Escape Velocity: The Anthology Read Online Free PDF Page B

pockets. Both were about thirty years of age and wore serious expressions.
           One of the Russians offered his hand. “I am Alexei Gordonov, and this is Mikhail Greshchenko. I can speak English fairly well, but I will have to act as interpreter for Mikhail.”
           Matthews returned the handshake firmly. “Rick Matthews. I'm your rover driver. This is Walt Davis from the lunar science team. We have orders to take you out from the base, but no one has said where you want to go.”
           “ It is about sixty kilometers from here,” said Gordonov.
           Davis interjected. “Are you joking? Sixty kilometers! No one has been more than ten klicks from this station since it went operational!”
           “ He's right,” said Matthews. “What you ask is dangerous. If we drive out that far and have a problem with the rover, rescue could be impossible. It's extremely risky.”
           “ I am told your lunar rovers can travel over two hundred kilometers on a full battery charge.”
           “ Well, yes...”
           “ That's not the point,” Davis interrupted angrily. “He said that if something went wrong we could be in serious trouble. We've been out in the rover more than twenty times in the last three months. We buried our axles in some loose dust on one trip. We had to wait for the B-team to pick us up. When they finally found us, we were down to our last fifteen minutes of oxygen.” He paused, and then added, “We were only six kilometers from the base that time, too. You want to go ten times that distance. Impossible.”
           The four astronauts stared at each other in silence. Finally, Greshchenko said something to Gordonov in Russian. It sounded like a question.
           Gordonov  nodded to his partner in response.
           “ What is it?” asked Matthews. “What are you two talking about?”
           Gordonov took an envelope from his pocket and held it out reverently. “Mikhail reminded me to show you this.”
           Matthews opened the letter.
     
    Office of the President
The White House
Washington, D.C.
     
    Please provide cosmonauts Mikhail Greshchenko and Alexei Gordonov any assistance they require and the full use of all resources at Lunar One Research Station/NASA. This matter has been designated Top Secret. You are expressly forbidden to disclose any facts or discuss anything concerning this project, under penalty of law.
          
           “ What does it say?” asked Davis.
           “ It's an order from the White House,” said Matthews. He thrust it to Davis. “It's signed by the President.”
           Davis read it quickly and groaned. “Told you it was black bag stuff.”
           The cosmonaut plucked the letter from Davis' hand and tucked it away. “We need to reach a certain site. And we are not spies, Mr Davis.”
           “ All right,” said Matthews. “Where the hell do you guys need to go?”      The Russian held up a palm-sized computer. A series of numbers showing lunar surface coordinates scrolled across the tiny screen. “Here,” he said. “Do you know of it?”
           “ Of course I do,” said Matthews. “Okay, so you know people in high places. And the President says we have to help you. But he didn't order us to throw our lives away, either. We'll take you out, but if it’s rocks you want, you will have to limit the load. We're going to pack as much oxygen as we can cram into that rover. If something happens, we're not sitting out there waiting to die with our asses hanging in the breeze.”
           “ Carry all the oxygen you wish,” replied Gordonov. “We are not seeking geological samples.”
     
    Conversation was brief and uncomfortable as the four astronauts moved steadily across the stark landscape. The Rover was fully pressurized and rolled through the lunar dust at fifteen kilometers an hour. Thick windows