Chapter 9• The Bat
(Slight Warning for language this chapter)
*Still Day 3 of Origenes Crisis*
/
By some miracle, I managed to find my way out of the building. It wasn't that the arrows on the ground were particularly hard to follow, but I had a lot going through my head.
A convoy of NASA-Branded vehicles sat just outside the East entrance of the building.
There were administrators and engineers everywhere, going from car to car- papers in hand.
I really got a feel for the desperate nature of our mission.
At that moment, a new face approached me.
A brownish-gold Labrador retriever, her lanyard read "Sophie."
"Oh my gosh Rocky! Thank God I found you, we're already late", she stammered.
I had been so preoccupied I had forgotten about the itinerary; I was due to report to the fitting rooms at the NASA campus- I was assuming so that training gear could be constructed to fit my dimensions while I was off doing other things.
"Oh sorry, I was dragging my paws I guess", I replied.
"Oh no, no. This was my fault, I cut it a tad close getting here. After all, you've never been in a place like this I'd figure. Don't worry, I'll take the heat if anyone says anything. Just follow me please", she said.
I followed Sophie to a van towards the back of the convoy.
Inside were six seats, four of them occupied by NASA workers.
"These fine individuals will be in charge of measuring you and making equipment exactly fitting to your unique frame. You'll have three specific flight suits as well as the ultimate spacesuits you'll use on-mission. The three terrestrial suits will be for your flight training, G-force endurance testing, and underwater mission sims. Then, you'll need suits for launch, EVA, and re-entry needs, of course. Six in total, hopefully to be done by the end of the day", Sophie said without looking up from her tablet.
"Oh, wow", I said as they took turns measuring almost every hair on my head and asking me questions upon questions, from my diet to early childhood injuries.
I didn't even notice the van moving and palm trees whizzing past us. I didn't memorize the itinerary, but I knew the entire mission would rely on packing as much training into every minute we had.
I remembered that I'd only be getting 7 hours of sleep and that, for the next four hours of my life, I would be in sensory deprivation training.
I shivered; it was my worst nightmare. I knew space was dark, aside from a star here and there, but I always assumed there would be the Sun alongside a brilliant Earth to look at- reflecting our star's light back at me. In reality though, the star's unhindered light was so bright that you had to watch where you pointed your camera lenses if you wanted them to stay operational. The same went for your own eyes.
Unfortunately, several suns wouldn't be enough to save you from the feeling of cold expanse that seemed to creep in through the unseen cracks in the spacecraft walls.
Astronauts- one's with years of training for this exact scenario- would have panic attacks and fits of stir craziness. Sensory deprivation training was meant to prepare you for that- being surrounded by darkness- nothing but you and the abyss.
Space didn't scare me nearly as much as the prospect of being locked in an entirely dark room in salty water and floating there until someone came to get you. But I had seen plenty of videos of people doing it for "fun."
I couldn't imagine.
"I hope you've grown out of that fear", said one of the NASA workers after he'd measured both of my ears for my helmet. "Water is the closest thing we've got to space conditions here on Earth."
"Yeah... you're right about that", I said.
"Of course! What am I saying? I'd heard you're pretty sharp", he said.
I smiled, unaware of how to respond to his praise.
Of course, we pulled up to the NASA campus at the Cape in record time.
"I was told your supplies have been delivered to your new quarters, so you'll be good for later", Sophie said as she led me into a three-story building.
I nodded, as I analyzed every possible exit and alarm button in the building; something I'd picked up in the rescue field, but had more recently become an odd habit since I was so afraid.
Sophie passed me off to the training team and bid me farewell.
"Good luck Rocky, We'll see you for flight training!", she smiled
"Thanks Sophie, appreciate your help", I turned to my captors.
The man who stood above me was a solid six feet tall. He held a clipboard, and his NASA hat covered his eyes.
"Rocky, it's nice to meet you. I know the prospect is kind of scary, but we have secure equipment that will ensure you're safe. We'll have cameras on you the entire hour, tethers to keep you afloat and stop you from tipping over. Plus, the water is so salty you won't sink any, ya' know?"
A whole hour?, I thought.
"Sure, let's just get it over with. Thank you though, Mister…...?"
"Nivram", he said.
I was showed to a bathroom and instructed to put on a special bathing suit, of sorts. Odd to call it that since it looked nothing like a human suit, but it was very similar to the life vests we sometimes wore back home.
I started shaking as I zipped up the simple article.
Wow, I really expected to change over a day?
I slapped my face with my paws.
Get it together dummy, show those other astros that they were wrong about you, I thought, remembering Weston's condescending sneer.
I was led to a big, round hatch that seemed to go to nowhere.
Nivram cranked it open.
Blackness.
Nivram turned on a light and showed me the entire chamber. It was a 7X7 foot area that resembled a bathtub.
The water was only two feet deep, but of course- when I see water, I just assume it goes down forever.
I couldn't see the cameras, but I was told they were there. My only comfort was a dimly lit red emergency button. Nivram told me I could push it if I started to panic.
He fitted me into the floating harness of sorts to prevent me somehow flipping over, since it was more than likely that I'd completely lose my equilibrium after a while.
"Alright boss", Nivram said warmly, "We'll see you on the other side".
It was all I could do to nod.
He shut the hatch, then I was left alone, in darkness, with nothing but my fear- Water.
I hated the way it stuck to my fur. Despite the high salt-content, floating on my back with my front paws across my chest was in no way comfortable, regardless of not being able to sink. The whole point of this was to simulate the emptiness of space.
I decided I'd focus on the red light.
I stared for what felt like hours of time. I had no idea how many NASA workers were looking at me with their infrared cameras.
I thought back to my packet of documents. The schematics were burned into my head, as schematics always have been. I knew the spacecraft inside and out.
No worries there.
Just then something touched my right side.
I jolted in surprise, then realized what was happening. I had started to drift to the right and my harness bunched up on one side.
That was all it was.
Focus Rocky, Focus, I thought.
What else would I be doing now if I were back at home? Staring at the roof of my pup-house, waiting for someone to call us to go fish Chickaletta out of a small ditch?
Somehow, the thought of such a low-key mission was actually comforting.
It was almost nostalgia I was feeling.
What would change after I did this? Would I be a famous astronaut if NASA decided to go public? Would the other pups look at me differently? Would I finally get a girlfriend? Would she love me for reasons outside of my accomplishment? Would ANYONE care about any of my previous accomplishments?
I couldn't get ahead of myself. This sensory training was step 1 of many.
NASA wanted to get my mind and body ready as quickly as possible.
I hadn't even noticed that I lost the light. I looked around what I thought were corners to find nothing but blackness.
I started to hyperventilate. The light must have gone out, or maybe I had stared at it for so long, that it stopped appearing as a light for me. The harness kept me from getting too close to the walls.
Can't they see I'm struggling? Why haven't they opened the hatch yet?
And that, was my last thought before the hallucinations started.
They told me it was normal to start seeing things, hearing random noises and the like, but this was different.
It was vivid. Pieces of my life started floating into my view. Various instances that occurred years apart slid into my field of view from nothingness like a slideshow. And then, gone.
Skye's harness lowering me to safety after I fixed something high up.
The very corner of Rubbles air-patrol hover board that Ryder and I fixed together.
Zuma's surfboard buried in the sand after a long day.
The time I witnessed Marshall pull a palate holding 50lbs worth of weight up a hill in the name of endurance training, but also because he said he could.
The weird sideways motion of the windblown snow the day I had met Everest.
It was so odd seeing previous events of my own life from this perspective.
In some instances, I saw myself in the third person.
I had completely lost my sense of time.
It could have been days of me just letting the nothingness hold me. I almost wanted to thank my brain for giving me something to look at.
Oddly enough, my memory-slideshow never featured anything before the time when Ryder found me.
It was only upon closer inspection that I began to see strange differences.
A walk with Chase over the bridge to the lookout after a mission that I had completely forgotten about- Normal considering the circumstances.
But bobbing in the water was a spacecraft's reentry capsule- parachutes blown and sitting on the surface of the water.
I knew it couldn't be right.
Then, a battered and burned spacesuit appeared on Ryders workbench.
"Don't lose it, Reuse it", echoed in my head.
Then I realized, my present fears were beginning to invade my memories.
It had actually been somewhat pleasant up until that point, but I had begun to panic.
The images disappeared; black engulfed everything.
The hatch opened, "All right Rocky, that's all she wrote", said Nivram.
He pressed a button on a remote and my harness disconnected from the suit.
I scrambled through the hatch and laid on the floor.
"Kinda rough in there, I know, but you made it! I've seen k9 and human alike pass out in there and then I have to keep up a vicious cycle of waking them and leaving again. Kinda ruins the immersion process that way."
I nodded; I was shaking, but I felt better hearing his words.
"Yeah, your body temperature spiked right at the end there, but you did well. It's not like you won't have plenty of distractions once you've actually gotten to space."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking", I laughed a bit less nervously.
Nivram let me take time to compose myself and change out of the water-suit before leading me down a hall to another room.
These NASA buildings were like mazes, memorizing the turns would be a waste of time. Nivram opened a door to reveal a table with the most elaborate food spread I had ever seen. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Seasonal, Desserts, hors d'oeuvres- far beyond what anyone could eat in one sitting.
The entire PAW Patrol had developed an affinity for some (safe) human foods as well as pup food, being sure to avoid anything with harmful acids and chocolate (of course).
But NASA had factored this in perfectly. My guess was that their aim was to make us as happy as possible after traumatizing us with sensory deprivation and similar horrors.
But, there was also a neat stack of papers next to what appeared to be my seat.
"You eat up now, I'll be back with the first of many rundowns for you. I'll be honest, I'm supposed to give you a test about the spacecraft parts and whatnot. Boring, I know", Nivram said.
I ran through the papers while I ate my fill of toast- which is my favorite no matter the time of day.
Nivram asked me if I was ready, and I said I was.
He asked me various obscure questions ranging in difficulty- Abbreviations, protocol, contingency plans. All in theory of course.
I didn't miss a single one.
Nivram scratched his head, "Jesus, you made some short work of that Rocky. Maybe I should be working for you!"
I liked Nivram, he reminded me a lot of Captain Turbot in his mannerisms. Much like me, he wears his emotions on his sleeves.
But I was expecting to sweep through the tests like that, it was the other things I worried about. Things that you had to feel in the moment, instinctual things that come and go no matter your book smarts.
I had to say though, me surviving sensory deprivation training was a great first step.
Nivram led me to some other rooms in the same building where I was given slideshow presentation after slideshow presentation until the clock hit 2pm.
Visual learning was an acquired taste for me, but hands-on was where I truly thrived.
Thankfully for me, my next task would be that of familiarizing myself with the inside of the Cygnus vehicle. After disconnecting from its first and second stage boosters- the craft would consist of a command/support module and a lunar landing module.
I would need to be familiar with both, but especially the lunar lander- since I would be going to the moon's surface.
Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps.
I was led to a long hallway with windows on either side. I only realized that Sophie was waiting for me at the end of the corridor after passing halfway. I waved and then turned to look out the window.
As someone who enjoys mechanics and the inner workings of machinery, it's always a joy seeing them put to their intended use.
My eyes were wide. The landscape outside was entirely flat, covered with concrete and slabs of greenery. But, just less than a mile across from the window I stood in front of was a massive plume of white smoke billowing from a brilliant red flame parallel to the ground.
I could see the power in the atmosphere.
"It's impressive for sure!", Sophie said.
I jumped.
Since I had stopped walking, Sophie managed to stroll over and meet me halfway.
I didn't know if she was an expert at walking without making noise, or if I was too enthralled by the sight to notice.
Sophie then apologized and told me what I had already suspected was the case.
"They're testing the thrust of the first stage boosters. Just be glad this glass is soundproof; it's deafening out there!"
"Wow, it's incredible", I said in awe. Although I couldn't see exactly where the rocket was, the edges of the red flame seemed to flutter to blue every so often as the engineers throttled the engine up and down.
"You'll see it up close in due time, but now we've got to get you acclimated to your new 'home'", she said.
It was only then that I realized what I was really looking at. Since the area was entirely flat, I could see for miles in any direction. It just so happened that- almost appearing near to the horizon- I saw the site of my end-goal.
Launchpad 39-A, the iconic rocket tower where no rocket yet stood, and the empty path where a completed spacecraft would roll out of the hanger and into history.
I felt compelled to wave my paw in front of my face to make sure I wasn't still seeing things.
It was far away, but it was real.
I continued down the hall, unable to keep my eyes from darting left until the window gave way to wall.
To say I was feeling confident at that point would have been the understatement of the year.
Sophie led me into a massive hanger with a roof over 300 feet high; the massive doors closed to the tarmac. Inside sat a slightly downscaled model of the Cygnus launch vehicle.
It did not look like a "typical rocket-ship"- It was wide- the main craft coming to a rounded, triangular end at the top. Its opposite end, the bottom, looked as though someone glued six massive silos together. It was even more striking now that I had seen the brand of fire that would be exiting the bottom half.
The model was streamlined and fully accurate to the very last detail.
The real spacecraft measured about 210 feet from nose to stern. Although the first and second stage boosters that would break off of the rocket after liftoff made up half of its length- they were not featured in full on the model.
This simulation was meant to show astronauts what they would need to work inside of, where all tools would be, and how to move around one another with or without spacesuits.
I had already learned that another model had been constructed underwater, which would provide simulated training in conditions closest to zero gravity.
Spacesuit or not, I wasn't exactly looking forward to that either.
The mixture of butterflies and adrenaline within me temporarily spiked when I realized I wasn't the only astro there.
Of course, engineers were scurrying everywhere, distant alarms wailed, and loose papers blew around below industrial fans.
On a railing overlooking the spacecraft model was Lucille, who seemed to be in deep conversation with a man in business casual ware as he scribbled on a clipboard.
We were all given hardhats, which stirred up some fond memories of construction projects with Rubble.
At the angle, Lucille couldn't see me.
The model of the craft was turned longways on its side, which meant that you could access a door at either end by going up a ladder.
Sophie led me around the bottom-most side of the craft.
This "Final stage" of the rocket would eventually separate into two pieces while in lunar orbit. The Command module, meant to orbit the moon until the lunar module rocketed off of the surface after the Origenes telescope, was where all three astros would sit during launch. The Lunar module, however, would be where I would do my most important work- hypothetically speaking.
Panels hid the bottom of the lunar lander, but the real rocket had its own space to house the components for a propellant-heavy, portable engine capable of hooking onto the 43.5-foot-long telescope and raising it from the moon's surface into the same orbit as the Command Module.
I couldn't wait to get started. Several engineers that had been waiting underneath the opened hatch gave me a headset and told me how the next few hours would work.
A NASA worker who introduced himself as Garret spoke to me, "basically you've got a hardhat with a camera on it, so our team can see everything in front of you. We'll give you an earpiece so you can hear us talk, but we'll just tell you what you need to know and let you explore on your own.
"Oh, ok- great", I said. I liked the sound of this approach.
As we waited, I turned to ask Sophie which astro was wrapping up their training in the "mock-rocket." I soon got my answer.
A familiar Shiba Inu paw descended the stairs.
Weston.
Why God, I asked, did it have to be him?
"Jesus, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to zero gravity, my neck is killing me", he said into his earpiece.
He turned and saw me, his playful smile turned into a very weary-looking straight face.
It was almost as if he were silently asking me why I even bothered to show up.
As he did so, however, he missed the last step.
"Shit!", he exclaimed as his left hind paw caught all his weight and his hardhat slammed onto the ground unceremoniously.
Some engineers stopped their scurryings and looked before resuming their business.
Admittedly, I smiled but I made sure he didn't see.
Sophie was in no way as discreet and burst out laughing.
"Oh boy, let's hope you don't do that when the cameras are rolling", she said after a whistle.
Weston glared at her before he picked himself up.
Just then, a female Maltipoo rushed over to him.
They conversed quietly for a brief second, then she led him away.
He looked at me again as he left, but this time it was different.
Not condescending, but tired. I wasn't sure if he was just embarrassed, sick of my presence already, or just generally fed up- but I decided not to worry about it.
Garrett had already hooked me up to the proper channel, so I would hear him speak to me in real-time as they saw what I was seeing.
I climbed into the hatch wide-eyed. There was no way I could have prepared for the space inside of that thing.
The ship was fairly streamlined inside, just as it was outside.
In a way, it was huge. But it was also cramped, even for a dog. While I couldn't make out what was on the wall furthest from me, I found that turning my head put my face practically in contact with the walls to my immediate left or right.
It was basically just a tunnel with smaller off-shoot "compartments" jutting from its side. These were three feet deep- not unlike the overhead storage bins on an airplane.
However, unlike overhead storage, there were nobs, switches, and electric panels everywhere. Most of this would be the Lunar module pilot's responsibility. My job was to make sure I had what I needed to fix the telescope that would be on the surface.
Other than that, I really had no business there, so I decided to check the command module.
This "driver's seat" area would be facing vertically on launch day, of course. All three astros would be in it for the majority of the mission, as this module would be the only thing returning to Earth- hopefully alongside a healthy Origenes telescope.
I walked up the rungs of the ladder, not a difficult feat as that side of the craft was parallel to the ground, and made my way to the front.
There were three seats; Two directly in front of the controls and one slightly behind them where one could still see all the action- just not touch it.
The control panel was a 50/50 spread of touch screens and dials, almost as if the craft was the product of a project halfway between the eras of the majestic Space Shuttle and the futuristic SpaceX "rockets of tomorrow."
While it was only a model, I began to feel like I could really see myself in the role.
It was then that I heard the engineers in my ear- the voices I had been accidently tuning out during my exploration.
"Pretty cool stuff in there", one said.
"Oh, Rocky- be sure to check out the sleeping compartment!", said another. "Either side, just outside of the cockpit entrance."
Sure enough, after I climbed right outside of the seats, I saw closed panels on either side.
I knew these compartments weren't originally meant for dogs to sleep in at the time of its construction, so its "makeshift" nature made sense. I was just impressed that it was done so quickly.
It was at that moment that everything went black.
The lights in the module went dim, then dark.
At this, I attempted to make a joke for the engineers in my ear.
"Jeez, even NASA skimps on the electric bill from time to time, huh?"
In addition to not being nearly as funny or Pete Conrad-esque as I thought it would be, I realized quickly that they couldn't hear me.
The light on the side of the headset was solid red. I couldn't be heard and couldn't hear them.
I heard varied "woah's" and exclamations from the hatch I had entered through, far below me.
The power in the entire hanger had faltered. As I looked through the opened hatch below, I saw a grey glow, kind of like a flare in the fog.
Realizing that the entire hanger had been impacted, I waited for someone to come to the hatch and tell me what had happened or that a backup generator would kick in shortly….
Nothing.
I decided to egress on my own, hoping not to hurt myself.
As I egressed backwards, I backtracked in my own mind, over all I knew about electricity- Amps, Voltage, Surge Damage. Particularly, what I had seen during my time with the PAW Patrol.
Paranoia aside, even the slightest chance that I could be fried alive in a somewhat-grounded metal structure was enough for me.
I continued backwards, making my way towards the grey light of the hatch, not paying attention to much else.
It wasn't until I reached the hatch that I realized what I had done.
I had inched my way down the length of the ship without touching the rungs of the ladder, so I found myself about to plummet right through the hatch.
The last thing I wanted to do was be the second astro to embarrass themselves.
As fast as I fell, I managed to grab a support beam with my tail.
The power cut back on. Back to business as usual.
And there I was, dangling upside down from the model right above the engineer's heads.
They looked up and were pleasantly surprised.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright!", one said.
"Yeah, blew a fuse there. I swear that doesn't happen often", said another.
"Guess you skimp on electric when the funding gets cut, huh?", said a third.
I felt an odd manner of calm in the minutes after.
My PAW Patrol instincts under normal circumstances would be to entertain the possibility of faulty wiring, or maybe even foul play.
Looking back, the second the lights went out it was almost as if I were underwater.
Not the white-hot terror that the sprawling ocean that surrounded Adventure Bay instilled, but the dark hold of the sensory deprivation chamber.
Just like Space, I assumed.
Apparently, in the subsequent report that I was told to fill out (there would be no shortage of those) a NASA employee whose name I did not hear remarked that my eyes had appeared "fiery, yet simultaneously glazed over"- however that works.
I was sent to my quarters and assured that the remainder of my schedule would be altered to fit in what I had missed.
My first day ended early, but I wasn't worried.
For the first time since getting there, I actually felt how I wanted to.
/
****End of Chapter 9****