Scott Harms woke up in a cold sweat.
He wasn’t scared, or nervous. At least he didn’t think he was, it’s not like he’d admit it.
Maybe it was because during the previous night, he dreamt about some sort of a speech. He couldn’t really see anything in the dream, not anything memorable, but he knew felt the presence of a large crowd. It was then that he heard a deep, booming voice. A voice speaking of Mars, of all things. Whatever the man was saying specifically, he didn’t remember, but what what was strange to him was how the dream abruptly ended. With an explosion. That explains why he woke up the way he did. But that wasn’t what mattered in the moment, what did matter was that he needed to start his day. Scott was a man who was very strict to his routine, even if he didn’t have much things to do that’d constitute having a strict routine.
Today was meant to be a pretty relaxed day, a day to spend with his wife. Even though she was pregnant and consistently slept in, and he always woke up insanely early in the morning, they still were able to spend time with each other. Scott, wanting to prepare for the relaxing day, slowly but surely got out of their bed and headed to the kitchen to make some himself some breakfast. Walking through the hallway, he passed by a classic photo of him, John Greenly, and Buzz Aldrin. It had always hurt him to see, as it painfully reminded him of what he had lost just a few weeks back.
Harms had been a highly decorated astronaut, flying on Gemini 10, and Gemini 7. NASA saw him as a valuable asset, and it also helped that the public loved Scott. He was a clear and obvious choice for Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 11 mission, and of course he had zero opposition to the idea. What test pilot wouldn’t like landing the first crewed lunar lander? So Scott took the chance in a heartbeat, and trained alongside
Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong. Buzz Aldrin was backup for Scott’s position, John Greenly was backup for Neil, and Gene Cernan for Michael. Though all of them were friendly with each other, Scott and John Greenly were inseparable, and Scott always secretly wished John was the one going up with him. It seemed everything was going smoothly regarding the mission until Scott found his wife was pregnant. Now, normally, this wouldn’t of been an issue for the flight, except that the baby would be born during the launch window for Apollo 11. Scott, being a very family oriented man, and NASA not wanting to have the LMP stressed during the mission, both decided that it was best for Scott not to fly. He was moved to backup status, and the crew of Apollo 11 had been set in stone, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. Scott was reminded of this entire story every time he looked at that photo, but he managed to snap himself out of it and he moved back onto his morning routine.
With no effort at all, he grabbed a slice of bread, plugged in the toaster, jammed it in and grabbed the butter and orange juice from the fridge. It seemed he had fell right back into his morning routine. That was until the phone rang. In order to not disturb his wife, he rushed over to pick it up.
“Scott Harms speaking.”
“Hey Scott. It’s John. I-I don’t know how to explain this, I don’t have much time, the lines are pretty blocked, but you gotta get to the Space Center ASAP. You have got to see this.”
So much for his daily routine. While his bread was being toasted, he quickly changed into something slightly more presentable than no shirt and a pair of boxers. Getting changed, grabbing his toast and quickly eating it after spreading some butter, then chugging his orange juice, he moved to the his room tell his wife goodbye, yet he found she was sound asleep. Instead of deciding to wake her, he opted for a note.
“Called to work! I’ll be back soon. Love you!”
He taped it to the door, slipped his shoes on, and left. Getting in the car, he drove to the Space Center. Arriving after around 15 minutes, he pulled into the parking lot only to find John smoking a cigarette, he was looking as if he hadn’t slept for 5 weeks. Scott hopped out of the car and walked up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. That had seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. Rather than speaking to him, John pulled Scott inside, where they were met with a heavily increased security presence. Scott now knew something had gone down now, and he was nervous to find out what it was. He was brought into one of the conference rooms, met with an active projector and several photos laid out on the table. Several astronauts were in the room, including the entire Apollo 11 crew, and now the entire backup crew. Some engineers that were regularly seen around the place were in the back, as well. Wernher Von Braun and Thomas Paine were at the front of the room, so to say whatever they were showing was a big deal is an understatement.
“Ah, glad to see you here Scott, come sit.” Von Braun spoke in his recognizable German accent. He was at the projector, and didn’t seem to look too happy. Then again, neither did anyone else in the room, but it probably was just for them being up at work so early. Scott took a seat between John and Gene, sitting across from Buzz. Von Braun gestured to Thomas Paine, who stood up with him and began speaking.
“Morning, boys. Sorry to wake you all up so early, but it’s important you all see this. We think it’s best we get some thoughts from you guys. Let’s get the video up, Wernher.”
With a clunk of the projector, a video started playing. A grainy black and white picture showed a large rocket on a launch pad. The rocket was vaguely recognizable to Scott, as he had seen it in some of the intelligence photos that were laid out on the table. The video cut to 3 cosmonauts boarding the rocket, to which it then cut back to the rocket on the pad. Some Russian was spoken, which seemed to be a countdown, and then the rocket lifted off. The camera struggled to track the liftoff, partly because it seemed to be human operated, and partly because the massive amount of engines shook the place. It seemed to perform perfectly, and was now flying at a decent altitude. Then, Scott noticed what seemed to be a puff of smoke, followed by an entire explosion of the rocket. It seemed as if every astronaut in the room focused his eyes to look for any kind of abort system to have fired, but they saw none. Scott’s heart sank, and just as it did, the video cut out. The room erupted into an outrage.
“What?! They’re flying crew on that tin can? Who allowed this?!”
“Did that abort system work? Did they die?”
“Where the hell was that flight going?!”
“Did you see the engines on that thing?”
The room was in chaos, but it was quickly silenced by Paine. “Boys. Boys! Settle down, Christ. We have more information than that. Wernher, tell ‘em.” Wernher nervously got back up, and picked up a photo of a tiny looking, 4 legged lander. “This here, is the Soviet lunar lander, which we have good reason to believe was carried on this flight. Though, we don’t believe this flight was Moon bound, we believe they are at the stage where they were going to fly into an orbit of Earth with a lander. They are very close to a lunar flight.”
“If they’re flying this lander now, and have flown this rocket before, then they gotta be nearly done with another, right?” Buzz asked, to which Wernher responded with a timid “Yes.”
“Then get Apollo 11 up. Now.”
He wasn’t scared, or nervous. At least he didn’t think he was, it’s not like he’d admit it.
Maybe it was because during the previous night, he dreamt about some sort of a speech. He couldn’t really see anything in the dream, not anything memorable, but he knew felt the presence of a large crowd. It was then that he heard a deep, booming voice. A voice speaking of Mars, of all things. Whatever the man was saying specifically, he didn’t remember, but what what was strange to him was how the dream abruptly ended. With an explosion. That explains why he woke up the way he did. But that wasn’t what mattered in the moment, what did matter was that he needed to start his day. Scott was a man who was very strict to his routine, even if he didn’t have much things to do that’d constitute having a strict routine.
Today was meant to be a pretty relaxed day, a day to spend with his wife. Even though she was pregnant and consistently slept in, and he always woke up insanely early in the morning, they still were able to spend time with each other. Scott, wanting to prepare for the relaxing day, slowly but surely got out of their bed and headed to the kitchen to make some himself some breakfast. Walking through the hallway, he passed by a classic photo of him, John Greenly, and Buzz Aldrin. It had always hurt him to see, as it painfully reminded him of what he had lost just a few weeks back.
Harms had been a highly decorated astronaut, flying on Gemini 10, and Gemini 7. NASA saw him as a valuable asset, and it also helped that the public loved Scott. He was a clear and obvious choice for Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 11 mission, and of course he had zero opposition to the idea. What test pilot wouldn’t like landing the first crewed lunar lander? So Scott took the chance in a heartbeat, and trained alongside
Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong. Buzz Aldrin was backup for Scott’s position, John Greenly was backup for Neil, and Gene Cernan for Michael. Though all of them were friendly with each other, Scott and John Greenly were inseparable, and Scott always secretly wished John was the one going up with him. It seemed everything was going smoothly regarding the mission until Scott found his wife was pregnant. Now, normally, this wouldn’t of been an issue for the flight, except that the baby would be born during the launch window for Apollo 11. Scott, being a very family oriented man, and NASA not wanting to have the LMP stressed during the mission, both decided that it was best for Scott not to fly. He was moved to backup status, and the crew of Apollo 11 had been set in stone, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. Scott was reminded of this entire story every time he looked at that photo, but he managed to snap himself out of it and he moved back onto his morning routine.
With no effort at all, he grabbed a slice of bread, plugged in the toaster, jammed it in and grabbed the butter and orange juice from the fridge. It seemed he had fell right back into his morning routine. That was until the phone rang. In order to not disturb his wife, he rushed over to pick it up.
“Scott Harms speaking.”
“Hey Scott. It’s John. I-I don’t know how to explain this, I don’t have much time, the lines are pretty blocked, but you gotta get to the Space Center ASAP. You have got to see this.”
So much for his daily routine. While his bread was being toasted, he quickly changed into something slightly more presentable than no shirt and a pair of boxers. Getting changed, grabbing his toast and quickly eating it after spreading some butter, then chugging his orange juice, he moved to the his room tell his wife goodbye, yet he found she was sound asleep. Instead of deciding to wake her, he opted for a note.
“Called to work! I’ll be back soon. Love you!”
He taped it to the door, slipped his shoes on, and left. Getting in the car, he drove to the Space Center. Arriving after around 15 minutes, he pulled into the parking lot only to find John smoking a cigarette, he was looking as if he hadn’t slept for 5 weeks. Scott hopped out of the car and walked up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. That had seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. Rather than speaking to him, John pulled Scott inside, where they were met with a heavily increased security presence. Scott now knew something had gone down now, and he was nervous to find out what it was. He was brought into one of the conference rooms, met with an active projector and several photos laid out on the table. Several astronauts were in the room, including the entire Apollo 11 crew, and now the entire backup crew. Some engineers that were regularly seen around the place were in the back, as well. Wernher Von Braun and Thomas Paine were at the front of the room, so to say whatever they were showing was a big deal is an understatement.
“Ah, glad to see you here Scott, come sit.” Von Braun spoke in his recognizable German accent. He was at the projector, and didn’t seem to look too happy. Then again, neither did anyone else in the room, but it probably was just for them being up at work so early. Scott took a seat between John and Gene, sitting across from Buzz. Von Braun gestured to Thomas Paine, who stood up with him and began speaking.
“Morning, boys. Sorry to wake you all up so early, but it’s important you all see this. We think it’s best we get some thoughts from you guys. Let’s get the video up, Wernher.”
With a clunk of the projector, a video started playing. A grainy black and white picture showed a large rocket on a launch pad. The rocket was vaguely recognizable to Scott, as he had seen it in some of the intelligence photos that were laid out on the table. The video cut to 3 cosmonauts boarding the rocket, to which it then cut back to the rocket on the pad. Some Russian was spoken, which seemed to be a countdown, and then the rocket lifted off. The camera struggled to track the liftoff, partly because it seemed to be human operated, and partly because the massive amount of engines shook the place. It seemed to perform perfectly, and was now flying at a decent altitude. Then, Scott noticed what seemed to be a puff of smoke, followed by an entire explosion of the rocket. It seemed as if every astronaut in the room focused his eyes to look for any kind of abort system to have fired, but they saw none. Scott’s heart sank, and just as it did, the video cut out. The room erupted into an outrage.
“What?! They’re flying crew on that tin can? Who allowed this?!”
“Did that abort system work? Did they die?”
“Where the hell was that flight going?!”
“Did you see the engines on that thing?”
The room was in chaos, but it was quickly silenced by Paine. “Boys. Boys! Settle down, Christ. We have more information than that. Wernher, tell ‘em.” Wernher nervously got back up, and picked up a photo of a tiny looking, 4 legged lander. “This here, is the Soviet lunar lander, which we have good reason to believe was carried on this flight. Though, we don’t believe this flight was Moon bound, we believe they are at the stage where they were going to fly into an orbit of Earth with a lander. They are very close to a lunar flight.”
“If they’re flying this lander now, and have flown this rocket before, then they gotta be nearly done with another, right?” Buzz asked, to which Wernher responded with a timid “Yes.”
“Then get Apollo 11 up. Now.”
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