Boldly Go by Eric Walters

Author:Eric Walters [Walters, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2022-12-22T20:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

“And…we’re clear,” came the voice through the headset.

It was the director in charge of the broadcast at the communication center at Mission Control.

I felt my whole body relax. Ashley visibly crumbled beside me, her shoulders sagging and her smile flattening, and she lowered her head. Colonel Sanderson, the third member of our broadcast, let out a little “whoop,” and Ashley startled and looked over at him. He offered both of us a high five.

“You all did wonderfully!” Teal exclaimed. “They just ran the numbers. You were part of one of the most-watched broadcasts in the history of the planet!”

“I think I’m glad you didn’t tell us that until it was done,” I said.

“There were over one billion, and yes, I said billion, people watching the live broadcast. It was also covered by more than five hundred members of the press, more than seven hundred podcasters and countless bloggers from more than one hundred countries. They estimate that in the end this will be seen by more than half of the population of the planet.”

“Seems only fair,” the colonel said, “since we can see half the planet as we sit here right now.”

“You were a big hit, Colonel,” Teal said. “They really loved your footage shot from the SAFER.”

“I thought they might enjoy a little guided tour of the station as I did my inspection.”

The whole time he’d been flying around in space, the automatic camera had been filming.

What Ashley and I didn’t know at the time was that the colonel wasn’t supposed to take that flight. It wasn’t in the plan, and it wasn’t authorized. He basically went for a joyride. Colonel Sanderson had hijacked the SAFER. There had apparently been a lot of communication between the colonel and the control room once he began his unauthorized flight. Commander Ingram had been mad at him, and Yuri, being, well, Yuri, thought it was funny.

Since they couldn’t stop him anyway, they agreed to tell Mission Control they had authorized it so he could provide backup for Frank and Dr. Mendoza. In the end, he did bring the damaged circuits back into the station.

Ashley and I sat in on the post-EVA conference. We gave a report, listened to the others and then were given feedback. She and I were given “high marks” for our efforts. The colonel, not so much. He didn’t seem to care at all, and despite Commander Ingram’s best attempt to seem angry about it, she congratulated him. The colonel’s answer to why he’d done it was pretty simple. He said, “If you give a cowboy a horse, you better expect he’s going to ride it.”

After we’d all settled down, the colonel had pulled us aside for additional work. He hooked us both up to the simulator so we could “fly” the SAFER. He thought maybe someday in the future that training might come in handy.

“We have a couple of extra people for Ashley and Houston to speak to,” Teal said.

I groaned. I didn’t want another interview.

“Before you complain any more, you’ll both be talking to your families,” she said.

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