"Roger that, Mercy I Mercy I. Here we go. ACS SEQ 999GGH3..."

It took Stetson more than seven or eight very long minutes to type in the commands. During that time Tony Chow began retching and heaving into a barf bag as best he could manage. The Chinese crew members seemed to be handling the situation a little better.

"Alright, Houston, hitting reboot now." Bill tapped in the final command code. When he did, everything went black. "Jesus!"

"What the...?" Tony forgot his barf bag when the lights flickered out.

"Houston, we've had a complete power failure here. All my boards are out." Bill started tapping at reset switches and breakers, but nothing seemed to happen. For some reason, the communications system was still up.

"Mercy I, we've lost all feeds but the Ku-band links. No telemetry whatsoever is making it to us. We are looking into it."

"Roger that, but we are still spinning up here." Bill was beginning to think that the s.h.i.+p was about to come apart at the seams. They had comm-system power. That meant something. They needed the ACS back online if he was going to stop the spin.

"Bill, my screen is coming on!" Tony shouted.

"What does it say?" Bill tried his best to move his head in that direction, but the spin kept him from doing so.

"It's a hard reset! I think the entire system shut down and is now starting to boot back up." Tony reached up and tapped the enter key on the console, and his screen lit completely up and started loading the operating system. Then the lights flickered back on, and Bill could hear the carbon dioxide scrubber fans start up again.

"Houston, be advised that we've got systems coming back online." Bill's screen blinked back on and began loading the mix of drivers loaded onto it to command the s.p.a.cecraft. "Any idea what just happened?"

"Uh, we're working on that, Mercy I Mercy I. Right now we believe we had a main power-bus failure and back-up power has kicked in," Houston replied.

"Roger that. Now we need to stop this rolling." Bill waited as the system came completely back up. "Houston, I have an initial idea that will help."

"Go ahead, Bill."

"I want to redeploy the solar arrays." Bill understood that they were spinning about the roll axis just like a figure skater on ice doing an axel. When figure skaters let out their arms, it slowed their rate of spin due to the law of conservation of angular momentum. Extending the solar arrays should have the same effect. It probably wouldn't stop the spin, but it would slow it to something a little more tolerable.

"We agree with that, Bill. Go ahead and cycle the solar arrays, over."

"Roger that, Houston. I'm making my way through the procedure now." Bill tapped several commands, and then the graphic of the exterior view of the s.h.i.+p showed the solar panels extending. Bill could feel some vibrations from the gimbal motors. The lights turned green for both arrays, showing that they had been fully extended. He held up his arms. They didn't feel as weird as they had before.

"Did it work, Bill?" Tony asked.

"Don't know. I feel different, but we'll have to wait until the gyro is fully back online. Another minute will tell." So they waited.

And waited.

When the Orion completely rebooted itself and all systems were back online, the directional gyro showed that the s.h.i.+p was still spinning, but at about half the speed it had been before. That was a little more tolerable.

"Okay, Houston, we show that our roll rate has dropped to a constant speed. Also note that the roll thruster appears to have turned itself off during the reboot." Bill hit the auto ACS icon and activated the automated-control system.

Bang! Bang! Bang, bang, bang!

Several att.i.tude-correction thrusts were initiated by the computer, and then the roll rate showed zero on the directional gyroscope. The s.h.i.+p had stopped spinning. And not a moment too soon, as Tony Chow was reaching for his barf bag once again.

"Houston! That worked. We've stopped spinning, and now I believe we are back in business. I'm setting up a full diagnostic run now to see what shape we are in. That should only take a few minutes." Bill tapped in several key sequences and then leaned back to look out the docking windows. Earth filled the view, and it was awesome. From the look of things, Bill was guessing that they were somewhere over China at the present moment.

"Hey, everyone. Take a look out the window." Chow, Hui, and Stetson each took a turn unbuckling and floating up to the windows and peering out at Earth-at home.

Bill watched as his home planet rotated beneath them. From the looks of the size of things, it seemed about right. He'd been in low Earth orbit many many times now and knew what it looked like. One thing didn't seem to add up, though. If he had his bearings straight, then it appeared to him that they were flying much closer to an equatorial orbit than the orbit of the International s.p.a.ce Station.

"Uh, Houston, is there something else you need to tell us?"

Chapter 33.

"Mercy I, something went wrong on aerocapture." Mission control started in with the bad news. "You might have figured out by now that you aren't at a fifty-two degree inclination in your orbit."

"I was beginning to wonder about that, Houston." Bill replied. "So, where are we?"

BANG! Bang, bang, bang! A big jolt resounded through the s.h.i.+p, followed by three ACS bursts. Then there were more ACS burns. A big jolt resounded through the s.h.i.+p, followed by three ACS bursts. Then there were more ACS burns. Bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang.

"Holy c.r.a.p!" Bill grabbed at his armrest with one hand to steady himself. With the other he tapped at the att.i.tude-control diagnostics and the directional-gyro screen. "Houston, we've got something going on here. We're rocking and rolling like crazy, and the ACS is trying to keep up with it."

Bang. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang. All the ACS thrusters seemed to be firing to correct for something, and the s.h.i.+p continued to rock with each bang. All the ACS thrusters seemed to be firing to correct for something, and the s.h.i.+p continued to rock with each bang.

"Mercy I, we show P & P PROP warning again, and the fuel level in ACS is dropping rapidly."

"Roger that, Houston. The ACS is firing almost continuously now." Bill considered taking control, but he had no idea what the s.h.i.+p was doing and why the computer felt it needed the ACS control thrusters to fire. Something was pus.h.i.+ng them. "Tony, can you see anything out your window? I've got nothing on this side."

"Bill! There's something spewing sparkly stuff in a jet out the side over here." Tony sounded upset.

"Alright. Take it easy, Tony." Bill didn't like the sound of that. It was never a good idea to be spewing anything out of the s.h.i.+p if you didn't have to. "Houston, we've got something leaking out of the capsule near the starboard side up at the nose." He didn't have to remind anybody that that was the location where Tony had taken up target practice before the aerocapture. That big noise they heard during the capture process might have been something coming loose up there.

"Copy that, Mercy I Mercy I."

Bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang.

"Houston, be advised that the P & P PROP warning light is not resetting. Also, it looks like we're gonna run out of fuel in the ACS thrusters if we don't do something soon." Bill was getting concerned. They were off their orbit and running out of fuel. They didn't die on the Moon, or on the way back to Earth orbit, and he hoped they wouldn't get stranded in Earth orbit just to die before they could get back to the s.p.a.ce station. Home was just a few hundred miles beneath them. Somehow, they had to survive long enough to cover those last few hundred miles. Those last ones were just as deadly as the first half million.

"Sorry, Mercy I Mercy I. We haven't come up with a solution yet. Keep trying to reset the flow system and get that warning light back to green."

"Roger that, Houston." Bill didn't like it. Houston always came up with something to at least try. "Tony. We're on our own. We've got to fix this."

"Bill, we don't even know what is wrong."

Bang, bang. Bang. The att.i.tude-control system continued to fire correction burns. The att.i.tude-control system continued to fire correction burns.

"Everybody, faceplates on. I'm going outside to see what is going on," Bill ordered the crew.

"Bill, shouldn't we run that by Houston first?"

"They don't have any idea what is going on, Tony." He hadn't come this far to fail now.

"We're not even sure the hatch will cycle, Bill."

"Well, I sure as heck don't want to get stuck outside again. If it cycles, we'll leave the hatch open until I come back in."

"Makes sense," Tony agreed.

"You still see that stream of stuff on your side?" Bill stretched to look out his window but didn't see anything.

"It's still going strong."

"Figures."

Bang. Bang.

Bang. Bang. Bang, bang.

The hatch had opened without a glitch this time. Resetting it before the aerocapture maneuver must have fixed the software problems, at least temporarily. With the s.h.i.+p rocking back and forth, Bill thought it would be wise to stay in intimate contact with it. Had he let himself float freely about it, one of the ACS burns might rock the s.h.i.+p into him and knock him out, damage his suit, or damage the s.h.i.+p even further.

"Whoa! Are you seeing this, Tony?" Bill moved his head back and forth so the camera in his helmet could see all the damage.

"It's amazing we made it through aerocapture," Tony replied.

Bill surveyed the damage as he held on to the bucking bronco. Each time there was an ACS burn, which was now about one every couple of seconds, he would nearly lose his handhold on the s.h.i.+p. A section of the multilayered insulation (MLI) blankets was charred black and peeled away from the hull, exposing an aluminum panel that had been superheated and flexed outward. The nose of the s.p.a.cecraft on that side looked a little bit like a partially peeled banana. The bent panel was no longer than a piece of printer paper, but it was angled outward enough from the s.h.i.+p that it must have been causing all sorts of drag during the aerocapture. The bent panel had likely acted just like a flap on an airplane wing. Bill understood why their orbit was wrong. It dawned on him that he never did get the rest of the information from Houston as to how wrong it was.

"Look at that." Bill whistled as he reached the forward-roll thrusters. The stream of sparkling stuff was fuel jetting out of the plumbing that fed one of the little rocket engines. One of Tony's bullets had loosened the exterior panel enough so that it moved around during the aerocapture maneuver. Apparently it moved enough to bang into the little metal tube that carried the propellants to the thruster. The tube was spewing around randomly like a high-pressure water hose with no one holding on to it. It really wasn't quite that bad, but the little metal tube, no bigger than a drinking straw in diameter, vibrated around several inches in any direction. That was the culprit imparting random thrust to the s.p.a.cecraft and totally messing around with the s.h.i.+p's att.i.tude control.

"Can we clamp that off?" Tony asked.

"I'm gonna try, Tony." Bill reached down into the panel and slid his fingers in behind the tube. "I'll see if I can bend it over shut."

Bang. Bang. Bang, bang. He paused to adjust his hand- and footholds a bit better. Instinctively, he double-checked his tether. He was strapped on to the s.h.i.+p just fine. He paused to adjust his hand- and footholds a bit better. Instinctively, he double-checked his tether. He was strapped on to the s.h.i.+p just fine.

Confident he wasn't going to get thrown from the s.h.i.+p, he set back to work. He did his best to work his gloves into the crevice between the tube and the s.h.i.+p's structure. It was a tight fit, but he managed. First he tried to squeeze the tube between his thumb and forefinger, but that didn't work at all. Then he tried bending the tube over with the strength of his fingers, but there just wasn't enough dexterity with his s.p.a.cesuit gloves on. He cursed the s.p.a.cesuit technology for about the millionth time on the mission.

Not having much luck here, he said to himself just as he felt the tube give. Then the little tube bent at the tip of his thumb, and he managed to get both hands down to bend the tube the rest of the way over. When he did, the spewing gas slowed to a small trickle out the end of the tube. Bill continued to bend the tube back on itself until there was no more visible sign of the gas leaking. "I think I got it stopped." he said to himself just as he felt the tube give. Then the little tube bent at the tip of his thumb, and he managed to get both hands down to bend the tube the rest of the way over. When he did, the spewing gas slowed to a small trickle out the end of the tube. Bill continued to bend the tube back on itself until there was no more visible sign of the gas leaking. "I think I got it stopped."

"Permanently?" Tony's voice sounded in Bill's helmet.

"I doubt it. Sooner or later the pipe is going to give out. But I don't see any other fix at the moment. Maybe Houston can think of something before that happens." Bill looked up and toward the Earth. It seemed farther away than it had earlier. He was sure that if that was the case, then something had gone way wrong way wrong on the aerocapture procedure. He really needed to get back on the horn with Houston. on the aerocapture procedure. He really needed to get back on the horn with Houston.

"Well, Bill, we're ready for you to come in whenever you are," Tony told him. Bill could sense the anxiety in Tony's voice.

"Tony, have you noticed anything different?' Bill asked.

"Sure have. The ACS thrusters haven't kicked in for the past couple of minutes."

"Right. There's nothing more I can do out here. Let's cycle the hatch," Bill ordered after he climbed in and untethered himself.

"Roger that, Bill," Tony replied. "Cycling the hatch."

Nothing.

"Uh, Tony. Cycle the hatch." Bill put a glove on it and prepared to help out with a tug.

"Roger that, Bill. Cycling the hatch." Tony tapped the icons on the screen for the hatch software to activate. Again, nothing happened. The door remained wide open.

"What else can go wrong?" Bill muttered to himself-hoping he hadn't jinxed the mission as soon as he said that. He made his way over to his couch and in front of the command consoles.

"Is there a problem, Captain Stetson?" Hui asked.

"Looks like there might be. We'll work it." Bill tried to focus his mind. So much had happened in the last few hours that it would have been too much for most normal people. Fortunately, Bill was far above the average-even for an astronaut.

"Bill, there is no power getting to the door. The circuits must've gone dead when we cycled it open." Tony continued to look at the diagnostics screen that was almost all orange and red.

"Houston, this is Mercy I Mercy I. We've got our leak stopped, but now our main hatch door is frozen in the open position," Bill communicated back to Earth.

"Copy that, Mercy I Mercy I."

"And, Houston, you might as well give me the rest of the bad news, because it looks to me like we are presently farther away from Earth than I expected us to be." Bill almost held his breath waiting for the answer.

"Roger that, Mercy I Mercy I. Bill, here is the problem. Something went wrong on aerocapture, and you came out in a forty-four degree inclination. Plus, your orbit is fairly elliptical. The orbital guys tell me you're tracking with a perigee of about one hundred and ninety-four miles and an apogee of about three hundred and sixty-seven miles." Bill listened and tried to work some of the math in his head. He couldn't. But that was what Houston was for.

"Okay, Houston, what does that mean?"

"You don't have enough fuel to crank your inclination enough to make it to the s.p.a.ce station. You'd also need to circularize your orbit some. There just isn't enough fuel for both maneuvers." Mission control got quiet for a second.

"What do we do, Houston?" Bill asked.

"First thing we need to do is get that door closed. We think we have a workaround."

"Roger that," Bill replied. "What do we do?"

Chapter 34.

"Pull harder, Hui!" Tony urged the Chinese taikonaut. "Bill, I don't feel it budging at all."

"Yeah, I think the motors are seized up, and I haven't cut the right interlock cable yet," Bill replied. "Houston. That didn't work."

"Roger that, Mercy I Mercy I. There is a mechanism behind the panel you just pulled off on the right side and underneath the door's track. You see it?"

"Roger that, Houston. I see it." Bill reached in the hole they had made in the s.h.i.+p's interior panel to feel the track-alignment mechanism. The door looked like it was in the right place, and nothing was wrong mechanically. It had to be software or a seized-up motor.