turned to Lev, his narrow eyes unblinking beneath his stark white eyebrows. He was obviously allowing Lev to speak, and Lev seized the opportunity, regardless of why Bales had let him take it.
'The window was small and there w asn't enough time to call you down to Mission Control. Hell, I didn't even know where you'd gone.'
Bales still didn' t blink, but he broke eye contact with Lev for a moment as he placed the pile of paper on the table, pinching the corners together so they lay perfectly square.
'Mr Ryumin,' Bales said in a slow, deliberate way, 'there was plenty of time between then and now for you to inform me.'
'But you weren't anywhere to be seen,' protested Lev, who held his hands up in exasperation. 'You would have been informed as soon as you'd returned from whatever it was you were doing.'
If Bales was as frustrated with Lev as Lev was with Bales, he didn't show it.
'Had there been another window for us to resume contact with the ISS,' he continued in his deliberate way, 'I would not have known all the facts and I would not have been able to instruct the crew in the best possible manner. It is imperative,' he prodded the pile of paper, 'that this kind of information be reported to me as soon as possible .'
He emphasised the last few words, looking hard at Lev, who glared at the opposite wall above Aleks' head. Bales pulled his chair closer to the table, licked his index finger and flicked through the sheets of paper.
'Before we continue,' he said , as though the previous conversation hadn't even taken place, 'I want to clarify a few details from the conversation with the ISS this morning. I have read through the transcript and listened to the playback, so it would be good to utilise your professional opinions to find the distinction between what we think we heard and what was actually said.'
Bales had divided his pile of paper into three s maller piles of equal thickness, and he handed one to Lev and one to Aleks. It was the transcript from the conversation, documented like a script, with initials for the speakers and occasional commentary that allowed for context.
'If you could l ook at page three,' Bales asked. They all turned to page three. 'You can see that Major Romanenko questions the duration of the mission. What would you say had happened here? Is the Major asking a legitimate and understandable question, or would you say he had forgotten what the date was?'
Aleks could see Bales looking at him from the corner of his eye .
' Mr Dezhurov, would you say that Major Romanenko had forgotten what the date was? It's a simple question.'
'Well,' Aleks said, looking to Lev for help, but not getting it, 'I can't say for sure. Keeping track of time can be difficu—'
'That's not what I asked,' Bales said, clasping his hands together in front of him. 'I just want to know if Major Romanenko was having trouble with his temporal orientation.'
Aleks sighed. He couldn't dance around the question forever. 'It seems that way, yes,' he said reluctantly.
'Good. T hank you,' Bales said as he turned to the next page. 'Could you continue to page four, please.'
He looked on until the other two had turned to page four, then his eyes returned to his own transcript.
'Here, on the eighth line down, Major Romanenko makes a statement that is broken up by interference. I need a best estimate as to the subject and context of his statement, and an assumption as to what he means by it. He says, just getting a little, then there's a section missing, before we hear him say, up here. '
Bales read the text aloud without any shred of emotion. It sounded so strange read like that. The desperate words, haunting and unnatural, made his skin crawl.
'It feels close, ' Bales said. 'What do you make of that, Mr Dezhurov?'
'I don't know, ' said Aleks. He could feel his words being led someplace he didn't want them to go. 'I wouldn't want to assume what Mikhail meant.'
'But you must be able to make an educated guess, surely?'
Bales
'The window was small and there w asn't enough time to call you down to Mission Control. Hell, I didn't even know where you'd gone.'
Bales still didn' t blink, but he broke eye contact with Lev for a moment as he placed the pile of paper on the table, pinching the corners together so they lay perfectly square.
'Mr Ryumin,' Bales said in a slow, deliberate way, 'there was plenty of time between then and now for you to inform me.'
'But you weren't anywhere to be seen,' protested Lev, who held his hands up in exasperation. 'You would have been informed as soon as you'd returned from whatever it was you were doing.'
If Bales was as frustrated with Lev as Lev was with Bales, he didn't show it.
'Had there been another window for us to resume contact with the ISS,' he continued in his deliberate way, 'I would not have known all the facts and I would not have been able to instruct the crew in the best possible manner. It is imperative,' he prodded the pile of paper, 'that this kind of information be reported to me as soon as possible .'
He emphasised the last few words, looking hard at Lev, who glared at the opposite wall above Aleks' head. Bales pulled his chair closer to the table, licked his index finger and flicked through the sheets of paper.
'Before we continue,' he said , as though the previous conversation hadn't even taken place, 'I want to clarify a few details from the conversation with the ISS this morning. I have read through the transcript and listened to the playback, so it would be good to utilise your professional opinions to find the distinction between what we think we heard and what was actually said.'
Bales had divided his pile of paper into three s maller piles of equal thickness, and he handed one to Lev and one to Aleks. It was the transcript from the conversation, documented like a script, with initials for the speakers and occasional commentary that allowed for context.
'If you could l ook at page three,' Bales asked. They all turned to page three. 'You can see that Major Romanenko questions the duration of the mission. What would you say had happened here? Is the Major asking a legitimate and understandable question, or would you say he had forgotten what the date was?'
Aleks could see Bales looking at him from the corner of his eye .
' Mr Dezhurov, would you say that Major Romanenko had forgotten what the date was? It's a simple question.'
'Well,' Aleks said, looking to Lev for help, but not getting it, 'I can't say for sure. Keeping track of time can be difficu—'
'That's not what I asked,' Bales said, clasping his hands together in front of him. 'I just want to know if Major Romanenko was having trouble with his temporal orientation.'
Aleks sighed. He couldn't dance around the question forever. 'It seems that way, yes,' he said reluctantly.
'Good. T hank you,' Bales said as he turned to the next page. 'Could you continue to page four, please.'
He looked on until the other two had turned to page four, then his eyes returned to his own transcript.
'Here, on the eighth line down, Major Romanenko makes a statement that is broken up by interference. I need a best estimate as to the subject and context of his statement, and an assumption as to what he means by it. He says, just getting a little, then there's a section missing, before we hear him say, up here. '
Bales read the text aloud without any shred of emotion. It sounded so strange read like that. The desperate words, haunting and unnatural, made his skin crawl.
'It feels close, ' Bales said. 'What do you make of that, Mr Dezhurov?'
'I don't know, ' said Aleks. He could feel his words being led someplace he didn't want them to go. 'I wouldn't want to assume what Mikhail meant.'
'But you must be able to make an educated guess, surely?'
Bales
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