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“Sarah, in the front! Jason, you’re driving. Mark, in the back with me. Let’s go already, we need to get home now!”
Chapter 5
Low Earth Orbit
“Ready to cut burn?”
“Ready!”
“Three… two… one… now!”
The small module, shuddering under the force of the engine propelling it forward, suddenly grows still and quiet. The vibrations that rocked the three passengers all but vanish and an unnatural silence overtakes the craft.
“How long until reentry?” Jackie speaks to Commander Palmer without turning her head. Not by choice, but because the small craft is crammed to the gills with supplies and she’s physically unable to do so.
“Sixteen minutes.” He stretches out a hand and flips a trio of switches. “Ted, how’s our course?”
“We’re smack dab in the green. Couldn’t be better.”
“If that isn’t a miracle then I don’t know what is.” Commander Palmer gives a bemused snort. “Everybody take five to relax, then we’ll start the checklist for reentry. Not that it’ll do much good given how overweight and unbalanced we are.”
There is silence in the small capsule as it hurtles through the upper reaches of earth’s atmosphere, falling in a steadily decreasing arc in a direction that the crew hopes will get them home. White clouds and blue ocean that pass by underneath are marred by black smoke as they pass across populated areas, the fires from Damocles still burning across much of the planet.
“What’s going on down there?” Jackie whispers so softly that only Ted, sitting to her right, hears her. He shakes his head quietly, wondering the same thing. From so high above their home, the feeling of utter insignificance is normally overwhelming. Dubbed the overview effect, the three have become accustomed to the cognitive shift and range of emotions that come with seeing the Earth from the heavens. To see it burn, though, and be unable to lift a finger to help or even know why it is burning is enough to break down the mental walls constructed by even the toughest, most experienced astronauts.
“All right.” Commander Palmer’s voice is rougher than normal, and he clears his throat before continuing. “I don’t know what’s going on down there, but we’re going to go find out.”
Chapter 6
Washington, D.C.
“Jacob betrayed us all.”
“No kidding. I sort of figured that out when he had the gun on us. Why did
he do it, though?”
“When we first came down here, Ostap started acting… how do you say it? Funny? Off?”
“Squirrely?”
“Exactly.” Oles nodded. “He was squirrel. I tried to talk to Jacob, but he was different too. All he did was watch Ostap carefully, like he expected something to happen. I tried to warn Dr. Evans, but Ostap played his hand too quickly. Once we verified that these were the correct systems, Ostap shot Dr. Evans through the shoulder. He was about to shoot me when Jacob shot him—well, at him. Sent him running away, surprised that someone was shooting back, I guess.”
“Wait, so Ostap shot first? Why?”
“Dirty ruskie was working for the Russians.”
Rick looked confused. “Of course he was.”
“No, no,” Dr. Evans shook his head. “Not like that. Him and Carl and Jacob were all sent here with one goal—get the codes and give them to the Russians. Then the Russians would have the keys to the castle. They could take control over Damocles and be in total control of everything.”
“But, somewhere along the line, Ostap and Carl must have gotten greedy.” Oles continued. “And Jacob was the mole that was sent to take care of them if they deviated from their orders.”
Rick shook his head and let out a whistle. “Wow. How’d you figure that out?”
“Even with a gun on us Jacob couldn’t keep his fat mouth shut.” At that point Oles turned and hocked a loogie at Jacob’s body. “He told us that his family was in danger if he didn’t take the codes back. Said he’d kill us both if we didn’t help him get the codes.”
“And that’s where you came in.” Dr. Evans snorted. “Literally. Unfortunately, that was also the point where we were going to have to give him the bad news.”
