Lunar One

Chapter 7: Accessing the Situation

     While Morgan thought it was a bit premature to write off the Earth, he liked the idea of linking up with the International Space Station.

     "You might want to check with the station first before you burn it all away." Morgan suggested. "We should try to contact them now."

     "Good idea." Rogers said, fiddling with the controls again. "Lunar shuttle to International One, Lunar shuttle to International One, please respond."

     There was still some static but the radio came back to life again.

     "Lunar Shuttle, this is International One. We're getting a lot of chatter from the planet. What's going on down there?"

     "Listen very carefully," Rogers replied, preparing his ship for another burn towards the planet, "There is an asteroid heading for the planet."

     "We can't see anything."

     "Trust me, it is coming." Rogers said as he took a deep breath, "I need you guys to use your thrusters to break orbit. Get some distance from yourself from possible impact debris but don't fly in the direction of the moon. That's the current flight path of the asteroid. We're on our way to you now."

     "Rogers, this isn't funny."

     "Break orbit and try to get a little distance from the planet," Rogers barked into the com, "That was not a request."

     "We're going to need to verify this with Houston."

     "Go ahead," Rogers replied, "We informed Houston of the issue just before we lost communications with them."

     Rogers still burned the engines for another minute, and rocketed their shuttle towards Earth. Rogers turned off the radio and Morgan could tell that he was starting to become annoyed with the people on the space station.

      "If that rock hits the planet," Rogers said to no one in particular, "it's going to launch a lot of debris into the atmosphere. A lot of it will shoot outside the atmosphere and destroy anything orbiting the planet."

     "Including the International Space Station," Morgan confirmed, "It would be like a billion bullets flying at them at once, traveling a super speed. They'd all be killed but if we do pick them up, what do we do with them?"

     "We take them back to Lunar One," Rogers answered, "They'll be our first international guests."

     "Is there enough room and supplies for everyone?" Morgan asked.

     "More than enough to last a while." Rogers answered.

     "Alright," Morgan said, still looking at the asteroid, "Let's do it."

     "I wasn't exactly asking for permission," Rogers said with a sly grin, "But I do appreciate your enthusiasm."

     After finishing his latest burn, Rogers reactivated the radio to re-establish communications, "Lunar Shuttle to International One."

     "We read you Lunar Shuttle."

     "Have you confirmed the situation with Houston?" Rogers asked.

     "No need." The voice replied. "We've got a visual of your asteroid and you're right; it's heading right for us."

     "Have you broken orbit?" Rogers inquired.

     "Not yet. We want to know what your plan is, Lunar Shuttle."

     "Our plan is to pick you guys up and bring you back to Lunar One." Rogers answered. "So please break orbit and get as much distance from the planet as you can."