Read Online Heaven's War by David S. Goyer, Michael Cassutt - Free Book Online
Authors: David S. Goyer, Michael Cassutt
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repeatedly asked to be Morris the Explainer when TV programs deigned to cover Mars landers or Mercury orbiters or asteroid encounters.
He’d wound up at headquarters, and when NASA turned its attention beyond Earth orbit, why, who better to lead the agency’s premier operations hub, the Johnson Space Center?
If pressed, Gabriel would admit that his tenure at JSC had been troubled. He had not been eager to spend the hours required to immerse himself in JSC’s unique culture, which looked like the rest of NASA, but was to, say, Goddard what the culture of suburban Maryland was to, say, Saudi Arabia.
He had made mistakes. Hell, maybe he had been lazy, too used to the magic created by his own words and personality.
And his daughter, Yvonne—one of two astronauts killed on the
Destiny-7
mission—had paid the price. Gabriel had had ample hours to consider the reckless decisions that led to her death, the way he had been swayed by “national security” concerns to allow Yvonne to carry a nuclear weapon aboard a “peaceful” mission.
Sure, no one in Houston or Washington had known what the crew and controllers would face on Keanu, but Gabriel had found it too easy to listen to the consensus, to be America- or Earth-first.
There was another issue, too. Thirteen days before the
Destiny-7
launch—a date that, to his amazement, was still less than a month in the past—Gabriel Jones had been given news that forced him to change the way he thought about the future. His original path was to use the JSC directorship as a stepping-stone to deputy administrator, or even the top agency job…and then to…the Senate, perhaps? Or president of a university. That was now Future I.
The news put him on a radically different track, Future II: manage his health.
Now, even more strangely, he was facing Future III. He had been dumped into an environment a hundred times stranger than JSC had been to him, and considerably more dangerous than even Future II.
To ensure his future survival, he had days—not weeks, days—to:
One: get off Keanu and back to Earth, or—
Two: find twenty-first-century medical technology on Keanu.
He did not want to calculate the odds that he would be successful at either.
As they headed toward an opening up ahead, Gabriel slowed down so that Harley Drake and his new friend, Sasha, and Zack Stewart’s daughter, Rachel, could keep pace with him.
Gabriel noted that Sasha kept reaching out to brush the tunnel wall with her fingers. “Tell me why you’re doing that. Are you a geologist?”
“I’m trying to keep reminding myself that I’m no longer on Earth,” she said.
Gabriel laughed, then turned to Harley Drake. He knew the crippled former astronaut more by reputation than contact. He admired the way that, following the accident in Florida, Harley had chosen not to crawl into a hole, instead reinventing himself as a planetary scientist…while remaining a bit of a trash-talking horndog. Given his own news, Gabriel hoped he possessed similar force of character. “You, too, Harls?”
“Hell, no! I keep hoping this is just the nightmare of all time and that any moment I’m going to wake up.”
“Oh, come on,” Gabriel said, making sure to smile at Rachel Stewart.
Keep her included.
“Aren’t you just a little bit…fascinated? I mean, I keep wanting to see one of those Markers the crews found.”
“I keep wanting to see a whole set of
Venture
landers waiting to take us home.”
“Harley, for an astronaut, you really don’t have much pioneer spirit.”
Gabriel realized that the exodus was losing steam as it neared the opening. Those in front of them were bunching up, shoving and beginning to make noise.
Brent Bynum sprinted past them, shouting, “Hurry it up, everyone!”
Gabriel looked at Harley and Weldon. “Who woke up and made him cheerleader?”
“Brent?” Weldon said. “He’s been
He’d wound up at headquarters, and when NASA turned its attention beyond Earth orbit, why, who better to lead the agency’s premier operations hub, the Johnson Space Center?
If pressed, Gabriel would admit that his tenure at JSC had been troubled. He had not been eager to spend the hours required to immerse himself in JSC’s unique culture, which looked like the rest of NASA, but was to, say, Goddard what the culture of suburban Maryland was to, say, Saudi Arabia.
He had made mistakes. Hell, maybe he had been lazy, too used to the magic created by his own words and personality.
And his daughter, Yvonne—one of two astronauts killed on the
Destiny-7
mission—had paid the price. Gabriel had had ample hours to consider the reckless decisions that led to her death, the way he had been swayed by “national security” concerns to allow Yvonne to carry a nuclear weapon aboard a “peaceful” mission.
Sure, no one in Houston or Washington had known what the crew and controllers would face on Keanu, but Gabriel had found it too easy to listen to the consensus, to be America- or Earth-first.
There was another issue, too. Thirteen days before the
Destiny-7
launch—a date that, to his amazement, was still less than a month in the past—Gabriel Jones had been given news that forced him to change the way he thought about the future. His original path was to use the JSC directorship as a stepping-stone to deputy administrator, or even the top agency job…and then to…the Senate, perhaps? Or president of a university. That was now Future I.
The news put him on a radically different track, Future II: manage his health.
Now, even more strangely, he was facing Future III. He had been dumped into an environment a hundred times stranger than JSC had been to him, and considerably more dangerous than even Future II.
To ensure his future survival, he had days—not weeks, days—to:
One: get off Keanu and back to Earth, or—
Two: find twenty-first-century medical technology on Keanu.
He did not want to calculate the odds that he would be successful at either.
As they headed toward an opening up ahead, Gabriel slowed down so that Harley Drake and his new friend, Sasha, and Zack Stewart’s daughter, Rachel, could keep pace with him.
Gabriel noted that Sasha kept reaching out to brush the tunnel wall with her fingers. “Tell me why you’re doing that. Are you a geologist?”
“I’m trying to keep reminding myself that I’m no longer on Earth,” she said.
Gabriel laughed, then turned to Harley Drake. He knew the crippled former astronaut more by reputation than contact. He admired the way that, following the accident in Florida, Harley had chosen not to crawl into a hole, instead reinventing himself as a planetary scientist…while remaining a bit of a trash-talking horndog. Given his own news, Gabriel hoped he possessed similar force of character. “You, too, Harls?”
“Hell, no! I keep hoping this is just the nightmare of all time and that any moment I’m going to wake up.”
“Oh, come on,” Gabriel said, making sure to smile at Rachel Stewart.
Keep her included.
“Aren’t you just a little bit…fascinated? I mean, I keep wanting to see one of those Markers the crews found.”
“I keep wanting to see a whole set of
Venture
landers waiting to take us home.”
“Harley, for an astronaut, you really don’t have much pioneer spirit.”
Gabriel realized that the exodus was losing steam as it neared the opening. Those in front of them were bunching up, shoving and beginning to make noise.
Brent Bynum sprinted past them, shouting, “Hurry it up, everyone!”
Gabriel looked at Harley and Weldon. “Who woke up and made him cheerleader?”
“Brent?” Weldon said. “He’s been
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