HETALIA BELONGS TO HIDEKAZ HIMARUYA
1957
Someone had translated into English what the commentator was explaining. America didn't know if his crew had done it or it was Russia, who had done it himself so everyone in the world knew. But what really mattered was that, behind all that propaganda, there was an element of truth he couldn't close his eyes to: the Sputnik satellite had been shot into space and was now in orbit. For the first time in History, a human creature had been able to reach for the stars, visit God's dwelling.
The problem being, the responsible was the Soviet Union.
America had to top this. Russia couldn't have the last word.
From the moment he first saw that metallic device on film, he dedicated most of his time and money to his new obsession. The world had nothing to offer anymore. There was not a corner to be discovered. Every resource had already been found and exploited. The planet had become something so banal they had nuclear weapons which could put life on Earth in danger and they wouldn't hesitate to use them. No, there was no point in losing more time with it. The future was above. Such times required that kind of feats.
But it seemed he was just wasting his resources on that chimera. That was what the others said. Every time one of his rockets blew up before leaving the atmosphere, his calculations failed or proved to be naive and impossible, he could hear the mumbles behind his back, the snickering, see their eyes rolling or gazing at him like one looks at an stubborn child.
A child...Yes, a child with a great imagination...That's what they thought he was...
He had to face the facts: Russia had the most advanced technology. To try to beat that was an economical suicide and a waste of valuable time.
But it all had sense to America, all importance. It enraged him that none of all those people could see it. They hadn't fought Nazism to let another cancer spread. Communism had ruined so many lives, reduced so many once powerful nations to ruinous ghosts of themselves. He had invested a lot in Europe, he was not going to let Russia ruin everything!
His project took most of his time, making him neglect the duties he had. He attracted all scientists around the world he could find—he even offered former nazis a pardon for their collaboration with the Reich in exchange of their intellect and talents. His gaze, his mind, were permanently on the skies.
Maybe the lack of sleep and the stress affected him too hard. At least, that was what his bosses wanted to believe, after America shared his latest idea to them:
"I am going to blow up the moon."
It took President Eisenhower a few seconds to react.
"Not bad. Not your best joke, but..."
"I am not joking." If America's words were not convincing, the look on his face and the way he uttered those words finally convinced him.
"...Destroy the moon, you say?" Eisenhower repeated.
"Yes. I said that. Glad to know you're not deaf."
"...You can't be serious, sir." One of the men in the room (America didn't know his name and certainly wasn't dying to find out) looked at him like he was mad.
"Do I look like I am joking? It is possible. I know it is. A nuclear bomb. Like the ones we used on Japan. Or several of them. Big enough to make it disappear."
"Why would you even do that, for the love of God?" Eisenhower asked.
"Why?" America turned to him and almost yelled in his face. "I'll tell you why: because Russia has sent things to space. Not only a satellite. A dog, too! If he can send a dog to space and back, and God knows what kind of things, what couldn't he do? And what could he send next? What kind of stuff will we have floating over our heads? Something with rays, a spying robot...Use your imagination, Dwight! Just think: people will see Russia can build and launch those things, then they will see that we can't, and say 'hey, maybe communism isn't that bad; maybe they are not so broke and hungry, if they can afford that; they are doing great things; they are the big guys!'. This has become a race. We have no more land to conquer down here, so now the fist to colonize the sky wins."
America stopped and took deep breath. It was during this small pause that Eisenhower realized he was dead serious, because he didn't call him Ike, like he used to do, but Dwight.
"I can't look weak. Not right now. Not until I have crushed that vodka-drinking monkey..."
"What will the people think, America?" Eisenhower asked in low voice.
"I am the people!"
"Without a moon...What will we...?"
"Without it," one of the men around, with a noticeable Germanic accent, explained a bit timidly, "our nights would be completely dark, there would be no more eclipses, tides would disappear too. Since we wouldn't count with the moons orbital movement around the Earth, the axis of the Earth could vary, affecting the temperatures, possibly producing extreme differences between both halves of the planet...Many animals and plants..."
"We could make it explode when it is full." America interrupted him to speak with his gaze lost somewhere, in some terrible thought which made his skin, and of everyone around him, crawl. "That way, everyone on the planet will be able to see it...The Kaboom..."
"But America..." Eisenhower said, but America ignored him.
"Mr. Reiffel, I want you to lead the project. I like that head of yours. Come on, guys, I know we can do this! We can turn the tables!"
So the president could nothing but sigh and let America go on with this madness. After all, he was the nation. He was above him. He put him where he was and could kick him out.
But every time he heard about the details of the developing project, masked as A Study of Lunar Research Flights, he thought he was as crazy as America was letting this happen, even being researched. An hydrogen bomb, of less power than Little Boy but definitely adequate for the mission...Calculations about the effect of the explosion and its benefits, if there even were...The dust from it being lit by the Sun and creating a really eerie show...With the technology America had in store in case Russia finally made a move, it was definitely possible to destroy the Moon...
He knew he was not the only one who thought this was madness. Reiffel confessed to everyone behind America's back that he was crazy, doing that just to improve his image. If he wanted to look like a monster to the Soviets, he was doing great, though.
But he was not going to let America become a monster. Not on his watch.
1959
"We don't know what consequences will this folly have! The pieces of the Moon could crush cities and kill millions of people! You said the future is in the stars! Well...It certainly won't help that you blow up the Moon, which can become a base! You want to be respected, America, and I can understand that, but don't you want to be remembered for something a bit less brutal? They are still holding Nagasaki and Hiroshima against you!"
"So, do you have any ideas, Dwight?"
"Did Russia send a dog to space? Send a man to the Moon instead! Set a base there! A vegetable garden! Build Disneyland number 2! I don't know! But I am not going to let you use our scientists for this abomination any longer. Understood?"
America wanted to complain, but instead nodded and spent the next days thinking...
Yes, it wouldn't contribute much to his image to become the nation who destroyed the Moon. What would singers sing about if he blew it up? What would poets write about? Hmm...Maybe he allowed himself to be carried away by frustration and hate. That was not the way, no. His president and crew were right. He had been working to make himself look like a good guy who went around giving people the gift of freedom and money. He had to slap Russia with kid gloves, not being a brute.
...Hmmm...
Sending a man to the Moon...
Yes, he could see it...His flag waving up there, claiming the Moon for himself...For capitalism...Huh...
2000
"I have read Carl Sagan's new biography."
Russia drinking a Coca-Cola, eating fries in a McDonald's...Decades ago, America would have killed to catch Russia like this.
"You like him?" America smirked.
"I like everything concerning science...So, there is a part of the book...A very interesting part...about the time when he worked for you researching the space..."
"Uh-huh..." America muttered, his eyes on the burger waiting for him, so he didn't notice Russia staring at him.
"...Which says that you once planned to destroy the Moon to impress me..."
America finished his fries and immediately grabbed his hamburger to munch it, still not looking at Russia in spite of his violet eyes fixed on him and his grin.
"Bah, don't think you were the center of my life. As if I gave a darn about what you think."
"So you didn't...?"
"Of course not. That's a very silly idea. That sounds much more like something you'd do."
Russia opened his lips. He was about to tell him about Project E-1, right after his success with Sputnik 1 and 2, before Yuri Gagarin...But in the end he didn't say anything and just smirked.
"Probably." And he kept on eating. Just because he was hungry. That food America liked so much couldn't be considered food.
THE END
Project A119 has not been acknowledged by the United States to this day, in spite of some scientists involved in the research confirming its existence. In fact, much of the documents related had been destroyed by the time Keay Davidson, biographer of scientist Carl Sagan, found out about it.
The Soviet Union also abandoned its own plans to blow up the Moon due to the difficulties it implied.
