What secrets do you hold, Almaz? We’re about to go find out.
“Luke, you got everything stowed for the burn?”
Luke was hanging on to Chad’s headrest, staring out the window at the orange dryness of the Sahara Desert. “Sure do, Boss. I’m ready to surf.”
Michael leaned across to check the instruments in front of Chad. “Attitude looks good, Boss.”
Chad nodded his agreement. The spacecraft had pivoted exactly in space to align with the instructions sent up from Mission Control. Next communications would be over Madagascar, but this engine firing to raise their orbit up to match Almaz was taking place in between ground sites. No one was watching except the crew.
“Michael, as soon as this burn’s done, I’ll get out of the left seat, and you can fly Pursuit.”
“Roger that, I’m ready.”
Their eyes were fixed on the digital counter.
“Ten seconds, Luke,” Michael cautioned.
“All set, thanks.” Luke had the Hasselblad in his free hand, and the electric film advance was whining and clunking as he snapped images out the window. “I can’t believe this view of the Nile.”
“Three, two, here we go,” Chad said.
With a low rumble they could feel through the hull, the liquid hydrogen J-2 engine ignited 100 feet below their backs, instantly pushing with 200,000 pounds of thrust. Luke clattered against the aft bulkhead. “Whoa, Nellie!” he said, trying to keep the camera from banging the window.
“I told you to hold on!” Chad said.
A checklist detached itself from the Velcro with a ripping sound and sailed past Michael’s head. Luke grabbed it out of the air and handed it back.
Michael said, “Temps and pressures look good, engine’s gimballing fine.” The single J-2 engine bell was pivoting precisely on its mount, ensuring the thrust was pushing Pursuit in the right direction. Through his seat, he could feel the small steering corrections and vibration. “Engine cut-off in fifteen seconds.”
Chad raised his right hand and pointed to the pressure gauges. “Three, two, one.” They confirmed that the timer and lights agreed.
“Good cut-off.”
“Guys, as soon as you get a chance, take a look. You can see all the way from the Rift Valley to the Horn of Africa!”
Chad safed the switches, unbuckled his straps and carefully floated out of his seat. “Coming up for a look. Michael, the ship is yours.”
“Aye aye, Captain! I have control.” Michael floated into the left seat and loosely buckled himself in place. Their orbit was now shaped like an oval, with the high point raised to equal Almaz’s altitude. They had one more engine firing over the Pacific so they’d match the Soviet ship’s circular orbit exactly, and then they’d be in visual range for Michael to maneuver up close. He’d been practicing it in the sim relentlessly ever since Kaz had brought the orders from Washington, but today was the real thing. He noticed that his palms were damp and wiped them on the heavy cloth of his spacesuit, then gently held onto the hand controllers, picturing the motions he’d be making.
“Hey, Luke, what was that Astronaut’s Prayer again?” he asked.
Luke laughed.
Michael exhaled to concentrate, and focused on what was coming.
Lord, please don’t let me fuck this up.
Operating the ship had kept Chad fully occupied, and the seat straps had stopped him from fully sensing weightlessness; it had seemed more like an extra-realistic sim than actual spaceflight. But as he floated out of his seat to change positions with Michael, the reality of where he was physically struck him.
Whoa! His balance system was working hard, trying to sort out what was going on. He reached for the handrail next to the window, jerkily missing it once and then grabbing hard to steady himself. A wave of dizziness went through him, momentarily blurring his vision. He closed his eyes to let it pass.
Luke was floating next to him. “You good, Boss?”
“Never better,” Chad said flatly, opening his eyes and focusing on the horizon. The medicos had warned him that he might feel motion sickness, but he’d spent a decade flying and testing fighters and had dismissed their concerns. Like all military pilots, he was proud of his iron stomach.
Luke tried to distract him by pointing out the window. “I wonder if there are people on that speck?” A tiny, circular volcanic island in the South Indian Ocean was passing underneath, its shadow pushed long across the ocean by the rapidly approaching sunset. Chad slowly pivoted his whole body to look, keeping his neck rigid to stop his head from moving.