Hi everyone, I cannot wait to showcase for you what I have in store this week, this is something I had honestly not planned to write about, but so much inspiration came to me at once, that I could not help but get it down and make this a part of our story. I want to thank
Peter this week for all his help in designing not only some of the mechanisms in the story, but helping with the choreography as a whole. While we won't have images this week, I think what's coming next week will more than make up for it, I promise you that. Now, without further adieu, let's jump right in to Chapter 41!
Chapter 41: A Friend in Need...
The mood in the situation room was best described as unpleasant, as Anna waited for Dr. Liao and her delegation’s arrival. Their long range A321 had been on the ground for nearly two hours now, and the response team was getting anxious. Mitchell had probably walked around the room 20 odd times, and Walker was on her third cup of coffee. Time was a limiting factor, Anna thought, and they were certainly taking theirs. The sun was just starting to creep over Johnson’s campus as an armed security officer opened the door, leading the good doctor and her team in. Anna stood, brushing her wrinkled blazer into something resembling presentable. Trailing behind them was Sergei, deep circles under his eyes highlighting the degree of stress he was under. Anna had not seen him in a long, long time. He didn’t look human. She tried not to stare, and shook Doctor Liao’s hand. Her grip was firm, and Anna could not help but notice how focused she was, how
not jet lagged she was. They sat down, the 8 of them gathering around a series of documents and slides. Soon - the complexity and severity of the issue at hand would become apparent. As the crew of Baochuan had prepared to depart asteroid 2003 TK9, there had been a serious failure with the Power Distribution Unit onboard, a critical component that regulated flow of electricity to the Solar Electric Propulsion system. Life support, comms and attitude control were all intact, but the ship’s primary propulsion element were offline. As Dr. Liao delivered her analysis, Anna watched as lines of worry crossed her face, breaking the strong exterior that she had walked in with. The final blow came from her aide, who delivered in the most precise manner he could - the crew could not survive if repairs were not carried out. He proceeded to go into detail, describing the graveness of the situation - they’d run out of food in three months, water cyclers would fail after 5… Dr Liao cut him off, addressing Anna directly for the first time since the meeting began: “We understand that politically, this is a difficult situation, and that our two nations have not made any steps toward collaboration in the past, but this is an urgent situation, we are asking for your help - we have men out there who are taking bold steps for their nation, and we hope that some form of agreement can be reached here. I am not willing to let my crew die out there, are you, Dr. Douglass?” The look in her eyes was not one of calculated political games, but of a woman frightened of the reality she faced. Anna took a moment to think of her response, some of the most careful words since her first steps on the Red Planet’s surface: “Dr. Liao, I assure you, our interests in regards to your crew’s safe return are in alignment. That goes without saying. We will do what we can, and what we must, to get your crew home. Give my folks some time to look over options, and prepare them for you. You must be tired after your long trip.” She stood, with Mitchell and Walker joining her, and excused herself - finally free of the tension of the conference room. The Chinese delegation stood with her and said their farewells, but Dr. Liao could not help but notice Anna casting one rather directed look at Ivanov as she stepped out of the room.
Within a few hours, representatives from the Air Force, NASA, ESA, and more had piled into Johnson, beginning to work through the problem at hand. The immediate issue at hand was technology sharing, something the Department of Defense had been reluctant to do. The issue of potentially involving nuclear material was something no one wanted to have to contend with, but options were slim. Several ideas began to spiral around the room, ranging from launching a new propulsion module to readying an MTV for retrieval. The DoD and DoE officials in the room were quick to shut this notion down, citing “national security concerns” as to why an MTV could not feasibly be readied, and why their nuclear material should not be allowed in the hands of those the United States viewed as “adversaries” in spaceflight. Anna would protest, citing the compatible docking systems of both the MTV and the Chinese vehicle, as well as the ability to rapidly reprogram the computer for operations of this nature - it was afterall the most robust vehicle humanity had ever designed for deep space. The twin Departments would have none of it, and cast the problem solving back towards the center of the room, leaving someone else to figure it out. The Lockheed team would soon step up to the plate, and present a radical option - deployment of a Cygnus vehicle. There had been a vehicle fairly far along in processing, bound for Odyssey, and most of its components were ready at the launch site. The issue then became transfer, as even a 6-booster Atlas did not have the power to kick Cygnus out to Baochuan. Lockheed would once again provide the answer - Sunjammer, the recently launched experimental tug, which had yet to fly a payload to its final destination. It had been designed as a multi-destination vehicle, chock full of additional margin to get them where they needed to be. The kick to 2003 TK9 was doable with the propellant they had left, and would not require any modifications to the 3 engined Atlas NG slated to launch the vehicle. Orbital Sciences would also extend their support to equipping the vehicle for deep space operation, using their network of tracking stations to keep the spacecraft on course towards the stranded spacecraft. Anna could not help but feel defeated as she walked back towards the conference room, straightening herself out to be presentable once more. Dr. Liao turned to face her as she stepped through the door, clearly having been pacing. Anna could tell she was uneasy about the armed guard outside the door. After they all were seated, Commander Douglass and Mitchell began to lay out the plan for their recovery. The CNSA technical specialists, while understanding that this plan did have considerable risk, seemed enthusiastic about the timeframes and the way forwards, and began to draw up plans to continue, but not all minds were present. Dr. Liao’s gaze would return to the poster of the MTV on the wall behind Anna, seeming to stare right through her as they worked through trajectories and options. Anna felt it too. The question sitting in her gut.
Was it enough? Would they be able to get Sunjammer there? Would the crew be able to safely fix the spacecraft? As they all filed out of the conference room, and the two armed guards once again separated Dr. Liao from Anna, the two women could not help but cast one glance over their shoulder, unsure of whether or not this was the right choice.
— — — — — — — —
Anna could not help but toss and turn, finally at home in bed after one of the longest days of her terrestrial career. Plans were well underway now, the Lockheed and Orbital teams were moving, and Sunjammer was being prepared. But Anna’s mind would not grow quiet - instead, as she drifted off to sleep, it would grow more turbulent, consumed with thoughts of the past and the prospect of the future. She dreamt of her own crew, strapped to their seats onboard Olympus 3 as they fell towards the planet, and the piercing tone of the NO LOCK alarm, the screams of agony of the crew of Olympus 9… Taylor… And now she found herself onboard this new ship, a damaged and haunted place, haunted like Hera was, watching as the faces of her old crewmates flashed before her eyes.
No. This wasn’t right. No! She felt her world spin, clouding her mind even further. The faces of the Baochuán-3 crew, gaunt from starvation, asking, no - begging for her help.
Help us Anna, please won’t you help us?... they called, grabbing for her in the ever darkening module, I
’m trying! She woke with a start, thrust into the silence of her bedroom, her husband still asleep next to her. The room lay still, save for the slow repetitions of the overhead fan. Still waking from her sleep, she looked across the room, at the crew portrait of Olympus 3 that sat on her nightstand, the framed picture of her daughter, standing with her mother in front of the VAB. Slipping on her nightgown, she stepped out of the room, and picked up her phone.
— — — — — — — —
3:38AM, Central Time
I-45S, Houston Texas
“Sergei - Sergei it’s Anna. You have to start getting
Discovery ready, we have to prepare to activate
Selene. You have to get everyone you know working now. Stop everything they’re doing for their Horizon rotation.”
“Anna, are you insane? That’s… That’s not possible. Are you seriously proposing we scramble an MTV against the will of the entire Department of Defense.”
“Yes, Sergei, I am.”
“Anna, that's your career, that’s a conspiracy charge laid against you and this entire administration!”
“Then we don’t tell them. We tell them there’s a problem with the vehicle, that we have to go there and check it out. I don’t want us without options if Sunjammer fails.”
“Anna, you’re not thinking rationally! Get a hold of yourself, please. You’re asking us to do the unthinkable.”
“Sergei these men need us. If it was your crew-”
“What if it was? Could I have done any better than I did?”
“Sergei. I know you can do this.”
“Anna… I… This is suicide. We don’t know what we’re up against. There’s so much working against us here.”
“Sergei, we never know what we’re up against. We have to try.”
“... Okay, Anna - I’ll see what we can do. I assume you’re on the way to the center.”
“I’ll see you shortly, goodbye my friend.”
— — — — — — — —
With nearly 1 week remaining before Cygnus was set to be launched, a crew filed out under the flood lamps to Launch Complex 39A. Publicly, their mission was to fly to
Selene and perform maintenance, a routine flight, with a routine crew. Privately, they would be preparing to mount one of the most daring rescue missions of all time - staging themselves in orbit to be ready for anything that might happen. They performed the usual pleasantries, pre-launch photos, and the works. The DoD and DoE, respectively had tentatively cleared these plans, with the note that none of this would be made public - the US and China still had no public relationship in terms of spaceflight. They had also not cleared any sort of approach or docking operation, rather, an inspection of the foreign vehicle if something were to go wrong. The crew would make their way out to the vehicle,
Discovery, and board the elevator to take them up to the veteran orbiter, full of supplies and equipment. Anna found herself drawn away from the activity at the pad, and instead, stood bunnysuited inside a cleanroom roughly five miles away, examining the Cygnus vehicle as the final cargo elements were loaded in. Dr. Liao stood at her side, agonizing about the equipment that had been flown in from Beijing. She seemed so concerned with the way the Orbital Sciences personnel were handling it, agonizing over every detail. Anna watched as the lines on her face moved behind her medical mask, creases forming on her brow. She admired her, the sheer amount of dedication that went into processing all of this equipment. After two hours in the clean room, the hatches on the spacecraft were sealed, and Anna, Dr. Liao and their teams stepped out of the facility. The Florida air was thick, but not uncomfortable as it had been during the humid Florida day. The Doctor’s fatigue was evident, her shoulders slumped and the tight ponytail she kept her hair in had frayed somewhat. It was clear that the weight of the world was on her shoulders, and her sleep had paid the price. Anna offered to drive her back to the house the agency had rented for the Chinese delegation, about 40 minutes away. The first few minutes were quiet, as Anna navigated her way out of the Space Center, the tension in the car palpable. Anna attempted to break the silence, her eyes scanning the horizon. “You know, there is a lot between the two of us that makes us similar. We have a lot riding on both of us, a lot of pressure to do well. I know how that can feel overwhelming…” Dr. Liao nodded, and spoke in a voice Anna had not heard before. “I feel so often that the world is on me. That there is a pressure unlike anything that has ever come before, for me… I fear for the outcome. I fear for my crewmembers out there. I have not felt this scared in a long time.” Anna swore that she heard her choking back tears. Just then, a pulse of light on the horizon, and a crackling rumble.
Discovery had lit her three main engines, and her solids were quick to follow. The vehicle began to thunder skywards, shaking the landscape around them. The light seemed to grow, illuminating the faces of the two women, a second moon in a dark sky. Anna stopped the car, and they both stepped out, watching as the orbiter grew fainter and fainter. Dr. Liao seemed in awe, staring at this marvel of engineering as it pierced the night sky. In the car, a message popped up on Anna’s phone - from Sergei: “We are underway, god help us.”
The final days of prelaunch prep for Cygnus were hectic, hundreds of officials milling about, and the press was eager to determine what exactly had happened, why a resupply would be needed so soon,
Endeavour had just returned from the "mail run" not 3 weeks prior. The official story was that the crew onboard Horizon was dealing with unexpected teething issues, and would require a series of EVAs before Expedition-3 would be cleared to launch. Anna didn’t like it, she found the lying to the press to be not true to what she signed up for. The Chinese had wanted it that way, they wanted to reveal the disaster on their terms. It irked her, but she went to sleep each night knowing that Selene was ready, should the need to deploy a crew. On the final night before the launch of Cygnus, Anna found it hard to sleep - she knew the complex series of maneuvers that would need to take place tomorrow would decide her course of action, and change the face of international relations for the foreseeable future. Morning came all too suddenly, and Anna made the trip to the press site, reuniting with Dr. Liao and her team. The Doctor stood confidently amongst her aides, reviewing trajectories and plans for the rendezvous later in the day. Never a stitch out of place, she thought, the Florida heat already ruining the ironing board’s work on her blazer. Dr Liao greeted her with a polite grin. “You look tired, Dr. Douglass. Did you sleep last night?” Anna chuckled, shaking her head. “No, I never sleep too well on launch day. I just want to get this show on the road.” It was Dr. Liao’s turn to chuckle, turning to face Anna for the first time; “I quite like that phrase. Let’s get this show on the road indeed.” In that moment, she felt human - more so than she had before. The countdown clock for the Atlas NG 562, a 5 meter fairing, 6 booster, 2 main engine variant, soon ticked down to zero, sending the vehicle roaring skyward. Ditching its solid rocket motors, the vehicle would press on with its AR1 powered core, thundering into the Florida sky. Not long after the shutdown of the Centaur upper stage, Cygnus would spread its fan-like wings, and wait for the embrace of Sunjammer, slowly closing in behind it over the course of several hours. Soon, Cygnus would feel the embrace of its solar electric transfer vehicle, and the journey to 2003 TK9 could commence.
— — — — — — — —
The month long trip to the asteroid was one filled with tension. Sunjammer had performed its job admirably, and fine tuned Cygnus’ arrival before being jettisoned, no longer needed. Consumables were getting low onboard the spacecraft, and Anna felt concerned with the length of time the MTV could stand ready before needing to be serviced again. But arrival day loomed, and Anna would find herself filing into CNSA’s control room in Beijing, a gargantuan complex filled with screens and ex-military officials. There was a degree of discomfort for her. She felt the eyes of older staff members on her, scrutinizing the color of her skin, the way her hair was braided. She tried to put it out of her mind and focus. The crew onboard Baochuán-3 would soon catch sight of their helping hand, so far from home. Now, the delicate operation could begin, retrieval by the robotic arm. Two days before Cygnus’ projected arrival, the robotic arm on the ship had been powered up, and the crew would go through the motions of simulating capture of the spacecraft. The two mission specialists were already outside, ready to begin the process of repairing the spacecraft, ready for whatever came their way. Soon, Cygnus would be within 100 feet, the helmet cams of the spacewalkers capturing her approach. She had fared well on her journey, and soon, would be within the grasp of the spacewalkers, secured to Baochuán via the Robotic Manipulator system. Now, the hard part, getting to work. One of the key modifications of Cygnus had been the removal of the forward CBM and replacement with a hatch, so that the spacewalkers could easily access the cargo within. The egress process took time, eating into the consumables onboard, worrying controllers about the power and life support levels on the suits. The mood in the control room was tense, and Anna watched as the crew members worked on getting the required consumables into the small science airlock, and stow hardware on the outside of the spacecraft. Ultimately, the spacewalk would need to draw to a close, and the crew would retreat inside to prepare for another expedition in 2 days. At last, the final EVA for the crew would come to pass, and the difficult task of replacing the PDU could begin. Anna and Dr. Liao sat in the observing gallery of the control room, anxiously awaiting calls from the crew. The work was tough, the PDU for the vehicle sat in a rather difficult to reach spot, with the thought of servicing far from the minds of the designers. After six long hours, the call would come from Commander Liu, his voice weary but at last, confident: “Control, we have successful linkage to the PDU - the drive is online, we… we believe that we can make it home.” The room erupted, and for a brief moment, Anna thought she saw Dr. Liao smile…