Paradox - On the Brink of Eternity by Phillip P. Peterson

Author:Phillip P. Peterson [Peterson, Phillip P.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2017-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

31

The waves hit the beach with a soft, vacillating swoosh. The sunset in the west draped the scene in a golden, almost unearthly light.

But Ed couldn’t take in the beauty. With one hand on his chin, he stood on a dune and looked to the south. A few miles away, an orange-and-white rocket was pointing up to the sky. Right now, it was still caged in service structures, and he could see dot-sized maintenance workers on the platform doing the last preparations before launch. Only two more days until he flew into space aboard the Orion capsule fitted into the rocket’s nose. He felt like he was returning home.

Finally.

Up to the end, he had been expecting a second intrigue that would strip him of his commandership and leave him stranded on Earth. Or an accident that confined him to his bed, or something or other that ended in their mission being cancelled. Not until the pre-launch press conference was he sure that nothing more stood between him and his flight.

Still, he felt depressed. If all went well, he would be back in a year. And then it would be time to say goodbye to NASA. But what should he do with the rest of his life?

He tried to banish the unpleasant thoughts—he wanted to revel in his triumph. It was the pinnacle of his career as an astronaut, which had been as uneven as government support of the space program. He forced himself to smile, turned around, and went back to the beach house where his crewmates were celebrating with their families.

NASA had bought and converted the beach house north of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base back in the 1960s. It was meant as a pre-mission refuge for astronauts during their last days on Earth. Here, they could say goodbye to their families in a homey atmosphere before going into pre-launch quarantine.

It was a beautiful house, clad in light wood, and had a large terrace, where today they’d set up the grill. You used to be able to sleep in the house, but NASA had turned the bedrooms into a conference room. But there was still a bar and a large living room with a fireplace.

Approaching the building, Ed saw that Wendy and her family were sitting around a campfire near the terrace. Her husband and parents were with her. All four of them were holding drinks and talking quietly.

David and his parents were standing on the terrace. The kid was pointing repeatedly to the south, explaining the rocket to them.

Ed had to admit he’d been wrong about David. His initial awkwardness had ceded to a cool professionalism, the same as he’d seen in other scientist-astronauts. And he’d aced all the simulations.

They also got along better since they’d had that talk before the therapy, though they would never be close friends. They simply had nothing in common. Ed hoped David would be able to stay calm and collected in space, where it counted.

Grace was nowhere to be seen, at least not yet.

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