Before reading, note that everything you know about Balto is useless here. This is a new universe, but I made it kind of warm with home, by adding similarities between many things.
I did a good bit of research into this, though not much because I've always known about Laika. I mostly looked into the details of the launch and other technical stuff. When you're through reading this chapter, I'd suggest you read up on her story, it's an undeniably sad one at the very least...
NOTE: Story could get confusing, so PAY ATTENTION to the titles, like the one under this line vvvvv.
Balto, November 3rd, 1957.
I always loved flying, but did I ever think that I would fly so high that I left the very air that I would fly through? That was the mission; one poor four legged bastard would be chosen to fly higher than any living thing ever flew before. I listened to the countdown from outside, they didn't even bother to install some kind of speaker in here. I closed my eyes as I heard the countdown. Thought about how I got here, and how I lived my life up until this point. I tried to pry the thoughts of Jenna out of my mind, but it wouldn't work. My last three seconds on earth would be spent thinking about her, my love.
3...2...1...
1955, the streets of Creznov.
My life began as a stray, simple vermin to the folks of the only town I called home. Creznov. It was a small settlement on the outskirts of Siberia. It was cold year around and for half the year the sun never showed its warming face. I was alone in all of this, a half-breed, abandoned by his mother at just 4 weeks old. My half wolf side meant that no human would ever want me, and I accepted that. I would not be here today if I were just left to die at such a young age, I owed my life to a friendly caring Russian snow goose named Boris. The old fella took care of me for as long as I could remember. We lived in the outskirts of town on an old grounded trawler, which overlooked the arctic sea. Our town wasn't home to many people, it was primarily a fishing and export dock on the northernmost tip of Russia. The cold didn't bother me though, I had strong wolf genetics on one side, and the other side was literally bred for the cold. My husky side wanted to run, run on a dogsled team, but there was no need for sled dogs anymore, no, they were replaced by the autocar, snowmobiles, or airplanes. Airplanes... I loved to watch them, how they flew so freely in the sky, leaving on adventures, seeing amazing places. I could watch them take off and land from the front of my boat, and I spent most of my time sitting there.
"And what is so interesting about flying loud metal contraptions?" Boris asked me.
"Heheh, you wouldn't like them, because they fly faster than you!"
"Yes, but can planes swim? Hah!" Boris replied.
"No, but neither can you." I replied with a laugh, I knew all about Boris's fear of water, and he knew it too. I smiled as he walked off defeated to go about his normal duties.
"Just don't stay up too late now Fido. Big day tomorrow!" He said as he jumped down a deck.
"Alright, fine." I said, then walked over to my spot and slipped under my blanket.
My niece was coming over to visit, Laika. Boris always called her Kudryavka (Кудрявка). He said it meant Little Curly, or something along those lines. I usually just shortened it to Kudry or Curls. But I call her by her new name Laika, more often now, she likes it, her first owners gave the name to her and she's proud of it. Having grown up in the same town; I found out that she was my only living blood, my only relative, the daughter of my long lost brother. She didn't share my half wolf side, it was reduced to a quarter wolf, quarter Terrier and Half Husky, but she got it all from my brother. He was so much of a husky that he did in fact get adopted, unlike me, but it didn't matter, I know nothing of my brother other than what Laika has told me.
Laika has been doing quite impressive things since she left last month. She was accepted onto the Russian Federal Space Agency, to be trained for a groundbreaking mission. One of the dogs she was training with would be launched into orbit around Earth aboard the Sputnik II satellite. The dog would go down in history as the first ever living thing to go into space, and Laika was high on the list for the possibility of being picked. I was proud of my niece, she did what I couldn't, leave this town and go on an adventure.
1957.
"3…2…1…Lift off of the Sputnik PS rocket, in its course to pioneer in the space age!" I heard the announcer say in English. Boris taught me English, I thank him for that, because without it, I would not have learned what this mission was all about.
I felt the vibrations build under my compartment, the floor started rattling, I heard things beating on other things and I saw the glass shaking. God I hoped that it would stay. As the G-Forces began building, I heard the machines hooked to my body begin to turn on and do its job, monitor my conditions, and how I would react to the forces of double, triple, and up to 5 forces the pull of gravity. I looked out my window and noted an unusual amount of smoke and fire shooting out from somewhere. I couldn't see much of anything from this view, but I picked up a lot of chatter from the Russians on my receiver. I looked to the instruments that the Russian scientists installed in my suit. For the months pre-ceding the launch, I learned how to read them. I was nearing 4000 feet in altitude, my heart beat was nearly twice as normal, and my blood pressure was nearly twice normal as well. I stared out the window, just enough to see the ground disappearing below me.
"Uh, Natic Four-Seven" I heard a voice say in my radio piece. It was the code for a failure of departure of a major component. The reply was in English, so it was a bit hard for me to understand. D-block or A-Block, I had no idea, either way it was probably important.
1955
I was lost in my dreams, dreams of flying with the airplanes, dreams of going on amazing adventures in unknown lands, then someone had to interrupt them…
"Balto, Balto! Wake up sleepy eyes, Laika has been waiting." Boris screamed into my ears, and I awoke to him nearly pulling my eyelids off.
"I'm up, I'm up, jeez, no need to get all crazy now." I was joking with the old goose, he was not crazy, a crazy goose would not have been able to raise a child of another species to full adult-hood.
I rose out from under my blanket and shook my head a bit; it always helped to wash away the sleepiness. Then I walked out to meet Laika. I took a second to observe her, she had been gone for nearly three months training with the other dogs, and it showed on her. She was much stronger, more agile, and a lot less jumpy and crazy then she used to be. She even talked different, no longer using only Russian, she spoke to me in English.
"Balto! I'm glad I could see you, training has been so rough on me the past few weeks, I feared that I might not have gotten to see you." She said to me as she walked over and nuzzled my neck for a bit.
"Old curls, out there doing amazing things, training for amazing events… You'll go down in history, you know that?" I replied back to her.
"Yeah, that's if they pick me. There are other dogs you know."
"But how many of them have Wolf blood in them?" I said. Even though the town resented me for it, I was always proud of it. Boris taught me to embrace differences, and also taught me how awesome wolves are, and I soon grew to love my wolf side.
"Shh, Balto, you know I don't like to talk about… that."
"Why be ashamed of who you are? If anything wolf genetics mean you're faster, stronger and smarter than any of those other morons you train with."
"Well that may be true, but one of them…" She stopped herself.
"One of them what?"
"I found someone, he's another that their training. His name is Yakov, and he's sweet, and strong, and handsome, and… I think he wants to marry me."
"That's great Curls… I mean, Laika, I'll call you Laika." I replied nervously. Deep down I couldn't accept the fact that my only family might be picked to fly away forever, but I always kept the slightest optimism that she would not be picked, but who am I kidding, she's one of the best they've trained.
"Balto, you can always call me Curls, it will be your name to me, and I will cherish it always." She said as she rested her head on my chest. I missed her every day, and would miss her much more now.
"You're going to space, you're finding love.. Just a few months ago you were a hyper little puppy running with the humans, and driving me and Boris insane." I said with a little sadness in my words.
"I know things have changed, but I have not. I'll always be the same little pup that you grew up with."
"Well, tell me about your training, how are things going over at the Soviet Space Program?" I asked curiously.
"It's a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. They make us wear these heavy suits, and we wear them all the time. It's to train us to get used to the suits, I never could. They also run us on laps, I love running, I can't explain it." My smile couldn't get smaller as I knew the answer to her love of running.
"That's your Husky side speaking to you. I too love running, and any other Husky loves it as much." I replied with a keen voice.
"I guess so. Well other than that, we have to eat stuff that looks like slime, but it doesn't taste that bad, it's just weird to eat it. Oh and they also took me on this machine that spun me around so fast, I could feel my heart sinking in my chest. It was so fun!" She said excitedly.
"Glad to hear it isn't too hard on you Curls, and that you're enjoying it."
"Why do you sound so sad Balto?" She asked me, but I ignored her and walked over to the edge of my boat.
"You're growing up too fast, the little puppy I called my niece is long gone, you'll be in space soon…" I said full of despair.
"If it's puppies you want, you're going to love my suprise!" She said. I knew what it was already, I could smell it.
"I'm going to have puppies of my own! You're going to be a great-uncle!" She said as she jumped around me.
"I… can't believe it, you're having kids?" Even though I knew it, I didn't want to hear it. All it told me was that someone mated with my niece, the very thought of it... But on the other hand, I couldn't hold back the pure happiness that I might have more family. Maybe if this Yakov guy is nice, I might accept him then.
"Yes, and you're going to be as much in their life as I am. I want you to be there when they grow up, I want you to teach them about their long lost wolf heritage, tell them stories, basically do things that I might not be able to do…" She said as she looked down.
"Laika, do not think that way, I'm sure training isn't going to keep you away from them all the time."
"Balto, think about it… If I get picked to go up in that satellite, I would be the first to ever do so, I might not come back." I couldn't think about it anymore, such sad thoughts, she was my only family, and I could not lose her.
"Laika…" I said as I comforted her.
"Call me Curls… Please? It makes me happy." She looked up to me with watery eyes, and I could see the tiny puppy I've come to know there.
"Okay, Curls. What would make you think that the Russians don't know what they are doing? They launched their first one without a hitch, why should this time be any different?" I assured her.
"I don't know, Balto, it's just stressful thoughts."
"Stress isn't good for puppies, are they kicking yet?" I asked.
"Yes, I think so, it's only been 3 weeks though."
"Three weeks? But, you've only been gone for a few months!" I said surprised. Though it was mostly joking, she was a grown dog now, and not the puppy I used to know, she could handle her own desicions.
"What can I say? Yakov-"
"Yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear about that guy anymore, makes me angry." I said, cutting her off.
"Balto, I love him, and he loves me. We're might be getting married soon, so like it or not, I'm going to be talking about him a lot. But you're always going to be my Uncle Balto, my only true family. Yakov can never replace that."
"I know, Curls, it's just hard… And that isn't true. Yakov is family now, you share marriage, and kids, and I will accept him as my own family."
"Thanks Balto."
"Now let's go check up on those humans of yours, I bet they miss you as much as I did." I suggested.
We walked off, I hesitated, but asked her about Yakov more, figured I'd beat her to it, since she would probably not stop talking about him all the way up until marriage. There was one detail that set me over the top, and I would accept Yakov as my own family within a heartbeat. Yakov was also Half-Wolf, so the puppies would be about 5/8th wolf, more than I was, but not by much. I would love these puppies as if they were my own, if I were ever to have any of my own.
We reached her owner's house, they let me in with her, after remembering that I was the brother of her father, so I must be okay. This was the first time I was ever accepted by Humans, even if it was just to visit them with my niece, it felt great. Laika would stay here for the next 4 months, to care for her children, and then she would return to training in autumn. I would cherish the time I could with her, for she was right about one thing...
The Sputnik II was not designed to return to Earth safely.