Marsiana 2-6
CHAPTER 6
Flight of the orbiting space station Genesis held normally. There are no accidents. No problem. All systems were operating normally. Computers did not bug and properly processed and transmitted to NASA all information. The crew of the station should only reopen the last cargo section, which arrived two weeks ago from Cape Canaveral. Astronaut Michael Aaron was doing it.
The space suit a bit snared the movements of astronaut, but Michael knew that safety is paramount. Although the devices showed that there inside the chamber was the normal pressure, temperature and composition of the air, the commander, however, ordered to wear a suit. In space, anything can happen. Six crew members engaged in their affairs at the same time were watching what Michael was doing. ‘If you see beauty space girl don’t waste your time, invite on a date,’ Pete Stone joked. Astronauts amicably laughed at his jokes. ‘Yeah, sure,’ smiling, Michael said, opening the door of the cargo compartment. Video cameras showed that everything inside the section was in its place and nothing has changed. ‘Open… carefully,’ continued to entertain himself and his friends Pete. ‘Maybe she's hiding somewhere. Have not you heard the legends of the first astronauts about the space ghosts wandering in the deserted and uninhabited chambers and hold?’ Michael at these words felt shivers ran down his spine. Who of the astronauts did not hear about the beauties of space and faceless aliens? Everyone has heard. These legends astronauts with humor pass each other from generation to generation. ‘Pete, Be a friend. Shut up,’ Michael asked him. ‘Really,’ broke in a deep bass of Ron Klein. ‘Pete, leave him alone. Do not you see Michael opens the hatch? This is an extremely important task. Anything can happen.’ ‘Laughing, laughing idiots,’ Michael grumbled good-naturedly, slowly floating into the cargo hold. He was well aware that with their jokes his mates only wish to encourage him. He would do the same if he would be now at their place. But now they joked about him. He took all jokes of his friends with the calmness of philosopher. ‘Michael, check containers,’ the crew commander of crew Steve Hopkins said to him. ‘Okay,’ Michael in turn began to inspect and open cargo arriving from distant Earth, where they have not been nearly five months. Every time they admire their beautiful homeland when the station flies over the United States trying to guess where their relatives are at that moment. To do it was not difficult with the help of modern instruments. They are not only seen on the monitors their homes, even cars and their families members. This significantly kept their mood up into the orbit. ‘Everything is all right with cargo, sir,’ Michael reported. ‘There left only two more containers. Open?’ ‘Why now you there so do it, open,’ commander said. ‘Okay. I’m opening.’ Michael opened another container and numbed. Inside was something with which he had never experienced in his life before. Involuntarily, he pushed his hand from the edge of the container and flown to the opposite wall. His companions immediately drew attention to it. The jokes and conversation stopped instantly. Everyone was clear that something was wrong. The station’s commander continued to keep calm. ‘What is there, Michael? Frog saw or cockroach?’ he asked. Michael tried to pull himself together. ‘I wish you were right, Sir,’ he said excitedly. ‘See for yourself.’ The commander together with Michael and all the crew’s members saw the contents of the container. Many of them busted out with surprise and astonishment. ‘What is it, sir? What they sent us? What the hell is this?’ Nicholas Bass the programmer asked. In the wardroom for a moment there was silence. The astronauts curiously looked at the monitor and in the soul each of them was glad that it was not he who right now was in the same chamber with the strange object. ‘Nikolas, make a request to the Centre,’ the crew’s commander he ordered. ‘Done, Sir. I’ve sent the picture already.’ ‘Excellent. We will wait for a response. Let the specialists will see what they sent us.’ ‘But what they sent?’ Rodney Smith asked. ‘Soon we’ll know it. But apparently the object resembles some creature. Maybe it’s a dummy pilot astronaut, for testing the new space suit or something like that,’ the commander said. ‘Most likely they sent in error messed up the containers.’ Explanation of commander suited everyone. It happens to everyone. NASA also could make a mess. There are just common people works. Rodney decided to make fun of Michael. ‘Michael, take a look, maybe the dummy looks like you. Maybe you were a model for it. Who knows suddenly it's your copy?’ ‘If you like you can come and see yourself,’ Jones answered, who does not want to approach to the open container. He preferred to study the contents of it from some distance. ‘Did you scare a dummy?’ Rodney was surprised. “I’d like to know how you dared to fly into the space.’ Michael’s forehead got sweat. He suddenly felt hot. He looked at the suit devices. The temperature increased by several degrees. Automation suit activated the air conditioning. It immediately became cooler. Soon, from the Mission Control Centre came the answer. It was short and concise. That's why it did not like to the commander of Hopkins. ‘Send the container with what is inside back to the Earth’. ‘Now?’ Hopkins surprised. ‘Yes. Immediately.’ ‘Heard order?’ Hopkins asked looking at his crew. ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘Start the procedure for disconnecting the module.’ The astronauts began to do all preparation for the start. ‘We shouldn’t be careful or we can send back on Earth container with Michael,’ Rodney joked. ‘Hey, Michael, are you still there? You fell in love with it or what?’ Astronaut Johnson did not answer. ‘Sir, I'm out,’ he said after a pause. ‘It's getting hot.’ ‘In what sense?’ ‘In direct, sir. The temperature rises in the room, and inside the suit.’ ‘Really? Strange.’ Michael left the compartment. The module in which was the container had been disconnected from the station and began to move away. Astronauts enviously watched after it. Everyone wanted to go home, but nobody talked about it out loud. ‘Everything went on successful,’ Nicholas reported. ‘Module enters the landing trajectory.’ ‘Sir, sir,’ Rodney exclaimed excitedly. ‘We’ve got new answer from the Centre.’ ‘Yes? We’ve sent them a package already. What they want any more? Let’s they take it.’ Nicholas looked at him wide-eyed. ‘Sir they forbade us to send the container to the Earth. No dummy or creature they sent us.’ ‘What? How it could be?’ Hopkins got chill. ‘I heard ... We have all heard the order from the Centre to send a container to Earth. Johnson, he's back?’ ‘No, sir… Johnson where are you now?’ Rodney viewed on the monitor the sections of the station, but Jones was not there. Commander Hopkins was caught by the vague feeling of anxiety. He didn’t know the reason yet. But he understands that happened something wrong. ‘How he did not. He could not evaporate.’ Rodney shrugged. ‘On monitors no one. Cameras do not see him.’ ‘Look in the corridors,’ Nicholas suggested. Rodney did so. ‘I see!’ Rodney exclaimed joyfully. ‘He really in the hallway. Michael why are you stuck there? Go back. Commander wants to see you. Well, we all miss you.’ Johnson did not answer and did not move. He seemed to be stuck to the wall of the station’s hall. Commander Hopkins realized there was something wrong. ‘He's talking about the temperature rises. Maybe he lost consciousness.’ ‘I will bring him here,’ Rodney was about to unfasten seatbelts, but Hopkins stopped him. ‘Nicholas, put the indication of sensors of Johnson’s suit on a common monitor.’ ‘Yes, sir,’ Nicholas something switched on his console, and they saw that Johnson’s space suit is empty inside. Astronaut disappeared without trace. ‘What's this? What this all mean?’ Rodney said haltingly, increasing the image. ‘This is a joke? He took off his suit and hiding?’ Commander Hopkins frowned, his face darkened. ‘Johnson didn’t play such trick to us,’ he said. ‘It seems that something happened to him.’ ‘But what, sir? What could happen to him inside hermetically sealed station,’ Rodney exclaimed. Commander Hopkins did not know. No one knew. There is one more thing which surprise me,’ began talking Hopkins. How we were able to so quickly undock the landing section? I have just now thought of it.’ The astronauts looked at each other. In fact, commander was right, everything happened really quickly. ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ Nicholas said. ‘What's done is done. I am more interested in what was in the container?’ No one answered him. ‘Sir,’ Rodney looked around all with his disturbing look. ‘There is something else’. ‘What?’ Hopkins frowned more. ‘I know where Michael is right now.’ ‘Really? So, where?’ Rodney silently showed his companions on his monitor. One of the astronauts cry of surprise, someone else cursed. Michael was in the open space and something drew his fore finger of his right hand on the casing of the station. Commander Hopkins felt his back ran a chill. He was not alone. His subordinates did not feel better. ‘It’s impossible. It cannot be!’ Nicholas exclaimed. ‘A man can not be without a protective suit in open space. And how Michael opened the hatch?’ ‘He opened because is not Michael any more,’ Hopkins replied calmly. ‘How it’s not Michael? Who then?’ Rodney, Nicholas, Donald Pearson looked at his commander. ‘I can not be sure about it, but, in my opinion, a creature that was in the container, somehow changed Michael. Now he is able to be in the open space in an ordinary suit and go without air.’ ‘It’s logically,’ Rodney said for all, ‘Then begs the next question. Who was in the container?’ On the face of Hopkins appeared a shadow of a smile. ‘About this we will know soon. But, judging by how urgently demanded the container with the contents back to Earth, NASA know what is inside,’ Hopkins answered. ‘Let’s be so,’ Nicholas interrupted, ‘But what or who can so hardly change a person?’ ‘Aliens,’ Rodney smiled and met with unfriendly and reproachful glances of his comrades. ‘What? I said nothing unusual,’ he began to make excuses. ‘I do not think that in NASA laboratories are able to change the human genes so drastically. If Michael has been changed by the creature that had been sent from the Earth, it is not it would be easier to change Michael earlier in flight training Center and then send with changes to the station? In my opinion it would have been much easier. Is not it so?’ Rodney's words sounded convincing. His companions were silent. In addition to their own assumptions they did not have anything else. NASA, too, were silent and did not answer their questions. However, the station was still in the shadow of the Earth, but if they would like, might be contacted by a ship in the Pacific Ocean. ‘The alien if it's really an alien, one would enclose us here in the space,’ Nicholas said looking at no one. ‘In the Center all were frightened and took him to study.’ No one answered him. If he is right, it turns out that all of them follow some creatures. Not only monitored, but also seamlessly infiltrated station and put something in one of the containers. What? Nobody knew. In any case, safety can be forgotten. ‘So far not too late, we should abort the mission and return to Earth,’ navigator Pearson said. ‘While we still own situation,’ he added, looking at Hopkins. Hopkins shook his head. ‘Without the Earth’s permission, we can not make a landing ourselves.’ ‘Why not,’ Pearson argued. ‘It’s no difficult to calculate the flight trajectory back to Earth. The main thing is what is waiting for us when we return home. Authorities unlikely enjoy our initiative’. ‘Maybe we have an emergency situation,’ Nicholas intervened. ‘What we are all transformed into the likeness of Michael? By the way, where is he?’ ‘The same,’ Rodney replied. ‘He’s admiring his creativity.’ Astronauts stuck to monitors. Indeed, Michael was at some distance from the station, and it seemed, was looking at left by him some characters on the outer wall of station. ‘I wonder, what he wrote there and what for?’ Rodney mused. ‘Did he really scratch it by the finger? Did it make of steel or what?’ ‘Maybe made of steel,’ Nicholas answered to him in a tone. ‘Sir,’ he turned to Hopkins. ‘It turns out that Michael is developing the same speed as the station. He does not bind to it, but is flying a parallel course.’ Hopkins did not know what to answer him. He knew that the mission thwarted and he on real is not in charge any more. Some invisible force intervened in their tiny world at the station, and what awaits for them nobody knows. ‘Ger ready to landing,’ he said at last. ‘I take all the responsibility,’ he looked around his small crew. ‘Rodney and Nicholas put on your space suits. Get ready to go out. We’ll try to get Michael back to the station.’ ‘Yes, sir,’ having received a specific task, the astronauts revived, began to carry it out. Rodney and Nicholas swam to their spacesuits, Pearson and Donald started all preparation to land the orbit station. However, no one had time to do nothing. ‘Sir, I came back,’ sounded in the wardroom Michael's voice. The astronauts together with the commander Hopkins got frozen. In the main cabin, not known how Michael appeared. ‘Shit!’ Rodney exclaimed shaken. Hopkins is trying to warn panic among the crew members, raised his hand. ‘Johnson, how do you feel?’ he asked, peering closely at the face of Johnson, who had just returned from outer space. ‘Telling the truth I’m cold, sir,’ Michael said, looking around at his silent companions. He could not understand why they're so weird looking at him. ‘Saying you are cold,’ Hopkins slowly repeated after him. ‘Clear. How did you do this?’ ‘What, sir,’ Michael looked at his commander with incomprehension. ‘Went into the space without a spacesuit,’ Hopkins explained. Michael thought for a moment. ‘Usually. Just left. And what's wrong with that?’ he surprised in his turn. ‘You are asking what’s wrong with it,’ Hopkins for a moment looked at his crew, then went questioning. ‘How do you breathe outside?’ ‘Like high in the mountains. What?’ Astronaut Johnson clearly did not understand what the commander wants to hear from him and why he asks such strange in his Michael’s opinion questions. ‘I felt hot in the compartment. I took off my suit and went out into space,’ he said quickly. ‘Yes? There is no gateway there,’ Hopkins noticed quietly. ‘Well, so what,’ Michael argued. ‘Why do I need a gateway? I was hot. I just left. Now I returned. I broke some rule, sir?’ Hopkins realized that any further conversation with Michael does not make sense. Something or someone had changed not only his mind but also his whole body. In fact, before him now was no longer a man, but ... Hopkins did not even know what word to call Michael. He thought about what to do now with Johnson. Share with him the station they couldn’t any more, but at the same time he could not isolate Johnson. For complete isolation at the station did not have suitable premises. And Michael could take offense at such self-treatment. Nicholas sighed and turned to his companions. His face was pale and frightened. ‘Sir...’ his voice trembled treacherously. ‘Earth disappeared,’ he said, for some reason, looking at Michael. Hopkins swept with severe irritation. That was too much. ‘What are you talking about, Nicholas,’ he shouted angrily. ‘How the Earth could disappear? Check equipment. It may fail in electronics.’ Nicholas was afraid to look in his eye. He decided to just keep silence. ‘What? Why you don’t talking?’ Hopkins shouted. ‘Answer your commander!’ Nicholas had the face of a frightened child. It seemed a little more, and he burst into tears. ‘We're in orbit of Uranus,’ he said, hiding from all his eyes. Rodney grabbed his shoulder. ‘Nicholas what’s wrong with you. What the hell Uranus? Sir,’ he turned to Hopkins. ‘I know what happened. Maybe in the container was some kind of a dangerous virus, infection or hallucinogenic gas? Michael opened it, and all the air in the station is now infected. It just deemed to us that he was in the open space. In fact, he was here beside us. Now the virus or gas acts on Nicholas. It seems to him that we are on Uranus. Soon we'll all go mad. We have to urgently inform about all NASA!’ ‘Nicholas, enough’ Donald judiciously stopped his friend. ‘Maybe it’s all hallucination to us, maybe you are right, but what about the video cameras? It also seemed to it that Michael walked without a spacesuit in the open space? Did you forget we’ve got a record?’ Nicholas paused. He somehow did not think about it. Hopkins thought he was asleep. Now he wakes up and everything will fall into place. ‘Nicholas, you define the position of the station relative to Earth?’ said asked. Nicholas anxiously looked at his commander. ‘Yes, sir. The computer determined,’ he said haltingly. ‘We're ... we're in…’ Nicholas simply was afraid already to tell the truth. Suddenly Hopkins gets mad and throws him it into outer space? It looks like they all slowly begin to go crazy. ‘So?’ Hopkins exclaimed with demand. Nicholas breathed the air in deeply and said: ‘Station is in the orbit of Uranus,’ after these words, he sailed away and hiding like, put up in front of him a computer’s monitor. Astronauts saw the disk of the planet which was not similar to their native Earth. ‘It cannot be on real!’ Hopkins said. ‘How we could get near the Uranus?’ Nicholas shrugged. ‘Michael you did it? You’ve got us here?’ Hopkins suddenly asked, turning to Johnson. ‘No, sir. I surprised myself.’ ‘Okay,’ Hopkins bit his lip, scowled at the monitor. ‘And what is that?’ he nodded at two small celestial body. ‘Probably, Oberon and Titanium,’ Nicholas hesitantly replied hesitantly. ‘The largest moons of Uranus. They had been opened by Herschel.’ ‘You do not need to teach me astronomy. I know who it opened.’ ‘Sorry, sir.’ Hopkins swore looked around his crew. ‘Who of you understand what is happening?’ The astronauts looked in all directions, but not on command. ‘Pierson, Rodney, Donald, why are you silent?’ ‘Well, we analyzing situation, sir,’ Pearson said cautiously, fearing another outbreak of commander. A Pearson’s answer Hopkins liked. ‘Good. Let us analyze. What's next?’ he asked. ‘Any ideas?’ Donald scratched his head. ‘What NASA says? Maybe we ask them first?’ ‘What the hell NASA. If we truly are into the orbit of Uranus, you know how much time will pass until the signal reaches to the Earth and back,’ Rodney argued. ‘And if it is some glitches? Can you imagine what they think of us, when we even give a hint that we are near the Uranus and observe the satellites of the planet? They will call us crazy and generally will not allow us go back to Earth. Do you want this?’ Pearson did not want to end his days spend into the outer space. He left at home his girl. He promised her to come back soon. ‘Creature from container,’ Nicholas said confidently. ‘It is he who thrown us up here, if we are truly on the Uranus’ orbit.’ ‘I've already thought about it,’ Rodney said. ‘But the being is not at the station right now. We sent him to Earth… Sir!’ he exclaimed scaredly. ‘Can you imagine what that being can do at home?’ ‘We can not help anything. I think they will manage with him,’ Hopkins answered. ‘We need to decide what we have to do.’ ‘In my opinion everything is simple,’ Pearson said. ‘It is necessary to determine exactly where we are. Computers are not people; gas or human’s virus on them does not work.’ ‘But if someone ran a computer virus in the system?’ Donald supposed. Pearson paused and spread his hands. ‘Somebody has to go into the outer space and see what's out there,’ Nicholas offered. ‘So to speak with one’s own eyes, without instruments and computers see what is going on around the station? I can go,’ he concluded. ‘Better me,’ Johnson argued. ‘I love the open space. I was comfortable there.’ ‘We already noticed it,’ Pearson grunted and looked at the commander. ‘Okay,’ Hopkins agreed. ‘Get ready. Just be careful. You’ve got it?’ ‘Yes, sir to be careful,’ Michael, holding on to the belts, set into the station’s walls turned and swam to the hatch leading to the airlock. ‘Don’t forget your space suit,’ Pearson said at his back. ‘I needn’t it. Only constrains movement,’ Michael waved his hand, as if he was about to leave not in the open space, but in the garden, where carousing the wind. ‘You know better,’ Pearson agreed. When the hatch closed behind Michael commander Hopkins looked at his crew. ‘Now, when Johnson is not say what you think about it. Id’s like to know your opinion. Pearson shrugged. ‘In my opinion – it’s he who threw us here. I do not know how he did it, but without a doubt he did it. Maybe he even didn’t know about it himself ‘How it can be?’ Rodney surprised. ‘Simply. The creature, or whatever it was in the container changed the very nature of Michael, and possibly ordered him to abandon the station in the vicinity of Uranus. Why I do not know, but, in my opinion, everything is logical. In my opinion, he does not even understand that he has changed, seen, he even do not need a spacesuit. He was going into space, as if in a city park. He does not even aware of the mortal danger to the common person, which carries such a spacewalk.’ ‘More likely and easy to consider that we all still into the Earth’s orbit, but breathe some invisible gas,’ Nicholas said. ‘Anything you said Pearson belongs science fiction,’ he added. Pearson looked at him, but said nothing. ‘It's my opinion. Think about how you want. Here you can even try to catch the radio from Earth. I think regular radio works. If we have got a radio broadcast so we are still on the Earth's orbit, if not, on Uranus’s. Astronauts checked. Radio responded with bang, noise and whistling. ‘Well, we convinced. No catches,’ Pearson said satisfied tone. ‘We’ve got air supplies, food and fuel for nine months,’ Donald reflected. ‘Nobody prevents us to calculate the trajectory of the Earth. Maybe we’ll get their.’ ‘Maybe in space does not pass,’ Pearson said. ‘Cosmos loves precision. It's in sci-fi books astronaut dropped into the reactor last drops of fuel and successfully returned home. In fact, space is a dangerous thing.’ Donald decided not to argue. Time will tell who is right. ‘Where is now Michael?’ Hopkins asked programmer Nicholas. ‘Disappeared,’ ‘How he disappeared?’ Nicholas shrugged. He from whole this situation already got tired, and for him was almost the same what happen to them. ‘He went into the adapter and disappeared. At least the camera stopped to fix him.’ ‘Well, it’s good for him,’ Pearson said loudly. ‘I personally do not really want to be on the same station with the mutant. Let him fly under by his own power.’ ‘Pierson, don’t make quick conclusions,’ Hopkins stopped him. ‘We do not know what actually happened to Johnson.’ Pearson on it just snorted. ‘Yeah maybe we will never know it. Maybe we’ll never get home. All will die no one knows where.’ Pearson expected attacks by his comrades, but they were silent. He got to the point everyone thought of it, but no one dare say out loud. Hopkins wanted to reprimand him, but restrained himself. Meaning more aggravates the situation he did not see. ‘Nicholas, Donald gets to calculate the trajectory to Earth. Rodney and Pearson check out all our reserves.’ ‘Yes sir,’ the astronauts responded, who were glad, that lost in the regular duties they could at least for a short time escape from unpleasant thoughts. Hopkins looked at the computer’s monitor. On Uranus began the morning, and before his eyes was rising unseen before in his life the fantastic picture. “God. We will all die!” flashed through his mind. Hopkins out of desperation and powerlessness felt like crying. But he kept his emotions and continued to perform his duties the commander of the space station Genesis.
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