A huge shout out and thanks to my Beta squad. Thank you for keeping me on track and grammatically correct.
Insult to Injury
By Caribou Kid
Dr. Kendal Ferguson stared wistfully out the porthole down at the big blue marble that was Earth as it passed beneath them as the International Space Station (ISS) orbited roughly 250 miles above. She had been aboard nearly six months now and would be rotating back in another few weeks. As the head of the NIMR astrophysics department, she had been offered the opportunity to go into space to help develop a space-based ocean mapping program and satellite system to help them to further explore the ocean depths with greater clarity than currently possible, with an eye towards possible applications in exploring planets with denser atmospheres in more detail. Despite the excellent progress she had made with the system, this stay couldn't be over fast enough.
Aside from the weightlessness and the less than exciting cuisine, she found life on the Space Station not that dissimilar from life on the NIMR research submarine Seaview. She sighed wishing her tour was up, not because she was bored or claustrophobic, but she longed to be back with her staff and friends at NIMR, especially a certain captain that had captured her interests and her heart. Kendal smiled and she was sure blushed as she thought about their last evening together and the promised encore upon her return, as he saw her off at the airport.
As she continued to stare out the window her attention was caught by a flash of light, like sun reflecting off metal. It was brief and not repeated. She quickly moved to the monitor to see if they were somewhere near one of the myriad of satellites orbiting the planet. Her sudden activity was noticed by the mission commander Captain Katarina Medrev from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
"Something the matter, Kendal?"
"Probably not, but I thought I saw something out the porthole. I was just checking to see if we were anywhere near an orbiting satellite."
"What did you see?" Medrev asked, immediately concerned about any uncharted items of debris in their proximity. Collision with a bit of space detritus could have serious implications on the station.
"I spotted a flash of light, like sun glinting off metal," Kendal responded as she continued to scan the screen for the trajectories of the satellites in their vicinity. "According to this there isn't anything that should be sharing our space. I suppose it could be leftover debris from past space shots."
Katarina moved over to the radar screen and began looking for any sign of what Kendal had seen. "The scope looks clear," she reported. "Maybe you caught sight of an ice ball or something similar."
"Could be, or maybe there are little green men checking us out," Kendal answered with a wry smile and a chuckle, knowing it could actually be the case given her experiences since joining NIMR and sailing aboard Seaview.
Medrev laughed. "Hopefully they call before they pop in, we definitely need to tidy up."
They both continued to scan the scopes just to make sure nothing was out there to cause a problem. They were joined a couple minutes later by Agneta Bergdahl, a mission specialist from Norway and the third member of the crew. "What's up?" she asked as she observed her crewmates rapt attention to the monitor screens.
"Kendal thinks she spotted a ship full of little green men checking us out," Katarina joked as she continued to peruse her radar screen.
Kendal laughed and stuck her tongue out at her. "I thought I saw something outside and I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something there to run in to."
"Anything there?" Neta inquired, her curiosity now definitely piqued, as she moved in behind Kendal to look over her shoulder.
"Not that I can find," Kendal answered.
"Noth…What the hell?" Medrev said. "Where the hell did that come from?"
"What?" the other two asked.
Before Medrev could answer something slammed hard into the aft section of the Space Station sending the vehicle hurtling out of control through space. The occupants were caught completely off guard and were flung into the bulkheads as the station cartwheeled precariously through the vacuum.
(00l00)
The phone's loud report shattered the play of a very pleasant dream. He was nearing the place where the point of the whole thing would become clear, but as the jangling sound of reality dispelled the miasma of whimsy, Harriman Nelson groaned in both disappointment and disgust. He rolled over and eyed the clock noting it registered 0236. He immediately felt a large knot form in his stomach, except for very few occasions, good news rarely arrived at that hour.
He quickly reminded himself of where his son, his sister, and the rest of his crew and vessels were. All should be safely tucked away in their own beds at this hour. He reached over, picked up the phone and read the caller ID; NASA. "Who in the hell would be calling me from NASA at this time of night?" Harri wondered aloud. "Well, only one way to find out," he continued and slid his thumb across the screen and answered the call.
"Nelson," he said gruffly, as he worked to wake himself up.
"Harri, Grant Majors, here in Houston. Sorry for the early call, but I wanted you to hear this from me and not from the television," the tired voice at the other end of the line began.
"Grant? What do you want to tell me, what's happened?" Harri inquired suddenly fully alert.
"Harri, there's been an incident up on the International Space Station. There was a collision between what most likely was a small meteorite or other space debris and the station."
Harri sat bolt upright. Nearly six months ago he had sent Dr. Kendal Ferguson, the head of his new astrophysics department, up to the station as part of a research program she and her staff had developed. In the relatively short time she had been with NIMR, he had grown very fond of her, and she and Lee had developed a very close relationship, one that he privately hoped would one day result in happily ever after for them both.
"Is Kendal all right? Have there been any injuries? What's the situation? Have you mobilized a rescue effort yet?" Harri blurted out.
"Yes, unfortunately there have been injuries, but thankfully no fatalities. Dr. Ferguson is fine, in fact she has pretty much taken over command since the mission commander is the one most seriously injured. I must admit, I'm impressed with the way she has taken this all pretty much in stride; nothing seems to really ruffle her feathers," Majors reported.
"That's good to hear," Harri answered, relieved to know she was unhurt. "She quite literally went to hell and back on our first mission to the Aleutians* to discover the cause of all the seismic activity a year or so ago. So, what about the rest of my questions?"
"As to the situation, it is extremely dire. The impact damaged the majority of the air tanks so they will be out of oxygen within three days. It also managed to tear a huge hole in their Soyuz return capsule rendering it inoperative. Other than that, the rest of the life support systems are operational and keeping them warm, along with communications. That's only a hallow victory because it is doubtful that we'll be able to get a rescue ship up to them before their air runs out. I'm afraid odds are they will all suffocate."
"You've checked with the other nations with space capabilities, I assume," Harri inquired, knowing those were probably the first calls made.
"Yes, and nobody can get anything prepped and airborne in under 5 days, us included," Grant replied dejectedly.
"Damn," Harri swore quietly, then closed his eyes.
"Harri, I just wanted to let you know we've mobilized what assets we have, as have the Russians, just on the off chance they can hold out and we can get something up there in time. I'm sorry for being the bearer of such bad news."
Nelson sat quietly, his mind racing working through every possible scenario that he could conceive of to assist in the astronaut's rescue. Each option lead quickly to an abrupt stop. And then he hit on one that might just work, it would be a long shot and put the pilots at risk if his guess was wrong, but it would be worth a shot.
"Harri, you still there?" Grant asked.
"Grant, I think I may have an option that could get to the ISS before time runs out," Harri replied, his mind whirling frantically as he worked through what needed to be done to give him a final answer.
"What, Harri? What have you got?" Majors inquired, excited at any prospect of retrieving those on the station.
"I need to run a few calculations and run a test to verify my theory, but I think we could send FS-1 up to the station to collect the astronauts. How many people are currently aboard there?"
"Your flying sub?! You can't be serious?" Majors replied.
"I'm completely serious, Grant. Structurally she's designed for the stresses of the deep sea, her environmental support systems are likewise designed to completely support life internally like the space station, plus she has the engines and flight control systems that have the capability to propel the ship into space and maneuver about," Harri began. "Her power source is nuclear so we don't have to mess with booster rockets and the requisite fuels. The only question is her ability to withstand the heat of reentry, but thanks to some of the conditions we've encountered in our deeper dives, I have modified her outside skin with a heat resistant coating that should do the trick. So how many people are up there?"
"There are three right now, we were working on a big rotation and resupply, so the last mission brought people back without changing out crew. You really think you could pull this off?"
"I think we have a good chance. The one test I need to run is on the heat shield to determine if it can withstand the heat and stress it would encounter upon reentry. Both Crane and Morton have had the astronaut training so they would be capable of taking her up, docking with the station, and returning with the crew," Harri answered.
"You think they would do it?"
"My struggle would be to keep them from going, if they realize FS-1 could make the trip before I offer them the chance," Harri replied with a slight chuckle.
"How soon will you know?" Grant asked, unable to contain his hope and enthusiasm.
Harri mulled over the question for nearly a minute. "I think we would have all our answers within 36 hours and if the results come back as I expect, we could launch in 60. Given the small size of our craft and the maneuverability, we could be at the Space Station within 8 hours of launch."
"My god, that's fantastic!" Majors exclaimed. "What can we do to help?"
"I will need information on your orbital trajectories, the docking configuration of the Space Station, and anything else you think will be of value in making our attempt."
"You've got it. I'll get my people on collecting the information and will have it sent over ASAP."
"Grant, regardless of whether we find this is a go or not, I would also like to speak with Kendal," Harri responded.
"Of course, Harri, that's a given. We will be giving everyone the opportunity to speak with their family and friends," Majors answered solemnly.
"One other thing, you indicated that there are injuries, I would like to pull my CMO in on this to confer with your Flight Surgeon so we can provide any emergency care once we have them on board and are heading home."
"Good idea. According to Kendal, they've treated the mission commander as best they can, but her injuries are significant and may be life threatening at this time. The other specialist aboard has minor injuries as well."
"Well, I think we've got our sailing orders for the moment. I'll get my people mobilized and will give you a call back after I've talked with my staff, say 0500 my time so we can update each other on our status. Will that work for you?" Harri said as he climbed out of bed ready to make things happen.
"Perfect. Thanks, Harri, you're a lifesaver quite literally," Grant answered, relief very evident in his voice.
"Don't count the chickens just yet, Grant, there's still a lot of work to do before we'll know if this is a go. I'd keep this internal until we're in a better position to verify my hunch. Talk with you soon."
"Hey it's a lot better than where I started a few minutes ago. You've given me some serious hope. Talk to you at 0500. Bye."
(00l00)
Harri quickly grabbed his bathrobe and headed downstairs to start a pot of coffee. Having completed that he next dialed Lee Crane, captain of his submarine Seaview and adopted son. The phone rang once.
"Crane," the voice said on the other end, sounding as though he had not just been pulled from sleep.
"Lee, it's Nelson."
"Morning, sir. What's wrong?"
Harri shook his head in amusement at Lee's immediate assessment of the situation without hearing more than his voice. "I just got a call from Grant Majors over at NASA and there's been an incident up on the Space Station. Before you get too upset, Kendal is uninjured but the situation is not good according to Majors. The station was hit by something that took out the majority of their oxygen supply, severely damaged their return spacecraft, and critically injured the mission commander," Harri relayed.
"Damn," Lee replied quietly.
"Grant said they estimate there is enough oxygen for three days on the station, but the bad news is no one can get a rocket up there in less than five. I think we may have a way to get there within that three-day timeframe, so I've offered our assistance," Nelson continued.
Lee remained quiet for a moment as he worked through what assistance NIMR might be able to provide. "Are you thinking of using FS-1 to try and access the Space Station?"
Harri smiled, not the least bit surprised Lee got it in one. "Yes. I think that FS-1 is quite capable of going into space, and then making a safe reentry once we've recovered the astronauts. I told Grant that we need to run through a few equations and conduct a test of the heat shield on FS-1 before I can give him a definite on the rescue."
"Great idea, Harri. How many people do we need to bring back?"
"There are three of them up there. I think that FS-1 can safely make the journey and rendezvous with the Space Station in under 60 hours."
"Sounds doable. I'll get on the horn to Chip, Jamieson, Sharkey, O'Brien, and Kendal's staff. Do you want to meet in your office or at the lab?" Lee inquired, already fully engaged in his mission planning.
Harri smiled at Lee's response, recognizing he had already shifted into overdrive and probably had the entire mission already plotted out. "Have everyone meet at my office. Also get Janet King in Engineering. We should already be receiving information on the Space Station so we can address issues of trajectory, docking, and the medical condition of those aboard. Have everyone there within the hour."
"Aye, sir," Lee answered, the concern he felt for Kendal very evident in those two words.
"Lee, Majors said Kendal is doing fine and has stepped up taking control of the situation. We're going to do everything we can to get her, to get them all back safely. Don't worry, son."
"If it can be done, I know you'll find the way, Harri. I'll start making calls now and see you at the office shortly."
As the line went dead, Harri sighed deeply hoping to hell he could live up to the confidence Lee placed in him. He was fairly certain that the heat shield would be robust enough to allow them to go up to the Space Station and return, but if he was wrong it would spell disaster for those in space and especially his men rushing to their rescue. The loss of any of his people would devastate him, but none more so than Lee.
He sipped quietly on his cup of coffee as he mentally worked through what he wanted to accomplish in the lab. The specter of guessing wrong gnawed incessantly at the back of his mind, working hard to eat away at his confidence. Was he willing to risk Lee's and Chip's lives on a hunch? Shelving his self-doubt, Harri pushed up from his seat at the table and headed back up the stairs to get dressed and to get started on saving his people.
(00l00)
* Devil at the Door
