloves out of the way without getting sick on himself. Then he eased his left hand around the stick.

"Copy that, Mercy I Mercy I. We show your rate of spin to be conducive to a three point two one gravity load."

"Why hasn't the automated att.i.tude control and stabilization system kicked in?" Tony asked.

"Good question, Tony." Bill tapped the screen. "Holy c.r.a.p. Uh, Houston, I'm looking at the boards for the att.i.tude control and stabilization system, and it is all orange and red across the board. I've got alarms on the ACS PROP, Main Guidance Processing, and a P&P Alert on RP. Any advice there?"

"Copy that, Mercy I Mercy I. Hold one for that."

Bill considered just taking the manual controls and trying to straighten out the s.h.i.+p. The problem with that would be that if they had suffered some damage during the aerocapture maneuver, or Tony's target practice, then putting power to the thrusters could start a fire, cause an explosion, or do nothing. They could withstand the merry-go-round for another minute or two. But not much longer than that.

"Hey, didn't something like this happen to Neil Armstrong?" Tony asked.

"Gemini 8. Neil and David Scott docked with the Agena target vehicle, and apparently the att.i.tude-control systems for the Gemini capsule and the Agena kept firing, and they couldn't seem to get them to stop. They ended up aborting the mission and using the Gemini capsule's reentry thrusters to straighten them out, if I recall. But I think they were spinning head over heels, not round and round like we are." Bill squinted his eyes. The roll rate was getting worse. Maybe it just felt worse.

"Okay Mercy I Mercy I, we believe that the P & P alert is the key. The pressurants and pressurization algorithm is telling us that we've got either an ACS roll thruster stuck open or there is a leak in the propellant line that is rapidly venting. But since the thrust appears to be very stable and directional, our best guess is the thruster."

"Uh, okay, Houston. What is our work-around?" Bill inched his hand closer to the manual-control switch.

"Bill, you need to see if you can reboot the ACS. The PROP team thinks that there might be a valve stuck open, and the reboot will close it."

"Okay. Roger that. Start with the reboot sequence."