Interstellar 1

Chapter 3: The stowaway

North Korean Space Launch Site, 9 o'clock

Down in the prep room next to the launch pad, on which a pilfered Long March rocket was sitting, Wang Tsu was waiting. He was wearing a stolen American space suit. Hai-So-Tor, the Korean dictator, himself walked into the room, where Wang Tsu was sitting, his head in his knees. "Your mission is clear." The dictator spoke. Wang Tsu looked up in surprise, he had not noticed the dictator enter the room. "Sir!" He yelled, saluting. The dictator smiled but other than that did not acknowledge this. "You must sabotage the American's interstellar ship, but only after they have warped to another star." Wang Tsu knew this mission would leave him and the American's stranded forever in another solar system. Wang Tsu was in fact only 21. He joined the ranks of astronauts quickly, being adept at almost everything. He had worked on the missile program, before it and most of the military was shut down by the Americans and South Koreans. He managed to get a deal with the Americans about converting their ICBMS and starting a space program, the same way the Americans started. As soon as  had heard of this,Hai-So-Tor he knew just what to do. Tsu got up and said: "Sir, should i go now for the launch?" "Yes, Wang." The world-infamous dictator replied. Wang Tsu walked out of the room to the launch pad, and put his helmet on and twisted it. A hiss of air was heard as the suit pressurized. He walked out to the launchpad. He smiled as he reached the crew tower. Even the North Koreans, with a thrown-together rocket could at least afford an elevator to his capsule. As it was strenuous work even walking to an elevator, he could only imagine how hard it would be to walk up 10 levels of stairs in one. Secretly glad he was not an American astronaut, though the success rate of this rocket was estimated to be low, he pressed the button as he rose up to his capsule. The door opened and he walked out to the capsule. He looked at it and smiled, it appeared to be a Gemini capsule. He stretched and read the painted on name on the side: Freedom 7. Underneath that, a second plague read Smithsonian Air And Space: Freedom 7, Alan Shepard. Wang Tsu chuckled, even though if the mission failed he would die and if it succeeded he would die. He did not know if this was the genuine Freedom 7, but if it was, this would certainly be a blow to the Americans. He got in the cramped capsule, knowing that this would not be a suborbital flight like its original occupant's. The flight director's voice rang through the complex: "Umbilical Towers, Detach." They fell away from the rocket. "Crew Tower, detach." The crew bridge retracted and the tower itself slowly leaned back till it was at a 45 degree angle. "Structural Launch Clamps, Detach" The launch clamps fell with a crash to the concrete floor of the complex. "Fuel Pressure, Green. Catalyst filter, green. Second Stage, Green." The signal lights on the respective parts glowed green. "Engage final countdown." A massive digital clock glowed red and activated. "T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7,6, 5, main engines start..." A plume of smoke billowed out the launchpad, and the engine bells glowed red hot. "4, 3, 2, 1, liftoff!" The final structural clamps, that keep the rocket to the ground till engines are at full output, fell away as the modified Long March rocket soared into the sky. \Hai-So-Tor pulled out a pair of binoculars, the same ones he used to see the ICBM launches, and took pleasure in the fact that this would be just as destructive to the american people as the ICBMs, and would shock them much, much more. Up in the stratosphere, the boosters fell off the ship, almost beautifully. The second stage ignited, but had more trouble pushing the ship due to the extra weight of the OMS and cargo. It managed to limp to orbit, and the OMS engaged to dock. There was no open docking ports left, but there was a service port for emergencies and escape pods he could dock with that connected to engineering. He grabbed his cargo, a sleeping bag, food, and some tools and got comfy. He then slept till next morning, in a side corridor in the engineering bay.