CHAPTER 46
Low Earth Orbit
Orbital Two-Line Element:
1 25544U 98067A 2974.31742528 -.00002182 00000-0-11606-4 0 1027
2 25544 51.6416 247.4627 0006703 130.5360 325.02881002537
Tuesday
2:34 a.m. Eastern Time
V, M, J,
ISS is evacuated.
S
“I’ve got the ISS on radar and on the telescope,” Jebidiah announced as the Vyrezka continued to close the gap between them. They were almost in range. “Fifty thousand meters and closing fast. The ISS is locked in the crosshairs.”
“Copy that, J. If you look out my side you can actually see it shining in the sunlight ahead of us and slightly above.” Vladimir pointed out the window to his right. “M, prepare the capture mechanisms.”
“On it, V.” Michael unsnapped his harness and floated his way to the central console. Unlike the Blue Origin version of the space capsule, the Vyrezka had a cylinder measuring about twenty centimeters in diameter that was located precisely in the center running from floor to ceiling. Michael opened a panel and toggled a large red-covered rocker switch and then pushed in a manual circuit breaker switch. He closed the panel and then grasped the large space-suit-glove-sized pull lever on the side of the cylinder.
“Power switch in the on position. Circuit breaker in. Main panel power relay is on,” Michael reported. He kicked back to his seat just as the retro thrusters did an automated course correction burn, causing him to miss his mark. He grabbed at the seat with his left hand and frantically pulled himself into it. The sudden strange acceleration of the ship caused his inner ear to spin him a bit, reminding him of the seasickness he had suffered only a few days prior while on the yacht in the Black Sea. “Whoa, damn!”
“Did that make you dizzy, M?” V asked him with a raised eyebrow. He seemed more concerned than goading.
“I’m fine, V.”
“Yes, I’m sure you are. But if you do get dizzy, violently shake your head like saying ‘no.’ It will reset your inner ear,” Vladimir explained. “Cosmonaut secret learned from watching cats fall out of trees.”
“I thought American astronauts came up with that,” Jebidiah said.
“Nyet! Cosmonauts,” Vladimir retorted. “M, give me status of capture system?”
“Uh, yeah, right.” Michael strapped himself back in. He couldn’t help but look up at the little stuffed bear to see if it was floating or accelerating. “Bringing the virtual controls up… I am sighting in on the target now. Still forty-five thousand meters out of targeting range but closing fast.”
“Good, keep me posted when we get in range,” Vladimir said. “J, link us the view through the telescope. I want to see how many Soyuz spacecraft are still docked.”
“Right. Linking now,” Jebidiah said after tapping his virtual touch screen. “You both should have it.”
“Yes.” Vladimir replied. He reached out in front of him and grabbed a spot in the air with his thumb and forefinger. Then he expanded them. He then used both hands to explode the virtual view. “Are you two seeing this?”
“Yes.”
“I got it.”
“I see a Progress here, but no Soyuz spacecraft. All three of them have gone. S’s message was right.” Vladimir looked at his connectivity bar for his suit’s visor—he had a strong connection to the Dorman satellite network. He thought about sending a message to Dorman but decided to wait until they had taken the station and activated the first launch. “Amazing, gentlemen. Had we attempted to take our payload here around the world in aircraft, trains, rockets, or boats we would have been caught. The only way to do this was to do it quickly, abruptly, and from on high where they could not touch us.”
“While I agree this is the best approach I can think of, V, we’re not across the goal line just yet,” Michael responded. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
“Americans and your football references,” Vladimir said. “To use the same. I see no goal-line defense before us.”
“Let’s hope not,” Jeb added. “Twenty-five thousand meters and closing.”
Michael sat prepared but waiting. He watched the crosshairs of the sighting system for the capture mechanism and the range-to-target number continuously. The numbers dropped rapidly from twenty-five thousand meters to twenty, then fifteen, then ten. Finally, they were in sighting range.
“Five thousand meters to target! Capture system acquisition sensors activated,” Michael said.
“Prepare for braking burn,” Jeb said. “In five, four, three, two, one, burn!”
The retro thrusters on the nose of the rocket fired in unison to reduce the relative velocity between the two spacecraft. They continued for a little more than ten seconds. The continuous burn stopped, leading to short correction burns from each of the thrusters about the ship. Each new correction took feedback from the optical sensor on the telescope to keep the ISS in the central pixel of the camera’s crosshairs.
“One thousand meters to target closing at fifty meters per second,” Jebidiah said.
“Too fast,” Vladimir said. “There will be another burn soon.”
Just as Vladimir had said that, the computer popped up a warning message for all of them in their virtual views that a braking burn was firing in ten seconds. There was a countdown. Jeb counted out loud with it.
“…three, two, one, burn.”
This burn was much shorter and there were fewer retro thruster correction burns to follow. The three of them sat anxiously as the much larger space station loomed over them. Then the large window of the DSIHM glinted at them in the sunlight. The crosshairs locked onto the image and several short burns from the retro-rocket thrusters fired.
“Target point acquired!” Michael said excitedly.
“Range to target three hundred meters and closing at ten meters per second,” Jebidiah said. “Two ninety, two eighty, two seventy…”
“Prepare for full stop burn at fifty,” Vladimir reminded them. “Ms. Stinson really did her homework.”
“So far,” Michael added.
“Two hundred, one ninety…”
“M, target lock yet?”
“Negative, V. Still too much position jitter.”
“One thirty, one twenty, one ten…”
Another alert message appeared in their visors flashing red, telling them to prepare for a braking burn. Then at one hundred meters to target the software fired the retro thrusters for a seven-second burn, completely stopping the Vyrezka from closing the gap between them and the ISS.
“Showing fifty meters to target. Relative velocity negligible,” Jebidiah announced.
“Target point acquired and locked, V. Sending the activation signal to the receiver mechanism now.” Michael activated a transmit icon that would send a ping to the DSIHM. Inside the exterior hull of the hotel was a battery powered electromagnet and a wireless receiver. Once the receiver detected the transmit signal from the Vyrezka, it powered up the electromagnet.
“Magnet capture armed. Preparing to fire harpoon,” Michael said. “In three, two, one, firing.”
Michael depressed the trigger of the armed capture system. When he did, the interior of the Vyrezka capsule vibrated enough that he could feel it through his chair, through his suit, and to his teeth. There was a very loud whoosh that sounded like a rocket launching right next to them. That was because it was a missile of sorts that had been launched.
Beneath the cylinder was a pressurized air tank. Within the cylinder was a harpoon system. The overpressure of the tank was released into the cylinder, propelling the harpoon out of the cylinder through the plastic diaphragm at the apex of the Vyrezka capsule. The harpoon flew across the fifty meters between them in seconds, spooling out polymer cable behind it as it closed the distance. The cable had been tested to withstand thousands of metric tons worth of force. The harpoon was rapidly pulled to the electromagnet behind the bulkhead point just above the bay window of the hotel module until the barbed arrowhead pierced the outer layer and then was stopped by a solid plate of high-density polyethylene and Kevlar between the magnet and the harpoon’s tip.
The impact of the harpoon deployed barbs to extend forward and lock into place behind the exterior composite bulkhead. That spot had been designed to accept the harpoon. Once the harpoon barbs extended, the battery-powered microcontroller triggered a release valve on the end of a small container. Once the end of the container was exposed to the vacuum of space, the contents were literally sucked from within it. The adhesive mixture in the container immediately expanded rapidly filling the gaps and holes around the harpoon and then started to cure. Within minutes the expanded gel epoxy would harden, sealing any leaks that might have been formed on impact.
“It’s a hit!” Michael cheered. “Harpoon is locked in place!”
“Great shot!” Vladimir cheered with him. “Start the reel-in sequence.”
“Reeling us in.” Michael initiated the sequence and the soft whine and vibration from an electric motor slowly starting to turn began. The cable pulled taught and then there was a slight acceleration Michael noticed as the stuffed animal on the string stretched toward him and held tight.
“Okay, gentlemen, it is time to get to work.” Vladimir unstrapped his harness and rose from his seat. “You all know what to do. Just like we practiced.”