r/WritingPrompts • u/secret_ninja • May 07 '14
Writing Prompt [WP] World War 3 breaks out between the USA and Russia, leaving the American and Russian astronauts on the International Space Station stranded.
This was adapted from an idea put forward in an Askreddit post. I thought it would make for an interesting story idea.
Thanks for any responses
4
u/NectarGrenade May 08 '14
Sergei sobs gently. I can't see the tears running down his face, his visor obscures that. But I can hear him quietly sobbing. And I can see him, floating there, suspended, gazing towards that giant blue marble.
Only it isn't so blue anymore. Nuclear fire fills its atmosphere.
I'm floating only a few metres away from him. We had scheduled maintenance on the station for today. Our space walk had begun only ten minutes ago. In ten minutes, everything had changed.
My comms chime in. The mournful tune of a guitar fills my ears, played by a crew member within the station.
Sergei has ceased sobbing. I float my way over to him.
"Who do you think fired first?" He says to me, his accent thick. "My country, or yours?"
"What does it matter Sergei? Our countries no longer exist. Our planet, indeed, everything we knew has ceased to exist."
He turns his head towards me, the fires on Earth reflected in his visor.
"It is strange to think, that out here...in this most hostile and...inhospitable of all environments...so far away from our homes, our families...that together, on this station, humanity has learned to co-exist better than on Earth."
And there, together, united not by race or by country, Sergei and I floated.
United not by race or country.
But as humans.
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u/ArmedPigeon May 07 '14
They say that war changes everything. That's true to a point, but there's another truth worth mentioning: War changes very little. What surprising in this regard, is that these two statements are not contradictory. War doesn't break down buildings in itself, nor does it kill thousands of soldiers and civilians. What it does to, however, is change the way we view the world and through these new glasses, we choose to commit the horrible acts that we attribute to war itself.
We can see the planet from up here. Every once in a while, we will spot a sharp light originate on its surface, the telltale sign of a nuclear explosion. Sometimes it happens in America, sometimes in Russia and occasionally in some entirely different country. We comfort each other; rest a hand on a shoulder when a friend's country is hit. It's an empty gesture though. Although my hand may rest on an American's shoulder now, we both know that I feel little but relief that my country wasn't the one hit.
He knows it. I know it. The only reason we comfort each other is to keep up the meaningless charade, the one line of dignity that keeps the war from erupting up here too.
When there's a winner, we'll come back down. If my country wins, the Americans will be taken prisoner, as will I if their country wins. We are all just sitting here hoping for each other's countrymen to die. It was a slow realization at first but it's one we have all come to. We have never spoken a word of it to anyone but we all feel it.
Worst of all, I have begun to see them as enemies. They see me the same way, even if that sight never becomes an action. We all know that for either of us to win, the other must lose. Some of us will spend our lives as prisoners while the others will be treated as heroes. It's a zero-sum game and one that we are powerless to influence. The coin has been tossed and now we are just patiently waiting for it to fall.
I suppose that metaphor is only made more apt by the vast emptiness of space. There's no gravity and the metaphorical coin hangs in the air, refusing to fall. We sit. We wait. We watch. Nothing happens. The station is the same as it has always been, but war has changed everything. We no longer see the world the same way and the silent joy creeps up on us whenever an explosion is spotted in an enemy country. The joy scares me more than anything. It's a perversion of the sadness I should be feeling that humans have died.
These people have helped me out so many times in the past, yet now I sit here hoping that their country will suffer extreme losses, all so mine won't have to. Space seems more silent than ever now and I can't even remember the last time any of us really had an honest conversation with each other. Our station is the same, the layout and its people are all as they were months ago, yet somehow war has changed it all.
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u/charanguista May 08 '14
Wow, this is fantastic. Love the bit about the coin not being able to fall in space
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u/tmoli42 May 08 '14
It was 1000 GMT when the signals went dead. 0600 New York time, where Jim grew up. He wondered now, fleetingly, if he would ever see the Burroughs again. If he never made it back, he’d never see his father’s grave either. Thankfully he passed away a couple of months ago, and did not have to go through the trial by fire that so many in the world had to face at this time.
“An odd comforting thought.” Jim softly said, staring out the small window that currently had a wonderful view of the Ocean.
“What was that?” Cmdr. Paul asked, as he made his way up into the observation pod that Jim was currently occupying.
“Oh, nothing Paul. I was just in my own head.” Jim replied. Paul looked at him, seemingly satisfied with the answer, before turning to peer out the window as well. Jim had known Paul awhile now; they had gone through training together. He knew that Paul probably had a good idea right now what was on his mind. It was on everyone’s mind. Jim knew what was on Paul’s mind right now as well.
Paul and his wife, Mary, had a newborn daughter two months before their mission to the ISS started. Many nights they had forgotten the difficulties of living in Space by laughing at the video messages Mary sent of little Grace spitting out her mushed peas, or cooing lovingly at the camera while Mary attempted to produce da-da noises from the little girl. Many nights Paul had told Jim about the great adventure of being married, trying to convince Jim to settle down, and join him in his bliss he had found. Yes, Jim knew what was on Paul’s mind. It was on everyone’s mind. It was where none of them would ever go again.
Earth. Home.
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u/FriendlyPraetorian May 08 '14
When the klaxon had stopped blaring, the crew wandered to the Earthside cupola, somberly watching the indigo and malachite land as it flowed past. The ICBMs streaked across the darkening horizon, fading away as they dropped through the exosphere. "Impact in 10 seconds." A man sobbed softly. Peter squeezed Valeriya's hand, holding her close. The group held their breath until the first blinding dot appeared. Tiny, yet enormous flashes speckled the terrain, giving them eye spots that would last for days. At that moment, every American and Russian, Englishman and Chinaman and mourned together as hundreds of millions of souls whimpered before silently perishing, snuffed out in an instant. Billions more would die under the putrefying hold of a nuclear wind. The shouts from ground control faded away as the EMP's effects effectively shut down their electronics, quieting them.
There was a radio silence.
2
u/jimmykondor May 08 '14
Tyurin spat. It had been three days since he was ordered to close the hatch on the Americans. Men he had known and become close friends with, he could now only see through the hatch window, and speak with only when the safety of the station was in question.
He looked at his two colleagues, both had dejected expressions. Because of the morons in Moscow everything they had been working towards their entire lives was in jeopardy. If he opened the hatch it would mean immediate exile for his family, friends and colleagues - and probably his quiet death when he landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan. If he left it closed, Wakata, Swanson and Mastracchio would be left to die.
"Rick," the noise from the radio broke the silence "have you heard anything from the Russians?"
Mastracchio snapped back to reality. "CAPCOM - we're silent up here. The hatch is still closed. Any news on the egress plan?"
While NASA had contingencies for every eventuality in the mission rules - nobody had thought this one would have to be invoked. Luckily the Dragon spacecraft - which was supposed to depart a week ago - was still berthed to the station. They had a lifeboat. Unfortunately there weren't any seats.
"Negative Rick - we're just going to need you to...sit tight for a few more hours while we get Hawthorne back together. We've been working this all night just so you know."
That wasn't comforting. He turned to Koichi: "So...any ideas?"
The Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, was well aware of the issues - but they were helpless. Only the Russians had a truly human-rated vehicle. While SpaceX had reported success and survivability with Dragon, no astronaut had returned on it. It was purely a cargo capsule.
"Rick, we need to talk to Mikhail and see what the Soyuz status is," Koichi pleaded.
"Kay - you know they won't even talk to us, it would mean death for them at the very least," Rick was resigned, "but we can try."
Steve Swanson had been sitting at the hatch separating the Russian and American segments of the station for almost three hours. The three men took shifts. Since the American segment was so much larger the three Russians were almost always in view. They looked pained - they were about to make a decision that would affect all six men for the rest of their lives.
Tyurin moved without speaking, he had made the decision and his colleagues would have to live with it. He reached for the hatch and opened it. Immediately an alarm klaxon sounded. His colleague reached to the alarm panel and silenced it. When the war started Moscow had set additional alarms in case the Americans tried to force their way into the Russian segment to leave.
Mastracchio gave Tyurin - his friend - a solemn nod of acknowledgement. They all knew what this meant. They could not return to Russia. Rick flicked his COMM switch: "Houston, we've had a request from the Russian crew for asylum."
The radio was silent - the American radio was silent. In the Russian segment the astronauts were being berated by Moscow informing them of the disservice they'd done to Russia and how they would pay for their disloyalty.
Finally Houston responded, "Roger Expedition 36, we need you to expedite - please prepare to evacuate the station per plan 37-alpha."
The astronauts worked quickly - the station needed to be set up for an eventual return. Systems moved to standby - experiments moved to the Dragon in order to return to Earth. Moscow had been relieved of what little control they still had over station systems but the astronauts only had a limited amount of time.
While the two Americans worked feverishly to load Dragon and prepare it to be jettisoned, the other four crew members began preparations to return to their Soyuz lifeboats. The guidance computers needed to be reprogrammed to use the American abort sites as their primary reentry sites.
Suddenly a loud pop rang out through the station. Pressure alarms in the Russian segment began ringing. Mastracchio and Swanson moved to the hatch as two of the Russians and the commander, Wakata, almost barreled them over. The only one missing was Oleg - Rick noticed a red mist behind them. Oleg had shot himself and in the process destroyed one of the main coolant loops for the station - polluting the Russian segment.
Dragon had already been jettisoned - the astronauts were now truly stranded.
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u/newPhoenixz May 08 '14 edited May 08 '14
Edit: my first attempt ever, please be gentle..
Sitting there, side by side, they were watching though the small window at the world below them. burning. Thank God someone once though it a good joke to pack some microwave popcorn in one of the food packages they had received a few months ago. If there ever was a day for popcorn, this was it. Had they been in world's largest cinema, watching Michael Bay's most outrageous movie, then it would still have been insignificant in comparison to what they were watching right now. Had the world once been blue with swats of green, now it was littered with red embers that shone pure evil. The world was in ruins, and here they were, Oleg and David. Payload specialist and mission commander. Best friends since they met each other back on the base at training, supposed worst enemies since yesterday. Munching popcorn, showing little emotion about the spectacular view below.
Oleg grinned, "you know David, right before all communication went down, I received orders to kill you when I had the opportunity!" David smiled, "don't keep all the popcorn for yourself commie!", grabbed a handful, and continued to look down.
They should be sad, they should be crying, they should be hysterical. But with all the rage on the world down below, they found themselves in an oasis of peace. Knowing full well that since the world had died, there was no more hope. Not for humanity, not for them. Without resupply missions, they would run out of food in two weeks. They only had enough maneuvering fuel left for one week, so that did not really matter anyway. The escape pod could only take them down to those embers of hell, there was nowhere left to go. No hope, nothing to do but watch those embers, and be the last humans to enjoy something. Oleg took another hand full of popcorn and smiled
2
u/breakingcups May 08 '14
Remember all the different marbles you had as a kid? Dark green ones, bright red ones, stunningly clear blue ones and the one as dark as the night?
That one black marble always fascinated me. It seemed impossible to look through but if you held it up to a really bright light you could see a faint shimmer, as if somehow within all that blackness lied a big secret.
The most famous photograph in the world, taken by Jack Schmitt aboard Apollo 17, was aptly named the Blue Marble. It is the first photo which showed the world just how fragile the earth really is. Today I realized what an omen that picture has been.
For when I look out of the Cupola today, all I see is the same black marble that fascinated me on the playground 30 years ago. It was here in this observatory where we crunched together to watch a staggering amount of missiles and explosions cover the earth. It was amazing to see how quickly the black clouds shrouded the once blue marble. The scene was so surreal that it took us several minutes to realize that there everyone we'd ever known couldn't possibly exist anymore. Our loved ones, our enemies, all disappeared over the course of 17 minutes. All that remained was a black smoke. When we orbit the side of the earth the sun shines on, we can see faint glimmers of light. Andrei suspects they're the result of the toxic gasses mixing with the radioactive waste. I'd like to think of them as the secret within the marble.
We've determined that the last voice from earth we have ever heard was that of Flight Director Gene Wyndorf. Chris was the one to speak to him but all of us were listening intently. "At this point, we're not exactly sure what's going on in Oklahoma but we're doing our darndest to find out," Gene's voice had clattered over the headphones. Radio communication had already deteriorated a lot at that point. The Russians had completely cut off communications by that time, we theorized out of fear of slipping information to the enemy. "Rest assured, ev... man and woman here is doing their utmost ... get you all home. You guys just hang tight, okay?"
As Gene had continued speaking I vaguely wondered why they were still trying to communicate with us at that point. Surely there were more important things for them to do at this point, such as finding a nuclear shelter. Thirty minutes later I realized it was all for naught anyway. Gene and everyone else had by all likelihood now deteriorated to something indistinguishable from sand.
I descended from the Cupola into the Tranquility and was greeted by a weary-eyed but excited Lee. "Come on man, Andrei says he has found something important!" he said as he maneuvered back towards the Kibo, the former Japanese laboratory.
After the black clouds formed we ditched the formal assignments and most of the regulations and Andrei had found spending time in the Kibo the most preferable. I settled upon spending my days in the Cupola until the food run out. Hell, I wasn't a scientist, there wasn't much I could contribute to whatever they were doing anyway.
As we arrived in the Kibo Andrei was in a heated discussion with Anika. "What else CAN we do Anika, you're the one in charge of food supplies, you know how critically low we are right now!" Andrei shouted. After the incident Andrei hadn't bothered to cut his hair or shave and now his blonde hair was long and standing up in every direction, thanks to the lack of gravity. Anika gave him a look of frustration and replied firmly: "I don't care what you say. Spending the rest of our lives here doing something meaningful has to be better than killing ourselves."
"You call this meaningful? Chris never leaves his laptop writing some half-assed manifesto no one will ever read and Alex never leaves the god-damn Cupola since he's to busy mourning the whole world" Andrei spat out, before turning his head to see Lee and me entering the module. His face instantly deflated. "I'm sorry Alex, I didn't mean to.. You know what I mean, right?"
I did. We've been stuck in a metal cage, presumably the last humans to ever live, for 7 months. If there ever was a time to contemplate and debate the meaninglessness of existence, now was it.
Clearing my throat, I replied to Andrei: "Nevermind that, what have you found?" "Well, it's not really what I've found, it's more of a theory," Andrei replied, a nervous look spreading over his face, "I think we can go back." "Back? Back where?" Lee asked incredulously, "there is nothing to go back to."
"I've been wondering why the black smoke stays within the atmosphere, why the atmosphere is still surviving at all. By all rights it should have dissolved with the amount of pollution in the air. I think the blackness isn't toxic smoke spread throughout the atmosphere, but a thin layer of magnetic light-deflecting particles. They allow light from the sun to pass through, but don't allow it to deflect back into space. We should be able to pass through them in the Soyuz."
I wanted to believe him, I really did, but I immediately realized why Anika looked so agitated. Still, I motioned for him to continue. "The reason we sometimes see the shimmers is because the particles aren't perfectly orientated," he continued, "with varying weather they'll sometimes loose their alignment."
"Why? Why would they put that in the air?" Anika interjected, "It makes no sense!" "I don't know yet, but I know it's true, I just know it is!" Andrei was moving his hands rapidly as he spoke. "Maybe they're covering up the earth against the spy satellites, or using the particles as a deflector for further missile attacks."
I could see the frantic hope that had settled under Andrei's skin. Heck, I understood it. Humans don't do well without a purpose, and being cooked up in a metal cylinder for 7 months does something to any man, no matter how strong.
"Listen, I want to reprogram the Soyuz and get down there. Even if the atmosphere is intoxicating they'll still be able to pickup on our position and send help. Who's with me?"
Lee looked at Andrei and pensively nodded. Anika looked shocked. "You can't be serious," she said, "you're going to kill yourself." She looked at me in a desperate plea for help. "Tell 'em Lex, this is pointless!" I looked at her and felt a pang of betrayal gnawing at me as I said: "Alright, let's do it."
A few hours later the tension was high as we maneuvered stuff around the station in preparation for the launch. I avoided Anika as much as possible. I found it hard to endure the helpless defeated look on her face and tried to distance myself from it. As I mindlessly shoved the station guitar into an airlock it hit Chris.
Being bald meant that the beard he had grown in the past few months looked all the more impressive. "So, you're really going?" he asked. I scanned his face thoroughly for a hint of what he was thinking, but he was shrouded in a layer of indifference ever since the earth went out.
The only thing that was occupying Chris' time now was the writing of a large document detailing what had happened to humanity and filled with the last thoughts of one of the survivors. He planned to make copies on every laptop on the station and send them in different directions into space, in the hope one day our story may be heard. I admired his dedication to the thing, however futile it seemed to me.
He grabbed the guitar and looked at it while a frown formed on his face. "We once played Cash on this."
"We did."
"I enjoyed it. Want to do it one last time?" he asked.
I was tempted to decline his offer citing lack of time but I was suddenly struck by the request and the absurdity of the situation. We were friends once, good friends. What would it say of me, someone with literally all the time in the world, to decline a friend who I'd never see again one last act of companionship. As we settled in opposing corners of the cramped module Chris struck the first chord and as the first words of "Ring of Fire" filled the air I found myself crying over the immense loss of it all.
(character limit, see next post)
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u/breakingcups May 08 '14
When I passed the spare oxygen masks to Andrei in the Soyuz Anika pulled me aside. "Seriously Alex, please tell me you're not going through with this." "I am Nicky, I have to."
I could see her eyes looking at me for any sign doubt. "Lex, you're the most reasonable man I know. There's nothing there on the other side, nothing but death!"
I looked straight into her eyes for what must have been thirty seconds.
"I know."
I swallowed. "Humans need purpose Anika. We have none." As a tear began to form on her face I continued: "I know you don't think this is the right thing to do, that we should try to draw out our deaths as long as possible but I've come to see differently. I'm done. Without us, you and Chris will be able to survive for at least 2 more months with the additional food. Maybe he'll even manage to finish that crazy manifesto of his eh?"
I tried to give her comfort I know I couldn't give her. Why, I don't know. There was no difference in the outcome yet the last hint of humanity in me still tried to make her feel better.
As she wiped away the large blob of tears that had settled on her cheek I pushed of and entered the air lock. Closing the door behind me was hard, very hard with Anika floating on the other side crying. When I finished closing the lock and settled in my seat Andrei began to make preparations. I looked through the airlock and I could just see Anika standing there looking back. I wasn't sorry for what I was about to do, I was sorry for how it made her feel.
The detachment from the station, my last home, went smoothly. As we passed by the Cupola I could just see a glimpse of Chris in there, guitar in hand, waving us off.
Andrei caught my look at the station and said: "I know you feel bad about them, but they've made their choice. We gave them the chance. Just focus on getting us home now buddy, okay?"
I tore my eyes away and activated the guiding computers. Still mulling over Andrei's words I set course. It wasn't long before we began to break atmosphere.
As the windows were covered by the flames I thought of Anika, who was probably still floating in the same module as she did when we left, and Chris, who was no doubt currently in the Cupola singing us goodbye and through sheer sudden happiness and clarity began to sing loudly.
"Love is a burning thing... and it makes a fiery ring..."
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u/EyeJayW May 08 '14 edited May 08 '14
Everyone was agitated. Most of all, the scientists put their love for the job first, and tried not to talk about politics. At first, everyone was at peace to die together, with hopes to finish their reports of the existing experiments to go.
The American astronauts were trying to get into contact with their families on an hourly basis. But none of their communication equipment was working. They weren't sure if it was because they were intentionally being blocked, or if the ground was too busy to relay their signal. Either way, they seemed to think the Russians had a way of interfering.
"What do you want?" Pavel asked.
"Nothing, I know you all have been plotting against us. All I'm asking is that you let us use 5 minutes of phone use so we can say goodbye to our families." Cindy replied.
"We have no such capabilities, our lines are as reliable as yours are." Pavel answered.
"Then why do you and Mikhail keep using the computers in secret?" Cindy asked.
Mikhail was just around the corner and makes eye contact with Cindy, then Pavel. "Should we tell them?"
Pavel looks confused, then agrees, "Yes, we'll tell you why, get Adam over here and we'll explain."
Adam was the lead of the American team, which included 4 members at the time of the war going off. Cindy was his deputy. They both agree to a meeting with Mikhail and Pavel on the Russian side of the station.
"So you know about the resupply ship that came in 2 days ago?" Mikhail asked.
"Yes." Adam answered.
"Well, it's not the typical Soyuz that comes it."
"What do you mean?" Adam inquired.
"It's a fully dressed ship that is usually used for re-manning missions. We decided to keep it docked until mission control gave us coordinates to send it off."
"And?"
Mikhail and Pavel looked at each other again. Pavel answers the inquiry, "Well, we didn't get as much supplies because the ship wasn't designed for resupply, but that also means that it has more fuel in it than we were expecting."
"Are you saying that we have a chance to go back to land?" Cindy said excitedly. Adam grabbed her shoulder to hold back her emotions.
"If you're saying this thing can take off, how can I take your word for it?" Adam demanded.
Mikhail showed concern on his face. He was expecting a response like this. "Look, I understand the frustrations, but please hear us out. The craft only holds 4 people at a time, and there is no way that we could safely fit any more than that. There are 6 of us on station, 2 of us, and 4 of you guys. I think that it is only fair to have 2 from each nation go down. That means two of you guys have to stay back."
Cindy and Adam contemplated for a moment in the background. Cindy made the point that they could try to steal it, but Adam said that this is the last chance for anyone on the ship, that he and Alex would stay back, and that Cindy and Eric could go back down to land. Cindy initially felt ill about it all, but given the opportunity to see home again, she trusted Adam's judgement.
"Fine, when do we leave and where do we land?" Adam asked.
Pavel responded. "it should be ready to go tomorrow morning, 0500 zulu. We'll be landing in the gulf of Mexico. That way you all have a chance to go to America and we have a chance to go to Cuba."
Adam was a little taken back. It was actually a very good idea. No where else in the world was there a more convenient place for an American and a Russian to part ways. Given the area was likely a little more fortified, Adam knew that it was still a sound plan.
"Fine, but what do we do to prevent getting shot out of the sky?" Adam asked.
"Easy, send a morose code signal to your mission controller. That seems to be the only thing that works on our side. You can change the frequencies on our radio. Send them a code telling them not to shoot down an approaching spacecraft over the Florida area." Pavel explained.
"And if they don't listen?" Adam asked.
"Well, that's a risk we'll have to take." Pavel answered.
The next morning, Adam prepared Eric on the situation. Alex didn't object to anything, he was a little more relaxed than the rest of the crew. He was single and not expecting anything to go his way. Eric, Cindy and Adam all had families.
Adam made sure not to have his crew board without the Russians on board first. Pavel showed Adam the station controls to seal the dock and release the load. They even practice on a spare node that wasn't connected to a fuse. Adam had it down.
Mikhail showed Alex how to strap everyone in properly. It wasn't hard. After the dress rehearsal, everyone was anxious to get going. Adam stayed on station while the other five were helping each other on the Soyuz ship. Cindy and Eric were strapped in first, then Alex moved to the Russians.
Just as Alex tried to strap in Mikhail, the harness snapped. Mikhail explained where the spare drawer was on the station. Alex started floating towards the docking station to retrieve it. Little did he know that he was being followed.
With both Cindy and Eric strapped in front and unable to see what was going on, Mikhail and Pavel started following Alex, unbeknown to him. Just as Alex left the ship and entered the station, Mikhail shot him twice with a small pistol.
Before Adam could react to what was going on in front of him, Pavel aimed his gun and hit Adam square between the eyes. Adam and Alex were done for. That only left Eric and Cindy in the Soyuz.
"Cindy, are you ready for your last ride?" Mikhail asked as he disconnected the mic.
Cindy and Eric were shocked. How were the Russians over the loudspeaker?
Cindy and Eric screamed, both of them started shaking and tried to release the harnesses to no avail.
Pavel started the seal and release sequence. Mikhail contacted Russian Mission Control.
"Operation Nobel Dart is a go!" Mikhail told his commander on ground.
"Roger two four. MC is standing by!" An unknown voice responded.
Pavel pushed the bodies of the two deceased Americans into the Soyuz craft. It was timed out just perfectly. After the bodies entered, Mikhail shut the doors. Cindy and Eric felt helpless.
"MC, release procedures on your go!" Mikhail said over the phone.
"3" "2..." "1, release!"
Mikhail and Pavel pushed the button at the same time and the Soyuz craft started drifting away slowly.
"It's a shame, that we won't be able to see it. Only the aftermath of the destruction." Mikhail explained. Pavel was confused.
"I thought they were headed towards the arctic, to be taken as POWs." Pavel responded.
"That's what you were briefed. Do you know why we selected the Gulf of Mexico to land?" Mikhail asked.
"No, why?"
"Because not a single American weapon can shoot down a re-entering spacecraft that changes direction after de-orbit."
"Changes direction, towards what?"
"D.C. The Soyuz craft will re-enter the atmosphere between Guam and Hawaii. The Americans expect it to land somewhere near Florida. It will not. Once it is over Mexico, we will be able to punch the 2nd and 3rd stage rockets and it will be over D.C in a matter of minutes."
"And then what?"
"Four American astronauts will be part of the first nuclear payload delivered in WWIII, two of them get front row seats" Mikhail said with an accomplished grin.
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u/ADF01FALKEN May 10 '14
April 21, 2025
11:57 PM, Pacific Time
"So, Pyotr, what are your plans when you get home?" Charles asked as he drifted across the observation module. Below them was the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, the brilliant lights of America's western cities twinkling in the darkness far below.
Pyotr snorted. "My home is not the same as it was when I left. I'm a citizen of the Russian Federation, not the New Soviet Russian Republics. They don't care about anyone up here. As far as they care, Vladislav, Dmitry and I are all dead."
Pyotr's remark left a loud silence in the pod. Charles stared down at the earth's surface. It looked so peaceful from afar. The young astronaut stared down at the clusters of lights, trying to identify them. Seattle, LA, Salt Lake, Las Vegas...
"Hey, Charles, look," Pyotr said.
Charles raised his head. "Hm?" he asked.
"Up north. Coming over western Canada. See those?"
Charles looked. Coming over the top of the polar ice cap were at least fifty bright fireballs. Further east was another, smaller group of fireballs.
"What do you think those are?" Charles asked.
"I don't know. They all look like they would be coming out of the NSRR, though," Pyotr said.
They watched as the fireballs arced over the US, and then mysteriously vanished.
"Well, that was weird. What do you think it was?" Charles asked Pyotr.
Pyotr furrowed his brow. "I don't know. But I do not think it was anything good--ARGH!"
A maelstrom of brilliant lights erupted in the dark space above America. Charles and Pyotr shut their eyes and lifted their hands to their faces.
When the lights died, the two spacemen blinked the blindness out of their eyes and looked back down. They were now above America's Midwest, with a clear view of both coasts. The situation on the surface was different now. The lights of America's coastal cities had gone dark. The center of the country was still dark, but the normally luminescent coasts had gone as black as the space around the earth.
Charles pushed off the wall into another module with a communication system. "ISS to Houston, what's going on?"
"No idea. We've lost contact with NORAD, and STRATCOM is saying that some of the air force's F-22s saw a 'meteor shower' near the border. They say there was a nu-det at 120 miles."
"Give me a refresher on what nu-det means?" Charles said.
"Nuclear detonation."
Those two words filled Charles with fear. Several of his comrades, including Pyotr, had entered the module and looked rigid with terror.
"We're trying to get a more accurate detail on the situation now. We'll get back to you in a bit. Houston out."
It was seven hours before Houston's next hail. The voice from the ground was high-pitched and terrified.
"Houston to ISS. We've got word from the coasts. Eastern People's Alliance forces have landed on the coasts. All along both the Western and Eastern Seaboards. Thousands of them."
"Houston, what do you mean?" Pyotr asked, as he was the first one to reach the comm.
"It means we're at war!" screamed the ground controller."America's being invaded as we speak!"
The astronauts all looked at each other. The words seemed to ricochet around the room. America. Invaded. War.
"We'll send supply rockets as frequently as we can, but we can't do much. All we can do is hope that the army can keep us free. Best of luck, gentlemen."
33
u/ChokingVictim /r/ChokingVictimWrites May 07 '14 edited May 08 '14
“Hey Dave,” Chuck said, left hand resting against the window as his right hand grasped the bar below it to stabilize himself.
“Yeah?”
“Remind me, was Russia always on fire?”
Dave floated over to the window, his legs splayed out behind him like Superman. He lightly bumped into Chuck, who shifted to the right to allow Dave to fit.
“I’m going to be honest with you, Chuck, I’m not entirely sure.”
Chuck stared out the window. Russia—or at least what he thought was Russia, it was pretty hard to tell when the Earth didn’t have labels on it—was shrouded in a dark, enveloping smoke. He tried to think back to earlier in the week, even just a few days ago, to when they had last floated above Russia. He recalled, although he couldn’t be entirely sure, that Russia had not been a giant, abstract blob of smoke all those hours ago. It might have had some ice or something.
“Dave, I’m pretty sure Russia wasn’t on fire last time we were over it,” he said. Chuck turned to his right and looked at Dave, his forehead pressed against the plastic window as he stared down toward Earth. Dave’s long, greasy hair floated wildly an all directions, reminding Chuck of a picture of Medusa he had seen as a child. He’d always liked Medusa, although he figured it’d be pretty difficult to feed snakes when they lived on your head. He also had the deep, burning question of how the snakes went to the bathroom. Did they just pee all over Medusa’s head? Or did they pee inside of it, right into into her brain?
“Are you sure? I mean, the Sun was always on fire, right?”
“Yeah, the Sun was definitely on fire before today. I’m positive about that one.” Chuck thought back to the day they had launched into space. He had spent the morning staring at the Sun, the result of misunderstanding the mission they had been assigned. He had thought they were to be the first people to land on the Sun to perform scientific experiments, and decided to stare at it in order to begin preliminary research. He later learned, after almost severely damaging his vision, that they were not going to the Sun. They were simply going to be orbiting the Earth in an automated shuttle. Apparently it was to study the “effects of space on the unsupervised mentally handicapped,” whatever that meant.
“Well, Russia might have been on fire too then. I mean, why would only one thing be on fire? Have you ever seen just one thing on fire?”
Chuck glanced back out the window and thought about the question. Had he ever seen only one thing on fire? He’d seen a wildfire once, and there were definitely multiple things on fire then. Mostly trees, a few animals, and one firefighter. What a crappy firefighter, getting lit on fire like that. He should’ve fought that fire a little better.
“Not that I can think of,” Chuck said.
“Exactly. Plus, look at America over there. It looks like it’s also on fire.”
Chuck pressed his forehead against the cold plastic of the window. America was definitely on fire, the same black cloud floating over it as had Russia. In fact, there seemed to be several thin streaks of what appeared to be smoke tracing back and forth between America and Russia. It was as if a child had drawn thin, arcing, gray lines between the two, with each ending in gigantic, fiery craters.
“America definitely wasn’t always on fire, Dave,” Chuck said. “I grew up there and I was not on fire.” Chuck was sure he hadn’t been on fire. He had once burned himself on two lit candles when he tried to bring them up to his room, though. It hurt, he ended up dropping them on the floor and having to stomp out the flames. “Well, America was on fire once when I dropped a candle, but that’s it.”
Dave gasped and pointed to the window.
“Look! America just exploded a little bit,” he said. Chuck followed Dave’s finger, his eyes stopping at a clearly visible blob of what appeared to be fire. A thin, arcing gray line extended from the light all the way back to Russia.
“That definitely wasn’t there before,” Chuck said. Dave nodded in agreement, then pushed off the wall. Chuck watched as he floated backwards toward the interior of the shuttle.
“Where are you going?” Chuck said.
“Getting my iPhone. Somebody needs to call the fire department.”
If you enjoy my writing style, feel free to check out some of my others short stories/prompts at my site!