Leave no doubt as to who did what.
“America wishes you and your crew a successful completion of tasks on the surface and a safe return home to Earth. We’ll see you soon here at the White House.”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Chad responded. “I look forward to it.”
Kaz counted to five in case anyone had last things to say. Radio silence.
“Thank you, Mr. President, Ambassador Dobrynin and Director Chelomei. Apollo 18, Houston adds their congratulations, and that concludes the event.”
In the Oval Office, Kissinger shook Dobrynin’s hand, saying, “I’m certain you would have told us if you’d known they were going to drive the rover into view, Anatoly Fyodorovich.” The men had many battles left yet to fight together. Not worth magnifying this one.
Dobrynin recognized the opening and spoke smoothly but loudly enough for Nixon to hear as well. “Yes, my apologies for the overzealous driving of our rover team. Even though they stayed at a safe distance, it seems they wanted some of the spotlight.” He nodded to the president as he moved towards the door. “Secretary Brezhnev and I thank you again for the historic opportunity.”
Nixon nodded back, but did not offer to shake the Ambassador’s hand. He truly detested surprises.
In Moscow, despite the long day and the late hour, Chelomei wore an uncharacteristic smile, the seldom-used muscles squeezing his tired eyes nearly closed. It had worked!
His rocket, his rover, his ingenuity and tenacity had shown the Americans—the entire world—the true extent of Soviet capability. He had put a cosmonaut on the Moon. And a woman, something the Americans had never done! Forever there, recorded next to Soviet technology the Americans couldn’t match, for all to see. A triumphant day for the Soviet Union!
He watched as the timer clicked over, signaling the relentless turn of the Earth’s face away from the Moon and the end of the day’s communications through his giant antenna in the Crimea. He nodded at the flight director, thanking him, and turned, walking out of TsUP.
As his steps echoed in the long hallway back to his office, he focused his weary thoughts forward. Lunokhod had discovered something valuable on the Moon, and he, Vladimir Chelomei, had found a way to get the Americans to unknowingly carry it back to Earth.
Still many problems to overcome. But he had more ideas up his sleeve.
With the press event over, Al Shepard walked up to Kaz’s console in Mission Control and spoke quietly. “Got a minute?” He tipped his head towards the exit.
Kaz temporarily handed over to the evening shift CAPCOM, who had arrived early. He followed the Chief Astronaut to an empty briefing room. Al came straight to the point.
“How well do you know Chad?”
Kaz shrugged. He’d been expecting this. “We met during Test Pilot School nearly a decade ago, and then crossed paths again during MOL selection and training. But he’s not really my kind of guy, and we didn’t socialize much.”
Al nodded slowly. The creases were deeply shadowed down both sides of his mouth. “He ever tell you anything about his childhood?”
Kaz looked away and down, recalling what he knew. “Not much. He’s a Wisconsin redneck farm boy, went to the State U, I think, ROTC directly into the Air Force, pretty standard. First time I met his folks was at the launch, and they seemed just what you’d expect. No brothers or sisters. Chad never married, and I’ve never met a girlfriend. Bit of a loner.” Kaz paused for a moment, then said, “Now that you ask, Al, I don’t really know him that well at all.”
“Yeah, me neither.” Al looked into Kaz’s good eye. “You know if he speaks any other languages?”
“I don’t think so. Chad’s an all-American type. Very Wisconsin, not too . . . nuanced, if you know what I mean.”
Al nodded again. “One other question—any idea about his finances?”
Kaz shook his head. “He never seemed to buy anything flashy, and he paid for the round when it was his turn. I never heard him talk about money.” As liaison, Kaz had gathered the necessary legal paperwork from all three crewmembers. “The will that he turned in before flight was just the standard fill-in-the-blanks military form, dead simple. He left everything to his folks.”
Kaz decided to ask a question back. “Is there anything you know that will affect how I should be thinking for the rest of the flight?”
Al chewed his inner lip. “It’s partly why I didn’t ask Gene or the doc to join us. Crew concerns are mine to protect and solve, and the last thing I want to do is raise a red flag that distracts everyone from the mission. But the sheriff’s investigation has brought a few things to light about Chad. Nothing conclusive yet, but we may well need to let some other folks in on the information soon. For now, I want you to watch what’s happening with Apollo 18 extra closely.”