work.”
“Glad to be a part of it,” Stevens said.
Eriksson had finished shaking Stevens’s hand and now Keith did so, still half smiling. “Feel about the same?” Keith said.
“Yeah. Works perfectly,” Stevens answered.
“Smooth?”
“Yes. How was it on your end?”
“Fine,” Keith said. He paused. Stevens was looking at him, waiting. “What’s the draw?”
“I’ll get you the data. Super minimal, I’m sure.”
“Within the test parameters?”
“As far as I could tell. No fluctuations.”
“I’d like to see the data.”
“I can start the analysis in the next hour,” Stevens said.
Eriksson laughed at his side. “Christ, Chip,” he said. “Power down, already.”
Keith looked at him, then back at the crew, and tried to smile.
“It worked great,” Eriksson said. “Just like you designed it.”
“All right, all right,” Keith said. He glanced up at Stevens and nodded and Stevens shrugged.
Then Petra: “Sure looked like a fun ride.”
“It was,” Keith said. “Amazing.”
“I got a couple of good pictures of it with the Nikon,” Fisher said. “Through the window.”
“Fantastic,” Keith said. “I appreciate that.”
“Well?” Petra said. “What was it like?”
He looked at her, her eyes expectant. All of them waiting for his response. “I don’t know what to say about it. It was like … floating.” They waited for him to say more but no more words would come to him. Inexplicably, he thought of Quinn.
“Looked pretty amazing through the window,” Fisher said. “You were pretty far away.”
“Yeah,” Keith said. “Seemed like it too.”
There was a pause in the conversation and then Fisher said, “Hey, Bill, CAPCOM is waiting to hear from you.”
“About what?”
“I asked but they wouldn’t tell me,” Fisher said.
“Seriously?” Eriksson said.
“That’s what they told me,” Fisher said. He shrugged. “Private mission commander stuff, I guess.”
It was quiet for a moment. Then Eriksson said, “Well, OK. Let’s go find out what they want.” He moved away from them then, through the round opening into Node 1 and out of sight.
“That’s odd,” Petra said.
And then Keith: “What was that about?”
“You know as much as I do,” Fisher said.
“What did they say?” Petra said.
“They said to have Bill call in when he was back inside. That was all. Jeez, guys, it’s not a conspiracy.”
“Weird, though,” Petra said.
“I guess,” Fisher said.
It was silent again. Then Petra said, “Hungry?”
“Starving,” Keith said.
“Good. You’re just in time for dinner.”
Both Petra and Fisher joined him at the table in the Service Module. They might have continued to discuss the possible reasons for the communication but there was little use in such speculation. Instead, Petra asked him questions about the EVA he had just completed and he tried to describe the sense of awe he had felt but again it sounded so feeble when put into words that he gave up entirely.
By the time Eriksson arrived in the galley, Keith had finished his tortilla-wrapped canned ham and was sipping juice from a foil bag. Fisher had just completed a lengthy argument for the culinary superiority of the canned sturgeon brought in by the Russian Space Agency, a controversy on which Keith had no opinion.
“Ready to eat something?” Keith said as Eriksson entered.
“In a minute,” Eriksson said. “Listen, Keith, we got some news.”
“What kind of news?”
Eriksson glanced at Petra and Fisher and then turned toward him once more. “Let’s talk about it in your quarters,” he said.
“Really?” Keith said. He looked at Eriksson. If there was some expression on the mission commander’s face he did not recognize it.
“Everything OK?” Petra said.
Eriksson looked at her but said nothing.
“What’s going on?” Keith said.
“Come on,” Eriksson said. And then, to the other crew members: “Can you guys clean up?”
“Uh … yeah,
“Glad to be a part of it,” Stevens said.
Eriksson had finished shaking Stevens’s hand and now Keith did so, still half smiling. “Feel about the same?” Keith said.
“Yeah. Works perfectly,” Stevens answered.
“Smooth?”
“Yes. How was it on your end?”
“Fine,” Keith said. He paused. Stevens was looking at him, waiting. “What’s the draw?”
“I’ll get you the data. Super minimal, I’m sure.”
“Within the test parameters?”
“As far as I could tell. No fluctuations.”
“I’d like to see the data.”
“I can start the analysis in the next hour,” Stevens said.
Eriksson laughed at his side. “Christ, Chip,” he said. “Power down, already.”
Keith looked at him, then back at the crew, and tried to smile.
“It worked great,” Eriksson said. “Just like you designed it.”
“All right, all right,” Keith said. He glanced up at Stevens and nodded and Stevens shrugged.
Then Petra: “Sure looked like a fun ride.”
“It was,” Keith said. “Amazing.”
“I got a couple of good pictures of it with the Nikon,” Fisher said. “Through the window.”
“Fantastic,” Keith said. “I appreciate that.”
“Well?” Petra said. “What was it like?”
He looked at her, her eyes expectant. All of them waiting for his response. “I don’t know what to say about it. It was like … floating.” They waited for him to say more but no more words would come to him. Inexplicably, he thought of Quinn.
“Looked pretty amazing through the window,” Fisher said. “You were pretty far away.”
“Yeah,” Keith said. “Seemed like it too.”
There was a pause in the conversation and then Fisher said, “Hey, Bill, CAPCOM is waiting to hear from you.”
“About what?”
“I asked but they wouldn’t tell me,” Fisher said.
“Seriously?” Eriksson said.
“That’s what they told me,” Fisher said. He shrugged. “Private mission commander stuff, I guess.”
It was quiet for a moment. Then Eriksson said, “Well, OK. Let’s go find out what they want.” He moved away from them then, through the round opening into Node 1 and out of sight.
“That’s odd,” Petra said.
And then Keith: “What was that about?”
“You know as much as I do,” Fisher said.
“What did they say?” Petra said.
“They said to have Bill call in when he was back inside. That was all. Jeez, guys, it’s not a conspiracy.”
“Weird, though,” Petra said.
“I guess,” Fisher said.
It was silent again. Then Petra said, “Hungry?”
“Starving,” Keith said.
“Good. You’re just in time for dinner.”
Both Petra and Fisher joined him at the table in the Service Module. They might have continued to discuss the possible reasons for the communication but there was little use in such speculation. Instead, Petra asked him questions about the EVA he had just completed and he tried to describe the sense of awe he had felt but again it sounded so feeble when put into words that he gave up entirely.
By the time Eriksson arrived in the galley, Keith had finished his tortilla-wrapped canned ham and was sipping juice from a foil bag. Fisher had just completed a lengthy argument for the culinary superiority of the canned sturgeon brought in by the Russian Space Agency, a controversy on which Keith had no opinion.
“Ready to eat something?” Keith said as Eriksson entered.
“In a minute,” Eriksson said. “Listen, Keith, we got some news.”
“What kind of news?”
Eriksson glanced at Petra and Fisher and then turned toward him once more. “Let’s talk about it in your quarters,” he said.
“Really?” Keith said. He looked at Eriksson. If there was some expression on the mission commander’s face he did not recognize it.
“Everything OK?” Petra said.
Eriksson looked at her but said nothing.
“What’s going on?” Keith said.
“Come on,” Eriksson said. And then, to the other crew members: “Can you guys clean up?”
“Uh … yeah,
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