Lunar One

Chapter 9: Outer Space Evac

   

     "Well, that was enlightening." Rogers said after the call ended.

     "Is two hours enough?" Morgan asked, slightly worried. "Are we going to make it out in time?"

     "We've got plenty of time." Rogers said as he fired the engines again. "It will only take thirty minutes to get to the station. Two hours should be enough time for us to get clear before all hell breaks loose."

     "I can't believe it!" Morgan said with a stunned look on his face. "You lied to the President!"

     "I exaggerated," Rogers contested. "I just wanted to make sure we had some spare time in case those international astronauts slow us down. We're going to need as much as we could get."

     "Fair enough," Morgan said as he watched them shuttle thunder towards the station, which was now breaking orbit and moving away from the Earth. He could only imagine how some of them would respond to the idea of what was really going on at Lunar One, but that wasn't a priority at the moment. They needed to pick up their fellow astronauts and haul ass before the nukes started to fly. If they weren't clear of the blast zones, the EMPs could take out their ship and leave them floating to the moon rather than flying. Rogers had ever reason to try to wean as much time out of the President as he could. Their very lives depended on it.

     As promised, they had reached the space station in less than thirty minutes and once they successfully docked, Rogers put on him space suit and got Morgan to do the same. "I'll help you carry these spare suits to the station, after that you're in charge of making sure everyone gets into the shuttle as soon as possible. Help them bring whatever luggage they want within reason. We can't overload the shuttle if we want to make it back to Lunar One. Understood?"

     "Alright." Morgan said as he fastened his helmet. It took the both of them about ten minutes to carry the extra suits to the door that locked with the station. Morgan stayed inside while Rogers floated off to fuel the ship. Once both doors had locked and air was restored, Morgan took off his helmet and knocked on the door. "Let's get going!"

     The door opened up and there was a woman and two men staring at him. "You must be Doctor Morgan?" one of them said.

     "Yes, and we need to get going." Morgan answered. "I brought the extra suits. Please put them on and get ready to go."

     "What if we don't want to go?" the other man stated.

     "Then you stay here and die." Morgan answered as brutally as he could.

     "They might destroy the asteroid." The other man insisted.

     "Even if it was successful, the debris from the asteroid will destroy this station." Morgan said as he couldn't believe he was arguing with astronauts. They should have been smart enough to think of this on their own. "We need to get out of here now! No more talking and put on your suits."

     The lady who was there started to put the suit that Morgan had brought. The other two were more hesitant, while the five remaining were already in their suits and ready to go. Many of them had packed stuff they assumed would be helpful at Lunar One such as extra rations, spare parts and some personal items they would want to take with them. As she was putting on the suit, the lady looked back at Morgan.

     "Are you sure this is necessary?" She asked.

     "Best case scenario: if the station is undamaged, we'll fly you back and drop you off." Morgan said with a soft smile. "But staying here is a big gamble and Lunar One is the safest place to be right now. So Ma'am, please, hurry up."