Page 58 of Stars
“Hold course. You’re centered on the R-bar now.” He guided Mark along the R-bar, an imaginary line connecting the ISS to the center of Earth.
“Freedom, visual approach looks good,” Alpha called. It was a new voice this time, one Sasha recognized: Joey Espinoza, the astronaut he’d been working with to turnZvezdaback on.
Mark firedFreedom’sthrusters in microsecond bursts, adjusting their vector by millimeters, soaring in a paired orbit with the station and moving toward her docking lock at two inches per second. The ISS loomed in their cockpit window, choking off the view of the globe, of the blackness of space, of everything except the massive white support truss and her soaring arrays.
Another hiss, thewhomp-whompof thrusters firing, and then there was aboom, a deep, rumblingclank, and the sound of fifteen drills whirring at once. “Hard dock,” Sarah called from behind them. “We’re locked in.”
“Freedom,” Phillipa Beaumont, the commander of the International Space Station, radioed, “Welcome to the ISS.”
* * *
Mark ledSarah and Sasha into the station, floating them throughFreedom’sairlock and into theHarmonymodule. A buzz hit them, like a blow dryer left on or a microwave running in the background forever. The station vibrated faintly. Somewhere, there was a rattle and a heavy swishing. It was noisier than Sasha had expected.
Phillipa, from the Canadian Space Agency, and Rafael Romano, from the European Space Agency, came from theUnitymodule to greet them. They seemed to be swimming, floating on their bellies as they came down the center of the main stack.
Rafael beamed, a thousand-watt smile that dimpled his cheeks. His dark hair was longer than most men kept theirs and was combed and gelled to remain exactly the way it was supposed to look on Earth, even down to the lock falling over his forehead. In zero gravity, that took diligence. But Rafael had been the poster boy of the ESA for years, a stunning Italian astronaut who jetted across the continent guest lecturing at universities and visiting high schools and primary schools when he wasn’t deployed in space. Not just a pretty face, he had a doctorate in xenobiology and served as the crew’s medical officer when there wasn’t a doctor on rotation. Sasha had heard of him, had seen him in the background while working with Joey, but he’d never spoken to the man.
“Pronto!” Rafael called. “Welcome, welcome!”
Phillipa and Mark floated together, shaking hands and hugging for a long moment. Phillipa was a scientist, a botanist working on growing a fully sustainable garden in zero gravity. She had an effortless smile, a round face that grew even rounder in orbit, and copper hair she kept in a short bob. Her hair writhed in waves around her head, a halo like she had a personal spotlight following her around. She was one of the oldest astronauts in the corps and one of the most beloved.
Mark pulled back from Phillipa and beamed as Sasha and Sarah entered the station. He moved effortlessly: a toe pushed here, a finger against that bulkhead to realign his trajectory. He didn’t so much float as dance.
Sasha went face-first into the bulkhead, trying to jerk away from the EMU suits—extravehicular mobility units, aka, their space suits—hanging beside the airlock door. The suits’ arms seemed to reach for him, lifeless hulking monsters grabbing out of the darkness.
“Whoa!” Rafael caught him before he tumbled into an endless spin, gently holding him upside down by his ankle. On Earth, it would have looked like Rafael was holding Sasha by his foot with one hand. “Sasha Andreyev? Our first Russian back in space?”
“That obvious?” Sasha grumbled. Rafael grinned. “You are Rafael Romano?”
A devil’s smirk and a wink, and Rafael spun Sasha like he was doing a flip, righting him so they were face-to-face. “That’s me.” He held out his hand. “Mission specialist, ESA.”
Sasha waited for his stomach to catch up with the somersault before shaking his hand.
Phillipa floated to him next, smiling and giving him a warm handshake. “Welcome, Sasha. It’s a pleasure to meet you, but right now I’ve got to get back toUnity. Joey is monitoringIndependencefor me.”
“What’s it look like so far?” Mark asked.
“They just finished their flyby and are requesting EVA permission from Houston.”
“Any indications where the radiological threat is coming from?” Sarah floated beside Mark, her braid hovering like a snake swimming in water.
“Not yet, which is why they’re requesting the EVA. The satellite appears hollow, at least for the most part. It’s a floating gumdrop. Engines, computers, essential systems all stacked up top with an aluminum skirt shielding the core, and we can’t see what’s under that paneling. The base is open, soIndependenceis pushing hard to send Jim out to poke around and see what’s under there.”
“With Michaela commanding, Houston will have to agree.” Mark chuckled as Phillipa nodded, snorting. “She doesn’t know the meaning of no. And Jim is just as aggressive as she is.”
“Can you imagine what it’s been like on the L-G with those two?” Phillipa’s soft laugh carried throughHarmony, overpowering the hum and buzz and whirr of the station’s systems for a moment.
“Let me give Sasha the nickel tour and set him up, then I’ll be up there.”
“Sounds good. Mark, you and Sasha have the crew quarters in theZvezdamodule. Sarah, Rafael, Joey, and I are inHarmony. Michaela and Jim have volunteered to stay inIndependence.”
Mark’s eyebrows rose. Phillipa shrugged but said nothing, though she grinned before somersaulting and kicking off the hatch to propel her back up towardUnity.
“See you around, Andreyev!” Rafael gently pushed off the bulkhead and floated after Phillipa.
Sarah had already zipped back intoFreedomand pulled out her gear bag. She tugged both Mark’s and Sasha’s and sent them tumbling toward each of them.
She pushed her way downHarmonytoward a quilted rectangular box, slightly larger than a phone booth, in the corner near the entrance to theColumbuslab. She peeled back the velcroed door and floated inside.
